Kruger National Park, Punda Maria

Wednesday 27 November Punda Maria
Last night we had another amazing and terrifying storm, simultaneous and continuous thunder and lightening, gusts of strong wind and heavy rain. Our mobile phone network coverage, which was slow and laborious at best here at Punda Maria yesterday, has now disappeared completely, presumably as a result of the storm, so I don't know when I will be able to upload this.
We drove to Punda Maria from Bataleur yesterday morning, after another indulgent breakfast of eggs and ham. We stayed on the tarred roads but still saw plenty of game on the way. Punda Maria campsite ground was a bit disappointing after the excellence of all the others. It is unbelievably stony, people who know the site seem to come prepared with rakes and stiff brooms. It is on a slope and undulating, so it is quite hard work to find a level piece of ground with some shade where a tent can be pitched. It is not very busy so we finally decided upon a shady spot and swept it with our small brush as well as we could. We are still on quite a slope and I rolled off my sleeping mat a couple of times in the night onto a very stony tent floor.
Another downside is the fact that a laundromat is advertised, but all the washing machines are broken. At this half way stage of the trip, thinking we would be at a well-equipped site, I had planned to do a washing machine wash of our bedding, tea towels etc., instead of which I am scrubbing them by hand in a bucket. The ablutions block for the campsite is quite small, 2 toilets, 1 shower and a bathroom. It's OK at the moment but there must be queues for toilets and showers when the site is full. The shop is very basic, with limited supplies. These are all negative comments, but in fact the campsite has a nice feel to it, lots of trees, close to the bush, very laid-back.
When we got here yesterday afternoon we were unsure of exactly how we would spend the last few days in the Park. One option which had occurred to us was that we would spend two nights here, then move up to the privately owned Pafuri Tented Site for the last two nights. That would enable us to spend more time in the region of the Luvuvhu River and the Thulamela archaeological site, both marked as things we really wanted to do. We battled with the slow and intermittent phone and data transmission to discover that the Pafuri Tented Site, the only accommodation available in that part of the Park is horrendously expensive, about £250 per person per night. It is such a shame that the eclectic northern strip, with amazing biodiversity and with availability to an important archaeological site, is priced well out of our resources, and I would suspect also of many others. As it happens any disappointment about not being able to afford to stay there was removed by the knowledge that it isn't an option. The floods last January which devastated Shingwedzi also destroyed the Pafuri site. Whereas SAN Parks has rebuilt Shingwedzi and re-opened it as a very good, well appointed Rest Camp, Wilderness Safaris, who I think are responsible for the Pafuri Camp, still haven't come to an agreement with their insurers. One disappointed followed another when we discovered that due to the floods the Thulamela Archaeological Site is still not open to the public. We checked this out with Punda Maria Camp officials, as we would have considered joining a tour group from here, to have that confirmed, the Site is closed.
So here we were yesterday evening at Punda Maria, replanning the last few days of our journey through the Kruger Park, enjoying our braai, sitting by the tent in the early evening dusk, when flashes of lightening started to appear on the horizon, followed by low rumblings of thunder. We played on, continuing our three hands of Crib, John was victorious 2-1, as the lightening became more persistent and the thunder louder. We decided to zip up the tent and go to bed. As at Maroela, we were hardly settled when the wind started. The intense flashes of lightening and the ear-numbing roars of thunder are scary but manageable, the intensity and strength of the gusts of wind, threatening to rip our tent from the ground is the really frightening part. Once again we held onto the sides as it was buffeted around. This time our experience of the previous storm paid off, John had replaced tent pegs with strong nails anchoring us firmly to the ground. Although the poles bent in the wind and the tent rocked from side to side nothing came loose. Then the rain came as well. Torrential rain battered the sides of the tent as we tried to hold it steady against the wind. The rain continued after the wind had stopped and the storm drew away. As the noise of the storm abated it was replaced by the ear-splitting sound of frogs. They continued long after I dozed into an uneasy sleep. At some time, maybe around dawn, the noise from the frogs stopped and the cicadas began.
Around 05.00, when we were both awake, it was a still and sunny day, although the sky was still very overcast and we wondered if there was more rain to come.
The rest of our day has been so good. The shop at Punda Maria is very limited so we decided to go our of the Park to do some shopping. The SatNav showed us a large supermarket about 40 kms away so we headed for it. As soon as we were outside the Punda Maria Gate we entered a different world. I have already said that living inside the Park as we have for nearly a month has been like removal from the real world. I hadn't expected re-entry to be so dramatic and sudden. Less than 2 kms from the Park gate put us into a world of circular thatched huts, fields ploughed by harnessed cattle, women working in the fields with rudimentary tools. The destination the SatNav gave us was a busy, buzzing, and lively town. The main street was a corridor of improvised stalls, selling everything, but mostly fruit and vegetables. We drew into a complex, labelled by the street sign as 'NEW'. We found a Shoprite Supermarket, where we bought a few basic groceries. We spotted a Hardware Store sign, where we bought some more long nails. We didn't see another white face. We were stared at, but everyone was friendly and helpful, We knew that we were in a totally non 'white= affluent' area when no-one rushed forward to 'mind our car' for a small tip. Maybe we were such an oddity, combined with our age, I joked with the young woman at the checkout desk in the Liquor Store, that she hadn't asked John to prove he was over 18, as it was stated she needed to do.
We finished our shopping and drove back to the camp, back into our little bubble of unreality. Our shopping expedition is one of the highlights of our trip so far, just a tiny step into the real world of South Africa.

Thursday 28 November Punda Maria
Still no mobile phone coverage after the storm of a couple of nights ago. It's annoying and frustrating for us as there are several things we would like to check up on before we go to Zimbabwe, as well as upload this journal. The inconvenience for the Camp administration is much worse than that. We now appreciate that all their computerised system is dependent on a mobile phone network. We are not sure how they are coping with centralised bookings as we checked in before the outage, but a trip to buy one item from the Camp shop requires taking a packed lunch. We've given up getting an ice cream out of the cabinet before every thing else has been checked out. Each item purchased is hand written into a receipt book, every detail including bar code number is recorded, then totalled up using a calculator. The character of the local people does not have haste as one of its attributes, any intrusive diversion, such as a greeting from a colleague, may cause a further delay in the transaction, hence the melted ice-cream scenario.
The restaurant is currently out of action, due to a bat infestation of the roof over the kitchen. When we arrived we were told that the restaurant might be closed on the following evening. Now that work has begun it is obvious that it could be closed for many days or even weeks. The stench from the bats now that the workmen have broken into the ceiling cavity is disgusting and choking, the workmen are actually wearing masks. Yet, as with the previous entry, Punda Maria is an engaging Campsite. In comparison to all the other Camps we have stayed at in Kruger Park it is unassuming and run on traditional 'African' lines. All the other Camps have provided facilities for every campers needs or wants, whereas Punda Maria is back to basic camping.
Today we went up to the far north of the Park, where the scenery is dramatically different. Tall and distinguished Baobob trees dot the landscape. Kopjes rise majestically from the plains, which disappear into the distance, lasting for ever. The route is often undulating, corners turned to find copses of trees and pools of water. There are fewer animals but many more birds. It is empty and lonely.
We tried to drive to the Thulamela Archaeological site, but the track was blocked, a fallen tree pulled across it. We stopped at the Picnic Site and spoke to a Ranger there who had no idea when it would reopen. I asked him about the fact that even when Pafuri Camp is rebuilt it is too expensive for most people to stay at. It seems that SAN Parks has a plan to build a Camp in the area, over in the direction of 'Crooks Corner'. Things seem to be happening quite slowly in some parts of SAN Parks at the moment. It is incongruous that on the one hand Shingwedzi Camp has been completely rebuilt and the Pafuri Picnic spot looked brand new, levelled and reconstructed after the floods last January, but coming up to the busiest tourist season of December and January, Punda Maria has just decided to replace the bat infested restaurant and hasn't replaced its washing machines. An affordable Camp in the northern Pafuri region would surely be a good financial investment, it's surprising it hasn't happened before. We keep hearing comments from fellow campers, white South Africans who love the Park and have been coming here for many years, came with children and now bringing grand children, without any racist comparison, who say that unfortunately it is not as well maintained as it used to be. If it is now under black South African management, why should that make a difference? Can there really be such a racially stereotypical diverse view on what is considered 'good management'? We have both spent time in a number of 'African' countries and in some ways envied the 'what ever will be, will be', 'if God wishes' approach to life, however....??
We continued eastwards to 'Crook's Corner',  where the Limpopo River provides a boundary between the three countries, South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. It became known as Crook's Corner because it was where poachers, smugglers and people traffickers hung out. There could easily pass from one country to another to escape whichever police force or military was pursuing them. Having seen maybe one other tourist car all day, we discovered three or four others parked there. The occupants were mostly birders, hoping to catch a glimpse of rarer migrant species traveling a little further south from the heat of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. We had a conversation with a couple from The Eastern Cape who were interested to hear about our trip three years ago when we had passed through that area. They were also able to answer some questions we had. The flood level of January this year was not as high as that of February 2000, but the destruction and devastation was much worse. It wasn't simply a matter of the river flooding, an enormous tidal wave was created at the confluence of the Limpopo and Luvuvhu rivers. The Luvuvhu normally drains into the Limpopo, but on this occasion as both rivers were in full flood, it was met with a wall of water coming in the opposite direction. This explains why we have seen trees uprooted and fallen in more than one direction, and why whole tracts of land were removed and replaced. We also learnt that it is unusual to see so much water at that point of the Limpopo, this could be due to some residual water still remaining in the river bed since last January, but it is difficult to say because the whole river course has been remodelled. It was very fortunate for us, I have a photo of 'the great, grey-green, greasy Limpopo', unfortunately I didn't manage to get a young elephant in it.
It was one of the best days we have had in the Park. We didn't see the game, but the scenery was stunning, so different to anything else in the south. It is a cool and overcast evening. Perhaps it will rain.

Friday 29 November Punda Maria
It did rain it the night, not heavily, more of a thick drizzle and was damp and cool when we woke up this morning. We are now on countdown to leaving the Park, indeed to leaving South Africa, as we cross over the Limpopo River into Zimbabwe for the next stage of the trip. The drizzly rain cleared a bit, although it is still damp and overcast. We have cleared and repacked the car, preparing for the next stage of the journey. We are slightly apprehensive about the border crossing at Beitbridge as we have had so many warnings and cautions about it, but all the information about travelling in Zimbabwe has been positive. We are ready to move on. Looking back on the trip so far, if we were planning it again with the knowledge we have now, we would have had a week less in the Kruger Park and maybe spent the other week in Limpopo Province in South Africa. I think we have missed an opportunity to have had more variety in the trip, the central area of the Park is very similar, with game sightings being the main attraction. On our return trip to Pretoria we are overnighting in the area of the Soutpansberg and are sorry we will not have longer there. A week exploring this northern and less visited part of South Africa would have interesting.
Another thing to add is that we have been in the Kruger Park for 24 days and nave not seen or heard a single mosquito. Maybe there hasn't been enough rain yet? We have decided to start our anti-malarial prophylaxis this morning though, just to be safe as we go further north into wet and steamy Zimbabwe.
I have had a few more thoughts about the white/black management thing, especially the washing machines! Maybe I ought to try and see it from a more 'African' perspective. The Punda Maria Camp was originally created and equipped by whites for whites. I remember when I was in Tanzania and a young black woman offered to do my washing for me. She returned a beautifully clean and spotless shirt without the stubborn stains I had been unable to remove. When I congratulated her on this I was told that the problem is that we (white) people rely on machines to do our work for us, and so we have lost the skills and ability to perform simple and basic tasks for ourselves. Who needs washing machines? There seems to be a number of women living in and around the camp, maybe partners of men working here. I have noticed that they do chores for some of the campers, their washing up and some cleaning, maybe they also do washing, by hand, somewhere? It doesn't sit comfortably with my philosophy of independence and not asking anyone else to do something I am not prepared to do myself, but I do that in other aspects of life. Is it that I consider these tasks to be 'demeaning', therefore  I'm not prepared to hand them down to someone else? It would certainly be a way of putting money into the local economy.

13.30 and phone coverage has just returned so I will upload this now. It's very overcast, heavy and sultry, so if we get another storm tonight it could get wiped again. We are hoping not, as we would really like a dry tent to pack up in the morning.                                                                                                      

Kruger National Park, Bataleur Bush Camp

Sunday 24 November
There isn't mobile phone coverage at Bataleur Bush Camp, so I won't be able to upload this until we get to the next Rest Camp, which will be Punda Maria in a cuple of days time.
Tonight I will sleep in a bed. I hope it is a good experience, I love the tent so much. This is a 'treat' and a different experience. We are staying at one of the Park's 'Bush Camps' for a couple of nights. It's the only way we could get to sleep so deep in the bush, these are remote fenced areas and camping is not allowed in them. We picked this one because it was so small, just 7 cottages, some are much larger and can accommodate as many as 80 people. Bataleur is primarily a bird-watchers hang-out, that's fine with us, we have seen so much game, and it means it is eerily quiet and isolated. We had a winding route here from Shingwedzi, following a river bed which was dry in parts, but with water pools where we saw hippo, crocodile, herons and geese. There doesn't seem to be a lot of game in the area, although we saw giraffe, elephant, kudu and impala.
Last night at Shindwedzi was rather blighted by the insects. Not only did we have the small flies which have been present almost everywhere, but also a plague of flying ants, small and large crusty beetles, and all sorts of other creatures which would probably make an entomologists day, but just made for an uncomfortable evening for me. It was quite a battle getting into bed without taking any of them with us. We had a good drive out from Shingwedzi yesterday. We took the Mphongolo Loop Road to Babalala, it was such different scenery, lush grass in place and tall, towering trees with amazing trunks. Today we met up again with a couple of Americans we have seen several times, they were also a Babalala, they left in a northerly direction and we returned southwards along the Mphongolo road. Less than a kilometre from Babalala they saw an adult Cheetah and 4 cubs. We saw a Goliath Heron and a Fish Eagle. To see the Fish Eagle was wonderful, they are such magnificent birds, but I think the prize was the Goliath Heron. It was so beautiful, it's neck so long and when it flew off it's feathers were almost iridescent.
We enjoyed the stay at Shingdwezi, maybe because everyone was so pleased to see us and all the facilities are in excellent condition having just been restored after the floods last January. We watched a video made by the crew of a helicopter rescue team, as they airlifted people to rescue from trees and the tops of buildings. Looking at the large, deep and almost empty river bed now it is impossible to imagine how it could ever have contained that amount of water.
During the drive here today there was so much evidence of extensive water damage and erosion along the river bed. Vast gulleys dissect the soil and, close to the river, trees hang perilously over the dry banks with roots exposed.

Monday 25 November
It is very quiet here, only 3 of the bungalows occupied. As they all set amongst trees you don't really see anyone else, but we caught a glimpse of another middle-aged-ish couple, necks weighed down with telescopic camera equipment, serious bird-watchers.  I talked to one of the Camp employees this morning and learnt that they are all on 'zero-hours' arrangements. They only get paid if there are residents and they have work to do. They are so pleased to see us! After our braai we strolled over to the hide, from where you can see out over a water pool. It was dusk so there weren't so many birds, but we watched as a small herd of elephants with one of the youngest calfs we have seen, came to drink and bathe. Back at the bungalow we had a pleasant evening sitting outside in the covered kitchen/eating area. The insect population was much less and didn't bother us at all. Some tiny bats flitted out of the thatch roof, explaining some of the streaks down the walls, and polished off quite a few. I have no idea which type of bat, but in the dim light they seemed to have a bluish hue.
When we came outside to get coffee and breakfast this morning we had to sweep everywhere and clean all the surfaces. After we had gone to bed the squirrels and any other small animals who might make mouse like droppings had obviously held a party. We had adhered to the warning signs about keeping food in the cupboards because of squirrels, but I had left a sealed plastic container of olives out, that had been nibbled through but they don't seem to have been impressed with the olives. There isn't a monkey or baboon problem here, otherwise the cupboards wouldn't be safe, monkeys would open the doors and baboons might well tear even locked doors open. The damage wreaked by baboons at Maroela when they rampaged through the cooking area outside a caravan and the adjacent tent was awful. They pulled tables and chairs over, smashed crockery and glasses, and upturned any container they could find.
Enjoying the luxury of the bungalow we cooked eggs for breakfast and then took a drive to 2 nearby water spots, a lake and a dam. Both of them are in the area only available to people staying at the Bush Camp, no day visitors, you have to be booked in as a resident. The lake and the dam were both vast and deep, the best stretches of water we have seen anywhere, but we only saw hippos and crocodiles, mid-morning not being a good game viewing time. A startled herd of Impala dashed across the road ahead of us, totally disorganised and running in every direction, suggesting that they had been disturbed by a predator. We turned off the car engine and sat quietly for a time, but we didn't see anything.
We came across 2 Woodland Rangers deep in the bush. They were in camouflage gear and very heavily armed, rifles and lots of ammunition slung around their bodies. We stopped to speak to them. We knew that here in the northern, less visited and more isolated part of the Park poaching has been a problem. They told us that since they have been working up here things are much better, they keep a patrol on the Mozambiquan border, which is how poachers gain access, the western and southern boundaries of the Park are in South Africa and well fortified and guarded. In the north a tiny area abuts the Limpopo river, forming a border with Zimbabwe, but the whole of the western boundary is also the border with Mozambique, through the Lembobo Mountains. I have no idea how the Mozambiquans monitor the National Park their side of the border, or what effect it will have if it ever becomes possible to create the trans-frontier Park envisaged, taking in that part of Mozambique and extending across the Limpopo into Zimbabwe. I am sure it will all be very 'political'.
There are plenty of birds here at the bungalow for us to see and we will probably take another look at the elephants tonight.

Kruger National Park, Shingwedzi

Well, the rain came, and quite a lot of it. It started yesterday early afternoon, soon after we got back from a short drive, and continued throughout the afternoon and evening until this morning. There were some occasional short periods when it stopped, but it seemed like more heavier spells. We haven't encountered many what we would call 'conventional' tenters on this trip. There are several caravans and motor-homes, but the popular tenting option is what looks like a very expensive piece of equipment. It looks like a trailer with a canvas packed top. At what appears to be a simple cord pull it transforms itself into a large tent, the back of which is over the trailer. Large canopies come out in all directions putting the whole thing under rain/shade cover. The back side of the trailer, under a canopy, opens down to form a stocked kitchen unit, with fridge, freezer and a breakfast bar. If it is along the same lines as a safari 4 X 4 option we had a look round at Letaba, then boxes on rollers pull out which contain everything you need. The safari 4 X 4 at Letaba was really only for 2 people as you climbed a ladder to sleep on top. It was very sophisticated though, an adapted Toyota Hi-Lux with the ability to raise the undercarriage for very rocky off-road stuff and a swamp attachment. Most of the people with the trailer version seem to have families. In fact one arrived at the site last night, after dark, in the rain, with 2 small children and a baby. So we, with our pitch and strike plain old tent are a bit of an exception. However, even after the heavy and the persistent rain of the last 24 hours we are still dry inside, the lack of extremely strong and gusty wind means we are much more secure.
It was cold last night, I put long trousers and a thick top on and even contemplated sleeping in my clothes. Once we were tucked up in the bedroom unit in my sleeping bag, at 20.00! , I was quite warm enough. The tent is a bit on the flimsy side for some of the extreme conditions we have encountered, but is doing well, loads of ventilation but quite secure and large enough to sit in if it rains.
So we  had a dry couple of hours when we got up this morning around 07.00 which enabled us to put everything outside and sweep out and de-ant the front of the tent. As the groundsheet isn't integral it seems lots of leaves and sand blow in. We also emptied out the car contents and reorganised our packing. We had stocked up with supplies before coming into the Park, which was quite unnecessary, as the Camp shops sell enough basic stuff to keep us going, not the range of fruit we might like, but enough. They also sell very small quantities of things, which we have discovered is a very good idea, without proper refrigeration, we buy ice on a daily basis for a cool box, it is difficult to keep anything which is not in a water-tight container cool. Fruit, for example, ends up swimming in water as the ice melts.
Some light rain has returned so we are back inside doing a bit of catching up, I'm writing this and John is looking at route-planning, and we are starting to think ahead to Zimbabwe. We have spoken to several people who have been/go there, and although we have been warned about police corruption, particularly at the Beitbridge border crossing, the country seems to be in a much better state than the British media reports, which is what we thought before we came.
On 'political' issues maybe I have time now to add a few more thoughts about the South African situation. An important thing to mention first is that I have only spoken to white people. We have seen black people staying in the Camps, but they seemed to be in the more expensive bungalows. That would fit in with what we had heard about a very rich black elite, and poverty amongst most of the population. Kruger National Park seems to be completely black run. With the exception of one white person appearing momentarily, presumably from a back office, all the staff we have met have been black, not just the manual workers but also the administrative staff. There may be many others in Glass Towers somewhere, but we haven't encountered them.
So from the white minority  we have met camping there seems to be a story of reverse apartheid, resulting in an exodus of the young whites, in  search of work. A white man we spoke to was self-employed with one or more small businesses. He told us that a major problem is the recruitment of the best staff for the work. Because of the quota system reflecting the percentage of the population, if he advertises a job and has an outstanding white applicant he can't offer him the job unless he has already filled his required quota of black employees, and has to give the job to the 'best of the worst'. I wonder why there is such a paucity of good black applicants? Surely if the education system is free and accessible then, considering the percentages argument, there should be more skilled black Africans than white for each job? Another point he was critical about was the government requirement to create jobs wherever possible, for example he was not allowed to have self-service pumps at his fuel station, he had to allow pump attendant jobs. This must obviously reduce his profit margin, but on the other hand high employment usually leads to a more stable society. Maybe it is something to be considered in the U.K.? Should petrol pump attendants be re-introduced? How about a permanent attendant in public toilets??

Kruger National Park, Shingwedzi

Another place, another storm, although this time nothing like the one we had at Maroela.
The Letaba campsite was vast and set amongst Mopane trees, which are loved by the Cicadas. We had heard them from the car as we drove through the Mopane scrub, which predominates in this very dry area. At the campsite they were deafening and we attempted to find a shady spot closer to an Acacia tree. I am not sure if it is because the trees are not in full leaf yet, and as the rainy season arrives they produce more foliage, but full shade at the moment is hard to find. Usually the best we can do is dappled shade even we can find any at all. The first night there we cooked on the braai and put our light on after dark. We were immediately surrounded by flying Cicadas, flying into and on us. We backed further and further away, leaving them to enjoy the light all to themselves, and then eventually turning it off and finishing our wine in peaceful darkness. A couple who had arrived at the campsite about the same time as us and who had pitched closer to the perimeter fence called us over to see the hyenas padding up and down, just as we had seen them at Crocodile Bridge. We noticed that they had built up their braai after eating and didn't seem to have the same Cicada problem as us. He said that the fire and the smoke discouraged them.
Letaba is a well equipped site and on the second night there we had a meal at the restaurant, looking out over the Letaba river just before dusk, as the animals came down to drink. It was very pleasant. Even though we didn't need it for cooking we lit the braai when we got back to the tent and it did keep most of the Cicadas away which gave us a much more pleasant evening sitting outside. We had heard that the weather would remain unsettled for the next few days and we checked it out with an internet forecast. Heavy rain was expected for the area from Wednesday evening through Thursday and Friday. We had been going to stay at Letaba for three days and then move on to Shingwedzi for the next three. That would mean that we would possibly have to strike and pitch the tent in rain on Thursday. We decided to move to Shingwedzi a day early, having four days there instead. After our experiences at Maroela we would prefer to be safely installed before the next storm.
So we had a pleasant drive here yesterday, thickening clouds around us as we came further north. At reception we learnt that the Shingwedzi Camp only reopened at the end of September after devastating floods last February. Evidently very heavy and prolonged rainfall combined with a rapid rise in river level caused it to overflow the banks. There must have been well over a metre of flood water, it came up above window level in the reception and restaurant areas, and completely swamped the camping site, washing cars away. This means it must have flooded all the chalets and bungalows which are between the reception/restaurant area and the camping ground.
The campsite was almost deserted, big enough to take over 100 tents, there were three with us, although several of the bungalows appeared to be occupied in the evening. The ablution and kitchen blocks all look new, so presumably they have been replaced. The site is also completely level and only sand and grit, so perhaps it was bulldozed to remove the gullies which must have been created by the flood waters, not to mention cars and caravans being dragged across it. We cooked on the braai as the sky darkened and flashes of lightening appeared on the horizon. As soon as we put the light on there were swarms of tiny flies around it. As at Letaba we drew further away and were not troubled by them. By the time we went to bed at  20.30 the clouds of flies were unbelievably thick, they seemed to settle on anything white. We took great pains to make sure we didn't take any into the bedroom unit with us, undressing outside in the dark and shaking all our clothes well.
The temperature and the humidity were as high as anything I have ever experienced. At 20.30 it was still 38C and I was sweating from every conceivable part of my body. We lay naked on our sleeping mats, just dripping, careful not to move as that created even more sweat. When we were in the Camp shop this morning one of the people working there, who lives on-site,  said that last night was one of the worst he has ever experienced, very unusual. He was surprised that it didn't develop into a terrific storm, but there has been very heavy rainfall in some other places, just outside the Park. We were hardly in bed when the wind started, so exactly the right decision. We steeled ourselves for the worst as the tent was buffeted in the gusts. However it was no where near as dramatic as the previous storm. There was very little overhead lightening and we only heard a couple of low and distant rumbles of thunder. There was no rain. One of the campsite workers, when we mentioned the possibility of rain, he said not here, not now. The forecast covered the whole area, from Punda Maria to Letaba, maybe that was where we could see the storm on the horizon, but Shingwedzi didn't get so much rain, which was why everywhere is so dry and arid.
We didn't sleep badly, despite being alert to any major wind gusts. The 10 inch nails held everything in place
This morning brought a totally different day, almost a 20° drop in temperature and    some light rain. 21C is the maximum forecast for today and tomorrow and maybe some rain, but it seems to be of the steady rather than storm variety.
Yesterday on the way here we saw an amazing site. We were following the Shingwedzi river and glancing out of my car window I thought I saw some hippos in the water. John stopped the car, they were in fact two elephants. We wondered if they were mating in the water. Do they? Is it easier? They were rolling around, on top and underneath each other, and frequently one or other was completely submerged.
We have had a small drive out this morning to a nearby dam. The feel of the Park is very different here, some less organised, far, far fewer people.

Kruger National Park, Letaba

We came here from Maroela this morning, with a very wet and dirty tent. Last night we probably experienced our worst storm ever, and we have both camped separately on  the North Norfolk coast during storms which flattened practically every tent on the site, and boats were lost at sea. We shared our experiences with some South African campers, thinking perhaps it was the norm for here, but were told it was one of their worst storms too. After 3 or 4 days of really high temperatures, up to 40C, we were not surprised as the clouds built up yesterday evening and the air became even heavier, humid and oppressive. As we were clearing up our braai the flashes of lightening became to show in the darkening sky. Apart from one or two isolated smatterings of rain there was no indication of what was to come. We sat outside in the twilight and played cards as thunder and lightening circled around us. We decided to go to bed about 21.30, the storm seemed to have passed, less lightening and the thunder weaker. About 23.30 I woke to hear closer thunder and some sharp bursts of lightening, so I decided to get up and zip up the tent doors and windows John woke up and I had hardly returned to the tent when the wind began to roar, deafeningly, we were shouting at each other to make ourselves heard, and the rain had begun to cascade down, sounding like hail as it hit the tent. In a ferocious, whirl-wind type burst the front of the tent was torn from its pegs and lifted from the ground, and the rain drove in. John got up and went into the front area of the tent and laid, naked, on it to hold it down. Chairs and table had been blown over and everywhere was awash. I got up to help him by trying to hold down the upper part of the tent. It was the events of the next half of an hour that made this so scary. The bolts and flashes of lightening came with pauses and simultaneously cracks of thunder rent through the night sky. It was just the most terrifying experience. If we can find a positive side the intensity of the lightening enabled us to see what was happening, mainly the river running through the tent. There was one particular crack of lightening when I couldn't help but fall to the floor and cover my head, the noise was so deafening. This morning we learnt that the lightening struck the perimeter fence, about 50 metres from our tent and there were sparks and flames. We think it disabled the electric fence, this morning a couple of official looking men arrived and headed for the transformer. It was the proximity and ferocity of the thunder and lightening which made this storm so terrifying. It was all over by 00.30, the thunder and lightening had ceased, John, now wearing a pair of underpants, went round and secured the tent fly with 10 inch nails, we avoided the muddy muddle in the middle.  We both dried of and went back to bed, our sleeping mats were  damp but tolerable. This morning at 05.00 we got up to sort it out. After a hasty breakfast we piled everything into the car, keeping wet things separate as far as possible. My 99p shop plastic tablecloths which I always take camping came into their own once again.
We had a pleasant drive here through mixed terrain, we had to stop while a giraffe crossed the road, in no hurry at all and treating us with great disdain. We saw an enormous flock of vultures, clearing up some rotting carcass, there could easily have been a hundred of them, on the ground and circling above. The clouds drifted away and we arrived here to a hot sunny afternoon. It's 16.30  now, everything is dry and reasonably clean. Lots of sun and a stiff breeze has really helped. We have had a couple of beers and are about to light the braai. We have been told that the weather could be unsettled over the next few days, with the possibility of more storms because of the very high temperature. We hope none will be as bad as last night. This time John has pegged everything down with 10 inch nails, just in case.

Kruger National Park, Maroela Camp site.

We came here yesterday moving on from Sahara. It's the first real campsite in as much as it is tents and caravans only, no bungalows or chalets. It gives us traditional campers a much better feel, maybe even better without the caravans! It has electricity and is supervised by a live-in couple who keep it spick and span. There is a spotlessly clean ablutions block and a nice outdoor cooking, washing up area. as there isn't an on-site shop where ice can be bought there are are 2 large deep-freezers. Excellent. One is supposed to work as a fridge rather than a freezer, although as far as I can see they are both very cold. This morning I discovered frozen milk and lettuce in the 'fridge', and we have hastily moved the beer in case the cans pop.
There were quite a few people here when we arrived late lunchtime yesterday, as we had taken a long and roundabout route from Satara, weekend caravanners. In order to find somewhere with shade we pitched under trees in the centre, rather than close to the perimeter fence. After a lazy  afternoon, braai and shower we were just settling down to a game of Crib when a guy came across to our tent and asked if we wanted to go and see the elephants. We followed him to the fence where a family group of elephants were feeding, about 2 metres away. It is full moon, so we could see perfectly well, but after  a while a stupid bloke came with  strong spotlight torch which he shone on them, and of course they moved further away.
We did a drive this morning from about 08.00 to 14.00. Once yet again we were surprised at the vast areas of grazing land without any animals. The scenery was again very varied, we followed an almost dry river bed, but they were some magnificent trees which must have been able to get their roots down into the water table. We saw buffalo luxuriating in a mud bath and a young male lion, looking splendid just sitting my the roadside.
We were warned the the monkeys can be  problem here, I chased one out of the car early on and we haven't had any round us since. We were going to stay at another basic site after this one, at Balule, but when we were at Satara we changed the booking to give us 3 days at Letaba instead, as there seemed to be more places of interest in that vicinity. Since we have been here 2 separate people have warned us off the site at Balule. Evidently the monkeys there are a real problem, wrecking everything and very clever. They have worked out how to undo tent zips, one person said he used cable ties to fasten the zips and they just chewed through them. So maybe it's good we decided to give Balule a miss. Another basic site at Tzendze comes highly recommended though, so when we are at Letaba we may see if we can make some changes to our schedule and get a couple of nights there.
Camping in Kruger is a bit like being in a large protected bubble. For us this free and easy camping environment is normal, but I wonder how many of the people here, particularly if they live around Jo'burg, live in gated houses, surrounded by high electric fences and 24 hour guards. There are fences here, to give protection from possible aggressive animals, but no muggings, knife crimes, car-jacking. You can wander the site at night, leave your possessions in the tent, the car unlocked. We must be aware when we leave the Park, that we might need to take more care.

Even more Kruger animals

Kruger National Park Satara

Another day of temperatures around 38C so we are spending the afternoon back at the campsite, sitting in the shade of a tree we were lucky enough to find. We didn't make such an early start today, having a leisurely breakfast and leaving about 07.30. It was already 28C, but with the car windows open there was a pleasant breeze. We took a westerly route from the campsite and most of the time were on gravel roads. We followed the Timbavati river for the first part of the trip, a vast dry and sandy river bed for the most part. There was barely a trickle of water, but the vast size of the river bend suggests that at some time it is a formidable river. The route was interesting as we went through several different types of landscape, vast dry plains, densely wooded scrub, and clumps of taller trees. We saw a variety of birds, so many we are unable to identify, but at one small tributary crossing where there was a stronger flow of water we saw storks and a kingfisher. A large band of baboons were occupying a water hole, taking a bath, looking for all  the world as if they were scrubbing under their arm and the backs of their necks.
We've decided to change our itinerary slightly and have managed to do it from here. Now that we are more familiar with the Park and the Campsites we have decided to miss out a single one night stop at a smaller camp, Balule and tack an extra night onto the stay at Letaba. We were only going to overnight at Balule from the 'rural' experience, and quite honestly we have had loads of other much more 'rural' experiences at other times, on other trips. Three nights at Letaba will give us more opportunity to take in some of the more diverse range of experiences available in that area.
We've decided to take a walk around the perimeter fence at dusk and see if we can't get a glimpse of the honey badgers, which evidently patrol the fence at night, as the hyenas did at Crocodile Bridge.

Kruger National Park Satara

We left Lower Sabie yesterday morning and took a slow route northwards to Satara, another large camp. In fact there is a larger camping area here than any we have been on before. Although there are quite a lot trees they are sparse and we had to drive around several times to find a spot which would give us shade. We arrived here about 12.00 and it was 35C. As it is such a large campsite it wasn't so crowded last night. We spoke to a couple who had come from Maroela, the site we are headed for next, a 'basic' site, only tents and caravans, no shop or other facilities, just toilets, showers and washing up area. They know the Park well, they live in Jo'burg and have been coming here for years, and  said it will be busy with weekenders when we go on Saturday, but it could well be our last busy campsite as  far fewer people go to the northern part of the Park. It actually juts up against the Zimbabwean border, but there isn't a border post inside the Park at the moment, we have to leave the Park and travel west and just a little bit further north to the crossing point at Beitbridge. I have heard rumours about developing a trans-fronteir Park which would not only extend from Kruger into Zimbabwe, but also across the eastern border at this point into Mozambique. There is an interesting looking place on the map called 'Crooks Corner, where the three countries meet. After all, the animals don't stay within the country borders, but wander freely between them.
It was a good drive here yesterday, we aw lots of animals. Maybe this is a good time to make a  list of all the animals we have seen so far:
Elephants++
Zebras++
Giraffes+
Hippos++
Rhinos
Crocodiles+
Lions
Wilderbeest++
Black backed Jackals
Hyenas
Warthogs++
Hartebeest
Mongoose
Impala++
Common Duku
Kudu
Steenbok
Vervet monkeys++
Baboons
Ostrich
Saddle-billed Stork
Southern Ground Hornbill
+ Loads of birds, only some of which we are able to identify, obviously the Starlings, many varieties, turquoise and glossy, and the Weaver birds, darts of yellow. The Hornbills are impressive, with their long curved beaks. Many of the small birds are dashes of bright colour, gone before we can reach for the binoculars of the Birder Guide.

The tent is working very well. Yesterday afternoon we walked past some of the (very expensive) chalet bungalows. They had their windows shut and noisy air-con chugging away. With all the ventilation, although it was a still a bit warm when we went to bed at 21.00 we had no trouble sleeping, and I woke up at 01.00 and needed to pull a sleeping bag over as I was old
It is of course, still Spring here, well pre-Summer, May equivalent. Just as the Jakarandas were in full blossom when we were in Pretoria so many of the Veld (Bush) shrubs and trees are in flower. The perfume, particularly early morning and after dusk is exotic and heady.
We were up and out in the Park by 05.00 this morning, getting back at 07.30 for some breakfast. Although we had two good viewings, the Blacked backed Jackal and the Saddle-billed Stork, there was not the proliferation of grazing animals we expected. The Park is vast, animals obviously move around freely and it is very much a case of being in the right place at the right time.

Kruger National Park, Lower Sabie

We are having a lazy morning after a long game hunting day yesterday, so I have an opportunity to jot down a few musings.
We have camped in a lot of other S.A. National Parks, but never in a Game Park before. I think I may have already commented on this, but it is really being reinforced on the larger, more popular game viewing locations. The camping is really only about somewhere to sleep while out looking for game. It is 09.45 now and the site is almost deserted, a good time to catch up on some sleep! The day started at 04.00 this morning as people got up just before dawn, to maybe make some coffee, fill a flask and be at the campsite gates as they were opened at 04.30. It seems to the general assumption that everyone is only here for the game so there is no attempt to be quiet. Searchlights and head torches are on, where there are groups of people lots of chatting, car doors opened and slammed. Large SUVs and even bigger 4 X 4 trucks abound, as South Africans tend to take a deep freezer, and a full oven camping with them in their adapted vehicles and trailers, and they all have powerful and noisy diesel engines. The enthusiasm of these South Africans for getting into the bush to see the same animals time and time again puts any British twitchers I have pet to shame. We have met people, South Africans, who come into Kruger Park for their holiday every year, sometimes twice a year, to do the same thing, and at weekends they flood in for a couple of nights. They often stay for the full day on a Sunday, then pack up and leave at 04.30 in the morning so that they can drive back to go straight into work, and kids to school.
I am really annoyed that we haven't been able to buy a simple guide to the birds in the Park in English. We even made a detour into Skukuza yesterday, the largest Camp in the Park, more like a small town, but we couldn't get one their either. All the simple guides were only in Afrikaans, any in English were weighty tombs, far more information than we need, or could find our way around. The birds are beautiful, and they are supposed to be even better further north. Common birds like the Starling, which are not so attractive in the U.K. are glorious here with iridescent turquoise feathers and bright orange rings round their eyes.
On our last night at Crocodile Bridge we spent some time talking with a couple camping nearby, retired but maybe just a bit younger than us. Her father was English so she has a British passport, they lived in Huntingdon for 10 years until 2010 as he was a pilot flying out of Stanstead. They have 2 daughters, both married to other South Africans and with families, but neither of them living in S.A. One daughter lives in the U.K., and the other one in Qatar, where her husband is also a pilot. Neither family will ever return to S.A., in fact they have both taken up their British citizenship for themselves and their children through their mother. We were told that there would be no jobs for them here, as I understood it without becoming too interrogative, jobs are allocated according to a percentage of the population and of course whites are in the minority. They didn't come over as being at all racist, originally supporters of the ANC government, looking forward to a fairer future for everyone in the country. It seems that since the Zuma government it has all gone a bit pear-shaped, there is so much corruption going on at government level and it all filters down, everyone taking their cut, until it affects all aspects of life. In fact, we were told, the current government is no better than the old National Government before the 'so-called' abolition of Apartheid. A section of black Africans is getting richer and richer and doing nothing to address the poverty of most of their fellow blacks, and is also actively discriminating against other racial groups like the Coloureds. I hope that we will have other opportunities during the trip to learn more about how different people feel about their lives and livelihood here at the present.

Even more animals

Kruger National Park, Lower Sabie

Yesterday we moved a little further north to another campsite in the Kruger Park called Lower Sabie. It's a very nice site, with emplacements bordered with trees and shrubs, giving it feeling of space and natural habitat. However as a popular campsite it is also very busy, with the odd overland truck and groups. I think I still prefer Malelane, as it was more like camping in the countryside.
In the last couple of days we have seen lots of elephants, we had a close encounter with a large cow elephant who became very agitated protecting her calf as we drew up in the car. We backed away very slowly. In fact we have had two incidences of elephant cows becoming quite threatening when they have young. There are so many hippos, every river and dam seems to have so many, we have also seen crocodiles, in and out of the water and some large rhino. Deer and antelope abound, particularly Kudu and Impala, both of whom are having young at the moment. So are the Vervet monkeys and it is touching to see the tiny babies clinging onto their mothers, all you can see is their tiny feet poking through their mothers fur at the back.
There are lots of animals here, just driving from one place to another we see warthogs, wildebeest, impala and kudu in abundance. The highlight of today has to be the lions, two male lions so stuffed after a recent kill that they could hardly move. they were just lying by the roadside. They were only a couple of metres from the car. We also saw a jackal who had just eaten, but he was in a field and too far away to photograph. In fact photography has been a bit of a problem today, as it has been one of those typical African days, heavy cloud and poor light. I always remember that when I was first in Tanzania I was amazed at the lack of sunshine. I was used to the clear, blue, cloudless skies of Greece and was quire unprepared for the towering clouds.
A couple of nights ago we had an electric storm, lots of lightning and some thunder. It rained quite hard last night and has drizzled off and on for most of today, but its warm we are sitting outside in T shirts and shorts at 20.30.
We took a beer and parked by a dam tonight at 18.00 and watched in the gloom as the hippos came out to graze, a crocodile cruised past and the elephants came down to drink.
The bird are wonderful, I can't photograph them, but I don't really want to. I've hardly taken any photos, maybe 20 since we arrived. You miss so much trying to photograph everything, and for why? My photographs of the birds and animals we see will never be as good as a postcard I can buy, and I probably won't ever look at them again, better to treasure the moment.
We have another day here and then we move further north again. We will end our Kruger trip in the far north, at the Zimbabwe border, and as far as we can tell, not so many people go there, it's more about scenery, archaeology and birds. Sounds good.

Some of the animals we saw today

Kruger National Park Crocodile Bridge

This is our second night here. We are getting used to the idea that we have a time shift. Although we camped at many different places in S.A. on our last trip here, and in several National Parks, none of them were Game Parks. We were in bed at 20.30 last night, read a bit, but were both asleep by 21.00. We were awake again this morning at 04.30 as the gates opened and people left to see the animals still clustered around the rivers and waterholes, and before they all retreated deep into the bush for the daylight hours. We dozed on a bit but got up around 06.30 and were on the game trail by 08.00. We saw lots of animals today,  the usual kudu and impala, but also yet roan antelope, wildebeest, rhino, hippo, crocodile, buffalo, yet more elephants and some zebra. There are far fewer zebra than I expected. In Tanzania I was used to seeing herds of them, mixed in with wildebeest, maybe there will be more as we go further north. The high spot of the day was when we stopped off at a hide overlooking the river, where several hippos were wallowing in the shallow water. We saw the snouts of several crocodile floating past, and one up on the bank. There were countless terrapins and frogs.
The birds are wonderful, and probably of more interest than the animals, which you can become quite blasé about. Today we saw so many we couldn't identify, but certainly lots of weaver birds, a vulture sitting on it's next and a stunning lilac breasted roller. We looked in the campsite shop for a bird guide, but they were all in Afrikaans. We are at a bigger camp tomorrow, so we may be able to get one from the shop there.
Most South Africans we have spoken have said how good it will be in Zimbabwe. The general message seems to be that conditions there are not as bad as U.K. media reports it. In fact one woman we spoke to, when we told her whereabouts we intended to go, said, without obvious rancour, that her aunt used to have a farm there until the government 'reclaimed' it. We are so pleased that we have decided to go, although I have my doubts about getting to speak to any black Zimbabweans. Once again, camping in S.A., campers are exclusively white. Unfortunately we didn't get to Johannesburg but even in Pretoria it was obvious that there was a vibrant, educated and skilled, black 'middle-class'. We didn't go to any expensive restaurants, frequenting café, bistro style places, as it is more our thing. The clientele was almost exclusively black, young, vibrant, smartly dressed. In fact we had an anxious moment on one occasion when we saw a notice which said, 'no sandals, shorts or caps after 18.30'. It was after 18.30, we were both wearing sandals and John was wearing shorts. As we were  40 to 50 years older than anyone else there and white, I guess they made an exception.
As with the last trip here, the main question I have is about 'poor' whites. It seems to me that there are very affluent blacks, lots of well-off whites, reasonably well-off blacks and whites, and poor blacks. While we were at the road works on the N4 for example, we saw what seemed to be black and white 'boss-men', striding around with mobile phones, in hard hats, directing operations, but all the workers were black.
Tomorrow we move northwards to another camp and we have three nights there.

Kruger National Park. Crocodile Bridge

We had a long and tedious journey after leaving Pretoria. It was OK until we left Nelspruit, where we stopped to do some shopping. From there  it should have taken us about 30 mins to reach the Malelane Gate into Kruger, instead the most awful roadworks meant that it took two hours. We arrived at Malelane at 4.30 in the afternoon on Wednesday, 2 days ago, and the temperature was 40C, putting the tent up was a bit uncomfortable. Malelane is what is termed a satellite camp, with only basic facilities, however we found nice toilets and showers with hot water, an equipped kitchen with fridges and freezers and a washing up area with the lovely instant boiling water machine. There was only one caravan there when we arrived, and over the 2 nights there were never more than 3 pitches taken. We pitched our tent next to a perimeter fence. Driving from the entrance gate to the campsite we saw elephants and rhinos. Yesterday was a quiet day, chilling out and relaxing after the last hectic 4 days in Pretoria. We repacked and reorganised the car, amazed at how much space we had. We didn't see any animals  from the perimeter fence but just the other side there were mounds of fairly fresh elephant dung and part of the fence had been badly bent. We did see lots of birds and some beautiful lizards.
Yesterday evening, as were sitting outside the tent, relaxing with a glass of wine, there were a few drops of rain, and the wind got up. It was a gamble about whether we zipped up the fly windows in case of heavy rain but it was still very hot so we decided to risk it. It didn't rain, but was very windy. This morning we left Malelane about 8 and drove very slowly to Crocodile Bridge. We saw 2 elephants early on, very close to the road, about 3 metres away, a cow and her ? cub (what do you call an elephant child?), but the highlight had to be closer to Crocodile Bridge when a large herd with lots of small babies rushed across the road, just a few metres ahead of our car. We also saw giraffe, again very close, zebra, hippo, crocodile and countless antelope. We made a small detour down to the Crocodile River where a warden, with rifle, escorted us and another couple (who live in Beccles) up to a vantage point of some rocks where we could spot hippos and crocodiles. On arrival at the campsite we were amazed to find how busy it was, we did manage to get maybe the last pitch with some decent shade.
I have to digress here, it's 19.30 and dark, we have an electricity hookup and in the gloomy shadows cast by our light a hyena has just smooched past about 3 metres away from us, the other side of the perimeter fence. There are warning signs asking that waste food is not thrown over the fence as scavenging hyenas have become a problem ad can get quite aggressive. It takes a bit of getting used to, that we are camping in the middle of bush, with so many wild and dangerous animals all around us. The camps are surrounded by high wire fences, topped with electric fence. Everyone has to be inside by 18.30 and the gates are secured. Then it is life as normal, braai, (BBQ), shower, wine. During the night you can often hear roars, screams and snorts, from various animals. The gates are unlocked at dawn, 04.30 at the moment, and you are free to drive out independently in search of game. In fact we are getting used to the fact that the day starts at 04.30 as people start moving about, doors slamming, engines started. To compensate, everyone is usually tucked up in bed by 21.00.
Another digression as I am keying in around a large praying mantis which won't get off my keyboard.
Unlike Malelane the last couple of nights this campsite is fully booked, there seems to be several family groups with children. We have just realised that it is a summer weekend and so lots of fairly local campers. I had been surprised that we have met so many South Africans camping, but of course the overseas tourists will be staying in safari lodges on organised tours, or if they are doing it independently then usually in the chalet accommodation in the Park, it takes quite a bit of planning and organisation to do as we do and camp.
Which leads nicely once again into the South Africans, or more particularly the Afrikaans. We are in the north here and in Afrikaans belt, although we have met quite a few people from Cape Town. Anyone who followed our last trip to Southern Africa 3 years ago may remember that we were stranded in the middle of an intensely Afrikaans area when our Cash Card was cloned and the bank closed it down. We were in a small town where hardly anyone spoke any English. When they heard what had happened to us their help and hospitality went beyond anything we have ever experienced, offering to lend us, complete strangers, money until we could get it sorted, arranging for us to go into workplace which had British connections so that we could send faxes to the U.K. Last night at Malelane John spoke to an Afrikaans guy about how terrible the braai wood he had purchased was, too big and green. The man gave him a sack of his own wood, which he had brought in with him. This evening John has had more help than he really needed. Our electricity cable wouldn't work, an Afrikaans guy camping near by saw our predicament, offered us an extension lead, took ours and then produced 20 metres of cable, changed our plug and socket onto it and gave it to us as a gift. Usually they are die-hard racists, 'those blacks', 'watch your back when blacks are about', etc., etc., but for a fellow white, so kind and generous.

The tent, a big mossie net

Jakaranda trees in Pretoria

Pretoria

We have had a four night stay in Pretoria. Our arrival in South Africa was marred by the fact that one of our bags didn't survive the journey. Initially we thought that KLM had 'lost' it, when actually they did a very good job in getting all the contents to us intact. We had the bright idea of packing our camping gear wrapped around clothes etc for protection in a couple of the bags sold cheaply as 'laundry bags', a plasticky woven material, made in China. We had seen them coming off luggage carousels lot of times. It would mean that with limited space in the car we wouldn't have proper luggage taking up room, we could dispose of them and replace for the return journey. However one did not survive the rough handling and broke open. KLM wrapped it in plastic and delivered it to the Guest House the following day.
The next calamity was that while we were picking up our hire car John's travel man-bag was stolen. Our only excuse is that we had had a long journey, then more time at the KLM desk sorting out how we would get our lost bag, and we were lax with our security. It is all in retrospect because we didn't realise it had been stolen until we reached the Guest House in Pretoria and John needed his passport. I had a phone call from Airport Security to say that they had his bag and we needed to collect it, they had my number through contacting the KLM desk as our flight details were in John's bag and I had left my mobile number for contact concerning my lost bag. On examination most things were still in the bag, the only thing missing was a wallet containing $400 and £50 in cash and several debit cards. John was able to stop the cards immediately and we reported the theft to the police in order to obtain a case number for insurance purposes. We think that we both left the trolley with our bags unattended while we went through the process of checking the hire car for scratches etc., before signing the documents. We don't know exactly how the theft took place, but a suspicious incident is that as we were drawing away in the hire car another person in the carpark waved and pointed out that we had left one of our carry-on bags on the ground near the car. We were amazed that we had done that, we were sure we had loaded all our bags in the car. John's man-bag would have been in the top of his carry-on bag, so somehow someone had taken that from the back of the car and and removed  his bag.
We are pleased that we arranged a four night stop-over in Pretoria, giving us three days here. Originally our plan had been a day to see Pretoria, a day to go into Johannesburg and a day to do our shopping. We had neglected to process that one of those days, our first day here, was a Sunday and the shops close at lunchtime, and that was of course the day we chose for the shopping. We have managed to see something of Pretoria, quite a lot of the area around where we are staying as we have travelled both by car and foot backwards and forwards several times. We have been to the Botanical Gardens, which are vast. I had expected something like Kirstenbosch in Cape Town, but this was very different, all the indigenous plants had been introduced and then it seems, left to their own devices. So there were no avenues of beautiful flowers, irrigated, instead we found sprawling stretches of trees and shrubs, some smaller areas of wetland, medicinal plants and, which I loved, cactus and succulents. It was wonderful to see some of the cactus and succulents which I have grown from the seeds we brought back from our last trip growing in the wild. Mine in a pot at home is 50 cm high, in The Botanical Gardens here it was 4 metres.
From The Gardens we went on to the Cullinan Diamond Mines, where 3 of the largest diamonds in the world have been found, including the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels. Evidently it was given as a present to Edward VI and it travelled to the U.K. in a cardboard box, with no security. At Cullinan they would like it back! The Mine and all the information about the diamonds, the processes was interesting, but what I will remember most is that it is now owned by a Greek company called Petra. A couple of years ago a unique blue diamond was reclaimed from an old slag heap and when polished it sold for 80 million Rand. I think that very roughly that is about £8 million I wonder where they pay their taxes? I wonder who the shareholders are? I wonder  how far it might help to pay off the Greek National Debt?
So how has our time here been spent? Queueing, waiting. The biggest and most time-consuming problem has been replacing the US currency which was stolen. This is essential as we will not be able to enter Zimbabwe without $ cash. We have to buy visas at the border, and all sorts of little add-ons, and they will only accept U.S. $ in payment. We could have waited and tried to find a bank closer to the border to see if we could buy them there, but it would be a bit risky, we really don't want want to hang about at the border, which the UK FO gives all sorts of dire warnings about. We tracked down a bank in Pretoria which would sell us dollars, then we had to provide unbelievable amounts of information, our hire care registration documents, the rental agreement. I expected them to ask for John's inside leg measurement. Getting a SA SIM to work in my phone so that I could use it for data transfer was also quite a long process.
Still, here we are, on Tuesday afternoon, we didn't get to Johannesburg, next time, but we have packed the car neatly and methodically. The tent is on top, we have opened it up and checked it over. We are going out soon to walk into the nearest Mall and get some food, and also buy the only thing we don't have, some 10 inch nails. Evidently the ground is so hard (before the rains) that tent pegs are no use. Who knows about after the rains, any day now!
Then, an early departure in the morning to Kruger. There is much more to say about S.A. so far, but that must wait until later, maybe when we are just hanging out in Kruger. The adventure starts tomorrow.