I went to South Africa last year on holiday to see an ex-girlfriend, whom I had met over the Internet six months previously. Though trip was an adventure in itself, I unfortunately didn’t have a chance to see any of the major battlefield sites…

Pre-trip Preparations:

After buying the tickets and renewing my passport in July 2001, I went ahead and got all my vaccination boosters updated, along with shots for Hep A&B, typhoid, and malaria medicine, since I was going to be primarily in the province of Mpumalanga (former Eastern Transvaal) for the duration of my stay. A former coworker and his boss had been on company business in Johannesburg about two years previously and didn’t need any vaccinations. So if you’re going to be traveling in SA, it’s best to check with your local health department to see what sort of health requirements might be needed.

Fortunately, I had a local South African making all the travel, hotel, and car arrangements for me, so I didn’t have to do any leg or phone work (outside of putting up all the money for the deposits). Depending on what travel arrangements you want to make, you can do a lot of it online or by phone (though I’d personally recommend going through an established tour agency for a first time visitor).

Outside of getting new luggage, the majority of my preparations didn’t really happen until a couple of days before I left. However, because of travel restrictions after September 11th, I had to get everything into one large wheelie and my own person effects into a smaller carry-on (besides my camera and photography equipment, which counted as a personal item).

Leaving KCI: Dec. 21st

After a four and a half hour drive from my home in Hays, KS to a Drury Inn near KCI (or Kansas City International) on Dec. 20th, I got up and took a hotel shuttle over to the airport. I’d heard different stories about going through security, so I’d arrived about three hours early just to be safe.

Even after passing through three different checkpoints and being randomly searched, I could have gotten by with only a two-hour lead-time. The real headaches came in when my Northwestern flight left from Detroit and my luggage was lost due to delays while making a connecting Royal Dutch KLM flight in Amsterdam to Johannesburg, SA. So instead of being bumped around from the US to Europe and then SA, I’d just pay the extra money and take a direct flight from Atlanta or Miami to Cape Town and then onto Johannesburg…

Arriving in Jo’burg: Dec. 22nd

After eight time zone changes, twenty-four hours of air travel and approximately 9,200 miles later, my ex-girlfriend and one of her male coworkers met me at the Johannesburg International airport. We then had to wait the next day for my luggage to show up before leaving for her hometown of Lydenburg (some four hours away by car).

Outside of her being struck by my height (I’m about 6’ 1”), the whole experience of being in summer during December was rather disconcerting. The closest thing I could relate to was my early childhood memories of Hawaii when my parents lived in Honolulu. Though nothing could have prepared me for the levels of security that greeted me everywhere I went…

Driving to Lydenburg: Dec. 23rd

My hat is off to the people who live Australia, New Zealand, UK, and other English speaking countries when it comes to driving on the left side of the road. Most of the vehicles in SA are manual transmissions and since I hadn’t ever driven one, I got an automatic Toyota Corolla (which was about twice as expensive to rent).

As we passed from Jo’burg through Pretoria, the landscape changed from urban sprawl to gently rolling hills and highveld (equivalent of the Great Plains). The whole area had the feel of being in the American Midwest with large fields of maize, wheat, and cattle followed by an occasional large city or mining area. Though the topography of the land finally gave way to the Drackenburg (or Dragon) mountain range as we reached the lowveld near Dullstroom. Here, the area definitely reminded me of Hawaii with its winding roads, high mountain valleys, and tropical vegetation (which was a challenge for me, since I’m scared of heights).

Road wise, the N1 from Johannesburg to Dullstroom was about the equivalent to US interstate, however the R337 from Dullstroom onwards the payment disintegrated into huge potholes for the last fifty kilometers...

Lydenburg: Dec. 23rd to Dec. 26th

When we finally got there in the afternoon, I met my ex-girlfriend’s parents and stayed at their house for the next several days. Lydenburg’s name means “town of suffering” in Afrikaans and was founded by Voortrekkers in 1849 near the bottom of Long Tom Pass (guessing the current population was 30-40,000). Though I was a little confused when people would switch from talking to me in English to their native Afrikaans when they spoke to someone else. When I tried speaking it, my Afrikaans came out sounding like German (eventually gave up on it and just stuck to English).

I did have some time Christmas Eve to look around the town and see the Dutch Reform Church, the town center, and older Victorian homes before her family’s other relatives came over from Nelspruit. What impressed me the most was the almost universal scene of steel bars over windows and doors, high security fences, barbwire, and guard dogs everywhere we went (including schools, churches, homes, and businesses throughout SA). I never quite got used to this and felt rather uneasy whenever we went outside.

Besides the traditional present giving, Christmas was spent with a large family meal (almost identical to what you’d find at Thanksgiving, except for the lamb and no turkey). I had a good time talking to my ex’s mother about South Africa and telling her about life in the States (besides giving her tips on some orchids I’d given her as a present, which is another hobby of mine). Also talked to my ex-girlfriend’s uncle and his family who lived in Nelspruit, while learning the finer points of rugby and cricket…

Pilgrim’s Rest: Dec 26th to Dec. 27th

The next day we went to Pilgrim’s Rest, which was founded by “Wheelbarrow” Alec Patterson in 1873 and became a gold rush town. Mining continued into the 1920’s to eventually yield about 5,000,000oz (though tourist can also pan for gold today if they wish). I had a good time browsing through shops and bought plenty of souvenirs for friends and family members while I was there. The accommodations at the Royal Hotel, where we stayed, were also wonderful and I’d recommend anyone visiting SA to go there…

Nelspruit: Dec. 27th to Dec. 29th

The drive from Pilgrim’s Rest to Nelspruit took us through Long Tom Pass (named after battle between the Boers and British during the Second Boer War), one of the highest places in SA. The lower we went in elevation, the more scenery changed from lowveld to pine forests (reminiscent of Virginia and Carolinas) to palms trees and cycads the closer we got to Nelspruit (roughly the size of Denver, CO).

Nelspruit itself lies on the Crocodile River that runs through the city’s center and is very modern (partly due to the fact that it had been made a provincial capital about ten years early, though the actual town was founded in 1895 as a trading post). And I had no problem navigating through the streets and robots (what South Africans call stoplights).

Besides being dragged to a mall and movies, I got a chance to visit the Nelspruit Botanical Garden (which I enjoyed tremendously, since my educational background is in botany). Even though most of the plants had already bloomed in the spring, there were more tropical cycads than I’d ever seen in one place and was taken back by the spectacular waterfalls that ran through it…

Sabie: Dec. 29th to Dec. 30th

After visiting my ex-girlfriend’s relatives in Nelspruit and being introduced to the comedy of Charles Schuster, we went onward to the resort town of Sabie, located halfway between Nelspruit and Lydenburg. Originally founded in 1895 as another gold rush town, timber, trout fishing, and tourism had replaced it as the main industries. The Sabie River ran close to the resort where we stayed and numerous waterfalls abounded nearby. Though the next day, her parents came over for a braa (Afrikaans for BBQ) and we then went to Mac-Mac Pooles and Mac-Mac Falls, and Lone Creek Waterfalls, which was even more breath taking than Nelspruit….

Lydenburg: Dec. 31st to Jan. 2nd

New Year’s Day was ushered in fireworks and another South African dish called potjie (or barbequed pot roast), because my ex-girlfriend had come down sick at Sabie. We then spent the next couple of days in Lydenburg meeting some her friends and then getting ready to back to Jo’burg…

Departure from Jo’burg: Jan 3rd

Not too much happened on the drive back to Johannesburg, other than getting lost once or twice. Since my flight was scheduled to leave at 23:45 hours, she got me to airport a couple of hours early and said our goodbyes. Going through customs in Detroit, MI the second time around wasn’t that bad, however the airline again managed to lose my check in luggage in Amsterdam….

Arrival at KCI: Jan. 4th

Having been around the world in the space of two weeks, I vowed not get board another aircraft for a long time as I waited for my stuff to arrive at the hotel…

Impressions and Observations:

Though I enjoyed myself in South Africa, the country is just too big to see in a short period of time (guessing it’s about half the size of the US). I didn’t like driving around Jo’burg that much and would have preferred flying to Pretoria or Nelspruit. Also really didn’t get a chance to visit the major battlefield sites like Majumba, Rorke’s Drift, or Isandlwana, besides not seeing the Kruger National Park.

The weather in the lowveld also reminded me a lot of Hawaii, since it would get about 85-90 F in the day and 60-70 F at night during the summer. However, since the province of Mpumalanga was near the border with Mozambique, the humidity was extremely high (RH 65-75%). This really got to me in Nelspruit when we’re at the Botanical Garden there. I also became sunburned, even though I’d been using 45-factor sun block (my pale Celtic skin made me stand out from the locals, who could spot an American a mile away).

I’ve also been told the best time to visit SA is around September to October, when everything is in bloom and accommodations are off-peak. And except for the major hotels and malls, none of the places I stayed at had central AC or heating. Guess this works well for tropical places, where it rains during the afternoon and then cools down at night. Though it also seems SA also has a distinct fall and winter, like the United States (though letting her parent’s try on my winter jack was rather amusing for people who considered 60 F “cold”).

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed this travelogue and found it somewhat informative, though my next article will deal with ideas for colonial war-gaming the places I’ve visited.