Trip to Africa - Original Writing

Trip to Africa - Original Writing

In October 2004, myself and 23 other well travelled (and not so well

travelled) locals went on a two-week adventure in South Africa. Within

a few hours of stepping off the plane in Jo’burg International Airport

we had seen the famous Jacaranda trees, visited two places

representative of South Africa’s’ diverse history and learnt the

exciting and challenging journey of the Vortrekker settlers. We soon

realised that to fit in everything on the itinerary this wasn’t going

to be a sunbathing break, but anything was possible with our fantastic

tour guide (and friend) Liese, and our driver (and chief bird spotter)

Roy. The luxury of that night’s hotel was definitely a taste of things

to come, usually with both fantastic views and brilliant rooms. The

first wildlife of our holiday was found at Crystal Springs (my

favourite holiday location) in the form of a Vervet monkey, and

although very sweet he didn’t quite match up to the variety of big

(and small) game we would later stumble across in the Kruger.

On entering the Kruger we had been mentally prepared for the fact that

you can stay in the Kruger for a week and not see any of the big 5

(lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhino). This really made every

sighting extra special, as by day 2 (of 3) we had seen all big 5 along

with many other wonders of the animal kingdom including: zebra,

impala, nyala, cheetah, and vulture.

Even though on holiday, on Sunday 17th Maureen managed to find us a

church service in the Kruger, although a warmer welcome was

experienced the following weekend, during a church service in the

poorer parts of Soweto, where we were welcomed with open arms and

beautiful singing.

If you thought the Heathrow security was harsh try transferring from

South Africa to Swaziland! Where, on the border, we were greeted by a

stern looking woman who checked and stamped passports before thrusting

them back at you and shouting: “NEXT!”, though the wait was well worth