One Man in South Africa

Leaving South Africa, my two months are up. I hope that this blog will continue on my next visit, hopefully in October, as there is so much more to see in this vast country with such a diversified story to tell. Perhaps you will visit yourselves one day. In the mean time....

Day 9 and I have to make it back to down-load my boarding pass. Fortunately everything is packed and travelling with me. I was hoping to have lunch and a guided tour of the more interesting places in East London but my contact was ill and could not make it. Having encountered major road works in the centre of the city at the start of my journey a brief stop at 'Kentucky Fried' was all I chanced on the way back and I was desperate to fill up the tank as it was between here and Port Alfred that Toby ran out of fuel on his trip. All of the gas stations seemed to be on the wrong side of the roadworks!

Day 7 commenced with breakfast at the Regal Inn before a leisurely departure along the Route 102 out of the city down the south coast as far as Port Shepstone. This road runs more or less parallel to the N2 toll road which, because of the storm, I had used on Day 2 to reach Durban. This area is known as the 'South Coast' as far as Port Edward. There are views both inland and of the various resorts south of Durban on Indian Ocean. I was making for Port Shepstone where I could join Route 61 and pay a visit to Margate, closely followed by Ramsgate and on down the coast.

Day 6 – I had returned to Durban specifically to visit the aquarium at Ushaka Sea World and I was not disappointed. The 'Ushaka' complex houses 'Wet 'n Wild', Kids World, Village Walk as well as 'Sea World. You can shop, eat and play here so ticket prices are on a sliding scale, I paid R105.00 for the aquarium (about £6.00). I spent most of the day looking around the aquarium and the dolphin and seal pools. There are also reptiles and other nasty things should you wish.

Day 5 – on the trail of the Boer War. Some twenty years after the end of the Zulu war we were fighting the Boer along roughly the same battle lines. After my trip to Rorke's Drift I had planned to drive down to Ladysmith to have a look in the siege museum and emplacements there. As I mentioned in my previous post a chance view of a pamphlet at my hotel in Glencoe made me backtrack to Dundee. I had driven past the Talana Museum site, noticable from the road because of the steam train, but was not aware that this was also the site of the battle of Talana hill significant as the first battle of the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902. What better place to start!

Day 4 and I awoke early which was just as well as this was to be the start of another great adventure. Looking at a map whilst planning options for the trip to Durban I noticed that Zululand was the next province up. This put me in mind of the famous battle at Rorke's Drift popularised by “Not a lot of people know that” Michael Cain and I wondered how true to life the film was. The whole area on the map bordering Natal and Zululand is designated 'Battlefield Sites' and I realized how much fighting had gone on in the area against the Zulu and then the Boer shortly after. Much is mentioned of the First and Second World Wars but we in Britain have ancestors in many a forgotten field throughout the world.

I awoke to find that I, once again, had a sea view, albeit between the buildings. I sauntered down for breakfast (R50.00) to find that it finished at 09:00 hours. A quick enquiry and a cooked breakfast was laid before me, just the way to start the day. Due to my limited time in Durban I wanted to take their equivalent of the 'Red Bus' tour of the city as this is always a good way to get the feel of a place. Reception informed me that in Durban these are the 'Ricksha' city bus tours, if I walked down to the next block and turned right I would see the bus stop before the Police Station. As luck would have it a 'Ricksha' bus passed me as I walked out of the hotel. The sky was overcast but at least it was not raining. I found the stop which stated that a bus would arrive every thirty minutes. Just time to nip over to the sea front and take a couple of photographs.

I awoke to sunshine and a hearty breakfast in the dining room before departing on my Landrover trip to 'Hole in the Wall' the main purpose of my visit. There are a myriad of walks and other challenges along this coastline but time and age dictated a drive. My guide took me to his 'roundhouse' on the opposite hill so that I could see the view back across the bay to the hotel and so that I could see the construction of his house. The ancestors say that evil spirits lurk in corners but, as an expression of wealth, more 1 st world style houses are being constructed. Later I even saw one with and integral garage, though no car, drive, gate in fence or road visible. Back to the roundhouse, the thatchwork is guaranteed to last six years though his had been there for twelve and showed no sighns of deteriation. The walls are made of brick, either cement or a mixture of mud and straw or hardened earth blocks which have been dried out. The soil here is deep, very fertile an

I like to keep things reasonably ecologically friendly but, after much discussion and soul searching, I decided that a 'road trip' was necessary given my remaining time left in South Africa. Initially I was going to work my way along the 'Garden Route' ending up at Cape Town however looking at the changing weather patterns as we are now in the autumn season I decided to head west instead, my destination Durban. At least then I would be able to dip my toe in the Indian Ocean! During a last supper with friends in Port Alfred I was given a small guide book to look at. Flicking through the pages gave me the gem of an idea and we will see if I can reach this ultimate destination.

The entrance to what was 'Cook's Castle' I had been discussing with my sister and Toby what to do before I returned to Europe, having decided on a road trip I thought I would nip out this morning to take some photographs of two local places of historical interest which I had seen previously.  Unfortunately it started to rain.  On my return the day was to develop an historical theme, my sister had discovered that there was a Port Alfred Museums competition in the afternoon. At that point I was not aware that there were five museums in the area.

Norma and Toby returned from their holiday in the north having decided to close the restaurant on the Thursday for 'deep cleaning' so why not throw a staff party.  Not just a braai, everyone was ferried down to the marina in the buggy and commandeered cars. Drinks and a buffet lunch were loaded and off we set for a cruise up the river Kowie.