Ramblings about life and travel

The South African Chronicles - Part 3

How does one spend their weekends in Johannesburg? Despite the security concerns, there is plenty to do, albeit in security controlled areas.

On the Sunday, we went to the Rose Bank Sunday Handicraft market. It was kind of a flea market with a lot of stalls selling paintings, photographs, handicrafts, clothing, candles, knick knacks, curios, souvenirs and of course lots of Chinese made goods. It was very colourful and interesting. There were side events where children were being entertained and on this particular Sunday, there were no African dancers.

We then went to the Apartheid Museum which is next to the Gold Reef City Entertainment centre. It was quite a moving experience and helps one understand the struggle, pain and suffering that the South African black people have been through. When you buy a ticket, it specifies if you are white or non white and accordingly you enter through the respective gate. Kind of creepy but emphasizes the fact that apartheid belongs in a museum.

From there we proceeded to the Gold Reef city where we went down into an old gold mine. It was quite an experience especially as Johannesburg was founded on gold mining. The most interesting part of the tour was the gold being poured into bars. Of course we would have liked to have walked away with the 12kg gold bar, except that it weighed too much.

That evening we spent some time at the Montecasino which is a casino, movie and theatre complex as well as a mall. We walked around the casino but neither of us wanted to waste any money. Instead we had a great time people watching.

The South African Chronicles - Part 2

Any first experience is always very memorable. So it was with my first safari. We were invited to the Mabula Game Reserve as guests of Dr. Mallya. Mabula is a UB Group Resort and is situated near Bela Bela. It is set in one of South Africa's finest private game reserves. Only two hours North of Johannesburg, this 12000 hectare reserve is home to an abundance of animal and bird life, including the 'Big-5'. Exclusive accommodation is provided in our 47 rooms including 3 suites that offer guests every comfort in a scenic natural setting.
http://www.mabula.com/

We reached in time for a sumptuous lunch followed by a short rest and then our first game drive of the trip. We were quite excited and piled into the safari jeeps.

On the drive, we saw many antelope, impalas and giraffe. We came across a plain where there were some zebras grazing and in the distance saw some rhino and warthogs. The guide then tracked some elephants but we could not see them as they were hidden behind some rocks. The number one lesson that the game drive taught me was that one has to be patient and then nature will reveal itself to you.

The beautiful African plain.

Zebra grazing ...............

Don't miss the bird on the giraffe

Dinner was around a campfire with each guide joining us at the table. There was also some entertainment by the local tribal staff. The African dance is quite energetic and has vigorous movements of the arms and legs and it is also quite suggestive!

Early the next morning at half past 5, we were up and away for our second game drive. It started off well when we saw some white rhinos and then we drove for a while before our smart guide was able to track some lions. It was an amazing feeling seeing these wild cats relaxing in their natural habitat. There were 2 lions, 4 lionesses and a cub. We would have missed them; so well their skin blended with the grass in which they were lying in. But we could not miss the manes of the lions as they lazily raised their heads to check us out. We were also lucky to see a family of jackals which included 4 babies!

Rhinos grazing in the early morning light.

Don't miss the 4 lionesses and cub behind the king!

Rhinos are powerful animals with a keen sense of smell.

These baby jackals very so cute!

We were lucky to catch sight of this herd crossing our paths.

The famous blue widebeest.

An ostrich sticking its head into the ground!?

Some facts that I learned on our safari:

- The African Big 5 are – the lion, the leopard, the black rhino, the elephant and the buffalo.
- The leopard is the most elusive of the 5 and true enough, we did not spot any during our trip to South Africa.
- There is a difference between the white rhino and the black rhino. Both are grey in colour. The difference is in the shape of their mouth and the way they eat. The white rhino is more common of the two and it has a square mouth and is constantly grazing grass. Its head is bent down whilst the black rhino is always looking up and eats the leaves of the lower branches of trees.
- The giraffe cannot bend its head for more than 5 minutes or else it will have a heart attack!
- The lion eats once in 7 days as it takes that long for the food to digest. However it is an opportunistic animal and if food presents itself it will not deny itself.
- The African buffalo was almost extinct and intense conservation has prevented its extinction. Also most of them suffer from tuberculosis and they are being treated for the same as they are food for the lions.
- The impala can be recognized by the “M” below its tail. That is why it is fondly called the McDonalds burger for the lions. And when it lies on its back, it is Wimpy’s!
- There are strict rules for games reserves. E.g. For every 1000 hectares of land there can only be 1 elephant as they eat a lot of the vegetation and drink plenty of water.

The South African Chronicles - Part 1

This was my first trip to the African continent – so I was super excited. A lot of what I knew about South Africa was gleaned from the many Wilbur Smith novels that I had read. Despite that, I kept an open mind as I truly believe that every journey is a path of discovery.

We landed at OR Tambo airport and were picked up by my friend Gaurav and driven to his apartment in Bedfordview which is a suburb of Johannesburg, fondly known as Jo’burg and Jozi. My first impression was that everyone lives in gated communities and that one cannot freely walk on the roads or take public transportation. You have to drive yourself everywhere or be driven about! There are maxi taxis which are a cheaper option but I was given to understand that it is the best and surest way to get mugged!

The first day we took it easy, getting to know our hosts – Gaurav, Mini and their wonderful son Parth. It was also the last day of Mini’s sister Deepti’s stay in Jozi, so the day revolved around her and her last minute shopping. We went to the Broma Handicraft market where we picked up African masks, candles and other souvenirs. That evening, we had a farewell dinner for Deepti at a Thai restaurant in Nelson Mandela Square.

Gaurav, Mum, Mini, Dipti, Parth and myself at Nelson Madela Square.

The next morning we drove an hour north from Jozi to the Cradle of Humankind. It is a UNESO World heritage site, famous for the 3 million year old fossils of hominids and other animals. The discoveries were instrumental in changing the way we view humanity and the history of human development. The most important and most famous of these fossils are “Mrs Ples”, a 2.1-million-year-old Australopithecus skull, and “Little Foot”, an almost complete Australopithecus skeleton that is more than 3-million years old. These fossils, both found in the Sterkfontein Caves in the Cradle of Humankind, tell us much about the precursors of modern humans, Homo sapiens.

Archaeological finds within the Cradle of Humankind also include 2-million-year-old stone tools. The oldest recorded, at Swartkrans, near the Sterkfontein Caves, is a collection of 270 burnt bones that reveals how our ancestors learned to master fire more than 1-million years ago – a significant development and an early technological innovation. The ability to do this has taken us from the basic skills needed to keep ourselves warm and to cook our food, to being able to control and harness the power of fire to the extent that we can now create and burn rocket fuel to reach space and beyond.

The entrance to the Sterkfontein caves

The Maropeng Visitor Centre is an exciting, world-class exhibition, focusing on the development of humans and our ancestors over the past few million years.