South Africa May 28-June 2, June 2023
South Africa is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline that stretches along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, and plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world’s 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of 1,221,037 square kilometres (471,445 square miles). Pretoria is the administrative capital, while Cape Town, as the seat of Parliament, is the legislative capital. Bloemfontein has traditionally been regarded as the judicial capital. The largest city, and the site of the highest court is Johannesburg.
About 80% of the population are Black South Africans. The remaining population consists of Africa’s largest communities of European (White South Africans), Asian (Indian South Africans and Chinese South Africans), and multiracial (Coloured South Africans) ancestry. South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a wide variety of cultures, languages, and religions. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the constitution’s recognition of 11 official languages, the fourth-highest number in the world. According to the 2011 census, the two most spoken first languages are Zulu (22.7%) and Xhosa (16.0%).[8] The two next ones are of European origin: Afrikaans (13.5%) developed from Dutch and serves as the first language of most Coloured and White South Africans; English (9.6%) reflects the legacy of British colonialism and is commonly used in public and commercial life.
The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup d’état, and regular elections have been held for almost a century. However, the vast majority of Black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994. During the 20th century, the black majority sought to claim more rights from the dominant white minority, which played a large role in the country’s recent history and politics. The National Party imposed apartheid in 1948, institutionalizing previous racial segregation. After a long and sometimes violent struggle by the African National Congress and other anti-apartheid activists both inside and outside the country, the repeal of discriminatory laws began in the mid-1980s. Since 1994, all ethnic and linguistic groups have held political representation in the country’s liberal democracy, which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. South Africa is often referred to as the “rainbow nation” to describe the country’s multicultural diversity, especially in the wake of apartheid.
South Africa is a middle power in international affairs; it maintains significant regional influence and is a member of both the Commonwealth of Nations and the G20.[20][21] It is a developing country, ranking 109th on the Human Development Index, the 7th highest on the continent. It has been classified by the World Bank as a newly industrialised country and has the second-largest economy and the most industrialized, technologically advanced economy in Africa overall, as well as the 39th-largest economy in the world South Africa has the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa. Since the end of apartheid, government accountability and quality of life have substantially improved.] However, crime, poverty and inequality remain widespread, with about 40% of the total population being unemployed as of 2021, while some 60% of the population lived under the poverty line and a quarter under $2.15 a day.
However, in the last three years, the country has become a “basketcase” as a result of corruption and inept government of the ANC. As of 2023, power is off more than it is on and the railway system doesn’t run anymore.
Capitals. Pretoria (executive), Cape Town (legislative), Bloemfontein (judicial)
Languages. 12 languages: Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, English, Sepedi, Swazi, Sesotho, Setswana, Xitsonga, Tshivenda, Ndebele.
Ethnic groups. 80.7% Black, 8.8% Coloured, 7.9% White, 2.6% Asian
Religion. 78.0% Christianity (58.3% Protestantism, 19.7% Other Christian), 10.9% No religion, 4.4% Traditional faiths, 1.6% Islam, 1.0% Hinduism, 2.7% Other
Area. 1,221,037 km2 (471,445 sq mi) (24th), Water 0.380%
Population. 60,604,992 (2022 est.) (24th). Density 42.4/km2 (109.8/sq mi) (169th)
GDP (PPP). $990 billion (33rd). Per capita $16,090 (97th)
GDP(Nominal). $400 billion (39th). Per capita $6,485 (96th)
Gini. 63.0 very high
HDI. 0.713 high · 109th
Currency. South African Rand (ZAR). 1US$ = 19.64 ZAR, 1€ = 21.05 ZAR, 1CA$ = 14.42 ZAR. xe.com May 2023
Driving Side. Left
Calling code. +27
Visa. Most countries of the world are visa exempt and some pay and some don’t pay a fee.
Money. South Africa Rand (ZAR). 1US$ = 19.64 ZAR, 1€ = 21.05 ZAR, 1CA$ = 14.42 ZAR. xe.com May 2023
Climate
South Africa has a generally temperate climate because it is surrounded by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans on three sides, because it is located in the climatically milder Southern Hemisphere, and because its average elevation rises steadily toward the north (toward the equator) and further inland. This varied topography and oceanic influence result in a great variety of climatic zones. The climatic zones range from the extreme desert of southern Namib in the farthest northwest to the lush subtropical climate in the east along the border with Mozambique and the Indian Ocean. Winters in South Africa occur between June and August.
The extreme southwest has a climate similar to that of the Mediterranean Sea with wet winters and hot, dry summers, hosting the famous fynbos biome of shrubland and thicket. This area also produces much of the wine in South Africa. This region is also particularly known for its wind, which blows intermittently almost all year. Further east on the south coast, rainfall is distributed more evenly throughout the year, producing a green landscape. This area is popularly known as the Garden Route.
The Free State is particularly flat because it lies centrally on the high plateau. North of the Vaal River, the Highveld becomes better watered and does not experience subtropical extremes of heat. Johannesburg, in the centre of the Highveld, is at 1,740 m (5,709 ft) above sea level and receives an annual rainfall of 760 mm (29.9 in). Winters in this region are cold, although snow is rare.
The deep interior of mainland South Africa has the hottest temperatures: Northern Cape Kalahari near Upington,
Observations
1. South Africa is the most upscale of all African countries, with excellent architecture, stores, broad streets and excellent roads (the Joberg/Pretoria expressway is up to 5 lanes wide with no tolls).
Blackouts are routine from 12-2, 8-10 in the evening and during the night. They call it load-shedding. The railway and water supplies are all affected by the incompetence of the government. Universities are world-class.
2. Costs. The food is very cheap. In my study of Burger Kings, the most expensive Whopper meal is at the Addis Ababa airport ($18) and the cheapest at the Park terminal in Joberg ($4.50 with free mayo and milkshakes available). Uber is everywhere providing very reasonable taxi fares. Dorm rooms are $10.
3. Museums. Are very cheap – usually 50-100 Rand. All the national museums and Wits museums are free. The rest have a reduced rate if over 65, even if not a national.
4. People. Virtually entirely black until you drive north towards Pretoria, with expansive homes in gated communities and mostly white people at the Smuts house and malls. I am always fascinated by black hair and like most African countries, most women have attachments.
5. Safety. I have never been in any country where so many people warned me of being robbed by the “boys”. Usually, they mentioned not walking around with your phone in your hand. Rental cars are stored in locked compounds to avoid being stolen. A woman yelled from across the street to not walk between Park terminal and the Europcar rental.
SOUTH AFRICA – GAUTENG (Johannesburg, Pretoria, Germiston)
Sat May 27
I hung out at the Base Backpackers Hostel in Maputo until 5, went to the Monte Carlo Restaurant just down the street for dinner and then walked to the Tropic Air to get the Intercape bus to Johannesburg, departing at 7 pm and arriving at 04:30 (420 Rand or about $26).
Day 1 Sun May 28
On Intercape Bus Lines, I arrived at Johannesburg Main station at 04:30 and got an Uber to my hostel. Curiocity Backpackers. I slept until about 8 and then had my usual walk about to see the NM sites in Jo’berg.
JOHANNESBURG (incl. Germiston, Sandton, Boksburg etc.) (pop 5 635 127, metro 8 000 000. 14,167,000 in the Johannesburg–Pretoria urban area is the 26th-largest in the world in terms of population). Colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo’burg or “The City of Gold” is the most populous city in South Africa, classified as a megacity; it is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. It is the provincial capital and largest city of Gauteng, which is the wealthiest province in South Africa. Johannesburg is the seat of the Constitutional Court, the highest court in South Africa. Most of the major South African companies and banks have their head offices in Johannesburg. The city is located within the mineral-rich Witwatersrand hills, the epicentre of the international-scale mineral, gold and (specifically) diamond trade.
The city was established in 1886, following the discovery of gold, on what had been a farm. Due to the extremely large gold deposits found along the Witwatersrand, within ten years, the population had grown to over 100,000 inhabitants.
Lenasia is predominantly populated by English-speaking Indo-South Africans (people of Indian and South Asian descent). These areas were, in previous decades, designated as non-white areas, under the segregationist policies of the time—known as apartheid. It would go on to be one of the host cities of the official tournament of the 2010 FIFA World Cup—and it hosted the final.
Airports: Johannesburg (JNB), Johannesburg Lanseria (HLA)
Mad Giant Brewery. Presently tours and the restaurant were not available but I saw the facility from the outside.
1Fox Market Shed. On the same property as the Mad Giant Brewery, it mainly produces.
SAB World of Beer Museum. Another beer museum with a tour of the beer-making process followed by a chance to drink the beer. 300 R
Sci-Bono Discovery Centre. A science museum with many hands-on exhibits showing basic technology experiments. These are primarily for kids. 60 R
Workers Museum.
Museum Africa. A large section of the rise and fall of Apartheid using many photographs and newspaper clippings.
Photography Museum. On the third floor of Museum Africa, it is mostly cameras and little photography.
Constitution Hill Human Rights Precinct. Contains the old fort (can walk 3/4 of the embankment with signs pointing out sites. A collection of prisons and hospitals that morphed over the years as apartheid evolved. A woman’s walk with a nice stature commemorating International Children’s Day on Nov 20.
Johannesburg Art Gallery. Most galleries are closed. The art is mediocre but includes some old masters in the lobby. 50 R
Astor Mansions. On a corner, it is a 10-story apartment building with penthouses on the 8-10th stories. Balconies. It has seen better days and is underwhelming.
Ansteys Building. A dated nondescript 7-story building with closed shops at the bottom, All six floors on top look abandoned.
Day 3 May 29
I was unable to get my car rental as the Botswana Cross border permit required a day to do so. I went with Fifi to her drama performance on the 19th floor of the Wits Art Museum, went for lunch at the graduate students’ restaurant and saw the museums at the University of Witwatersrand.
Wits Art Museum. A broad collection of African art. Free
Day 4 May 30
It took 3 hours to get my rental car – it was all very confusing. The car was rented from Around the World Car Rental, primarily because of their cheap rates that came with unlimited mileage. I made several enquiries about the pickup spot and walked all over trying to find it. I was first told it was a Joberg Park Mall but there are no car rental companies there. After two phone calls, I walked about 1 km to the Europcar rental (also the ) which was odd as Europcar rented with only a 200km/day limit). They didn’t have the cross border permit which added about an hour. I eventually left at 11:30 with a nice, new, small Hyundai car.
I started a drive north of Joburg.
Wits Adler Museum. In the Wits Medical Sciences centre, it is a lovely place – a huge time line of the history of medicine, exhibits on malaria, polio, kidney dialysis, HIV, herbal medicine and a nice recreated old retail pharmacy and doctor’s office. Free.
Johannesburg Zoo. An average zoo with all the African animals. 150 R
Museum of Military History. Tons of military equipment, uniforms, guns, artillery and a history of South Africa wars primarily starting with the Boer War and through WWI and II. 50 R
African Craft Market, Rosebank. This is a private commercial store in the Rosebank mall – souvenirs, not quite the craft market anticipated. Free
SANDTON
Sandton City is an upscale shopping mall with 300 high-end retail brands and embodies all the glamour of world-class shopping, dining, and leisure.
Alice Lane Towers. Two towers of white and black glass with curving outlines, 17 floors of glass and aluminum. The building houses the offices of the well-known and dominant South African law firm Deneys Reitz,
PRETORIA
Smuts House Museum. This house was a “kit house” premanufactured in England and moved three times until Smuts bought it for 300£. It is large and full of photographs and some art with most everything including the furniture original. Has a large dining room, four bedrooms, a study, a library and three “War rooms”. A nice piece on this wife Isie Kruge – they married in 1897. 50, 30 reduced
Jan Christian Smuts, (1870 – 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as prime minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 to 1924 and 1939 to 1948.
Smuts was born to Afrikaner parents in the British Cape Colony. He was educated at Victoria College, Stellenbosch before reading law at Christ’s College, Cambridge on a scholarship. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1894 but returned home the following year. In the leadup to the Second Boer War, Smuts practised law in Pretoria. He led the republic’s delegation to the Bloemfontein Conference and served as an officer in a commando unit following the outbreak of war in 1899. In 1902, he played a key role in negotiating the Treaty of Vereeniging, which ended the war and resulted in the annexation of the South African Republic and Orange Free State into the British Empire. He subsequently helped negotiate self-government for the Transvaal Colony, becoming a cabinet minister under Louis Botha.
Smuts played a leading role in the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, helping shape its constitution. He and Botha established the South African Party, with Botha becoming the union’s first prime minister and Smuts holding multiple cabinet portfolios. As defence minister, he was responsible for the Union Defence Force during the First World War. Smuts personally led troops in the East African campaign in 1916 and the following year joined the Imperial War Cabinet in London. He played a leading role at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, advocating for the creation of the League of Nations and securing South African control over the former German South-West Africa.
In 1919, Smuts replaced Botha as prime minister, holding the office until the South African Party’s defeat in 1924. He spent several years in academia, during which he coined the term “holism”, before eventually re-entering politics as deputy prime minister in a coalition with Hertzog; in 1934 their parties subsequently merged to form the United Party. Smuts returned as prime minister in 1939, leading South Africa into the Second World War at the head of a pro-interventionist faction. He was appointed field marshal in 1941 and in 1945 signed the UN Charter, the only signer of the Treaty of Versailles to do so. His second term in office ended with the victory of his political opponents, the reconstituted National Party at the 1948 general election, with the new government beginning the implementation of apartheid.
Smuts was an internationalist who played a key role in establishing and defining the League of Nations, United Nations and Commonwealth of Nations. He was a white supremacist who supported racial segregation and opposed democratic non-white rule. At the end of his career, he supported the Fagan Commission’s recommendations.
South African Air Force Museum. Four large hangers holding military planes and helicopters plus assorted memorabilia. On an airforce base. Free
Freedom Museum. It once was the site of the Long March to Freedom Monument. South Africa’s “march to freedom” has been a long and complex one. Growing all the time, has recently been relocated to the Maropeng Visitor Centre at the Cradle of Humankind. Maropeng is 111 kilometres from the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.
This monument is currently a collection of 100 life-sized bronze statues created by various South African artists, of important figures. The procession starts in the 18th century and represents the rebel chiefs and the missionaries who rebelled and helped the African tribes. Then, it moves through the ages, featuring key freedom fighters who made massive impacts on the faces of inequality and discrimination. These statues include Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Ruth Mompati, Helen Suzman, and Miriam Makeba.
The monument will eventually comprise more than 400 bronze statues. Visitors can wander amongst them, a means of unifying a nation, integrating everyone – regardless of colour, age, gender, language or culture.
Fort Klapperkop. The Pretoria Forts consists of four forts built by the government of the South African Republic (ZAR) just before the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War around their capital of Pretoria.
After the abortive Jameson Raid, the government of the ZAR became concerned about the safety of its capital city, Pretoria, both from foreign invasion as well as from the growing number of uitlanders (‘foreigners’) on the Witwatersrand. Four forts were eventually built.
The three forts are pentagonal reinforced, with more fire range possibilities through numerous facets. Attacks from any direction could be warded off by revolving guns on their ramparts. To prevent infantry attacks, loopholes were built into the walls. Trenches, barbed-wire entanglements and fortified rooms were erected as reinforcements.
Fort Kapperkop. Klapperkop, is the name of the hill where the fort is located. It was supplied with a paraffin engine-powered generator for electricity, a telephone and telegraphic links. Running water was supplied from a pump station in the Fountains Valley.
Unlike the other forts in the surrounding area, the design incorporated a moat as well as a drawbridge. The moat was never filled with water. Fort Klapperkop was armed with a 155mm Creusot gun (“Long Tom”), a 37 mm Maxim-Nordenfeldt cannon, three Martini-Henry hand-maxims and a 65 mm Krupp Mountain Gun. As with the other forts, men and armament were gradually withdrawn and sent elsewhere during the course of the war. Never a shot in anger was fired from this fort.
The present fort includes a statue of a soldier holding an R1 rifle,
Van Wouw Museum. The house is an upscale Pretoria suburb and consists of a one-story brick structure with a thatch roof. It houses a visual arts display from the University of Pretoria.
Anton van Wouw (1862 – 1945) was a Dutch-born South African sculptor regarded as the father of South African sculpture. He moved to Pretoria at 28. His first commission was the monumental statue of Paul Kruger on Church Square.
One of his most notable pieces of work is the figure of a woman used in the Women’s Monument (bronze statue honouring the role the Voortrekker women played in the Great Trek located at the base of the Voortrekker Monument, a powerful bust of General Christiaan de Wet and the statue of Louis Botha in Durban. He also portrayed indigenous peoples and among these smaller sculptures, some of his finest work can be found.
Greek Orthodox Church. Has a grand central dome. Open only two days a week and was closed when I was there. Built in 1969 by the Hellenistic Community of Pretoria.
Mapungubwe Collection displays the archaeological collection discovered in 1933: ceramics, metals, trade glass beads, indigenous beads, clay figurines, and bone and ivory artifacts and potsherds,
The archaeological site of Mapungubwe [pronounced: Mah-POON-goob-weh], is located on the borders of Zimbabwe and Botswana in the Limpopo Province. In about 1030-1220), a ruling class emerged, the first southern African state at Mapungubwe Hill (AD 1220 – AD 1290). The discovery of gold artifacts on Mapungubwe Hill in 1932 catalyzed detailed academic research. In 2003, with the declaration of Mapungubwe by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, a suspension was placed on all excavations at Mapungubwe, a decision which is still in place as of 2016.
The Mapungubwe Collection is on public display at both the University of Pretoria Museums as well as the Mapungubwe Gold Collection’s new Javett-UP Arts Centre.
Javett Art Centre. Run by the University of Pretoria, there are exhibits on children drawing on cloth, some great wire sculptures, photography, a collection of not-so-interesting art, and the amazing Mapungubwe gold collection, a collection primarily of West African gold from the 19th and 20th century. 60 R reduced.
Pretoria Art Museum. An exhibition of a Slovenian artist (not great), a great metal sculpture of man with “girders” for limbs and some Township art. 12 R reduced
Kruger House. A one-story bungalow in downtown Pretoria.
Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (1825 – 1904) was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and State President of the South African Republic (or Transvaal) from 1883 to 1900. Nicknamed Oom Paul (“Uncle Paul”), he came to international prominence as the face of the Boer cause—that of the Transvaal and its neighbour the Orange Free State—against Britain during the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. He has been called a personification of Afrikanerdom, and remains a controversial figure; admirers venerate him as a tragic folk hero.
Born near the eastern edge of the Cape Colony, Kruger took part in the Great Trek as a child during the late 1830s. He had almost no education apart from the Bible. A protégé of the Voortrekker leader Andries Pretorius, he witnessed the signing of the Sand River Convention with Britain in 1852 and over the next decade played a prominent role in the forging of the South African Republic, leading its commandos and resolving disputes between the rival Boer leaders and factions. In 1863 he was elected Commandant-General, a post he held for a decade before he resigned soon after the election of President Thomas François Burgers.
Kruger was appointed Vice President in March 1877, shortly before the South African Republic was annexed by Britain as the Transvaal. Over the next three years he headed two deputations to London to try to have this overturned. He became the leading figure in the movement to restore the South African Republic’s independence, culminating in the Boers’ victory in the First Boer War of 1880–1881. Kruger served until 1883 as a member of an executive triumvirate, then was elected President. In 1884 he headed a third deputation that brokered the London Convention, under which Britain recognised the South African Republic as a completely independent state.
Following the influx of thousands of predominantly British settlers with the Witwatersrand Gold Rush of 1886, “uitlanders” (foreigners) provided almost all of the South African Republic’s tax revenues but lacked civic representation; Boer burghers retained control of the government. The uitlander problem and the associated tensions with Britain dominated Kruger’s attention for the rest of his presidency, to which he was re-elected in 1888, 1893 and 1898, and led to the Jameson Raid of 1895–1896 and ultimately the Second Boer War. Kruger left for Europe as the war turned against the Boers in 1900 and spent the rest of his life in exile, refusing to return home following the British victory. After he died in Switzerland at the age of 78 in 1904, his body was returned to South Africa for a state funeral, and buried in the Heroes’ Acre in Pretoria.
Science and Technology Museum
St. Alban’s Cathedral. An Anglican church, it is all red stone with lighter buttresses. Not open.
Freedom Park Museum
South Africa Police Museum
Palace of Justice. A nice colonial building with two towers over the entrance.
ON Pumbas Backpackers, Pretoria. An average hostel. Only SA electrical plugs.
Day 5 May 31
I left the hostel at 7:45 and saw the few things in Pretoria that I had missed. I then had a big decision to make: drive 340 km due east to see Barberton Makhonjwa, a WHS or go north to Limpopo.
Ditsong National Museum of Cultural History. Schroda pottery had many very old pottery animals. San Rock art – a great discussion of. the San people. Craft art (a spectacular chameleon made of wire and tiny glass beads. National symbols. Marubastad (a shanty town moved). 30 R reduced.
Union Buildings are one of the centres of political life in South Africa; “The Buildings” and “Arcadia” have become metonyms for the South African government. It has become an iconic landmark of Pretoria and an emblem of democracy.
Built from light sandstone in the English monumental style, is 285 m long and in a semi-circular shape, with two wings at the sides, this serves to represent the union of a formerly divided people. The clock chimes are identical to those of Big Ben in London. The east and west wings, as well as the twin-domed towers, represent two languages, English and Afrikaans, and the inner court was designed and built to symbolize the Union of South Africa.
The building was sited on a disused quarry, which now makes up the amphitheatre. The matching statues on top of the domed towers are Atlas, holding up the world and the statue on the domed rostrum in the amphitheatre between the wings is Mercury.
The Union Buildings are the site of presidential inaugurations. The official offices of the president are on the left-hand side of the Union Buildings, and the South African national flag is flown on the left-hand side if the president is in office.
The three sections; the left offices, amphitheatre, and right offices are 95 metres in length. and three floors above ground. The interior is treated in the Cape Dutch style: carved teak fanlights, heavy doors, dark ceiling beams contrasting with white plaster walls and heavy wood furniture.
National Zoological Gardens of South Africa
Menlyn Park
National Botanical Garden. Many old trees, some gardens, and indigenous trees. 50 R
Pionier Museum. Has the original house from a farm started in 1850, stables, an orchard, gardens, a mill, sheds, and hide preparation. 50 R
Nan Hua Temple, Bronkhorstspruit. An over-the-top Buddhist temple – two large temples and one other huge building, 3 large gates.
The road was comparable to any expressway in the West – four-lane divided, wide shoulders, speed signs, a broad median and ditches all mowed, perfect pavement with zero potholes, and a 120km/hour speed limit that I exceeded all the time going up to 160. Radar signs were frequent but I saw none.
==============================================================
SOUTH AFRICA – MPUMALANGA (Nelspruit, Kruger Park)
Borders: Mozambique-South Africa, South Africa-eSwatini
Fort Merensky also called Fort Wilhelm, stands on a prominent hill 13 kilometres from Middelburg on the road to Groblersdal. It was built to protect the mission’s convert from attacks by the local Bantu tribes using dry wall construction.
In February 1865 in what was then the Transvaal Republic (ZAR).[1][2] Merensky had fled with a small number of parishioners, following the attacks on his previous mission station, Ga-Ratau, by the soldiers of Sekhukhune, the king of the baPedi. Within a year of having established the mission station, the population had grown to 420 persons. To protect their new settlement Merensky had Fort Wilhelm built above the church and village and two further forts that protected the Moutse area were built. Botshabelo was the major spiritual, cultural and educational centre of the Berliner Mission Society in that part of the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR). It played a significant role during the Sekhukuni, the Mapoch, First Boer and the Second Boer Wars.
Stone Circle Museum, Waterval Boven. A private museum. The ruins are about 2 km from the museum close to the highway.
NELSPRUIT (Mbombela)
Airports: Nelspruit (MQP),
I had a great burger at Burger King in the mall, saw the gardens and drove south to Barberton.
Lowveld National Botanical Garden. Entrance 1 has views of the waterfalls and Entrance 2 has a tea garden and indigenous forest. Basically the gardens are the indigenous forest on the ease side of the Crocodile River. 55 R
Barberton Museum. Like most regional museums there is a lot of history (esp gold mining), ethnography, and geology with great explanations of why the Earth’s oldest rocks are here. Free
Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains WHS. In NE South Africa, these mountains comprise 40% of the Barberton Greenstone Belt, one of the world’s oldest geological structures – the best-preserved succession of volcanic and sedimentary rock dating back 3.6 to 3.25 billion years
Provide key insights into early Earth processes including the formation of continents, surface conditions 3.5 to 3.2 billion years ago, and the environment in which life first appeared on our planet.
Encased by granite and buried by a thick layer of sediment, this 340-million-year-long record of Archaean lavas has escaped erosion. Partly explored the story of how life on Earth began – the origin of continents, deposits of the hottest lavas ever to flow on Earth, repeated meteorite bombardments, anoxic oceans and atmosphere ‒ that formed the environment in which primitive unicellular life first appeared on our planet.
It is a 40 km drive to Barberton and the WHS
I drove back to Nelspruit and drove to my guest house whose location on Booking.com bore no resemblance to where it was and 10 km from town. As there were no houses anywhere, I continued down Caine Road turned towards some lights and tried phoning. I white guy drove by and gave me instructions down a narrow dirt road, past several homes, and rocks, and finally, I reached her gate. It was all dark and I honked several times. I drove back into town and ate and phoned her again. She answered and I guess I have a place to sleep tonight.
ON Home Sweet Home Cozy Tiny. 319R Full kitchen and TV, clean just a rather disorganized woman. Great value for money.
Day 6 June 1
Up early, I went into town to top up my Telecom card, get gas and start the long drive to Mapungubwe, a WHS on the Zimbabwe border.
There are 5 waterfalls on the way – from south to north.
Lone Creek Falls and Bridal Veil Falls were 8.8 and 10 km off the highway on a dirt road so I didn’t go to them. Each waterfall has a host of souvenir stalls. I bought a lovely beaded key chain and a bracelet for Anna.
Mac Mac Falls. Right on the highway and a 500 m walk down, these are a spectacular double waterfall into a big pool in a deep rocky gorge. 65 metres high on the Mac-Mac River. Originally, the waterfall had a single stream, but miners used dynamite on the waterfall in the hopes of exposing the gold-rich reef, which now has the water falling in two streams. Due to the vast number of Scotsmen working in the area at the time, all with similar surnames beginning with “Mac,” the then-president of the Transvaal, Thomas Burgers, named the area Mac Mac.
Two buses unloaded 100 school kids, all white except for one little black girl. I wonder if the black kids go on field trips like this. 16 R
Lisbon Falls. 2 km off the highway, this triple falls drops off the flat plain into a gorge. 16R
Berlin Falls. Also 2 km off the highway, this single falls drops into a huge pool. 16R
Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve is situated in the Drakensberg escarpment and protects the Blyde River Canyon, including sections of the Ohrigstad and Blyde Rivers and the geological formations around Bourke’s Luck Potholes, where the Treur River tumbles into the Blyde below. Southwards of the canyon, the reserve follows the escarpment, to include the Devil’s and God’s Window, the latter a popular viewpoint to the lowveld at the reserve’s southern extremity.
The Mogologolo (1,794 m), Mariepskop (1,944 m) and Hebronberg (1,767 m) massifs are partially included in the reserve. Elevation varies from 560 m to 1,944 m above sea level.[1] Its resort areas are F.H. Odendaal and Swadeni, the latter only accessible from Limpopo province.
Bourke’s Luck Potholes mark the beginning of the Blyde River Canyon. Sustained kolks in the Treur River’s plunge pools have eroded a number of cylindrical potholes or giant’s kettles, which can be viewed from the crags above. Pedestrian bridges connect the various overlooks of the potholes and the gorge downstream.
The Three Rondavels are three round, grass-covered mountain tops with somewhat pointed peaks. They quite closely resemble the traditional round or oval rondavels or African homesteads, which are made with local materials.
. 
God’s Window is a popular vantage point along the Drakensberg escarpment, at the southern extremity of the Nature Reserve. Sheer cliffs plunge over 700 metres to the Lowveld. From this escarpment—a mostly unbroken rampart of cliffs—opens a vista into the Lowveld expanse and escarpment forests. On a clear day it is possible to see over the Kruger National Park towards the Lebombo Mountains on the border with Mozambique.
God’s Window features prominently in the plot of the 1980 cult film The Gods Must Be Crazy. Near the end of the movie, the Bushman character Xi travels to God’s Window, and due to some low-lying cloud cover believes it to be the end of the Earth.
============================================================
SOUTH AFRICA = LIMPOPO (Polokwane)
The Shoe. In the Ohrigstad Valley, this large stone shoe complete with metal laces was built by Ron van Zyl, a Dutchman and is filled with lead wood Christian carvings with a heavy emphasis on religion. Furniture and household knickknacks. 5 R
Abel Erasmus Pass. A low-level pass over a short section of hills. Descends through a lovely canyon with yellow/red rocks.
Leysdorp. In the NM Dark Side series, this is a ghost town. It is a former gold rush town 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) south-west of Gravelotte and 53 kilometres (33 mi) south-east of Tzaneen. It developed from a gold-mining camp and was proclaimed in 1890, but was virtually abandoned when gold was discovered on the Witwatersrand. Named after Willem Johannes Leyds (1859–1940), state secretary of the South African Republic from 1888 to 1897.
Tzaneen Dam Provincial Park.
Louis Changuion Hiking Trai. 9.7-km loop trail, moderately challenging and takes an average of 2 h 46 min to complete. Popular trail for hiking, running, and walking, The trail starts and ends in the quaint town of Haenertsburg, goes through grasslands and forest with views of the Ebenezer Dam. Follow the board with yellow footsteps for the full trail and the white footsteps for shortcuts.
St Benedicts Abby. Don’t go here. First drive 16 km off the highway, go through a predominately black town with at least 20 difficult speed bumps. Arrive at the college and walk across the dirt playing field to the large white building that I thought was the church but is a two-story building with a large bare meeting room and dorms/bathrooms under. It is hard to find the church as it is so small and nondescript. It was closed. This should be removed from NM.
Bakone Malapa Open Air Museum. 13 km south of Polokwane (Pietersburg), it showcases the Northern Sotho people with 2 traditional homesteads typical of about 250 years ago. Lapas have separate, thatched brick-and-mortar bedroom, kitchen and living room. Floors are still made from a mix of mud and cow dung. Learn how fire is made, how beer is brewed and how maize is ground, woodcarving, pottery, basketry and beadwork. 16 R
POLOKWANE
This large city has the most irritating street light system, many and unsynchonized. I ate at the Burger King at the mall but their chips fryer wasn’t working.
Irish House, Polokwane Museum. In an old country style store, the ground level has the struggle for independence and the top a detailed history of Pietersburg, the original name of the Polokwane.
It was then a long 220 km drive to Mapungubwe. It started with a 10. km section on a dirt road with many speed bumps, another Google Maps shortcut that wasn’t. Then a fast 2-lane highway with no shoulders. There were many warnings of potholes but they had all been fixed in the wonderful SA road system.
ON Alldays Hotel. A bare-bones room with shared BR for 450R. Great outdoor picnic table for working.
Day 7 Fri June 2
It was a 67 km drive from Allways to the park, the middle 35 with bad potholes but otherwise a vert fast drive. The last 15 km follows the south border of the park initially with a rocky eroded escarpment.
Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape. This demonstrates the rise and fall of the first indigenous kingdom in Southern Africa between 900 and 1,300 AD. Mapungubwe is set hard against the northern border of South Africa, joining Zimbabwe and Botswana. It is an open, expansive savannah landscape at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers. Mapungubwe developed into the largest kingdom in the sub-continent before it was abandoned in the 14th century. What survives are the almost untouched remains of the palace sites and also the entire settlement area dependent upon them, as well as two earlier capital sites, the whole presenting an unrivalled picture of the development of social and political structures over some 400 years.
The core area covers nearly 30,000 ha. Within the collectively known Zhizo sites are the remains of three capitals – Schroda; Leopard’s Kopje; and the final one located around Mapungubwe hill – and their satellite settlements and lands around the confluence of the Limpopo and the Shashe rivers whose fertility supported a large population within the kingdom.
Mapungubwe’s position at the crossing of the north/south and east/west routes in southern Africa also enabled it to control trade, through the East African ports to India and China, and throughout southern Africa. From its hinterland it harvested gold and ivory – commodities in scarce supply elsewhere – and this brought it great wealth as displayed through imports such as Chinese porcelain and Persian glass beads.
This international trade also created a society that was closely linked to ideological adjustments, and changes in architecture and settlement planning. Until its demise at the end of the 13th century AD, Mapungubwe was the most important inland settlement in the African subcontinent and the cultural landscape contains a wealth of information in archaeological sites that records its development. The evidence reveals how trade increased and developed in a pattern influenced by an elite class with a sacred leadership where the king was secluded from the commoners located in the surrounding settlements.
Mapungubwe’s demise was brought about by climatic change. During its final two millennia, periods of warmer and wetter conditions suitable for agriculture in the Limpopo/Shashe valley were interspersed with cooler and drier pulses. When rainfall decreased after 1300 AD, the land could no longer sustain a high population using traditional farming methods, and the inhabitants were obliged to disperse. Mapungubwe’s position as a power base shifted north to Great Zimbabwe and, later, Khami.
It is about 67 from Alldays to the park entrance. Register and pay 332 R (252 park entrance, 50 museum entrance and the rest tax). I drove the loop good for any vehicle and saw giraffe, antelope and zebra. It is hilly with grass, bush, rock outcrops and baobab trees (bark eaten by elephants that self regenerates). It was 11 km to the treetop boardwalk and 12 km to the confluence, an overlook to see where the borders of Botswana, Zimbabwe and S Africa meet with the Shashe River below. Make sure to walk out on the bricked path to four viewing decks – Sunrise, Main, Confluence and Sunset built on the edge of the escarpment with great views. There were elephants in the distance. The border between Bots and Zim is a dry river course.
At one of the viewing decks, I talked to a family, former farmers in Zimbabwe, here to look at their former farm across the river. 23 years ago, the farm along with 4000 other white-owned farms, was expropriated by the Zim government. Their crops were tobacco and wheat. They lost everything including 400 cattle, horses and dogs and have yet to be compensated. 6 months ago they were offered Zim bonds maturing in 20 years but there was no penalty for not paying. Of the 4000 farms, only about 10% are working now. Zim imports its products. They now live in SA.
Continue the loop drive along the river to see elephants close by. The road deteriorates slightly all the way to the entrance. I saw several zebra, baboons, antelope.
Museum. Don’t miss this, set in a lovely building with rock roofs. Besides, the animals and flora, there is an excellent description of the Mapungubwe kingdom that existed from about 900-1350 AD as a prehistoric iron age community. The first village was a Schroda Hill (many great clay animals and pots are in the Pretoria Cultural Museum) above the Limpopo River with 500 people. They traded in skins and ivory and imported glass and silk. They then moved to K2 from 1000-1200, a few kms west with 7000 people in a class society. They then moved to Mapugubwe Hill from 1150-1320 with 9000 people. The kings lived on top of the hill, the wives and families on the slopes and the commoners in the valley. The most sophisticated economy developed then based on copper, iron, gold, traditional food, ceramics, textiles and jewelry. The first dry stone structures were started in 1200. They moved to Great Zimbabwe after 1300.
There are great artifacts including several gold pieces – a bowl, rhino made from gold foil, a royal sceptre, fine anklets, bracelets and pellets.
It was then a 263 km drive via Allways to the Botswana/SA border. The road past Alldays started good but soon deteriorated into severely broken pavement that was covered with dirt and gravel to try to make it flat. With no gravel covering, the potholes were frequent and large. The last 40 km returned to normal.
South Africa / Botswana border at Groblersburg SA/Martin’s Drift Botswana. Easy exit and ok entrance as they wanted accommodation but finally relented. 260 BP road permit. A cop at the exit wanted to fine me for not coming to a stop at a barely noticeable stop painted on the pavement.
===========================================================
Day 8 Tue June 6
I crossed back into South Africa from Botswana to drive across this state on my way to Soweto and Johannesburg. I planned on returning my rental car in the afternoon with a flight to Madagascar in the morning.
The Botswana/SA border was painless and they stamped my passport in the tiniest places. I drove through NW Province stopping for groceries and gas.
SOUTH AFRICA – NORTH WEST PROVINCE (Mafikeng, Sun City)
SUN CITY*
Kwena Crocodile Farm
Sun City Theme Park
The Palace of the Lost City
HARTBEESPOORT DAM*
Hartbeespoort Dam Snake and Animal Park
The Elephant Sanctuary
Monkey Sanctuary Hartbeespoort
Upside Down HouseBizzarium:
Vredefort Dome. Located 120 kilometers south-west of Johannesburg, it boarders 3 provinces, Gauteng, Free State and North West. Vredefort Dome is World Heritage Site, a representative of part of a larger meteorite impact structure or what is commonly known as astrobleme dating far back as 2023 million years. Making it the oldest astrobleme yet found on planet earth. With the radius of 190 kilometers, it is also the largest and the most deeply eroded. No signs. No entry to the point of impact. Bad roads.
=============================================================
SOUTH AFRICA – Gauteng
Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa. WHS The Taung Skull Fossil Site, in 1924, a specimen of the species Australopithecus africanus – was found. Makapan Valley, also in the site, features in its many archaeological caves traces of human occupation and evolution dating back some 3.3 million years.
Dolomitic limestone ridges with rocky outcrops and valley grasslands, wooded along watercourses and in areas of natural springs. Most sites are in caves or are associated with rocky outcrops or water sources. The serial listing includes the Fossil Hominid Sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai and Environs, and the Makapan Valley and Taung Skull Fossil Site. Fossils have identified several early hominids, more particularly of Paranthropus – 4.5 – 2.5 million years, as well as evidence of the domestication of fire 1.8 million to 1 million years ago.
Cradle of Humankind (Maropeng and Sterkfontein Caves)
MAROPENG. This is the main museum and interpretive centre for the Cradle of Mankind. Enter a museum buried in a large hill that gives an overview. Go down the stairs and walk around a timeline for the earth and life. Take a boat ride for 4 minutes through hokey volcanoes. Then enter the main museum, a very well done story of the evolution of man with many replica skulls and one skeleton. Discusses Austrapithicus sp., the main discovery here and at Sterkfontein and then the progressive evolution to Homo Sapiens. Good discussions of gait, hands, feet, brain size, skull shape and teeth. 100 R
It was then a 48 km drive to Soweto basically through city with many lights, stop signs and slow driving.
SOWETO is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan bordering the city’s mining belt in the south. Its name means South Western Townships. Formerly a separate municipality, it is now incorporated in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, and one of the suburbs of Johannesburg.
History. An outcrop of the Main Reef of gold was discovered here in February 1886. Within a decade of the discovery of gold, 100,000 people flocked there. There were large quantities of clay, suitable for brickmaking. The government decided that more money was to be made from issuing brick maker’s licences at five shillings per month. The result was that many landless Dutch-speaking burghers (citizens) of the ZAR settled on the property and started making bricks. They also erected their shacks there. Soon, the area was known either Brickfields or Veldschoendorp. Soon other working poor, Coloureds, Indians and Africans also settled there. The government, who sought to differentiate the white working class from the black, laid out new suburbs for the Burghers (Whites), Coolies (Indians), Malays (Coloureds) and Black Africans (Africans), but the whole area simply stayed multiracial.
Soweto was created in the 1930s when the White government started separating Blacks from Whites, creating black “townships”. Blacks were moved away from Johannesburg, to an area separated from White suburbs by a so-called cordon sanitaire (or sanitary corridor) which was usually a river, railway track, industrial area or highway. This was carried out using the infamous Urban Areas Act of 1923.
The name Soweto was first used in 1963 and within a short period of time, following the 1976 uprising of students in the township, the name became internationally known.
Soweto became the largest Black city in South Africa, but until 1976, its population could have status only as temporary residents, serving as a workforce for Johannesburg. It experienced civil unrest during the Apartheid regime. There were serious riots in 1976, sparked by a ruling that Afrikaans be used in African schools there; the riots were violently suppressed, with 176 striking students killed and more than 1,000 injured.
In April 1904, there was a bubonic plague scare in the shanty town area of Brickfields. The town council decided to condemn the area and burn it down. Beforehand, most of the Africans living there were moved far out of town to the farm Klipspruit (later called Pimville), south-west of Johannesburg, where the council had erected iron barracks and a few triangular hutments. The rest of them had to build their own shacks. The fire brigade then set the 1600 shacks and shops in Brickfields alight. Thereafter, the area was redeveloped as Newtown. Pimville was next to Kliptown, the oldest Black residential district of Johannesburg and first laid out in 1891, on land which formed part of Klipspruit farm. The future Soweto was to be laid out on Klipspruit and the adjoining farm called Diepkloof.
Soweto is mostly small rectangular brick houses with brick walls in front. It is like any other city with buses, good garbage and new pavement everywhere but the housing quality is poor. There is even a typical shanytown with corrugated housing.
Credo Mutah Cultural village. A variety of buildings (concrete tribal homes with thatch roofs, an old stone building, some square buildings and many cement sculptures, the best a huge naked woman with a big belly and child, dinasaurs, more people etc. I guy. tried to charge me 35 R to enter the gate but couldn’t give a receipt.
Kliptown Museum. Housed in an old hardware store, it hasn’t been open for a few years as there is no electricity. A guy let me. A lot of junk laying around and some story boards about the 1950s nationalist movement. During a parade, there were many people sitting on top of the roof.
Hector Peterson Memorial. In a large park with a stone/plaque, a polished granite memorial (opened by N Mandela in 1992), pool, dry stone walls and a large museum with many photos and the story. 55 R
On June 16, 1978, 15,000 school children were peacefully protesting the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of teaching. Police opened fire killing 600 kids, wounding thousands, thousands detained, and 12,000 fled the country.
Nelson Mandela House. This small brick rectangular house, typical of Soweto houses was where Mandela lived for 15 years and Winnie lived after her 1970 detention (500 days, 200 in solitary). Enter a central room, an office? and bedroom with the walls and cases filled with awards, photos, portraits shoes, camera, books and greeting cards. 60R
The place is packed with tourists and tour groups.
I returned my Hilux to Euopcar and they billed the 9000 R excess to cover the minor damage!! If no repairs are done, I will get it back.
ON Curiocity Backpackers. Back again for my second stay.
Day 9 Wed June 7
I took a Bolt to the airport 163R
Flight: Johannesburg to Madagascar on Aerolink @10-2:10 Airlink $250 CAD
=============================================================
South Africa – Northern Cape (Kimberley, Upington, Springbok)
M@P Former Mier Municipality (Rietfontein and RSA portion of Kgalagadi)
World Heritage Sites
Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape. The 160,000 ha Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape of dramatic mountainous desert in north-western South Africa constitutes a cultural landscape communally owned and managed. This site sustains the semi-nomadic pastoral livelihood of the Nama people, reflecting seasonal patterns that may have persisted for as much as two millennia in southern Africa. It is the only area where the Nama still construct portable rush-mat houses (haru om ) and includes seasonal migrations and grazing grounds, together with stock posts that has persisted for at least two millennia; the Nama are now its last practitioners. The pastoralists collect medicinal and other plants and have a strong oral tradition associated with different places and attributes of the landscape.
The extensive communal grazed lands of the Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape are a testimony to land management processes which have ensured the protection of the succulent Karoo vegetation and thus demonstrates a harmonious interaction between people and nature.
The Richtersveld is one of the few areas in southern Africa where transhumance pastoralism is still practised; as a cultural landscape it reflects long-standing and persistent traditions of the Nama, the indigenous community. Their seasonal pastoral grazing regimes, which sustain the extensive bio-diversity of the area, were once much more widespread and are now vulnerable.
ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape. The ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape is located at the border with Botswana and Namibia in the northern part of the country, coinciding with the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park (KGNP). The large expanse of sand dunes contains evidence of human occupation from the Stone Age to the present and is associated with the culture of the formerly nomadic ǂKhomani San people and the strategies that allowed them to adapt to harsh desert conditions. They developed a specific ethnobotanical knowledge, cultural practices and a worldview related to the geographical features of their environment. The ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape bears testimony to the way of life that prevailed in the region and shaped the site over thousands of years.
The landscape includes landmarks of the history, migration, livelihoods, memory and resources of the ǂKhomani and related San people and other communities, past and present, and attests to their adaptive responses and interaction to survive in a desert environment. The ǂKhomani and related San people are formerly nomadic populations and among the last indigenous communities in South Africa. They developed subsistence strategies to cope with the extreme conditions of the environment and developed a specific ethnobotanical and veld knowledge as well as cultural practices and a worldview where geographical features embody symbolic links between humans, wildlife and the land.
The ǂKhomani are actively reclaiming their knowledge, practices and traditions, bringing back to life a rich associative landscape, thanks also to the survival of the last speakers of the !Ui-Taa languages in the ǂKhomani community. The ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape reflects the ethos of the ǂKhomani and related San people of living softly on the land and seeing themselves as part of nature, in a landscape where there is a respectful relationship between humans, plants and animals, links them to this land in a unique way that epitomises sustainability.
The ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape is uniquely expressive of the hunting and gathering way of life practised by the ancestors of all modern human beings; so are the simple, yet highly sophisticated technologies which they used to exploit scarce resources such as water, find plant foods in an extremely hostile environment, and deal with natural phenomena such as drought and predators.
