Back Blog 2 -South Africa's Mountains

Before we went to South Africa everyone we spoke to who had been there told us, "Make sure you go to the Garden Route" or "The Garden Route is the most beautiful part of South Africa." As a result I had a certain preconceived idea of what it would be like. I had a picture in my head of a dramatic road along the water with sheer cliffs down to crashing waves, and well, lots of flowers...like a garden. Well, the garden route is not that, and well, unless you get off the highway and on to the mountain passes, you will not experience the Garden Route to its fullest.

There are actually numerous mountain ranges in South Africa - and the ones we saw were all magnificent. We saw familiar looking mountains when we were in the wine region that reminded us of the mountains near our home in Oliver and the Okanagan Valley. Then we explored the mountains in the Kruger region on a series of roads called the Panorama Route. There we saw really unique and beautiful vistas along the Great Rift Valley. It was a bit like the Grand Canyon, dramatic and awe-inspiring.

We also spent a week in the Drakensburg mountains west of Durban where we were amazed by Giant's Castle and Cathedral Mountain. Coming from Alberta, I really did not think mountains could impress me. I have seen the Himalayas and the Alps, and while they were amazing - they looked a lot like the Rocky Mountains of Alberta. But South Africa's mountain ranges did not disappoint, and next to the animals in Kruger, were the highlight of our trip. The colours, the trees, the animals - they were all so unique from my experience that I really enjoyed our various drives and hikes. When I think of the Canadian Rockies my mind's eye sees blue and gray, sharp edges topped with snow, chipmunks and deer, and oh so many pine trees. But these mountains were a mosaic of endless shades of green rising upward to rounded rocks of red, orange and yellow. The green slopes were fringed with tall yellow grasses and dotted with clear blue lakes.


We also traversed stunning dirt road passes in the Garden Route. They were a challenge to drive, and at times a bit scary, but mostly they were just plain breathtaking. The mountains were mostly barren, dotted with low lying purple flowers and succulent shrubs. From there we took a side trip to see the brilliantly coloured mountains on Route 62 as we drove through the Little Karoo region.


Occasionally, when you are driving through one of the many pine tree plantations that dot the hillsides of the Garden Route you can almost feel like you are in Canada. That is until monkeys
or baboons run across the road - a fun reminder of which continent you are on.

In the mountains we also enjoyed ziplining, seeing caves, cliffs, waterfalls, and lots of villages dotting countryside. The villages are a mix of small cinder block houses and mud brick rodovals - the traditional round hut of many of the South African people and a stark reminder that this is Africa.

In general, the roads were well cared for, but occasionally a regional road was so full of deep potholes that you risked losing your car in one if you did not drive slow. Driving is stressful in South Africa. Not because the roads are bad, and not because you have to drive on the opposite side of the road. It is stressful because South Africans are very aggressive drivers. They honk at you or tailgate dangerously if you are driving slow, they pass illegally - both on the right and the left - they pass on blind corners, drive in the shoulders, and speed all the time. Having said that, I am so very glad we rented a car. It did not take long at all to get used to driving on the left side of the road, and having a vehicle allowed us the freedom to really explore and see things we would never have seen if we had done a tour. And renting a car was very inexpensive. By booking several months in advance, prepaying, and using a Costco discount code our car rental averaged less than $15 CAD a day.

We had some apprehension about driving. Fear of the unknown, fear of smash and grab crimes, fear of getting lost, etc. And it was at times stressful and caused a few arguments. But I have learned in my life that when I push myself a little outside my comfort zone and suck it up and deal with a little stress, I am never disappointed. And this two month long road trip through South Africa was no exception.

Back Blog 1 - The Dolphin Coast

We love beaches. Not so much for the water or the sand (I know, I know, water and sand is essentially what defines a beach) but for the ambiance: crashing waves, salty sea breezes, and the warmth of the sun on lots of exposed skin. The best part about beaches for me however are how they make me feel about my aging body. I always leave the beach feeling better about myself.

The Dolphin Coast of South Africa is so named because dolphins can often be seen frolicking in the waves just offshore. We didn't see any. In fact, we never even went to the beach in the two weeks we were there, except for several pit stops to take pictures. Why, you ask? Because the waves were too big to swim in and I found the sea breezes too cool for my liking. The wind there basically made a perfect sunny day of 32 C feel like an annoying Alberta day of 24 C. The beaches though, even sans dolphins, were magnificent.

Miles and miles and endless miles of sugary yellow sand - free from garbage and people. The lack of people might have to do with the time of year we were there (not during school holidays). or maybe  because there is just so much beach in this country that there is no need for everyone to go to the same place. Or it could be the safety concerns: Most travel advisories tell you to avoid deserted beaches...so that in and of itself contributes to the beaches being deserted. But I think I know the real reason no one goes to the beach there...

More than the shark riddled waters which we couldn't swim in, what we found most unsettling in this part of the country was the inability to go for walks. Don't get be wrong - there are miles of boardwalks along the sea, and in national parks, but to just go randomly walking around cities and towns is unnerving. Crime is just so high there that unless you know your way around real well, you just do not feel safe to wander about. Also, most of the condos we rented were in secure developments, among other secure developments, so again, wandering about was impossible or when possible, it was just plain boring.

We did take a few days to go explore the St. Lucia area where there is a huge estuary. There we explored miles of reserve over two days, and while it was pretty, after Kruger, it was a bit of a let down. The park was names a UNESCO World Heritage sight and it is home to some 1200 crocodiles and 800 Hippos. I tried counting them all but...

St. Lucia and the Dolphin coast are in the state of Kwa Zulu-Natal. It is very hot and humid there and air conditioning was our top criteria when booking our accommodations. Unfortunately when we booked, we did not know about the power issues in South Africa. Power was constantly going out - and with it - our air-conditioning and our ability to sleep. When we arrived at our Airbnb just outside of St. Lucia the hosts had been without power (and water) for two days. They hinted strongly that we should go somewhere else.

And so we did.

And thus began a stressful search for last minute accommodations at 5 o'clock in the afternoon which saw us knocking on doors and going into every motel on main street. At one hotel when I went in to inquire whether or not they had air-conditioning the woman at the front desk who was dressed in a wrinkled moomoo launched into a lecture about why it was not her fault that the power was out and she was tired of people complaining and she just had her chemo treatment and she was hot too and what did people expect - this is Africa after all! Then she took a big breath and said, "I think you should go somewhere else."

And so we did.

That night we slept at a high end hotel that had its own generator, glad to have a roof over our heads, two glasses of wine, and a nice cool room to sleep in.

Stay Safe and Stay Home - And Share the Damned TP!

Being without a computer these past two months  has been very frustrating. There were so many things I wanted to record about our epic South African journey. The amazing things we saw and experienced in that beautiful country between January 01 and Mar 8 were out of this world and over the coming months I hope to back-blog - a term I just made up  - to tell some of the stories that go with the many pictures I posted on Facebook.

After we left South Africa we went to Egypt - for that bucket list Nile cruise I have been wanting to take, but within days of arriving we knew we needed to hop on the soonest flight and get the hell home before it was too late. Now I am in isolation, as I developed symptoms on the day I arrived. I warned my son who was to pick me up at the airport and while I looked pretty ragged, having just flown 30 hours straight with no sleep, he looked, well...you judge for yourself.

Joel started preparing for this pandemic in early January back when everyone said this would fizzle out and that the media was sensationalizing and over stating the risk. He had already bought disinfecting supplies, face masks and toilet paper, long before anyone looked at you funny for doing so. And I am glad he did, because I came home to isolation and an empty house. No food, no TP and no ability to sanitize because there is not a bleach wipe out there to be had. Fortunately Joel was able to stock me up. By the way, I have been in isolation since Friday (4 days) and have gone through four rolls of toilet paper. I'm just saying...

Sadly, all of you will likely have to go through this too, and you should be prepared, both physically and mentally. It is hard. I am lonely, bored, and struggling with overwhelming feelings of sadness. I cry for my older friends and the risks they will soon face. I cry for my friend who is a Doctor, knowing the sacrifices he and his family are being asked to make. I feel sad for what we all must face in the coming weeks and months.

I appreciate all the positive ideas, advice, and dancing drunk frogs floating out there on social media and I agree isolation is a great time to read a book, learn a hobby or take an online class....but here is the reality, or at least MY reality: I came home to an empty house after 3.5 months of travel. I had no time to prepare. I do not have a ton of food stocked up and that makes me feel vulnerable. I have exactly 9 rolls of toilet paper on hand. I have great neighbours and friends doing store runs - and more importantly - wine runs, and I am not going to starve; however, I feel I have no control of my own destiny. I feel too sick to go for walks or do yoga. I don't want to learn to paint because I am too busy worrying about whether or not I am going to die. I would like to read a book, but I actually do not have any. I do have virtual library access, but frankly, my eyeballs hurt from staring at my cell phone because I cannot seem to tear myself away from the news.

I just had a video appointment with my Doctor. I cannot go in because of my symptoms (headaches, coughing, chest pain) and now I seem to have developed shingles, adding to my concern that my body's immune system is overtaxed. As the situation out there gets worse and the health care system gets more overwhelmed, people with regular health issues are going to find it scary as hell. I certainly do. Imagine you get bad chest pain, as I did last night. You may find yourself  saying "Do I go to the hospital or not? Am I having a heart attack or a panic attack? Is this my lungs filling up with fluid?What if I have the flu and I get COVID19 if I go there? I don't want to burden the system, but I also don't want to die of a heart attack at home alone." The mind can play some pretty bad tricks on you when you are alone for days on end, and despite how strong and positive you think you are - you are not likely prepared for this. By the way, my Doctor is concerned about my heart, and I have been asked to go to emergency right now.... I 'll just quickly finish this blog ...

How can we be prepared emotionally for what is happening - it is unthinkable. As I write this the Prime Minister of Canada is considering recalling parliament to vote on the enactment of the Emergency Act. This enables the government to have powers to do whatever is necessary...including arresting people for leaving their homes. Why are they doing this? Because so many people out there are not grasping the severity of what is going on. To those people all I can say is, stay home. Please stay home.

If you are out of the country - especially if you are in a developing nation - think beyond yourself. They do not have adequate resources to handle what will come there too eventually. They need their resources to protect and treat their own citizens. The fancy American private hospitals will soon enough be overrun, and you will find yourself far away from your loved ones. Please come home.

Over the coming days and weeks I hope to blog a lot. For me it is part of trying to stay sane in these unreal times. It is going to help me cope. I hope to share more uplifting travel stories and tales to help you cope. We are in this together. Stay safe and stay home.