uKhalamba Drakensberg Park

The Nomad´s tour dossier promised: „… We explore the mountain pathes and take in the breathtaking views offered in the Royal Natal National Park. On our second day we will be going on a guided walk to see some of the San rock paintings.“

CHECK: The landscape was indeed breathtaking and beautiful, but unfortunately we had only little time for some photo stops while driving to our accommodation (late arrival). The walk to the paintings the next day was an really easy one-hour walk with a very proud Zulu man from the village. Most of our “Reisegruppe” decided to follow him for another cultural visit in his village – but hey, these boots are made for walking. So we decided to go on a hike – to a lovely waterfall (it was quite hot that day) and further into the wild.

RECO: Draakensberge – go there, but bring some time!!!

Durban to iSimangaliso Wetland park & St. Lucia

We won’t talk about Durban – no place to be (my opinion… But at least a good spot for a surf). After the stop-over in Durban we went to St. Lucia (not the Caribbean Island – and of course, you expected that joke!). The tour dossier promised: “… a sub-tropical paradise with the southernmost extensions of coral reefs only 220 km to the Mozambique Border…”

CHECK: We didn’t see any corals and get not sense for Mozambique … But what we saw was amazing!

RECO: Go there, hop on board of a boat, don’t fall into water and avoid walking in the city at night. Hippos might cross your way …

Morning game drive at Hluhluwe-Umfolozi

The dossier promised the Big 5 (note: almost every park says they have the Big 5 which is lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo and elephant – you hardly can proof it!)

CHECK: Very early wake up about 4 a.m. to start the game drive before sunrise. Yes, we saw at least rhinos and buffalos. But to be honest, after two weeks of traveling in SA the whole group is no longer beaten up to see kudus, impalas and even elephants! Although … at the end, I really enjoyed the performance by these cuties…

Swaziland

Once again, out of (South) Africa and welcome to another country! Swaziland was announced to be “the smallest country in the southern hemisphere and one of only three monarchies left in Africa.” Aha!

CHECK: We only saw the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary as this was the base camp for our visit. But actually this was fun: Zebras, warthogs, impalas, kudus and even wildebeests… They all live freely in and around the camp. Encounters included! In addition: another hippo pool, big crocs (called flat dogs) and lots of good hikes.
Africa at it’s best …

Kruger National Park

Ok, you can truely call this a “Must See”. The Nomad`s dossier promised: “we drive to Kruger NP for two unforgettable days of game viewing” and yes, they were right. But… it definitely was the better choice to spend some extra money for a optional game drive in a smaller 4×4 vehicle than with the Nomad’s truck (sorry Otis…). And yes, finally we saw the missing ones of the Big 5: lions and a leopard (and lots of others as well).

By the way: Sorry for bombarding you with all these animals – but there simply were a lot of them!!!

The final days…

After Kruger it was no easy job for the guys from the Moholoholo Wildlife Sanctuary to catch us for another animal spotting. But there we get an informative tour with a funny guide and the chance to get closer to some wild ones. But honestly – enough animals right now (and for the next weeks) for me …

The final days in SA ended up with “breathtaking views at Blyde River Canyon, God’s Window and Bourke’s Luck Potholes” – sounds strange but were all nice spots along the Panorama Route.

The “Reisegruppe” behave well, took pictures while claiming “ahhh” and “ohhh” but I guess we all were looking forward to stop traveling after so many kilometers (4938 in total) in a big, slow, shaky (and at the end also smelly) truck. Just arrive in Jo´burg and start traveling on our own again – with our activity mode and with no compromises, waiting for others and so on. Well, traveling with a group is not only fun – actually we had a great time and met a lot of nice people. But if you decide to be part of a group of Nomads you have to make sure that you are also willing to skip some places you wanted to see and to abstain from some activities of your personal interest. Being a society of a variety of people with different cultural backgrounds, of differing ages, individual interests is not always easy – sometimes it is hard work. But hey, isn’t that exactly what South Africa (and others countries as well) has to face every day.

So, Nomads, thanks for the trip, new insights, new acquaintanceship and a really good time in South Africa, Lesotho & Swaziland!

And as we are traveling with an international group we´ve just decided to write some of our future posts in English – so that everyone is able to join us. Let´s just say sorry in advance if there might be some mistakes or wrong spellings… We´ll improve!

Surf along the Eastern Cape

But let´s start where we´ve ended up last time… Leaving the western cape after Knysna (where we walked in the township) we proceeded to Tsitsikamma National Park, with some of South Africa´s most spectacular hiking trails. Along the road we´ve just passed by Jeffrey´s Bay, one of the best surf spots in S.A. Unfortunately we´ve only had little time to stop and watch the famous supertubes there. But actually this is the price of being a “Reisegruppe” – interests differs and there is always a schedule to be followed.

First step into Nature

The Eastern Cape region around Tsitsikamma is really green. For sure, this landscape doesn´t come out of nothing: Plants need more than just sun! When we arrived at our destination nearby the Nationalpark, the nice Tube´n Axe Campsite in Storms River village, the village´s name became reality and dark clouds appeared at the horizon. We had to face the possibility of building up our tent in the rain. But as our guide Gertrud told us several times: Just smile at nature – and nature will smile at you.

Well, hope disappeared completely when we started the next morning to the National Park´s gate for a long day of hiking. Rain was back again! Heavy rain! We just kept on smiling!

Several members of our “Reisegruppe” (including ourselves) were tough enough to face the bad conditions and to hike the first parts of the famous Otter Trail. Although we all got totally wet it was a fantastic walk along the stormy coast side up to the waterfall and to the suspension bridge.

For sure Tsitsikamma National Park is beautiful and always worth a visit – on rainy and definitely also on sunny days. There is another great campsite directly at the coast. Must be perfect to wake up in the morning with such a view or at least to enjoy a delicious Braais there after hiking.

A step into Deep

The region around Storms River mouth is not only famous for Tsitsikamma and its hikes but for a huge number of activities like tube riding, treetop canopy tours or bungee jumping. So, why don´t step into nature “high over heels” on Bloukrans Bridge, the highest bungee jump in the world (216 meters) ? Thanks to Anita, the bravest girl of our Nomads “Reisegruppe” who let us all took part in her personal adrenalin infusion. And, of course – she smiled for the rest of the day.