The Zulus comprise the largest tribe in South Africa with something like 5 million people. President Zuma is a Zulu. Known as great, albeit vicious and deadly warriors, the Zulus dominated much of the lower parts of South Africa for generations before suffering a devastating defeat at the hands of the British. There is a great Zulu chief (who’s name I can begin to spell or remember) who is revered throughout this territory today. Oops. It’s King Shaka. They named the Durban airport after him I see.
Anyway, it’s a rugged, beautiful place. Called Drakensberg (dragon’s back in Africans), these mountains contain some of the highest peaks in South Africa at the bottom of the great escarpment. The mountains also encircle the independent kingdom of Lesotho. When asked why previous South African governments didn’t try to capture that territory too, Gavin assures us there is nothing much to capture —few resources and a lot of poor people.
The hotel has the feel of those old hotels at national parks — lovely, stately, stacked stone and lots of tourist groups. Hiking ranks high on the activities but golf, swimming, ATVs and general relaxation are also on the menu. I skipped one arduous hike but rejoined the group for the second one that was a trifling 7.1 miles of up and down and up and down. I’m remembering how tired I was after my REI Machu Picchu adventure. Excercising everyday at home is one thing. Strenuous jaunts like this every day is really testing my endurance, which —let’s face it— isn’t great to start with. But it’s really been fun experiencing all this raw beauty and nature up close.
As we make our way back to Durban, I’m very impressed by the roads in South Africa. We’re now on a major highway with four lanes on each direction and even the more rural road to the Cathedral Peak Hotel was well constructed and in good condition. I don’t remember a single road in Kenya or Tanzania as good as these. It was twenty years ago that I visited those countries, but our guide says things haven’t changed much. Except for the roads built by the Chinese to hasten the extraction of resources.
As you’ve probably read, China moved into Africa in a big way during the last decade, making deals to buy oil, gas, timber and even agriculture. To make that easier, the Chinese have built a significant amount of infrastructure to facilitate moving these resources including roads and railways.
Gavin also tells us that South Africa has contracted with Russia for the design/building/maintenance of several nuclear power plants for something like one trillion rand. So much more money than South Africa will ever be able to afford. But we’ll see.
One last notable— none of our group has gotten sick. Our intrepid guide Gavin assured us that drinking the water and eating food in Cape Town and Drakensberg would be fine. But I’m on the time-tested Boone travel regime which involves pepto bismol, bottled water exclusively and no raw fruits and veggies. Even without this regime, the rest of the group seems to be faring well. No doubt the gallons of Purel being deployed is helping. I still believe in my system. Half my group had intestinal distress in Machu Picchu and I want no part of that.
Another notable—clean bathrooms abound. Anyone who travels knows how grateful you are to find a first rate bathroom and we’ve had them at the top of Table Mountain at Cape Point National Park and even the gas stations along the highway. The abundance of staff cleaning and maintaining the toilets undoubtedly helps the situations. But really, I’m impressed.
Finally, we’ve nicknamed our group Team Smiley after the goats head street food that several of our more adventurous colleagues tasted in Langa township. I was not one of them. Although not strictly prohibited by the Boone method, I’ll add a picture later. Nonetheless, Team Smiley is bonded, rocking through Africa to each other’s playlists and having a grand time.
Our motto— You get more mileage with Team Smilage.
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