Saturday 23 September 2017

Heading East - Mpumalanga and Swaziland

After the fabulous time in Etosha we had work in Windhoek for nearly a week then flew back to Johannesburg on the Friday.  Martin and I had to be in Swaziland for the Monday and, once again, he thought a safari was in order.  We had planned to stay in Kruger itself but the prices were extortionate so we stayed in Graskop, intending to safari on the Sunday.

On Saturday we drove out of the metropolis of Johannesburg onto the N4 and, after a few hours, stopped at the Alzu Petroport.  My third time now so it's starting to feel local.
20170909 Alzu Petroport  13.21.49
Eland drinking.
20170909 Alzu Petroport  12.24.02
And white rhino loafing around.
20170909 Alzu Petroport  12.23.33
Once you leave the N4 the road winds its way up towards Graskop through some stunning valleys on the edge of the Drakensberg escarpment. A long drive but worth it.

We decided that evening that we couldn't fit in a Kruger visit as it would have meant an early start on the Sunday with a large chunk of the day in the car. We had work to do so instead spent the next morning writing up Namibia, enjoyed a pancake lunch (a local speciality apparently) then a took drive around the local area. Our first stop was Bourke's Luck Potholes. Apparently he wasn't a successful gold prospector, but his name has stuck.
20170910 Potholes  14.30.08
20170910 Potholes  14.33.27
Amazing geology.
20170910 Potholes  14.48.50
20170910 Potholes  14.50.33
We then drove to God's Window to see the panoramic view.
20170910 Umbangaland   15.20.26
20170910 Umbangaland   15.20.05
And, finally, we swung by Pilgrim's Rest. This was once the centre of the gold mining business.
20170910 Pilgrims Rest   16.25.20
Martin remembers this from a decade or two ago when it was a thriving tourist town but it has been sadly mismanaged. The souvenir shops are closing, the buildings unmaintained and the tourists, needed to keep the economy pumping, absent.
20170910 Pilgrims Rest   16.19.21
Anyway, a quick drive around and then back accompanied by yet another wonderful African sunset.
20170910 Pilgrims Rest   16.35.37
On Monday we drove down to Swaziland to meet the other RGC'ers at Mananga Lodge in the north east of the country. Oooh, these sunsets are so awesome!
20170911 Managa Sunset  16.39.31
On Tuesday we set to work.
20170912 Managa work 1
Bandile has such a cool shirt :-)
20170912 RGC Bandile
We had lots to discuss and spent the next two days debating current and future business plans. We sat outside all Tuesday and on Wednesday were just settling down when Sipho leapt up off his chair. And I'm not surprised. A snake was slithering out of the arm of it. Bearing in mind Sipho was bitten by a snake earlier this year, and nearly lost his foot due to the infection, he had every right to jump.
20170913 Managa snake    09.49.42
We watched it slide out and off up into the next chair. We elected to sit inside thenceforth...

In the evenings we would braai.
20170914 Camp fire
And sometimes, to break up the work, we'd shop. It's certainly cabbage season in Swaziland.
20170914 Cabbage
During my stay at Mananga I read a tourist brochure and realised that I had hardly explored this country.  I was on my third visit and yet each time we'd pretty much driven in, worked, and then driven out.  I noted that there was a nature area northwest of us which we could drive through on our way back to Johannesburg.  Fortunately, we weren't in a rush so this was do-able and, also fortunately, Martin's car is a 4x4.  That came in handy later.

So we set off towards Piggs Peak in the Hhohho district of Swaziland.  Nice and steady to start with.
20170915 Driving over Piggs Peak  09.45.22
Then the dirt section started.
20170915 Driving over Piggs Peak  10.25.20
And the views got more amazing.
20170915 Driving over Piggs Peak  10.10.03
We had a short stretch of tarmac at one juncture, which literally stopped with ~5 cm drop just outside Piggs Peak town.
20170915 Driving over Piggs Peak  11.02.03
And then we were back onto the dirt road.  You can imagine how tricky this is to navigate in the wet.
20170915 Driving over Piggs Peak  11.07.27
This is the main road to the border post of Bulembu/Josefdal but there is an impasse on who should pay for its upgrade.  The road has been partly destroyed by numerous mining HGVs using it - however the owner of the company unsurprisingly isn't interested in paying for the road to be resurfaced and the government is refusing to 100% fund it.  
20170915 Driving over Piggs Peak  11.11.51
So glad we took this circuitous route. Such scenic views.
20170915 Driving over Piggs Peak  11.16.58
We stopped for lunch at Bulembu Lodge. Bulembu has a fascinating history shaped by mining, bankruptcy, environmental contamination and Christian orphanages. The wiki link I've provided only tells half the story...
20170915 Driving over Piggs Peak  11.43.39
20170915 Bulembu Lodge 16.56.28
This was a wonderful pit stop. The sort of place you initially would be a dream to live in, until you realise how isolated you'd really be.
20170915 Bulembu Lodge 16.56.33
The border. Small and sweet. Didn't take us a minute to get through.
20170915 Swazi border
20170915 Swazi flag
The views, the views!
20170915 Piggs Peak  12.47.21
And then it was a long drive back on the N4 into Johannesburg. My last African sunset for some time to come.
20170915 M4 sunset 2
20170915 M4 sunset  17.01.21

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