Final Leg of the Journey

We had a day and a half in Pretoria, and thought we would do some exploring with this. And when we were picked up at the Rovos train station, our driver gave us a bit of a tour around the sights while driving us to our hotel, the Court Classique. This included the Union Building, which is the home of the President (the actual Parliament is in Cape Town), the grounds around the Building, and the rows of Embassies and Consulates close by the Union Building. The hotel is in an area called Hattfield, which is a middle-class area, and one we would have assumed was safe.

Two things conspired to keep us pinned to our hotel. The first was that it rained quite hard for much of the first night and through the next day. And the second was that the staff told us we might need accompaniment (granted, this was when we asked where the nearest ATM was, so we could get out some more money). So we ventured to the ATM, a distance of perhaps 500 metres, and the rest of the time was in the hotel complex. We got a lot of reading done. And re-packed for Sabi, where we were allowed only one soft-sided bag. We did well with this task.

The following morning, we got picked up at 0800, and driven to the OR Tambo Airport, to a terminal for the small airline taking us into Sabi Sands airstrip. And the plane was small, as you can see.



The ten or so of us passengers got in, the steward turned into the co-pilot, and we taxied to take-off. The hour flight consisted of climbing to 25,000 feet, then descending to the airstrip. And so we were there, met by a ranger, Matt, who drove us the twenty minutes to the camp. High veldt is not lush vegetation, but rather scrub-sized bushes with the occasional taller tree, and grassy patches interspersed—and all on a sandy soil. It was a lot greener, we were told, due to recent rains. Southern Africa has experienced a serious drought this year, the area in effect totally missing the nourishing rains of January and February. Much wildlife, and many farmers, have suffered. So the rains are very welcome.

As I write this, we have been here a day. Already, three days seems too short. But we have had some good safaris so far: last evening, among other sitings, we saw a "clash" of thirteen white rhinos, and a horny female leopard looking for a mate. This morning, we were surrounded by a herd of elephants, including a set of quite young twin calves. And a hippo, lots of antelopes, many zebras, the odd wart hog, and some birds. Also this morning, Matt (the ranger), myself, and a German couple went on a ninety-minute hike through the area, looking at plants, and also seeing termites, butterflies, a dung beetle, and so on. So with all this, I had to have a nap.

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Location:Sabi Little Bush Camp