South African Expedition 2000
Wednesday 19 January 2000
An early start, as we were picked up for our adventure into Kruger. The tour had been organised through Livingston Tours, and we were joined by 3 Australians, 3 Dutch, 2 Frogs and half a dozen other Brits. We started chatting to Gareth from Stockport. He was also over to watch the cricket, and had the biggest black eye you could imagine. A real panda job. Apparently, he got into a fight with a few locals over a bird. And not the feathered variety.
| The bus journey was long, but we had regular stops.
We stopped in one small town, and immediately headed for the local pub, ‘The World of
Beers’ seemed like too good an opportunity to miss. Later, we stopped off at
God’s Window, a huge escarpment overlooking to the east. The view was spectacular,
and the drop huge. But this was soon topped by the Blyde River Canyon. It was massive. Absolutely humungous. It was the third largest in the world (behind the Grand Canyon and one in Namibia), and was certainly worth a detour. |
Outside 'Beers of the World' in Lyndenburg |
| Soon after, we transferred onto what was going to be
our transport for the next 3 days. It was a converted lorry, with bus seta screwed to the
floor, and windows placed into the sides. What it lost in style and charm, it would
certainly make up for in terms of suitability. If you see what I mean. But the signs were not good. 5 miles from our camp, it ran out of fuel, and the half of the party who were on it had an hours wait until a rescue vehicle could be seconded. The rest of us were already at the camp, a few miles from Kruger. Roland, our tour guide, put on the most fantastic grub. Basic stuff, but it tasted top draw. Steak, baked potatoes, etc, plus a few bottles of Castle to wash it down. It was a relatively early night, as tomorrow we had to get up at 5 am to catch the early animals. |
The Blyde River Canyon |
