Rotterdam-Amsterdam-London-Johannesburg: 18,5 hours of travel 

Wednesday 18 February 2004

We take the 11.30 train from Rotterdam to Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport. We check in for our flight by means of a machine. We fly at 2:50pm with British Airways to London Heathrow. Here we have ample time to change planes. Our flight to Johannesburg is delayed because of a defective footbridge. After some attempts to repair it we have to board the aircraft by means of a staircase. The flight itself goes off without a hitch. We fly with a modern Boeing 747. We all have individual TV-screens and a choice of 18 TV- and movie channels.  We arrive the following morning at 7:05 local time. South Africa is one hour ahead of continental Europe and two hours ahead the UK.

Johannesburg-Pretoria: 58km/36mi

Thursday 19 February 2004

After arrival at Johannesburg (or Joburg) airport  we are escorted by a friendly porter to the car rental office. He knows all the players of the Dutch national soccer team by name and even their clubs! At Sixt/Tempest we get a Volkswagen Polo Classic. The drive to Pretoria is an easy one and we find our guest house, Granton, without any problems. Granton is a tastefully decorated  Bed & Breakfast in a quiet residential area of Pretoria. Grant, Anton and Rikus are our hosts. They are very helpful, but thankfully leave us to ourselves most of the time. We set ourselves up in our room, freshen up and take a short break. 

After a short while we head for downtown. We park the car in a car park on Vermeulen Street. That is when we find out that we have left our money back at the guest house. As we cannot take the car out of the car park - penniless as we are - we have to take a taxi back to the guest house to collect our wallets.  Back again in downtown we let the taxi driver take us to Church Square. A large square with stately buildings and a statue of Paul Kruger in the middle of it. Kruger was president of the South African Republic (ZAR or Transvaal) from 1883 till 1902. We have a drink at Cafe Riche, an Art Nouveau café from 1905. On the square is also the former Raadsaal, once the parliament of the Boer Republic Transvaal, and a couple of other buildings like the former headquarters of the  Netherlands Bank (NedBank). We walk on through the city. We buy (for R12) an adaptor for South African power sockets, because these are so typical that no international travel adaptor will fit.  Kruger apparently had a good relationship with the Muslim community in Pretoria as they were allowed to buy a piece of land in the centre of town in 1896 on which they built a mosque in 1927. We have a look at the old mosque in Queen Street, which is hidden from view by other buildings. We can just about conclude our visit before a prayer service is about to start. After lunch we drive to the Union Buildings. Pretoria is the nation's capital (since the former Boer Republics Transvaal and Oranje-Vrijstaat were forcibly united by the British with the Cape Province and Natal into the Union of South Africa). The Union Buildings are the seat of South Africa's Government. Parliament however has - strangely enough - its seat in Cape Town! The Union Buildings are built on a hill with a view over town and a rose garden. They were designed by Herbert Baker in 1910 and should symbolise the unity between Afrikaner Boers and British Colonists. The buildings became world famous during the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as president in 1994. Today it is the seat of president Thabo Mbeki and his government.

From here we drive to the Voortrekkersmonument on the other side of town. This monument was completed in 1940 celebrating the victory of the Boers on the Zulus at the Blood River in 1838. The monument is fraught with symbolism. Inside is a relief depicting scenes from the Great Trek. Ox wagons, like the ones the Boers used during the Trek are depicted on every wall. The Great Trek started around 1834 out of discontent about the equal status before the law granted to the indigenous people by the British and the abolition of slavery in the Cape Colony. In the eyes of the Afrikaners at the time this was in violation of "God's laws and the natural order of the races". The Boers moved East and North and met fierce resistance especially from the Zulus, who were defeated in the end. The monument stands perched on a hill and we can go to the top of the structure with an elevator. The view from the top over the city and around is beautiful. The curio shop is run by a former Dutchman.  

Then we get tired and we return to the Granton guesthouse to relax.

Later at night we have dinner at (Gerard) Moerdijk-restaurant. Gerard  Moerdijk is not the owner nor the chef, but the architect of the Voortrekkersmonument (1940) and of the building in which the restaurant is based (1922): a prime example of Moerdijk's attempts to revive the 17th century Cape-Dutch architectural style. It is a fine restaurant with African specialties at - according to our Dutch standards - very reasonable prices.  We eat ostrich carpaccio and Kudu steak. My eyes have meanwhile become very red and tears keep running incessantly. 

The weather was sunny, with temperatures up to 26°C / 79°F.

Pretoria - Witrivier: 343km/213mi

Friday 20 February 2004

After breakfast the first thing on our list is a visit to a General Practitioner, as my eyes have become worse during the night. Dr. Jaco Smit needs only one look to see that I have contracted a bacteriological infection, probably caused by a contaminated contact lens. No lenses and antibiotic eye drops for 7 days will do the trick. 

The we head for White River. The route is via motorways. It is a longish drive along excellent roads. It is odd for us to see pedestrians and hitch hikers on these motorways. After four hours we arrive in White River. We stay at the  Ambience Inn. A nice B&B with a large and lush garden and a sizeable pool. We are being welcomed by our hosts Johan and Issie, who invite us for a beer on the terrace. A special feature of the guest house is the outdoor Bushveld shower on our private patio. We relax and take a dip in the warm pool.  

At night we have dinner at the Meating Place in the village. A simple and reasonably priced restaurant, where meat plays an important role in most of the dishes. Next door to it is a large bar with  outside tables, where the locals are watching a rugby match on TV.  

The weather was sunny again with temp between 26-29°C or 79-84°F

White River - Blyde River Canyon - White River: 200km

Saturday 21 February 2004

Breakfast is served on the outdoor patio, with a view on the garden. After breakfast we drive to Sabie, where we have coffee. Sabie is a small town with a fair number of shops. After that we continue towards Graskop, famous for its souvenir shops, pancake restaurants (Harrie's en The Lone Tree) and its proximity to Blyde Rivier Canyon. We drive on to God's Window. This is a marvelous view point over the lowveld. Fortunately there are no low clouds, because often God's Window tends to be rather foggy. At the parking lot we get acquainted with the ubiquitous (as far as tourist attractions and road sides are concerned) Curio salesmen, trying to sell woodcarvings and other forms of folk art.  We drive back to Graskop for lunch at the Lone Tree. After downing a very nutritious pancake we are set for a tour of the Blyde River Canyon. Our first stop is at Bourke's Luck Potholes. These are holes worn out by a rapid at the confluence of the Treur and the Blyde rivers. There is a track with bridges allowing a view at the potholes. After that we continue through the impressive scenery to the next viewpoint. This one offers a view on the so called Three Rondavels. These are three cone shaped mountains who resemble a rondavels, the traditional beehive shaped huts of the indigenous population. A final view on the Blyde River Canyon is at World's End. This viewpoint is inside the Blydepoort holiday resort. We are supposed to pay entry, but the guard offers to be bribed for a small sum so that we can drive on to the viewpoint.  It does not add much to what we have already seen: it is a view of the 3 rondavels from a different angle. By now it is time to drive back to White River, where we arrive around 4pm. 

At night we eat again at the Meating Place, slightly disturbed by the raucous neighbours at the bar next door who are watching a rugby match on TV. After dinner we go back to our guest house and enjoy the African night and its sounds on our patio. 

Weather: sunny, around 25°C/77°F.