Chasing the sun

(Be warned: Extremely Long Post)
In case you were wondering where I disappeared to last week, I took the nephew on a road trip to the Northern & Eastern parts of our lovely country.
I figured I could let him sit at home , while I am at work, and let him get up to his usual antics (such as finding that stash of old porn mags I keep in a box from my university days). Or I could take time off from work and actually spend the week in the Mpumalanga/Limpopo provinces.
I managed to convince [S] to go with us as a well. Without the presence of a woman to keep the two of us in check, we would end up in all sorts of trouble. More than we could handle!
The weather is much warmer up north than down in Johannesburg, and I needed to defrost as a matter of urgency. Winter is so NOT my favourite season of the year. I hate the cold weather!!
We truly have a beautiful country and I cannot understand why people would want to leave all this behind and immigrate to countries like Australia. Hah hah!
What follows is a brief outline of a few of the places we visited. I put a lot of mileage on my car, but it was all worth it. There is so much to see and do and the wildlife is really something to behold.
We spent two nights at a place called the Otter’s den River Lodge in the Limpopo region. It is situated on an island in the Blyde River and surrounded by orange/citrus plantations. They offer a large variety of activities such as river rafting, hot air ballooning (woo-hoo!) and walking safaris. In order to get to the river lodge you have to cross a river teaming with hippos by walking across a rickety hanging rope bridge. Hippos are such majestic creatures when they are in the water. I absolutely loved it.
I walked so much over the two days I think I need a new pair of hiking boots. The lodge was also central enough for us to explore the surrounding areas such as the Blyde River Canyon, Kruger, and the nearby reptile park. I even had the opportunity to do some horse-riding. I am a bit rusty when it comes to riding, but I got the hang of it soon enough. My thighs (and a few other bodyparts) did not agree… but no pain, no gain right?.
A further few days were spent at the Forever Resort Tshipisi in the Limpopo bushveld. What I enjoyed most about the resort is the warm water springs and heated mineral swimming pools. It is like swimming in an open air sauna. I have never in my entire life seen so many baobab, bushwillow and mopani trees. The bird and wildlife (buck, antelopes, giraffes, lions, cheetahs, elephants, etc) are simply spectacular!!!!!! I can only imagine how much more beautiful it must be in spring/summer when all the flowers are in full bloom.
Half a day was spent at the Kapama Cheetah Breeding project & rehab in Hoedspruit near the Kruger National Park. It was quite and experience for me and quite emotional to see just what modern development is doing to these wonderful wild animals. I wish I could adopt one of the little cubs.
We also visited the towns of Graskop, God’s Window, Hazeyview, Pilgrim’s Rest, Sabi and finally Kruger itself. The area itself has many (and I mean many) waterfalls, lush green vegetation and spectacular views of the tree plantations from whence most of the wood used in paper production comes from. I won’t go into much detail, but you can get a good idea of what it is like up there by following the many links imbedded in this post or by googling the places I have mentioned.
We also stayed at the Forever Resort Blydepoort in Mpumalanga which has spectacular views of the Blyde River and the Three Rondavels. It is also within driving distance of Bourke’s Luck Pot Holes and The Eco Caves.
Did you know that the Blyde River Canyon is the third largest canyon in the world? In fact, next to the Grand Canyon (USA), we have two of the largest canyons in the world right here in Southern Africa, the second being the Fish River Canyon in Namibia.
I could actually tell that my nephew enjoyed himself, judging by the lack of embarrassing/awkward situations I had to endure. It is actually funny how people would mistake him for my son, which is quite odd despite the fact that we have the same “colouring” (hair, eyes, etc). I thought it would be obvious that I am too young to have a son his age. But then again, one never knows these days, kids have children while they are still in their teens and so perhaps they thought I could be one of those.
As expected, he exploited the whole situation by calling me “Dad” whenever other people were in the vicinity, which was actually quite funny. (more about that later in future posts)
I actually had women (young and old) coming up to me and commenting how wonderful it is that I am spending time with “my son”. If it weren’t for [S], I may even have gotten lucky. (Hah hahah…. I am just kidding! Really!)
I am not complaining. He is the kind of boy a father would be proud of. [S] thought it was funny too, but I reckon she was only too happy that he did not call her “Mom”. You know how women are when it comes to their age and how people see them.
I took a lot of snaps, but I am too lazy to post them. My camera takes quite large pictures (1,5 – 2.8 M in size) and I will have to edit and convert each one of them individually to make them suitable for web publishing.
It just seems like too much hard work, especially after an entire week of doing nothing and being one with nature.
One more week in Limpopo and and I would gladly have swapped my khakis for a loin cloth and pair of leather flip flops.
Nature boy… that’s me!!