Why
SA and what is there to see apart from wild animals, were some of the stray
thoughts doing rounds when we were planning our 2014 trip. All these doubts
were removed once I started researching. As the planning progressed, I became
more and more fascinated with the country. Then Kshama, a very close family
friend of our daughter’s, came along to reinforce our interest. Having lived in
SA for a long time, she had lots of advice on our itinerary. In addition we
were briefed by a close friend of ours from the navy – Samir Adwani. He had
served as the Indian Defence Adviser to SA in Johannesburg. He briefed us on
many aspects of our travel. Armed with all the guidance we started our planning
in right earnest.
Our
trusted travel partners - Kats and Navin from Gurgaon very willingly decided to
join this adventure. The most important ingredient for any travel is the
company. Unless the group is cohesive, accommodating and above all share the
spirit of travel and adventure – the journey will become a burden and an uphill
task. We were blessed in many ways in this regard.
After
our Spain and Portugal trip with Trafalgar, I had made up my mind not to go on
a conducted tour. At times it does become a bit of a circus – each event
unfolding in regular and unfailing sequence.
These tours are undoubtedly smooth and without any hiccups whatsoever.
But it lacks the elbow room one desires in any travel. Most of the countries
are so well geared for tourism; it’s extremely easy to maneuver. Internet is a
big boon and anything and everything is possible on the net. With a fair amount
of exploring, we were able to get our act together. Apart from air travel and
visa, we did everything else on the net- hotel bookings, car rental, booking
game camps, wild life safari, entry fee and the rest. Planning and execution
was all fun and excitement. In the end it was extremely satisfying. There were
no errors whatsoever and more than anything else it worked out very reasonable
cost wise. We left Mumbai airport on 02 May and returned on 19 May.
The
visas to SA and Zimbabwe, was a touch and go story. All our attempts in
pleading and influencing the staff to grant visas from 23 to 30 Apr met with no
success. In shear desperation Kats went to the SA Embassy on the morning of 31
Apr to try his luck. As Kats stood there aimlessly having a smoke, a SA
national from the embassy joined him. Conversation picked up and Kats narrated
his utmost concern to the gentleman. Call it coincidence or miracle, the man
happened to be an Ex army officer and the first secretary in the embassy. Kats,
in double quick time, told him about our own military background. The smell of
uniform attracts another service officer like nothing else. By an act of God,
we got our SA VISA at 1500 hrs on 31 Apr. Next day was ‘May Day’ and the
Zimbabwean embassy was closed. Kats cancelled his early departure on 02 May
from Delhi to Mumbai and went to the embassy to work on the VISA. Thankfully we
got the VISA at 4 PM and Kats took a 1930 flight out of Delhi. A dramatic
prologue indeed.
 |
| All from my camera |
SA
is a big country, but India is 2.5 times bigger. However, when it comes to
population, it has only 52 million people. By our standards, it is very sparsely
populated. There are approximately 43 people per square kilometer in SA as against
393 in India. It has the same population of Andhra Pradesh. About 80% of the
South African population is classified as black, about 9% as white, 9% as colored,
and 2% as Indian/Asian. One can drive hundreds of kilometers without
encountering any human being. The roads appear deserted most of the time. So,
problems solely related to over population are absent and hence their natural
resources are available to each individual in greater quantity. The country has
a bright future indeed.
The
aftermath of ‘Apartheid’ looms large even to this day. Cities such as Cape Town
still reflect the practice - the whites live separately from the others in well
planned towns and cities – colored, Black and Asians live separately. As the
economy recovers and purchasing capacity increases more non whites will be able
to afford good accommodation. Income distribution, poverty, land ownership,
educational achievement, basic health and unemployment are of serious concern.
All the low to middle level jobs are with the blacks. Taxi drivers, porters,
hotel housekeeping, waiters in restaurants, sales girls, tourism staff and such
other jobs are all with the blacks. It is rare to encounter any white in the
normal course of day to day interaction. The whites are wary of the emerging
demographics, especially their decline in population. It is truly a Damocles
sword that hangs over them very precariously.
The
same set of problems is in India too in large measure. We have hopes and they
have them too. I wish them all success.
We
decided to travel inside SA in our own car. Initially there were a lot of
uncertainties – new country, fast lanes, strict rules, age of the driver and so
on. We hired our cars from Hertz at the airport. The whole process is extremely
easy and traveller friendly. A car gives you immense flexibility. Start when
you want, go where you want, stop anywhere – all the required ingredients for a
leisurely and memorable holiday. The SA
roads are superb and provide a safe and excellent driving experience.
Fortunately it is RH driving as in India. The fuel cost is same at about 14 ZAR
(80 INR per liter). The average speed is 120 Km and in places it decreases to
80.60,50 and 30 and one needs to be extremely alert at all times. The signage
is first-class and a great boon to the driver. We did 13 days of driving. It
was an experience to cherish.
Travelling
with both SA and Zimbabwe Airways was a pleasure. Food was good and they are
generous with wine and spirits. The announcements are ‘off the cuff’ – very
interesting and carries a fair amount of humour. A lot better than the
accentuated gibberish one gets to hear on most of our airlines.
SA
has a blessed country side. God seems to have gone the extra mile to provide
such wonderful landscape. The beauty lies in its expanse, miles and miles of open
space where mountains intermingle with plains, shrubs and thick forest. The
drive along the ‘Garden Route’ is extremely invigorating. One can spend hours
staring at nature’s wonders. Pristine beaches occupy the entire length of the
‘Garden Route’ – each one better than the other.
As
a tourist, one gets to interact mostly with the black population. They are very
polite and accommodating. They go out of their way to help and assist. They are
full of greetings and a subtle sense of humour. They are ever ready to help the
tourists with the luggage, show directions and such other routine activities –
to make that extra buck – why not? All of them speak English. South Africa
has eleven official languages: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho,
Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu.
The
main language of the government is English. Apart from the other African
languages, Afrikaans is spoken by 13.5% and the English speaking variety constitutes
around 9.6%.
Surprisingly
there are no health faucets in the hotels – toilet paper occupies place of pride.
All their hotels and resorts are in a very good state of maintenance and well
organized. The facilities are spic and span. The owners have worked hard to provide
excellent interiors – each one is different, reflecting the taste of the
proprietor.
As
we chose to travel in May, the winter weather was perfect – barely crossing 22*
C and never below 8*C. There were a few interruptions due to coastal storms
with lashing rain and gale force winds – sometimes lasting up to 4 hours.
Extreme weather can be a big irritant during any travel.
It’s
interesting to note that you can get ‘filter’ coffee in every restaurant .All
mamas and mamis need not worry. Coffee is very popular. All the places provide
free WIFI. We generally used Viber and Whatsapp to keep in touch with India.
It’s very useful to take an SA SIM card to get the required connectivity within
the country – especially for any emergencies.
Another
aspect which needs mentioning is food in SA. The quality and quantity of food
is very good. The helpings are good and the taste is first-rate. The cost of
food is very reasonable. A good wholesome breakfast with eggs, bacon, baked
beans, mushrooms, bread, butter, jam and coffee was around 40 to 60 ZAR, a good
lunch with Hake fillet, salad, bread costs about 60 ZAR, similarly a good stake
is about 90 ZAR. On the whole it was a good eating experience. Jai and Navin
being vegetarians had no problem – pasta, veg sandwiches, variety of salads and
fruit provided the required nutrition. SA wine is excellent and a bottle costs
50 to 100 ZAR in a shop. Beer and hard alcohol in a store is comparable to duty
free rates. After a tiring day we preferred to have a hot bath, change into a
comfortable outfit and spend the rest of the night at the hotel. The streets
are deserted by 7PM.The country is safe and extremely tourist friendly. There
was not a single personal security related issue at all.
On
the whole the travel to SA and Zimbabwe was a great experience – exposing us to
many facets of the country – warm and helpful people, exotic countryside,
unforgettable wildlife, good and disciplined traffic, superb waterfronts and
beaches, great food and much more. Would I like to do it again? – Without any
hesitation, YES!
More episodes to follow.
More episodes to follow.
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