On the second day of our South Africa tour, we headed up from Johannesburg towards the Kruger National Park area. We passed through some pretty poverty stricken urban areas. The streets were lined with rundown buildings, graffiti and trash piling up in every corner. Locals crowded around individually run fruit and vegetable stands that were set up outside of markets. As I sat in my comfy air-conditioned tour bus looking out onto the chaos, I couldn't help but to stop and take note of all of the privileges and possessions back home that I take for granted. I really should make the time for a daily practice of gratitude.
I also reflected on all of the turmoil, fear and political separation that is going on here in the US with our current presidential election. The changes that our country is going through right now, do not compare to the struggles that other countries face on a daily basis. We all need to just get a grip and get along.
Despite the hard times that appear to have fallen on them, the faces of many locals beamed with joy and laughter. The smiles on these friendly girl's faces made my day!
We made a stop at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, which are the home of the South Africa government and the offices of the president. This is the site where their presidential inaugurations are held, including that of Nelson Mandela in 1994. The late President Mandela is held in high honor in Africa for his role in abolishing apartheid. We learned much about him later in the tour through a very educational presentation given by our wonderful tour guide, Brett.
It was a very quick stop so we didn't have time to explore the buildings. It was just enough time to take a few quick snapshots of the meticulously landscaped grounds set atop of a hill overlooking the city.
In the middle of the garden square stood a gynourmous 9m tall bronze statue of Nelson Mandela with his arms outstretched to embrace the entire nation. It was quite a magnificent sight.
As we drove further north along the countryside, the scenery continued to grow more and more beautiful. The sun setting over the rolling hills reminded me of the Tuscany and Umbria regions of Italy.
That evening, we settled into a new hotel called Casa Do Sol in the town of Hazeyview, which had monkeys hanging out all over the place looking down on us from trees. They were as prevalent and friendly as squirrels are in our part of the world.
When we woke the following morning, we were taken on a drive through the breathtaking Panorama Route in the Mpumalanga province. Our first stop was at God's Window which was a bit hard to photograph as the morning mist was blanketing the floor of the canyon below us. On a clear day, you are supposed to be able to see all the way to Kruger National Park and the border of Mozambique. We could barely see a half a mile in front of us on this particular morning though. Still, a wonderful sight to see.
We then took a short ride to Blyde River Canyon, which is one of the largest canyons on earth at about 16 miles in length and and 2500 ft in depth. The steep sandstone mountains looked similar to some areas I've visited in northern Arizona. In fact, all of South Africa reminds me very much of Arizona, minus the cactus.
Our last landscape stop was at Lisbon Falls which houses more waterfalls than any other area in South Africa. This was another super quick stop on our tour with only time for a few quick snaps. The photographers on our group could have spent the entire day here exploring the area with our tripods and ND fllters using long shutter speeds to produce milky cascading water scenes. But after 10 quick minutes, we started getting the stink-eye and a gentle reminder from Brett that our time was up.
That concluded our morning of magical landscapes. We then went back to the hotel for lunch and our first safari drive in Kruger National Park. Woo Hoo!!! The moment we had all been patiently waiting for was finally about to arrive. Details on that adventure to follow.
Credits:
All photos copyright Susan Schmitz Photography