"South Africa..... WOW! If Only I had more time!" South Africa by lachydragon

Another case of the best trips always come up unexpectedly! I was lucky to spend 9 days in South Africa in July 2006. A good friend of mine works for one of the big airlines and we got some great flights to Johannesburg. After a couple of nights in Jo'burg we hired a car and headed for 5 magical days in Kruger National Park in Limpopo State in the North-East of the country.

I will not try and put too many tips on this page but use it as a bit of an introduction to my trip. You can use the links below to navigate to my Johannesburg and Kruger National Park pages as well as check out a few of my favourite pics from the trip. I hope you enjoy these pages!

The Orlando Power Station cooling tower.

The flight from Australia is a LONG one, so my friend Tim and I decided to spend 2 nights in Johannesburg to acclimatise and shake off the worst effects of jetlag. We stayed in the exclusive (and somewhat contrived) nothern suburb of Sandton but managed to get out on a Soweto tour which was a good way to spend a day. My Johannesburg page is not up yet but I will try and link to it form here when I get a chance to add some content and pics.

In the meantime enjoy the pic from our Soweto tour. It is of the Orlando Power Station which was built during the Apartheid era and never used to supply power to Soweto itself. Nowadays the cooling towers have been decorated with a mural and it is a wonderul piece of public art celebrating the spirit of the South West Townships (SoWeTo).

Why did the Zebra cross the road....(groan) sorry!

After a rest and recouperation in Jo'burg we headed off to Kruger for 5 nights with the animals in the National Park. It was a magical trip, we stayed in the Restcamps within the park run by the South African National Parks, they had some wonderful accommodation from permanent tents to traditional South African 'Rondawels' or round thatched huts.

As for the game viewing...well!....just magical! We were fortunate to see all of the 'Big 5' animals while we were there (Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Elephant and Buffalo). A night safari saw us only metres away from a pair of lions and we then fell asleep later that night to the sound of them roaring many kilometers away (while we were safe in our safari tent in the electrified restcamp!).

Again, once I get some content up on my pages you can click through and see my tips and pictures from this wonderful trip.