Landscapes in the south, animals in the north: returning to South Africa
Hi there
They called me Inkhosi...
(chief in Zulu!) blah blah blah...
Southern landscapes, northern wildlife: returning to South Africa
Sunday 18/10:
We quickly pick up the car from the First Car Rental counter.
This time, it’s definitely a S-Presso: a slightly bigger trunk, a more powerful engine (or maybe it’s just lighter?), and above all, a comfortable ground clearance (though in the end, we only needed it once).
Off we go toward Kruger ð.
While the roads around Cape Town were all in excellent condition, that’s less true here—especially once we leave the N4. They get pretty patched up, even full of potholes ðĪŠ.
After much hesitation, we finally decided to stop in Lydenburg. Though it probably has less charm than Dullstroom, it gets us closer to Kruger (especially since the next day, we’ll have a 50 km detour due to roadworks). We’re staying in a brand-new B&B: the outside looks like a motel, the rooms are super connected, but the common areas have an African vibe, and the welcome is really thoughtful. For my birthday, Mr. treats us to a shot of cactus liqueur, and Mrs. puts a candle on my slice of malva pudding.
Monday 19/10: After a (hearty) breakfast, we head back toward Kruger (with a box of koeksisters as a gift).
The road improves, the landscapes become more varied (we’re near the Blyde River Canyon), dotted here and there with gorgeous blooming jacarandas. We pass through the Phalaborwa gate around noon, under scorching heat (about 40°C in the shade).
(I didn’t notice at the time, but given the blistering heat, the woman on the far left of the photo is dressed *very* strangely ðŪ.)
If you’d bet on impalas for our first sighting, you’d lose—it’s elephants ð (which makes sense since Letaba is known for elephants). Elephants on the *wrong* side of the road (for me):
Let me explain: I’m driving and taking photos with my camera. My friend is taking photos and filming with her phone (which has its limits when you need to zoom in a lot).
And well, defying all probability, the animals were on the passenger side *three-quarters* of the time (literally) ð , and for the remaining quarter, half the time they were backlit ð!
That’s one reason I didn’t get many photos I’m really happy with.
Plus, the sky was often overcast, leading to a lack of brightness and contrast.
And finally (my bad), I admit that driving while scanning the surroundings, stopping, juggling my two lenses (not to mention occasionally grabbing my phone to send updates to family) sometimes left fingerprints on the lens ð or led me to accidentally press one of the (way too many ð ) buttons on the back of my camera (“Why are all my photos suddenly blue ðŪ???”).
That said, even if the photos aren’t amazing, the memory of the emotion from some encounters is still very much alive.
But let’s close this parenthesis and get back to our elephants:
A few kilometers later: buffalo. Of course, we had no idea we’d see very few of them during this trip.
We arrive at Letaba and check into our recently renovated “perimeter” bungalow.
A quick visit to the elephant museum (small but very interesting):
Another stop at the takeaway to buy our dinner since it closes at 6 PM (I’d been warned a few weeks earlier that the restaurant was still under repair after this winter’s floods). We go for ciabatta sandwiches stuffed with bobotie—just to try a local specialty ð. Then we head out again for a short sunset drive.
While the roads around Cape Town were all in excellent condition, that’s less true here—especially once we leave the N4. They get pretty patched up, even full of potholes ðĪŠ.
After much hesitation, we finally decided to stop in Lydenburg. Though it probably has less charm than Dullstroom, it gets us closer to Kruger (especially since the next day, we’ll have a 50 km detour due to roadworks). We’re staying in a brand-new B&B: the outside looks like a motel, the rooms are super connected, but the common areas have an African vibe, and the welcome is really thoughtful. For my birthday, Mr. treats us to a shot of cactus liqueur, and Mrs. puts a candle on my slice of malva pudding.
Monday 19/10: After a (hearty) breakfast, we head back toward Kruger (with a box of koeksisters as a gift).
The road improves, the landscapes become more varied (we’re near the Blyde River Canyon), dotted here and there with gorgeous blooming jacarandas. We pass through the Phalaborwa gate around noon, under scorching heat (about 40°C in the shade).
(I didn’t notice at the time, but given the blistering heat, the woman on the far left of the photo is dressed *very* strangely ðŪ.)
If you’d bet on impalas for our first sighting, you’d lose—it’s elephants ð (which makes sense since Letaba is known for elephants). Elephants on the *wrong* side of the road (for me):
Let me explain: I’m driving and taking photos with my camera. My friend is taking photos and filming with her phone (which has its limits when you need to zoom in a lot).
And well, defying all probability, the animals were on the passenger side *three-quarters* of the time (literally) ð , and for the remaining quarter, half the time they were backlit ð!
That’s one reason I didn’t get many photos I’m really happy with.
Plus, the sky was often overcast, leading to a lack of brightness and contrast.
And finally (my bad), I admit that driving while scanning the surroundings, stopping, juggling my two lenses (not to mention occasionally grabbing my phone to send updates to family) sometimes left fingerprints on the lens ð or led me to accidentally press one of the (way too many ð ) buttons on the back of my camera (“Why are all my photos suddenly blue ðŪ???”).
That said, even if the photos aren’t amazing, the memory of the emotion from some encounters is still very much alive.But let’s close this parenthesis and get back to our elephants:
A few kilometers later: buffalo. Of course, we had no idea we’d see very few of them during this trip.
We arrive at Letaba and check into our recently renovated “perimeter” bungalow.
A quick visit to the elephant museum (small but very interesting):
Another stop at the takeaway to buy our dinner since it closes at 6 PM (I’d been warned a few weeks earlier that the restaurant was still under repair after this winter’s floods). We go for ciabatta sandwiches stuffed with bobotie—just to try a local specialty ð. Then we head out again for a short sunset drive.
