An intensive month through southern Africa

After my stay in Cape Town it was time to move on and to explore the rest of the country including Swaziland and Mozambique. Near Swellendam I have been cycling alone through a wildlife park. Wildlife is not used to cyclists so it was hard to get close to the animals. But it was an indescribable experience in complete harmony with nature!In Swellendam I met some very friendly Afrikaners. I spent a great night with black people who invited me to drink wine together. As you might know, the Dutch language and Afrikaans are closely related. The black people have their own specific slang in Afrikaans which makes it harder to communicate, but rich of funny words and we laughed about our languages. How wonderful is the universal language of people?

On the Baz Bus I met a great Aussie guy (Adam) who sees travelling as his most important profession. For a few weeks we travelled together. The Baz Bus wasn’t our favourite mean of transport and we were lucky enough to meet a nice Dutch guy (Patrick) who invited us to accompany him for two weeks in his car till the Kruger Park. At that very moment few tourist visited South Africa. Sometimes it was just the three of us in the hostels. We enjoyed the pool tables, the delicious barbeque nights and the outdoor life at daytime. Our slogan was just do it, just do it again! And indeed, our pooling skills improved and our bellies were always satisfied.

After thousand of kilometres we reached the most famous wildlife park in South Africa. In the Kruger Park we couldn’t find any pussies, so we told Patrick to stop the car for any bird we could see. Patrick encountered his first rhino and Adam and I wanted to get as close as possible (still from a safe distance). When the massive rhino stood up from the dry soil Patrick didn’t know how fast to drive away. The car went up and down and Adam and I enjoyed his natural fear. Anyway, the park is beautiful and typically African, but it can’t beat the wildlife abundance of Eastern Africa.

Adam and I (among others) relaxed on the quiet beaches of Mozambique. I felt I was back in Africa again travelling in poorly maintained busses on the ‘road’ and surrounded by tropical areas and the lively people. A history of long Portuguese influence, civil wars and floods made life hard for most of the inhabitants. But somewhere I believe that the near sea make their lives enlightened. The tropical climate, the bright water, the abundance of fish, the empty white beaches provide opportunities to develop the tourist sector and to bring Mozambique and its people back again in the future.