Pilanesberg National Park & Johannesburg
Door: Nayan Heijmans
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Nayan
27 September 2016 | Zuid-Afrika, Port Elizabeth
After crossing the border we drove all the way to Pilanesberg, where we arrived just minutes after the sun had set, we had made it.
Here we decided to rent a Safari tent at the Golden Leopard resort for two nights. This gave us the opportunity to visit the park the next morning for the whole day if we wanted to. The where some antelopes and bush chickens around the safari tents.
At dinner on the first night we took a 3-course meal in the resort restaurant. I had ordered steak for main which I always eat rare. However, after having 3 bites the steak was already cold. So I decided to tell the waiter that my food was already cold. He took my plate and after a while he returned with a medium-well steak on a really hot plate. Now the steak was hot, but not rare anymore, so I called the waiter again, to tell him that this was not what I had ordered. Again he took my plate and after a while another guy came with the same plate. He told us that he was the manager (at least I think, I couldn’t hear him clearly) and that I had ordered steak. This was steak. He really tried to make me eat the medium-well steak. Clearly he didn’t know whom he was talking to. I said to him that this was steak, but a medium-well steak. I didn’t order a medium-well steak, I had ordered a rare steak and the first steak that I got was rare but cold. Visibly disappointed he returned with the plate to the kitchen. After a while I got a new steak, once again on a real hot plate. This steak was between rare and medium-rare, so I decided to give them a break and eat this steak. After the main course we had a desert called “lekkerding”, it was some sort of custard pudding with a kind of muffin inside.
The next day we entered the park at 06:00 to hopefully see some active animals that would be more passive during the hotness of the day. First we encountered two rhino’s walking only a couple of metres form our car. They were as amazed by the white Beast as we were with them. As they continued there way and we had driven some metres with them we also continued our way. Then we (FINALLY) saw a male lion in the wild. He was lying in the sun and after some time he stood up and moved to some shade. In the meantime two rhino’s passed and we could also see some kind of deer keeping a close eye on the lion. ‘He was not afraid…’
An hour or so later we were driving on a road between high vegetation and all of a sudden we saw an elephant next to the road, so I slowed down to make some pictures. Only when we were right next to him (or her), he turned to attack us, so I hit the gas and we hurried further, we made it to safety. Then we saw the herd of the elephant and some really small baby elephants, so that was probably the reason for it to attack us. After some more time we saw another male lion in the shade more closer to the road.
After spending some hours scouting for wildlife in the park, we decided to return to the resort and have a cooling down in the pool. For dinner we decided to make use of our camping cooking set for the last time. Only this time we had no more chakalaka and no more pasta. Tuna with canned veggies and some leftover naan bread we still had from Francistown. It turned out to be the least tasty dinner during our road trip. Bleg.
For the next day we had booked a guided trip into Soweto, the biggest township of South Africa, next to Johannesburg. We would be picked up at 13:00 from our hotel so we had to hurry. We left early and would arrive at our hotel around 12:00-12:30.
On our way to Johannesburg we had to stop at a gas station to fill the Beast with some diesel. But it would take a lot longer than we wanted to. When François was trying to manoeuvre through the mass crowd of cars, he didn’t see one car and drove into it with our side. We had a minor accident, just kilometres from the end of our trip. Luckily nobody was hurt. The other car had a broken taillight, while the Beast had some scratches on the left side. Now we had to wait for the police to make a police report. We tried to call them but it didn’t work out. Luckily a police car just passed the gas station. It stopped and they told us that they had to be somewhere and would then return to make a police report. In the mean time, the guy who we hit became irritated and told us he had to be somewhere. So he asked us to pay him 1000 rand (approximately €65) for the repairs for his car. We kindly refused and told him that he shouldn’t worry. Our insurance would cover everything. Besides this, we also had to wait a long time, just like him. In the meantime we gave the Beast what he wanted, some more diesel.
After half an hour or hour the police returned. We went to their car while they made the report, we stood there in the burning sun for another hour or more, who knows, it was really hot. The police asked us if we had paid the man and even told us that we could do so, to make it easier for the man. We refused again, because the rental company told us we should never pay this way, else we won’t get our money back from the rental company or insurance. When everything was finished, the guy asked us for 50 rand to go buy a cold drink, since he was waiting for such a long time. We of course refused, for 50 rand you can buy 2 double vodka with sprite in the biggest clubs. Then he asked for 20 rand, we refused again but offered him a can of sprite we had in our cooler. He accepted the can and after we told him not to worry about his damage, we went on our way.
Of course we now couldn’t be on time anymore for the Soweto tour. We decided to head for the Apartheids Museum, which really thought us a lot of things. Apartheid started officially in 1948 and ended in 1990. During these years your race or the colour of your skin was mentioned on your id card. A lot of public places like transport had special areas for the non-whites or nie-blankes in Afrikaans and whites or blankes.
In 1990 Mendela was released from prison, and other political prisoners. Negotiations started and in 1994 the first elections took place. During these years South Africa had known more people killed than during the whole apartheid time.
It is really strange that there was a lot of racial unrest in such a developed country while we were already born. Coloured Africans getting shot by Nazi-like white AWB party members, just for protesting against apartheid. These guys were patrolling the streets on horseback, with their own uniforms and automatic guns. In turn the military or unrest police shot them. The coloured Africans didn’t have any guns to defend themselves. Really cruel images and videos can be found in the museum, where no pictures were allowed.
In the evening we decided to go for some drinks in Braamfontein and the next day we had our Soweto tour. Soweto stands for South Western Townships (situated South West of Johannesburg) and there are several townships next to each other. Soweto was created to separate the coloured Africans from the white Africans. Nowadays it has 1,5 to 3 million inhabitants, but according to our guide it is 4,5 million (we believe the guide just combined the 1,5 and 3 to get the 4,5). While I had thought that there would be more poverty, people had been building and updating their houses. Some people were not poor at all anymore and now belonged to the middle class of Johannesburg society.
In the evening we had some food delivery to our hotel, this was really convenient since restaurants were not that easy to find in the area. After dinner and pre-drinks we went to Braamfontein again.
Sunday we went to Horseback Africa (also known as Colins) near Cullinan to have a walk with some lions! This was for me really one of the most amazing experiences I had during this road trip. If you ever visit Johannesburg, this is a must do! First we had lunch, an ostrich pizza for me. After the lunch we got some information from the guide and then it started. They opened the cage of 7 younger lions. Two of them were 10-11 months and already quite big, while the remaining five were just a couple of months old. So they were actually still cubs and teens. Lions are full-grown when they are three years old. Walking with lions is done with lions younger than 12 months if I recall correctly and has all to do with dominance. For as long as the lions think that we are dominant, they won’t attack us. In fact they even gave us some head-rubs against our legs like a normal house cat would do when they like you. Lions can bite each other to become more dominant over one another and a couple of seconds later be best friends again. So as long as they think we are the ones in charge, they see us as their more dominant friend, resulting in cuddles, giving them belly-rubs and petting their heads. I really love animals, so this was truly an amazing experiences and I could recommend it to everyone visiting South Africa and Johannesburg.
In the evening we went to Kong, a nightclub in Johannesburg. And on Tuesday our plane was booked to head for Port Elizabeth.
In Port Elizabeth Samantha and Nathan picked us up from the airport. François stayed for another three nights before returning to Johannesburg, where he would stay one more night before flying back to the Netherlands. On these nights we went to Barney's and White Tiger, which are bars in PE. Sadly on the first night out, François' phone got stolen. On Friday, we brought him to the airport. It was the end of our trip.
From that moment, I was on my own and ready to live my life with Nathan and Sytse, who are both living in my nice looking house. These two guys are going to make my South African life so much better, I can already tell even if I know them only for a couple of days. Besides this, we also started to rent a Audi A4, to make our lives a bit more easy.
François, thank you so much for living this adventure with me (experience, not adventure :P.) It was really amazing and I am looking forward to our next one, wherever that may be! We (me, Nathan and Sytse) are really hoping that you come to visit us again here in PE! Good luck with your movie, I wish I could help you with it. Say hello to your family and the rest of the Netherlands for me. Take care buddy.
Here we decided to rent a Safari tent at the Golden Leopard resort for two nights. This gave us the opportunity to visit the park the next morning for the whole day if we wanted to. The where some antelopes and bush chickens around the safari tents.
At dinner on the first night we took a 3-course meal in the resort restaurant. I had ordered steak for main which I always eat rare. However, after having 3 bites the steak was already cold. So I decided to tell the waiter that my food was already cold. He took my plate and after a while he returned with a medium-well steak on a really hot plate. Now the steak was hot, but not rare anymore, so I called the waiter again, to tell him that this was not what I had ordered. Again he took my plate and after a while another guy came with the same plate. He told us that he was the manager (at least I think, I couldn’t hear him clearly) and that I had ordered steak. This was steak. He really tried to make me eat the medium-well steak. Clearly he didn’t know whom he was talking to. I said to him that this was steak, but a medium-well steak. I didn’t order a medium-well steak, I had ordered a rare steak and the first steak that I got was rare but cold. Visibly disappointed he returned with the plate to the kitchen. After a while I got a new steak, once again on a real hot plate. This steak was between rare and medium-rare, so I decided to give them a break and eat this steak. After the main course we had a desert called “lekkerding”, it was some sort of custard pudding with a kind of muffin inside.
The next day we entered the park at 06:00 to hopefully see some active animals that would be more passive during the hotness of the day. First we encountered two rhino’s walking only a couple of metres form our car. They were as amazed by the white Beast as we were with them. As they continued there way and we had driven some metres with them we also continued our way. Then we (FINALLY) saw a male lion in the wild. He was lying in the sun and after some time he stood up and moved to some shade. In the meantime two rhino’s passed and we could also see some kind of deer keeping a close eye on the lion. ‘He was not afraid…’
An hour or so later we were driving on a road between high vegetation and all of a sudden we saw an elephant next to the road, so I slowed down to make some pictures. Only when we were right next to him (or her), he turned to attack us, so I hit the gas and we hurried further, we made it to safety. Then we saw the herd of the elephant and some really small baby elephants, so that was probably the reason for it to attack us. After some more time we saw another male lion in the shade more closer to the road.
After spending some hours scouting for wildlife in the park, we decided to return to the resort and have a cooling down in the pool. For dinner we decided to make use of our camping cooking set for the last time. Only this time we had no more chakalaka and no more pasta. Tuna with canned veggies and some leftover naan bread we still had from Francistown. It turned out to be the least tasty dinner during our road trip. Bleg.
For the next day we had booked a guided trip into Soweto, the biggest township of South Africa, next to Johannesburg. We would be picked up at 13:00 from our hotel so we had to hurry. We left early and would arrive at our hotel around 12:00-12:30.
On our way to Johannesburg we had to stop at a gas station to fill the Beast with some diesel. But it would take a lot longer than we wanted to. When François was trying to manoeuvre through the mass crowd of cars, he didn’t see one car and drove into it with our side. We had a minor accident, just kilometres from the end of our trip. Luckily nobody was hurt. The other car had a broken taillight, while the Beast had some scratches on the left side. Now we had to wait for the police to make a police report. We tried to call them but it didn’t work out. Luckily a police car just passed the gas station. It stopped and they told us that they had to be somewhere and would then return to make a police report. In the mean time, the guy who we hit became irritated and told us he had to be somewhere. So he asked us to pay him 1000 rand (approximately €65) for the repairs for his car. We kindly refused and told him that he shouldn’t worry. Our insurance would cover everything. Besides this, we also had to wait a long time, just like him. In the meantime we gave the Beast what he wanted, some more diesel.
After half an hour or hour the police returned. We went to their car while they made the report, we stood there in the burning sun for another hour or more, who knows, it was really hot. The police asked us if we had paid the man and even told us that we could do so, to make it easier for the man. We refused again, because the rental company told us we should never pay this way, else we won’t get our money back from the rental company or insurance. When everything was finished, the guy asked us for 50 rand to go buy a cold drink, since he was waiting for such a long time. We of course refused, for 50 rand you can buy 2 double vodka with sprite in the biggest clubs. Then he asked for 20 rand, we refused again but offered him a can of sprite we had in our cooler. He accepted the can and after we told him not to worry about his damage, we went on our way.
Of course we now couldn’t be on time anymore for the Soweto tour. We decided to head for the Apartheids Museum, which really thought us a lot of things. Apartheid started officially in 1948 and ended in 1990. During these years your race or the colour of your skin was mentioned on your id card. A lot of public places like transport had special areas for the non-whites or nie-blankes in Afrikaans and whites or blankes.
In 1990 Mendela was released from prison, and other political prisoners. Negotiations started and in 1994 the first elections took place. During these years South Africa had known more people killed than during the whole apartheid time.
It is really strange that there was a lot of racial unrest in such a developed country while we were already born. Coloured Africans getting shot by Nazi-like white AWB party members, just for protesting against apartheid. These guys were patrolling the streets on horseback, with their own uniforms and automatic guns. In turn the military or unrest police shot them. The coloured Africans didn’t have any guns to defend themselves. Really cruel images and videos can be found in the museum, where no pictures were allowed.
In the evening we decided to go for some drinks in Braamfontein and the next day we had our Soweto tour. Soweto stands for South Western Townships (situated South West of Johannesburg) and there are several townships next to each other. Soweto was created to separate the coloured Africans from the white Africans. Nowadays it has 1,5 to 3 million inhabitants, but according to our guide it is 4,5 million (we believe the guide just combined the 1,5 and 3 to get the 4,5). While I had thought that there would be more poverty, people had been building and updating their houses. Some people were not poor at all anymore and now belonged to the middle class of Johannesburg society.
In the evening we had some food delivery to our hotel, this was really convenient since restaurants were not that easy to find in the area. After dinner and pre-drinks we went to Braamfontein again.
Sunday we went to Horseback Africa (also known as Colins) near Cullinan to have a walk with some lions! This was for me really one of the most amazing experiences I had during this road trip. If you ever visit Johannesburg, this is a must do! First we had lunch, an ostrich pizza for me. After the lunch we got some information from the guide and then it started. They opened the cage of 7 younger lions. Two of them were 10-11 months and already quite big, while the remaining five were just a couple of months old. So they were actually still cubs and teens. Lions are full-grown when they are three years old. Walking with lions is done with lions younger than 12 months if I recall correctly and has all to do with dominance. For as long as the lions think that we are dominant, they won’t attack us. In fact they even gave us some head-rubs against our legs like a normal house cat would do when they like you. Lions can bite each other to become more dominant over one another and a couple of seconds later be best friends again. So as long as they think we are the ones in charge, they see us as their more dominant friend, resulting in cuddles, giving them belly-rubs and petting their heads. I really love animals, so this was truly an amazing experiences and I could recommend it to everyone visiting South Africa and Johannesburg.
In the evening we went to Kong, a nightclub in Johannesburg. And on Tuesday our plane was booked to head for Port Elizabeth.
In Port Elizabeth Samantha and Nathan picked us up from the airport. François stayed for another three nights before returning to Johannesburg, where he would stay one more night before flying back to the Netherlands. On these nights we went to Barney's and White Tiger, which are bars in PE. Sadly on the first night out, François' phone got stolen. On Friday, we brought him to the airport. It was the end of our trip.
From that moment, I was on my own and ready to live my life with Nathan and Sytse, who are both living in my nice looking house. These two guys are going to make my South African life so much better, I can already tell even if I know them only for a couple of days. Besides this, we also started to rent a Audi A4, to make our lives a bit more easy.
François, thank you so much for living this adventure with me (experience, not adventure :P.) It was really amazing and I am looking forward to our next one, wherever that may be! We (me, Nathan and Sytse) are really hoping that you come to visit us again here in PE! Good luck with your movie, I wish I could help you with it. Say hello to your family and the rest of the Netherlands for me. Take care buddy.
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
