We started with a
morning visit to the Casino. The Top
Gear guys were in town and running a two-day extravaganza so we thought we
would attend… …not really. We heard
there was a Fish Spa there, so off we went.
Shoes off and feet in with the munching little fishes. It was just as
good as the first time (when we did it in Crete last year) and made us feel
lovely.
We then headed off
to Phezulu to see Zulu dancing, and it was amazing. Such an awesome looking people and SO very
very athletic. The dancing included leg
kicks where their feet went above their ears, and that’s the men. One of the
ladies was a ‘fortune teller’ like a Sharman.
She looked just like Rafiiki in the musical version of the lion king.
The whole show was
great including head man having only two wives and needed another and thought
Raina might be a suitable candidate, eyeing her up and giving coy little looks.
When they tried to get Sarah to remove her shirt and bra, as it is the custom
that single women do not wear clothes on top she regretfully declined.
Their clothing was
adorned with ostrich feathers and bright beads. They wore rattling anklets made
of crushed down soft drink cans. The drumming was great as was the slapping of
the thick hide shields that they struck with the spears in a rhythmic beat.
We called into the
local shops in the tiny town of Bothar.
The meat was …….not to our liking.
There were brisket steaks that were about 60% fat, and meat of a grey color.
And we were pleased to see they were giving free rabies shots in the car park
that day. We spent nearly $1,000 having
our rabies immunization and lots of people had told us that ‘it was unnecessary’
etc. But the locals need it and they
don’t go out of the way to pat animals – Do they Sarah?
Driving along we
saw a big sign saying ‘No Hawkers’.
Sarah was quiet confused as to why you would not be allowed to go
hunting in the area with your pet Falcon.
Maybe they were fond of their rabbits (or whatever small creatures lived
there) and so didn’t like falconry.
The Drakensberg
Mountains is a long chain that runs form the coast back up to nearly J’Burg.
They contain South Africa’s highest peak.
We saw them as we flew in and decided that South Africa was a really
flat country…..except when it isn’t.
The
Drakensberg’s (pronounced as in Dragon)
are so named as they really do look like the back of a dragon sleeping in the
ground. The country was quiet Western
NSWish with these giant bluffs and peaks rising up (not dissimilar to the
bottom of Utah).
We took a turn off
and drove through township. It was mid
afternoon so hundreds of kids were leaving school. There were all so amazing, looking so happy,
everyone chatting and yelling. Of course
they walked all over the road – even the tiny ones as cars speed by at 80ks.
Between Durban and
J’Burg there is a toll way. But you
don’t just stop once and pay. We stopped
about 6 times and paid amount varying from 8.73RAN to 50.32RAN giving a total of $185RAN (about
AUD$25) which on the average South African wage is quite substantial.
Mind you the main
roads are amazingly good. Four lanes in most parts with a limit of 120ks and
brilliant surfaces. Suppose they need to be so that you can swerve safely to
miss all the pedestrians. The verges are
really well maintained and they mow and then bail the hay.
So we made it to
J’burg and went home to Wynand’s house to meet his parents. It was fantastic to
finally put faces to the names and meet his family. They had some Biltong ready
and waiting for us. Biltong is South African jerky, but it isn’t dehydrated, it
is hung and dried. And it shits all over jerky. Yum yum yum yum, yum. :P
We then went out
for a lovely dinner at a meat restaurant. Now we have been to Texas and we have
eaten massive steaks many a time.
Having your dead skin eaten off by fish is sooo gross!
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