Photo Album: Pietermaritzberg to Hluhluwe
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After having the engine dropped off one of its brackets due to a broken bolt, I was lucky to have someone passing by with some tools at a remote location, and was able to drive safely to Pietermaritberg to meet up with Penny and Andrew, my old friend from Australia.
It was to be just an overnight stay at Pietermaritzburg at Penny's place, as I had a schedule to meet, in order to get to Kruger National Park in time for the hard to come by bookings.
After some phone calls with the rental car company, a replacement car was to be delivered the next morning from Durban Airport, which is only about 90 Km away.
Andrew and Penny took me out in the morning for a small tour of the center of 'Maritzberg ( as called in Afrikaner and Zulu alike ), which has plenty of history in her own right, and was the Capital of the short lived Boer Republic. And being the 2nd largest city in the Zulu Region adds to the significance of her position.
A Green Climate Change demonstration at the town hall.
At the local well loved Tatham Art Gallery admiring some local artworks.
There was this piece of the not so well known history that happened on the night of 7 Jun 1893, which nonetheless had ramification on another continent more than half a century later, which changed the landscape of the Great British Empire. On that fateful night, the father of modern India, the young Mahatma Ghandi was kicked off the train at Pietermaritzberg Station because he refused to move to another carriage for black and coloured people ONLY.
That event awakened the upper middle class Ghandi's consciousness with respect to the legitimacy and the inequality of Apartheid policy and the treatment of Indian workers in South Africa, and eventually, started the historical concept of peaceful non-cooperative struggles with authorities in South Africa and eventually, India, subsequently.
The rest was history, as some say.
Just before lunch, the replacement car finally arrived, and a quick swap took place with some paperwork signed.
And I was good to go....after bidding goodbye to Penny and Andrew, I took on the highway again, and went towards the coast to Durban airport.
I needed to go to the car rental company to pick up another letter allowing the new car to enter Swaziland, a necessary devil. It is on the way to my next destination, St Lucia, on the coast further north of Durban. I had no intention of going through Durban, as to me, it is just another populated city, of no particular interest to me at this stage, especially given my near death experience at Johannesburg a few weeks ago.
One of the greatness of being in South Africa, is the immense nature and wild lives available in relatively short distances from urban area, and there are so much to chose from, that one has never had to step inside busy urban areas.
Here I was able to observe many wild games lounging in the wetland, without fear or hassles from human.
While I did not expect to find that elusive leopard in the wetlands, but I did have some hope that it may appear in my next safari at the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Games Reserve, a few hours away from St Lucia.
I left St Lucia in the mid afternoon, and settled into a camping ground near Hluhluwe.
I got there early in the morning, amongst the first few cars to enter the Reserve.....wild lives are the most active before the sun elevates....so my hope to see a kill.
I was first greeted with a big herd of African Buffaloes on a hill....a good omen...one can only hope!
Through the radio, I learnt that the World Youth Rhino Summit is being held at the Games Reserve, which is also the flagship sanctuary in South Africa for the near extinct White Rhinos.
Of which, I encountered quite a few throughout the day.
However, it was also very sad to learn that their very existence is under extreme threat. Three countries were singled out, where Rhino horns demands are at an impossible to sustain level. They are China, Vietnam and Yemen.
While the Yemenis demand for using the horns as an ornamental sword holder is somewhat waning, the rising economies of China and Vietnam are the most worrisome, their appetite for Rhino Horns, based on their mythical belief that they are an aphrodisiac or having a miracle medicinal value, are hard to satisfy. These demands sustained a very dangerous and often violent poaching industry, that's why we see game park rangers carry quite serious fire powers when on their patrols.
One particular speech came back to my memory time and time again, was the pleading from the local management of the park to each of those countries not to believe in the mythical powers of Rhino Horns. He particularly drew attention to the previously unthinkable act of having to inject poisons into the horns to deter would be consumers. However, that had little effect, so now, the final resort, might be, is to sawn off the horns, so to keep the Rhinos safe from poachers. None of these measures are palatable, but what else can be done to keep theme from extinction !! Some are already approaching extinction as the population alive are not sufficient to propagate into healthy numbers. A very sad story indeed.
Rhinos are very territorial, and also very particular about their toilet spots, they would keep coming back to the same spot for the, you know what !!
Here are a few places that I came across. I surmise that why they are on the roadside, as they treat that as not being the living area, which is inside deep bushes, hiding from peeping toms, like us. Perhaps...!
And I couldn't miss the elegant Giraffes....they would give you a peep as you drive by slowly, and sometimes a curious look...absolutely love them.
I wonder what action of the animal would have polished the tree stump.....
And of course, Zebras are everywhere.
But where was my promised Leopard......nowhere to be seen, after a hard day's search.
Well, it was time to leave, back into the safety of the camping ground....but tonight, I could not find a nearby place to stay, and have to drive back to the same camping ground of the previous night, in darkness.
And I looked forward to a few days into the small Kingdom of Swaziland, where the King has 14 wives....lucky but very tiring, and more stories to come.
Next Post : Day 60 - 62 Kingdom of Swaziland
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