Epilogue

After completing the 68-day trip to Southern Africa, drove through 5 countries ( South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland ), in a small 2WD sedan, it was a real eye opening experience for me.

That was my first ever trip to the Continent, and it did not start well, in fact, almost deadly.  With the near death experience of being mugged in the center of Johannesburg, strangled to immediate unconsciousness by three thugs, I was on the verge of leaving for the airport the next day.


But somehow, I gathered the shattered confidence, and decided to continue... thereward was extraordinary.

The rest of the trip was, by any measure, against my experience with similar road trips across other continents, a very unforgettable and remarkable experience, in many ways.

On the outset, I must admit, like many people, I was uninformed about this part of the World, not expecting the experience detailed in all the posts, after Johannesburg that was, to be completely so positive.

It is not surprising to be face-to-face with so many wild lives, so many precious moments, even the camera had not been doing justice, at least not me anyway. Nowhere in the World that I have been to so far, prepared me for the emotional experience, stalked by lions in the middle of the night, seeing elephants playing in mud and waterholes, the casual and swaying elegance of giraffes etc., all are impossible to repeat in any other continent, in a wild context. All these are unique to Africa.

However, the major surprises, are the people and the cleanliness of the environment.

I encountered many young, friendly, witty and intelligent staff and managers servicing my needs, in both black and white races, and their professional attitude and quality of services, are at least equal to similar establishments in other countries.

All the facilities, tourism as well as general, are of good standards, certainly very functional, clean and safe.  Chaos are exceptions rather than the norm.

Outside of Johannesburg central, I had always felt safe in security context, though I must admit, I seldom venture out at night out of habit.  But there were not corrupt polices trying to find excuses to wriggle money out of helpless foreign tourist, save the only incident out of Francistown in Botswana, where I actually breached a traffic regulation.

Generally, I found the road conditions are good to excellent.  There are many dirt roads in Namibia, but they are of good conditions in populated areas. The roads in South Africa and Swaziland are of international standards in general.  However, I have read about the bad road conditions in Lesotho, 

ALL and ALL, Southern Africa is a region I would definitely return for more....especially, Chobe National Park, Vic Falls, Etosha National Park, Cape Town, the Drakensberg etc. plus other great locations that I missed this time.

Other Posts: Index of ALL posts.