Two Weeks in South Africa

Originally, South Africa wasn’t in the plans for this trip.  What started out as a South America trip became a South America plus Asia trip.  We searched for the best fares from South America to Asia, and we found that most routes led through the US, which we wanted to avoid.  But there was a great route from Sao Paolo, through Johannesburg, to Hong Kong.  And since we had always wanted to visit South Africa, we decided to stretch out our stopover to a couple of weeks.  After all, it would have been a shame to come here only to change planes.

I’m glad we came…it’s been a great two weeks, and I’m really interested in returning to spend more time here.

A handful of highlights, in no particular order:

The Kruger Game Reserve in the northeastern part of the country.  4 days of wild lions, elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes (my fave), baboons, monkeys, warthogs, wildebeests, impalas, wild dogs, many birds, and so on.  Spending nights in the park’s camps, cooking boerworst over a braai, felt like a very South African experience.

A distant cousin in Kruger

Chris Green, our guide for both Kruger and our Jozi city tour, was an amazing companion.  A real polymath who has been a banker, a potter, an activist, and a wildlife guide.  We passed the time talking about history, politics, animals, geology, ballet, and classical music (his wife is the principal bassoonist in the Jozi symphony).  He clearly loves his work, and his country, and was truly eager to help us learn more about every aspect of South Africa.  

Johannesburg Tour.  Yes, the same guy (see #2) who showed us around Kruger so expertly also took us on what was easily the best city tour I have ever been on.  We covered the geology of the area (mining is everything), the townships (visited Soweto), the architecture, life during and after apartheid; we covered a ton of ground during one very complete day – Soweto, the 1976 student riots, a gold mine, a renovated arts district like a bit of Williamsburg in South Africa, the tallest building in Africa, the downtown renaissance, etc. 

Kids at Nelson Mandela's House in Soweto (just up the road from Desmond Tutu)

Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope.  Incredibly beautiful and dramatic spot, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet.  Was particularly interesting since we were just near Cape Horn, at the tip of South America (much further south, actually).

"Mandela's Gold" - a flower named for the national hero

 The Baird Family.  It was really great to catch up with my old McKinsey friend, Peter Baird and his family, at their home on the beach outside of Cape Town.  Very interesting to compare notes with them on their around the world trip with their family five years ago, and to get a chance to meet some of their friends and experience local life.

Ruby feeding a seal near the Baird's House in Cape Town

Speaking English.  After almost 6 months in Latin America, it was nice to be in a place where I felt like I could really understand everything, accents and discussions about rugby notwithstanding.  I think I didn’t really how widely spoken English is in South Africa. 

Nice People.  Almost without exception, every single person we met was so friendly and pleasant, so strange to this New Yorker.

Some great food.  Ostrich, lamb, lobster, fish, awesome salads, Indian curries, excellent wine. 

Windblown at the Cape of Good Hope