We finished off our stay in Cape Town with a view of Table Mountain from across the bay (it is called Table Mountain because of its flat top), then drove to the college town of Schallensburg, where 6 of the 8 dictators Africa has had graduated. We explored the town for about an hour, then headed to the airport. If you look at the pics you’ll see two pictures of a group of shacks…those are called townships (or shanty towns) where the people who live there (mostly illegal immigrants or unemployed) build a home out of anything they can find. They are all over the countryside…no sanitation, no running water, their electric lines are a mess so they can tap into whatever source that works, and these towns are bringing back diseases such as cholera, and the HIV rate has gone up to 1 in every 3 adults are HIV positive in the country. If you look at some of the pictures of these more "stable" shacks in the country side, you'll see their roofs being held down by tires, cinder blocks or rocks. It’s kinda crazy and makes me grateful for what I do have. We got some good news when we got to the airport….bags were NOT overweight! We arrived in Durban just in time for dinner. Durban’s airport was built specifically for the world cup and has only been up and running since 2010. Durban is home to the Zulu tribe and is called Shakaland after King Shaka, the great warrior Zulu king of the 1800s. Mom and I headed to the mall just across the street, found a store that had world cup paraphernalia on sale, then had dinner. We hung out with our new friends Leon and Iris Hubsmith from Detrich, Idaho.
This morning we woke up at 5am for a 6am departure for the tiny kingdom of Lesotho (pronounced lay-soo-too). We drove for almost 3 hours, loaded up in 4wd jeeps and took the dirt road along the cliff, winding up and back the switchbacks for another three hours into the country of Lesotho. It is 9400ft above sea level where, on this east side, there are mainly small sheepherding villages. If you go about 100km west, you will find a small city which is the capitol of the country. We had lunch at the chalet on top, then visited a family in one of the villages, then we headed back down the mountain. The pictures just don’t do it justice. We head to see an African Cultural Center, a small island called St. Lucia, and the game reserve called Hluelue (pronounced shoo-shoo-eee) tomorrow. We finally get to see animals!
Just a heads up, Mom and I chose our excursions at Victoria Falls. We’ll be doing a day at Chobe National Park (which is supposed to be one of the best game reserves in this part of Africa), the Lion Encounter where we go see the Lions early in the morning, and a sunset cruise along the river near Victoria Falls…and of course we are going to take an afternoon to go see the falls! This trip seems to be flying by so fast!
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