Journal of This Southern Africa Adventure

January, 2000

03 January

We obtained last minute reservations for a week long vacation in "The Berg" with a side trip to a resort north of Durban on the Indian Ocean.  "The Berg" refers to the Drakensberg mountain range  located mostly in the Kwazulu-Natal province.  The South African portion of "The Berg" surrounds the north and east sides of the country of Lesotho (pronounced le-soo-too).  The area consists of Northern Berg, Central Berg, Southern Berg, as well as Underberg, and Lower Bergs hence the name "The Berg."   This mountain range is very rugged with very unpredictable weather.  The altitude of 3100 meters allows it to get snow almost any time of year.  Hikers have been trapped on the mountains in severe snow or thunderstorm weather.  Some hikers who have gone to the top of the mountains have been attacked by local Lesotho tribesmen.  (Africa isn't for wimps).  Even with these dangers the place is well worth the visit.  It is rugged but lush and offers great scenery.  There are several national parks with lots of well-maintained trails for hiking. 

One the way to the parks there are several villages.  These villages are very clean and seemed to  have community faucets.  We did see several villages, however, gathering water from a stream and carrying it back to their homes.  The main occupation in the villages is farming.  The villages seem to be divided into smaller communities which probably are homes to large multi-generation families.  Each home unit has a plot of land to farm. 

There are also goats, cattle, and chickens roaming through the village (or walking of the road - not an unusual site here).  The homes, from the outside, look very nice.  They are made with mud/straw bricks and plastered with some kind of mud mixture, and have thatched roofs.  All of the buildings have the same color but have different shapes.  Some of the homes have very nice decorative painted trimming.  The views that these people have from their homes is breathtaking.

Durban lies on the Indian Ocean.  It has a very large (800,000) Indian population.

The climate in the area is tropical.  It is warm year round and can get quite humid in the summer months (but not as humid as Florida).  Durban is a bustling city.   There are lots of street vendors, a large Indian market (like one that you would see in Bombay), and a beautiful beach.  It is a relatively safe city but you must watch out for pickpockets.  Believe me I know. 

One day we ventured into town to go to the African Art Center which was next to the tourist center (not a good idea).  We brought our dogs (not a good idea).  After strolling through the area for a couple of hours we decided to go back.  We crossed a busy street at a crosswalk (not a good idea).  I was keeping an eye on Keiko (not a good idea) as I crossed the street and had her leash in my right hand.  Three guys in front of  me all hit me a once.  This included a forearm to the chest.  At the same time someone behind us push Bessy into me.  I knew right away that this was a pickpocket attempt.  My wallet was in my front pocket with a cell phone but when I was hit I instinctively move it up.  When I reached back down to check for my wallet, I discovered that it was gone but my cell phone was still there.  By the time that I handed the leash over to Bessy, the attackers were gone.  A traffic cop came over and told me that he saw the whole incident.  He said that the person who took my wallet jumped into a taxi and was already well down the street.  He said that I could chase him if I wanted.  He, of course, did not get the license plate number.  Several people claiming to be undercover policemen also arrived within 30 seconds.  They seemed more helpful but there was little that they could do as they did not see the incident.  Somewhat lucky for me is that I had removed almost everything from my wallet a couple of months before.  I lost about $300, a credit card, and an ATM card.   We quickly proceeded to our car from there.  With help from my father (who I rudely woke up at 6 AM) I was able to cancel the cards.

Side note: On average, for the past 5 months, our company has had about 50 people from the US in South Africa.  Thus far we have had 6 incidents of theft or attempted theft.  Crime is one of South Africa's biggest problems.  South Africa has the highest occurrence of rape in the world.  It also seems that every black citizen had a friend or relative who was killed in a crime of violence.  The other big problem in South Africa is Aids which is rampant.  It seems strange but race issues left over from Apartheid exist but are being resolved.  People still live in townships and most of the black population is uneducated.  South Africa is clearly placing a strong emphasis on education which they must do in order to survive in the 21st Century.

There are several resorts both north and south of Durban.  We stayed in two separate B&Bs in a town just north of Durban called Umhlanga.  The town was very clean and safe.  We did also venture into the beach area in Durban.  The beaches there are beautiful with an outstanding boardwalk.  The waves are large and begin their break far from shore.  The Indian Ocean was pretty warm at about 80 degrees F.  

The warm water is great for bathers as well as sharks.  All of the beaches have shark nets.  Lots of sharks get trapped in the nets every day.  The area further north is called the Dolphin Coast because of the huge number of Dolphins that inhabit the waters.  We did not see any Sharks or Dolphins.

However, we did go to Crocworld.  Sounds like something that would be part of Great Adventure.  Normally at game parks I prefer to see the animals in the wild, that is, where the animals are not in cages. It is people who are travelling in automobiles who are in the cages.  Crocworld had crocodiles behind 4 ft. high fences. There was a wooden/rope bridge hanging over one of these croc-infested swamps and people could walk across it.  That was fine with me.

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