- Johannesburg and Soweto, South Africa — a sobering day
- A journey on Rovos Rail!
- Rovos Stop One — Kimberley, South Africa
- Rovos Stop Two — Matjiesfontein, South Africa
- Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and Zambia
- At the edge of the Garden Route — Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- On to Wine Country — Franschhoek, South Africa
Today we started the last phase of our South African adventure, flying from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth, South Africa which is located on the western portion of Algoa Bay, along the Southeastern coast of South Africa on the Indian Ocean. I should mention that everyone calls the place P.E. — if you don’t you look like a hick. For us, this marks the start of our travel along the Garden Route on the way back to Cape Town, nearly 500 miles away. While there have been settlements here for over 65,000 years, it was only in 1820 that the city was founded by Sir Rufane Donkin who named it after his wife, Elizabeth who had died in India. Like so many other locations in South Africa, this city suffered the scourges of war between the British and Dutch through the Boer Wars. The city also suffered during apartheid where mass relocations of Black and colored landowners left much of the prime real estate in White hands. Ultimately, lots of external investment started to increase the fortunes of the area. In addition, the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality was formed to honor former President Nelson Mandela. Mandela is a real hero here and we wanted to see the Donkin Reserve and Route 67, both celebrating the 67 years that Mandela dedicated to the freedom of South Africa. But that area of the Central Business District is a mixed situation. On the one hand, there has been some new development in the area as well as attempted refurbishment of Victorian icons like the King Edward Hotel, the area has really degraded and the monuments aren’t being well taken care of. In fact, I made a couple of wrong turns in our cool new Chinese rental car, and ended up in parts of the city with no working streetlights and a lot of trash around. The situation is very different where we are staying further to the west with the creation of Baywest City, complete with a mall and hotel that looks suspiciously like the Grand Floridian at Disney World. Anyway, we’re glad we stopped here, but we are anxious to get onto to the Garden Route and the nature that is resplendent there.
I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.
