ZA aka RSA aka Sur Africa or South Africa

Ok folks...so sorry for the long wait, but I really thought the world had evolved to have Internet/WiFi in most areas. Not so true for South Africa. Apparently it's expensive and it's definitely hard to find especially in the more "rural" areas. So let me see if I can give you a bit of a breakdown of the time I've spent so far in South Africa -- but I guarantee you I could fill up a few pages with stories.

1. Joberg or Jozi: I spent 3 days in Jozi at a really cool boutique hotel located in the suburbs of Melville (yeah, all guides/books say Joberg downtown is just too dicey). I took a day to discover the Apartheid Museum (still perplexing how this country allowed racial segregation until 1991), Nelson Mandela exhibit (amazing person and life story...I just picked up his Autobiography to learn more), and Origins Museum which gives a good background on the original Africans and history of the area. The next day I took a guided tour of Soweto, probably the most famous township (ghetto/favela/barrio) of Joberg because it is where the revolution against apartheid started when a school kid (Hector Peterson) was shot by the white police. All visitors are encouraged to only go with a local guide. I arrived at a 34-year old black woman's tiny place (basically a small room with a shared bath amongst 4 neighbors) to start our tour. It was quite an experience including highlights of eating the local food; visiting a local orphanage; entering a local house built with metal sheeting and no electricity/water/gas; and riding the local taxis.

2. Swaziland: Picked up a Swiss guy Philip whom I met from "travelbud" online site to share the trip across the Northeastern coast with someone (a bit too dangerous to do it alone). We entered Swaziland -- a small country ruled by a Kingdom with a polygamous king and all of sudden the barren dry landscape turned into gorgeous mountain ranges and the temp dropped about 10 degrees. Wow! Swaziland turned out to be a gem -- beautiful countryside with wild animals and friendly folks (much less whites compared to RSA (Republic of South Africa)). We did some cool hiking and drives in the reserve parks. Our little Nissan rental (who we named Cindy) had a flat during the safari so we had to change the tire and then we almost got stuck in a 4x4 only zone (we didn't see the sign!) and to this day she makes a grumbling noise every time you accelerate (we say she sounds like a Ferrari and roars like a lion).

3. Next stop was Kozi Bay on the northeastern point of South Africa (just across from the Mozambique border) where we went on a lake boat ride to see hippos and crocs and amazing sunset views. Cindy got stuck in a sand bank here but we managed to push her out.

4. From Kozi Bay we traveled south to St. Lucia Wetland Park Reserve and World Heritage site and stayed in the quaint town where hippos roam the streets at nighttime. We hit the beach for some snorkeling and saw a few zebras and antelopes along the way. The oceans with rock beaches were absolutely breathtaking and hopefully made for some stunning photos.

5. Then we traveled St. Lucia along the east coast down to Durban. Durban is a bit of a grimy urban environment and Cindy, Philip and I got lost more times than we didn't. Still quite an interesting city with a nice beach (we tried to surf one morning), huge modern shopping malls, a brand-new state of the art stadium made for the World Cup and some cool bars/restaurants/hotels (I'm actually writing right now from The Oyster Box hotel which is about as swanky as a hotel can get).

Philip had a family emergency (don't worry, everyone is fine now) so had to leave. But he left me in good hands in Durban where Kennedy has been my local guide. We traveled to the sixth spot over the weekend:

6. Drakensburg/Lesotho. Up up up in the mountains is a tiny country Lesotho completely surrounded by ZA. Only a 4x4 can make it up and the climb is quite the thrill. Waiting for those who make it up is the highest pub in Africa and a small African village with no electricity or pumped water. The people are amazing and it's so interesting to see their way of life preserved (although the plan is to pave the road and that will change everything for these tribal people). The landscape is breathtaking and the trip so worthwhile.

Final leg of this portion will be a 5-hour journey (solo) back to Joberg to fly to Capetown and meet up with my friend Erika! Hope that wasn't too long, but I have a lot more stories and pics!!! I'm loving South Africa.