Kruger

     I survived Johannesburg without getting mugged or carjacked. Contrary to popular opinion it is actually a pretty neat city….as far as cities go! I did manage to go downtown one day with a  young guy named “Mr.Fantastic” who was the son of the woman who owned the backpacker (hostel) I was staying at.  We took the taxi-buses which was a lot more relaxing than having to worry about having everything I currently own locked up in the back.

     The lovely co-pilot, Marianne Romeo, arrived in Johannesburg on Thursday at the airport after a 22-hour flight. While I excitedly awaited her arrival in the airport, I did what I do best: make friends and play music. I made a little performance at the international arrivals terminal and was able to practice some Portugeese with a few Angolans who were waiting as well. After singing a few Djavan songs (a great Brazilian songwriter), Marianne arrived with a sarong skirt,  cameras, and heart warming smile.

      The next morning we took off through the golden planes of Limpopo (the Northern province of South Africa) for the mighty Kruger National Park. We were amazed how the roads were just lined with orange stands after orange stands all selling the same thing: ORANGES!!! Some people got creative with their displays, and covered their entire windshield (if they even owned a truck) with bags of oranges. Others just sat in wheelbarrows under the shade of orange trees. We stopped in one town and laughed at the ENORMOUS bags of artificially-colored-corn-puff-packing-peanut-rainbow-puffs.  “All that great produce, just down the street folks….”

       We stopped at a place along a  dirt road called Echo Caves, and went along on a tour of the caves with a bunch of young Sunday school kids. Rather than to have our own guide, we thought it would be more fun to experience the caves with the children and their parents/teachers. John really liked top pound different musical beats on the stalagtites  that formed natural marimbas. When we left, our driver’s side wing window spontaneously shattered sending little pieces of glass and laughter across the front bench seat.

      The Kruger National Park was wildly incredible. We saw giraffes, baboons, fish eagles, elephants galore, wildabeast, warthogs, zebras, impalas (probably about 1 million of these), kudus ( I even ate some kudu jerky), mighty lions.  Crocodiles, turtles, and  a slew of birds. Marianne spotted a dried buffalo skull (antlers and all), so we stopped and secretly jumped out of the car for some photos. The neat thing about Kruger, is that you can just drive through in the safety of your car among all of these wild animals. However, it is prohibited to leave your car. Marianne quickly learned to drive in the left lane, and that was a big relief for me. It was the first time I could daydream out the window without having to stare at the road. I really liked to  watch the animals chew there food and then stare at you, as if they were saying “What is so exciting about watching me eat? Don’t you eat too? “ . The giraffes in particular loved to stare. When they finally moved, it looked like they moved weightlessly on the moon.

      Thank goodness that we have allowed for a country that exists entirely of animals and plants,  that are able to exist without 7/11’s, shopping malls, and parking lots. The size of the park is roughly the same size as the entire nation of Israel. Tomorrow, we are off to Swaziland and then Mozambique….sending love, John and Marianne