Johannesburg via George

We traversed South Africa from West to East by Garden route / NH no.2. Idea was to catch flight to Johannesburg from George. On the way lunch at Hermanus and night halt at Mossel bay.

As it was National highway, road was very good and passed through picturesque landscapes. The deep, tannin-stained rivers and ancient ferns of the Garden route National Park feature lush, deep-green canopies. The area around Wilderness and Sedgefield is defined by coastal fynbos (indigenous shrub land) and a series of tranquil, sparkling lakes and meandering rivers. It had small Ghats with serpentine lazily ascending roads and Oceans initially Atlantic and then the Indian. .

We had our lunch at Hermanus at a restaurant run by a Nepali. He was so happy to receive us. Food was authentic Hindu and our group members loved it.

Just across the road there are whale

 viewing points. The Walker bay offers scintillating view of ocean. I felt now at least should it be Indian Ocean but alas it again turned out to be Atlantic as we still had not crossed Cape Agulhas which was still further down south.

Albertinia, a small town on the Garden Road is known as Aloe Vera capital of South Africa. We visited Aloe Ferox factory and Nursery on the way which has tallest structure of Aloe Vera in the entire world. Erected in 2010 it’s 9 meters tall and is replica of Aloe Ferox also known as Cape Aloe.

Aloe Ferox nursery and factory are the largest in the area and have thousands of seedlings. It produces various products from Aloe Vera like Aloe powder, jelly, extracts and juices. These are mainly used in cosmetic industries as moisturizers. There is even a wine made from Aloe Vera. Nothing spectacular about it!

Mossel Bay was still far away so we whiled away time by singing Hindi and Marathi songs on the bus. Favorite time pass for any Indian. Another picnic like feeling! It was almost evening by the time we reached Diaz Hotel and resort. At last it was Indian Ocean which could be seen from our room! Incidentally the restaurant at the resort was again ‘Jewel of India’ and was run by the same family of Ajit Kanakia that runs one in Cape Town! Room was cozy and faced Indian Ocean on the East. Alas toilet did not have water jet! Again!

By this date I was so tired, practically exhausted due to continuous running around and lack of proper sleep. I was absolutely deprived of it. So I decided to opt out of next day’s excursion, a visit to Ostrich Farm and Crocodile center. I required sleep more that a look at big eyed flightless birds!

Another reason to opt out was, I had already visited Ostrich Park in America so was not much enthusiastic about it while Crocodile Park back home at Mahabalipuram, rather on the way to Mahabalipuram from Chennai, I had found much more fascinating with hundreds of crocs, or were they more, in all forms, in all ages from eggs to adult ones!

I still remember that firang who stayed in a hut at the center of a pond infested with Crocodiles all around! He was studying them!!!

Shubha brought back the pictures holding Ostrich eggs, which she could not manage with one hand.

Last stretch of the journey was to Johannesburg via George. Air port of George was so cozy that one could have built it in the back yard of his home! It was South African domestic flight so was without any fanfare. Immediately after checking out of O R Tambo Johannesburg air port we directly drove to Nelson Mandela square situated at the center of the town. Whatever Johannesburg we could see passing, from the bus seemed to be ultra modern developed city with metros, wide roads, skyscrapers and designer buildings. It was apparent that it is the richest city of South Africa! City sightseeing tour was not on the agenda, may be Johannesburg does not have attractions for tourists’ interest!

Nelson Mandela square turned out to be a commercial shopping center in Sandton. Though it is dedicated to the father of South African anti-apartheid movement, Nelson Mandela it does not have any historical significance. Like say, it’s not cradle of anti apartheid movement, as it did not start here nor Mr. Mandela had residence in the vicinity, ever, it was far away!

It’s designed absolutely on European style and nothing African about it!

It was named after Mr. Mandela only when his 6 meter tall statue in bronze was commissioned in 2004, his first statue in the entire country! The criticism against naming after Mr. Mandela was fought with, “The Square is optimistic, expressive and confident like Madiba (Affectionate name for Mr. Mandela) jive and represents a sophisticated eclectic cosmopolitan success story!” [From Achieves]!

There is M K Gandhi square also in Johannesburg and open museum of machine/engineering artifacts but we did not visit them for want of time.

Swapnil always had an ace up his sleeves. This time it was ‘Maharaja’ Indian restaurant that was bang in the square! Food for lunch was good but nothing extra ordinary!

Afternoon was for shopping at authentic South African outlet, Cabanos. It was run mostly by whites and was authentic outlet for South African Diamonds. It was full with tourists from all over the world and some of them really bought the diamonds! I won’t dare to buy such expensive items overseas and will stick to my usual jeweler back home. Not that we did not buy anything but they were small trinkets or knick knacks! Nothing expensive!!

Our last stay was at Peermont Metcourt suits, Johannesburg. It was fantastic, 5 star abode with a stupendous mall attached to it! It was out of this world, posh, extravagant, and glistening from every corner with Vegas style casino thrown in. Here too multiplex did not exhibit any Indian flick. In fact South Africa has sizable number of Indian population practically amounting to more than 1% of entire population, so it was surprising. Is it that our Indian film producers have missed the bus? The last Indian restaurant brought memories from back home; it was named ‘Taste of Mumbai’! Yes Mumbai not Bombay!!

Early in the morning we started for the air port which was absolutely next door to Peermont Metcourt suits. It was selected to avoid the early morning rush in the city. The ground hostess cut two boarding passes one for Johannesburg to Nairobi and second was from Nairobi to Mumbai, as the air line carrying was the same!

Lay over at air ports are boring. We were to have of around 5 hours at Nairobi. So it was duty free shopping and few snacks at the restaurant!

Back in Mumbai in the wee hours we were to face yet another hurdle at immigration counter for the first time. Due to outbreak of e-bola virus in some African countries all the passengers returning from African countries were asked to check at specially allotted counters. So there were very long queues. Practically a mile long! So for the first time in life we decided to use our card of being Senior Citizen and handicapped person with rod in Right leg to avail the facility at a special counter. After clearing the emigration practically after 2 to 2.30 hours we met our son Saket, outside who was waiting for us for more than 3 hours!



This is the last installment of the travelogue. Not only did I enjoy the trip but enjoyed the write ups too as it amounted to living the entire trip again. Some episodes fetched views to the tune of more than 15000! Overwhelming! Thank you very much all those who read my blog and appreciated it. It was too much for me!

Though I was skeptical about a conducted tour at the outset, Kesari Tours were really good and they knew what they were executing. Special accolade to our tour operator Swapnil Patankar, though it was hard for me to hear what he was announcing he patiently explained everything to me again in one to one conversation. Last but not the least! The fellow groupers! They were amazing. Helping each other without squabble. I must mention about my friends Uday, Rajani, Jayu and Sheila along with Dillep Saharabuddhe and his beautiful wife Sucheta. New camaraderie was formed along with the older ones strengthened. I don’t know what would be the next but looking forward to it!

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