Hazyview

Hello from Hazyview!

First of all - posting the blog on this trip is going to prove much more difficult than usual. I just walked through the pouring rain and what seems like mosquitoes with a small amount of air in order to get to reception. Ah well, it's cool in here! (Unlike our tent!)

This morning we had breakfast,, packed up and then set off on our bus, Tati. It's named after a river in Botswana and is really a truck. It's got built in lockers and has space for all of our things. 

We drove for a fair while, as we will be most days! The scenery today was beautiful because the weather was nice and clear. Justin told us that Hutan Provence (where JoBurg is) is famous for mining and gold. We saw a lot of mines and lots of huge piles of dirt. Also saw people farming in the fields, and at one point we drove through a really beautiful mountainous area. 

We saw a lot of government housing as well, and Justin told us the government have a plan to house as many poor people as possible, and these houses all have solar panels so the electricity bill covered by the government is lower. 

After 140km, our first stop of the day was at Alzu petrol station. Already Dad's binoculars came in handy because in the distance we could see buffalo and rhinos. Very cool!!

It really started to heat up after this. Our bus has "African air conditioning", which basically involves leaving the windows open and hoping that the wind blasts you in the face to cool you down! We made another stop at a shopping mall in Nelspruit, and after a nice lunch an ATM ate my debit card. Thank God the branch was open and they were able to give my card back. Not a good start though!!

For the rest of our drive I could hardly keep my eyes open. By this time jet lag was hitting me hard as it was late at night in Melbourne. Next time I came to, we were at a bottle shop and all went in to buy cool (and very cheap!) drinks. I got a six pack of lovely cider for $7 Aussie. 

Tonight we settled down into our camp. I really wasn't made for this I don't think, but I'm keeping an open mind. It's so fiddly keeping everything on the bus, madly setting up your tent and praying it's not too hot but that it also doesn't rain (didn't work - it's hot AND raining haha). But the group seem great and we got to watch a really cool tribal dancing show. The performers were really talented and they must have been exhausted in the heat. 

Tonight we had steaks for dinner. I'm about to go and sleep in the tent for the first time. I have a feeling I'm just going to be tired the entire trip, but as long as I see some animals I don't mind! Kruger National Park tomorrow, keep your fingers crossed we see the big five!

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox