Sunday we arrived in the Kruger Park. We were going to ener via the Paul Kruger gate, but due to time and the fact that we were close to the bottom third of the park, we entered via the Numbi gate which we’ve never been through before.

The day was fairly uneventful but we did see:
Elephant
Impala
Steenbok
Kudu
Crocodile
Wildebeest
Giraffe
White tailed mongoose
Lion

When we were checking in we met a family who had entered in the Paul Kruger gate and they told us there was a Leopard lying in a tree close to the gate. Over an hour after their sighting we went to look for it but never found it.

Then we did a 3 hour sunset drive with a rookie driver who was fairly hopeless. I can’t believe how little we saw, but we were rewarded towards the end of the night with a really close sighting of 4 Lions. Because we hadn’t seen much we were able to spend a long time with the Lions, although obviously it’s hard to take a decent photo at night.

Kruger Park - Numbi Gate	Kruger Park - Pretoriuskop
Kruger Park - Elephant	Kruger Park - Female Kudu
Kruger Park - Female Lion at night	Kruger Park - Female Lion at night

On Wednesday I was lucky enough to have lunch with Leon Scheepers, a friend of mine who has run 11 Comrades! It’s always interesting to see how different runners are – in stature, training methods, and beliefs.

As our time in South Africa is starting to draw closer to ending, we have been doing more and more of our favourite sport, shopping. Thursday morning it was back to Westgate.

In the afternoon we travelled back to the Hartebeesport dam area and went to the Elephant Sanctuary.

This is one of 3 around the country, and has 5 elephants. 2 Males and 2 females in the main enclosure and 1 4-tonne Big Bull who is being trained/rehabilitated.

The elephant sanctuary aims to rehabilitate elephants and provide a venure for people to learn and interact with the giant mammals.

Firstly we got to touch the Elephants all over. It was interesting to feel how thick and hard their skin is in different parts of their body. They have a very hard elbow! And their tail is made of the stiffest hair which is a great fly swatter!

Juvenile Elephant being a 'hooligan' we are told

Next we got to pose for photos with them and have a kiss with the Elepants!
I complain when Rheanna gives me a sloppy wet kiss, but this was much worse as it was big, warm, sloppy vacuum cleaner on your face and full of mud (we hope) from their trunks!

One slobery kiss on its way	Ewww, and then there was (I hope) mud on my face
Elephant sanctuary - Sanjay and Rheanna with an elephant

Then we fed the elephants, giving them pellets that are made of a variety of plant material for nutrition. (Elephants eat 200+kg per day as they only absorb about 30-40% of what they eat). You simply hold the food and pour it down their trunk!

Elephant sanctuary - Rheanna feeding an elephant

Next we walked the Elephants (well not sure who was walking who, as you don’t really argue with a 2-tonne walking partner!) by holding and leading them with their trunks.

Elephant Sanctuary - who is walking who?

Then it was time to climb on back and enjoy an elephant ride. With their size and weight, a 75kg human being doesn’t bother them at all. We rode barebacked, with just a towel, and it is much more comfortably then riding a horse.

Elephant sanctuary - Sanjay riding an elephant

Finally we went to visit the Big 4-tonne Bull and give him some food.

At the end of a long day, it was time to enjoy some sundowners in the Maglaliesberg mountains. With a beautiful view, Monekys nearby and great company as there was us, our guide Ignaceus, and 3 American friends, Blaze, Andreas and Melissa.

We then shared a beautiful 3 course meal around the fire in a nice boma, entertained on the Mbiera (a traditional African instrument made of steel keys and a fibeglass shell that sounds like a mix between a piano and xylophone) around the fire. Not sure why whenever there is a fire we feel compelled to sit around it! However nothing beats sitting around the fire in the African bush, pitch black all around, with only small lighting methods.
I’ve also never seen a person (Ignaceus) stoke the fire with his bare hands! When we asked him how he did this, Ignaceus simly replied, “This is Africa”

Driving back home late at night in the dark on smaller roads we started to freak ourselves out when we saw signs saying “Hijacking hotspot next 2km.” This is Africa for sure…

On Tuesday we started off by going to Menlyn Park shopping centre in Pretoria, before we made our way to the hallowed turf of Loftus to watch the second round clash between Japan and Paraguay – obviously it is my favourite stadium in the world as it is home to the Bulls. Driving to Pretoria it struck us for the first time how different Pretoria is to Jozi. There are so many more trees and the quieter nature gives it a much more peacful feel compared to Johannesburg.

It’s only been 2 years since we were last at Loftus, but boy has it changed. It was orignally built in 1923, and much of the structure is still the same. Old concrete hallways dominate the architecture, but there have been some major improvements, including the seats, and the addition of the roof on the far grandstand.

You can even see Union Buildings (office of the President) in the background.

Sanjay with some art along the road	Rheanna and Zakumi
Hallowed Loftus	Sanjay in his beloved Loftus

Pretoria Union Buildings from Loftus	Crazy fans at Loftus - no, Bafana Bafana weren't playing

I had told Rheanna I wanted to see penalties, (and we were lucky enough?) which we got after the game and extra-time ended in a 0-0 draw.

Unfortunately Japan came out on the losing end after their third penalty taker hit the crossbar.

Japan vs Paraguay	Loftus at night
Japan vs Paraguay - he's going to miss it	Japan vs Paraguay - he missed that one too

Sunday we went to pick up our last soccer tickets in Sandton. Once we had our tickets I was offered tickets to the Brazil v Chile game at Ellis Park. I was offered tickets in all 4 categories, with category 4 (the cheapest seats valued at R350) seats costing R1500! Needless to say I declined!

We then went shopping at Sandton City and Nelson Mandela Square. It’s been a while since we have been in Sandton, it’s a very nice suburb, upperclass and expensive!

Obviosuly we are terribly unfit. After a few hours shopping our feet were killing us, we were moaning and groaning and barely able to make it back to our car without collapsing. There’s going to have to be a serious diet and exercise program at the end of this holiday!

On Monday we went to Fourways to do more shopping. First we went to Sports Horizons, a sports store that sells equipment and memorabilia.  before shopping at Fourways mall and having lunch at Panarottis.

On Thursday we spent the day with Diane and Michael and took them to the soccer in Polokwane (well it might have been the other way around…who knows!). It was also a nice compact stadium, and it was a pity that it was quite empty and turned into a goalless draw between New Zealand and Paraguay as neither side were that intent on winning.

Friday we travelled back from Louis Trichardt to Randfontein. We would have been back by mid-afternoon, except we stopped in Krugersdorp to do some necessary shopping.

On Saturday we had a braai with most of the family we hadn’t seen. All those staying in Secunda came late on Saturday. Not sure how they packed 4 adults and 5 kids into the back of a bakkie, but I didn’t want to look and find out! It’s about a 3 hour drive to Secunda, not something I envy!

Sanjay, Susan and Petrus

Moira, Dot and Louise

After a couple of days in Steelpoort we travelled on to Louis trichardt, up near the northern border of South Africa. We got to visit plenty more family
and had a large family dinner on Wednesday at Aunty Jean and Thursday at Landi’s.

On the way we noticed our rear number plate had fallen off. Amazingly we got one couriered to Polokwane and had it on (with double-sided tape) the next morning!

Landi is a professional photographer,  who runs Reflection studio. After dinner the family had some photos taken…what an experience! Having to have my photo taken with a bunch of crazy ladies can only be described as interesting!

Rheanna, Susan, Diane, Chanty and Landi

On Monday before we left Middleburg I got to play with our two nephews Zander (5) and Rico (3). Zander loves his fishing more than rugby, but Rico looks like a natural rugby talent with a great boot!
With 3 month old nephew Wyatt who lives in Steelpoort looking like he may be more of a forward and provide some greater bulk surely these future Bulletjies can ensure Bulls rugby remains strong!

Rico, the klein bulletjie	Zander playing rugby
Rico playing rugby	Zander playing rugby with Sanjay

We left Middleburg on Monday and headed for the small industrial town of Steelpoort, some 2 hours away in the warmer interior of South Africa. Not much there but family to visit. It was great to see Susan, Hannes and 3 month old Wyatt!

Wyatt

Not sure if it is a true reflection on the area, but the police from Burgersfort had a BMW police car!
Nice for some…

On Sunday we travelled further east to Nelspruit, which took 2 and a half hours from Middleburg.

The Nelspruit stadium is called the “Giraffe stadium” because of the “Giraffes” on the outside. It is a compact and beautiful stadium with an open air design. We had fantastic seats and New Zealand scored early against Italy and held on for a 1-1 win! I think the Kiwis feel they have won the World Cup, and they were celebrating massively after the game.

On the bus back to the parking area, the comment of the day belonged to a young black man who said, “This is the new South Africa, I’ve never seen a white guy on a bus before!”

Honestly, the atmosphere at the games and camaraderie has been fantastic.

I don’t think I’ve heard the vuvuzelas as loud before, and as I told the lady selling ear plugs outside the stadium, “I don’t need them because I’m already deaf!”  What is also great is that Bafana Bafana colours are still the predominant colour, and it has been a truly African World Cup!

Giraffe stadium - Nelsruit	Sanjay inside Mbombela stadium
Rhenana inside stadium - its colourful - for a stadium	Sanjay and Rheanna at Mbombela stadium
Italy vs New Zealand	Italy vs New Zealand
Italy vs New Zealand	Mbombela stadium at dusk

Couldn't block the penalty

Saturday was a change of pace yet again as we left Jozi at 6am for Middelburg, some 2 hours east of Johannesburg. We were staying with Uncle Ding and Aunty Pop and we haven’t really spent much time with them. They were fantastic hosts, and it was great to spend time with them even though it went very quickly.

Saturday lunchtime we went to Witbank stadium, (also called Atlantic stadium and home to the Mpumalunga Pumas). It is not such a lekker stadium…very old,slightly run down, but provides a great insight into the provincial rugby heartland. Our seats were on concrete slabs that had painted seat allocations!

It was great to have a day time test, played in warm, sunny conditions that allowed us to get close to the action. We took some fantastic pics and the day was only disappointing by the performance of the Boks who made too many errors and didn’t produce the cricket score I was hoping for! Still a win is a win, it was a great day.

Witbank Stadium	Springboks coming onto the ground
Springboks singing Nkosi Sikilele	Scrumming in Witbank
Morne Steyn	Morne Steyn

On Friday we went to one of my favourite stadiums Ellis Park. It’s in the centre of Jozi, and not the greatest area, but a great place and atmosphere to watch sport.

After having been to Soccer City the day before, you notice how old Ellis Park is in comparison! The views are great however with a 30 000 smaller capacity, you are closer to the action which is great.

We watched the USA take on Slovenia. There were heaps of US supporters, dressed in all sorts of attire from the Pope to Elvis, to Captain America!

The Slovenians were a bit more subdued but they can sure play soccer. I was mighty impressed with their skills before they relaxed on a 2-0 lead and let the States come back to an exciting 2-2 draw.

Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg	Sanjay at Ellis Park
View of Ellis Park	USA supporter