Lions River, South Africa 🇿🇦 | Discover honest travel experiences

Traveler Summer Of Yes
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- Nov 23, 2023, 9:34 AM
- ☀️ 86 °F
- Altitude: 4,964 ft
- South Africa Kildare -29.317061, 30.04974229°19’1” S 30°2’59” E
Day 136
Yummy Breakfast
November 23, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F
Probably the prettiest truck stop I have ever seen. Good food, nice gardens, extensive menu, pretty knick knacks, nice restrooms.

Shortly after, we experienced a remarkable box truck doing a 3-point turn at the top of a rise in the freeway. South Africa keeps you on your toes.Read more
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Traveler Africa visit with Eric & Susan
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- Jun 6, 2023, 8:38 PM
- 🌙 55 °F
- Altitude: 3,632 ft
- South Africa Sweet Waters -29.600138, 30.28695529°36’0” S 30°17’13” E
Day 11
Last day in South Africa
June 6, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ 🌙 55 °F
I must have been tired as I slept in til 8:45. Glenn was up and about.

We drove to the shopping center about 3km away for breakfast. We ate at a restaurant much like Panera bread. I had waffles and Glenn had scrambled eggs. Then we went to Spur, the local grocery store, as I wanted to see if they had any more TimmTamm cookies that we liked in Australia. Nope. But I got some other cookies.

We made it back to UBI just in time for Glenn to grill the chicken for the cookout.

The past 2 days Eric and Susan participated in a strategic planning meetings with the leadership and board members of Union Bible Institute. And so at the end, they had a cook out. Everyone (20) came over to the guest house where we were staying and we enjoyed the late lunch in the dinning room.

I met Ben Barthelemy who graduated from Moody in 2008 along with Thomas. I also found out that he’s related to Tammy’s husband. Small world…Big Family.

I had my 3:00pm zoom call with the Azmera group that meets weekly at 8:00amTyler time. It was a very good zoom call about gratitude.

Glenn and I played Phase10, then we played with Susan as Eric read my Coast to Coast bicycle book.

We had to cancel our monthly zoom call with the Guatemala field because of roaming blackout.

Early morning pick up for our ride to Durban airport.Read more
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Traveler Africa visit with Eric & Susan
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- Jun 5, 2023, 1:54 PM
- ☀️ 61 °F
- Altitude: 4,528 ft
- South Africa Curry’s Post -29.358112, 30.13973229°21’29” S 30°8’23” E
Day 10
Lunch at Terbodore Coffee Roaster
June 5, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F
We had a lovely drive through the rolling hills and stopped here at Terbodore coffee roasters. Nice gardens.

There’s a lot of English influence-tea houses, etc

I ate chicken pot pie. Glenn enjoyed chicken pasta.

The cheese cake and carrots cake was delicious. We bought an extra one to bring to Eric and Susan!Read more
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Traveler Africa visit with Eric & Susan
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- Jun 3, 2023, 8:56 AM
- ☁️ 61 °F
- Altitude: 2,228 ft
- South Africa Claredon -29.608238, 30.34740829°36’30” S 30°20’51” E
Day 8
With Eric and Susan
June 3, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F
We met Friday night at the huge Pavilion Mall in Durban. We had a delicious meal getting caught up on what’s happened. We told stories about our being brought up in the Methodist church and the switch over to Northwest. And the old high school youth group trips, old friends and old times.

We drove in 2 cars through the curvey roads up towards Pietermaritzburg And eventually the Union Bible Institute campus in Hilton.

We are staying in a guest house.Friday night we slept under 2 blankets. No heat.

Saturday morning, we left at 8 to go to outdoor market and then we walked thru the botanical gardens. We’re south of the Ecuador, so it’s winter here, the trees are turning. Susan stayed back to fight her cold.

Then a tour of the town. We stopped at the old train station that has a history story of Gahdi. Then we ran several errands with Eric and also drove up to a resort near-by.

I took a 3 hour nap and we joined Eric, Susan and adult daughter Stephanie, David and 2 grandchildren Brad and Ira for dinner. We celebrated Eric’s 66thRead more
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Overlanding Through Africa
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- May 22, 2023, 10:30 AM
- ☁️ 13 °C
- Altitude: 3,648 ft
- South Africa Lions River -29.465302, 30.17187829°27’55” S 30°10’19” E
Day 16
Nelson Mandela Capture Site
May 22, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
We were up for breakfast at 6.30am. It was nice to have a hotel buffet for a change! By 7.30am, we were on the truck and on the road. It was very strange only having four of us on board!

Our first stop was at the Nelson Mandela Capture Site. This is the place where, on 5 August 1962, Nelson Mandela was arrested. He was to spend the next 27 years of his life in prison. The on-site museum was opened in 2019 and tells the story of Nelson Mandela and the apartheid regime in South Africa in an interactive and compelling way.

There is a replica of the Austin Westminster that Mandela was driving when he was arrested. There is also a collection of stunning photographs of the great man.

The highlight of the Capture Site, though, is undoubtedly the iconic sculpture of Nelson Mandela created by artist Marco Cianfanelli and architect Jeremy Rose. The sculpture acknowledges the 50th anniversary of Mandela’s arrest and consists of 50 laser cut steel columns between 6 and 9.5 metres high. From the road, the sculpture just looks like a forest of steel poles, but when you walk from the Visitor Centre along a flower-lined path representing the ‘Long Walk to Freedom’ towards it, the columns magically transform into an image of Nelson Mandela. It’s a truly astonishing piece of work!Read more
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skip's retirement travel Sub-Saharan Africa, Australia
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- Apr 13, 2018, 9:33 AM
- ⛅ 27 °C
- Altitude: 1,419 m
- South Africa Balgowan -29.415607, 30.04862429°24’56” S 30°2’55” E
Day 73
Madiba Capture Site
April 13, 2018 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Madiba, Nelson Mandela, was captured here and sentenced to his long term in prison. The site is a memorial. It consists of 27 metal posts, one for each year Mandela spent in prison. And from one perspective of the posts, you can see Mandela's image.Read more
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Traveler Südafrikareise
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- Feb 27, 2018, 12:00 PM
- ⛅ 23 °C
- Altitude: 1,115 m
- South Africa Lions River -29.464436, 30.17253129°27’52” S 30°10’21” E
Day 7
Mandela Museum
February 27, 2018 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Auf dem Weg von Ballito in die Draggensberge besuchten wir ein kleines Nelson Mandela Museum. Hier der Künstler ??? ein Kunstwerk geschaffen, das bei dem richtigen Blickwinkel ein Porträtvon Nelson Mandela erkenn ließ. Ein paar Hundert Meter weiter in einem kleinem Café könnten wir uns ein Eis mit Belgischer Schokolade, lecker war’s!Read more
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Wacholder2Go Weltreise 2016 bis 2017
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- Jun 18, 2017, 1:01 PM
- ☀️ 16 °C
- Altitude: 1,107 m
- South Africa Lions River -29.458325, 30.13448329°27’30” S 30°8’4” E
Day 290
Midlands Meander
June 18, 2017 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
Durch schöne Hügellandschaft gehts weiter, wir schauen in lustige Antiquitätenshops, die heißen wie 'Treasures and Trash' oder 'The ugly Duckling'. Im Piggly Wiggly, einer hübschen Familienbelustigungsanlage mit Essen und Kunsthandwerk machen wir Mittagspause und im Chocolate Heaven gibts ein kleines Dessert 😉.
Als wir später am Bierfassl vorbeikommen, brauchen wir sofort eine weitere Pause 😃. Vielleicht ist es die einzige Skihütte Afrikas - keine Ahnung, auf alle Fälle lustig! Es gibt Bratwurst, Sauerkraut und Schnitzel - schade das wir schon gegessen haben! Aber Glühwein mit Stollen und Bienenstich geht noch - ist ja egal wovon uns schlecht wird 😋😏!
Nun haben wir genug gesehen und gegessen und fahren zügig nach Bergville, wo wir uns für fünf Nächte in ein niedliches BnB einquartiert haben.Read more
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Wacholder2Go Weltreise 2016 bis 2017
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- Jun 18, 2017, 12:31 PM
- Altitude: 1,067 m
- South Africa Lions River -29.463362, 30.1533229°27’48” S 30°9’12” E
Day 290
Pietermaritzburg
June 18, 2017 in South Africa
🌤 19°C
Leider finden wir auch heute nicht den Charme von Pietermaritzburg, dafür aber das Wahrzeichen des Ortes und zugleich das größte Backsteingebäude südlich des Äquators - das Alte Rathaus aus dem Jahre 1900. Für ein Foto steigen wir aus, für ein Spaziergang vergeht uns die Lust, denn wir sind hier die einzigen Weißen und kommen uns sehr beobachtet und unwohl vor 😕.
Also gehen wir auf Tour: Über die Midlands Meander Route - eine Art Kunstgewerberoute mit mehreren Kunsthandwerkshops, originellen Restaurants und Unterkünften. Immer durch die abwechslungsreiche Hügellandschaft, wollen wir heute die Drakensberge erreichen.
Erste Pause machen wir in Howick, wo ein schöner Wasserfall 95 Meter tief in eine Schlucht fällt. Gleich nebenan gibts viel Kunsthandwerk und so nutzen wir die Gelegenheit zum Souvenir-Shopping. Mehr gibts im Ort nicht zu sehen und so fahren wir weiter bis zum Nelson Mandela Sculpure Monument direkt an der Landstraße hinter Howick. Hier wurde 1962 Mandela verhaftet, verkleidet als schwarzer Chauffeur eines weißen Freundes.Read more
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Traveler Map World Cup 2010
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- Jul 3, 2010, 11:59 PM
- ☀️ 30 °C
- Altitude: 654 m
- South Africa Dorpspruit -29.599751, 30.37873729°35’59” S 30°22’43” E
Day 27
Pietermaritzburg
July 3, 2010 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
http://www.travelark.org/travel-blog-entry/tofo…

It was a bit of a mixed bag really for Matts Birthday in Durban.
Matt and Dave arrived the day before, so today was our first trip out, the three of us.
The foremost plan was to go to Lion Park, near Pietermaritzburg.

It was hardly the most glamourous place i have been to. It was advertised as a drive through a lion game reserve. In reality, it was more like a dozen lions dumped into a small enclosure you can drive next to and watch sleep.

Dave and I decided to attempt to surprise Matt by taking him quad-biking, which he wanted to do. Our cover story, was we were visiting a 'waterfall' on the way back, the real location being a 'Thrills Park'

When we arrived, we were to be sorely dissapointed... it was thrills park alright, for all the wrong reasons. The actual location, was in the middle of nowhere, in a poverty striken area.
There were no completed buildings to this park, one half constructed shack. There was no security. All 'Thrills' were under construction.
There was no way i was doing anything, leaving my camera in the car to be stolen. The others were to attempt Quad-biking, only to find the bikes so dangerous and unsafe, they decided against it. Fair enough too. When the 'thrill' is potential injury, mugging of death, its not so appealing.

In the end, we ended up at Pavillion Mall, to play minigolf. The trip there was interesting enough. Not a white person to be seen, and unexplained crowds everywhere... there were buses so full people were hanging out of the door.
It has been decided that Durban itself is a hole... the city feels unsafe, is drastically polluted, poorly designed, and most of the street names have been changed, making it extremely difficult to navagate. In addition.. traffic is a joke.. and as dangerous as iv ever seen.
Minigolf, when we arrived was very fun, and we enjoyed dinner at an Italian resteraunt before the days end. Watermelon cocktails are awesome!!!

Tomorrow is the big semi final between Holland and Uruguay, and im also looking at doing the following over the next few days; Aquarium, Bird Park, maybe Drakensburg, maybe another game park.Read more
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