This is the second article of a series of five (previous one: here) in which I share with you how I fell in love with South Africa. I share this with the hope of conveying to you what a wonderful place this really is. I'm describing my journey as an analogy to the five stages of falling in love because that is exactly what happened to me.
Stage two: Early courtship
Back for more and starting to explore
After my first two weeks of making eye contact with South Africa, I wanted more. Fortunately for me, I got to go back pretty soon and this time for longer. It gave me a chance to start exploring, or should I say, to start my courtship with her.
These roads, though
Whereas the previous time I dove into the city to take in its sights, sounds and yes smells as well; this time I wanted to see nature and landscapes. Two colleagues and I decided to rent a car and head out to Pilanesberg National Park. This national park is a real gem and makes for an easy weekend destination when staying in Johannesburg. Three hours of driving will get you to the gates and there are lots of options to stay overnight.
These kinds of drives are an experience on their own. European city dwellers, like myself, are not used to the roads you encounter in South Africa. I remember turning a corner, going over a crest and being treated to a view that one would associate with movie scenes. A vast stretch of straight road, hopping over a couple of hills, continuing on to finally intersect with the horizon in the distance. Another small encounter with SA's beauty.
First wildlife encounters
When one has never been to a National Park with game before, one doesn't know what to expect at all. My colleagues and I decided to self-drive on the first day. Not really knowing what we were doing but encountering multiple beautiful animals anyway. Three spotters in one little rental car probably helped, though, looking back I am sure we spotted a lot of rocks as animals and the other way round. It is an experience to recommend, however, a good way to get introduced to the wildlife at your own pace.
Not having the right equipment, I struggled to execute getting the photos I wanted. Without a proper telephoto lens, it's rather difficult to get nice shots with a proper depth of field. Nevertheless, the best camera is always the one you have with you, so I kept taking shots to my heart's content.
The next morning was the centrepiece of this first weekend outside of the city: an early morning bush walk. At 4AM we left our Airbnb towards the park, at the gate we jumped into an open game drive vehicle. For twenty minutes we collectively froze our asses off while we were driven to the point where we would start the walk. It was worth it.
Two expert rangers guided us up a hill. We walked single file with one ranger in front and one in the back, safety first. The reason for the direction we took was clear, in the distance, on the edge of the hill we could see the silhouettes of a herd of elephants headed for the valley below. Halfway up the hill we stopped and waited, the Elephants came down, passed us and continued their way into the valley. All the while munching on leaves, digging up roots of trees and putting their trunks up trying to try and sniff where we were. Having chosen a spot downwind they could not smell us and therefore passed by us quite closely. A magical experience for someone who's so far only seen these majestic animals in a zoo.
To this day Pilanesberg is one of my favourite places in South Africa and something I would recommend anyone to visit.
Other observations and events
During that second stay and a couple of subsequent weeks "on-site", as we call it in the office, I tried to get out and about in the weekends as much as possible. Being in this new country so different from my own, I felt driven to explore. I didn't want to "waste" any time.
I discovered my favourite spot for weekend breakfasts: Vovo Telo in Parkhurst. Though the Richmond Studio and Cafe has recently become the new favourite (you'll discover why in a later article). I visited different kinds of events: the Fourways farmers' market, First Thursdays (a monthly opening of art galleries), Neighbourgoods market in Braamfontein, Arts on main, etcetera. Tried to find parks to visit and relax in — a bit of a challenge when you don't know which are considered safe or not. I mostly stayed in the suburbs. Johannesburg CBD — The centre of the city — not being the safest place around to go walk around with a camera, I did not take any chances. With colleagues, we'd go to different events, markets, guided walks and the odd day trip to a venue nearby. I would usually take my little Olympus along, training my eyes to see more compositions and photo opportunities.
I was getting more and more interested in South Africa, the magic of the first eye contact still lingered and I slowly got to see different facets. Still, this could hardly be called anything more than a fling so far.
The next part will jump a couple months further into the third stage: Obsession!
