Bloemfontein and Kimberley
Saturday 16th January 2016 – Woken at around 6am to the wake up calls of peacocks, roosters and other unnamed animals…a cacophony of noise! Dozed for a few more hours, packed our bags, breakfasted and said our emotional goodbyes to Nikki and Janine who we had so bonded with and wished them well on their road to recovery. Leaving our unusual oasis in the desert…Middleton Manor…we went on our way. With Aaron at the wheel heading for Bloemfontein, I was the animal spotter…a job I relished! We had learnt early on in our travels that journeys from place to place often yielded wonderful sightings of glorious wild animals running free. We were not disappointed! To the right of us Springbok emerged from the shelter of trees, jumping with the joy of freedom. Monkeys and baboons mischievously eyed traffic looking for any opportunity of obtaining food…it is illegal to feed the baboons and there is a hefty fine for anyone who does! Proliferous Eagles soared overhead spotting prey…and then…standing up on a rock…that unmistakable stance of a meerkat at his lookout station…what a sight! Onwards we went while antelopes and Impala made their appearances. Stopping for petrol we lunched in Colesburg and on arriving at Bloemfontein found the Victorian Lodge B and B to sleep for the night. We dined on meatballs and spaghetti at the local Mall accompanied by beer and sangria.
Sunday 17th January 2016 – Woken by an impressive thunder storm that apparently Aaron said had been going on all night but I had slept through! Today our mission was to research how to get to Lesotho…the aptly named ‘Kingdom in the Sky’…a country landlocked by South Africa. We needed internet connection so again trudged to the Mall! In all towns and cities the people love the Mall, they see it as a safe haven to meet and shop, Aaron and I have a different opinion and feel Malls are clinical and superficial, we much prefer smaller shops and restaurants but they are almost impossible to find in the towns and cities. So, to the Mall we went! We stationed ourselves at Mugg and Bean Cafe, breakfasting on power oats and toasted sandwiches and used their internet connection to find where ‘Taffy’s Backpackers’ was in Bloemfontein. We had read that this backpackers did trips to Lesotho so wanted to locate and stay there. Having done our research, we jumped in the car and headed there. On arrival at the address we were told by the current owner that it no longer existed and had closed over a year before! The weather was grey and rainy and definitely reflected our mood. Thwarted we drove back to the centre of town and booked a few nights at Tuscany Lodge to give us time to think of a new plan. As they say…tomorrow is another day!
Monday 18th January 2016 – After a sound nights sleep we decided to put our plans for Lesotho on hold and enjoy the day. We headed for Kimberley which used to be the biggest diamond mine in the world! En route through the Karoo we saw wildebeest and then two beautiful elands…the biggest antelope in the whole of Africa. A male and female…they looked us right in the eye almost posing for the camera…such amazing, stunning creatures…I could have stood there all day just gazing at them. We continued our journey into the North Cape and arrived at the ‘Big Hole’ in Kimberley. A hole that 150 years previously was a flat-topped hill and then became the largest hand-dug excavation in the world when word spread that diamonds had been discovered! A massive crater now remains after 2722 kilograms equivalent to 14 504 566 carats of diamonds were extracted from the earth…the natural pipes of the kimberlite rock yielding its treasure. It was one of those ‘Eureka’ moments when a shiny pebble was picked up by a couple of children along the banks of the Orange River near Hopetown in the 1860s. Who would have guessed that the destiny of so many was in their hands. A sobering plaque stands at the entrance to the hole to honour the labourers who died in the mines…no one knows how many lives were lost lining the pockets of the wealthy. Returning to Bloemfontein we headed to the casino where Aaron doubled his money and I chilled out in the comfy lounge…tomorrow we would attempt to travel to Lesotho!
