June 29th, Pretoria, South Africa

Greetings!

It’s Sunday night here at the Pretoria Hotel, but most of you are just preparing lunch.  From the OR Tombo Airport in Johannesburg, we took the train to Pretoria, then drug our bags to the hotel.  Checking into a nice suite overlooking the pool and river, we caught a few hours sleep before some unusual thunderstorms awakened us in time for our meetup with the tour staff and fellow travelers.

There are only three others besides us on the tour, all from Australia.  Anne, Margaret, and Albert are all traveling alone, and like us, they’ve been many places.  Our guide (Quintin) grew up in Cape Town, and is a tall white guy our age who grew up under apartheid, whose wife is “dark as can be”, with a three-year old child.  He’s eager to get into any subject in depth, and it appears we’re all ears and questions.

We walked to dinner at a small restaurant called Ocean Basket in a nearby car park.  Their fish, mussels, shrimp, and chips were all excellent, and they must go to great lengths to bring them so far inland so fresh. 

After stopping at a mall to pick up a unique electrical adapter and some supplies, our 16-passenger bus (with lots of room) will head northeast toward Kruger National Park, near the Mozambique border.  The size of Wales, Kruger is a must-see destination for most who come to Africa.  Passing first through mining country, tomorrow is mostly a traveling day.  Our destination is Graskop, just past Pilgrim’s Rest.

To see the few photos we took while traveling from SF to Pretoria, click on June 29th, Pretoria, South Africa

Gregory and Pat