Rustenburg to Kruger National Park

3 Rondavels: Africaans for "Satan's Nipples"

Awesome Sign

Poolside at the restaurant we stopped at to watch a game

God's Window

The crew at Blyde River Canyon

Alright guys, sorry for lagging on this post. We've been through alot and seen quite a bit over the last week so I'll crop it down on this post to some of the best days we've had on trip so far.

With Adele's recommendation and help setting up arrangements to go to the Kruger, we took off from Rustenburg for the town of Dullstroom which is about 4.5 hours to the east for our first night. Driving in Africa is a total experience that rarely includes moments to relax. About 20k outside of Pretoria, we passed through a large township that was precluded with signs on the freeway warning not to stop as it was a "hijacking hotspot," good stuff. Fortunately, the daytime is relatively safe here so we passed through unharmed. As we pulled into Dullstroom we realized we had reached a much different environment from the cities we had previously stayed in, like a South African Healdsburg. Dullstroom is a flyfishing hotspot so naturally Austin and Seth were stoked and in addition our hostel was not only cheap but livable in comparison to the hell hole in Joburg we stayed at. We spent the night cruising to a couple of bars to watch the matches and met some great people in the process.

The next morning we woke up and took off for a small town called Hazy View that is just outside of the Kruger and is sort of a staging point for taking trips into the park. Adele pointed out several places to visit along the way so we had our day laid out for us. The first stop was the Blyde River Canyon to the north of where we were staying. For 5 rand entrance fee (~75 cents), the 3 of us got to see one of the most amazing views outside of the Grand Canyon I have ever witnessed. Plus the fun thing about Africa is while they build walkways to get to the viewpoints, handrails and safety restrictions are pretty much non-existent so as long as you maintain some self accountability, you can get some great shots and perspectives safely. As we snaked along the river canyon, we took in a lot of great views and awesome countryside leading up to an area called God's Window. After another 5 rand entry fee, we hiked our way up along with about 100 other tourists to check out another spectacular setting.

We made it into Hazy View around 4 to catch the middle day games and got settled at our hostel. Definitely rugged but the widescreen tv and cheap brew made it worthwhile. Got some good info and prepared for the trip into the park the next day...

Kruger's up next...