Adventures with Jeff, Part 4

As is perhaps fitting, our time in Johannesburg was pretty evenly divided: it seemed like we were either spending time with great people and visiting beautiful sites OR we were trying out different combinations of getting lost, having car trouble, and narrowly avoiding death. I said “perhaps fitting” because all the South Africans I’ve met have been lovely people and their country is certainly impressive, but Joburg does have a bit of a reputation for crime and car jackings and violence and the like. In our case however, the car trouble was just that (car trouble, not car jacking) and had the near death encounters actually happened, they would have only involved animals ... or Jeff throttling me for being an overly anxious backseat driver :-P

Looking back, the trip from the airport to my friend’s apartment could have been quite a bit worse. Yes, we got pretty thoroughly lost a couple of times; and yes, the clutch on the rental car was rather finicky so we did manage to irritate quite a few impatient drivers at quite a few intersections and stoplights; and no, a 6-lane highway was not exactly the most ideal place for Jeff to have to adjust to driving on the opposite side of the road, BUT we did finally make it to the apartment (with the driver, passenger, and car intact) ... and weren’t even late for dinner! So, not the best first couple of hours ... but also not the worst. Being at the apartment, on the other hand, was unequivocally great. Not only was the apartment really comfortable, but it was really, really nice to get to see my friend and to meet her friends (who were actually the ones who lived in the apartment – they were generous enough to put up with 3 people crashing at their place at the same time).

The next day started off well – we drove my friend to her office and then stopped at a grocery store to put together a picnic lunch ... all without getting lost & only stalling out a handful of times! The not-getting-lost lucky streak ended there though – we got lost on our way to Maropeng (the visitors’ centre for the Cradle of Humankind) and on our way from there to the Sterkfontein Caves. We had a good time at both sites though – they were very well maintained and really interesting to learn about. After doing the tourist thing all afternoon, we headed back to the apartment for another fun evening – cooking dinner for our hosts, then “teach me to drive stick in the mall parking lot” class (more fun for me than for Jeff, I think!), then out to a neighborhood bar for a bit with the 3 girls before turning in for the night.

Bright and early the next morning, we were off again. This time, it was Jeff, my friend, and me, and we were on the road at 5am, hoping to reach Pilanesberg National Park by 7 or 8. Five hours (and several nonexistent and/or thoroughly misleading road signs) later, we finally made it to the park. And let me just say this upfront: in spite of those extra 3 hours on the road and in spite of everything that was going to happen later that day, it was definitely worth it. The park, which sits in the crater of an extinct volcano, was beautiful – full of wildlife and amazing views and pleasantly accessible (you could drive your own car through instead of having to go through a company or with a guide). The downside of that kind of accessibility, however, is that when your car breaks down in the middle of the reserve, hours away from a cell phone tower, you aren’t left with very many options. When plan A (trying to push the car to the closest intersection) failed, we moved on to considering plan B (leaving the car and hiking out). Thankfully, that plan got scrapped when we spotted a passing car and managed to hitch a ride to the visitors’ center (passing several rhinos, a number of other large animals, and (we were told later by a park ranger) a lion along the way ... not exactly ideal hiking companions!) By the time we eventually made it out of the park, we were so desperate to get back to Joburg that Jeff agreed to sit in the trunk of a shuttle that only had two empty passenger seats! That shuttle took us to the airport, where we picked up another rental car and then put the proverbial icing on the cake of a very long day by getting lost once again on the way back to the apartment.

Our last day in Joburg was comparatively tame – we drove my friend to her office again, went back to the apartment to pack our bags, hardly got lost at all on the way to the airport, and made it through customs & security with plenty of time to spare. It was a great trip – more adventures that I’d even hoped for - and while I was sorry it was ending, after a year abroad I was also more than ready to come home :-)