Orange River, South Africa (Overland Day 2)
April 28th, 2008>> Rating (5 stars is best) >>> 
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(0 Ratings) Loading ...The first day was spent on an all day drive north from Cape Town to Cederberg, in the Northeast of South Africa. Cederberg was not that inspiring of a destination although it did serve as a place for our new Tribe to get acquainted over some dinner and drinks and to commiserate about the unexpectedly severe cold that hardly anyone was prepared for (probably high 40s F. at night).
The first day was spent on an all day drive north from Cape Town to Cederberg, in the Northeast of South Africa. Cederberg was not that inspiring of a destination although it did serve as a place for our new Tribe to get acquainted over some dinner and drinks and to commiserate about the unexpectedly severe cold that hardly anyone was prepared for (probably high 40s F. at night). Day Two was a much shorter drive to the South African side of the Orange River, the geographic border between S.A. and Namibia. In just a day and a half many of us were amazed at the changes in terrain from the Atlantic Coast to the rolling hills and forests and then to the barren desert in Northern South Africa and we were delighted to see the oasis like conditions of grass and trees along the riverfront as we drove to the charming campsite in the early afternoon. After putting up our tents we had all afternoon to swim in the river and lounge by the bank.
I have been planning on taking a trip to Africa for the past 2 years now and while normally I choose to avoid organized tours that tend to be overpriced and filled with couples and senior citizens I discovered that many of the game parks in Africa require guides and due to the slow pace and rough nature of African travel that there are dozens of Overland trips that are frequented by youngish adventure backpackers like myself. After doing a fair amount of research I came to realize that the cheapest overland tour is not necessarily the best and from my research and first hand feedback on Lonely Planet’s Thorntree Forum I was leaning towards 
From St. Lucia a group of us carried southeast along the Indian Ocean coast of South Africa to the large surfer-beach city of Durban. As we had read Durban is home to the largest community of Indian descent in the world I was quite looking forward to some tasty Indian food. While relaxing at the hostel the first night the owner, a very laid back surfer guy, instructed us about the local South African dish known as 
After Swaziland we crossed back into South Africa and came south to the Indian Ocean coastal town of St. Lucia, which is situated on a 
After Kruger we traveled just a few hours by bus to the small nation of 
After 25 hours of flights and a 9-hour time change I arrived in Johannesburg somewhat delirious on Tuesday, April 8th. As Johannesburg has the reputation as perhaps the top most dangerous city in the world in terms of violent crime and murder, I was a bit nervous about finding safe transportation to a hostel or guest house in a relatively good neighborhood (I had meant to do some research and book ahead but I ran out of time). Thankfully my trusty Bible (Lonely Planet travel guide) came through as it had countless times before and I found a place in a nice neighborhood who also organized their own transportation and after waiting a bit over an hour I was on my way through the seemingly benign urban sprawl that is Johannesburg. After arriving about 6PM local time with 9 hours of jet lag I promptly booked my room and passed out, sleeping through until 6 the next morning.
After a good night’s sleep I booked onto a backpacker travel bus that allows you to hop on and off at any number of stops throughout South Africa and by the early afternoon I was in Nelspruit, the gateway to quite famous Kruger National Park – the largest game park in South Africa and one of the most famous in all the world. I have always heard how amazing Kruger is to visit, but I was a bit concerned it might be over-touristy and was frankly a bit skeptical as it seemed a bit over hyped and with the knowledge I would still get to go on a safari in 4-6 other parks through Africa I almost even considered skipping it but decided it was best to see it and make my own judgment and comparison with the other parks. Also, being an experienced traveler I tend to avoid packaged tours and the geriatric crowd along with many of them but I did not see any easy way of seeing the park on my own and decided with limited time I felt it was best to book onto a tour and gain the expertise of a seasoned guide, but to shop around for a tour with a small vehicle size (animals are not likely to get to close to a huge bus), one that catered to backpackers with a smaller group size and still with a highly experienced guide. What I ended up with by booking through the Funky Monkey backpacker hostile exceeded all my expectations on all counts and made my visit to Kruger one of the more spectacular travel experiences of my life. 