South Africa

Recently I went on a trip to South Africa with a group of my friends. It was without a doubt the best trip I have ever been on. My mate Rob wrote a superb group email to all his friends describing our adventures. I couldn't imagine writing a better account than he has done so I will post his here instead (and quite frankly it saves me from having to write one out aswell.)
On a personal note, the red meat in South Africa is the most exquisite meat I have ever eaten. We had a great variety of succulent game meats, it was great to go out and see the animals during the day and then eat them at night. The steak that was available to us in Johannesburg however was second to none. We ate at some lovely restaurants that served the leanest, juiciest, tenderest most delicious steaks I have ever ever eaten. It is not hard to see how South Africa can make such big rugby players with meat like that around. I have found it very difficult to eat steak back here in London again after having tasted such perfection.

So here's what Rob had to say......

Well, if you haven't been jealous of my travels thus far you should definitely keep reading...............
As you know my latest safari was, well, a safari. Leaving London on Friday night with my good buddies JC, Rolly and Mike we flew south via Zurich, arriving in South Africa on Saturday morning. We were greeted at Johannesburg airport by our Sydney-based counterparts Chris, Brett, Graham and Duncan where we collected our 8-seater VW combi van and set off for the drive to Kruger National Park.
It was wonderful to see the guys again and we had a good opportunity to catch up at our overnight stop just a few hours from the park. On Sunday morning we were initiated with the "Kruger wake up" which saw us getting up and on the road before sun rise 6 days in a row! After crossing the bridge over a crocodile infested river we entered the national park and were immediately greeted by the sight of giraffes and elephants by the side of the road. Within half an hour of arriving in the park we had been treated to the sight of a huge bull elephant lumbering up to the side of the van and proceeding to walk down the road directly in front of us. This encounter was to set the tone for our week - we quickly dubbed ourselves the "Arsey Aussies".
Within the first day we had seen more rhinoceros than I knew were actually still alive, a stand off between a rhino and an elephant, and the amazing sight of a lioness drinking from a waterhole and then proceeding to walk directly across our path and off into the scrub where the circling vultures signified only one thing - a recent kill. On our second day we managed to see the "The Big 5" [elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, lion and leopard] within the space of 10 hours!.......
Driving around the park at your own pace is a wonderful way to view the wildlife and our marathon efforts were well rewarded. The highlights were far too numerous to list, but some standouts included:-
seeing a pride of lionesses (5) laying in a dry river bed enjoying the afternoon sun whilst their cubs (12) played in the sand like big yellow kittens;
watching a hyena stalk a juvenile leopard only to be chased away by the leopard's mother;
seeing a pack of African Wild Dogs (the rarest predators in Africa) laying by the side of the road;
going for an evening walk along the fence of our camp only to discover a rhinoceros grazing just 10m away from us with nothing but a wire mesh fence between us and this spectacular specimen;
on a guided night drive, spotting a young hyena pup playing with its older sibling in a culvert by the side of the road; and
seeing a giraffe drink from a waterhole [anyone who has seen such a sight will know that it is a completely absurd spectacle].
Thanks to some brilliant organisation from Chris we also managed to spend 3 nights in our own private camp. At least 20km from the next closest camp, we were able to see things in the early morning and late evening that no other park visitors could possibly have seen given the curfew restrictions at each camp. We enjoyed total serenity in our camp and, even entertained some visitors - some Vervet monkeys who took it upon themselves to go through the rubbish in our van and an early-morning visit from an elephant who, after breaking open the gate to our camp, helped himself to a drink by snapping the metal pipe of a water tap.
Luck was not the only factor in our many and varied animal sightings - we put in the hard yards, early mornings and stints of up to 8 hours in the van - but our good fortunes really shone through on our last morning. With only a 40km drive to the gates to leave the park we commented that [despite spending the entire previous day looking for one] we had not seen a cheetah and [despite seeing more than 30 females and cubs] we had not seen a male lion. Well, no doubt you can guess what happened, but you could not have scripted how amazingly it came about. After an unscheduled and almost avoided toilet stop, a cheetah [the rarest of the big cats] simply strode across the road not 100m in front of our van and walked off into the distance. Then, merely half a kilometre down the road, some people in a car flagged us down and told us to take the next right turn and - you guessed it - 5km down the road, sitting by a waterhole were 3 juvenile male lions.
Our safari was complete and as we drove slowly out the gates of Kruger we all paused in quiet reflection, admiring the wonders we had experienced being able to see so many wild animals in their natural environment, and then someone let out a ripper..............
The bad smells emanating from a van full of 8 lads chock full on a diet of beer and red meat set the tone nicely for our last few days in South Africa spent in Johannesburg - for, so far in all my worldly travels, I have not experienced a city with a worse character than Johannesburg. It was dirty and dusty, sparse and concreted, and the poverty and plight of the black population was clearly evident and further exasperated by the incivility of the white population. I really did struggle to find a redeeming feature of this characterless metropolis. However this did not detract from our breathtaking experiences in Kruger as we were in Johannesburg for a reason - to support the Wallabies.
After decking ourselves out in full Wallaby gold we went across the road from our hotel to cheer the players onto the team bus. My concerns were somewhat heightened when Jeremy Paul the Wallaby No. 2 descended the hotel escalator and looked up, surprised at our presence, he wished us "good luck today, fellas". We begun the dangerous journey through downtown Johannesburg into the battle zone known as Ellis Park. As one of a very small handful of Wallaby fans I can honestly say that I have never felt so intimidated in my life. The Bokka fans are aggressive and boisterous and seem to take delight in taunting opposition fans, but when you are outnumbered by about 65,000 to 100 the incentives to keep your mouth shut are as large as the sea of green jerseys all around you.
Unfortunately the team played poorly and were beaten comprehensively, but that is probably a good thing because if they had have won we probably would have been beaten comprehensively......... But at least we got our mugs on television - standing proudly and belting out Advance Australia Fair - surrounded by wildlife that would have fitted in quite nicely roaming the scrub of Kruger National Park. Surely we 8 can now say that we are TRUE Wallaby fans!........
Overall it was an amazing adventure and an experience that I am so fortunate to have been able to share with 7 of my closest mates. I look forward to showing you all my hundreds of photos and regaling you with many more stories and highlights.