Flying over : 9-10 June 2001

We flew to South Africa on Saturday, June 9, leaving Syracuse early (6:50 a.m.) on Delta for Atlanta.  There we transferred to South African Airlines, and flew a 747-400 to Johannesburg, by way of Capetown.  Mark Plaatjes, former world champion marathoner, was on the plane with us.   The trip was better this year than last.  I slept some, read some, and wasn't too stir-crazy by the time we got to Capetown.  We weren't allowed off the jet, but walked around a little while they re-fueled, etc.  My row-mates got off in Capetown, and were headed off to Zimbabwe to view the eclipse (June 21).  In Johannesburg, we had several hours, and we spent them drinking beer in the hotel across the driveway from the airport, after buying some Rand and postage stamps.  Then it was onto a little commuter plane for the hour flight to Phalaborwa, toward the north end of the west side of Kruger National Park.

Arriving at Kruger National Park - 10 June

We got there about 5:15 p.m., got our rental car, and headed for the Phalaborwa gate to Kruger.  Tom had arranged ahead of time for them to let us in after closing, since they close the gates before sundown.  The gates were closed when we got there, and it was dark.  The guards didn't know anything about our arrangements.  Tom showed them the letters we had confirming our permission to enter, and they called a supervisor.  The supervisor came and said that we could not be escorted from this gate.  He read our letters, and made some more phone calls.  He finally allowed to us drive to our rest camp by ourselves, and cautioned us to be very careful, since if anything happened (accident, animal encounter, etc.) they would be around to find us the next day.  It was 51 kilometers to our rest camp, Letaba.

We started out down the tarred road named H-9 on the map, mostly due East.  We saws lots (at least a dozen) of Spotted Eagle Owls, sitting in the road.  They would let us drive right up within a few feet before flying out of the way.  We also saw a few either Crowned Plover or Water Dikkop, it was hard to tell in the dark.  We also saw one "non-bird" which I thought was a civet, but now I think was a genet.  I guess it could have been either.

We were both really sleepy by now, but I was keeping the car on the road.  You could only see as far as the lights lit ahead of you, since there were no other lights (other than the stars).  We kept thinking we were seeing things, as the high-beams would throw shadows of the trees we passed, and the shadows moved as the car went down the road.  All of a sudden, about 50 yards ahead, in the edge of the head light, a huge elephant in the road.  No, really.  I stopped and the elephant turned, but then he kept going down the road away from us.  I stayed where I was until he moved out of the light, and realized that there could be a herd of elephant within a yard of the car behind us and I wouldn't be able to see them.  We crept forward until we saw the elephant again, and he turned again, then moved on again.  This time, when I crept forward, he was gone, off the road, and no where to be seen.  Was it really an elephant, or just a fatigue-induced vision?

At Letaba, the guard let us in and had the paperwork for our huts.  We found them after some trouble, and went in search of the restaurant.  The dining room was still open, and we had a fine dinner with a nice bottle of wine, and retired for the night.  The total cost of the 5 course dinner (split pea soup, baked hake, barbecued chicken, roast ox-tail, rice, carrots, potatoes and dessert) including the wine and tip was R100 each, or about $12.50.

Letaba & Olifants 11-13 June

On Monday morning we slept in, then settled our affairs in Letaba Reception and headed southeast about 35 kilometers to Olifants rest camp.  We took the dirt roads and took our time.  Our cabins faced the Olifants River, northeast, beyond which, not too far, lay the Lebombo Mountains and Mozambique.  We took a drive around another loop before gate closing at 5:30.  After dinner, we had a couple beers and looked at the stars.  I've never seen the Milky Way so bright.  But of course, I don't know any of the stars in the southern hemisphere.

Tuesday we took a drive in the late morning and saw hippos, giraffe, elephants and lots of impala.  We drove across a bridge over the Olifants River where I don't think we were really supposed to go, then we turned around and went back across to the road without getting into any trouble.

In the afternoon we signed up for the 3-hour night drive and just rested.  On the night drive, we saw a "breeding herd" of female and young elephants right after leaving the camp, before it got dark, and some warthogs.  After dark we saw genets (both large-spotted and small-spotted), black-backed jackals, blue wildebeests, an African wild cat, a mother hyaena with a baby hyaena, zebra, scrub hare, brown snake eagles, and spotted eagle owls.  After the night drive we had sinner in the restaurant.

On Wednesday morning I got up before sunrise and walked up to the lookout area on the bluff above the Olifants River.  I was looking for game moving down to the river early, but I didn't see much.  At first light, a fog blew up the valley and occluded visibility.  Then I went back to bed and slept some more.  Later in the morning we packed up and drove slowly back to Letaba.  Our cabins there for the night were right across the street from the convenience store, the "Winkel Shop."  We went for another ride in the afternoon, heading for the Matambeni bird hide (lots of crocodile and hippos) and the Engelhard Dam and lookout.  On the way Tom spotted a couple lions about 100 yards out in a field.  We stayed for a while, but they were just laying around.  At the Engelhard lookout, we were quite close to Mozambique.  There was a track heading off that way, I imagine that it was previously a road to the border.

To Durban, 14 June

In the morning we got out early and saw an elephant walking toward us within a mile of the rest camp.  He backed us down the road over a half mile before he went off into the field.  We went on, taking our time, heading generally for Mopani Rest Camp to the north.  We didn't intend to go that far, but were planning to take the H14 tar road southwest back to the Phalaborwa gate.  When we got there, the road was closed.  So we headed back to Letaba, and took the due west road, H-9, out.  This was the road we had driven in on Sunday night, but of course it had been dark then, so we were seeing this part of the country for the first time.  We saw a huge herd of buffalo, and two large groups of elephants at a water hole.

We caught our plane on time, and got o Johannesburg early enough to catch an earlier plane to Durban.  I noticed a blonde lady in the waiting area wearing running shoes, and figured she was a runner.  The plane was pretty full, and I got a center seat, and Tom was somewhere behind me.  At Durban, we collected our luggage and boarded the shuttle for our hotel.  The blonde lady also got on, and started talking with Tom.  She was running, and so we talked about that, Tom asking her about training, etc.  She mentioned several things (being invited to various races, racing for the national team, etc.) that made us think she was probably a good runner.  When she said something about her name being Rae, Tom realized it was Rae Bisschoff, who had won the up run in 1998, Tom's first year.  She had run 6:38, and was looking to run for a silver medal this year (sub 7:30).  Pretty neat.

At Durban before the race

At the hotel, the staff was waiting for us.  They remembered Tom from his previous years there.  We checked in, showered and headed for the exposition at the International Convention Centre (ICC) about a mile from the hotel.  We got our numbers, bus tickets, and I was able to get into the Reebok Shop and get some souvenir shirts.  Back to the hotel for a gourmet dinner on the terrace facing the Indian Ocean.

On Friday, we had breakfast on the terrace, and I headed over to the expo to check my chip and take care of some forgotten errands.  Then Tom and I walked downtown and shopped for souvenirs at the African Art Centre, changed money at American Express, and bought some  snacks.  Then relaxed in our rooms, getting our stuff ready for the race, and dinner was again on the terrace.   We arranged for the staff to tape part of the race coverage for us, placed our wake-up call request, and headed to the room.  The hotel sent a good luck letter to each runner, with some gifts, a hat, some sports drink, and some nuts.  I talekd with Tiekie on the phone.

With the help of a sleeping pill, I did manage about 5 hours sleep before 2 a.m.  Then did my stretching routine, joined Tom at 3 for breakfast (the hotel put it on early for us) and headed over the 2 blocks for the bus at 3:45.