Disclaimer: Most of these photographs were taken from a moving vehicle. The disadvantage of being on an organized tour is you can't always stop when you might like. The advantages, however, include such niceties as having a car waiting at each destination avoiding the delays involved in renting a car or public transportation (which is basically not an option here). And we are able to have lively and lovely conversations with our traveling companions: Brenda and Mort from Boca Raton, Gene and Leslie from Manhattan Beach, and sisters Judy from mid-Jersey and Sally from Falls Church, VA.
We left the bush today and took a long marched to Pretoria. On the way to Nelspruit for our plane to Johannesburg we passed through rural areas so I held my arm out the window of our van snapping photos in hopes that a few would capture the flair of the rural areas that are spotted across the vast expanses between cities. Our route took us through Mkhulu, a tribal village; Hazyview, a larger town with lodges servicing Kruger Park and where Frank sleeps with a gun under his pillow in his proper white house on the hill; and Whiteriver (Wit Rivier in Afrikans).
Smoke-filled air greeted us in Johannesburg, a common result of dry winter brushfires, as we boarded our bus to Pretoria for a very Anglo-tour of Voortrekker Monument and the Union Building. Pretoria was settled by the Boers during the Great Trek which was similar to the pioneers heading west during that same period in America and included similar hardship and bloodshed.
As we drove through Pretoria I once again posted myself at the open window of our van and caught a few glimpses of contemporary Pretoria.
(Only saw oxen today and a few wildebeest grazing so no animal pictures for you. Last night I hung out on the lawn at our hotel with Zebra munching at my feet and though I attempted photographs I was only able to capture black night and pairs of laser-like eyes.)
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