Copyright © Tanya Piejus, 1994

21st August, 9.30 pm

The flight to South Africa went very quickly. There was a lot of turbulence on take-off and landing due to a thick layer of haze that obscured the view out of my window. The pilot gave us the latest England vs SA cricket scores as well as the usual blurb about cruising altitudes, etc.

Jo'burg from air looked huge, sprawling and very American. Not unlike LA in fact. Vanessa met me at the airport after I'd changed money and told me that she got a marketing job for a distribution company at the same time I started the trip. They are the main distributors for Little, Brown in SA. We drove out to her rented house which is very nice and big and has a pool. But it's too expensive really and she wants to move. After eating we went to the cinema in Rosebank shopping mall. I could so easily have been walking through Crystal Peaks on the way to the UCI. I knew SA was very civilised and European but I didn't think it would be quite this much. They even have a chain of stationers called CNA which is exactly like W H Smith. Being here is just like being at home. So different from the other African countries I've been to. It's quite a shock!

Yesterday we drove down to Natal to see Vanessa's parents. She doesn't like driving alone or away from the toll roads for security reasons. And locking the car doors at all times is a matter of course.

We set off at 6 am to a Jo'burg sunrise but it soon became cloudy and we could see we were driving towards a cold, wet front. We stopped for a break near Harrismith in a service station that looked like anything you'd find on the M1. The scenery of Natal is just like northern Scotland and there's even a Glencoe and a Dundee. The effect was heightened even more by the blustery wind and heavy rain. This is unusual weather even for winter apparently. It made driving quite hazardous and South African drivers are obviously unused to wet conditions. We arrived in Howick just after 11 am. Vanessa's parents have a very beautiful, very English country house with leaded windows, dark old furniture, wide stairs and a rustic kitchen. They are lovely people and have 4 lively dogs - 2 large, 2 small.

We shopped at the local Spar - much more classy than the ones at home - and visited the Publicity Association so I could gather some information and make plans. We also a quick look at Howick Falls. Same height as the Victoria but about 100th of the width! Very pleasant nonetheless, despite the rain. When we got back Vanessa's Uni friend, Gillian, had arrived. She stayed for lunch and we all chatted together. She asked me what plans I had and at that time I hadn't made any. I'd thought about hiking in the Drakensberg or maybe going to Cape Town, but I only have £30 left. She lives out on a farm on the edge of 'The 'berg' where her family keeps bees. She's really into hiking and suggested that I go out there with her and go hiking.

Spent the rest of the afternoon and evening getting my washing done, watching a video and chatting. We had roast beef for dinner with pumpkin, and beans and maize amongst the veg. Also had some very pleasant SA wine.

Vanessa phoned Gillian this morning and found out that it was fine for me to go there and we'd meet her in Petermaritzburg. We drove down to Durban and picked up Vanessa's grandmother. She showed us a gorgeous signed copy of a special edition of Omar Khayyam. She has a marvellous library as her father was a publisher and she gave some books to Vanessa for her birthday.

We had dinner at the Point Yacht Club right on the harbour front. I had chicken a la king as I haven't had chicken since Kande Beach. It made a pleasant change from beef which is all I seem to have eaten recently. SAs are particularly fond of red meat. Durban, like Jo'burg, is a very British or American city from what little I saw of it and seems very pleasant. The Uni. of Natal looks lovely. Sunday lunch at the PYC is apparently a very traditional Natal thing to do. This is English-descent white heartland and they seem to cling fiercely to the rituals and traditions of their ancestors.

I was dropped off in Maritzburg and drove with Gillian out to the farm. It is in a fantastic setting and there's a stunning view out the back over hills and valleys. It's been a beautiful, if cold, day and the afternoon shadows made it very special. I became assistant beekeeper and helped Gillian and her Mum with the hives. They've had a lot of honey theft recently by Africans and the bees also have a disease, so things are a bit grim at the moment. They've just come back from a pollination tour and the honey-making season is over so they are preparing to keep things ticking over now.

Spent the rest of the evening chatting with G. and her parents and being sat on by one of 3 dogs and 4 cats. Now installed in the guestroom and hoping I won't be too cold in the night. It's really COLD now even though spring is only a couple of weeks away and everyone is complaining bitterly.

22nd August, 10 pm

Had a good night's sleep despite the cold and was woken by a wet canine nose poking under my duvet. After a leisurely breakfast of eggs, tomatoes and toast, Gillian and I went to Ixopo, the local town, for some shopping. Ixopo, as far as the Blacks are concerned, is just like any other African town - hawkers selling cheap, plastic tack from Taiwan, kids in colour co-ordinated school uniforms, women carrying everything from firewood to Coke bottles (ubiquitous) on their heads. But the Whites have a lifestyle so similar to their European cousins that it makes the disparity between rich (all the Whites and a few Blacks, Asians and coloureds) and poor (the majority of Blacks) that much greater than anywhere I've been in Africa so far. I expected some difference but not quite this much as SA is easily the richest country in Africa. The success of apartheid in keeping the Blacks in a position of total poverty and dependence is starkly obvious. Overpopulation is now the greatest problem I've found out from Gillian and shanty towns are springing up with increasing rapidity. Yet the new government haven't even mentioned it. All their grand ideas and reforms are going to be fruitless if they don't face the problem of the phenomenal birth rate soon. SA still has a very long way to go, and the general impression I get from everyone that I've talked to is that it'll get worse before it gets better. Now that I'm here I can believe that.

After shopping, scoffing biltong and Snickers (boy, have I missed those in the last 7 wks!) we went for a walk down into the valley. Next door is a Buddhist centre with beautiful gardens and a couple of ponds, and there are ponds on the McGregors' land as well. Saw a few birds but it was the wrong time of day really. There's still a viciously cold wind blowing but it's clear and sunny like those rare crisp winter days at home. Spent the afternoon as Assistant Beekeeper again as I helped Gillian treat the hives for their infection and fill up their feeders with sugar solution. Tried some of the honey fresh from a hive on freshly-baked brown bread and it was delicious. Very sweet and a good, strong flavour. I shall take some home. We were so absorbed in our work we forgot to have lunch!

Played squash, which I haven't done for about 3 yrs now, with 2 friends of Gillian's. I was soundly thrashed but had a good run around. Rediscovered a few muscles I'd forgotten I had!

29th August, 8 pm

Yesterday morning we left at 8.45 am laden with rucksacks, sleeping gear, food and books for the coast. The journey took about an hour through the agricultural heartland of Natal. Much of the natural bushveldt has been turned over to sugar cane farming. Only a few islands of coastal bush remain and we stopped off at one, Vernon Crookes Game Reserve, to confirm a booking of a hut for the night. The hut turned out to be a very cosy rondavel that can sleep four and had a kettle and water jug, outdoor braai and electricity. Next door was a fully equipped kitchen and there was also a toilet/shower block with pictures of wildlife on the walls and frilly, pink loo seat covers! It was all set in a lovely patch of lush bush on a hill top with a lovely view of rolling hills and bushveldt. After depositing most of our gear we left the Reserve to go to the sea. On the way out the gateman gave us R10 and asked us to buy some bread, bananas and a bottle of fizzy lemon for him. After stocking up on chocolate and drinks we found a secluded spot on the beach, took off our shoes and socks and headed for the ocean. Unfortunately it was very windy and it was too cold to swim so we poked about a bit in the rocks, I took some slides and sat in the shelter of a boulder and chatted awhile. We'd had to cross a railway line to reach the sand and a freight train full of sugar cane came past. The driver sounded his horn and waved to us as we were the only ones on the beach.

It was wonderful to see the Indian Ocean again. It's been 6 wks since Zanzibar. Lake Malawi was great but nothing can beat the crashing of breakers and taste of salt spray on the lips. As the beach was too exposed to stay on we went back to the Reserve earlier than planned. On the way back in we gave the gateman his shopping and in return he gave us a bag of 6 lemons. We ate our picnic lunch outside our rondavel and crashed out in the sun for about half an hour. After our siesta we went for a walk through the bush and along zebra tracks. We saw blesbuck, which I haven't seen before, wildebeest, lots of zebra, impala and some new birds like Bradfield's hornbill.

As the sun set we lit our braai and put steaks on to cook and potatoes and butternuts wrapped in foil among the coals. We had ginger ale with slices of the lemons in and ice from the rondavel kitchen freezer. All jolly civilised.

This morning we ate an early semi-breakfast while looking at birds from the balcony of the bunkhouse. This is self-contained accommodation for about 20 in its own patch of bush. We saw trumpeter hornbills which were new to me, lots of bulbuls, white-eyes, a woodpecker and black-collared barbets which make the monotonous call that's been bugging me about its source since I arrived in Kenya! After returning to our rondavel we packed up our stuff and drove round the reserve. Along the way we saw orabi, another type of buck which used to be common as muck and now is endangered because it stands still to be shot at instead of running away. Had our breakfast proper sitting on a rock outcrop above a deep valley. The colours of the vegetation and soil didn't look real. They seemed more as if they'd been painted or drawn in pastels. I hope my slides do it justice.

Vernon Crookes is a lovely little (2500 ha) game park that's relatively unused. We worked out that it can't be profitable and there's always the danger that it might now be reclaimed for agriculture as the new government is bent on redistributing land. Much more of the land in SA is farmed than in the other countries and it would be a dreadful shame if the oases of wildlife are lost to agriculture as well.

As we didn't get our swim yesterday, we went back to the beach at Shepstone. It is very much like the UK holiday resorts with Wimpy bars and beach huts, but much nicer. There's even a Margate further up the coast. The sea was pretty icy but good for a dip and we dried off in the sun. After a helping of chips each we headed back to Canowie Farm.

Gillian's mum had put hives at some of the local houses to collect wild swarms that had been hassling the neighbours, so we went round and collected them to replace the swarms lost to the infection. Nearly all the hives had been colonised and we brought 16 back. One of the houses is an amazing place called The Bunker, which is literally what it is; a semi-subterranean concrete structure that looks like something left over from WWII.

Just rung Vanessa and she's coming down again for the weekend so Gillian and I will go to Howick when we get back from our hiking trip on Saturday.

29th August, 5.40 pm

Spent the morning of the 25th getting stuff ready for our Berg trip. As I'd left most of my things in Jo'burg, I borrowed sleeping bag, roll mat and warm clothes from Gillian. Met Gillian's friend, Nicky, at 11.30 and transferred all my stuff and food into her big backpack when we arrived at Cobham, the start point of our trip. We'd looked at the Southern Berg map and decided to do a loop from Cobham, spending 2 nights in caves - much more fun than huts. We stayed in the Little Berg, the foothills of the Drakensberg, as the Escarpment was still covered in snow from last weekend and the passes would be icy. The weather was perfect - totally still, warm and clear, blue skies. Set out just after 1.30 for our first cave, Sipongweni, along the Polela River valley. We forked left up a smaller valley quite quickly. Before turning off we stopped for lunch by a pool in the river. It looked so inviting that we stripped off and plunged into the icy water. It was literally breath-taking, but very refreshing.

The majority of the route was quite flat and not too challenging and I had plenty of opportunities to photograph the stunning views of the Escarpment peaks. We saw rhebuck and eland along the way and a few new birds. The last kilometre was a steep climb to a ridge where there were San bushmen paintings and our cave. The cave itself was under a huge boulder facing the ridge and could sleep 12 people. The sleeping area was divided up with lines of stones and carpeted with dried grass for a bit of extra warmth and comfort. Stones had also been laid out for cooking and seating areas. We arrived well before dusk so had plenty of time to look at the rock paintings. They were pretty impressive and had a plaque explaining what they showed. The only disappointment was the graffiti. How can people be so thoughtless?

Nicky and Gillian climbed up onto the ridge. I was feeling less energetic and sat enjoying the solitude instead. That is one of the very few places I've been to where you can sit out in the open and hear absolutely nothing.

We had a hearty meal of soup, corned beef and vegetable stew with rice, and caramel custard and shortbread. After that we took our mugs of coffee and Amarula liqueur (like Bailey's) and climbed onto a big rock near the cave to watch the moon rise. Or at least that was the intention. After about an hour we realised that the moon may well rise at 8 pm in Ixopo but in the Berg it has to climb past the mountains as well so takes a lot longer to become visible! Still, we enjoyed snuggling up under a sleeping bag and looking up at shooting stars and constellations. The night sky here still amazes me every time I look at it.

We eventually climbed into our sleeping bags at about 9 pm. As well as thick bags and roll mats to keep us warm we were also heavily laden with clothes. I was wearing long thermal underwear, socks, tracksuit trousers, T-shirt, shirt, Shetland sweater, fleece and hat, and was still only just warm enough to sleep. Such a contrast to the daytime when even shorts and T-shirt were too much.

Woke up wondering why the cave was floodlit at about 11 pm and realised that the moon had finally made an appearance. Had a strange dream-filled sleep until 6.20 the next morning. Had a mini-breakfast of tea, bread and honey and set out early for the next leg of our hike. We walked along a plateau and ascended a couple of small ridges. Had breakfast in a scenic dip of Weetabix with sultanas, tea and more bread and honey. Suitably refreshed we hiked on up a steep incline through our first bit of snow to the head of the valley. From there we descended again having peaked at about 7000 ft - I think the highest altitude I've ever walked to. We crossed our little river and began to climb again up the ridge that separated us from the Polela Valley. We soon reached the snowline and traversed along it for a while, then up above it. It was slow, concentrated walking with the snow reaching our knees in a few places. It was very strange tramping through snow in shorts and a T-shirt. We finally climbed over the neck of the ridge and felt justly pleased with ourselves when we looked back across the Sipongweni and saw how far we'd come.

We'd taken some high energy drink with us and made Slush Puppies out of it with the snow. All along we'd been scoffing sweets, chocolate and salted nuts as well as drinking a lot of liquid, as good hikers should. We dropped down again on the other side of the ridge and zigzagged along to Polela Cave which is right by the river. We decided to stick to our original plan and head on for another 15 mins or so to Spectacle Cave. It, too, had a steep, hard climb up to it, but it was worth it. Gillian had thought it got its name from being shaped like a pair of glasses but this was evidently not so. It probably got its name from its width and impressive depth and from the waterfall that tumbles past right next to it. Or it may be that it's just spectacular if you manage to make it up the path with a full pack!

We left our packs, took lunch and the stove and headed back down to the river. We found another pool that begged to be skinny-dipped in and provided a perfect lunch site. We had thought about attempting a nearby pass up to the Escarpment but, on looking up at it, decided that we really didn't have the energy to get up and back before dark. So we lay in the sun for a while then walked up the valley a bit. We didn't go too far as the bush was scratching our bare legs to bits and got thicker the further up we went. The vegetation consisted mostly of stunted yellow-wood trees and various thorny shrubs. There were surprisingly few birds. Actually, maybe not surprising as it's still winter really and they've probably all moved down the valley. I was hoping to see lammergeyers, but the only raptor we saw was a lone augur buzzard. After yet another icy dip we headed back to our cave for coffee and biscuits. The sun left the valley at about 4.30 and we again climbed into our warm clothes as the temperature plummeted. There wasn't much else to do once it got dark apart from eat dinner, finish the Amarula and climb into our bags and chat. We lit 4 candles and the cave took on a beautiful, atmospheric glow. We had an unusually mild night and I even had to take the fleece and hat off. Gillian and I woke up to the sound of clumping footsteps at 4 am and hastily shone the torch around. Of course, it was only Nicky going for a pee! Finally woken by the sun flooding in at about 7.30. We packed up and, as before, had a small breakfast before heading off. We were all in a somewhat subdued mood as we knew it was the last day of our trip which had been so wonderfully enjoyable. The going was fairly easy as we were on the flat valley floor again, and we stopped for breakfast and a final dip. After rejoining the same path we'd started on we saw the first people we'd seen since leaving Cobham. With reluctance we arrived back at the car at 12 for ice cold Coke and I bought a map as a memento of our trip. I think I'd eaten more food in those 3 days than I've eaten in the last 3 months! We still had food left when we got back.

On the way back to Ixopo we stopped off at the Underberg Show, a rather modest affair. We stayed long enough to have an ice cream. We dropped Nicky off and said goodbye to her then went back to Canowie Farm. When we arrived we found out from G's mum that 11 of the 16 hives we'd collected 3 days before had been stolen. Needless to say they were very angry. It's fortunate that honey production isn't their primary source of income.

I packed up my stuff, changed into some much-needed clean clothes and we set off again for Howick. Spent the evening eating roast venison and watching 'North by Northwest'. Gillian gave me 2 pots of creamed honey to take home which will be an especially nice souvenir of my stay at Canowie.

Yesterday we went to Vanessa's Dad's office in Howick and I sent a fax home which I assume they received at some point as it did actually transmit from this end. Had another look at Howick Falls. There was less water going over this time but it looked pleasant anyway. Then we went to Petermaritzburg to a shop that sells seconds of M&S and other good quality stuff. I picked up a 100% linen shirt for R55 - about £9. After a lunch of roast chicken we made the 4 hr drive back to Jo'burg. It was hot and sticky in the car as we're having a bit of a heat wave at the moment. Got back before dark and had cold venison sandwiches for tea. Watched 'Unforgiven' on TV - they've got it far quicker here than at home. They have an odd system of censorship - all blasphemous curses are muted but all other swearwords are left in.

Spent today in the Rosebank Shopping Mall. Vanessa dropped me off on her way to work before all the shops opened so I had to wander around for a while. Bought some presents in a Rural Craft shop, drank lots of tea and bought a ticket for 'Short Cuts' at the cinema. After the film I walked back to Vanessa's house through the smart, fortified white suburbs. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm still in Africa; it's so easy to forget.

It's interesting to compare the Wills' and McGregors' attitudes to their home country now. The Wills in their strongly white/English middle class way think that life is now a siege - they can't leave the house after dark, always lock car doors when driving, etc. Basically they think everyone should emigrate as soon as possible. Vanessa's making plans to go to Australia and can't wait to leave. From the little I've seen I think this is an over-reaction and the McGregors' attitude is more realistic. As far they are concerned life goes on. Things may be getting worse but there's no real reason to leave. Gillian's quite happy to stay and get on with her life regardless.

30th August, 6.15 pm

Spent my last day in Africa carefully repacking all my souvenirs in my basket and squeezing everything else into my pack and hoping it didn't weigh over 20 kg! Went for a walk to the local shops and found a very nice second hand bookshop. Browsed through some lovely, old leather-bound volumes, many of them first eds. Also chatted to the woman on the counter for a while about my holiday and books. After lunch I read some of Vanessa's magazines and went for a walk to the lake. There's definitely a feeling of spring in the air and the birds were busy singing and building nests. It's still so dry though - they badly need rain. Vanessa got home just before 5 pm and we had a drink then left for Jan Smuts airport. It was rush-hour but nothing like as bad as it would be at home. They have a much more organised road system here. Or maybe it's just that there's less traffic. Have now checked in and said a fond farewell to Vanessa. I'll see her in December when she comes to London on a business trip. I now face a tedious couple of hours till take-off.

The 29th June seems like a long time ago. So much has happened in the last 2 mths. In fact, most of it has seemed timeless. I now feel more relaxed than I have for several years. It's been a great winding down, stress-free time as much as a wonderful new learning experience. And it's just been so good. The only word I can think of to sum it all up is WOW!!

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