Wendy’s nephew, Courtney, had flown into Port Elizabeth on Sunday morning (8th Feb) to pick up our little hire car that we had driven all the way from Capetown to Fish River Mouth, and then back to Port Elizabeth. It has been a great success. As arranged he arrived at the Raddison bang on time to collect it and we were soon on our way to the train station.  


We had been a little worried about this journey by train from PE to Johannesburg because the ‘premier class’ has recently been cancelled . It was ‘cattle truck’ or nothing. The station itself in PE is nothing to write home about and we had wondered how we would find our way to our train. However, as always in South Africa, there is always someone happy to earn a Rand or two and a porter grabbed our bags and hurtled off, with us in hot pursuit. He had not seen our tickets and had barely asked our names but amazingly enough he charged up a platform where the longest and scruffiest train I have ever seen basked listlessly in the hot afternoon sun. After what seemed like about half a mile, he tucked our two very heavy suitcases under his arms and leapt aboard. Twenty Rand later (about £1.20) they were deposited on an overhead rack and with a friendly smile, he left us to explore our compartment.


It was the size of an old English six-seater compartment with two plastic bench seats and with a corridor running along one side of the entire carriage . It was scruffy but clean and even had a small basin, complete with hot and cold running water. At exactly three o’clock the electric train silently slid out of the station and there began our 21 hour journey. We had about four hours of light and we were delighted to spot elephant, giraffe, zebra and bush buck of every description. At sundown, a man arrived to make up our beds. Average speed was about 40 miles an hour, with numerous stops at tatty little stations all through the afternoon, night and morning. It was incredibly noisy and bumpy but altogether, quite efficient. ‘Room service’ was excellent and cheap but the dining car was shabby and not altogether welcoming. ‘Sorry, no wine’, we were told even though there was a wine list. Most of the dining car was being used by staff, smoking and drinking beer, even though it was a strictly ‘no smoking’ train. This is Africa -badly organised systems which could be brilliant but for the (lack of) administration.


When we arrived in Johannesburg we had less than an hour to find our Greyhound bus that would take us to Wolmaransstrad . Again, we were concerned about how we would find the bus station and how we would get our luggage there. As usual, a porter popped up as soon as the train stopped and five minutes and twenty Rand later, we were outside the Greyhound office. Everyone treated completely equally when travelling I am pleased to say and Greyhound quickly had us all loaded onto a very smart bus and we were on our way. The three hour journey was interesting - the suburbs of Jo’burg now go on forever but once into the bush, there is little population.


Our exchanger’s brother Seanie and Emmanuel, our guide, were there to meet us and after a brief stop for provisions, we drove the 45km extremely quickly, mainly on dirt roads, to Lindberg Lodge. This is a game reserve which is used extensively by film crews for many major productions because it looks so ‘authentic’. The game is mainly bush buck of every variety, giraffe, zebra and vilderbeast . We have been allocated a four-bedroom cottage set entirely in its own piece of bush; it is quite beautiful; frequently we see impala around the house and a small tortoise has been found trotting up the ‘path’. The birds are amazing (especially the Secretary birds and the Weavers who make huge nests in the trees). On the first morning Emmanuel took us for a two hour drive across the enormous park (5000 acres) and we saw just about every wild animal there is here at fairly close quarters. We jumped off the jeep and walked towards a giraffe who remained completely motionless, even though we were within yards of her. In the evening our host Doolie (‘Diana”) asked us to join her for a braai by the waterhole and we watched the game coming in to drink before it became dark. The sunset was breathtaking.


This is African bush at its best. I am currently reading A Chain of Voices by André Brink, the South African author who sadly died last week . I could not resist copying you this paragraph which describes it so beautifully:
“You notice everything on your way. Insects in the grass; lizards scurrying across rocks; a meerkat on its hind legs in front of its burrow; an anteater digging up a termites’ nest; small quail and kiewiets; a secret (secretary) bird strutting along on stiff legs like the Oubass (boss) of a Sunday morning; a small steenbuck and its ewe motionless in the dried grass; a speckled puffadder; a tortoise hurrying along slowly and deliberately on its way; the specks of vultures circling in the distance; cobwebs glittering with dew.”


There are horses, numerous Jack Russells and a gorgeous rescue dog called Skippy on the farm, too. The dogs rush to greet us every day and jump into the jeep for safari rides and so I am getting my much-needed dog-fix!  


There is also a diamond mine on the Lindberg Estate and Diana, the owner, took us for a ride out to see how it works . There are two or three workers who dig up and crush the rocks using a JCB and other impressive machinery. The resulting stones are then sent in pebble form up a huge pulley and through a washing system. The stones are then laboriously and meticulously panned by hand by two white guys. We watched as they sorted through half a dozen pans of stones searching for gems. This they do all day. Bingo! The last pan of the day produced a tiny diamond which gleamed up at us enticingly. One of the men immediately popped it into his mouth and there it stayed until our departure!


It is extremely hot, although sometimes we have short-lived thunder-storms in the afternoon, but there is a pool and we are enjoying having a morning swim. Although this is essentially a film location, there always seems to be friends, family and guests around and about. Diana frequently includes us in her evening braais and Mike has even been able to watch the rugby down at the lodge, so we are not entirely without company . The 45k drive into town means shopping is a problem but we managed to hitch a lift in during the week to buy much-needed supplies. We continue to experience the South African government’s ‘electrical shedding’ which has been going on for some time now. Once or twice a day the power is cut off for several hours and coming home from that shopping trip to a completely dark house in the middle of the bush was a little unnerving!


We spent several hours yesterday morning sitting at the waterhole and our patience was rewarded. We were visited by a herd of Springbok, a herd of Oryx, a herd of hartebeast, a pair of bush buck and a lone male Impala. Next week we are going to spend three days at Madikwe Game Reserve where we hope to see the ‘Big Five’. However, this totally unspoilt, privately owned game farm has been very special; we have been treated as part of the family and yet we have had the privacy of our own cottage, far away from the Lodge, deep in the bush.


Tomorrow we catch the Greyhound from Wolmaranssted all the way to Pretoria (about 5 hours), where we will be met by our next exchangers. We will be staying at Lyttleton which is a suburb of Pretoria, so it’s back to civilisation. How we will miss the peace of Lindberg Lodge!