South Africa

Cape Town

And here I am, at the foot of Africa. Cape Town offers a stunning view from Table Mountain and the beer is cheap and drinkable enough.
Took a day trip to the Cape of Good Hope, did some penguinspotting and have now generally started to settle in ye olde backpacker way of life.
Culture and history

No visit to South Africa is complete without getting some form of hands-on experience in what was reality in the country as recently as 14 years ago. I visited a township to see the living conditions there, then went to Robben Island, whereupon I caught a glance and a snap of the prison cell Mr. Nelson Mandela was held in for thirty years. These tours I highly recommend.
Buffalo Bay
With Cape Town well behind me, I now contemplate what to do in sunny P.E.I spent a day and a night in beautiful, secluded Buffalo Bay and had this trip's first swim. Plenty of beer was had, along with a traditional braai (South African barbeque).
Cintsa

After a day in coastal city of Port Elizabeth, weather fine, I headed eastwards to the tiny village of Cintsa, where the hostel was a village on its own. I had the pleasure of visiting a nearby school, where the children held a song and dance concert.
Oh, pictures? Sorry, no can do. I am yet to come across a computer that will allow me to upload pix. It may come in the future, though.
Through KwaZulu-Natal

Having recently passed the double gates of the heavily guarded Backpacker Ritz in Johannesburg, I have spent the last couple of days either on the road or in Durban.
SA's third city is a mixture of African, European and Indian culture, and apparently half the population are street vendors and the other half performs safe, fast abortions (at least according to the ads posted on every wall and lamppost and available space).
Bunny Chow is a must.
Puttin' on the Ritz

Jo'burg is a vast city, and you really don't venture there on your touristy own. That's why I took some halfday tours, one to Soweto (where I stepped into Nelson's old house) and one to the city centre. In addition to those trips I've managed to do some pre-departure shopping, most notably wads of US$ cash but also nature books, bug repellant and a suave hat.
The Backpacker's Ritz was one of the best hostels I've experienced, but now my leisurely ways are over. Yesterday I started my wilderness journey (more about Kruger NP in an upcoming post), along with a surprisingly small group consisting of Aussie Russel, pommie Jody, German Sebastian and Sydneysiders Belinda and Rowena.