17 feb 2009

We spent the night before in Piet Retief, a medium town not far from the Swaziland border.

Hard wake-up due to the long evening we spent at the hotel's bar with two south african fishermen and one 200% genuine Afrikaan. It was a great experience to listen to the stories of local people about history, sport and politics. Britta enjoyed a green Mamba, nice cocktail with a pint of beer and a peppermint alcool glas in it :-)

We spent the day travelling through Swaziland, unfortunately we were not well prepared (no detailed maps, no hints what to see for 1/2day trip) so we did not really enjoy the country, next time perhaps, staying longer and better prepared ! Nevertheless the best moment was the border check when a huge Swazi customs guy (he could have played in a Tarantion film with his

chameleon-like eyes and his outfit, a wool cardigan by 35C ouside) asking us if we were carrying guns in the car.

After passing Swaziland we drove back direction Jo'burg and stopped for the night in Middleburg.

We stayed in a B&B where the hosts were absolutely charming (Aero Lodge), they prepared the dinner and enjoyed it with us at our table, telling amazing and funny stories about South Africa, of course we enjoyed a local schnaps at the end of the meal to be prepared for a good night....