Alone in Southern Africa for two months

Section 1
First Week Driving

I spent the first week with an Avis Volkswagen Golf rental car driving from Johannesburg south through Soweto to Lesotho, back through Bophuthatswana to Bloemfontein and on to Kimberley, then back to Johannesburg. In addition to the normal sightseeing, I went on a one day mini-safari in the Thaba Nchu Game Reserve. I was also escorted around the Kimberley mine and the recovery tailings from the 1800 digs by a mining engineer of the firm. He even took me through a "drive-in" bar for a happy hour drink. Drive in? Hmmmm!

The photo quality in all the chapters is not so good. All the photos were orignally on slides. I had to convert them from the slide to the .jpg format, using a slide scanner.


Here is the only way into and out of Lesotho from the main roads in South Africa. The bridge is an all purpose one. It allows one way traffic coming and going, has pedestrians, and trucks, cars and even the train.

A view from my first class hotel in Lesotho.

This type of round house with grass roof was very common all over the south.

As I drove back into the inner area of Lesotho, I was engulfed in the beauty of land, plush and green.

And of course the innevetible accident on the slippery roads. Here a bus skidded off the highway, blocking traffic for aobut 2 hours.

Here was a very nice restaurant and guest house a the end of the road inthe back hills of Lesotho. While eating dinner I had the pleasure of sitting across from a member of the British Parliament who was visitng just like me.

I did spend one day in Bophatsawana on a minisafari in a nice game preserve. Here are just some of the ostriches.

And, for sure no game reserve would be complete without it zebras..

Here is the vehicle that the game warden used to drive me around. We took a woman with her sone along also.

Here I am at the tailings area of the Kimberley Mine with a companyh mining engineer. At this site many individuals are granted licenses to recover any diamonds left in the tailings of former mining activity at the big hole dating back to the 19th century.

The "Big Hole" at Kimberley, South Africa. It is no longer mined since it has been filled in with water.

Continue to the next section.

So, let's continue next with the first Safari.

Just click on the arrow

Created by that great traveler, 20 July 2001
Updated 22 June 2002, 17 January 2006
by Lester Gideon