This morning we left Pretoriuskop and Kruger National Park for Wakkerstroom. Before we left we birded around the camp and found lots of beautiful birds.
Yellow-fronted Canaries
Violet backed Starling
Helmeted Guineafowl
Laughing Dove
Purple-crested Turaco
Scarlet-chested Sunbird
Red-headed Weaver
Forked-tailed Drongo
Blue Waxbill
Black-headed Oriole
African Hoopoe
After our walk and breakfast we headed towards Wakkerstroom. We passed wheat fields
many of which were not even planting wheat because of the drought but there were areas further on that actually had gotten some rain such as this orchard.
Poverty is quite apparent in these small rural towns. Although Apartheid ended 20 years ago segregation is evident with blacks being the majority in the small poor communities. Unemployment can be up to 40% in some areas and there are supposed to be programs to help those in poverty but according to Greg the corruption in government means most of the money for these programs never gets to them. The larger cities exhibit some integration of the blacks and whites but there are some very wealthy areas there that are mostly white. The Rand is somewhere between 12.5 and 14.5 cents to our dollar. You can see how this plays out on this gas pump:
It takes some getting used to paying hundreds of rands and realizing that you only really paid $20 or $30.
We stopped for lunch in Ermelo at this really funky restaurant. Sorry but we have no pictures as it was kind of like a bordello. There were lots of mirrors and red upholstery and artwork all over the walls. Fancy chandeliers, silver serving pieces and fancy stemware. The meal was pretty good, too.
We moved on to Wakkerstroom where we are to stay for 2 nights at the Wetlands Farm and Sheds, the sheds being individual stone buildings on the property that were quite luxurious. There is a wetland nearby where we stopped for a while on the way in. We even saw a Spotted-necked Otter. There were lots of ducks and Flamingos, too.
We ended the day with one of the best meals we’ve had so far at The Bistro, a lovely restaurant in town.
Jacaranda trees were blooming everywhere we went.