It is with great pleasure that I am able to write this post, to get across the continent and achieve my intended goal of getting to South Africa is something that I am very proud of and I felt a great sense of elation when I reached the border. Reka burst out in tears at the same moment and so with her sobbing while I was grinning like a Cheshire cat we entered African country # 19.
Luisa & Scott, Pretoria
I had met Luisa 7 years ago now when I volunteered in South Africa when I was based in the Kruger national park, since then we have seen each other on the few occasions back in Europe even though Luisa has been in South Africa for the last 10 odd years. She is a good friend of mine and I was looking forward to seeing her the first night of entering South Africa.
That night we drove on the superhighways to meet her, her boyfriend Scott and some of their friends, getting lost on a few occasions as we tried to find our way through Johannesburg a massive city. Eventually we made it and found my friends, it was a nice moment, I had mentioned to Luisa a good year ago that I was planning to do this journey and we kept in touch throughout the journey so she had an idea of when I’ll be there.
It was cool to meet Scott as I had heard a lot about him and we got on very easily, he speaks his mind and conversation flowed. That night we all got very drunk with their friends Beatrice and Mirijam who were filming a documentary during the world cup.
Capetown Farewell
It is here that Reka and I parted company, she has a friend Daniel that she would be staying with and for me I needed to continue this journey by myself. So after a couple of days soaking up the beautiful costal areas surrounding Cape town and seeing our boys get stuffed by the Germans it was time to move on. Thanks to Daniel for putting me up in his flat during that time.
I wish Reka the best in her future and over the period of this journey I hope that her memories and life skills that she (like I) have learnt throughout this adventure take her onto bigger and better things.
Conclusion
South Africa will always have a special meaning to me as it was the place that I spent one of the most amazing years I will never forget seven years ago so everything I will say about this country is done though rose tinted glasses, during the world cup the country was visited by millions of tourists that no doubt will go back with big smiles on their faces after having one hell of an experience and I can only say that if you ever get a chance to see this country then do it, you will not regret it!
