SOUTH AFRICA REPORT TRAVEL.

 

SOUTH AFRICA

 

Punctual as never before, my plane from the Emirates Airline Company leaves from Milan Malpensa at 10.30 pm in the direction of Durban (South Africa), with a stopover in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (one-way price with multi-route ticket including taxes Euro 340).

The very young and beautiful Hostesses with the characteristic red headdress and white veil, coming from all over the world.

Very nice and friendly they fill you with food and drink continuously.

The plane is full and therefore I cannot lie down.

I therefore arrive at 6.30 am, with impossible heat in Dubai, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (2 hours time zone, compared to Italy).

I stay in the huge, very large and well maintained transit area for 4 hours. It is a sea port as from here direct planes pass through for the whole world. At 10.25 in the morning I have the plane to Durban, South Africa.

In Dubai they are very precise and therefore begin to board passengers 1 hour and 20 minutes before the flight. The plane is packed and so once again I can't lie down on three places to sleep.

Hostesses bring food twice: very pleasant.

After about 6 hours 45 minutes of flight I arrive at the airport of Durban, in South Africa.

It is 4.45 pm (same Italian time zone).

Just outside the Arrivals Hall of the Durban International Airport, I take the Shuttle bus that takes you in less than 1 hour for the price of 70 Rand in Durban, to the desired address. Just tell the driver before getting on.

So I come to the beautiful Banana Backpackers Hostel located in the center of Durban a few hundred meters from the Town Hall. It costs 110 Rand per night including free internet and linen.

I sleep a few hours because at 5.30 am in front of the Town Hall there is the start of one of the most important marathons in the world, the Comprades, with 25,000 people from all over the world at the start, with 87 km, many of them uphill. Since there is such an important event, it is full of people, police and televisions and therefore it is not dangerous for once to shoot alone at night in South Africa in a city with a high crime rate like Durban.

Having seen the start of the Marathon and having visited the city, I head to the Durban Bus Station, adjacent to the train stations, about 1 km north of the center.

There I buy the ticket in the Hall of the Translux company to Bloemfontein at the price of 260 Rand (other companies travel this route at more or less similar prices). The comfortable bus leaves on time about an hour later, at 9.30 in the morning. They also serve a hearty snack. The bus makes several stops in the intermediate cities.

I arrive in pitch black at 7.45 pm, one hour and 15 minutes late, after 10 hours and 15 minutes of travel to the Bus Station in the Tourist Information Center in Bloemfontein in South Africa.

I spend the night at Hopwood Lodge in Bloemfontein for the price of Rand 200 (250 Rand on Saturday and Sunday). The boss picks me up for free at the bus station. The Lodge is spotless and beautiful and I sleep in a beautiful double room.

Here too, as in the rest of South Africa, the night arrives early at 6pm in winter and the streets are dark and therefore it is very dangerous to walk around after that hour.

 

LESOTHO

The next morning, the lodge manager calls me a taxi which for 40 Rand takes me to the Bus Station in St Georges Street Bloemfontein, where at 6 A.M. at Gate 10 there is the Bus to Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. You can also buy the ticket on the Pulman at the price of 70 Rand.

The journey takes about 3 hours, including several intermediate stops.

Get off at the car park adjacent to the Maseru Bridge South African border, which is easily crossed (sometimes there are queues). Then you have to walk for a few hundred meters, crossing the bridge over the Mohokare or Caledon River that divides the 2 countries.

 

You can also easily cross the border of Lesotho, thus reaching an open space where you can take a taxi which at the price of 40 Loti (the Rand is also accepted without problems, which has the same value), which travels about 2 km. separate from the center of Maseru, the capital of one of the smallest states in the world.

Maseru is a small and quiet town at least during the day and can be easily explored on foot.

 

SOUTH AFRICA

 

The last bus that connects Maseru Bridge to Bloemfontein leaves at 11.30 in the morning. Alternatively there are the minibus taxis which cost 90 Rand, they are more inconvenient, but faster as they do not make intermediate stops. Logically they only start when they are full.

Back in Bloemfontein, I visit the City and then sleep again at Hopwood Lodge in Bloemfontein for the price of Rand 200 (250 Rand on Saturdays and Sundays).

 The next morning, the lodge manager calls me a taxi which at the price of 40 Rand takes me to the Bus Station in the Tourist Information Center in Bloemfontein, where 4.45 AM I have a Translux Bus to Johannesburg booked the day before at the price of 210 Rand The bus arrives over 1 hour late and takes me to Johannesburg Bus Park Station in about 5 hours.

 

SWAZILAND

 

There I take the parking lot above the railway tracks, an area notorious for thefts and muggings, where I take the minibus to Mbabane, the capital of Swaziland for the price of 200 Rand. Logically the same starts when full

You cross the easy border between South Africa and Swaziland on foot and then after about 4 and a half hours you will reach Bus Station near Swazi Plaza_Mbabane_Swaziland.

In the Swazi Plaza Shopping Center in Mbabane (Swaziland), photography is prohibited and several guards guard the area.

I spend the night at Thokoza Church Center Hotel in Mbabane (Swaziland) at the price of 340 SLZ (Rand is also accepted without problems, which has the same value) per night in a Double room, including a hearty English breakfast. This is a nice and quiet place, located about 1 km from the center. It can be reached on foot but not at night (pitch dark).

 The next morning I stop a ride to a kind gentleman and take me back to Bus Station near Swazi Plaza_Mbabane_Swaziland, where I take a minibus taxi for the price of 15 SLZ (Rand is also accepted without problems, which has the same value) in about 35 minutes. takes me to the center of Manzini (Swaziland).

My complete travel report with map, photographs and videos is available at this link:

http://vivendosalendo.blogspot.com/2016/10/viaggio-in-sudafrica-lesotho-swaziland.html