Traffic Signs and Traffic Cops

 Friday March 10, 2023

Paul Kruger is responsible for establishing this wonderful national park and one of the 11 entrance gates in the park is named for him, memorialized by a concrete bust.  He was actually a politician and became President.  He fought for legislation to preserve wildlife, and established the Sable Game Reserve that later was developed into Kruger National Park

What great foresight he had and we are so thankful that he provided  us the opportunity to experience the animals of Africa.  The Springboks were out in force to say goodbye as we drove out of the park.

We saw workers along the road, cutting back some overgrowth.  During one of our game drives we asked if there was any planting or maintenance of the areas, and our guide explained they take out any plants that are not indigenous to the area, and sometimes they have to replant grasses when the elephants have foraged it bare.  It was interesting to see that there were also guards with rifles standing by in case an errant animal got too territorial!

We travelled along to our next stop Kaia Manzi Resort near the Bronkhortspruit Dam.

Along the way we saw a lot of street vendors and banana farms.

We passed through the Waterval Boven tunnel, and came out to a beautiful landscape.  This tunnel, completed in 1936, replaced an older railway tunnel that was completed in 1894!

The traffic signs in Africa are quite different and very interesting!  It has taken us three weeks to figure out what they all mean!   But, it didn't take long to figure out the one that says potholes!

And, how many people can say they've been stopped for a traffic violation in Africa?  Well, we can!  It was actually a trap, and we fell for it....two other cars had already been pulled over, and one from our group was pulled over after went through.  It was passing on a yellow line...but those darn trucks are sooo slow, and routinely, people pass to get around them.  We just followed suit, and found the officers laying in wait.  Initially they said it would be 3700 Rand, and a trip to the police station to pay it.  After some stressful negotiation, Jim got away for 500 Rand ($27.50)  It really shook us up, but felt pretty good about the outcome.  Later we found out the other person from our group asked the officer for "pity", and ended up with just a warning!!!

Our campground at Kaia Manzi is very nice..it's a resort (it has a pool), 

and nice wide open spaces, right near the reservoir, where we saw lots of families enjoying boating, jet skis and picnics.  There is also hot water in the showers--bonus!

We had a nice dinner in the restaurant while catching up on our Tennessee friend's blog.  Two beers were 44 Rand (that's less than $3!)  We might just stay awhile!