When I arrived in Nelspruit...the town close to The Krugar National Park, I was disappointed with my first day...My idea was that I would meet someone...hire a car and drive round the Park with more freedom than the over priced tours of Krugar...

I moved from my Back Packers 'Funky Monkey's' which to be honest wasn't Funky at all...and I certainly didn't see any monkey's...
At the new Back Packers I met two 'Ozy chicks' (I m sure they won't mind) Lea and her friend (sorry forgotten the name...! I know I'm terrible)...they had made other arrangements and had already been in the park for a week...! they loved it with a passion...!

I ended up going out with them for '1 beer' (why can it never be just 1..?!) in a restaurant not to far from where we were staying...we got talking to the owner of the restaurant the infamous 'Garth'... who then drove us along with others to a night club...there were moments where we feared for our lives driving at break neck speeds in a Subaru down dodgy pitch black lanes at midnight but we finally reached our club and had a night of shots...strange conversations and a mix of world music including 'I would walk five hundred miles...' I have to admitt I felt a little homesick...

Garth and Sarah-Marie invited us to come along with them to a lodge near by the Krugar Park where Garths parents were staying... We laughted about the previous night and the absurdity of what had had happened and how we came to be in their car driving off for a relaxing weekend...

I can't thank Lea, Garth, Sarah-Marie and Garth's Parnets, Phillip and Louise for a a trully special and memorable time...in their company I was fortunate enough to be taken into the Krugar Park 3 days in a row!!!, Sample Phillips Superb Braai's! (BBQ's), see 4 of the big 5 including wild dogs, (a very rare sighting, as Lea will agree..!) and the greatest day spent in Maputo, Mozambique, where we ate some of the best sea food platters I may ever...! and got pulled over and fined for doing a 'U'-turn in the road...corruption at it's best...!

I can't say enough about these people, their generosity and kindness made feel very privileged indeed and like I told them...they became my South African family away from home...Thanks you with all my heart.

Enjoy the vids...and I'm nearly in Bahrain...there's a thought...!

R x

written by  willrob on January 15, 2010 from Nelspruit, South Africa
from the travel blog: Rob Williams 'a year in the making'
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Great post! Just wanted to say that I regularly visit travel sites like Lonelyplanet.com and www.Dozentravel.com to keep up to date with what's going on and to give me the travel ideas, though this site is great too. Keep up the good work.

written by  Traveller on February 23, 2010

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