Drakensberg

Things often don’t go as planned. Let me give share an example. Since arriving here, I’ve been told by numerous people to avoid driving at night—especially in South Africa—out of safety concerns. That was the plan.
On the way back from the Drakensberg Mountains, we decided to make a detour to visit two battle sites commemorating the Battle at Blood River, a major battle in Afrikaner history, in which they slaughtered around 4000 Zulus in the early 19th century. It was really fascinating because the main site represents the Afrikaner perspective, but with the end of Apartheid, a Zulu site was creating, to share their perspective on the battle. I definitely felt a little tension between the two.
Long story short, because of this detour, we were behind schedule and therefore driving on a minor highway at night, which didn’t really make me nervous until one of the two cars in our convoy overheated. We were stuck there for over four hours waiting for a tow truck to arrive and the seven of us stayed overnight in Ermelo. We interacted with two guys whose car also died, strange police officers and stayed at a shady hotel. The next morning, everyone with the exceptions of me and Michelle, the car’s owner, went back to Swaziland; the two of us took the car to a mechanic—where it still lies—and rode a Kombi back to the border. It’s a great memory. Things often don’t go as planned, and that’s the way I’d prefer it. Stories come from everywhere and the best ones are never anticipated.
All-in-all, it was a great trip. I stood on top of the fourth tallest waterfall in the world, saw a group of over 40 baboons, saw giraffes, and peeked over the edge of a 2,500 ft cliff. Stories come from everywhere and the best ones can’t ever be anticipated.