So I left J'Burg and got on the Bazbus (backpacker bus) all intent to
goto Graskop through Sabie. It was a relatively long drive and as we
arrive it seems that the logistics of the plan would turn awry.
Fortunately, I met up a kind Dutchman who offered me a lift to
Graskop. Talking with him though, Sabie seemed like an adventure event
sort of town, so i decided to hang out with him.

A hang out turned into a 4 day stay at Sabie where we did some really
awesome activities, the best of it being kloofing. They suit you up
with a wetsuit and a helmet and you start at the shallow parts of a
river. From there you just follow the stream as far as you down as you
can go. The route took us past some of the most spectacular waterfalls
i've ever seen. The falls are like 60-80m tall and we get to the very
base of it. It doesn't end there though, cos you can get all the way
underneath them.

The most amazing one was Pixie falls, its about a 100 metre swim into
a very narrow canyon about 2 metres apart down to 1 metre when near
the falls. At the very top of the waterfall is a giant rock which fell
a long time away and funnels all the surrounding flow through this
narrow gap. There is light but all teh rocks in the area are very
dark, the only form of colour in the canyon is ureself. Once you get
there if your daring enough you can climb up about 10 metres and get
all the way underneath and behind it. The water really comes down hard
but it was well worth it! =P

In addition to that I did caving, tubing and abseiling down a
waterfall. It was all great fun, but the highlight i gotta say is when
the locals tooks us out to one of the local waterfalls in the middle
of the night. As you walk to the waterfall the ground, hanging vines
and the trees were sprinkled with glowing mushrooms, very eerie. Once
you reach the end of the path a waterfall becomes visible in the
moonlight...very kewl! From there we had a few beers, ate some
biscuits and chilled out for a bit. It's a shame something like that
could never be captured on film.

I've rested up more then i should so its time to move into Kruger
national park and see the wildlife. ciao ppls.

Just to let people know i've safely arrived in J'Burg incident free. Weather here is actually cooler then Sydney right now and the thunderstorms are pretty massive but apparently occur mostly at night. I wonder how that works.. but yes anyway.

Got a free pickup from a dingy hostel with some really weird people, but fun none the less. It seems like its all over the shop here, we got a high school philsophy lebanese man who grew up in SA,  Perth-ian Jew who has contracted malaria and a JBurg cop shot in the neck with a paralysed left arm. There are normal people as well.. but i didnt get around to talking to them.

"a set of jumper cables walks into a bar and says "can i have a drink?, bartender says "sure, as long as you dont start something" -- SA bar joke. ho. ho.

It is kinda scary around here, apparently once it starts getting dark it is strongly recommended that you dont step out on teh streets as you'll likely return with only your knickers on. Makes it hard, cos i wanna do some grocery shoppig and explore, but im know when i come back with my knickers on, i'l be saying to myself, "did i REALLY awnt spaghetti that much?" =) Perhaps that is the way to not be mugged.. go out into town with your knickers on ....

Anyways, today i'm heading off to some kind of dam to do some watersports on a tube, a bit of a pissup and a good old "brille" (SA bbq), with shot-in-the-neck-cop and a few others. Should be a good day before i head off to Graksop to check out the 3rd biggest canyon or smoething.

>From what i've read South Africa is dangerous, by all accounts. There is the high crime rate, poor sanitation, rampant HIV/AIDS and apparently polio as well, not to mention that I will be travelling alone. I got all the risk set against me and i think it's safe to say there are a number of significantly safer places in the world that i could travel to without putting my neck at risk. But it also irks me that i would not do something seemingly rational because i'm afraid. It wouldnt be very Mario to do something like that...

So I made my choice today and ordered the tickets, 21st Dec, i will be off to South Africa tryin to score myself as many safaris as possible. I have from this point on thrown a significant amount of caution to the wind.

"first you do the thing your shit scared of, then you get the courage afterwards" -- Three Kings