Nelspruit, SA

The bus was leaving at 7:30 AM ... that was so late, that Sascha, Marco and I slept in!!! How nice to leave the hostel in daylight ;-). The bus stopped at the border to South Africa, the normal procedure of getting stamps took place and then we were back in South Africa ...

The bus drove through nice hilly scenery, stopped for a snack just 30 minutes before we could get off and around 11:30 AM we arrived in Nelspruit. Why Nelspruit? It is the biggest town near the Kruger NP and I was hoping to meet some other Backpackers who wants to go to Kruger NP w/o spending a fortune :-)

Sascha and Marco dropped me off at a Backpacker (they had an own car - luxury - and had to get to Jo'burg that night since their flight back home was leaving the next day.) and I set up my tent. The backpacker was nice and a lot of crazy people stayed there. We had tons of fun, no doubt, but nobody wanted to go to Kruger :-(. I checked the local Safari offers, but the prices were so out of my budget range ... I gave it a long thought ... and decided not to go to Kruger ... I am planning to go to Estoha and Chobe NP's and how much money do you want to spend for Game Reserves?! Plus, everybody confirmed, that Hluhluwe was as good as Kruger, but not as crowded and expensive ... I had been there, so ...

I really hope, it was the right decision :-) ... so after one day of reading about every option to get to Kruger and two nights drinking and listing to dirty jokes (but some of them were really good ;-) ...) I left Nelspruit ...

Now I have to go to Namibia and Botswana ;-) ... what a sacrifice ;-)

I almost foprgot this part (OK, I didn't want to think about this ... ). Another Malaria test (you can get them at the pharmacy like pregnancy tests) was necessary :-( ... again, it was negative, but I was not really happy to hear, that I was developing a bad cold!!! I need to change my lifestyle!!! Two colds within one Month!! I don't want that and that is so not me!!! That is not part of the plan of this trip!! I bought a ton of fruits which contains a lot of Vitamin C ... I don't want another cold!! Bah, I will fight!!!