One can never say Africa doesn’t pack a sense of adventure. On our 6-hour drive from Joburg down to Durban yesterday we petted adult lions and their cubs at a lion farm, saw crystal-blue pristine mountain lakes, passed baboons on the roadside, stood on top of the world’s largest hydroelectric power plant, and ate lunch overlooking the majestic Drakensburg Mountains.
The landscape changed dramatically once we left the Gauteng province we’ve called home for the past month and drove through the eastern Freestate province and into Kwazulu-Natal. We left the bustling Joburg-area traffic and drove through majestic scenery reminiscent of states like Montana and Denver back home in the U.S. We also drove down 1 mile in terms of altitude in going from Joburg to Durban. Joburg is a mile-high city resting on a large plateau and Durban is situated on the Golden Mile, as it’s known, of Indian Ocean beachfront at ocean level.
We’re house-sitting for a few days with Kim and Cameron Beeler and their 3 children at the Dove’s home in Westville near Durban while the Doves are away for the holidays. Megan and I will be in the Durban area for the next week and a half to visit the Beeler’s, who were members of our home church in Arkansas, and so I can exhort at the Durban ecclesia this Sunday and teach classes at the Hebron Haven Youth Conference next week.
3-month-old lion cubs at a lion farm we visited on the drive from Joburg to Durban.
An adult male lion. When he ran by us just a few feet away, you could almost feel the earth move from his immense size and power.
Petting a 7-month-old lion cub named Angelina. He has a sister named Jolie and a brother named Tarzan (they like American entertainment here in South Africa).
7-month-old lion cub named Jolie.
The mama lion, a full-grown adult female.
A wild Caracal cat they had captured on their farm. These cats are “naughty beasts” according to the farm owner and had killed 15 of their sheep and sucked the blood out of them without even eating them.
Mikiti – an artist colony and café we stopped at.
Mikiti is designed to resemble the ant mounds that are found in the area and it’s even complete with some steel ants climbing to the peak of the building.
An emu at Mikiti.
Megan in front of the Sterkfontein Dam.
We passed this beautiful, pristine mountain lake near the Sterkfontein Dam, about halfway between Joburg and Durban.
The scenery is dramatic enough on its own, but I’m also standing on top of the world’s largest hydroelectric power plant built inside the mountainside.
We stopped for lunch at a place called Little Switzerland, and had this scenic backdrop for our lunchtime dining.
The foothills of the Drakensburg Mountains of Kwazulu-Natal.
We passed baboons along the roadside. They’re bigger than I expected, about the size of a 6-year-old child.
Megan next to Howick Waterfall. We’re about an hour away from Durban at this point, and almost to our destination.
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