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Drumbeats from Africa - Prep (SA)
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30 June : Durban : ALL’S WELL IN DURBAN
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Everyone is here, everyone is fine. Let’s have a recap of the expedition. 54 days, 7 countries and 5 world heritage sites. Africa – unforgiving and uncompromising. This has been drummed into us from day one; if you make a mistake, Africa will not forgive you. So far there have been a couple of mistakes – nothing major but enough to remind the team members that mistakes will be costly. This is Africa – it can be dangerous but treat her with respect and you will be rewarded.
The past week has been relatively slow. There have been delays in the shipping of the cars, long queues for visas and not much else. Today we had our final briefing – final details are ironed out, camping and cooking duties, convoy positions, flag off procedures, etc. Some of us have been given specific tasks to do throughout the expedition.
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Left to right: Dr Zaini briefing members; Zul checks his technical list; and the cars finally leave the port !
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Left to right: Ah Tee prepares his roof rack; the mechanics at work; and a curious onlooker takes a peek at the Storm.
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And then the cars arrived! A flurry of activity as everyone checked their cars, repacked and went for some last minute shopping. The front of the Holiday Inn where we are staying is busy with curious locals, marveling at our vehicles and wishing they were coming along.
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28 June : Durban : HELLO FROM DURBAN ! |
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The weather here in Durban is quite pleasant; neither too cold nor too hot. The people are generally friendly and helpful. We have been in Durban for a week – getting the Storm cars ready and waiting for the shipment of cars to come in.
Having some time on our hands, Connie, Kumar and I decided to do some exploring. We made a deal with a taxi driver and left early in the morning. If you have a small group, sometimes paying for a taxi for the whole day can be quite economical, and much more personalised than a packaged tour. Taxi drivers are great – they know the city and more importantly, what makes the city special.
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| Right: Durban as she awakens, is South Africa's third-largest city, and one of the busiest ports in Africa. |
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Our driver Mohan, or better known as Pat, had a few surprises up his sleeves. He brought us to the Victoria Street Market, temples, mosques and the city centre. After that, Pat drove us up to Musgrave Hill for an excellent view of Durban; along the way, he showed us how the rich and poor of Durban live.
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| Da Gama Clock, named after a Portuguese explorer. |
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After a quick lunch, we drove up to the Valley of a Thousand Hills, where we visited a Zulu village and some great views of the countryside. All along the way, Pat gave us some interesting insights on South Africa, its people, its politics and what his hopes for the future are.
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| Clockwise from top right: Durban's colourful rickshaws; a pavement barber shop; Connie and Kumar get to know Durban from Pat's perspective. |
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Today, as the rest of the team prepares for their flight to South Africa, the advance team in Durban waits for the cars to be released from their iron cells. The hotel is already quite busy with some Bollywood stars in town for a show. I am sure it will be a riot when the team and the cars arrive!
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25 June : Pretoria : WARM MALAYSIAN HOSPITALITY |
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When the advance team arrived in Durban on Sunday, they were greeted by winter. To cover more ground, the team split into three - with each group going to Pretoria, Johannesburg, and Durban.
In Pretoria, it was a freezing 0 degrees Celsius at night. As the cars will only be released end of this week, the Malaysians quickly went shopping for some warm clothing.
Azman and Goose also met with the Malaysian High Commission staff Encik Zulkifli and Puan Zainul Hawani to talk about final preparations before the main team arrives this weekend.
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From left to right: Pretoria - South Africa's administrative capital; Union Buildings where Nelson Mandela's historic inauguration was held on 10 May 1994; and Azman, Zaini and Goose meeting Malaysian High Commission staff - En. Zulkifli and Puan Zainul Hawani.
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After the hectic schedule of visas and meetings, Azman, Johann and Zaini were invited to dinner at Nordin Hussin, a Malaysian embassy staff. The PETRONAS Adventure Team was treated to a wonderful Malaysian dinner complete with sambal belacan and ikan masin!
After dinner, Azman introduced Johann to the famous Malaysian teh tarik! Also present were Zulkipli Sudin, Khairuddin Harun and military attaché Yusoff Pardi and their spouses. It was definitely a great night of Malaysian hospitality.
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| From left to right: The Malaysians dig into some Malaysian fare; Azman pulls tea for Johann; and guests of Encik Nordin Hussin. |
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