In the summer vacation of 2018, I took my daughter to drive around Southeast Asia and came back. I always felt unsatisfied. It was like drinking the Suntory series of Hibiki 21 and thought it was very good. In fact, what I really longed for was the essence of Hibiki 30. This kind of deeper My taste is to explore wild Africa.
People like us always yearn for the unknown world, just like people or things that we can’t get, we always think about it. Before I went to the African continent, in my impression, it was poverty, primitive simplicity, war, and plague, that’s all. Danger is enough to awaken our desire to explore.
Our itinerary this time is planned by seaisee Lao Zhu, mainly playing three African countries, South Africa + Mozambique + Namibia. In 2018, I started planning dive sites and crossing routes, because many hotels in Africa have to be booked at least half a year in advance, and there are no more specific reference information for self-driving in Africa on the Internet. As a person who has just squeezed into the well-off level in China, I am planning to go to Africa for a poor trip.
Fasten your seat belts as our Wild Africa tour is long and packed with content.
On April 20th, 2019, we have been waiting for almost a year. God gave us a problem before departure. Due to the heavy rain in Hong Kong, we were delayed by four beers at Pudong Airport. We were worried that the connecting flight would fly from Hong Kong. After leaving, when we landed at Hong Kong Airport late at night, we were taken by the staff to board the plane, but our luggage may not be able to board the plane at the same time.
At the Hong Kong airport, I met Yuanshuo from Beijing and Baobao from Nanjing. After thinking about many uncertainties, I arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa after a 15-hour flight. When I got off the plane, I saw my own luggage on the luggage carousel. The airport staff gave me a thumbs up. I spent more than 30 hours at the airport and on the plane, and my hard work disappeared.
Without luggage we would have waited two days in Johannesburg which would have affected all our itinerary plans. In Johannesburg, we joined forces with Lao Wang and his wife who set off from Xi’an, and the team for the first part of the trip was assembled. Fortunately, this little episode was a little joke given to us by the old man in the sky.
When we were still in T2, the Yuanshuo plane departing from Beijing was struck by lightning, and everyone was asked to get off the plane for inspection. I don’t know who on the plane swore wrongly.
According to Lao Zhu’s mantra, everything has been arranged. Indeed, he has arranged everything well.
South African guide Brian and his son Peter picked us up, and we went straight to Durban before we had time to rest.
The mood along the way is calm and happy, I don’t know why there is no smile or sorrow, just plain and fast.
The 3-hour drive to Durban, the scenery along the way is like the scenery along the road from Charles de Gaulle Airport to downtown Paris. I’ve been wondering if we’re in Africa.
Three old rascals…
In the evening we stayed at PT’s house, eating and drinking while planning the next arrangement.
D2. Because there is no gym, my roommate Jeff and I went out for a morning jog early in the morning.
In the morning, we started to cross the Hluhluwe-imfolozi Reserve, just before checking the guns and drones.
many monkeys on the tree
And the papa papa monkeys are so natural
The monkey on the far left doesn’t know what role it is.
Suddenly, we found a large herd of wild elephants. We didn’t speak in the car, the engine was turned off, and we watched quietly. Wild elephants are still dangerous.
The wild elephants went to find water to drink.
Keep an ear open to hear what’s happening on our side
zebra, zebra
Accidentally ran into a big guy
Handsome Jeff and the rhino that ignores us
A herd of gazelle at breakfast
tall guy who is easy to spot
Pumbaa in The Lion King
According to Brian said the pig taste very good
The ruler of the African land blocked the way, and Brian said that her wife had not seen a lion in Durban for 25 years. There is also a group of lionesses to the right of it.
It is estimated that this male lion has just captured this territory, because on the road, I saw a male lion with an injured right hind leg moaning and slowly disappearing into the bushes. I guess it will not live long, but no one can help it. It, because that’s the law of nature. Brian stopped to talk to a driver when he encountered a car.
termite nest
Clouds enveloped the entire reserve, and it was like a super zoo. In the afternoon we headed to the seaside resort hotel.
Here are the beasts from the first part of our journey (from left to right): Akai, Yuan Shuo, Lao Zhu, Peter, Xiu Baobao, Lao Wang and his wife, Lao Chen, and Jeff.
A group of refugees arrived at the resort hotel in the evening.
I love hotels with animals
You can see them when you open the door
The hotel chef in a hotel with a long history knew that we were a team from China, and he said that he would cook dinner for us seriously, because no Chinese team had ever been to this hotel.
During dinner, the foreigners in the restaurant were talking about where we came from, and some people even thought we were Korean or Japanese, so they came to our table to find out where we came from.
whale bone clock
D4. Headed to our first dive site in South Africa early in the morning, looking forward to the scenery of the African seabed.
like it feel like it
This Zodiac just got back from the sea
We all changed into wet clothes. This place is not as comfortable as diving in Southeast Asia. The little black there will take good care of you, but you have to do it yourself here.
It’s best to equip yourself
Ready to go to sea
The waves on the beach were really big, we rushed back and forth a few times before rushing out
It rained the day before and the visibility was not very high. I was numb to seeing these fish in pieces.
I just saw a whitetip shark swimming around we were looking for a bull shark looking for something to eat
D5. I saw a lot of speedboats surfing out to sea again and again at the beach, and I look forward to seeing bull sharks today.
Here, the tractor first pushes the speedboat down, and we push it into the water, and finally climb into the speedboat. Except for women.
Brother Yuan Shuo is pointing the country of South Africa
This captain is really manly, especially when surfing
My own BCD is a back-flying type, but here it is all jacket-type, and I am still a little unaccustomed to use it.
A Chinese once came to this area to dive and hung up a
Queuing up to inflate two dives per day
Foreigner dive guides always look like they don’t know how to dive, but when we came up, we compared the tank with the dive guide and found that the remaining air pressure was similar to his. When he came up with 50P left, Lao Chen still had 120P.
We followed the coastline all the way north and began to enter Mozambique, looking for the big guys in the sea.
When passing the customs, 50 US dollars per person will be paid to enter the customs. We do not have visas for Mozambique.
Entering the Republic of Mozambique feels that you have really arrived in the land of Africa
When I first entered the Republic of Mozambique, I felt that the road was blown up, and then I realized that it was built with the aid of our great China.
roadside shop
There are many dolls selling supplies along the way
In the evening, there is a seafood meal for 150 rand (75 RMB) per person. I think this shrimp is the best.
Paella is a hodgepodge and other seafood are too lazy to eat these
These small shrimp tasted good too, but I was too lazy to eat them.
Dysentery in Mozambique is very serious. I don’t know whether to wash it with tap water or not. I like to eat vegetables or eat a lot of onions. At this time, it would be better to have garlic.
In the early morning of this morning, a tornado formed in the northern part of Madagascar, which directly affected the sea conditions and weather here, so the waves here felt truly wild in Africa. Dive down and see a bull shark.
Sharks are like the guards around sharks. Seeing them means that there will be sharks nearby.
Whitetip sharks are always in the way of our sight, turning around.
Packs of sea wolves are good guys, divers are afraid, especially one alone. The harvest in Mozambique on the first day was very good. When I was about to come up for a three-minute stop, I saw a hammerhead shark with cute eyes, but it swam past our heads and left.
I don’t know what to do in a hotel in Mozambique without a mobile phone signal, only to buy wine, which is very cheap in Africa.
We go deep into the black quarters at night
Little blacks playing billiards
Black people who buy barbecue
This shop specializes in roast chicken, and it ranks first in the local area on Facebook.
The taste of the grilled chicken is really good, what is it called Mom’s Internet celebrity spot.
The cute and shy baby in the alley may never have seen a yellow person like me.
The thunder last night was really the same as setting off firecrackers in our hometown. It felt like the whole earth was shaking. In the morning, the seaside returned to calm.
Since the domestic time difference has not yet reversed, I wake up very early and only watch the sunrise as an entertainment.
The sun has finally risen in the eastern Indian Ocean, and the waves are higher than my own.
The bull shark is one of the most feared sharks in the shark family. The great white shark and the sand tiger shark are listed as the most aggressive, fiercest, and most frequently attacked human sharks, and their aggressiveness is comparable to that of the great white shark. The purpose of diving in Africa this time is to see bull sharks.
Seeing them in the sea feels as strong as a bomber. As soon as I dived today, I quickly reached a depth of 32 meters and saw 4 bull sharks circling under the flippers. I looked up and saw that they were all on top. I inflated instantly and I went up ‘biu’, and the dive speed was fast+ The sea pressure made my head ache so badly that I threw up my jaundice twice.
They are really beautiful in the sea today although not in good shape but saw a lot of guys, a school of batfish really passed by like a ghost
When drinking at night, ask the little sea king Peter to take us to find groups of bull sharks tomorrow
According to the local map, the sea current here is quite strong. It is said that no Chinese team has dived here.
Good Morning Mozambique Day 3
Watch a video with Little Sun and prepare to play big
When you are over 12 years old, Dad will take you to see the underwater world.
Four people went into the sea for the last dive today, and we all checked our equipment carefully.
Due to the long distance, we didn’t bring our own equipment. Except for the mask and mouthpiece, other equipment will be rented here. I always feel uncomfortable.
Every time the little sea king is in the sea, he uses the sound of pinching the Coke bottle to attract sharks
Today the speedboat drove out for more than half an hour, and I saw them as soon as I went to another dive site. Bull sharks are very protective of the area. Here the ruler of the land is the lion, and the ruler of the sea is the bull shark.
This blacktip shark is always by our side like a housekeeper, it may not have seen a yellow man
Diving in Africa has high requirements for neutral buoyancy. In order for the shark to get closer and closer to us, we exhale slowly, fearing that a large number of air bubbles will scare them away. When it slowly floats past us, we all hold back Open your eyes and feel the powerful aura brought by the ocean overlord.
Although I didn’t see groups of bull sharks in the last dive, but this time I was closer to them, and the adrenaline burst directly into a mess.
Feeling the bull shark’s aura at close range is like someone holding a gun to his head. He doesn’t know when the shot will be fired, and now he just wants to enjoy it quietly.
We also saw a little eagle ray flying freely in the sea without any birds. We just ignored it and went to play.
At this time, there was another big hammerhead shark on our head, just like Doubi, when he saw us ‘biu’, he turned around and swam away.
I remember a night dive on the deep south line of the Maldives in 2016. The diving boat illuminated the seabed with lights, and a group of us carried flashlights. It was definitely an underwater feast, with hundreds of nurse sharks, lemon sharks, GT… .
Either I bumped into them or I was hit by them, passively touching their skin Salsa, we were so crazy that we almost forgot to look at the barometer and time, when we were about to get on the boat and drag our flippers, it was densely packed from top to bottom like Like the marching troops, the scene is forever preserved in my brain memory like a photo.
With tenderness and kindness in all things
There is a chapter in the “Tao Te Ching” called “Those who are good at keeping in good health”: Gai heard that those who are good at keeping in good health will not encounter tigers when traveling by land, and will not be enlisted in the army. A Si has nothing to throw its horns at, a tiger has nothing to do with its claws, and a soldier has nothing to hold its blade.
ocean fear
