Homeward bound & 10 gold flakes richer!

After succeeding in spotting our lion(s) yesterday, we decided to try our luck at something else: gold panning!

Just an hour and a half hour south from where we were staying in Komatiport (about 10 minutes away from the Mozambican border), is the splendid town of Barberton.

In the late 19th century there was a huge gold rush and Barberton was home to South African's first stock exchange.

Initially we wanted to visit the Agnes Mine (spelled incorrectly in the Lonely Planet as "Atlas" so those who are going to visit one day, beware because there is only the one sign) and then try the gold-panning.

But the mine closed indefinitely due to the heavy winter rains.

Instead, we had an exclusive tour with the South African champion of gold-panning: Danny Brink.

He will be representing his country in Spain for the World Gold-Panning competition in June!

Ankle-deep in the stream, we panned for a couple of hours and to our surprise, found 10 flakes altogether!

Danny put them in little vials with water and then he glued them onto a charm as a necklace when we were finished.

There is quite a technique to the whole process, very graceful and fluid.

I now kind of understand the "rush" people talk about when they find gold, and how addictive it can be.

There's always that feeling of "just one more pan and then I'll go home."

Nearing the end of our big roadtrip, the next morning we left Komatiport and drove the 4.5 hrs to Joburg.

There was a lot of traffic on the road as families were returning home after the holidays.

We checked into the Brown Sugar Backpacker's Lodge and walked down to the Bruma Market (just a bunch of well organized stalls set up in a safe fenced-off site) and then to Chinatown where we GORGED on everything from har gao, siu mai, ma po tofu, char siu, bamboo and mushrooms, hot and spicy soup, and very tasty fluffy rice.

Sorry, no pics. We were too busy stuffing our faces.

We also stopped off at a bakery and bought egg tarts and other goodies for the drive tomorrow. See pic of Matt eating his egg tart behind the wheel.

The next morning, Matt and I left for our return journey back to Cape Town.

See Anice waving us goodbye, looking a bit apprehensive to be left alone in "one of the most dangerous cities in the world."

She would be staying an extra day in Joburg to visit the Apartheid Museum and do a Soweto Township tour, flying back to Accra the following evening.

When we asked what the best part about visiting us in SA was, she said it was definitely the food, and the variety of it. It was back to foufou and maize meals for her!

We overnighted in Colesburg in a beautiful peaceful lodge overlooing the Orange River (see pic) and the following day made our way back home to Hout Bay by mid-afternoon.

It was indeed very nice to be home again. After driving over 6,6000 km this holiday in just two weeks, Matt didn't leave the house for 6 days when we returned! Unless you count getting the paper or throwing the rubbish away ;)

Well, now I understand much better how vast and diverse Lesotho and South Africa are, in terms of landscape, climate and of course, people.

But there was definitely an overarching theme of friendly and helpful people wherever we went. Though it is usually the case when travelling, I noticed it more frequently this time round. Very special.