We left Durban at 8:30 (nice change of pace) for our first truck/bus trip and went to the village of Howick which is the The Capture Site of Nelson Mandela, on August 5th, 1962 (thus beginning his 27 years in captivity).
The monument consists of a museum and a dramatic sculpture. The whole space – a singular campus – is beautifully designed. The museum is elegantly simple, gracefully and compellingly informative.
The interpretive display is superlatively designed with side going from African history to Mandela’s capture, and the other side goes from that moment through Mandela’s imprisonment, release, leadership and legacy, with the end of apartheid rule in South Africa.
The approach to the sculpture of Mandela, which surprises at the end, is a series of events in his long march to freedom. One literally walks through history and the lessons of Mandela’s life.
We had a wonderfully unhurried visit to this singular exhibit…
Then we drove to our home for two nights, the Amphitheater Backpackers Lodge, a now funky camping hotel with some interesting amenities, including a climbing room with a padded floor, a jacuzzi in the lobby, a pool table, and a lot of kooky decorations. Significantly, someone was in to cement as many building features – picnic tables & benches, and even bunkbeds – were made with it.
Upon arriving, Alan & I took a little hike down to a couple of rockified bends in a nearby creek…
Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side as fog blanketed the landscape and made viewing the mountains, specifically the Amphitheater, impossible. (Alternative shots below.) Nonetheless, the cool misty air made for good hiking in the Royal Natal National Park…
More of our hike. The end of this batch includes some bridges, baboons, and more flowers…
Our hike ended, but we kept walking! Eventually, we met up with a local guide who took us to some “Bush Paintings” which are now protected. These were radio carbon dated to only 800 years old, but others are 1000s of years old. (The next cave paintings I saw in Lesotho were 7000 years old!)
Here’s a great shot Alan took of our group (missing Shorty the driver and Dee the cook)…
Since we couldn’t see the mountains, I’ve borrowed some shots of the Amphitheater from the internet…
Next, we travel to Lesotho…