Home is where the Harties

Wednesday 9th September

Rustenburg

We're back!  We hadn't planned on returning so soon, but South Africa takes a grip on the heart strings that makes it incredibly difficult to stay away.

The strange thing is, I couldn't say what it is - it's difficult to identify anything in particular that draws me here, but it only takes a few minutes of Jacaranda FM, four way stops and boerewors before it feels like coming home.

It's rather fitting that this trip starts exactly where our last one finished - Hartebeespoortdam.  After collecting our car from OR Tambo Airport, we took a rather long and winding road to Harties, very nearly ending up in Diepsloot on the way.  (Don't ask...)

Hartebeespoortdam

We ascended the Harties Aerial Cableway to the top of one of the Magaliesberg mountains - a frighteningly steep cable car to a very high summit, but with vistas worth every second!  As well as the magnificent view across the dam, there was a reasonable amount of small wildlife to see - lizards, bearded dragons and even an elephant shrew.  Admiring the variety of landscapes around us, it suddenly felt like we'd never been away.

A drive over the dam itself is a rather special experience, though it was much quieter and less eventful than our last visit here.  Hartebeespoort lies incredibly close to the 'Cradle of Humankind' and certainly has a feeling of Eden about it.  If I could choose one place on earth to live, the little cottages along the side of the dam would be in with a good chance.

We'll be returning to this area in a couple of weeks, but for now we're in Rustenburg and heading through North West as Botswana is calling.