For those of you who have heard about my bus v plane dilemmas let me start by telling you the 8 hour bus ride north to phalabowra was fine. I wasnt attacked & sold at the bus station and the bus itself was comfy with air con & reclining seats, complementary snacks, DVDs oh and born again Christian music (one song actually started 'I was out drink driving one night')

The journey took me through Pretoria & Polokwane as well as through scrubland, forests, banana & wine plantations & hills - all quite different from joburg! Both Pretoria & Polokwane seemed more modern, and the older buildings weren't falling down either!

One thing I've noticed over the last 3 days is no one is in a hurry here. There is lots of people just standing/sitting around, everything is done at a relaxed pace - there's no walking with purpose in SA!!

Apart from a few goats & cows I went around 400 miles without seeing any wildlife, then as I neared Phalabowra I saw a giraffe eating leaves from a tree near the roadside :) lets hope that's the first of many sightings!