We finally got to Johannesburg after an all night flight.  We found a very poor city with beggars on every sidewalk and corner.  Quite disconcerting.  We picked up our campers and made a trip to the grocery store to supply.  Some interesting things about groceries in South Africa:  Paper towels are called roller towels, laundry soap is washing powder and you don't find any brands that you recognize.  The only item that has more selections than we have is candy.  There is more candy than I've ever seen in one place.



Our first night out was in Free State and we had dinner prepared by a lovely couple that have lived in South Africa for 40 years.  We learned lots about the history of the country and had some great native food.  Our elevation in Johannesburg was 5,447 ft. above sea level.

We traveled to Golden Gate National Park with an elevation of 6,298 ft. above sea level.  We encountered lots of potholes in the roads and observed that the roadwork is done by men instead of machine.  There were lots of "shanty towns" along our route and the landscape was very agricultural - sunflowers, corn, hay bales, cattle.  Rather like driving in the U.S. except on the other side of the road.  The landscape changed to cliffs and mountains as we got closer to the park.  We drove through the park and saw zebras, buffalo, and baboons.  We also got to see several emus and springboks on our first night out.