FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Big Cats, Fast Cars and a Stolen Phone: Southern Africa, Portugal and Brazil

Nov 30, 2019, 1:32 pm

#39

swingaling

Join Date: Apr 2017

Location: PVD, BOS

Programs: AA EXP

Posts: 1,664

Driving: Johannesburg to Piggs Peak

Driving: Johannesburg to Piggs Peak

For this segment of the trip, I decided that it would make the most sense for me to drive. I wanted to visit Swaziland en route to Mozambique, but doing so via plane was inefficient and overly time consuming. The reason being that there were no flights between Manzini (SHO) and Maputo (MPM). In order to accomplish this, I'd have to connect at JNB between each sector. So I decided to drive. Initially I figured I'd self-drive from Swaziland to Maputo on a one-way rental. Unfortunately, I found this was generally not possible. Rental car companies did not want their cars going to Mozambique. Instead I found a South African tour operator who could take me to Maputo and give me a short tour. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

This was the second time I'd driven in South Africa, so I knew what to expect. I've generally found that driving in South Africa is quite straightforward. I'd read about the four way stop being confusing for some, but I assume that applies to UK and European drivers. The four way stops in SA function just the same as they do where I live (first come, first served). I was also looking forward to doing some Yellow Lane Driving. As a bonus, the turn signal stalk is on the correct side of the steering column (unlike in NZ).

I was in and out of Avis pretty quickly, as I was able to use the Avis Preferred lanes. I think I have the base level of Avis status, so it's nice to be able to use the priority lanes. It easily saved me 30-40 minutes at JNB. I grabbed my car, a Nissan X-Trail, and started off on the 5hr drive to Swaziland. I very much wanted to reach my hotel before sunset (6:30PM), so I was on a somewhat tight schedule.

The Route

The drive was fairly uneventful. I kept my speed to no more than 10 kph over the limit so as to not get a speeding ticket. It wasn't so much the fine, as the time delay I'd incur if stopped. Luckily, there were no more than a handful of speed traps in SA and none in Swaziland.

South Africa

I stopped at a rest area to grab a burger before continuing. Definitely the slowest fast food restaurant I'd seen. Took a solid 10 minutes to produce a cheeseburger.

Lunch

South Africa

As I approached Swaziland, the elevation increased and I encountered pine forests planted by the logging industry.

South Africa

South Africa

The sunny skies gave way to dense fog. But it soon let up when I descended somewhat.

South Africa

South Africa

Eventually, I made it to the border crossing. I'd even gotten to do some Yellow Lane Driving.

I exited SA and then entered Swaziland. I had to pay a small road toll to Swaziland, but there was no visa fee. The process was quite easy.

Swaziland

Swaziland

After a couple exits, I was off the freeway and on to a smaller road. The road quality declined rapidly at this point. There were huge potholes frequently and many other obstacles, like livestock and children. Some local towns also had the incredibly annoying habit of placing huge speedbumps in the road, but posting zero signage warning motorists of them. I hit one or two at around 60kph and it was distinctly unpleasant. Thankfully, I was driving a rented vehicle and I'd purchased the $0 damage waiver.

Though the road conditions were annoying, the scenery was quite nice.

Swaziland