Paradise Road

We got into the "Silver Bullet" , the girls and I, fresh for the open road. A two hour and fifteen minute trip up Paradise Road. I plan to inhale in great gulps, the sights of this land I've fallen so deeply in love with. It feels so good to love something this much. I should be doing school preparation, so this feels like an affair, as I sneak off for a fix of heady road trip romance. My soul is ready to sing.This is no infatuation, no puppy love, this is truly , deeply madly.

I leave my city behind  as it thins out into industrialized parts, an airport, and a petrol station or two, the termites have built their mansions on prime real estate,next to the road. I wind past  five sentinel mounds. They are a red earthy colour.

Farms give way to hilltop villages, with thorny kraals and huts boasting coral coloured walls, bright greens, blues, apricots and small matching outhouses. Mielie plants ( Corn) sway to the music of sun and wind, and here and there a bent back hoes the weeds while laundry flaps in the wind. There are goats everywhere grazing small patches of grass. Here and there a long,narrow bi-coloured school stands with a corrugated roof and two large plastic water tanks on either side of it like book ends.

The hills are undulating in an alluring manner, confident in their earthy sexuality. The flora reminds me of the peppercorn tight curls on a real African head before hair relaxers and weaves and wigs became fashionable. The roadside is lined with Accacia trees, or Thorn trees, as they are better known. Barefoot children quickly learn to give these trees a wide birth. Its summer and they are dressed in celebratory green and gold as yellow flowers multiply on the upside.Every now and then I catch a glimpse of the inch long white thorns lurking beneath.

The clouds are carelessly painted on a brilliant blue canvas a few deft flicks here and there. It's a hot, baking sunny day, my kind of day. The bow of happiness eases up and down my taunt strings and there's music in my soul. The truck ahead of me throws on it's hazard lights, as it breaks for a sandy coloured cow mincing across the patchwork road for greener grass.

Now a chorus of silver leaved bushes tell me the coast is near, and we cross a bridge with a breathtaking view of turquoise waters, platinum sand and a white boat moored to a wooden jetty.
Indigenous loveliness all around .

I come across a clump of sky high Eucalyptus trees, of Aussie descent. They look out of place like a small group of Aussie rugby supporters at a home game. "Go Home! " I cuss. They were first introduced to our country by miners who wanted tall strong beams to support mine shafts for sunless burrowings. They drink too deeply of our precious underground water reservoirs , unlike the dainty sips of our succulents.

Finally the Euphobia's with fingers pointing skyward announce my destination is near. Grazing cattle gives way to ostriches, impala and Blesbok. . Yoda, seems to be in a hurry, we pack the Landcruiser with Appletiser and camera parts and we head off in search of elephant and large cats. The girls bobbing in the backseat. I'm already sated, anything I see now is just bonus. Four muddy rhino's wallowing in the mud tell me I'm finally there. Hakuna Matata!