Africa -- Wow!
3 days in Kruger--amazing. Day one it was being surrounded by 17 lions, And then there were the giraffe and zebra on day two. "Common animals" I was told. But, common as they may be here, they just aren't that common in the States. Day two also included seeing a white rhino grazing, watching a couple of cheetah resting and then in action and standing in a dry river bed staring down buffalo, the latter not exactly the highlight of my trip. Oh but come day three was a sight not soon to be forgotten. Our guide got word of a sighting of elephants. So we quietly drove to an area the guide anticipated the elephants would be passing through. Now I had been assured from the day I arrived that there would be no elephants, the grass was too dry for them, so this was definitely a welcome surprise. Patiently we waited, we could hear the crickets, but that was it and then out from the bush walked a herd of elephants. How something so big could be so quiet was astonishing. There were ten of them in all, including the cutest little ones ever. And softly they walked trunk to tail. Magnificent!
On day four I made my way back to Johannesburg. It was an exciting day as ASA/NASCAR Northwest Tour champion, Gary Lewis, was scheduled to arrive along with many of the other drivers, Tiff Daniels, Marc Davis, Steve Carlson, etc. After all the purpose of this trip was the ASA Transcontinental race at the Phakisa 1.5-mile.
Once all the drivers changed their US dollars for South African Rand they were off for the Savannah Cheetah Reserve. Now five days of exceptionally heavy rains left the road a bit of a challenge for the large bus they were being transported on, but in a way it added to their African adventure with the bus negotiating as far as it could and then out in the middle of nowhere Dennis Huth was standing directing the bus to stop, a good thing as the bus was definitely being challenged. Huth had assembled a variety of vehicles, including Safari Land Rovers to shuttle the drivers the rest of the way.
They all wined and dined in a Boma with a large open pit fire burning in the center. They were welcomed by the owner of the Savannah Cheetah Reserve, Bobby Hartslief, who is also was instrumental in the building of the Phakisa Circuit for the Free State government. He is an intriguing man, that said he may have made a mistake building a 1.5 mile oval that in retrospect he should maybe have built a 1-mile, He then explained a little about the Savannah. He started out breeding cheetah and selling them to zoos. But as time went on, the population of the cheetah continued to decline, at which point he changed his focus from selling the cheetahs to zoos, to breeding them and releasing them in the wild. He wished everyone a successful race and then turned the "floor" over to Huth.
Huth also shared his appreciation for the efforts everyone put out in coming to South Africa for the race. He was very genuine when he stated how much he appreciated their help in the endeavor of making the Phakisa race a success, not only for this year, but for years to come. He good naturedly disagreed with Hartslief over whether the track should have been a 1.5 or 1-mile oval, saying he had built the perfect track.
The track at Las Vegas has always been a fan and driver favorite. Why if it works in America, why not Africa? But it really isn't the size of the track that counts here. It is the vision and the sincere feelings of appreciation that count. It just feels so right.
I get the impression the bar has just been raised on how drivers, fans and media will be treated in the future.
Anyway now on to the drivers first full day in Africa and it is going to be good. Can't wait to see these tough guys cuddle a cheetah. Stay tuned...will let you know how it goes.
*Just a note ... I didn't bring a working phone, I didn't bring a real camera, I didn't bring anything but a netbook with no spell or is that speel checker...so deal with it :)
