About an hour's drive southeast of Gaborone, over the border into the Republic of South Africa, is the city of Zeerust, population 138,000. We arrived just before noon on Monday, October 2, and left the bakkie at the local Ford dealership for general service. While that took place, we had time to walk and explore the shops on the main street in the bustling downtown area. We were surprised at the amount of Setswana that we heard spoken, along with Afrikaans, English and some tribal languages. When the bakkie was ready, we drove to the police station to have the vehicle identification number entered into a database and began the clearance process, which would be completed later in the week when we retraced the route back to Shakawe. After a late lunch we decided to push on east to the city of Rustenburg to spend the night.
Rustenburg was a pleasant surprise. On the 2000 Michelin map of South Africa that we have been using, Rustenburg appears to be about the same size as Zeerust. It actually has a population of nearly 400,000. We arrived at 7 :30 p.m., after dark, and the first shock was the lighted four-lane highway leading into town. (We live in an area where none of the roads are lighted.) We followed the signs to reach the city center and found a shopping/entertainment district of the type that one would expect to find in a major U.S. city. The next morning we drove to the new, posh Waterfall Mall on the outskirts of town, because it also was the location of the local Land Rover dealership. Jeff was able to order spares for a couple of the Tocadi vehicles, which would be more difficult and more expensive to do in Botswana. We even were fortunate enough to find someone, recommended by personnel at the dealership, willing to take our laptop computer, repair it, and deliver it back to us at the dealership when we returned later in the week.
We discovered that Rustenburg has a booming economy in part due to a nearby platinum mine; we drove past the mine on the Platinum Highway toll road on our way to Pretoria.
We apologize that we have no photos to enhance this entry; we are reluctant to take photos of public places, except when it appears to be generally acceptable, and it was not a possibility in Zeerust or Rustenburg.
Next: Pretoria and Johannesburg.
Rustenburg was a pleasant surprise. On the 2000 Michelin map of South Africa that we have been using, Rustenburg appears to be about the same size as Zeerust. It actually has a population of nearly 400,000. We arrived at 7 :30 p.m., after dark, and the first shock was the lighted four-lane highway leading into town. (We live in an area where none of the roads are lighted.) We followed the signs to reach the city center and found a shopping/entertainment district of the type that one would expect to find in a major U.S. city. The next morning we drove to the new, posh Waterfall Mall on the outskirts of town, because it also was the location of the local Land Rover dealership. Jeff was able to order spares for a couple of the Tocadi vehicles, which would be more difficult and more expensive to do in Botswana. We even were fortunate enough to find someone, recommended by personnel at the dealership, willing to take our laptop computer, repair it, and deliver it back to us at the dealership when we returned later in the week.
We discovered that Rustenburg has a booming economy in part due to a nearby platinum mine; we drove past the mine on the Platinum Highway toll road on our way to Pretoria.
We apologize that we have no photos to enhance this entry; we are reluctant to take photos of public places, except when it appears to be generally acceptable, and it was not a possibility in Zeerust or Rustenburg.
Next: Pretoria and Johannesburg.
posted by Jeff & Gina Smith at 9:33 AM
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