Articles on SA Ports of Entry now published

The magazine articles about our tour to all the ports of entry to South Africa are now in print !

The first article of a 4 part series is now available:

WegRY the April 2014 issue (#59) - Afrikaans

Drive Out, the April 2014 issue (#75) - English

Thanks again to all the sponsors and to everyone who showed an interest and followed us.

Happy reading.

Mission completed - what now ?

Our tour to visit all the South African ports of entry started on 1 October and was completed 50 days later on 19 November 2013. We visited 73 ports of entry and documented all the relevant information about these ports.

But the ports were just beacons along an amazing journey through our beautiful country. We travelled on all kinds of roads, mostly gravel roads, experienced breath taking scenery, met extraordinary people, and stayed at wonderful places.

All of this will now be processed and presented to our main sponsor, the WegRY / Driveout travel magazine. They will decide how and when it is used, most probably not earlier than the March 2014 editions of the magazines.

In the meantime I will complete, correct, and extend this blog as best I can. I appeal to you to present me with any information related to the topics I have covered. If you have specific information such as:

• Origin of the name of a border post
• Historic reasons why border post was established at the specific site
• Date of first use as a border post
• Corrections to information I have mentioned about a border post
• Any special experience encountered at a border post

Please forward this to me by commenting on this post. All comments are directly emailed to me and I will be in touch with you. I will acknowledge all valuable contributions.

Thanks for following our tour on this blog. The response was surprising and made the tour so much more rewarding. I hope to have a similar privilege again soon.

Johan Rothmann
johanrothmann@gmail.com

Mosselbaai - lekker plek om af te sluit

Mosselbaai is in November 2013 aangewys as die "groenste" munisipaliteit in die Wes-Kaap. Die dorp spog ook met die "beste" gemiddelde weer dwarsdeur die jaar. Tel daarby die pragtige baai wat al in 1488 deur Bartholomeu Diaz raak gesien en gebruik is, en jy wonder hoekom bly almal nie hier nie.

Die hawe bedien sedert die vroegste dae van die Hollandse settelaars die Suid-Kaap en Klein-Karoo. Meer as 800 ton volstruis vere is jaarliks deur die hawe uitgevoer tydens die bloei tydperk van die volstruis bedryf. 

Tydens ons besoek was daar 'n Duitse plesier boot in die hawe. Die toeriste word toegelaat om die boot te verlaat en met behulp van spesiale identiteitskaarte toegang na die dorp te kry. Geen immigrasie beheer word in so geval toegepas nie. Immigrasie amptenare van George word wel ingeroep wanneer onwettige immigrante deur die polisie in hegtenis geneem word, voordat hulle in die hof moet verskyn, of wanneer skeeps bemanning vir langer tye aan wal gaan.

Hawe sekuriteit is streng en ons kon net op 'n afstand na die aktiwiteite kyk. Dit was egter 'n paslike afsluiting van die 73 grensposte wat ons tydens die toer besoek het.

Streng sekuriteit by die hawe se ingang

Duitse plesierboot in Mosselbaai hawe

Port Elizabeth - not a friendly experience

After the nice visit to the harbour and airport of East London, we continued our journey along the coast towards Port Elizabeth. 

Along the way we stayed over at Green Fountain Farm Resort, just before Port Alfred. Amazing place, owned and managed by amazing people, Rob and Frieda Greyling. Look at www.greenfountainfarm.co.za for more information.

First port of entry on our agenda for the day, was Port Ngqura, 20 km north of Port Elizabeth. The harbour is situated at the mouth of the Coega river. It is part of the plans of the Coega Development Corporation and is South Africa's newest harbour. This first commerial cargo ship moored here in October 2009. The harbour was officially opened on 16 March 2012.

But that is about as far as we got here. Despite numerous attempts at various offices and gates, we could not get more information or pictures, and did not gain entry into the harbour area. We were invited to submit a written request to visit  the port, which will then be proccessed within 48 hours - not suitable for our tour ...

Road entrance to Port Ngqura

Permits required to gain entrance here

Coega Development Corporation - burocratic red tape galore! 

At Port Elizabeth Harbour, South Africa's third biggest after Durban and Cape Town, we had a similar experience with no better luck. Transnet's access control was strictly enforced and we could not see much nor gained entry or access to information. We were told that when luxury cruise liners visit the harbour, the general public is allowed access with little control over cameras. Despite this, I could not convince them to allow us similar access.

Port Elizabeth harbour - no entry here

The word 'Welcome' has different meanings for different people

Port Elizabeth International Airport, previously known as the HF Verwoerd Airport, gave us a more welcome feeling. The staff at the information desk were eager to provide us with all the information we needed or to introduce us to the right people.

There are no sheduled international flights to/from Port Elizabeth. When international passengers do arrive on chartered or private flights, the immigration staff (based in town) will be called out to process their airports. Most of the domestic airlines offer scheduled flights to and from all the major centres of South Africa.

East London - the friendly little city

After reaching the top of Sani Pass, the last of our border posts by road, we headed south along the coast to complete the tour with the last harbours and airports. First stop was East London. We experiened it as a clean, friendly city, not too big and not too small either.

The unique harbour 'in' the mouth of the Buffalo river, South Africa's only river harbour, has international status. This is mainly due to the international cargo ships serving the motor industry, specifically Mercedes Benz, whose manufacturing plant keeps this city alive. Ships with a capacity of 5,000 cars can often be seen leaving the harbour. Its not only motor cars though, as the port also boasts the biggest export grain elevator of all SA ports.  

Immigration officials from the Dept of Home Affairs are based in town. They are called out when crew from international ships want to disembark, or when the occasional cruise ships visit the harbour.

There are plans to establish a waterfront boardwalk with restaurants and other entertainment on the eastern side of the harbour. This can only make East Londen more attractive.

Eastern side of East London harbour

Looking at the western side of East London harbour - for the motor industry

Waterfront development planned for this section of East London harbour

East London airport, only 10 minutes drive from the harbour, was previously known as the Ben Schoeman Airport. After the democratic elections in 1994, it was renamed to East London International Airport.

The airport is neat and tidy and quite busy on the Sunday morning that we were there. There are daily domestic scheduled flights by SA Airlink, SA Express and Kulula to all the major centres of South Africa. No scheduled international flights, and according to the airport manager on duty, and much to our surprise, it has no immigration processes to deal with international passengers. I will certainly verify this as it is listed by the Dept of Home Affairs as an international airport. 

The signage does not display 'International' status

East London is also known as Buffalo City

Sani Pass - we finish on a high

Sani Pass border post to Lesotho is the last border post by road on our tour. So much has been written about this major tourist attraction in southern KwaZulu-Natal, that I can only conclude with the current state as we found it.

The SA side of the border post is 33 km from the scenic town of Himeville. The first 21 km is on a newly built tarred road in perfect condition, followed by 12 km gravel road that gives you just a feeling of the pass which is about to follow. Once you have stamped your passport at the SA border post, the last 9 km of the actual Sani pass starts towards the top where the Lesotho border post is situated. There were rumours that this part of the pass will also be tarred, but for now it is not. Up to 40 4x4 vehicles from tourist operators ascent and decent the pass daily. The gravel road is well maintained and most 4x4 vehicles will have no problems to reach the top. There are steep sections and sharp bends, but the unsurpassed scenery will remain in your mind for a long time.

Once you reach the top at an altitude of 2880 meters, you have to visit the Lesotho border post to get your passport stamped and pay a R30 toll fee. You are then free to visit the highest pub in Africa (200 meters away) and celebrate the experience before attempting the decent.

The new tar road leading to Sani Pass

The gravel road before the SA border post

The SA border post before the start of the real Sani Pass

The Lesotho border post at the top of the Sani Pass

View from the top on a cloudy day

A scenic decent

Bushman's Nek - pedestrians crossing here

Bushman's Nek border post to Lesotho is situated on the border of the World Heritage site of the Southern Drakensberg, 40 km from Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal. The 23 km gravel road leading to the border post is in good condition but can be slippery when wet (as when we visited).

Once again (third border post now) there is no border post on the Lesotho side. It is manned by border control police only - no immigration officials. But this border post has another unique feature: there is no road on the other side into Lesotho. You can only cross the border here on foot, or on the back of a donkey or horse. It will take approximately 8 hours to cross the Drakensberg into Lesotho.

The border post was started as an entry into South Africa for Lesotho people to come and sell their sheep wool or trade it for maize. It is still  the case today, although much less so. It is a beautiful border post in a beautiful area, but very quiet during the 8:00 to 16:00 operational hours.

Bushman's Nek - World heritage site

Bushman's Nek border post

The road to Lesotho - no road further ...

Look carefully for the donkey waiting to enter South Africa