Randy Lewis
World's #1 Ranked Trackchaser
DURBAN GRAND PRIX, DURBAN, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA
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RANLAY Racing Trackchaser Report
PART 1
DAY 6-10 - TO WHAT ENDS OF THE EARTH WILL I GO TRACKCHASING TOUR
TODAY’S HEADLINES
What’s the REAL purpose in traveling to some faraway foreign country in pursuit of a new track?...................more in “The Purpose”.
This trip required some $600 worth of inoculations …………..details in “Before the trip”.
I’ve been too many places, but none with a more ominous reputation for danger than
I have always wanted to do a full on African safari. I finally got my wish …………..details in “Friday, February 22, 2008”.
Click on this link or paste it in your browser to take you to today’s Trackchaser Report via my website at
GREETINGS FROM
WE’VE SPENT THE LAST SEVERAL NIGHTS IN AFRICA SINCE LEAVING
The Purpose
One of my primary trackchasing objectives this year is to see new tracks in foreign countries. Today’s new track was planned to be in a very far away place,
I would be accompanied on this trip by my son, J.J. and his friend (and now mine) Will Van Horne. We were a great threesome. We all love adventures like this one. Although you couldn’t come along for this particular trip, I want you to have just about as much fun seeing and “doing”
Before the trip
Trackchasing in a foreign country takes a good deal more planning and expense that simply schlepping over to another little bullring in the states. Trackchasing in
I’m talking about shots! I ended up getting vaccines for Yellow Fever, Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B. I also got a tetanus shot. This was followed up by a six-week course (one pill per week) for Malaria.
With the Malaria pills, I had a choice between taking one pill per day for six weeks or one pill per week for six weeks. Obviously, the latter choice seemed preferable. This choice had one minor side effect. The doctor told me a small percentage of people have severe nightmares! Of course, in the pursuit of trackchasing, what are a few bad dreams.
My Yellow Fever vaccination was difficult to get. Most Yellow Fever vaccination medicines come in five unit dosages. This means that a vile of the vaccine can inoculate five people. However, once the vile is opened all of the vaccine must be used within one hour. That meant that I had to schedule an appointment when four others were going to get their Yellow Fever shots. I am happy to report that my health insurance covered most of the more than $600 expense for these medicines.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Earlier today, I watched Carol board a flight from
J.J. established the itinerary for the first to days of our trip to
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
We had been warned that getting a cab outside of the
We walked past several people offering to give us rides. Finally, we randomly picked a cab. I have ridden in some pretty worn out and beat up taxis in my time. Typically,
I will forever remember our drive in the dark. It was one of most ominous adventures I have ever taken. It was warm. The temperature was about 75 degrees. The roads changed from dirt to asphalt and back again as we traveled toward downtown
Our taxi driver had his bright lights on. They illuminated the roadway as if he were using a flashlight. Shadowing figures of pedestrians darted out of the darkness to cross the road in front of us. This was Tuesday. It was a workday. Worn out buses built to accommodate 15 people were carrying 20-25 people. We rarely exceeded 30 M.P.H.
Within a short distance of the airport, the driver pulled over to a hotel and stopped. He told us we had reached our hotel. We were at the Ocean Hotel. We were supposed to be at the Hotel L’Oceanic. The driver informed us our destination would be a longer distance, and a greater but unidentified fare. I knew this would create some conflict in the very near future.
We continued on our drive. If someone had been measuring our blood pressure or the wideness of our eyes, they would have been shocked. This was an eerie experience. Since we were in the dark, it was impossible to capture what we had just seen on video or with my digital camera. J.J., Will and I will remember it forever however.
Finally, we arrived at our hotel. J.J. had made the reservation. Beginning airline pilots do not make much money. They are thrifty. I do not suspect many, if any, of my readers had ever stayed in a place like this. It was old. It was located a few blocks from downtown, a little off the beaten path. It was now 7 a.m. The sun was just beginning to come up. We didn’t think our room for the day would be ready, but we had no place else to go.
When we entered the lobby, we noticed it was small. It might have been six feet by eight feet. The hotel clerk helped us negotiate with our taxi driver in African or maybe French. We didn’t understand much, but I could tell the taxi driver was not happy. After awhile the driver went away with less money than he had been demanding. I was glad to see him go.
Our room was not ready. Nevertheless, we didn’t feel safe walking outside the hotel in the early dawn. We decided to have breakfast in the small hotel restaurant. Breakfast consisted of juice and French bread.
Our hotel was within one block of the Fernel market. This was a large food and vegetable market. It had been reported that this was one of the most dangerous spots for tourists in all of
We were the only white people I saw in the market for the entire time we were there. For the most part, we were ignored. However, every time I took a flash picture it was as if a neon sign flashed, “look at these three white guys invading your culture. Do you want to make them pay?” Nevertheless, I felt a responsibility to the readers of the Trackchaser Report and viewers at www.ranlayracing.com. to keep taking photos. I guess it was the same mentality that motivates a photojournalist during wartime.
Following our tour of the market was our main tourist stop for the day. We would be visiting
To get to the island, we would have to walk about one mile, then board a ferry for a 20-minute ride. Our walk toward the water took us past all kinds of street vendors who were selling their wares on a Tuesday morning. We tried to stay on the main streets but it was difficult.
We came across a young couple just leaving their house. I asked them the way to the boat dock. They were light-skinned people of Lebanese dissent who were natives of
We were eager to accept their help. After we had entered their car, it dawned on me that we had done exactly what the tour books advise against. They say, “Don’t ever get in a car with anyone you don’t know. People will try to convince you they are your friends, to gain your confidence and then do you harm”. I guess as a former corporate recruiter, I count on my ability to size up human beings quickly. The couple delivered us safely and quickly to our destination.
We were about 30 minutes early for our trip to
Once we arrived, we were inundated with young men wanting to be our guides for the day. Our plan was to go without a guide and see the island on our own terms. However, a young man some six feet five inches tall named “Mohamed” changed our minds. He was a fast talker and assured us that if we didn’t like his service, we would not have to pay him. Mohamed actually made our day. We were happy with our choice.
Mohamed spoke English well enough for us to understand him. He told us of the history of slavery on the island. He told us “blacks were selling blacks” in the slave trade. Mohamed reminded us that families were split up. The father might be sold to one country, the mother to another and the children to yet another country. Young virgin girls were the most valuable of all.
During our walk over the island that covered more than two miles and more than three hours, we saw the stone cells where future slaves were held before auction. People who weren’t big enough or strong enough were fed large portions of food and beans to “ready them for market”.
There are 1,200 people who live permanently on
There was a good deal of African art and handcrafts being sold all over the island. I bought two beautiful African necklaces as gifts. We also were delivered to an underground bunker where a most unusual artisan was making sand paintings. We all agreed that if it were easier to bring these paintings home, we would definitely have bought some.
Toward the end of the day after we had heard the entire history of
We rode the ferry back to
We showed up (as the only patrons) for dinner at 5:30 p.m. The bartender informed us they didn’t start serving food until 7 p.m. That wasn’t good. The South African airline crew had given us a bottle of
Although our dinner was very good, the service was excruciatingly slow. We didn’t get out of there until 10 p.m. and that included passing up the dessert course that was part of the meal. That slow service had eaten into our sleep time.
Thursday February 21, 2008
We left
I think we were glad we had come to the country of
The cab ride back to the airport was not quite as intimidating as it was yesterday morning. Maybe we were getting used to the scene. The ride was still in the dark. The roads were still torn up and filled with potholes. The air still carried a heavy dose of dust and ash from wood-burning fires. Shadowy figures still darted across the road just feet in front of our approaching cab. The cab’s headlights still couldn’t illuminate the hand in front of your face.
Once we arrived at the airport, we checked in for our flight from
When we landed in
I had reserved a car with the Thrifty Rental Car Company. When I went to get it, I was told we were being upgraded. Dang, I hate it when that happens. We would be getting a Mercedes Compressor four-door sedan. South Africans drive right side steer cars and drive on the left side of the road. Yep! It all adds to the fun.
The overall logistics of this trip would end up being very easy. I did the driving. I had two commercial airline pilots for navigators. We couldn’t go wrong and didn’t very often. We found our hotel with ease.
We were somewhat surprised to see that the Don Eastgate Suites Hotel was situated behind tall wrought iron security gates with a security guard stationed at the entrance. We would come to learn that every hotel that we visited had a similar security arrangement. Every restaurant we visited had their own security staff in very visible positions.
I didn’t notice it until the plane ride home but this is what the British Foreign Office had to say about
“There is a high level of crime, but most occurs in townships…..away from the normal tourist destinations…..the standard of driving is variable and there are many fatal accidents”.
I’m glad I didn’t see that until we were on our way home!
I spoke with several white South African natives. They all spoke of a common theme.
We had some difficulty communicating with the hotel staff when we asked for restaurant recommendations. We were both speaking English, but neither of us seemed to be able to understand the other. However, we were saved at the Don Eastgate Hotel, when a local businessman who was in the hotel holding a staff meeting overheard our conversation. Just at the right moment, Robbie Taitz stepped in. He was obviously knowledgeable about the local scene and asked us what type of food we were looking for.
We all looked at each other and said in unison, “African”. A smile came across Robbie’s face. He had just the place for us, Moyo’s. Robbie took some 30 minutes with us to first track down a phone number for the restaurant so the hotel staff could make a booking (reservation) for us. This, along with some other things you might take for granted where you live, was not an easy task. Then Robbie gave us some great directions to the place. We were indebted to him for the time he took with us and the quality of his advice.
Moyo’s at
Please go to www.ranlayracing.com to check out some of the unique things this eatery had to offer. The place was located in a very upscale yuppie type shopping arcade. We were fortunate to get an outdoor table on a night where the temperature was a comfortable 75 degrees.
Our servers were all native Africans. After a round of drinks, we were served a complimentary platter of tiny breads and four intriguing dipping sauces. Our starter consisted of sautéed calamari. For my soup and salad course, I selected a peanut and shrimp soup. Fantastic. My entrée was a filet mignon cooked to perfection along with mashed potatoes and vegetables served in the most unique fashion on a metal skillet.
During our meal, we experienced small things I had never seen in all of my culinary past. First, a woman came up to our table and poured warm water over our hands to cleanse them. It wasn’t long before another woman came along to take a digital picture of the three of us as a remembrance of our evening. Finally, toward the end of our meal, still a third woman came up and asked us if she could give us a face painting. Sure, why not!
Our dining experience lasted a couple of hours. We didn’t want it to end. You might imagine such an upscale dining adventure would cost an arm and a leg. We had consumed two rounds of drinks, the calamari appetizer, starters for everyone and full on entrees for everyone. We capped our meal off with dessert. We had all of the extra attention from the three women who came by the table to wash our hands, take our picture and paint our faces. We had all of this for just under thirty dollars per person. In the states, this level of quality would have cost two or three times as much and I don’t think the service and uniqueness of the evening could have been matched at very many places. As I said, please take a look at the pictures. You won’t want to miss the South African humor that adorned the door of the men’s toilet (restroom).
Following dinner, we were back to our hotel. I had reserved this place in advance over the internet. Our room was essentially a two-room apartment. The living room was huge, the boys had their own room and I had mine. The entire complex overlooked a large lake. The only drawback was that my “world” electrical adapter did not match to the circular holes arranged in the form of a triangle that make up
Friday February 22, 2008
I was excited about today. We were going on the first day of a two-day African safari. I’ve been trying (not too hard) to get Carol to go on one of these for years. She is fearful of catching some dreadful disease. I was glad to be able to experiment with this “safari sampler” so that someday Carol and I can come back for a longer more deluxe version.
From our
We had picked up a few bits and pieces of information about park admission and closing times. The drive took longer than we expected. Once we entered the park’s gate, it was going to be a 45-minute drive to “
We were low on gas. We didn’t have any food. The gas station and the food store closed at 4:30 p.m. There was no driving allowed in the park after dark. If we didn’t get there in time, we would be in the middle of a 3,000 square mile park with no gasoline and no food until morning. Our last meal had come several hours ago and we were starting to get hungry.
From the moment we entered the park we began to see wild animals. Just a few yards from the entrance, several zebras stood on the asphalt roadway blocking our path. Then we saw a few giraffe. We joked that the park staff had tethered these animals at the park’s entrance so visitors would be satisfied from the beginning.
The road to our camp was winding and we couldn’t drive very fast. We had to be there by 4:30 p.m. We made it EXACTLY at the closing time. I had to talk fast to get them to keep the one gas pump open while the boys ran to the food store. The best they could score there were cans of
At check-in, we were given safari camp #22. This was a very nice setup. There were two very large tents. Each had two twin beds, a complete bathroom and shower. Over the beds were large mosquito nets. We had been told that the generator that supplied electrical power would be turned off at 10 p.m. It would not come back on until 8 a.m. the next morning.
Our first mission at camp was to spray ourselves down with Mosquito spray acquired at the camp store. Neither Will nor J.J. had elected to get Malaria pills. Our camp had a full kitchen. We had a stove, refrigerator and sink. The camp also provided our outdoor BBQ grill.
Unfortunately, we had not come very well prepared. We had
We had been instructed to make sure all of our food was locked up when we left the camp. Anything that didn’t go in the fridge would go in the secured trash can. Our refrigerator had huge hinge-type locks on it to prevent animals from getting in. We stowed our stuff. We had to get going for a 6 p.m. nighttime game drive.
The meeting place for our game drive was only a few hundred yards from our campsite. We had been told to make sure we DROVE to the game drive starting point rather than walking from our campsite. We were also instructed never to get further from our tent than any point where we could not see the tent’s interiors lights. This all sounded very ominous.
Just as we were getting set to leave camp, we all got the feeling we were being watched. We were. Monkeys were coming to our campsite. Lots of monkeys! There were at least 15 of them. They were hopping from one tree branch to another and then too the roof of our tents. I looked out at the Thrifty Rental Car Racing Mercedes. There were monkeys on the roof!!
There were so many monkeys we were scared. We made a mad dash for the car. The monkeys scattered when they heard our racket. We would be returning to our campsite in the dark. We weren’t looking forward to that.
This evening’s nighttime game drive would begin at 6 p.m. and go for 2.5 hours. Sunset was at about 7 p.m. This meant the beginning of the drive would be in daylight and the end in the darkness.
Ten passengers and the driver would be riding in our game tracking vehicle. I sat in front seat with our guide. There were three rows of three in the back of the truck. The guide placed a rifle across the dashboard. We were off.
We would end up taking a 42-kilometer loop through the park. Some of the road was paved and some was not. We would be trying to spot
We had special spotlights to help us see into the brush when it got dark. We saw several animals that weren’t part to the Big 5. These included impalas, zebras, wildebeests as well as eagles and owls.
Probably the highlight of tonight’s drive was when we drove down by the river. It was still light out. Our guide was excellent at spotting animals in the distance. He spotted a lion. The lion was some 300-400 yards away. Nevertheless, we could see him/her prowling along a sandbar. Soon the first lion was joined by a second. The guide confirmed that the lion is “king of the jungle”.
Saturday February 23, 2008
This morning began with a 5:30 a.m. game drive in
Our guide would be the same fellow who led our evening game drive the night before. Our original plan had called for a walking game drive this morning. However, last night I kidded our guide into showing up for a driving guide this morning. Maybe the prospect of earning a few extra
Our guide was outstanding. He could spot animals far in the distance. I wanted to see elephants. However, we had been driving for more than have of the tour without any luck. I kept joking with the guide and saying, “It’s time to see elephants now. There’s an elephant” (when it was obviously a rhinoceros). The guide knew we wanted to see some elephants but a game drive is like fishing. You never know what you will get.
With less than 45 minutes left in the drive, our guide spotted some elephants in the distance. Truth be told, we didn’t see them. He immediately put our truck in high gear and sped toward our prize. Normally we drove 10-20 M.P.H. as we searched for animals. We were reaching speeds in excess of 50 M.P.H. as he tried to get to where those elephants were before they moved again. I was just glad we didn’t come upon a heard of unexpected zebras standing in the road!
It wasn’t long before we saw our elephant close up. We were also able to see a small heard of them in the distance. We were told the park has 380 elephants spread over about 300 square miles. Shortly, after our elephant sighting, we finished our drive. Our stay in the park had been just perfect. We couldn’t have asked for more. We even saw a number of animals on our drive out of the park in our rental car.
With our morning game drive finished by 8:30 a.m., we had plenty of time to drive down to
I wanted to find the track as soon as we got into town, which would be about 11 a.m. I figured once we knew where the track’s location was we could find other things to occupy our time until the 6 p.m. start time. With some help from a local we met in McDonalds, we got directions to the track.
I directed our group into Mickey Ds for two reasons. First, I wanted to see if they had any unusual items unique to
We found the track in somewhat of a county fairgrounds atmosphere. This was a small 350 meter asphalt oval. There was virtually no grandstand seating. Everything was clean as a pin. However, at noon there was no one there. No race cars, no people, no nothing. This concerned J.J. I told him I wasn’t surprised. The race meet didn’t begin until 6 p.m. I figured they would all start showing up later in the afternoon.
With that in mind, we drove further south in search of a hotel located directly on the
On the drive down there, we continued to encounter many pedestrians walking along the side of the four lane highway. Much of the drive was along a toll road. We saw cattle grazing just 2-3 feet off the roadway with no fencing between them and us. It was surreal.
During our drives up to this point, we had seen residential developments dotting the hills and valleys of the rural areas we were driving by. Many of these dwellings weren’t much more than shanties.
Will and J.J. are both Eagle Scout types (J.J. actually is an Eagle Scout and I wouldn’t be surprised if Will is as well). With this background, I think they may have been more than surprised, when I pulled off the highway. I told them we were going to go exploring into these neighborhoods. We have sightseers driving by our neighborhood in
I was surprised to find there were no paved streets connecting these houses. Once I pulled off the highway, it was all dirt roads. It’s very possible that three white guys in a Mercedes had never driven on these roads. We drove in about a mile or so and came across a small market.
I asked the boys in they were thirsty. No, they weren’t. That seemed unusual, it was a warm day. I told them we were “going in” and with that pulled the car up to the entrance and shut off the engine. There were no other cars in sight in this dusty parking lot. Three teen-agers were inside playing pool on a more than used up pool table inside the building. There were 4-5 smaller boys hanging around and a young woman operating the cash register.
I’m not sure if aliens with three heads would have drawn any more attention had they stopped for a Coke. The store was small, maybe 30 feet wide and 20 feet deep. The shelves were stocked with the basics. I ordered a Coke, but the boys still weren’t in the mood to make a purchase. I had only a 100 Rand bill (about $14). I gave the clerk that to pay for my Coke. It took her some time to come up with my change. When she did, she gave me about 50 different coins. I think the Coke cost only about 3 Rand. With that, we were off. The boys breathed a sigh of relief….and so did I. They seemed a little bit surprised that I had left the keys in the Mercedes with the window rolled down while we were in the store. Truth be told, I was too!
We continued our ride down the highway past several roadside vendors. We stopped at one woman’s stand and ordered pineapples on a stick. The woman used a machete to hack off the sides of small pineapples until only the fresh fruit was exposed. The treat was delicious. The price was only 4 Rand (about 60 cents) each. She had four small children with her, all lying under a tree with their cow. I distributed some of the excess coins we had just received at the neighborhood market.
As we continued our drive, I asked J.J. to write down bullet points from the three of us about the trip’s activities and highlights. I didn’t want to leave anything out for each of the loyal and supportive readers to the Trackchaser Report.
About this time, we had returned to
The boys would be coming along for tonight’s short track racing at Richard’s Bay. They would have a beach day while I went to the Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. Neither of them are big race fans. I figured they would enjoy the small asphalt oval racing much more than being at a street circuit road course.
While I was standing in line at the Shoprite to buy my race ticket, I took the opportunity to take some pictures of the checkout area. This was one packed grocery store. People were wall to wall. I had only taken two pictures when a store manager came up and asked me what I was doing. I told him about all of the people who visit www.ranlayracing.com in search of photo insights of life on the trackchasing trail. He seemed non-plussed.
He told me, “I’m not calling you a scoundrel but with all of the burglaries and non-sense going on, we can’t allow you to take pictures without first asking permission.” I told him I fully understood his position. Sensing an opportunity, I then asked him if I could have his permission to take photographs. His answer? “No!” Sometimes, I just can’t win. Nevertheless, you the viewer of www.ranlayracing.com can see those banned photos. Just don’t contact that Shoprite store manager and tell him where you saw them.
I had selected a ticket in the “silver” pricing section at the Grand Prix or 350 Rand (about $50). This was a mid-priced ticket for the race. Sometimes you can go to these events with the cheapest ticket available and sit anywhere you want. Then, sometimes you can’t. I didn’t want to buy a cheap ticket and be relegated to a position where I couldn’t move around.
With my ticket purchased, we were off to the Richard’s Bay Raceway. It was a gorgeous shirtsleeves weather late afternoon in
There was still no one at the track. It was 6 p.m., the scheduled start time. For some unknown reason they would not be racing tonight. I have made inquiries to my South African contacts as to why nobody showed up. If I get an answer, I will let you know.
I was disappointed. The boys were disappointed. J.J.’s premonition from this afternoon proved correct. Not knowing the trackchaser rules, the boys asked if they could run around the track so I could count it. I didn’t think the trackchaser commissioner would go for that. We were stymied. However, from a trackchasing point of view, I would still be adding
With that, we found a chain hotel in Richard’s Bay. It was brand new. Their huge billboard read, “If our room rates were any cheaper they would be in
With our room secured, it was time for dinner. We found a very good Indian (Ghandi, not Sitting Bull) restaurant and made a nice evening of it despite our disappointment in not seeing a race tonight. Don’t miss the picture of my Indian dish on my website.
To be continued…………….
This brings to a close the first part of my two-part series on our South African adventure. It was a fun trip up to this point, but some parts of the trip were just about ready to get very exciting.
Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,
Randy Lewis
KwaZulu-Natal’s #1 Trackchaser
Walking is easy, when the road is flat. TRAVEL DETAILS
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