Just before we arrived at Aliwal North (and the Orange River, South Africa's longest and mightiest river)I killed a small bird, a sparrow or a swift...it flew under the car. I felt a bit bad about that...Fransa was talking meanwhile this little creature was spending its last moments of life bleeding through its beak on the lonely black stones...
I had a chance to redeem myself...not completely of course...buy buying some chameleons on offer, and sparing them perhaps death-by-starvation. Of course buying these creatures off the locals creates demand for them to go and catch more of them. Still, I wanted to save lives right then and there so we paid R10 for a tiny one and R15 for a bigger, more sickly fellow. Then we drove around in search of a decent hiding place, close to lush bushes and shade and the water.
I came to Aliwal North as a child on swimming tours. There are warm water spas (natural springs) that also make the stay, in an otherwise fairly boring dorp, more interesting. I suppose one could swim in the river too...
The Orange is 2100km long, and when it's at Aliwal it's on its way through some of the most desicciated landscapes in the world. It's source is Mount Aux Sources (a French named peak, in Africa...am I joking?) and instead of cutting across 300 or 400km of forest and dirt to get to the Indian Ocean like the Tugela (which is also source in these mountains)it makes an extravagant arc, and incredibly becomes a massive torrent that brings life to farflung and thirsty deserts like the karoo and kalahari before heaving itself and a belly full of diamonds into the Atlantic at Oranjemund.
For more information go to:http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia
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