Credit card gone

Hiking

Since we spent less time in animal national parks this time, we could walk much more. We hiked in Hogsback to the waterfall “Madonna with Child” and the ancient Yellowtree, through the Oribi Gorge, in the Camdeboo National Park through the Valley of Desolation. Not only did we get lost in the Mount Currie National Reserve, we even had to turn around because for Gabi the final ascent was too steep and in addition we caught a terrific sunburn. The hike to the Hole in the Wall was not demanding, but the scenery was beautiful. Along the Indian Ocean we walked a part of the long hike from Port St. Johns to Bulungula. When I put this list together, I felt immediately really fit and was impressed about myself a little bit. We were obviously really sporty.

Unnecessary experiences

In the middle of Graaff-Reinet a policeman stops us. We drive in accordance with the regulations with our Quad, which is licensed in Switzerland: with brakes, lights, turn signals and helmets. He explains us that in South Africa quad bikes don’t have a permit to drive on public roads and therefore we should not drive on the street. After a fairly long discussion, he then lets us drive under the condition that the Swiss embassy must confirm the permit. The quad registration paper which documents exactly this permit, he did not accept and of course the Swiss consulate did not want to issue a corresponding confirmation. We luckily met no similar thinking policeman elsewhere.

In Mthata, the city where Nelson Mandela came from, I parked in the second row on the street. I stayed in Globi so I could maneuver if anyone wanted to get out of the front row. A self-proclaimed parking attendant knocked at the door and told me that I needed a parking ticket. It seemed unlikely, but as I parked not truly correct… I followed him to his so-called ticket machine. It turned out, however, that it was a manipulated ATM. I put my credit card into the machine – fortunately, because everything seemed very dodgy, the one with the smallest possible limit. While I was entering my code and made sure that the “parking attendant” could not see anything, he swapped the card scanner with my card and put an empty one back in. When I had entered my pin-code and nothing happened, I wanted my card back. But I was already too late. The “parking attendant” and my card were gone, the new exchanged card scanner empty. Immediately I reached out to my bank in Switzerland by phone and the card was instantly blocked. The brash thief, who has gulled me old geezer like a beginner, took during the 28 minutes until the card lock worked at least 38,000 ZAR (3’000 CHF). In more than 40 years travelling, this is only the second time I have been robbed. It’s a good statistic, but nevertheless a very embarrassing beginner experience.