Fifteen years ago, at the age of nine, I am sat beside my brother in the back seat of a rental car. We have been driving for five hours now. But this car journey differs from the usual family roadtrip. By this stage, my brother would already have pissed me off completely, the force of being strapped side by side culminating in him punching me in the arm. This time, aside from the Paul Simon cassette, silence reigns. For we are driving through South Africa's Mpulalangalanga district past ostrich and antilope on our way to the gates of Kruger National Park.
A return of sorts for my parents, who lived here before their children were born, abandoning a country they loved to assure their offspring an absence of the concequences of apartheid. For myself, it is no overstatement to say that this visit will be life-formulating, dictating my future and kickstarting return visits to Africa for years to come, as a tourist, volunteer and researcher.
2013, and once again I return to take that same road to Kruger, my father by my side in a parallel journey back in time, towards my future, back into the bush to experience SA's force of nature which keeps me coming back for more...
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