Letters: The many facets of South Africa

From The Los Angeles Times
12:16 PM PDT, May 22, 2009

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South Africa's many facets

Jane Engle's whirlwind African trip ["Whirlwind Ramble 'Round South Africa," May 17] recalls a different kind of South African adventure that most Americans don't know about. My sister and I went on a week-long self-drive safari in Kruger National Park, flying to Johannesburg and renting an SUV. We stayed at three camps run by the South African government (Olifants, Satara and Lower Sabie). They have individual huts, many with mini-kitchens, in scenic locations. The cost is modest, and it is safe.

We signed up for one game drive and one bike ride through the bush with armed guides, to a river where we saw grunting hippos. But mostly we drove ourselves, making our own amazing discoveries, including lions on the road, a leopard sleeping in a tree, close encounters with elephants, herds of buffalo and a rare sighting of two cheetahs. You must stay in your vehicle between rest stops. It is best to make reservations a year in advance, as these camps are very popular (www.krugerpark.co.za).

-- Steve Skootsky, Los Angeles

Thank you for such an upbeat article on South Africa. We hear so much negative news about our country, but it was refreshing to read Jane Engle's article. I am a proud South African, and her article made my day.

-- Frans Nortje, Lagos, Nigeria

As a South African living in France, my heart hungered for home after reading Jane Engle's article. But then I saw my burglar bar-free windows, the front door I rarely lock and remembered the hike I did alone this morning, and I was relieved I no longer lived there.

Engle missed the country's poisonous arrowhead -- crime -- and the violence that goes with it. Those gorgeous mountains, that bushveld, those deserted beaches aren't safe to enjoy unless you're in a gilded, secure cage only the wealthy can afford.

-- Katja Willemsen, Collioure, France

A different view on Che Guevara

I found the Web Buzz article despicable and tasteless ["Keeping an Eye on Che Guevara," May 17]. Glorifying Che Guevara as a heroic revolutionary is the equivalent of glorifying Osama bin Laden as a modern-day Robin Hood.

-- Zeke Triana, Valencia

The mozzarella: Oh, so delectable

I enjoyed reading about Susan Spano's passion for buffalo mozzarella ["Where the Mozzarella Roams," May 10]. My husband's family comes from the Salerno area and eating le Vannulosità, as we call those delicacies, is one of the highlights of our summer vacations. Our family saying is that Vannulo mozzarella is "proof of the existence of God."

-- Gabriella C. Marino, Rome

I swear I could taste the grass that the buffalo grazed on just by reading Susan Spano's story. And yes, even reading about mozzare can make you happy. I am gonna make pizza for breakfast.

-- Eugene Fraker, Forks, Wash.

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