Marco Polo’s Travels: The Kruger Millions

Writer: Murray Stewart

With this being the last edition of the month, we continue with the highs and lows of Marco Polo’s journey to the Far East via South Africa. Last time, Captain Vasco Diaz of the Santa Flatulata had sent Marco and three other crew members ashore to erect a Portuguese flag on the beach, and generally explore Richard’s Bay (Marco Polo’s Travels: The Zulu Encounter, 30 September).

As you can imagine they were mighty relieved that their encounter with the fearsome King Shaka had not ended in slaughter. This would have severely hampered Marco’s mission – to find Pa and Kubla Cohen near a place called Xanadu, far to the east.

Clutching the sacred vuvuzela presented to them as a talisman by the king, they braved the crashing surf and circling sharks, and paddled back out to the Santa Flatulata to inform their captain that the king had alerted them about the prospect of finding gold further up the coast.

Click below to read more. (The full article can be found on page 8)