Archive for

Jul 28

Onwards and upwards to the Kalahari

Day – 109:

KLMS – 17,256

It’s fair to say that the days following the robbery were a low point for us. Although we only lost a couple of items, it was straight off the back of a number of things going wrong and unexpected expenses which only added to the frustration of allowing ourselves to make such a silly mistake. It knocked our confidence at a critical time – a time when we should have been fully pumped about finally begining our African ascent, but we just felt pretty stressed!! We’d been so spoilt with our first few weeks in Africa, it felt like the rug had been pulled from under our feet. I realise now that this reality check was a good thing for us and after hitting the ground with a bump, we are more determined than ever to ‘get to the top’…even if at the time of writing there is no clear way out of the top unless Egypt, Libya and Tunisia sort themselves out soon!…but we’ll worry about that later!

So to brighten our moods we headed to Stellenbosch for a few days of wine tasting. While we were there we visited one of our sponsors, Tracks4Africa, who if you don’t know, have created a mapping software that is based off actual traveller waypoints. A constantly evolving map, it ensures that you always have the latest information on Points of Interest, road conditions, fuel stops, campsites etc. It really is something that we couldn’t live without, so it was great to meet Erin and founder, Johan to discuss our route and get loads of tips including their latest software updates. Thank you guys!!!

: Tracks4Africa team

We were also treated to an amazing lunch at Moreson’s Bread&Wine restaurant in Franschoek by my very lovely brother Jon and his wife Michelle. That day we dined like kings – such amazing food and wine!! Would definitely recommend to anyone and spirits by now were well and truly lifted!

Lunch at Moresons.Thank you J&M x

Heading up into the Northern Cape, was like driving across Australia again –wide open expanses of barren land with the road ahead going as far as the eye could see. And yet, despite the remoteness, we still often came across roadworks! Every so often, 5km sections would be closed for repairs and waiting times were around 20minutes! It took 3 ladies to manage each stop. The first waved the red flag as you approached, the second turned the sign from Go to Stop and the third would push a barrier or place a cone across the lane. Similarly, the roadworkers tended to have one guy digging, whilst 2 looked on. It seems in South Africa that many low-paid job roles are performed by at least 3 people! At least it tries to tackle the terrible unemployment rates. We soon got bored of the tarmac so headed off-piste onto an unsealed track, which took us through some fantastic rocky scenery, although as the weather turned for the worst and the rains began to fall, the road soon turned into a slippery, muddy mess. It was slow going, so by 3pm we were far from our planned destination so headed to the nearest town, Calvinia – our coldest night yet! I’m guessing that it got to around -5°C, as it was far colder than even our nights in Lesotho. In the morning, the tent was frozen inside and out – putting the tent away was not much fun at all, but at least there were hot showers to go and defrost in!

Frosty morning in Calvinia

We drove the final KLMS to Upington the next day, one of the last frontier towns in South Africa where we would stock up on supplies before heading into the Kagalahdi NP. After driving through so much nothingness, Upington is a welcome change, on the banks of the Orange River so is surrounded by lush fields and vineyards. We found an awesome little camp on the banks of the river Orange and were lucky to meet the owner, Theo, who as it happened had spent 35years taking guided tours through Namibia! An evening with him and we had a route through our next country fully sorted!! We can’t wait to get there. Theo also had the coolest dog we’ve ever seen – a Boer Bull, which is like a ridgeback x Mastiff – just enormous!! As avid dog lovers we just adored her and even more adorable were her 3 week old puppies!! It took a lot of will power not to sneak one into our car, but we’ll definitely have to put in an order in for the next litter!

So fully stocked we headed up to the Kgaladari NP – or to pronounce it without the spitting – the Kalahari, 3.2million hectares of protected land that runs between South Africa and Botswana. Having only booked our camps last minute we could only find places in the more carefully managed South African side, which are still amazing but not as wild as the Botswana camps. So if you’re planning a trip make sure you book in advance, but as we’ll be heading to Bots soon, we weren’t too disappointed. We took a morning game drive on our first day – watching the sun rise over the frosty Kalahari was just spectacular, if a little chilly from the open game viewing Landrover! We learnt a lot from our guide so it was a well worth trip and on the way back we caught our first glimpse of a leopard – only a glimpse but so exciting to see our first big cat. The excitement of the morning continued when we went out later that day and found our first lions. 3 large females and 2 cubs lying blissfully asleep in the sun – we spent a wonderful afternoon just watching them. It’s amazing how warm it get’s in the day (25-30°C) enough to defrost you after a night of camping at -5°C!

Morning game drive

We drove further north into the park for the next couple of nights. Driving slowly through the semi-arid desert, its amazing to see how much wildlife has adapted to cope with the dry conditions – for me the most beautiful of which, the G(H)emsbok –the Kings of the Kalahari. Watching them stride out across the plains, with the long straight horns, distinctive black and white markings and their tails flowing out behind them, they look like something you’d expect to see being ridden into battle in a Lord of the Rings film. We drove until sunset before returning to camp where we spent the evening with new friends Steve and Kate, an English couple out here on holiday. The night got rather merry and sitting out under the most star filled sky i’ve even seen was just incredible. We sat and listened to 2 lions calling each other. Although within a fenced camp, the noise gave us goosebumps – it was unreal. However, nothing prepared us for the next night when a lion came to within feet of the fence we were camped near and roared on and off throughout the night. I swear the roar vibrated through every part of my body and my heart pounded -i guess it was pure primal fear kicking in. I can’t begin to imagine how much more intense that feeling will be in Botswana when the noise isn’t going to be coming from behind a fence!

Wildebeast diving in front of the car!

Alan! Alan! Alan!

Nothing like corrugated roads to loosen a new wheel bearing!

Jul 21

3 Comments

Bad luck in Cape Town

So everything was going a little too well! Unfortunately a couple of days ago our room got broken into and my nikon camera (including lenses) Cannon compact and our laptop were taken : ( .After being so careful and keeping valuables so closely guarded, we came back from our day out, and decided to head to the bar upstairs. As we were only going to be a few feet away we thought our things would be ok locked in our room. Bad idea. Little did we know that 2 Zambian guys had just checked into the adjacent room and were carefully watching everybody else’s coming and goings. Twice Rich and i popped down to use the toilet, wierdly we both chose the hostel toilets and didnt go back to our room (if we had, we would have caught them red handed, which in a town where firearms and weapons are common, i’m glad we didn’t) however we both saw the guys near our room at which point my gut instinct was telling we something was wrong!! I actually talked myself out of it, after all, he was a guest here too and the doorway also lead to his room. I stopped and said hi and he talked back, I felt bad for assuming the worst and headed back upstairs.

I now know that our Zambian neighbours were in fact professional thieves wanted in 4 different countries. Using the same formula, they book ahead,arrive smartly dressed with baggage, check in and pay and then spend an afternoon watching the coming and goings of different guests to identify an opportunity. The cost of the room far outweighs the bounty they get later. The key to their success is just that, a master key they’ve fashioned from a screwdriver that opens most doors so they can slip in an out of hotel rooms unnoticed. As there was no break in and the door was still locked when we returned, we assumed they must have come through the loft hatch, but it is only from our research we have discovered who they are. Articles go back to 2008 and they are well known crims!

http://www.informante.web.na/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2323&PHPSESSID=4c73c27c349930f315e87d2b59084d93

Despite being well known, these crooks are so undeterred by the failing judiciary system that they still book with their real IDs. When the police arrived despite being able to supply passport details, phone number, cctv evidence and full facebook profile images the police barely took note! We have now wasted nearly 2days filling out police reports, going over everything again and again, fully aware that the police will do something between nothing and bugger all which I frustrating as all hell when we know who they are!

So it was a harsh wake up call and hopefully one that won’t be repeated. Fortunately we weren’t completely wiped out, bank cards, passports and car keys are safe, we weren’t harmed and the items are replaceable, including the contents of our laptop -so we will move on!

The car has also needed quite a bit of TLC, including a new wheel bearing, radiator patch up and a new engine manifold gaskett ( fortunately we were carrying a spare!) . In reality, all these things we’d been aware of for awhile and you have to remind yourself that when covering more distance in a few months than you normally would in a year the fix ups are more frequent! We were recommended a great mechanic, who not only got Kylie back into tip top shape quickly, he also had us round for dinner to share routes and tips for Botswana! So if you need a mechanic in Cape Town, Allan Kessel at ANG service is your man!

Its been a full on few days – our run of bad luck finally peaked at 3 things with our Iridium Sat phone giving up the ghost with $500 credit still on it. We’re debating whether to replace it or just try and sell the sim. Many have said we won’t need one? Life on the road is certainly not always rosy, but rolling with the punches is just part of being an overlander! Aside from the dramas, we were really enjoying Cape Town – hiking up Table Mountain, Robben Island, museums (too cold for beaches?) but our last few days haven’t given us anytime for fun stuff! we’re looking forward to getting out of the city and back into the bush!

Funnily enough there are no pictures with this post, so you’ll have to use your imagination!!

[image. Sun shining over table mountain and Cape Town taken from Robben island ferry]
[image.robben island prison]
[image. Richard and Sophie selfie shot on top of Table mountain. Looking cold, but very happy]
[image. Dinner at Mama Africa’s -safari mixed grill]

Jul 14

1 Comment

Lions, elephants and whales

Day: 94,

KLMS: 14,321

First of all, it seems our Spot Tracker doesn’t work in South Africa – so sorry if you’ve been trying to locate us! We will update our route for you soon, but hopefully the coverage will improve as we reach Namibia so you can keep an eye on where we are.

After an amazing few days in the mountains, it was time to head south again, so we trundled across the Free State, staying briefly in Aliwal North & Craddock on the way down to the Eastern Cape. We tend to plan a rough route the night before and work things out as we go, but the night before the final Lions the route had to be meticulously planned to ensure we went via a pub that was showing the game. So with a pub sourced and the route timed to arrive just before Kick off, we set off for Addo, all going well until Rich realised the match was actually kicking off 2hours earlier than planned and we needed a plan B. ASAP. After initial panic, cursing and raised voices Tracks4Africa blessed us with directions to a pub only a few kms away! We called ahead and they said they would open early for us and put the game on! It was a sign. We skidded into Middleton Manor with only minutes to spare and the young barman opened up for us and the wild crowd of 2 cheered as the Lions won their first series victory in 16years! We were in such a hurry to watch the game, we’d paid little attention to where we actually were – from the outside a beautiful country manor – landscaped gardens – an assortment of free-range animals – lots of young adults? As it turned out, Middleton Manor is in fact a rehab centre – where patients spend the second half of their year long programme – not that you would ever know unless you asked. Talking to the guys there was an eye-opening experience. All had chosen to go on the programme, desperate to re-start their lives before it was too late. Our barman, only 21, was recovering from a 7 year heroin addiction – so young to have seen the things he’s seen but the way in which he spoke was wise beyond his years and now with a new sense of direction he was only weeks away from being reunited with his family including his 18month old son determined to prove he was a changed man and get his life back on track. The treatment they choose is brutal, the first half is spent somewhere he could barely talk about except to say that he picked up a bible for the first time in his life and reading that was the only thing that kept him alive, but the reward if you survive that place is Middleton Manor where softer treatment continues and they begin to prepare for life back in the real/clean world including working at the manor guesthouse and pub. We both felt very touched by their stories, and inspired by their determination to start over again – we wish them all the best of luck with their recoveries.

It’s amazing who you meet when travelling, and actually having the opportunity to stop and talk to people, share stories, learn new cultures is what makes travelling so special. We have already met so many great people and everywhere we go, when people realise we’re in an Aussie car are keen to know about our journey and offer support in anyway they can from accommodation, food, booze or even just a toot and a wave as they go past. The Afrikaaners are also keen to know what we think of their country. They find it sad, the way in which South Africa is portrayed to the outside world and feel that many people are put off coming here by what they read in the news, so are thrilled to see tourists. We too had reservations, and yes, there’s no denying this country has many underlying problems, but as a visitor we couldn’t have been made more welcome, the standards of food and service are higher than those in Australia (and a fraction of the price!!)the scenery is just spectacular and the wildlife is just unreal.

After the Lions, we headed to Addo Elephant park for our next animal instalment. We spent a couple of days driving through the park and got our first real close up encounters with elephants – who fortunately seemed pretty chilled out with the cars going by, but even so we felt relieved to be facing them in Kylie this time, not a fiesta! We had a great day of animal viewing, but still no sighting of the big cats – we could hear them, just couldn’t see them! For anyone visiting, don’t bother about camping in the park itself as it’s always really busy and for a much better price you can camp at the Aardvark Guesthouse which has fantastic facilities and is only 10km from the gate.

After Addo, the weather warmed up and the next few days were spent ambling down the Garden Route discovering the delights it had to offer. StormsRiver has to be one of the most spectacular coastlines i’ve ever seen, with the rugged cliffs dropping dramatically into the sea. The manicured camping spots sit right by the water’s edge and as our timings have coincided with the annual whale migration we were treated to an afternoon of twenty or so whales breaching time and time again. It was a show like no other!! The next day we took our fading fitness for a hike to the suspension bridge and up onto the cliff tops – a walk that should have been easier than it was – truckers syndrome seems to have well and truly arrived! The rest of the Garden Route is a beautiful drive, the road winds through several more amazing little towns and beaches – Kynsna, The Wildnerness, Mossel Bay – it’s barely African – but stunning all the same!

We found our next little piece of paradise at De Hoop nature reserve – tucked away between Cape Town and the start of the Garden Route, many people miss it – but it’s an absolute gem. The camping area is right by a salt lagoon (vlei) which is a twitchers’ paradise with over 3,000 species of birds and around 30,000 birds living on it currently. Despite lacking in bird-identification skills, it was still fun to spot ‘the big white bird’, the ‘funny looking black thing’ and the very rare ‘long- legged cooty-whatdyacallit.’ I did correctly spot flamingos though and plenty of ostriches! The other side of the Vlei, turns into huge towering white sand dunes that mark the edge of the marine reserve – the water was so clear that from the dunes you could sit and watch the whales and dolphins swimming nearby as well as the occasional shark! It is just stunning, and as it’s so remote, the stars at night are amazing so we joined a star tour to try and learn some of the constellations.

Today was a big milestone in our trip – Cape Agulhas – the most southern point in Africa which means the only way is up from here! In a straightline, it’s only 8,000km to the top, but we’re probably going to triple that! We’ve had a very easy introduction into Africa so far and we can’t help but wonder what lays ahead of us as we begin our journey north?? But first, we are really looking forward to getting to Cape Town.

Addo Elephant

Storms River

Sunrise at De Hoop

Sand dunes De Hoop

Cape Agulhas & good luck rainbow!

Jul 4

10 Comments

Magical Mountain Kingdom

Day: 85,

KLMS: 12,936

Driving out of Durban, we were full of nervous excitement as we began the Africa leg of our journey. It felt so good to be on the road again – the month long wait had felt like forever and the additional time to over-think everything can drive you slightly mad! Our first destination would be Lesotho – the mountain kingdom – a tiny little country within South Africa that sits above 2,500m. We thought there’d be no better way to bed the car in, than to take her for a spin up to the mountains – the Sani Pass – claims to be one of the toughest roads in the world, so we thought that it would be a good test for us and the car!

The drive up to the Drakensburg was stunning, and we made our first camp in Africa in the garden of the Sani Lodge at the bottom of the pass – not surprising we were the only ones there as it’s currently winter and temperatures at night are around 0 degrees! Fortunately our sleeping bags are very cosy and i was really glad that we did end up bringing a hot water bottle!!! Usually at this time of year Lesotho is covered in deep snow, but fortunately for us it’s been warmer than usual lately, so only frosts to contend with, but snow is on its way apparently! Driving up into the pass was absolutely breathtaking – the photos just won’t do it justice – and no matter how many adjectives i throw in here, i don’t think i can convey just how amazing it is. The Sani pass starts fairly gently and the first stop is the South African border control – our first one! It was all very straightforward and they only wanted to see our passports and not the carnet – the remainder of the pass then winds on through no-mans land as the official border of Lesotho doesn’t start until the top! The drive up itself is pretty easy, it’s only really the last 400m climb that gets your hair standing on end as the switch backs get tighter and tighter and the gradient hits about 30 degrees, not forgetting the sheer cliff on one side. That said, it’s not as bad as people say and despite slight reservations as to whether our fully loaded, 17year old Pajero would be capable, she absolutely flew up with little encouragement. Reaching the top was just such a huge wave of relief and joy, that not only had we made it to the top 2873m – but we’d done it in our car! We passed through the Lesotho border control, again all really easy, and headed straight for the highest pub in Africa at Sani Top Lodge – we definitely needed a beer after that, even though it was only 10am!

We spent the rest of the day driving across the mountain passes – the roads are very rough and slow going, but it was just lovely to bumble along and take it all in. Lesotho is one of Africa’s poorest countries and driving through the villages it seems like the place that time forgot. Most people live in the traditional ronadavels (round huts), most don’t have electricity and the land around them is still farmed in the traditional way with only simple equipment. Animals are a precious resource here, the most common form of transport are the Basotho ponies – it was amazing to watch the boys riding them across the steep mountains, herding their assortment of sheep, goats, cows and donkeys. The shepherds cut a more sinister figure, wrapped up in the traditional Basotho blankets and full faced balaclavas so you could only see their eyes – we kept up the ‘smile and wave’ tactic and they almost always waved enthusiastically back! Unfortunately one annoyance we’d read about, was the begging children. The early French missionaries, wanting to make peace with the locals handed out sweets to the children – ‘Bon Bon’ – has now become ‘Pom Pom’ and as you drive up towards any village, the children all come scampering down the hillsides shouting ‘Pom Pom’ or ‘Sweeeeeets, Sweeeets’. We’d be told not to give into the begging as it only makes it worse – so we just waved back to them – sometimes the outstretched palms turned into waves back, but sometimes they turned into shaking fists!! We felt so guilty!!!!! It would take a harden soul to drive past any child standing out in the cold, asking for sweets while you drive past in your nice warm car!! We decided that we’d try and contribute in other ways by ensuring we tipped those who helped us well and buy from local stalls.

It took us over 2hours to drive about 50km and so we called it a day early and found the closest place to camp which was at St James Mission, who let us stay in the grounds of the little guest lodge and use the facilities there. For an extra 50R they made us a fire (there are no trees at this altitude, so wood is precious!) and we spent the evening sheltering from the cold inside the lodge where we ate and read by candlelight as there was no electricity. It was so peaceful and with no lights anywhere, the stars at night were incredible.

The next day we continued our drive north, we would have loved to ventured into the middle to the Katse Dam but the slow going would mean adding at least 3 more days on, so we stuck to the west side and travelled the ‘Roof of Africa’ route, most of which is above 3,000m! We visited Liphofung Cultural reserve where a guide took us to a beautiful sandstone cave that contained original ‘San’ paintings which are very much like the original aboriginal paintings in Aus but not as old. We decided to stay at the centre as they had a small grass patch we could camp on and once settled, it was still early afternoon so we decided to go for a walk to one of the nearby villages. We had read that the villages use a coloured flag system to show what you can buy there – white for beer, yellow for maize, red for meat and green for veggies. Typically, Richard had spotted a white ‘local beer’ flag in the distance, so off we went. Walking up to the village we met a group of children, who seemed to find our presence hysterical, but fortunately amongst the laughter one small girl stepped forward and in perfect English said ‘Good afternoon, how are you today’. The rest of the group found this even more hysterical and there seemed to be a lot of teasing her for being able to speak to us. Richard seizing on the opportunity of having a translator straightway responded with ‘I’m excellent thank-you, but can you show me where i can buy some beer’. She skipped forward and beckoned us to follow, so us, along with 10 or so other kids all tailed on behind until we reached a gate where the little girl told us to wait. She ran off to the nearest huts to let them know we were here and suddenly the hut erupted with shrieks and screams. Women began to pour out of the hut, laughing and smiling, with their arms raised and shrieking ‘Yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi’ and running towards us to welcome us! It was the most unbelievable moment and so unexpected. The women formed round us, laughing and shrieking and ushered us into the small round hut. Unbeknown to us, we had just gatecrashed their monthly ladies ‘co-operative’ meeting and the inside of the hut was packed with women of all ages and their babies. They sat us down and gave us cups of their home-brewed beer, a watery porridge looking liquid that they scooped out of the huge bucket that was sitting pride of place in the centre of the hut. They were all tucking in, so no wonder the welcome had been so energetic! Rich and i looked at each other nervously, all eyes were on us waiting for us to take a sip. Oh well, ‘Bottoms up!’ It was like rocket fuel, the colour hitting our cheeks immediately! There were cheers all round, then the music was turned up and everyone was up dancing and singing – all lead by the oldest lady in the group who must have been mid-70’s! She could move her hips better than any 21year old i’ve seen, and their singing was just beautiful. It was the most surreal couple of hours of my life, but we felt so humbled to be invited into their home like this. It turns out that many women club together to form ‘Co-operatives’ where each month they contribute as much money as they can to the kitty which is then used to buy groceries for the group. It means that if someone is having a difficult month they will not go hungry. For many women, their husbands are working in South Africa in the mines and so the money they raise is purely off what they have earned themselves. They were so proud of all the money they’d raised that day, they even wanted us to see all the money – ‘Look, we did this, 7,000R, all our own, with no men!’. We contributed further to their fund by buying some of the beer (not that we were brave enough to drink much more!)but wanted to seem willing! We left light-headed and giddy, home brew combined with such an intense and unexpected experience we walked home in a happy daze. Watching the sunset over the mountains, we could still hear the beautiful singing in the distance and we both just sat in silence with huge smiles on our faces! I know not everyday will be like this, but even if only some are, we are going to really love this place.

The view from Sani Pass

We made it!

Not a bad view from the pub garden!

The Ladies Co-operative

Local beer – would you be brave enough to try?

My new buddies

Jul 1

4 Comments

It’s time!

Day 80.

So here we are, are last night at Gibela’s in Durban – a little backpackers that has become home over the last 2 weeks, but tomorrow we are heading off in Africa to begin our long drive home. Kylie arrived as expected on Friday – which was a miracle, having been told that once in port it could take anything from 2 days to 2 weeks! We’d also had another slight mishap with paperwork as we didn’t have a waybill or original port of landing bill, again, something we thought should have been flagged previously, but nevertheless, the agent worked her magic and within hours had managed to obtain an ‘Express Release’ stamp. Having been told not to get our hopes up for a Friday pickup, We’d made plans to meet a friend for lunch, but as we were walking out the door, the agent rang to say ‘Come now – your car is ready’. Hearts in our mouths we hurried down to the port, and donning the hi-vis attire waited in the portside cabin for all the final paperwork to be exchanged so we could get our car. Our agent on this side, was amazing and not wanting us to get charged for storage over the weekend, was rallying around everyone to ensure the car would get released on time….we waited. It got to 4pm and just when i thought they’d shut up shop for the weekend, the shipping guy said we could go and get our car! We all hurried out of the cabin and across the busy dock to where amongst hundreds of huge containers, sat our lonely little 20fter! The bolt cutters were raised to break it open, and standing there with baited breath we waited to see if it really was our Kylie inside. What a relief to see her shiny backside! And even more of a relief to see that our rooftent, rooftop box were all still there too! She was a little stiff, when Rich reversed her out, but after letting her run while we put the kit back on the roof she was good to go. It was so good to be driving our car again – she felt so big and strong compared to the little Fiesta we’d been whizzing round it! However, it’s the strangest feeling to be in something so familiar, yet everything on the outside is so foreign – she really is our little home on wheels now.

The last few days, have been busy getting back into ‘traveller mindset’ and organising the last prep for the car. Everything here is so cheap, so glad we didn’t buy everything in Australia as it’s a fraction of the price here. We also had the good fortune to meet up with a friend of a friend, who took us to experience a Super-15’s rugby game at the Shark tank, followed by some local cusine – Bunny Chow – which consists of a half loaf of bread scooped out and filled with hot curry! So delicious, but hot, hot, hot! He also took us to meet his dad up at a fantastic bistro north of Durban which he’s built. His dad is a true bushman and filled us in on his adventures in Africa – so much good advice!. Thank you Jason for you hospitality!!!

And now it’s time to go – tomorrow we head out into the Drakensburg, with out first stop being Lesotho ‘The mountain Kingdom’. Kylie will be put to the test as we head up the Sani Pass – but hopefully she gets us up to the top where a beer at the highest pub in Africa awaits!