1st -5th of February

On the road moving south. Saw lots of elephants along the road. You have to be alert, because they are suddenly there. Called in at a lodge with a camping site and had some lunch. We sat at the edge of the waterhole and watched the elephants while we ate. A couple we met at Senyati camp were going to stay there, but we decided we would go further and get a bit c loser to Nxai Pan which we will visit.

Our choice was Plant Baobab Lodge campingsitewhere we have stayed before. A nice campsite and there is a swimming pool at the lodge where we could cool off, and with the temperatures souring around 36 degrees C, we needed it. We drove to the pan the next day. We saw elephant, dik dik, zebra, giraffe, impala, spring buck, wildebeest and cheetah - a good game drive in there. We didn't stay at the campsite because it was far too expensive for what it was. We drove to Rakobs and camped at Rakobs River Camp. This was a bad site, which was so overgrown that you couldn't get your vehicle down to the sites. A couple from Germany (Felix and Sandra) offered tolet us camp on their site with them. It was the only decent one. We had a great evening with them and we exchanged stories, info and Felix and me even fixed their vehicle with  a bit of wire. The engine was playing up a bit, but nothing that a bit of wire from the rubish bin couldn't fix. 

An inmate from Nkarma Rhino Sanctuary

South Africa

Today the 5th of February we are on our way towards the border at Martins Drift. You always think that South Africa is streets ahead of its neighbouring countries - but it's not at all. Everything was moving at a snails pace on their side of the border, after a quick pass through the Botswana side of things. The roads were also terrible compared to Botswana. We drove 70 kms on a road filled with pot holes. These are big craters all over the place in the tarmac's surface, so you are zig zagging all the time to avoid the drop!!!

Found a campsite via our GPS. A salt works with an incomplete campsite. We camped though and used one of the bathrooms in the gigantic house you could also rent.if you wanted to. We have our house with us. The couple who look after it were friendly and made us feel welcome. We can see mountains of salt from tthe campsite. They told us that they had just killed a black mamba, so we had to be alert. We saw nothing. During the evening the temperatures fallen to 27, which is cool.

6th - 10th of February

After our breakfast we left. We had to say when we would leave so they could make sure the gate was open. Karen had found a place where we could camp for the next night. We have to contact our friend Desmond in Sabie to let him know we are on our way. Called in at Whimpy in Lous Trichardt where you can get on the net using their free wi-fi.We eventually contacted Desmond but he was in hospital after an accident on his motorbike. He wouldn't be out for a least a week. We changed our plans and would head for Mfubu Lodge instead and catchup on Desmond later. We ended up driving all the way to Mfubu, because the campsite where we intended staying really didn't appeal to us at all. We were tired on arrival, but Olga the owner, was on hand to welcome us. There were elephants on the other side of the river more or less when we arrived.

One of the many colourfull birds at Mfubu

Mfubu is just about our favourite place in South Africa. A little lodge in the middle of the bush, where elephants, water buck, kudu, hippo, lion and of course the local baboons are quite often on hand to keep you company. Here we can relax on the banks of the Olifants River and experience the real Africa. I do a few small jobs to help Olga. Getting an old washing machine serviceable again is the top priority this time around. This is because the new machines don't last long down here and you are repeatedly buying new. I spend time with Enock one of Olga's employees, teaching him as much as I can. It's very warm at the moment with the temperature reaching 35 degrees C. by 10am. They could really do with some rain, because it is very dry at the moment.

Today we saw a hippo walking along the river. We are not sure if it was a female trying to find a place to give birth - time will tell!!! Cooled off at the pool and saw the elephants on the other side of the river. Enock and myself have stripped the washing machine and we found a hole in the bottom which we need to repair. You would never do this back home, but her you attempt everything to keep things running. I stripped down her old "capccinno" machine which no longer works. The seals were shot and of course need replacing. They will have to be sent from Italy, but this is still a lot cheaper than buying a new machine.

The vehicle while clean

For those of you interested in tthe vehicle we have this time. It is a Toyota Hilux 3.0 ltr diesel 4x4 single cab converted to a small camper, where the roof kan be raised so you can stand up inside. This means that we can drive anywhere and on any type of surface - mud, deep sand, water, you can more or less do what you want. The vehicle is equipped with a chemical toilet that also doubles as a seat at the table. You wouldn't believe how much storage space you have at your disposal, for both your clothes, food, table and chairs, wood and gas bottles etc. The best thing for me is the big double bed it has. It has lots of lighting inside and a power point, plus an inverter if you need 220 volts out in the bush.

We are also lucky, because the vehicle is new (2 months old with 2900 kms on the clock) and real leather seats and cruise control, which is great, because there are a lot of speed traps down here. So we feel like a king and queen driving around.

11th - 14th Feruary

Spent tthe day doing nothing. The washing machine couldn't be repaired. When we had fitted the seal and repaired the hole in the bottom of the drum, we filled it with water. What do you think happened??? Yes, you were right, the water still cascaded out of the bottom. We completely stripped the drum down and found the inside completely eaten away. Getting water to an isolated tap in the gallery building was a success though. So one of the jobs worked out!

We left Mfubu - bye Olga, and are now on our way to Sabie and to see Desmond a friend who live there. Fantastic scenery on the way down. Blyde River Canyon area is fantastic. Yes we love the mountains. Arrived at Sabie River Camping site which is owned by Demond's dad Raymond. He had booked us into a luxury tent. Anja his daughter was also there. It was really great to see her again. We spent a couple of nights at the camp, with Desmond doing a "porque" for the evening meal. Meat, potatoes, maise, carrots, mushrooms, runner beans, all cooked in a rich sauce for about three hours - delicious!!!

Had a walk into Sabie with Desmond. We needed a bit of exercise. Driving the vehicle doesn't give much in the way of much needed "body motion".

The sun sets in Africa

Time to move on. Had breakfast with Desmond and we were now ready for the off. There was one small problem, the town was blocked off. Some of the locals had been tampering with the power supplies to get free power - not a good idea. Now the authorities have cut the power off and people were not happy. Maybe they don't realise that stealing electricity is against the law, but whether they did or didn't they had blocked every road in and out of Sabie. We had to go through the town to move on south. Luckily, both Raymond and Desmond knew a way we could avoid the town. Desmond led on his motorbike and after 15 minutes we were on the south side of the town - phew! We heard later that there had been riots in Sabie.

On our way south we passed through some of the most fantastic mountain passes, valleys and gorges we have ever seen and we climbed to over 2000 meters. We had to stop a few times to take a couple of photos. Then the coutryside changed completely. We were now passing by one coal fired power station after the other. They were gigantic and we saw five, plus huge collieries where they mined the coal. All this in the same area of about 40 square kms. The coal was in a lot of cases tranported from the collieries to the power stations on conveyor systems several kms long. I thought about all he polution this produces, but it's the natural resources they have, and while they have it they are going to utilize it.

We found a fantastic camping site at Lekoa Lodge down the N3 and then along a gravel road. Their sign before we left the main road didn't say camping, but "tracks4africa" on our GPS said there was - and there was. Great to be camping again. First to the swimming pool to get cooled off a bit. Temperature is still around 33 degrees C, even at this height.

15th-19th of February

Still on our way south and all of a sudden we could see mountains in the distance. It was Lesotho. We drove along the border with Lesotho through Bethlehem, Fourisberg and past Ladybrand. The memories come flooding back from our time in Lesotho all those years ago. To say the scenery we were passing through was fantastic would be an understatement. We found a Forever resort which are normally good and booked a luxury campsite with own toilet and bathroom.

On our way south again and we would have lunch in the Three Sisters town, but on arrival we found out that it was three mountains and a petrol station - oh yes, and a Whimpy bar!!! Carried on down to Beaufort West where we would definitely could get some lunch. There was nothing open at all, but we eventually found the spur restaurant, well hidden on the other side of a roundabout.

The scenery is a bit of okay

Camping is great when you have the right equipment!!!

We decided to drive into Prince Albert and have coffee and a bit more (ha ha). Beautiful town. Drove through Schwartberg Pass and this is always a fantastic experience. The scenery again is mind boggling. The road was officially closed, but it was okay if we drove carefully. They were repairing the gravel road which takes you over the pass. Arrived at Kruisriver Guest farm, but no one was home apart from two friendly labradores and whole load of hens. Nice campsite with a great view of the mountains. The owners turned up just before dark.

Next day we had more or less decided we would drive down to the coast and maybe have a swim in the Indian Ocean. Again we chose the off road track to get down there, with Still Bay being our objective. Mussel Bay also on the coast is a much bigger place with more camping sites, but also a lot more noise and people, so not for us. We climbed over Roobes Pass in four wheel drive and low gear. When we got to the top we could see for about 50 kms. Of course we spent some time doing this.

Arrived at the campsite at Still Bay and found a good patch where we could see the ocean. It was blowing a bit, but warm enough to sit outside. Had a walk down to the beach, but too cold to bathe. Later on it began to blow up, and it was time to get into the vehicle before the storm arrived. Then the electricity failed, so no coffee tonight. All the pluses and minuses of being in Africa.

Somewhere over the rainbow

 20th - 24th of February

On our way west and stopped at the town Ashton - of course. Went into Ashtons Keller where they produce wine from the local grapes. Karen tried six different wines and tried to match them with different cheeses, chocolate and sausage. I helped a bit, but someone had to drive afterwards!!! WE bought a few bottles of wine. We had to see if we could find a camping site about an hours drive from Capetown, so it was an easy drive in the morning. We went into Berg Camping, but didn't like the camp at all. We ended up at Hollandische camping, where they found a corner for us. It's weekend and the sites are packed. We could see the mountains from our little spot and the neighbours were friendly, so a good place to be.

Capetown

The next couple of days we spent with our friends in Capetown. Laura and Toby and their two lads Silas and Linus. Wow how the lads have grown since we saw them last. As always we really enjoys being with them and they look after us while we are there and we just relax. Unfortunately the time come and we have to be on the go again. We are going to drive up through the Cedarberg mountains, through the winemaking areas and also where they grow Rooibus Tea.

The area is mountains and passes and drove on the gravel road which takes you right into the heart of the area. We stayed two nights at Mount Cedar camping site, and here you are right out in the middle of nowhere, with just the mountains to gaze at. The temperature climbed to 38 C today and now at 8 pm the temperature is a nice 27 C. One problem though is that it always tends to blow up a bit during the evening and it gets very cold. Belive it or not.

25th-26th of February

Moving on through the Cedarberg mountains and enjoying the drive. We are taking the off road track through and not the tar road. We don't meet any vehicles at all. The only problem is it's very dusty. Camped at Mount Cedar camp site. A great site with lots of really high trees. They have a swimming pool, which is actually the water running down from the mountains, which forms a pool which you can bathe in. Cold and clear. Next morning we drove the car into the river where it runs over a flat driveable area, and washed the car in fresh mountain water.

Next day we carried on off road for the first part, then the tar road to a Nature Sanctuary with a camp site near Sprinbok. A beautiful site, but they never quite finished it, but okay for us. We clambered a bit round in the rocks surrounding the camp. This area is famous for its "quiver trees" and there were lots of them.

Above Laura and Toby and Selas and Linas

One cold Atlantic Ocean

27th of February

On our way into Springbok we suddenly saw that there was a small golf course, and of course we had to go in and see what it was like. Three guys and a women were just about tee off and said we could play with them. We declined the offer, but would walk a couple of holes with them to see the course. There were "qyuiver trees" everywhere. Everyone was so friendly and they let us see the club house. Today we had decided to have breakfast in Springbok. We can remember last time we were here that the Springbok Lodge served a good English breakfast. We weren't disappointed at all. I even had chips on mine.

Did some shopping - and what a mistake that was. It was the end of the month and pay day and a Saturday. The supermarket was crammed full. You couldn't even move round with your trolley. We waited 45 minutes just to pay.

Eventually on the road and out to the coast via Alexandra Bay, which was a misserable place if you had to live there. We filled up with diesel and the attendants had thick coats on. Here the wind blows all the time and it's cold and very dusty. We had coffee at a little port town on the coast. Even wet our toes in the Atlantic.It's too cold to camp in this area, so we are on the move again towards the border with Namibia.

28th-29th of February

Namibia

We are on our way Richtsveld which is a tranfrontier park with Namibia (this meaans that the park is in both countries and we sross the border into Namibia on our way out. We got to reception and found out that the campsite was a three hour trip in the park and cost a fortune, so we dropped it and crossed the border into Namibia. Here we have to sail over on a a little ferry powered by outboard motors. Again it's very hot 39C.

We drove through and past mountains on our way north. We stopped at Tiras camping site. Great view of the surrounding countryside. There wasn't a lot of shade and we decided to move on after one night. We saw quite a few dead oryx as we drove further north on the gravel roads of Namibia. We called into say hello to an old lady we stayed with in 2010, but she was in Germany on holiday. Talked to a German couple who said it was raining in Etosha quite a lot. Hope not too much.

We got into Hamerstein Lodge where we will camp for two days and enjoy the swimming pool and surroundings. A group of overlanders arrived on the second day, plus a 60+ overlanders group, with Danes in the group. We had a chat with some of them and guess what, there were two from Sikeborg. Small world!

The road through the mountains