Ny side 1

1/12/12 Rain during the night. Karen did some washing then we were off to do the scenic route in the area. We are staying here for two nights. Drove round to the other side of the mountains we could see from the farm and came through a gorge cutting back through the mountains again. A little drive of 180 kms, but worth it. The area is full of Apricot plantations as well as vineyards and with the Jakorandas in full bloom everywhere, the scenery is out of this world.
	Sunset at Elandsviei

2-4/12/12 Sorry to leave our "water tank", but we have to move on. We are now on our way to The Lost Valley, or better known as Die Hel. When the English ruled the area, all the people had to mark out the land they had and send the result to Capetown where it was decided how much they had to pay. Nobody knew about the farmers who lived in the valley called Die Hel and of course they kept quiet. There was no road into the valley before the beginning of the 60s and a dangerous road it was, so not many ventured in there. So the term "lost valley" is not lost on the area. Today there are no locals left and the area is a national conservation park today. The trip down can be a bit hair raising if you suffer from heights. There are no railings to stop you going over the edge and if you meet another vehicle coming in the opposite direction, then it's bad luck to be on the outside. The campsite offers good views of the mountains and we enjoyed our two days there. Off now to De Rust where we have to pick up our new cover for the tent. Drove to Prince Albert over one of the most facinating passes in the world. You have to drive through it yourself to appreciate what I am saying. On arrival in De Rust we found out that the cover had not arrived. Now we have to ring Savanna to find out what's happened. The package apparently didn't leave Windhoek as promissed on friday, but was first sent Monday. We have no idea what's going to happen now!! Had to rent a cottage at Meijers Farm just outside De Rust. The weather is rainy and cold - definitely no tenting weather.
	5-7/12/12 Weather cold and wet during the night, so once again unfortunately we glad for our inside accommodation. The guy who owned the farm was Barry, a South African who had lived in America for 35 years. Now he had had enough, so home to SA and his farm. He also had a camping site 8 kms up in the mountains. We had decided we would camp up there if the weather allowed it. We drove out to a nearby fountain just through the gorge not far from the camp. We had our lunch here. The weather today has completely changed from yesterday. Blue sky ande warm again. In contact with Savanna regarding the tent cover. The plan is now that it will be sent to Oudtshoorn where we can pick it up on the 6th of December.
Our camping site at Meijers
Decided to drive up to Barry's camping site up in the mountains. It was definitely a 4x4 road up to the camp. You are right on the top of the mountain, with a view to match. It's a very rustic camp, but has a toilet and shower. During the first night we really had a storm. We were really worried about the tents chances of survival, but we all got through in one piece. The next day the weather was back to normal - blue sky and hot. We went a walk down to a waterfall nearby. Really fantastic, we were completely alone in the world. The water was so inviting so I lost my inhibitions, off with my clothes and into the ice cold mountain water. Karen not to be outdone soon followed suit. No towels with us, but lying on the rocks we soon got dry. The next night was warm and no storms to contend with. When we got to Oudtshoorn to collect the tent cover they had sent it to De Rust, so we had to drive all the way back from where we had come from. AWA - africa wins again! Eventually picked it up in De Rust. Found a great little campsite called Doringkloof Bush Camp in the valley not far from De Rust, right on the lake. Had a walk along the lake to see the dam that brought the lake about.

8-10/12/12 Next morning we were woken early with the sound of slamming doors and loud voices. A group of fisherman had arrived to try their luck in the lake. May as well get up. One of them caught a big catfish about 60cms in length. They are not the best fish to eat, so it was duly returned to its element. On our way now towards Bavianskloof, which is a gorge come valley, over 100 kms in length and without doubt reserved for 4x4s and mountains bikes if you want to travel all the way through. Fantastic mountains and cliffs and the occasional tortous wandering over the road. On our way through the gorge and the road not too bad in the beginning, but it got worse and we met lots of deep water. At one point we met a group of mountain motorbike enthusiasts, who had come in from the opposite end to us. They were battling to get through a deep run of water about 100 meters in length and 60 cm in depth. The bottom was rocks which makes riding a bike through this pretty hazadous. Some of the first ones across waded out to help the others through. Their boots were quite full of water when they reached the other side. They were all laughing about it after they had all reached safety without mishap. We got through without a problem and continued our way through the gorge. We saw bushbuck, kudu, baboons along the way. We camped for the night at Kudu Kaya Guest Farm. The farmer started spraying the field next to us with a high pressure system while we were just having our breakfast. He didn't give a toss if we were sprayed as well. We hightailed it out of there as quick as we could. Don't know what he was spraying with, but it smelt pretty strong stuff. Drove towards Addo Elephant Park, where upon arrival we found out that there were no camping sites available. We found a site near the town of Addo, where we camped at Homestead B&B camp. We have booked a site in Addo for tomorrow and the Mountain Zebra Park the next two nights. Our biggest problem now is that we have bad weather since we hit South Africa. Sun sometimes during the day, but too many evenings where it's cold and windy and our camping enthusiasm is decreasing with each day this weather carrys on. Maybe it's on the cards to drive north instead of carrying on in an easterly direction.
Elephants in Addo	While at Homestead camp we met a couple from Holland who have a vehicle down here. They have seen a lot of South Africa, but funnily enough have never really ventured far north of the border.
11-14/12/12 Arrived at Addo early and found the camping site was full, apart from one site which was on a slant which would make positioning the vehicle and tent quite difficult. We saw a couple who seemed to be getting ready to leave. Their site was ok. Karen went over and asked them and they said they would put our table and chairs out when they left later. Then we had a decent site to come back to. We drove round in the park for 9 hours and we saw so much wildlife. This park is brilliant. It's very big and very diverse in the way it presents itself. We saw so many elephants that we lost count. There were many young elephants in the herds. Two elephants came very close to the vehicle, so close, that one centimeter closer and they would have touched the side of the vehicle. One came up from behind and caught us both by surprise. I just glanced out of my side window to see a large bull looking back at me. Phew - close call!!! We also saw red harder beast, eland, zebra, wilderbeast, kudu, springbuck, warthog, jackal and ostrich and two ostrich that were mating. Karen hogged the binnoculars while this was in progress. When the male was finished he ran off at full speed and disappeared into the bush. I don't really know if there is anything we can learn from his escapades!!! We also saw a lion with a dead buffalow and two lions a bit later at the side of the road, but in the bushes, so they were difficult to see. A jackal came into the camp during the night. I had just come back from having a shower and it was examining our camp for tit bits. A nice warm night.
We spent nearly two days in Addo, but only stayed for one night at the campsite. We left in the afternoon for The Mountain Zebra Park, which is a 200 km drive up north. Booked just one night, with the option of another if we wanted it. We saw Mountain Zebra of course. They differ from what we call the normal zebra (Burchells Zebra) in thet their rear end is 50% white. We also encountered the black wilderbeast, which you really don't see all that often. The park is a beautiful advert for all the best in mountain landscapes. They have special 4x4 tracks you can try, we tried one, but it doesn't get you closer to the animals in the park. On our second day in the park the weather turned nasty with thunder and lightning and it got very dark. We decided to head towards our next stop and see if we could leave the bad weather behind us. When we arrived in Hogsback it was still throwing it down, so camping was definitely out of the question. Through the tourist info we got an address and drove out to "Never Daunted". Here we rented a cottage for two nights., earlier it was a swimmingpool and later a compost storeage. So the windows are very hig up! It is situated in a fabulous garden where we can also see the mountains surrounding Hogsback from our bedroom and from outside. We have been here before and it's a town you have to see to believe. We visited the campsite where we stayed last time and the two dogs Patricia and Cathy duly followed us down town and into the restaurant where we ate lunch - just as they did last time we were here. The only problem was that we were not going back to the campsite, so they just followed us home. Luckily everyone in the village knows them, so the guy we have rented the cottage from was going down to the village and he coaxed them to go with him.

Hogsback is a sea of flowers of every sort and even I was facinated by the blooms that met us everywhere we went. We met a guy who had roots in Denmark and he invited us up to his house for a drink. The view from up their was out of this world. It was his parents house which he has completely refurbished with four en-suite bedrooms etc.
	A black wilderbeast
15-19/12 Our last evening in Hogsback was raining and it carried on through the night. We even had to pack the vehicle in rain weather. We were slipping round in the mud trying to get stuff into the back. We drove off with it appearing to be the middle of the night - it was so dark. We hoped we could get away from the rain, but it followed us down to the coast at Haga Haga, where Mike, who bought our vehicle lives. We had been invited to come amd stay for the night. They have a lovely house overlooking the sea. We were made to feel welcome by all the family. Went for a walk down to the beach after a gorgeous lunch. Our old hilux was parked nearby, so of course we had to go down to see it
Our old Hilus with Mike showing me some of the changes he has made
It's great to see that the vehicle is being used for the purpose it was built for. After a nice time with Mike and family we were on the move again. Still driving through nature's gift to Africa - mountains and valleys galore! We stayed overnight at Mount Currie Nature Reserve. We were alone on the site and it got a bit cold during the evening. Luckily the toilet building provided a good wind break. We played yatzi and I think I won again - no competition. On our way to Underberg where we will eat breakfast - or hope to. Found a cafe whe to get throughre we could get an English breakfast and use their wireless internet. We have never waited so long to get served. Over an hour before our breakfast was served. The coffee we had ordered to be consumed with the breakfast came after five minutes. AWA!!! On the road now to the border and Sani Pass. Going through the pass was awesome to say the least. We had heard rumours to the affect that they would tarmac the road, but they haven't and they won't. You definitely need a 4x4. There were lots of signs warning against attempting to drive up or down without a 4x4 vehicle.

When we got to the top and we were safely in Laesoth he temperature gauge read 8 degrees C. The trip down to Oxbow via Mohtlong took a long time. We arrived at Oxbow at 6pm. We got a room, with breakfast and dinner for 1387 rand, which is expensive. The food was simple, but okay. We met the owner Kosta, who has owned the place since 1983. We could remember him from our time in Lesotho. Incredible that he is still at it - he must like it. All the rooms had gas heaters, because it was cold up in the mountains.	Sani Pass
On our way through Buthe Buthe and back into South Africa. We drove through Golden gate and headed towards Eshowe. It's along drive, so we had to find a camping site on the way. That wasn't easy, but eventually Karen M found one on the GPS.Lilawi Hot Springs was the name of the place. We drove and drove along the mountains and eventually came to a field and some huts. Not really a campsite, but we were allowed to use the toilets in one of the huts. It ended up being a nice cosy evening because three women were in the next hut and were fun to talk to. They were going down to bathe in the springs. Next day we arrived in Eshowe, where we will stay at Zululand Guest lodge. We have stayed here before with Hanne and Jorgen two years ago. Rang Toyota to hear if they could service the vehicle but they were too busy, so it will have to wait.We will be going out to see Hanne and Jorgens sponsor child tomorrow, so Karen was buying a few presents to take with us, also from Hanne and Jorgen.

19-21/12/12 We have had a great stay in Eshowe. A combination of relaxing and visiting the family we visited last time. The family who live in a village not far from Eshowe, have a daughter who is helped by ZuluFadder, an organisation which helps children who have lost parents to aids. They make sure they go to school and have the basics to do it. My brother in law and his wife support one of the daughters, and we duly delivered gifts of food, toys and clothes. It's a large family, and not knowing how many were home we had some extra items with us. It all worked out well and even "grandma" was in fine form. It doesn't take much to really make a family happy. karen had lunch with "poppy" one of the teachers working with Zulufadder.
	The family we visited
Today we are on the road towards the coast to visit Linda and Mathew who we met in Namibia. We will camp on the way and arrive tomorrow.

22-26/12/12 Bushbaby lodge is a camp we have stayed at before and we liked it. It's also on the way to where Mathew and Linda live. Found a good spot (where we were for 2 years ago) and set up camp. A dip in the pool, where we talked to a couple from SA. While we talked, the guy that owns the campsite came over and said that the electricity had disappeared from our site. He had, while working on one of the chalets, accidentally cut the line to our site. We could just use the next site, but they were all in use. AWA, Africa wins again. - we managed without. Arrived next day at Mathew and Linda's house. They live in the hospital grounds in the town, because Mathew is a doctor at the hospital. It was nice to see them again together with their son Joshua, who is a years and a half old. We sat out all the time because now the temperature was back over the 30s again. We all went out to a 4x4 beach where you need a permit to enter the area. The Indian Ocean was so warm to bathe in. Our time spent with them passed so quickly and we were on the road again. Swaziland Picturesque country side all the way down to the border with Swaziland. As we went through the border we were given a brochure, a local newspaper, and a map - welcome to our country. We camped just over the border for the night at Mahamba Gorge Lodge campsite. Chatted to a couple from Holland at the camp. They are working as volunteers at the moment in Lesotho, so were heard the latest from the area. Carried on through Swaziland to Milwane Wildlife Sanctuary wher we hope to camp through Christmas. We booked a Christmas dinner they were advertising, so we hope it's good.. Decided to stay at least two days. The weather hot at the moment, so we decided a dip in the pool was called for. Over to the bar afterwards for a shandy and a look out over the lake to see if we could see the crocs. There were a lot of Sacred Ibis, which is a bird, at the lake, probably a couple of hundred of them. We also saw quite a few turtles swimming around in the muddy water. On Christmas day the day started fine. We relaxed at then camp and a small herd of bushbuck wondered through the camp, probably looking for the odd scrap. Went up to the restaurant for our Christmas Dinner and what a pleasant surprise it was to see the way they had decorated the place. Each table had its own "christmas tree", which was decorated, and a cracker with each plate. There was a little present for everyone - a bowl filled with sweets which you could take home with you. We had the best table in the place, right overlooking the lake. The food was turkey, pork, beef curry, rice, potatoe crockets, vegetables, a whole range of different salads, fresh baked bread, sauces and gravy to suit. Dessert was fruit and cream, strawberry cheesecake, mince pies, fruit kebabs, chocolate cake etc and all the tea and coffee and truffles you could drink and eat!!! We were very satisfied and all for about £30. They even through in a croc at the end. It came swimming up to see if any drunken guests were having problems staying on dry land. It swam away again, disappointed! It had stared raining half way through our diner and it continued on through the day and through the night. Now it's boxing day and the campsite is a bit of a mud bath, but we are staying until tomorrow. We haven't been out in the park yet, we should have been doing this today, but many people have got stuck attempting, so we will see if we do it tomorrow, before we leave. Today we are drying out and reading and seeing if we can finish the last crosswords and seduko.
27-28/12/12 On our way north today after a wet night, so we packed the tent away, wet. Hopefully we can get it dry later today. Saw a bit of the park before we left and we could see that it was difficult to drive on some of the roads.We saw quite a lot of animals though - springbuck, zebra, wilderbeast, blesbuck, bushbuck and warthog. Called in at the "house of fire", which in principle was an amphitheatre, but the have built through the years, weird walls and figures everywhere. It's a place you have to see to believe it exists. Also looked in at a local tourist market where you could buy anything. Had some fantastic candles, but so expensive. Had to do a bit of shopping at the Mall and then on our way to see the biggest iron ore mine in the world. We picked up our guide and just as we were on our way, Karen said "where's the camera" - it had been stolen while we were shopping. We completed our tour, but now our minds weren't on it at all - where is our camera. We went through the vehicle - nothing.
We had to find a police station and that wasn't easy, even in the capital of Swaziland. After a bit of help from the always helpfull locals we found it. The police woman who we talked to said we had to come back tomorrow, so now we had to find a campsite close to the town. We found Timbali Lodge which had a site. No hot water in the showers, so we borrowed a house to use the shower. Got back to the police station at 8.30am and duly explained what had happened. It appears that there is a band of thieves operating around the mall area and they have quite modern equipment to confuse alarms. As I locked our doors, they blocked the signal and even though I had pressed the lock button, it apparently didn't lock.They made off with our digital camera, two lenses, a flash and all our sd and usb memory cards. We eventually got a police report to take home to see if we have any insurance that will cover some of our loss. We are really fed up with all this, bacause we are normally very careful with our stuff. We are now down to our little digital camera to take photos with. Luckily Karen had just uploaded all our photos to our computer, so we didn't lose them! We drove into Malolotia Park and had lunch there, but not too many animals. Drove to Phophonyane Falls Lodge where they had a campsite. The only problem is that they didn't have one. The owner took pity on us and gave us one of their fixed tents for a third of the price they normally charge. A nice gesture. It also included breakfast. Our tent overlooked the river and in the morning we are going for a much needed walk.
29-31/12/12 The walk next day was a strenuous one. We followed the river, walking in the forest as we did so, but we were climbing up and then all the way down again, only to repeat the procedure several times. I was whacked when we were finished. The waterfall was one of the better ones we have seen. Even though we made an early start in the morning, the temperature was already over 30 degrees at 7.30am. No shade at the falls all, so we had to move away and gaze from a distance.
We are now on our way to Komitypoort where Desmond, one of our friends lives. It was really great to see him again. His garden is an oasis of bushes and mango trees and another tree, which I forget the name of. We camped in his garden for three days and we enjoyed every minute of it. Desmond is a type of "trouble shooter" for a large bus company. He has to make sure that things run smoothly when they cross into Mozambique and back again, no mean task when we are talking about hundreds of buses. He loves the challenge the job gives him and a challenge it really is, but he is up to it.
	Karen and Desmond hanging streamers
We visited the local golf course, teeing off at 7.50am. This was the only time we could get. Playing in 35 degrees wasn't my cup of tea at all and you could say it showed in how I played. Just on the other side of the river which ran at the side of the course was Kruger National Park. We saw a croc and 4 buffalos, plus a waterbuck. Desmond was called to work while we were negotiating the third hole. Bit of a shame, but that's the job!
	We also visited a couple of campsites where they had a pool. I won't exactly say we cooled off, because keeping the water cold is a problem with the heat we have at the moment. The temperature managed to climb up to 38 at its highest.
On the 31st the three of us combined talents to produce a New Years Eve meal in the garden. Fireworks rose to the sky at 12 midnight and, yes, that was goodbye to 2012, a rich travel year for us!

January