1st - 7th April 2011

Left Erongo and we are now heading for Etosha. Called in at Outjo and found our beloved baker. Unfortunately everything changes and the baker isn't what it has been. Had a bit of lunch then we were on the road again. Camped at Etosha Safari Camp. Here we talked to other travellers and no one had had much luck seeing animals in Etosha, so we decided  to head for Purus instead, but the roads were inpassable at the moment because of the vast amount of rain they have had both here and in Angola. So what should we do??? We decided to head for Upuwo, which was supposed to be an interesting town, with quite a large population of Himba people. We had also read about a sanctuary close to the town which was run by the locals, and was full of wildlife that could be seen, which is more than can be said about Etosha at the moment.

We stayed at Upuwo County Hotel camp site, but here again the information was that the sanctuary is closed until June because of the rain. The next destination on our list was Epupu Falls - but, no you guessed it, the road was also impassable. Now we were fast running out of options.

Everything under water

Another waterfall we had in our sights was Ruacana Falls and here the road was okay. The falls are situated right on the border with Angola and both countries have a joint hydro-electric sheme further up from the falls. At the moment, because of the volumn of rain they have to let a lot of the water by pass the turbines. This results in a waterfall on a par with Victoria. Not as long or high, but for us in its own way, equally impressive. We spent a couple of hours here and had our lunch. Drove to the town Ruacana where we looked at a couple of camping sites. One we had been told about called Sunset, was okay but ressembled a bit of a building site, so we settled for Eha Lodges camping site. Quite a bit of noise from the road, but it's only for one night.

 The waterfall at Ruacana

Etosha

On the road to the north gate of Etosha. drove through the park to Namatoni camp site. Lots of people at Namatoni. Probably because they have heard as we have, that this is where all the animals are at the moment. We saw Oryx, zebra, wilderbeast, giraffe, jackal, springbuck, impalla, tortoise, vultures at a kill, yellow billed and marabou stork, dik dik, secretary bird, hyena etc - not bad when they say no animals. We have been to Etosha many times before and enjoyed it every time. This will probably be our last visit - a bit sad really. Met a couple of Mancunians in Etosha, Carol and David. They live in Australia, but are on a longer Africa/Europe trip. They are driving in the same general direction as us, so no doubt we will see then again.

We are now making our way towards Botswana. We will drive straight through to South Africa where we will meet Mike who is buying the vehicle from us. The next stop will be Roy's camp on the way to the Caprivi Strip. Arrived without too many problems. On the way down though we have seen so much under water - it's unbelievable.We checked another camp on the way down called Bush baby, but it was more or less under water. Decided to stay two nights at Roys and maybe wash the car and get some much needed washing done.

Roy's camp transformed to a lake

Left again on our way south. Camped at Shamvuru Camp. Had a great evening around the fire with Carol and David. Here they have a problem with a once pet otter, that after its release into the wild, keeps returning to have a dip in the swimming pool - much to the delight of the guests. The children have to watch it though, because it doesn't have much of a liking for them!!! We didn't see it though.

8th - 11th of April

Today we will drive to Zambezi River Lodge and camp. About 400 kms from here. The Caprivi Strip is not the most exciting road to drive at all. You just have to get on with driving through it. There were lots of signs saying beware of the elephants - but we saw none to be aware of at all.

Arrived at the lodge camp site and found a good spot a few meters from the Zambezi River. Lots of water in it, so Victoria Falls have plenty of water at the moment. A crocodile was lying on the bank not far from us, so we kept a safe distance from it. Decided to go up to the lodge and eat, but we were disappointed. Sat out on the terrace overlooking the Zambezi, but the food was not anything special.

A crocodile, meters from our camping spot

Botswana

Today we are on our way to Kasane in Botswana. Got through the border after a bit of a problem with paying for the vehicle. We of course had no Botswana pula, so we could pay in Rand, which we had, but the exchange rate was just a plain money making racket for them. She wanted to give us our change in Namibia dollars, also at a money making rate, the country we had just left!!! We eventually sorted it out, but without there help. If they would smile sometimes, it would help.

We were now in Botswana, and after stopping a couple of times to fill out a roadside book containing details of where we had come from and where we heading, we saw our first elephants in a long time. 13 of them on both sides of the road. I don't know how long it was we parked there, but it was a long time! Just think - all the way through Namibia, we hadn't seen one elephant and now they are queing up at the side of the road to be photographed. On into Kasane and did some shopping and out the elephant man, to camp. (Sinyati Safari camp) Sinyati,  means "place of the buffalo".

All the way out to the camp there were loads of elephants at the side of the road. This is the real Africa - no need for game parks just here.!

During the evening, about 100 elephants visited the water hole, about 20 meters from where we sat drinking our gin and tonics - doesn't get much better than this!!! We are staying here for a couple of nights.

I had an awful thought while writing this - today is the 10th of April, which means that we have only 18 days left, before we fly home!!! ooh - ooh!

We talked ourselves into staying here an extra night, which wasn't too difficult at all. I think this camp will rate amongst the the top five camps we have stayed at during our long journey through this continent..

Elephants at the side of the main road

Gave the tent some silicone to help keep the rain out. Mind you we haven't had rain for a few days now - just clear blue skies. Our second night gave us the spectacle of over 150 elephants coming to the water hole, starting at 5.0pm and lasting until we reluctantly had to leave them to crawl up into our tent. We could still hear them though. A herd of buffalos also paid the hole a visit. Not bad seeing two of the big five, a few meters from where we are. I had a bit of a fright while attending to my duties as grill master. A large bull elephant came walking past me from behind. It was no more than 3 meters from me, but I didn't hear it until it was more or less at the side of me. It was not too concerned with me - it just wanted to get down to the water. - Phew!!!

As I am writing this at 11.30am on Monday the 11th of April,. two elephants have just sauntered up to the water hole. It still seems a bit unreal after the disappointment with Etosha's elephants, or lack of them. Senyati camp is special because of its location out in the bush. Only elephants, buffalo, giraffe etc, plus animal and nature lovers come here to enjoy the best that Africa can boast.  

Elephants at the camp water hole

Karen enjoying life in a hammock at Senyati

12th - 16th of April

A shame to leave the "elephant man", but all good things have to come to an end. On the road to Francistown, about 500 kms. Arrived at about 2.0pm after a boring drive down and did some shopping and downloaded our mail. Problems with the slow internet in the town and we were unable to update our homepage. Drove out to Tati River Lodge camping. The site has seen better days and we had to get them to switch on the hot water in the ablutions. It needed a couple of hours to warm up. Went down to the hotel to use their wireless internet, but as usual it didn't work. Had a bit of luck though. In the bar they were showing the champions league quartted final between Manchester United v Chelsea. We got the right result - 3-1 to the reds (United). They even kept the bar open until the match was finished. 

On our way down to the border when we bumped into Chris, an English guy at a petrol station. He was manager of a bush camp down on the Limpopo river, which is the border with South Africa. Our intention had been to cross the border to SA, but he persuaded us to visit his camp, so we did. He was going to pick up his car at a town further away, but he gave us instructions on how to get there. Molima Bush Camp as it was called was fantastic. Situated right on the Limpopo river and in an area with lots of animals. Our site was covered by two gigantic trees, so we had plenty of shade from the burning sun. Did a game drive in the afternoon and saw Thompsons gazelle, impalla, kudu, but no elephants.

Some of the roads are impassable, so Chris gave us directions on how to get to the border. We ended up on a private road, which was lucky, because the owner put us on the right track again and it turned out that Chris's instructions weren't right. We would have ended up driving in vain to a crossing that was flooded.

South Africa

Arrived the border crossing and Karen got a new visa - which makes it two she has now!!! It makes a mockery of all the trouble we have had before with our visa. If you count the two visas waiting for us in Nelpruit, Karen now has three and me two. hello - hello South Africa - wake up.

We drove towards Magpungubwe game park. We have heard it's a place you have to visit - so of course we did. On the way we saw lots of fantastic Baubab trees, they were more or less lining the route. We took then usual 100 photos, though not of the same tree!. When we got to the park we found out that the camping site was in another part of the park. This meant we had to leave the park and drive all the way round and then into the other part where the site was. It would mean an 80 km trip to do that, so we decided to go in the park and find a place to camp later. The park was nice. We saw elephants again. Both groups we saw were down on the track. We had to wait to give them room before we could proceed.

Camping site at Molima Bush camp

Drove to Atku Eiland Spar Resort where we camped. We had a really nice time in the hot spar water. Old "war" wounds were soothed into oblivion. Not many people around really. Campsite good and quiet until 6.0 am.

16th - 26th of April

On our way to Olga at Mfubu Lodge, near Kruger Park. Great to see her again. She really is someone you like to visit again and again. We had anticipated staying in our own tent, but Olga wouldn't have it. We could use the lodge tent on the river front. After chatting to Olga about what we had to do about handing over the vehicle to Mike who has bought it, she said we could come back here and stay until our flight home on the 28th of April. We have to drive to Nelspruit to meet Mike and then to Mozambique to get our Carnet stamped. Olga said we could take her car, so we could get back here after Mike has taken the Hilux. It would be a long way for Mike to drive if he should "taxi" us back again. I will do a few jobs around the lodge while we are here. Not only because they need doing, I like doing it.

The lodge is great. Apart from the baboons which are a nuisence, a whole variety of animals are present here. Elephants, giraffe, lions, warthog, buffalo, hippo and crocs. A strange thing they have up here is a vulture restaurant. Not a place where you can eat, but where you can take your "dead meat" or carcases, so the vultures can enjoy a good dinner. I didn't believe it - but it's true enough!

We drove into the town today with Olga to get supplies, check the net and pick up things I needed to do the jobs at the Lodge. We checked on the best way to get to Joburg on the 27th of April. Flying was too expensive, so we have decided to hire a car to do the job instead. We heard from Mike that the carnet had arrived from England, so the changing of ownership is now hopefully just a formality.

We had a fantastic drive to Nelspruit Airport where we would collect Mike. Mountains, dales and fields filld with fruit trees and crops were a pleasure to drive through. Mike came through on time and we were on our way to Malalane, where we would stay for the night, just 60 kms before the border, at Villa Langa. Olga, bless her soul had made things easy by lending us her Volvo. Now Mike could make an early start tomorrow on his 1200 km drive back to East London.

Mike and myself drove down to the border with Mozambique and got the carnet paperwork organised for the transfer of the ownership of the vehicle to Mike. Wow everything went okay and now we are minus one Hilux. It will be sad to see it go, but all good things have to come to an end. Our Africa adventure is approaching an end, but when one ends another starts!!!

Mike gets the keys to his "new" Hilux

Mike said he would make an early start to drive the 1200 kms back to East London where he lives. During the night, both Karen and me woke up to the sound of a vehicle departing - our Hilux was leaving us. It was sad just looking out of the window, watching it go. A couple of tears rolled down the old cheek!

We got back to the lodge without problems. We shopped for Olga in Nelspruit on the way. Now we are just relaxing here at the lodge. Me doing some jobs and Karen also helping out where she can and trying to do the impossible and sort our things out for our trip home. Karen has definitely got the worst job.

We saw two elphants near the stone cottage where we are staying, after our return from our meeting with Mike. They were close, but didn't seem to mind our company too much. I was also employed as "game driver" where we in Olga's safari landrover did an evening drive through the surrounding bush. On the front seat the two dogs sat between Olga and me and six passegers up on the benches behind. A fantastic drive where we saw elephants, impala, bush buck and a jackal. Had a drink at a lodge which Olga is looking after for the Danish owners who are away at the moment. We had our own drinks with us and just enjoyed the fantastic Africa countryside. We nearly ran a herd of elephants over on our way back to Mfubu, but we lived to tell the tale.. 

Game drive in Mfubu

We will hire a car to get to Joburg, bacause with two single air tickets costing 2600 rand, it is the cheaper alternative. We will visit John and Marina while passing through. John  and Marina were two of the people we bumped into several times out in the African "bush".

27th - 29th of April  South Africa - Denmark

We drove to Johannesburg in our hired car. Yes it was strange to drive a normal car again after so long in a 4x4. We gave a lift to a guy going to Pretoria. Not too many buses going that way. We dropped him at the airport where we also had to drop the car off.

John came and picked us up. Great to see him again. We drove home to their glorious house in Joburg. After a big hug for Marina we settled down for a "chat" in their bar. We heard all about their trip through Africa to Europe. Wow we really felt at home with these two fantastic people. Our stay with them was all too short, but we managed to try one of Marina's special "English breakfasts" and together, we visited the very interesting Aparthied Museum. Thanks John & Marina, hope to see you in Denmark!

After a meal together, we were dropped off at the airport and arrived back in Denmark in Billund the next day. Ole and Anette were at the airport to pick us up and really made our home coming special, with a good Danish dose of cakes and coffee at Bogbjergvej 17. The house was just as we left it and the garden didn't need any attention from us. Thanks to Tue and Birgit who have looked after it while we have been "galavanting" in Africa.

Epilogue

The whole adventure started in September 2008 when we bought the Hilux in Wigan and shipped it to Denmark. Now we have the 29th of April 2011 and the adventure has come to end. Two and a half years have disappeared, but the memories will never disappear. People have asked us which country we liked the best, which incident stands out as special, what was the worst moment etc, but these are questions we cannot answer. Right now when I think back, the whole trip sort of moulds into one positive experience of a lifetime and there is no part of the trip I would have missed out on.  

Driving through Africa the way we have done demands a lot of planning before you even set foot on African soil. If you don't do this, the trip could end in disaster before it really gets off the ground.

Choice of vehicle is so important. Availability of spares in Africa can never be on a par with for example Europe. Even if parts can be located, they can take days, weeks to reach you. A Toyota, without exception, is the only vehicle to fit the bill if you want any guarantee of a trouble free trip, in conditions that can try the most compitent of 4x4s. We covered more or less 60,000kms on our trip and the vehicle didn't complain once. We didn't even have a puncture, or have to change a light bulb. Luck or good planning, or a bit of both???

Plan where you want to go and what you want to see and of course, how you can get there. This will decide whether a 4x4 vehicle with a high clearance should also be a consideration. Lastly, the newer the vehicle you buy, the better are your chances of a trouble free journey and don't buy a left hand drive vehicle. Here you are asking for even more trouble on Africa's roads.

Equip the vehicle for the trip. (you can see here on our website how we managed it)

Are we finished with Africa? There is only one answer to this. You are never finished with Africa. We will probably go back one day. Of all the places we have been during our trip, all the people we have met, one thing remains with you when you leave. A sense of having been privilliged to have been part of it all for a short time. God bless Africa and all who sail in her!!!

06.11.2011

We have now been home for seven months and the experience of our trip is still with us every day. If anyone of you who have read through some of our story want to do something along the same lines - then do it as soon as you can. A lot is changing in Africa and not all of it will be for the benefit of travellers like us. Now is the time to begin your adventure, while the intrigue of Africa is still there.