Les's Blog
Thursday 24th June
Today is the day we reach our final destination, our Son’s place in Stellenbosch where we will stay for a while until we settle in and find a place of our own. We wake up in a sort of confused and enthusiastic daze if you know what I mean as a lot of different emotions are taking place all at the same time. Yes, of course we’re looking forward to seeing our son, our daughter-in-law and our dog; on the other-hand, our journey, no, let’s call it our trip here, will be over. Breakfast is served from 6.30 so at 6.28 we’re at our table along with most of the other guests. This isn’t a hotel you’d have your honeymoon in, it’s just a bed for the night so everyone’s in the same frame of mind, ‘come on let’s get going’. We aim to be at Gareth’s at about lunch time so we ring and tell him. We came to SA last year for 3 months, and although we haven’t seen his new house, the area is familiar to us and so by the time we get to Worcester we are on roads we have driven on before. The finishing line so to speak has been coming in drips and drabs; crossing the border into SA and getting that final stamp was a poignant moment as is the sight of Table Mountain that has just come into view. There it is says Jan, The red tractor perched on a wall signifying that we are at his house, in the grounds to the rear of the restaurant called ‘The Antique Tractor’. As we drive in, people in the grounds smile and wave as if they’d been expecting us for the last 3 months. Murray, the owner comes out to congratulate us and then shows us where to go. While Jan and Gareth are having a hug, Charlie licked my hand; that’s it, the trip may be over, but the journey has just begun.
I feel very privileged to have witnessed first hand
the sheer diversity of this, our beautiful planet,
as 11,579 miles, 15 countries and 3 continents
have passed beneath our wheels
This blog though is not over; when the dust has settled I will inflict upon you a summary of the trip.
Les's Blog
Wednesday 23rd June
Breakfast is on par with this woman’s housework. The eggs are floating in the brown grease which was used to fry the boerewors and the toast just shattered in an explosion of black charcoal upon the pressure of my knife. It’s a 350 mile run down to Beaufort West, our next intended stop. Again there’s not much in-between apart from the town of Kimberly to break up the long journey. One small place we did go through though has a speed restriction (as most of them do) but neither Jan nor I saw the sign. There’s a policeman standing in the road with his hand up; it’s the usual ‘do you know how fast you were going’ etc, and ‘can I see your licence, oh you’re from England (please don’t start) carry on Sir, have a nice day’. To have gotten away with doing 84k in a 60k limit was unbelievable really; I suspect it’s got something to do with The World Cup, who knows, I’m sure I’ll find out in a couple of months. Beaufort West is not a bad place to stop, it has hundreds lodges, hotels, B&B’s and so on, so we cruise up and down looking for a suitable place rest our heads. In the end we plump for a room in a Formula One, a sort of bottom of the scale Travel Lodge but at least it will be clean and we know what we’re getting as we have stayed in them before in France. After settling in we go out to buy a sim card for our phone. The woman wants to see a passport but we have left them in the safe in the landrover; no problem; much to her bemusement I give her all the details of mine as I’m now able to recite them off by heart. Apart from that it’s back to the hotel to watch the England game on the telly.
Les's Blog
Tuesday 22nd June
Mokolodi is not that far from the South African border. It’s our last, and therefore quite a ceremonious one. It goes without a hitch apart from forgetting that we had some firewood strapped to the roof which the customs guy spots and it needs to be confiscated. Fair enough, we have (or Jan should I say) has done her home work and we knew about it but just forgot. The other restrictions are red meat which we don’t have as we’d planned it that way. ‘Sorry sir, but we are taking it away to be incinerated’; ‘of course you are, underneath that nice thick juicy bit of steak you just took of the last bloke’. Still, we got our final stamp and we’re on our way. Jan has found a bed and breakfast on the GPS in Warrenton and has phoned the woman and booked us in. It’s a bit of a dump but it’s cheap enough so we decide to stay. We have to share a bathroom which is a bath and no shower. Jan has a bath and goes to let the bath water out but it won’t run away. I have to use her water which isn’t a problem except it’s filthy, I can’t believe she was that dirty; what she didn’t tell me till afterwards is that when she pulled out the plug it just glugged up what must of been left in the pipe. Yeaks! A big spider in the bath; I’ll just take a closer look, no it’s ok it’s a false eye lash (Jan doesn’t wear them, well not to my knowledge anyway). Time for bed.
Les's Blog
Monday 21st June
Yusus (Afrikaans for Blimey) it’s cold. Our sleeping bags are so warm but put a body part outside and it nearly snaps off. If only we could lay here till about ten then the sun would have warmed it up and all would be fine; we can’t though as we have to press on. A film of frost has enveloped the outside of the tent. Brushing your teeth is a novel experience as you can just hold your brush still and let your chattering teeth do all the work, just like an electric one. Next stop Gaborone (the capital). Botswana is a clean, modern and vibrant country and thus far the nicest country to date; I’d easily move here tomorrow. There are signs on the road apologising for the potholes; ‘potholes! - potholes!’ there just dimples, they need to go further north to see real potholes. Our chosen place is a lodge that does camping called Mokolodi Nature reserve. There is camping available but it’s so cold now so we ask for a room but they’re full up. We then try the backpackers called funnily enough Mokolodi Backpackers. They have one lodge left so we take it, it’s lovely. There is wifi available so I can catch up with the blog. That’s about as exciting as it gets today; good night.
Les's Blog
Sunday 20th June
It’s another early one as according to the GPS our next stop in Francistown is 312 mile away and if we are to stand any chance of finding a campsite that’s got space let alone a choice of a space when we get there then we’re going to need to be there just after lunch at the latest. We’d been on the road about ten minutes when I notice a Landrover discovery stopped on the side of the road. At first I was going to go around him till I see why he’s stopped; he is letting a herd of Elephants cross the road. What a lovely sight, about ten of them completely in the wild just majestically sauntering across in their own time thank you very much. After they’d crossed I drove round him and we carried on our way. It’s a dead straight road for about 150 miles and there’s nothing in between. I stopped on a number of occasions to take photos of other animals we saw; each time the discovery would stop behind us and wait till we’d finished and then follow. I wasn’t certain if he was taking photos too, or whether it was a case of he didn’t want to get between photographer and object, you know what I mean, we’ve all done it, ‘opps sorry’ then bend your head and scuttle through. He needn’t have bothered though as the exodus of South African registered 4x4’s coming the other way soon put pay to that. After stopping for a bite to eat and do some shopping we make the site by 2.30. The Tati River lodge (unfortunate name) is a lovely place and a very big one at that, so we were a bit surprised to find only one two man tent, and they were out for the day. Mind you, it’s still early; you mark my words by 5.30 this place is going to be heaving. 5.30 came and went and not a soul to be seen, and even the owners of the tent didn’t pitch up (sorry) till gone nine. We’re just completely miffed. Still, it was nice to have a braai and smoke out the entire site and not have one single complaint.
Les's Blog
Saturday 19th June
Ok, technically this is isn’t the nicest place we’ve stayed at but it’s great in its own sort of way. The only place left when we arrived is in the corner and under a tree. Due the unevenness of the ground and the fact that we have a roof tent means we have to face the other way ‘so to speak’ and so our table and seating area are facing into the corner. We now have our own back garden and are isolated from everyone else. This is in-fact a welcome relief as nobody keeps stopping us to chat about our adventure. Don’t get me wrong here, we’re delighted people have shown an interest and it’s a great way of meeting people, but sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming and you never have time to get anything done. As it happens though everyone goes out for the day to visit the falls so we have the place to ourselves and so we can get on with all the chores. Jan has a ton and a half of washing and I need to do an oil and filter change on the good old landy. After mending a chair and catching up with a load of other stuff that’s far too insignificant to mention but important all the same, it’s time to get the braai going and eat some meat. After smoking out the neighbours, one of them is forced to come over and complain. ‘Oh, you’re English, that explains it - you haven’t driven all the way have you? About half an hour later his wife comes over to fetch him as his food is ready. ‘Oh your English, you haven’t driven --- ‘here we go’; our foods burnt and theirs is cold but never mind they were nice people and we had a good laugh.
Les's Blog
Friday 18th June
Read that, sign this, put on this helmet and fasten your seat belt- woo hoo we’re airborne. Totally awesome; this is the first time I’d seen the falls so I couldn’t even compare it with the view from the ground. I didn’t really know what to expect. I’d always imagined that the ground was on two different levels and that the water just gushed from the top of a mountain and down to the ground below and that’s where you stood and looked up. Not the case; it just flows down a ravine it has created and just throws up a huge mist high in to the sky. The rainbows it creates are just amazing and from up there they create complete circles; my German pilot flew straight through the centre like hitting a bull’s-eye; then descending into the mist and out again for a flight over the Elephants, Hippos and crocodiles; then it my was my turn to take the controls, He said I was quite a natural but then I suppose he says that to everyone. He then took control before landing back on the airstrip and all within the 15 minutes allotted time. To be honest it was all a bit much to take in all at once, I’ve never been in a microlite before and so I didn’t quite know where to direct my excitement. We were already packed up and ready to hit the falls. I, of course, will never find the words that will ever do this experience justice. Once again Mother Nature has thrown up something that will just stop you in your tracks; the noise is unbelievable, as is the sight of sun shining through the mist creating perfect rainbows everywhere you look, it’s quite an emotional experience, this is planet Earth, it’s alive and it moves, big time. We will be going into Botswana in about half an hour and Jan didn’t want to draw any more money and loose it on the exchange rate so we have very little Zambian kwacha left and we still want to buy some curios for our new home. Our self appointed guide is going to need a tip, this will leave even less; his brother owns curio shop number 33 and we are instructed to keep it in the family and go there where we will ‘get a good deal’. Jan’s seen something she really likes so some hard negotiating is in order, it’s more than we’ve got but he takes any currency so he clears us out of all the odd bits of change we’ve had left over from the trip down. We need to keep 50 US dollars for the ferry across the river and for the road permit we need to buy at the Botswana border so we don’t tell them about those. As we leave the car park we are stopped at the entrance and asked for our car parking receipt, something that we managed to over look. We turn around and go back and pay 5 dollars at the kiosk, now were really skint. Fortunately, we’ve made some bacon sandwiches for the trip so we’re alright on that score, or at least we were; as Jan is paying she leaves the passenger door open; all of a sudden, the biggest baboon you’ve ever seen leaps in and grabs the sandwiches; wait for this though, Jan doesn’t believe me, she thinks I’ve eaten them all myself and made the story up. We’ve been driving for about 10 minutes when we are stopped by a council office control point. Where are you going? ‘Botswana’ ‘you will need to pay 20,000 Kwacha for leaving our district’ ‘do you take dollars’ ‘yes, five’. We reach the border and as per usual about 10 blokes converge on our car all trying to change money. ‘After paying for the ferry in dollars, we now only have 20 left. Everyone wants to change money as the road permit will need to be paid in Pula’s. Jan just digs her heals in and says she’ll change it the other side thank you very much, they though insist the bank is shut, ‘what on a Friday, don’t be stupid’. On reaching the other side we find that the bank isn’t shut, it don’t exist, and it never has. The road permit is 120 Pula or 180 South African Rand Rand. Jan remembers she has an emergency stash of Rand in the depths of the safe but it’s only 130. A lorry driver eventually gives us 100 Pula for our 20 Dollars and the road permits gets paid for and we’re on our way. Next stop, the nearest cash point. Ten miles later we reach the town of Kasane where we want to camp the night. After a bit of a struggle we find a campsite that actually has space as all the South Africans are here, hoards of them.
Les's Blog
Thursday 17th June
Today is blog writing day. You pay for Wifi by the day here so we sit upstairs in the internet cafe overlooking the river and write away; like all masterpieces it can’t be rushed so it takes most of the day. In the late afternoon we’re sitting at the landrover when an English registered Discovery goes past, it stops and reverses back; it’s Frank and Wanita, the couple with their 3 year old daughter we last met in Nairobi. Frank you will probably remember is the chap who fixed our GPS and is largely responsible for why we’ve managed to keep some of our sanity (not that we had a lot in the first place, and I did say some). It sounds like they’ve had a right old adventure, but that’s another story. Apart from that it’s an early night as I have a microlite flight booked for 8am in the morning and we want to be packed up before that so we can get away as soon as I get back.
Les's Blog
Tuesday 15th - Wednesday 16th June
Today’s journey will take us to Livingstone and Vic Falls. The roads are now very busy with South African 4x4’s nearly all towing trailer tents and heading north to escape the football. It’s winter in SA at the moment so under normal circumstances they would only have a fortnight’s school holiday; however because of the football the South African government don’t want the roads to be congested and have given the schools a five week holiday instead. This has meant that everyone has the time to head north for the better climate. Although it’s warm during the day it is getting cold at night and we are expecting minus degree temperatures as we head further south. We have found a great site on the Zambezi river; busy as hell but nice all the same. The South African people are struggling with the fact that we have driven from the UK. They ask where we’re from, can see it say’s GB on the number plate but are still a bit puzzled as to how we got here. There is shock and almost total disbelieve that we have driven all the way, and now word has spread and everyone wants to come and chat about our adventure. One chap, whom I’ve never met before is leaving and he came over and gave me his name and address and phone number and said if we ever need a place to stay or indeed anything at all, give him a call. This it seems is the nature of the Afrikaners. We have paid to stay here for three nights as we have loads of washing to catch up on and naturally we want to see the falls. It is a taxi ride from here to do this, or we would have to pack up the tent and take the landrover which we don’t want to do, and in any case we would almost certainly loose the great spot that we have. The plan is to pack up early on Friday morning and drive there, then head off over the border into a Botswana and to a site there. At night we fall asleep to rumbling of the falls.
Les's Blog
Monday 14th June
Everyone’s up early and is busy packing away ready for the off. There are two young boys on the other side of the stone wall that surrounds the site and they are standing by a small section that has been damaged and is high enough for them to see over and look in. I’m busy looking into the back of the land rover and I hear the dustbin lid behind me being taken off and something being dropped into it and the lid being replaced; not an uncommon noise so I have no reason to look round. All of a sudden the two boys (one is about 8 and the other about 6) leap over the wall and open the bin. They pull out a new unopened loaf of bread and an unopened carton of fruit drink. It was such as shame to watch, I nearly cried; it was such a lovely looking loaf too and I haven’t had a good fruit drink in ages. The journey to our next stop just 10miles south of Lusaka seems to drag on forever, Lusaka is a modern fairly clean ‘ish’ sort of place but we haven’t got the need to stop and so we drive straight through and check in at the Eureka camp site. It’s massive, and has loads of space as we are again the only ones here. By about 4.30 the whole world and his dog arrive and just fill the place. These places are just stopovers as there is nothing of interest to keep any here unlike a beach or some other sightseeing attraction. Apart from that I’m struggling to find anything else to report.
About Me
Fish in Amanzi2 Fish - Les and Janet - taking the intrepid drive from Henfield, Surrey, UK to Cape Town, South Africa in a Landrover called Amanzi (Zulu for "Water")
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