Into Battle

We head off towards Dundee and the battlegrounds between, principally, the Zulus and British Forces. But I'm getting ahead of myself here....

...because we had a night in the wonderful  Royal Natal Park which sits in a natural 'amphitheatre', a wall of rock 5km wide, framed by the mighty Drakensberg mountains. Dramatic indeed. On our way there we spent some time (along with some other Bobo adventurers) at the Basotho cultural village learning about the Basotho tribal culture and its development. Well worth doing and not at all the tourist trap we might have expected...we're slowly begining to understand the (large) cultural differences, not only in Lesotho, but in South Africa. The visit wets our appetite for a visit to Lesotho at some future date.

Before leaving the park we walk one of the many trails....its really good to do some walking again....especially here.

On our way to Dundee, we stop off at the smallish (by South African standards) Spioenkop Game Reserve. Here, there is also a large reservoir and a monument to the Boer vs British battle which was the biggest defeat suffered by the British in this conflict. Although the park trails resemble 4x4 tracks Sue wrestles the camper around while I spot the wildlife...and well worth it, too - giraffes at last!

Turning up late-ish after nightmare roadworks with 15 km of small cliffs in the road that are SA version of speed bumps, we make the meeting!

Next day we are taken on a minibus 'battlefield tour' fascinating and informed stuff from an ex military pro - interesting also is the (white) guide 's (thoughful) insight into cultural differences between Zulus and Whites.

Anyway, off to a theatrical Zulu experience tomorrow....Mmmmm!!

Before that, how about some more photos?

Now what have we spotted this time?????

Onward to the Free State

OK I'm behind with these posts....but here goes.

Catch up:

We left Addo Elephant Park without seeing an Aardvark but, hey, we can live with that; there are plently more opportunities ahead, after all.

From there we moved to Gariep Dam Nature reserve ... right next to the largest dam in South Africa...impressive stuff as you might expect. There wasn't much to do on the journey.....a long plod over dry golden arid plains but we tuned into SAFM to hear the live (almost one hour) sentencing statement from the judge on the Pretorius trial. Intetesting stuff. In fact we've been listening to this station a great deal and it gives a fascinating insight into South African politics and issues. Ministers feature regularly to answer questions..as they do on TV...and there is a sense of a government trying to balance terribly difficult decisions while having a dialogue with the public. Not quite like the pitched battles on the Today programme back home where respect and serious discussion went out of the window long ago. (My view).

But I digress...

From Gariep we had another long drive to Ladybrand across similar terrain but made a stop at Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State and also the judicial capital of South Africa. Its here, in the Manguang Township, that the ANC was born and, perhaps, the road to ending apartheid began. The City centre is now a modern place although the Township is still there. We had a great lunch at the Loch Logan Waterfront.
We spent quite a while viewing the National Women's Memorial and the Anglo-Boer War Museum. Fascinating and moving..the museum's interior just as it was when set up. Worth a google.

Gariep Dam

That's Lesotho out there:

Emergency work to wire up 14 campers so we can charge our mobile phones...

Back on the road..before reaching camp we headed into Ladybrand itself to pick up some shopping and nose around...a working town proud to be 'Living the rainbow in Ladybrand'. We really liked it.
Camp fine...although a bloody great big black pig roaming about worried me slightly..... Sue actually talked to it... I mean.. really...

Big Black Pig

Today (and not before time you may say)

Up early, Sue takes the first stint as the scenery improves after the first 30km or so. We stop at a Ficksburg, famous for its cherries and take a coffee and omlette at the Imperani Guest House as featured in Lonely Planet...and deservedly so. We love this largely black successful town: a good stop...

Ficksburg

...Not so sure about our stop at the highly recommended Clarens though, as we pull up behind the line of Bobo Campers. 'A Jewel in the Free State' [lonely planet]. Depends on what kind of jewelry you like I guess. There is certainly a lot of stuff for tourists to buy.

But the really impressive thing here is the terrain, formed from wind-eroded sandstone. We pass the highest peaks in the Free State on the way to our site, set in the Golden Gate National Park, so named from the evening glow of the setting sun on the multi-shaded sandstone cliffs. Magic.

Into the Eastern Cape

Well, we were having a great time meandering along the south coast 'Garden Route', dropping into local towns with their fine sandy beaches, travelling over deep gorges, having the odd chat with locals, chewing the days over with fellow adventurers and then it all changed...

.....Today, we drive from our base at Storms River Mouth Camp, along the coast again, calling in for fuel and a rest stop at Jeffreys Bay... obviously (even if it is spelt incorrectly). We drive on to Colchester (rings a bell that) turn left...and suddenly we're in a different world. Addo Elephant Park is simply astonishing ...perhaps more so because we've not experienced an African game reserve before. Once we escape from the frosty receptionist at the park entrance, things quickly warm up as we take four and a half hours to amble up to our stop for two nights in the reserve.

We see a wide range of animals including zebras, warthogs, buffalo ... not forgetting the wierd dung beetle. The magic moment has to be being surrounded by elephants as they go about their daily business, just ignoring our motorhome.

Up at dawn tomorrow to try and spot a lion or two...or a leapord..or even an aardvark.

Our first sighting...

Move Over...we're coming through.....

Our journey into the east

Western Cape

Well, we've meandered and explored in our trusty motorhome-with-no-name.....
We've seen hundreds of penguins, lots of basking whales, really unusual plants and beautiful scenery...a bit overpowering to be honest. As an example, we stopped the motorhome for a quick lunch today and watched a family of Right Whales right in front of us. Wonderful.

We feel a lot more settled in this country now. There are obvious tensions and places we will avoid. We're concious that we're travelling on a tourist route, although I guess there's nothing wrong with that. The people we've met have been really friendly and helpful....and mostly concious of their history and the journey the country is on.

Looking forward to the Eastern Cape tomorrow.

Our Journey So Far :

Who's looking at me....

The bottom of Africa!

Our home for the next month

We pick up our brand shiny new motorhome! Free upgrade to sixth berth..which basically means a big space over the cab to keep our junk. Great service and intro from Bobo Campers.

We drive 15km or so to a supermarket next to the campsite (near Africa's only nuclear power station!!!) and stock up with food, wine and beer. The other vans have a name but our shiny new one is without. Any ideas gratefully received.

On the road proper tomorrow.

Here she/he (TBC) is:

Cape Town

Made it at last! Our first visit to South Africa.

We've arrived three days ahead of the rest of the Caravan & Camping Club Motorhomers to get a feel for Cape Town before we embark on the main part of our adventure...apart from Pat & Alan, the tour leaders, that is ...we have a date in the bar tomorrow night to renew the friendship we made on the Turkey tour....looking forward to that.

On arrival at Cape Town International Airport it was slightly tense at passport control as the Emirates check-in clerk at Heathrow had been adamant that we needed a visa for over 30 days stay, even though we had checked all this out earlier (It says 90 days on Gov. web site). All OK though - thank goodness. Could have done without that.

We pick up two pre-ordered Vodacom sim cards at the airport which will give us data and phone while in SA. The slightly scary taxi shoots past the ultra modern airport building then passes tin-roofed township huts before we see the colonial style Cape Town buildings. South Africa is a country still on a journey and it's going to take a while to get used to the stark contrasts we already see. After check-in we spend the afternoon around the V&A waterfront area, over-looked by Table Mountain. It's a modern busy tourist area. We eat two steaks, drink a bottle of red and get a complementary steak knife each - all for not very much at all. Best not put the knives in hand luggage methinks.

We buy the hop-on/hop-off open-top tour bus inclusive 2-day ticket which includes guided township and town walks amongst other things. It's actually a brilliant way to get around the city and also see the must-see sights. Highly recommended indeed. Will do this in Jo'berg.


What about a waterfront view, including table mountain, and a movie of some live African music, performed exclusively for us tourists?   [ Africa! - Dance ]
Might be for the tourists but it adds to the frisson that this country might well teach us more than we think...

Think before you eat:

..and in Yethu Township, contrasting with the wealth and mansions nearby:

..guess where we stopped off! ...after a little hesitation, we did this wine with matched chocolate tasting session at Groot Constantia and, contrary to what you might think, it was wonderful...

The colourful houses in the Bo-Kaap community, originally founded by freed Muslem slaves when choosing their settlement area. They were more fortunate than those who chose district 6 who were later forcibly relocated.

Nelson Mandela made his first speech from this balcony after being freed, at last, from his incarceration. Imagine thousands waiting in the hot sun for hours on end with no drink for the word of their ANC hero.  Amongst his first words: 'Forgive them...'  

We have goosebumps from just standing here.

We meet our fellow adventurers at the welcome meal - nice crew - pick up the motorhomes tomorrow and the adventure proper begins...

First Leg

Emirates to Dubai then onto Cape Town.

First time we've flown on one of these Airbus 380-800 double deck monsters....maybe we should fork out for business class once, at least....but not this time. Sigh.

.....then it's three hours in Dubai...yawn....onto Boeing 777 to Cape Town...

This ultra-modern airport could be anywhere really. We're insulated from the 30+ degrees outside ... and reality.