After realising that we had a couple of spare days we headed to Sani Pass in the Southern Drakensberg. Sani Pass gives access to the high mountain kingdom of Lesotho, a landlocked country that sits above the clouds (its lowest point is 1300m). We had been told by a few people that the road has now been tarred and it would be a breeze zooming up in our VW Chico, but we were mistaken... tarring of the road has been under construction for the last 2 years, and they haven't got very far. So we took a day trip in a landy instead passing through 8kms of no-mans land between the SA and Lesotho border control posts. The road was nearly as hectic as Boet's farm roads in the Free State but the views were much more impressive.
Lesotho looked a lot like the Mackenzie country in NZ, rolling hills with lots of sheep and a lack of trees. In fact the only differences seemed to be the sheep were herded by young shepherd boys dressed in blankets (the national dress) and Basotho people were living in brick rondavel houses. We headed up to a high point about 15kms into the country, where we could look across to another high point which is allegedly the highest point south of Mt Kilimanjaro - you wouldn't know it though, it just looked like a hill in amongst the other hills on the horizon. In the Sosotho language it is called 'the little mountain' - a little contradictory. We ate our packed lunches in the company of about 5 shepherd boys posing for photos.
After lunch it was time to visit a local woman in her relatively spacious rondavel to try out the local delicacies, a maize beer (definitely an acquired taste), and some freshly baked bread from the hearth in the centre of the rondavel (very yummy).
Our last stop was for an obligatory locally brewed Maluti beer at the highest pub in Africa at the top of the pass (2850m high). We then bumped our way back down the pass, not so comfy squashed in the dog box at the back of a landy, I realised.
Our next stop was the Wild Coast - part of the old Transkei homeland. We weren't sure whether the 'wild' aspect was referring to the way people drive (rather than the scenery). A lot of yellow line driving and crazy overtaking was going on the main road. When we turned off for the last 70kms the driving became even crazier. The vehicles in front of us zigzagged across the full width of the road avoiding the deep potholes scattered across the tar, it was comical! A favourite game of the local kids was to fill the potholes with dirt, then stick out their hand for 2 Rand has we drove past. Their only English words seemed to be 'money' and 'sweets'!
After an interesting drive we arrived at Coffee Bay, supposedly a beautiful spot with a hippie vibe. The backpacker/campsite we had been recommended by a couple of people was packed to the brim, felt a tad stagnant as they'd had no water for a few days, and had an unusual smell wafting through every now and again. But it was late so we pitched our tent anyway, ate some smash and tuna for dinner, then crashed into bed. Unfortunately it was a pretty sleepless night listening to people partying in the bar, then stumbling back to their tent next door to ours to carry on discussing inane topics with the ghettoblaster raging. We packed up and left first thing in the morning and headed along the coast on a winding gravel road to the little settlement of Hole in the Wall, a much more peaceful and beautiful spot to hang out. We spent a day chilling out and going for strolls along the beach and headlands for the day.
Next stop, East London with the Mulligan clan. We've had a few days on:
- R&D for Nikki's baked goods company (I think I'm going to set up a NZ arm of Raggamuffins Inc),
- testing out Karen's full english brekkie at the B&B,
- watching hilarious music videos made by Shaun and Craig in the last couple of years,
- being lectured on the pros of electronic gadgets from Rory (he's finally converted me to Gmail) and
- listening to the disgusting sound effects made by one of the dogs, BJ (a really bad case of fur balls).
Alex has also been stuck to the couch becoming a video editing pro.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Namibia Dune Running video
Trundler Amms runs the Scenic Dunes at Sesreim, Namibia including Big Daddy, the fourth highest dune in the world.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
YouTube Video
Just Posted on You Tube
Watch our Epic whitewater ride down the Zambezi river.
and feel free to post some comments! is anyone reading this....
Watch our Epic whitewater ride down the Zambezi river.
and feel free to post some comments! is anyone reading this....
Monday, December 14, 2009
PE to PMB
So Port Elizabeth to Pietermaritzburg...
Met up with my brother Steven in JBay and again in PE. He hosted the most amazing braai for us and 13 of his mates, putting our aussie gas bbq skills to shame. He did get his Afrikaans friends to actually cook the meat though!
We drove north deep into the Free State - Afrikaner land and the middle of nowhere. We got as far as Hobhouse just west of the Lesotho border. We stumbled upon a local Afrikaner farm / nature reserve and asked to pitch our tent for the night as we had seen no accommodation for the last 100km. The local Afrikaners were drinking Castle beer and we had a taste of the local hospitality when the manager kindly declined our request and instead offered us the vacant 5 bed thatched chalet for 60 rand a night (about AUD$9).
We had a brilliant time drinking lots of beer with the locals and they reminisced about the last time some 'backpackers' dropped by 2 years ago when two kiwi guys found this place! We were convinced to stay a second night by the promise of the best 4WD safari in Africa in the owners UNIMOG (Google it if you want to see what it looks like). Its a big truck with massive ground clearance and apparently is used as ambulances in Lesotho. So we agreed, understanding that this was likely to be the most scary 4WD excursion of our trip, we were not disappointed. We started as any good Afrikaner game drive would in the bar with some beers. Then we got several chilly bins and loaded them up to the brim with more beer and ice. Then we mounted the truck up a ladder and opened the first beer while the legend owner Boet (a very Afrikaner name we're told!) proceeded to light his pipe and shift into the first of eight gears!
We saw a few animals but it was more about the beer drinking (including the local policeman) and Boet's driving up and down the most ridiculous steep rocky outcrops. We stopped at the second bar, the bush bar up the top of the hill to celebrate our survival at sunset. Boet had a safe with a few good bottles of whiskey stored up there for special occasions!
So after that 2 day delay we eventually made it to the Drakensburg and have been hiking for 5 days. All have been day hikes due to the afternoon and all night rain that falls with fresh regularity. Our second day we made it up to the top of the Amphitheatre from the Sentinel car park via the ladders to see the second highest waterfall in the world, Tugela falls. The next day was a misty one and we hiked along the base of Tugela falls to where the river was running high. Then we went to Cathedral Peak and spent 2 days hiking up paths that seemed to disappear at will. All good rogaining practice especially given the 1:50 000 maps. We realise now how lucky we are to have good maps in Australia / NZ / UK. Major paths could disappear into grassland only to reappear 100m up hill across a creek and minor paths often had Class 1/2 scrambling over exposure. To add to the mix, paths on the maps are not shown contouring on the correct side of certain peaks! Stunning scenery though, we had enough glimpses through the cloud to imagine what its like on a clear winter's day.
Today we managed a quick rendevous with the Wood clan, Sheila, Alex, Richard, Douglas and Gillian on their way to Cathedral Peak to do a 3 day hike. And this afternoon I have traipsed Alex around old Pietermaritzburg haunts (Amms lived here for about 5 years all up as a kid).
Next we head to Coffee Bay at the wild coast for 2 days rest before Xmas celebrations.
Met up with my brother Steven in JBay and again in PE. He hosted the most amazing braai for us and 13 of his mates, putting our aussie gas bbq skills to shame. He did get his Afrikaans friends to actually cook the meat though!
We drove north deep into the Free State - Afrikaner land and the middle of nowhere. We got as far as Hobhouse just west of the Lesotho border. We stumbled upon a local Afrikaner farm / nature reserve and asked to pitch our tent for the night as we had seen no accommodation for the last 100km. The local Afrikaners were drinking Castle beer and we had a taste of the local hospitality when the manager kindly declined our request and instead offered us the vacant 5 bed thatched chalet for 60 rand a night (about AUD$9).
We had a brilliant time drinking lots of beer with the locals and they reminisced about the last time some 'backpackers' dropped by 2 years ago when two kiwi guys found this place! We were convinced to stay a second night by the promise of the best 4WD safari in Africa in the owners UNIMOG (Google it if you want to see what it looks like). Its a big truck with massive ground clearance and apparently is used as ambulances in Lesotho. So we agreed, understanding that this was likely to be the most scary 4WD excursion of our trip, we were not disappointed. We started as any good Afrikaner game drive would in the bar with some beers. Then we got several chilly bins and loaded them up to the brim with more beer and ice. Then we mounted the truck up a ladder and opened the first beer while the legend owner Boet (a very Afrikaner name we're told!) proceeded to light his pipe and shift into the first of eight gears!
We saw a few animals but it was more about the beer drinking (including the local policeman) and Boet's driving up and down the most ridiculous steep rocky outcrops. We stopped at the second bar, the bush bar up the top of the hill to celebrate our survival at sunset. Boet had a safe with a few good bottles of whiskey stored up there for special occasions!
So after that 2 day delay we eventually made it to the Drakensburg and have been hiking for 5 days. All have been day hikes due to the afternoon and all night rain that falls with fresh regularity. Our second day we made it up to the top of the Amphitheatre from the Sentinel car park via the ladders to see the second highest waterfall in the world, Tugela falls. The next day was a misty one and we hiked along the base of Tugela falls to where the river was running high. Then we went to Cathedral Peak and spent 2 days hiking up paths that seemed to disappear at will. All good rogaining practice especially given the 1:50 000 maps. We realise now how lucky we are to have good maps in Australia / NZ / UK. Major paths could disappear into grassland only to reappear 100m up hill across a creek and minor paths often had Class 1/2 scrambling over exposure. To add to the mix, paths on the maps are not shown contouring on the correct side of certain peaks! Stunning scenery though, we had enough glimpses through the cloud to imagine what its like on a clear winter's day.
Today we managed a quick rendevous with the Wood clan, Sheila, Alex, Richard, Douglas and Gillian on their way to Cathedral Peak to do a 3 day hike. And this afternoon I have traipsed Alex around old Pietermaritzburg haunts (Amms lived here for about 5 years all up as a kid).
Next we head to Coffee Bay at the wild coast for 2 days rest before Xmas celebrations.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Bungeeeeeeeee...................................boing!
Well you know we said we'd never do a bungy jump. Well that was before we agreed to give our friend, Adam, a ride to the Bloukrans bridge bungy place on our way from Plett to Jeffreys Bay on the Garden Route. We got there and low and behold it was the highest commercial Bungy Jump in the World! (and one of the cheapest!) So we could not let an opportunity like that pass us by.
All ended well and the elastic bands held. It was a surprisingly smooth bounce and only mildly terrifying jumping off the bridge, 216m above the river below.
Apart from jumping from the bridge we stayed at Gramps' place in Hermanus for a couple of days. The home cooked meals with dessert for lunch and dinner went down a treat (thanks Gramps and Lucy). Amms had her closest whale encounter from the headlands at Hermanus; a mother and her albino calf playing around and another whale breaching right out of the water! We also visited the local Saturday food market for yummy pancakes, pies and samoosas, and we headed up to a private nature reserve for a walk in the clouds and rain on Sunday.
We also searched for the elusive Knysna elephants which haven't been spotted in the forest since 2007, and visited the beautiful Robberg peninsula near Plett which was the most scenic spot we have visited on the Garden Route (thanks Katie for the tip just in the nick of time).
We are now relaxing for a few days at Jeffreys Bay, reputed to have one of the top 10surf breaks in the world, although no surf yet. Cooking for ourselves in a real kitchen is a novelty though, as is watching a pod of dolphins go by just 100m from the dining room table. Thanks Rory and co for use of the beach pad, we will see you all in a couple of weeks.
Some of you might like to know that our car for the SA leg of our trip is an 80's style VW Chico - still made here in the old square styley, with no power steering, no ABS brakes, no A/C, but plenty of character. A car you actually have to drive. Our co-pilot, Jane (Gramps' new GPS unit on loan to us) is only now getting mildly annoying.
And finally, special thanks to Lisa and Martin for putting up with us for 5 nights, we had a great time and were glad to hear we are LIGs (low impact guests)! Looking forward to Bettys Bay.
All ended well and the elastic bands held. It was a surprisingly smooth bounce and only mildly terrifying jumping off the bridge, 216m above the river below.
Apart from jumping from the bridge we stayed at Gramps' place in Hermanus for a couple of days. The home cooked meals with dessert for lunch and dinner went down a treat (thanks Gramps and Lucy). Amms had her closest whale encounter from the headlands at Hermanus; a mother and her albino calf playing around and another whale breaching right out of the water! We also visited the local Saturday food market for yummy pancakes, pies and samoosas, and we headed up to a private nature reserve for a walk in the clouds and rain on Sunday.
We also searched for the elusive Knysna elephants which haven't been spotted in the forest since 2007, and visited the beautiful Robberg peninsula near Plett which was the most scenic spot we have visited on the Garden Route (thanks Katie for the tip just in the nick of time).
We are now relaxing for a few days at Jeffreys Bay, reputed to have one of the top 10surf breaks in the world, although no surf yet. Cooking for ourselves in a real kitchen is a novelty though, as is watching a pod of dolphins go by just 100m from the dining room table. Thanks Rory and co for use of the beach pad, we will see you all in a couple of weeks.
Some of you might like to know that our car for the SA leg of our trip is an 80's style VW Chico - still made here in the old square styley, with no power steering, no ABS brakes, no A/C, but plenty of character. A car you actually have to drive. Our co-pilot, Jane (Gramps' new GPS unit on loan to us) is only now getting mildly annoying.
And finally, special thanks to Lisa and Martin for putting up with us for 5 nights, we had a great time and were glad to hear we are LIGs (low impact guests)! Looking forward to Bettys Bay.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Nairobi to Cape Town overland
We arrived in Cape Town on Saturday 21st, at the symbolic end of our trip, and are now enjoying lots of wine, great food and the laid back cape vibe.
We scrambled up Table Mountain via the India Fenster route and drove around Stellenbosch and the surrounding wine regions with Adam and Louisa (fellow English travellers) sampling lots of the local grapes.
Now we are relaxing with some home comforts with Ann-Marie's aunt and uncle, Lisa and Martin, who have a lovely place in Meadowridge.
We scrambled up Table Mountain via the India Fenster route and drove around Stellenbosch and the surrounding wine regions with Adam and Louisa (fellow English travellers) sampling lots of the local grapes.
Now we are relaxing with some home comforts with Ann-Marie's aunt and uncle, Lisa and Martin, who have a lovely place in Meadowridge.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Namibia Part Two - The Dunes
During our second week in Namibia we have been pretty energetic. On our way south from Swakopmund we stopped at Dune 7 for a warm up slog up the dune then a run down it. This was a taste of things to come, but first we headed to Naukluft National Park. We walked two day hikes, the Olive and Waterkloof Trails, both of which were pretty rough tracks in similar terrain to the area around Alice Springs in Australia, small spiky bushes, rocky outcrops and canyons and not much water... except for an amazing waterhole below a waterfall which we had a nice dip in.
Finally we headed to Namibia's no. 1 tourist spot, the dunes at Sossusvlei. Here are some of the largest sand dunes in the world. Dune 45 is the best known, where you can share the dune experience with hundreds of marouding overlanders. However there are hundreds of other bigger dunes where you can break trail along picture perfect mountain crests of red sand. We did both and then some, mainly because they were stunning and reminded us of mountaineering the stunning ridge of Mt Alymer in NZ.
A total of 4 dunes in 40 hours.
First up was an unnamed dune above hidden vlei (a flat salt pan scattered with dead trees) which we hiked for sunset, marking our ascent with fresh tracks. The following day we hiked up Dune 45 with the masses and then followed up with a 'virgin' dune bash for sunset on day 2. To top it off we finished with the 'Big Daddy' for sunrise (yes thats its name, reputed to be the tallest in the world?, about 385m from base to top). For this we were chased up the dune by a French tour party who were hot on our heels keen to get to the top for the first ascent of the day. Fair play as they were all in their 40's and pretty darn fit!
We dropped our trashed hire car off today. We covered 3800km in the Corolla, 3600 on dirt, 200km on tar and about 10km of which were on sand! We never got stuck but came closest on a D road near Spitzkoppe where a 150m long deep sandy river bed nearly slowed us to a halt (Lucky Alex was driving!).
Now we are off on a mamoth 23hour bus journey to Cape Town.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
The real Africa
We are aware that we have been glorifying the places we have visited a little.
My awesome pictures help to give you this nice impression of nothing but stunning vistas and pleasant people.
So here are a few pics of the more mundane that we don't publish, until now!. For every nice picture or place you see (usually the expat run lodges / camps) we have stayed in at least three dives.
So before you all book your plane tickets to Nairobi see this...
Be thankful that you can't get the smell from these pictures. And note that its not always better to get a room with en-suite facilities! You have been warned.
Having said that we have yet to get ill once in Africa (touching wood), something that we have never managed to avoid in Asia.
My awesome pictures help to give you this nice impression of nothing but stunning vistas and pleasant people.
So here are a few pics of the more mundane that we don't publish, until now!. For every nice picture or place you see (usually the expat run lodges / camps) we have stayed in at least three dives.
So before you all book your plane tickets to Nairobi see this...
Be thankful that you can't get the smell from these pictures. And note that its not always better to get a room with en-suite facilities! You have been warned.
Having said that we have yet to get ill once in Africa (touching wood), something that we have never managed to avoid in Asia.
Namibia details
We have just got back from Quad biking the sand dunes in Swakopmund. It was the best adrenalin fix I have had for ages. Thanks Dave for recommending we try it....
We joined a group of 4 girls making a total of 5 girls, 1 guy (me) and 2 guides. The girls all had no experience riding so took the automatic and Ann-Marie convinced me to opt for the more powerful manual 200cc bike. What brilliant fun. While the girls pottered around the flat undulating dunes following the lead guide I was taken on a rollercoaster roaring ride up and down the biggest dunes we could find. Often flat out in 5th before leaning into the inside and skidding the thing sideways before careering back down. All had great time and now I want one. I wonder whether 4x4 driving in the sand dunes in a toyota landcruiser would be the same?
Now Ann-Marie wants me to write about what we actually did in Namibia over the last week, so if like me you are only interested in the pictures or the exciting antics then feel free to skip this bit!
We started in Windhoek the capital of Namibia and opted to hire a car due to the difficulty of getting to many of the sites on public transport. Local South Africans had convinced us to hire a 2WD as all C roads (the big gravel ones) and most D roads are passable in such a vehicle. The only down side was we could not venture off into deep dark Kaokoland which would have required 4x4 driving skill and a convoy.
So after picking up our Toyota Corolla sedan we zoomed off to the North East up one of the few tar roads to Etosha National Park. The novelty here was we were alloed to drive ourselves on our own game drive searching for animals. We stayed in an old German fort at Namutoni and the next day ventured deeper into the park. Etosha is centered around a large flat salt pan and most of the animals we spotted around the few waterholes or on the flat grass savannah. After several hours our way was blocked by 2 elephants washing in a large puddle in the middle of the road. We were the first car to arrive on the scene and crept to within 40m before stopping to watch. After 45mins the elephanst still blocked our route and 3 more cars had turned up to watch. We were getting hungry and busting for the loo but in our little corolla did not want to be the first to risk passing within 10m of them on the dirt road. Another 15mins later one of the larger cruisers decided to creep by keen to get to camp and the elephants did not charge. So we went for it, with windows up, wondering whether elephant damage was covered under the car insurance policy.
We then headed for Khorixas where Ann-Marie had lived with her folks for 3months, when she was 1year old. She can't remember much (not unusual for Amms!) and so we drove around aimlessly for 30mins while taking snaps. A political rally was on with all the supporters gathering to watch as the president of Namibia was visiting town. It was a funny town, centered around the petrol station and we didnt particularly like the vibe (this might just be the different experience of a place you get when turning up in a nice car, I suspect had we turned up on a local bus with our packs, as per the rest of our Africa trip the locals would have felt more relaxed, less pesty). So we drove off towards the rock paintings and then north to Sesfontein, the corrugations and water crossings testing the suspension of the Corolla to the max!
We were given several stories in Sesfontein as to the condition of the road to Purros, a small settlement on the edge of Kaokoland with lots of Desert Elephant. 2 locals said it was passable in a Corolla (I assume driving as the locals do) and 2 said it was not (assuming I drive as westeners do) and that we would get beached on the deep sand. We opted to take a look and so we drove 15km towards Purros before deciding to stop and get out our 4ld (4 legged drive) to climb a hill and survey the land. The road was getting worse and although we thought we could make it all the wa, we were reluctant to fully trash our trusty car, we turned around opting instead to visit the local Himba village.
We drove back south from Palmwag via the Skeleton Coast which had less dunes than I was expecting and was one hell of a lot colder than we were prepared for. In fact overall Namibia has been one of the coldest places we have visited in Africa (the top on Kili the only exception) with most nights getting down to 13 degrees C and even mid day time temps only cresting 30-35 degrees and sometimes only a freezing 22!
Some of the nicest camp sites we stayed at were at the many luxury lodges where we could pitch our small tent and use the resort pool and bar. However the best campsite was near the rock climbing mecca of Spitzkoppe. No rock climbers, and we had no gear, so we opted to scramble our way up to the saddle and look for leopards. We will have to return one day as the quality of the rock was excellent and there were lots of slab climbs.
We joined a group of 4 girls making a total of 5 girls, 1 guy (me) and 2 guides. The girls all had no experience riding so took the automatic and Ann-Marie convinced me to opt for the more powerful manual 200cc bike. What brilliant fun. While the girls pottered around the flat undulating dunes following the lead guide I was taken on a rollercoaster roaring ride up and down the biggest dunes we could find. Often flat out in 5th before leaning into the inside and skidding the thing sideways before careering back down. All had great time and now I want one. I wonder whether 4x4 driving in the sand dunes in a toyota landcruiser would be the same?
Now Ann-Marie wants me to write about what we actually did in Namibia over the last week, so if like me you are only interested in the pictures or the exciting antics then feel free to skip this bit!
We started in Windhoek the capital of Namibia and opted to hire a car due to the difficulty of getting to many of the sites on public transport. Local South Africans had convinced us to hire a 2WD as all C roads (the big gravel ones) and most D roads are passable in such a vehicle. The only down side was we could not venture off into deep dark Kaokoland which would have required 4x4 driving skill and a convoy.
So after picking up our Toyota Corolla sedan we zoomed off to the North East up one of the few tar roads to Etosha National Park. The novelty here was we were alloed to drive ourselves on our own game drive searching for animals. We stayed in an old German fort at Namutoni and the next day ventured deeper into the park. Etosha is centered around a large flat salt pan and most of the animals we spotted around the few waterholes or on the flat grass savannah. After several hours our way was blocked by 2 elephants washing in a large puddle in the middle of the road. We were the first car to arrive on the scene and crept to within 40m before stopping to watch. After 45mins the elephanst still blocked our route and 3 more cars had turned up to watch. We were getting hungry and busting for the loo but in our little corolla did not want to be the first to risk passing within 10m of them on the dirt road. Another 15mins later one of the larger cruisers decided to creep by keen to get to camp and the elephants did not charge. So we went for it, with windows up, wondering whether elephant damage was covered under the car insurance policy.
We then headed for Khorixas where Ann-Marie had lived with her folks for 3months, when she was 1year old. She can't remember much (not unusual for Amms!) and so we drove around aimlessly for 30mins while taking snaps. A political rally was on with all the supporters gathering to watch as the president of Namibia was visiting town. It was a funny town, centered around the petrol station and we didnt particularly like the vibe (this might just be the different experience of a place you get when turning up in a nice car, I suspect had we turned up on a local bus with our packs, as per the rest of our Africa trip the locals would have felt more relaxed, less pesty). So we drove off towards the rock paintings and then north to Sesfontein, the corrugations and water crossings testing the suspension of the Corolla to the max!
We were given several stories in Sesfontein as to the condition of the road to Purros, a small settlement on the edge of Kaokoland with lots of Desert Elephant. 2 locals said it was passable in a Corolla (I assume driving as the locals do) and 2 said it was not (assuming I drive as westeners do) and that we would get beached on the deep sand. We opted to take a look and so we drove 15km towards Purros before deciding to stop and get out our 4ld (4 legged drive) to climb a hill and survey the land. The road was getting worse and although we thought we could make it all the wa, we were reluctant to fully trash our trusty car, we turned around opting instead to visit the local Himba village.
We drove back south from Palmwag via the Skeleton Coast which had less dunes than I was expecting and was one hell of a lot colder than we were prepared for. In fact overall Namibia has been one of the coldest places we have visited in Africa (the top on Kili the only exception) with most nights getting down to 13 degrees C and even mid day time temps only cresting 30-35 degrees and sometimes only a freezing 22!
Some of the nicest camp sites we stayed at were at the many luxury lodges where we could pitch our small tent and use the resort pool and bar. However the best campsite was near the rock climbing mecca of Spitzkoppe. No rock climbers, and we had no gear, so we opted to scramble our way up to the saddle and look for leopards. We will have to return one day as the quality of the rock was excellent and there were lots of slab climbs.
Friday, November 13, 2009
BMW's, MOKORO's and LANDCRUISERS !
This is how we travelled around Botswana.
Kasane to Gweta (BMW 3 series with two brothers both called OT, 1 a policeman the other our taxi driver!)
Gweta to Maun (Bus- boring so no pic)
Maun into delta (Mokoro)
Maun to Windhoek (South African owned Safari Man and his trusty Landcruiser)
Kasane to Gweta (BMW 3 series with two brothers both called OT, 1 a policeman the other our taxi driver!)
Gweta to Maun (Bus- boring so no pic)
Maun into delta (Mokoro)
Maun to Windhoek (South African owned Safari Man and his trusty Landcruiser)
Scorpions, Rental Cars and The Himba People !
We are in Namibia and have just returned to Swakopmund after a week through Etosha and up to Sesfontein and a little beyond.
We managed to catch a lift with a South African tour guide across from Maun (Botswana) to Windhoek (Namibia) saving ourselves 2 days of hitching. This area is one of the few spots in Africa where no buses run and travellers must resort to the thumb at the side of the road.
So back to Namibia. The rental car (2WD!) has held together remarkably well considering how Alex was driving and that 90% of the roads are dirt. The only casualty to date has been the rear number plate that we lost along a stretch of strictly 4x4 road near Ongongo. Fortunately a local had found it and came running down the road when we passed back past his hut an hour later. A bit of selotape later and we were off again! The only other hickup related to the Himba People. We had an amazing morning taking pictures of the local people up in Kaokoland, swapping sunnies and trading food and mealie meal for pictures. When it came time to leave one of the girls wanted a lift 30km down the road to visit friends. We obliged but wary of the mix of Cows fat and rewd ochre that they cover themselves in we politely asked her to sit on her blanket with the baby. It was only 20km down the road that Alex realised this was not such a good idea, the blanket was also orange! The backseat was covered in Himba stain which we would have found hilarious were it not for our hefty deposit on the car. That evening Alex came to the camp bar triumphant after managing to rub the Himba orange stains off the backseat with his hanky!. Oh so that only leaves the big black scary looking scorpion to explain. We nearlly ran the blighter over on our second day on the road. It was so big Alex swerved to miss it and we both chased it down to take pictures. Here are the resulting shots...
PS. Alex says if he ever decides to opt out he is going to go and live with these Himba girls in their village!
We managed to catch a lift with a South African tour guide across from Maun (Botswana) to Windhoek (Namibia) saving ourselves 2 days of hitching. This area is one of the few spots in Africa where no buses run and travellers must resort to the thumb at the side of the road.
So back to Namibia. The rental car (2WD!) has held together remarkably well considering how Alex was driving and that 90% of the roads are dirt. The only casualty to date has been the rear number plate that we lost along a stretch of strictly 4x4 road near Ongongo. Fortunately a local had found it and came running down the road when we passed back past his hut an hour later. A bit of selotape later and we were off again! The only other hickup related to the Himba People. We had an amazing morning taking pictures of the local people up in Kaokoland, swapping sunnies and trading food and mealie meal for pictures. When it came time to leave one of the girls wanted a lift 30km down the road to visit friends. We obliged but wary of the mix of Cows fat and rewd ochre that they cover themselves in we politely asked her to sit on her blanket with the baby. It was only 20km down the road that Alex realised this was not such a good idea, the blanket was also orange! The backseat was covered in Himba stain which we would have found hilarious were it not for our hefty deposit on the car. That evening Alex came to the camp bar triumphant after managing to rub the Himba orange stains off the backseat with his hanky!. Oh so that only leaves the big black scary looking scorpion to explain. We nearlly ran the blighter over on our second day on the road. It was so big Alex swerved to miss it and we both chased it down to take pictures. Here are the resulting shots...
PS. Alex says if he ever decides to opt out he is going to go and live with these Himba girls in their village!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Rain and Reeds in Botswana
We have just endured 24hrs of non stop rain. The locals think the rains have arrived 2 weeks early as they are not due until mid November! We were on a 2 day Mokoro trip into the Okavango Delta. We had a nice sunny day being poled along through the reeds by our local guide. The mokoro is essentially an African version of a British punt where poler pushes along the boat with a long pole watching out for hippos and crocs along the way. We had an enjoyable 3hours of punting to get to our Island for the night and set up camp. The weather had been hot, October / November are the hottest months in the Delta, 46 degrees in the sun, but we were well aclimatised by now.
The rains began during the night and were welcomed as they masked the sound of the Hyena sniffing around our tents for any left over food. However when morning broke it was still raining. A 3hour dawn walking safari later it was still raining and we realised we were to have a cold and wet 3hour journey back to town. Alex didnt bring his rainjacket or anything warm, no one did, its the middle of summer. So we all froze and even had to use the silver emergency blanket that has lived in our pack since adventure racing days. All warmed up we now walk around camp with fleece and beanie on. It is freezing, all of 20 degrees!
The sunnglasses are to prevent the eye being poked out by the low level flying reeds.
The rains began during the night and were welcomed as they masked the sound of the Hyena sniffing around our tents for any left over food. However when morning broke it was still raining. A 3hour dawn walking safari later it was still raining and we realised we were to have a cold and wet 3hour journey back to town. Alex didnt bring his rainjacket or anything warm, no one did, its the middle of summer. So we all froze and even had to use the silver emergency blanket that has lived in our pack since adventure racing days. All warmed up we now walk around camp with fleece and beanie on. It is freezing, all of 20 degrees!
The sunnglasses are to prevent the eye being poked out by the low level flying reeds.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Zambezi Swim Team
After visiting Victoria falls at low water and watching with envy the rafters far below getting ready we decided to splash out and book the full days rafting down the Zambezi. The falls were so low you could walk all the way from the Zambia side, across the top on the falls side to Livingstone Island at the border with Zim.
Sequence 1. Our first rapid and one man down! All Alex could do was laugh and hold on (front right)
Sequence 2. One of our many flips. We were unlucky to hit the big wall, apparently we missed the window to pass through (we were told at the time tthat we had a 50/50 chance of making it, but after the event the other guides corrected the odds to 90/10 against!). We ended up doing a lot of swimming / floating down rapids and earned the title swim team! Our brilliant guide picked some of the more adventurous lines. See if you can spot us gasping for breath....(Alex second from back, Amms far side)
We could not resist buying the photo CD and video, here is a snapshot. There were four rafts in total, 8 flips during the day (We flipped 4 times in total in 25 rapids, mainly on the class 5's) and there were only a few bruises to show for it....Apparently the Zambezi is one of the few forgiving rivers where you can flip and live to tell the tale as there are few rocks near the surface.
Sequence 1. Our first rapid and one man down! All Alex could do was laugh and hold on (front right)
Sequence 2. One of our many flips. We were unlucky to hit the big wall, apparently we missed the window to pass through (we were told at the time tthat we had a 50/50 chance of making it, but after the event the other guides corrected the odds to 90/10 against!). We ended up doing a lot of swimming / floating down rapids and earned the title swim team! Our brilliant guide picked some of the more adventurous lines. See if you can spot us gasping for breath....(Alex second from back, Amms far side)
We could not resist buying the photo CD and video, here is a snapshot. There were four rafts in total, 8 flips during the day (We flipped 4 times in total in 25 rapids, mainly on the class 5's) and there were only a few bruises to show for it....Apparently the Zambezi is one of the few forgiving rivers where you can flip and live to tell the tale as there are few rocks near the surface.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Lilongwe, Malawi to South Luangwa, Zambia
We've had a few eventful bus journeys to get aross from Malawi. The first involved an 8hr journey in Malawi with the bus breaking down 20km from its final destination. All the local africans stayed put on the bus and hoped someone would come and fix it! We thought better as it was by then getting dark so got off the bus and were lucky enough to get a lift on a passing Malawian police van! The Malawi police were very friendly (as usual in Malawi) and offered to drop us at a hotel of our choosing in Lilongwe. It was mothers day, a national holiday in Malawi, so they were in a jovial mood drinking while driving! They asked us for money for 'fuel' and chatted up a fellow mzungu to see if she would go out with him for dinner! Bless...
The following eventful bus trip was from Lilongwe across to Chipata in Zambia where we were lucky enough to catch the connecting local bus to Mfuwe in South Luangwa National Park. We got to Chipata at 10am and the bus was nearly full, only 2 spots left. Alex rushed off on a bicycle taxi to get money out of the ATM and when he returned we hopped on expecting to leave soon, as the conductor promised. 5hours later at 3pm the bus pulled out, 2 extra people had boarded in that 5hr wait!
But it was all worth it. Well not the first night, where because of the bus delay we arrived in Mfuwe at night and had to stay in a s'''le of a local place with no water, rat droppings on the bed and a tin roof above radiating all the days heat back into the torture chamber! And all this for 20 USD p night. We moved immediately the next day and took local advice to walk the 1km to Croc Valley camp...the best place we have stayed so far. Situated right aross the main dividing river and only 50m from the notional park boundary, we camped on grass, yes green grass!, for only 15usd. There was a hippo proof pool (no fence, just sloping sides that the hippos don't like), a bar, and 5 resident lions, 1 leopard, elephants and hippos in the bush and river bordering the camp, all free to roam across the campground. We were told by the South African owner to walk about at night carefully and stay in the tent if we heard any munching of grass sounds as this would be hippos enjoying the grass. He explained that it was like a zoo only you were camping inside the enclosure. And we had walked there...oops.
Chuffed at our find we joined a game drive aross the river and into the park proper. This involved sitting on an open top landy and driving around for a few hours while the sun set. Once the sun set and it got fully dark the guide turned on the lights and super car battery powered torch and swept left and right to try and pick out the eyes of the nocturnal hunting leopards and lions. Upon meeting another landy we were advised that a leopard had beeen spotted a few hundred metres ahead. So off we went. 10mins later with no sign of the leopard we heard a big hiss and stopped as we had a flat tyre! The guide asked us all to get OUT OF THE CAR! (nutter..) and just stand around while he changed the tyre. I (Alex) was sensible enough to stand with my back to the landy and keep lookout making sure I was not the furthest from the landy and therefore not the easiest target for predators. A good tactic I thought. Then noises came from the bush, hippo noises, and the guide nervously asked us to move to the other side of the landy. Amms was not fazed, bless, and carried on gossiping with the other travellers, while I again retreated to the inside of the group and waited for the attack! Fortunately nothing came for us and 5mins later we hopped back in and searched once again for the leopard.
The following drive was uneventful for the first 3.5hrs. We had given up seeing much and were driving back along the main road when Amms spotted movement to the left. The guide had'nt seen anything and we ushered him to stop. About 30m away a single lioness was jousting with a mother buffalo and its calf. The stand-off lasted about 10mins with both sides attacking until the lion eventually got the upper hand and grabbed the face of the mummy buffalo. She went down and the lion killed her by suffocating her mouth shut. We watched on in horror, the girls crying in the back and refusing to watch (except for Amms who was videoing it all, crazy African girl!, and shouting at me to take lots of pictures). The stupid calf stuck around to watch and eventually when the whole pride (16 lions with 3 cubs) turned up another lion chased the calf around the side of our vehicle (1m away)and down the road. She did'nt kill the calf but instead held it down and tried to teach the cubs how to kill by biting the neck. They failed miserably and the groans of the calf went on for 10mins, girls still crying in the back! We were the first on the scene and were very lucky to have seen such a spectacle, even if it was a bit heart breaking. Videos to come, but at 40mb they are too much for these Zambian computers.
Alex 'African correspondent' Head checking out.
The following eventful bus trip was from Lilongwe across to Chipata in Zambia where we were lucky enough to catch the connecting local bus to Mfuwe in South Luangwa National Park. We got to Chipata at 10am and the bus was nearly full, only 2 spots left. Alex rushed off on a bicycle taxi to get money out of the ATM and when he returned we hopped on expecting to leave soon, as the conductor promised. 5hours later at 3pm the bus pulled out, 2 extra people had boarded in that 5hr wait!
But it was all worth it. Well not the first night, where because of the bus delay we arrived in Mfuwe at night and had to stay in a s'''le of a local place with no water, rat droppings on the bed and a tin roof above radiating all the days heat back into the torture chamber! And all this for 20 USD p night. We moved immediately the next day and took local advice to walk the 1km to Croc Valley camp...the best place we have stayed so far. Situated right aross the main dividing river and only 50m from the notional park boundary, we camped on grass, yes green grass!, for only 15usd. There was a hippo proof pool (no fence, just sloping sides that the hippos don't like), a bar, and 5 resident lions, 1 leopard, elephants and hippos in the bush and river bordering the camp, all free to roam across the campground. We were told by the South African owner to walk about at night carefully and stay in the tent if we heard any munching of grass sounds as this would be hippos enjoying the grass. He explained that it was like a zoo only you were camping inside the enclosure. And we had walked there...oops.
Chuffed at our find we joined a game drive aross the river and into the park proper. This involved sitting on an open top landy and driving around for a few hours while the sun set. Once the sun set and it got fully dark the guide turned on the lights and super car battery powered torch and swept left and right to try and pick out the eyes of the nocturnal hunting leopards and lions. Upon meeting another landy we were advised that a leopard had beeen spotted a few hundred metres ahead. So off we went. 10mins later with no sign of the leopard we heard a big hiss and stopped as we had a flat tyre! The guide asked us all to get OUT OF THE CAR! (nutter..) and just stand around while he changed the tyre. I (Alex) was sensible enough to stand with my back to the landy and keep lookout making sure I was not the furthest from the landy and therefore not the easiest target for predators. A good tactic I thought. Then noises came from the bush, hippo noises, and the guide nervously asked us to move to the other side of the landy. Amms was not fazed, bless, and carried on gossiping with the other travellers, while I again retreated to the inside of the group and waited for the attack! Fortunately nothing came for us and 5mins later we hopped back in and searched once again for the leopard.
The following drive was uneventful for the first 3.5hrs. We had given up seeing much and were driving back along the main road when Amms spotted movement to the left. The guide had'nt seen anything and we ushered him to stop. About 30m away a single lioness was jousting with a mother buffalo and its calf. The stand-off lasted about 10mins with both sides attacking until the lion eventually got the upper hand and grabbed the face of the mummy buffalo. She went down and the lion killed her by suffocating her mouth shut. We watched on in horror, the girls crying in the back and refusing to watch (except for Amms who was videoing it all, crazy African girl!, and shouting at me to take lots of pictures). The stupid calf stuck around to watch and eventually when the whole pride (16 lions with 3 cubs) turned up another lion chased the calf around the side of our vehicle (1m away)and down the road. She did'nt kill the calf but instead held it down and tried to teach the cubs how to kill by biting the neck. They failed miserably and the groans of the calf went on for 10mins, girls still crying in the back! We were the first on the scene and were very lucky to have seen such a spectacle, even if it was a bit heart breaking. Videos to come, but at 40mb they are too much for these Zambian computers.
Alex 'African correspondent' Head checking out.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Malawi
Well. Since you last heard from us we have:
- Sat next to a local vomiting violently on the ferry back to the mainland from Zanzibar
- Caught the Tazara 'Express' train from Dar Es Salaam to Mbeya that took 30hours, only 6hours behind schedule which is actually very good. We have heard it can take 4 days!
- Been refused access into the second internet cafe we tried to use in Tanzania! (is it cause I'm white!)
- Arrived in Malawi (phew!)
- Watched locals buy 2mx2m straw mats, fruit, torches, milk, meat, fish - in fact anything you could wish for from the window of a bus or train. We have been more conservative in our purchases, the boiled eggs with heaps of salt are good!
It is great to be out of Tanzania and in Malawi. The contrast between the two people couldnt be greater. On the one hand you have Tanzanians, who really don't want you in their country and resent tourists and on the other hand you have Malawis, a much poorer country whose people are open, friendly, HONEST!!, and will have a chat with a real interest to LEARN.... Yes there are the odd exceptions as there a the odd exceptions in Tanzania. We met a very nice Tanzanian on the train but Alex feels the majority of the T's have been tainted by the mass resort tourism and the huge amounts of money Mzungus throw around at the Serengeti safaris, on Kili (we are guilty of this one) and on the big exclusive resorts on Zanzibar (where the locals are not even employed but staff brought in from S.A or India to serve its clients).
Ok so enough ranting. Back to Malawi.
We like. Its a bit hot though.
After a few not so nice rooms in the small Malawian towns (pics to follow) we have found a beaut spot on the lake (Malawi that is) with great burgers, and simple wooden huts right to sleep in (actually its probably the nicest room we have stayed in since arriving in Africa). Amms spent yesterday afternoon on a boat trip to a nearby beach where we played games with the locals including the hop, skip, jump game (a version of beach long jump).
- Sat next to a local vomiting violently on the ferry back to the mainland from Zanzibar
- Caught the Tazara 'Express' train from Dar Es Salaam to Mbeya that took 30hours, only 6hours behind schedule which is actually very good. We have heard it can take 4 days!
- Been refused access into the second internet cafe we tried to use in Tanzania! (is it cause I'm white!)
- Arrived in Malawi (phew!)
- Watched locals buy 2mx2m straw mats, fruit, torches, milk, meat, fish - in fact anything you could wish for from the window of a bus or train. We have been more conservative in our purchases, the boiled eggs with heaps of salt are good!
It is great to be out of Tanzania and in Malawi. The contrast between the two people couldnt be greater. On the one hand you have Tanzanians, who really don't want you in their country and resent tourists and on the other hand you have Malawis, a much poorer country whose people are open, friendly, HONEST!!, and will have a chat with a real interest to LEARN.... Yes there are the odd exceptions as there a the odd exceptions in Tanzania. We met a very nice Tanzanian on the train but Alex feels the majority of the T's have been tainted by the mass resort tourism and the huge amounts of money Mzungus throw around at the Serengeti safaris, on Kili (we are guilty of this one) and on the big exclusive resorts on Zanzibar (where the locals are not even employed but staff brought in from S.A or India to serve its clients).
Ok so enough ranting. Back to Malawi.
We like. Its a bit hot though.
After a few not so nice rooms in the small Malawian towns (pics to follow) we have found a beaut spot on the lake (Malawi that is) with great burgers, and simple wooden huts right to sleep in (actually its probably the nicest room we have stayed in since arriving in Africa). Amms spent yesterday afternoon on a boat trip to a nearby beach where we played games with the locals including the hop, skip, jump game (a version of beach long jump).
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Zanzibar
Weve been chilling in Nungwi for a few days of beach inaction! Not cheap and a bit overrun with exclusive Italian resorts but nice turquiose waters, cool dhow sailing boats, fishermen and white sand so all good. We were lucky enough to experience the monthly full moon party yesterday at Kendwa Rocks. It was a bit of a novel experience, unlike thailand or asian parties it had an entry charge of 5USD pp and a BBQ fee of 15USD pp with security guards securing the perimeter fence! We were warned not to take any valuables and not to walk back! even the locals dont take their phones as they will be gone by morning. Security risks aside it was funny hanging around with the few trustworthy Maasai men who migrate to Zanzibar for the tourists in high season, and only in Africa could the DJ get away with mixing the Lion King theme (A wimoway) into the pop hit Poker Face! The dance floor was packed and the Maasai in their full length robes and sticks would groove away with the best of them, even asking our Canadian friend to dance. Apparently they are quite the players as the white Mzungus love their tall slender looks! go figure...But it was cool nonetheless, but not the kind of Maasai you expect after watching Bruce Parrys Tribe series!
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