Three weeks already !!
Thought it was about time I bored you all with some of my thoughts.
Firstly the drive – a 2010 model 70’s series (farmers version) Toyota Landcruiser 5 door station wagon, gold in colour or at least it was when we left, more dirt then paint now. No V8 twin turbo charged diesel engine though like it would be back home, it’s the old 4.2 litre non turbo 1HZ motor, lets just say hills are not its best friend.
We have driven approx 5399.34 kilometres so far and no major issues with the car (the car overheating is not a issue at all) though the second battery does appear to be too heavy for where it is mounted, as its supporting bracket has cracked in under the front guard, we will have to keep an eye on that.
I almost forgot we managed to pick up a chipped windscreen, not as you would expect a rock from a passing truck or by following the vehicle in front to closely, no it was from a bloody springbok running on the road in front of us, throwing up a stone.
Lesotho
Well worth the drive, very picturesque (Michael that means good to look at). The roads are as to be expected more like tracks but that makes it more fun to drive, Surprise Surprise, black people everywhere, I don’t think there are too many white Lesothian’s. We got stopped twice by the police in 200 metres, they were doing a licence check but I could have just kept driving as they were only on foot. The second policeman even admitted he did not know what he was looking at when I showed him my international licence, almost worth the effort.
The Sani pass was an interesting drive, it would have been more fun driving up rather than down, not sure the RAV4 would have made it though Larry.
South Africa
They call it the garden route and it is not much more exciting than gardening, Addo Elephant reserve aside, as it was quite good though a little too zoo like. Ok admittedly we did not go via the wine route which may have made it more interesting for some. The Cape of Good Hope was worth the visit, a nice view from the top, I would have walked up but Elizabeth did not want to do it (if you believe that you are sillier then I thought).
Cape Town itself seems a nice enough city with Table Mountain and all, though I don’t think it is good enough to be one of the New Seven Wonders of the World like they are hoping it to be.
Cedarberg was another picturesque place and we could have easily chilled here for a couple of days, but we were both keen to get away from the civilised life style we had been living so chose to push on. We had Pete from Pete’s B&B assure us that the easterly was not going to blow, then had the pleasure of trying to sleep while the wind tried to blow us and our car off the mountain we were on.
As for South Africa’s roads, I have never seen so many road works in all my life, and they just don’t work on 1 or 2 kms of road at a time, it is more like 10 or 20 kms. There are also a lot of hills, which the poor car was struggling to cope with. The white lines on the road mean nothing at all to anyone, including the police as they overtook me using the left turn lane of the traffic coming the other way. It does not take long though to get in the swing of driving like an African.
Namibia
How could I sum up Namibia in one word ? Barren or desolate would spring to mind, you should know me better than to think I would only say one word.
The dunes at Sesriem were really good and well worth the effort to climb, though the early start was a bit rude.
If you have read Elizabeth’s posts about Walvisbaii and Swakopmund, she is not exaggerating at all. Driving towards Walvisbaii at around 15:00 you would swear blind that the you were driving towards the windy end of the world. Interesting to visit but why anyone would consider living there is beyond me.
The roads are mainly gravel, but the Namibians make a better dirt road then the most of the Australian highways and definitely smoother to drive on than their own tarred roads. I think to make corners must be to expensive, I have never seen so many or such long straight roads anywhere.
As we are heading back to the coast tomorrow, and its called the Skeleton coast it will be interesting to see what that part of Namibia is like.
uuuuuuhhhhhhhh What does good to look at mean?
Wayne says to look it up in the dictionary………..
A nice little story Wayne, never ever heard of a pronking stone chip before, I’d like to be there when your trying to get insurance to cover it. Fat chance!
Mate, the RAV4 would eat those roads, as long as you could find someone who knows how to drive those conditions (not me).
You or Elizabeth have not said you’re loving it yet, come on, get emotional!
As of writing, the royal wedding may pull me away any minute, it’s sooooo exciting. Not!
1.09US$ for every AU$ at the moment – are you getting the benefit there?
It’s Friday arvo and I’ve just started on a beer, shame you can’t join me.
What have you noticed different about the people from country to country?
Did you have a little look for diamonds and would you recognise an uncut diamond if you saw one?
It’s called the skeleton coast because they like to eat white people. har har, sorry, just needed to be a dickhead for a minute.
Just don’t get shipwrecked or go swimming there.
Love you guys and the updates, keep them comming,
Larry
Hey Larry
I don’t think our insurance will cover it either. The RAV4 definitely would not have coped where we have been lately, although it would have been interesting seeing you try it.
We are definitely loving it, especially as we are now getting into serious animal territory and out of the civilised world. We head to the Kalahari in 2 days time where we will be wild camping amongst the lions and animals for 4 nights – can’t wait!
Gee…..sooooooooo sad we missed the wedding -NOT!
Wow I hope our dollar stays that strong. It is hard for us to keep track on how the dollar is going so we just use the rates we had before we left to get an idea. Hopefully the money won’t run out.
It’s hard to explain the differences sometimes. It isn’t really until we got into Namibia that there really were traditional people around, before that they were reasonably westernised. The Himba are very different and I wrote about them in a post I have uploaded today. The Herero also very different in their dress. We have had a mixture of people being really friendly and people asking for handouts as you drive past or stop to get groceries. Most people in general though have been friendly and seem pleased to see us.
Missing us yet?