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.
Today we drove through some pretty countryside. The road travelled around some small mountains, passing through the valleys rather than climbing over them. We saw heaps of springbok, some gemsbok, ostriches and a black-backed jackal along the way. We even had a herd of springbok
travel with us alongside and in front of the car for a few kilometres. They definitely have some stamina and can travel at quite a speed. Even after staying with us for some time they were still moving at 60 km/h. They are quite cute the way they hop on all 4 legs into the air, which is apparently called pronking. It was definitely a highlight of the day.
We are now in Sesriem, staying at the Sesriem Camp – which even though yesterday when I rang they assured us they were fully booked and could not possibly reserve us a site, we were able to secure a perfect spot when we arrived! So, don’t believe anything you are told over the phone and turn up anyway! We have a pleasant site, slightly away from the other sites with a huge tree providing shade and a gentle breeze blowing – not a bad way to spend the afternoon.
