Travels through Africa 2009

Thursday 10th December 2009

It is hard to believe that this is the last day on our African 2009 adventure. Harry is already on the high seas of the Atlantic, the same dynamic body of water witnessed on the Skeleton coast in Namibia, fed by the Orange River and saluted from Cape Agulhas and the Cape of Good Hope.  Flying home across so many of the countries that we have enjoyed- borders crossed with Harry’s help- at night, through the panoply of stars in the seemingly infinite wonder of the African skies will be a fitting epitaph: remembering sunrise, electrical storms, sunsets, full moons and moonless landscapes from the open tent flap; mountain tops, coastal rocks, desert, oases; kaleidoscopic colours, the sounds, smells, and sensory overdrive.

Reading about the life of Gertrude Bell, we are reminded of the plethora of people with whom we have shared tea, conversed and been entertained although in our cases the language has been sadly, overwhelmingly in English! The hope is that much of the overwhelming hospitality we have received throughout the continent will be ours to return in the years to come at Deepleigh Barn, Somerset.

We are both genuinely excited about coming home and there is much to anticipate: our families have been immensely important to us, and we thank them for their forbearance- we will make up for lost time- new houses, jobs, university interviews, babies etc. The Christmas and new Year period will give us a chance to settle back and pull together the thousands of photos, tie up loose ends, complete diaries and reunite with Harry at Tilbury or Croydon.

It will seem strange to forego our nomadic existence, drop from 30 to 4 degrees and adapt to working life once again. One thing is for certain, our new year resolutions will reflect the qualities of life which we have grown to respect during this formative year together.

The flight tickets are in our hands, seats allocated and next week Harry will be driven inside a 20 foot container after the roof tent has been removed and South African customs have made an inspection. We will spend the balance of our remaining days with Doug and Giovanna at their fabulous house in Somerset West and their farm to the North.

Doug and Giovanna we first met in Roy’s Camp, Namibia, many months ago and their friendship / kindness and hospitality have been truly outstanding. We have woven many plans under open night skies; they are keen motor bikers and established 4 x 4 off-roaders so our futures will be made in sand or far distant river crossings. We met last weekend at De Hoop Nature Reserve on the Atlantic Ocean where Southern right whales nourish their young and males display aerial breaches, Doug and Giovanna returned to Somerset West and we took a more circuitous route, via De Mond estuary , Cape Agulhas- the southernmost point of the African continent, and Elim, an old Moravian mission town. Salmondsdam Nature reserve was deserted -not even park rangers -so we camped under a mountain range with sugar birds and sunbirds, seeing for the first time the orange breasted sunbird high above our pitch. For the last open fire we gathered dry fir cones in conjunction with dry kindling, under a dark sky full of stars: wood fire cooking, a background smell of pine resin with a spotted owl watching the whole proceedings.

Bridget has written the majority of the blogs, I have this opportunity to say; ‘what a wonderful cook’ and I look forward to her camp-side cook book next year.

Our investment in a Wild card means that we are now visiting as many National parks and reserves as we can sensibly fit in as we return to Cape Town. They are amazingly varied, most offer accommodation and more particularly camping- we value birds flying past the tent windows and glorious views of mother nature. Thus Vernon Crookes, Oribi Gorge, Mkambathi in the Eastern Cape gave way to Tsitsikamma on the South coast Garden route. We stayed at each end of the park, first at Storms River Mouth where the Indian Ocean waves thunder and crash against the jagged black rocky shore, 20 m from the landrover, and walks took us part way along the Otter trail, into the forest for our first glimpse of the Knysna turacos, across suspension bridges over the river mouth itself. Nature’s valley at the west end is a much more sedate affair with lagoons, wetlands and a rare area of coastal fynbos on alkaline soils, one of only 2 remaining habitats for the Brenton blue butterfly. Our camp site was deep in the forest, inclining to be wet but we managed once again to pitch and strike camp in the dry.

Now we are enjoying hospitality in the Knysna forests for a relaxing few days, expansive views from every window and a ‘tree-house feel’ as everything is constructed of wood. Turacos with crimson wings, inky blue bodies and emerald green heads, crests bordered with white and eye make up, fly by the balconies. Thank you Miriam. Knysna itself has the best fish shop in the world so we stocked up on our way through and have been living like kings off line fish and kingklip, banana bread and fresh salads.

We have also been offered a splendid-sounding place at Smitswinkel bay, on Cape Point which we are taking up for the last weekend in November so all in all social engagements are crowding in the diary up until we leave.

First of all we apologise that there are inevitable gaps in our coverage of the trip, and errors in the text. Time is always at a premium (even when we have a year to play with!) and the photo upload issue has been problematic. Thank you Celia/ Speedy for putting on the last three photos from Botswana.

Sue and Martin flew out from the UK to join us for 10 days over half term. As outdoor enthusiasts and animal lovers we had a brilliant time, in spite of British-like, inclement weather we travelled a varied route taking in the Drakensbergs, Lesotho and Sani Pass, any number of Nature reserves and parks including a superabundance of white rhino and MORE elephants, St Lucia wetlands and plenty of birds.

 At Golden gate we camped under spectacular sandstone cliffs, enjoyed cape vultures circling on the thermals and walked up above to watch the sun set. The following day saw us driving round to Royal Natal NP where we had a 6 hour walk in blistering sunshine up the Tugela Gorge. The flowers, education in the ever-shifting vistas and geology of the rocks /geographical features (such as subaerial processes) from Dr Sue, colours and picnic lunch on the banks of the river gave us a delightful day.

Heading through the tourist honeypot of Clarens, complete with cherry blossom, and Fouriesburg, asparagus mecca- adds a touch of class to the evenings’ camp dinner, we crossed the border into Lesotho. This gave a taste of ‘real Africa’: shepherds dressed in the ubiquitous wellington boots and colourful blankets their charges audible thanks to tinkling bells- the sound carrying across the valley, rondavel thatched houses on the top of spurs or ridges in this high plateau  mountain kingdom, San rock paintings, wonderful rolling hills and mountains, even an embryonic ski resort in its incongruity. The weather at 3000m in our wild or bush camp in an old quarry, turned foul, but only after another spectacular ’sound and light’ show far below us.

Sani Pass is a not to be missed adventure and bears some research from you, the reader. Dropping 1400m over 3 kms, via wicked z bends, the rocky road is in itself an engineering miracle, the brain child of one land rover enthusiast. Sani Top, the highest  pub in the world furnished David with a double whisky before tackling the descent through the no mans land between Lesotho and South African border posts.

From there we stayed at Cobham, Weenen and Imfolozi-Hluhluwe National Reserves where we had the joys of white rhino watching, ostrich mating in action, distant and then up close and personal elephant encounters, numbering almost 100. Once again the birds steal the show. St Lucia wetlands gave us a chance to take a boat trip up the estuary and have lunch on the Indian Ocean. Waves crashing, empty sand-dune fringed beaches as far as the eye could see. Our return to Jo’burg took us via Mkuze and Ithala Reserves with idyllic camp sites, almost to ourselves, and a black rhino to add to our mammal list. The sounds of the red chested cuckoo tantalising without so much as a glimpse of the bird itself.

Back in Joburg we have enjoyed our time with ‘lovely Brigette’ though will be ready to leave tomorrow for the slow crawl (38 days) back to Cape Town. Our flights home are booked for 10th December, arriving the following morning so we will look forward to seeing you all then.