Thursday, July 30, 2009

South Africa – Upington to South Coast (16.-29.07.09)

Winter in South Africa! We might have ignored this and the fact CIMG3224_1024x768 that we are here at heights between 1000 and 2000 meters. So the nights are cold, bloody cold. Spending  the nights in the tent becomes more a survival training than fun, even with the hot water bottles, first thing we buy upon our arrival in Upington.  Even the nights in Sudan with up to 38 degrees don’t seem so bad any more.

CIMG3219_1024x768 The first thing we notice here are the bird nests along the road on the power masts. Is it a problem for the power companies??

 

 

Our first stop in South Africa is Upington. Here we find the right infrastructure to have the service for the Toyota done, replace our spare tire with a “new” used one and enjoy strolling through the city. Upington is known for its wine, we never heard of it, but Thomas enjoys it a lot…

CIMG3259_1024x768 From here it is a long drive to the East, again through rolling hills with yellow plains and scattered trees. Some call this part the Texas of South Africa. We enjoy the great meat we “braai” in the evenings for dinner. CIMG3254_1024x768 The campgrounds are empty since the school break is over and we seem to be the only hardcore campers around. Excitement is always provided by the animals on the campgrounds. Sometimes there are springboks or CIMG3303_1024x768elands, Kudus, warthogs, our “friends”, the monkeys, ostriches or even Emus, the Australian version of an ostrich, and all of them have one thing in common: they are very curious and always hungry. So watch your food.

 

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CIMG3274_1024x768 It is a long drive to Sun City, our next destination. It takes us 3 days to reach it. They call it Las Vegas of South Africa probably because they have gambling here but it is for sure a little smaller. The Palace Hotel reminds us very CIMG3296_1024x768 much the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai. No wonder, since it belongs to the same owner. Sun City is located in a valley in the mountains. The center is “Lost City”, the Palace Hotel which is surrounded by a nice water park. There are CIMG3284_1024x768 some very brave people who even use the water slides with water temperatures around 11 degrees. We prefer to stroll around and have a look to the casino. Off season, so the few customers we see seem to be retired.

CIMG3315_1024x768 From here we head for the Pilanesberg Game Reserve, which is next to Sun City. Here we spend two quiet nights on a huge campground, which is not very busy. We enjoy the game drives we take through the park. It offers a very IMG_2013_1024x683 diverse landscape and vegetation as well as many animals. We even spot a few rhinos in very close distance, which didn’t happen too often during our trip so far. Often the small not so popular parks seem to IMG_2050_1024x683 be the better choice in particular since they are not so busy and we have the park nearly to ourselves.

 

 

Next destination is Johannesburg and a visit to Scott and his family. Scott is a friend of  Thomas, who made almost the same trip 10 years ago. He is the one who inspired us to do the trip and CIMG3354_1024x768 always gave valuable input where to go. Approaching Sandton shows the contrast between rich and poor. We drive through very nice areas around lakes or on hills with pricey villas and the obviously required tight security setup followed by townships, where the poorest of the poor are “living” and which seem to have only very basic infrastructure. Wherever we drive, we also see the progress they are making with the preparation of the 2010 Football World Championship.

CIMG3364_1024x768 We are happy to see Scott, but shocked as well, because he just broke his leg, only some hours before we arrived! It happened while jogging in the morning. We hope he didn’t want to run away from us! But even with his leg in cast DSC08357_1024x768 and using his crutches he manages to show us around in Johannesburg. A highlight is the trip to Soweto and the visit of Nelson Mandela’s house which has been recently converted to a museum. There would be so much  more to see DSC08359_576x768in and around Johannesburg, which probably would take weeks. Thanks Scott and Renée for your warm hospitality and the delicious food. We still remember the “lecker bobotie” Renée’s mother prepared. We also enjoyed sleeping in a real bed for the first time since nearly 3 months.

 

 

CIMG3380_1024x768 On our way to Kruger National Park, we make some interesting stops in Pilgrim’s Rest, an old gold digging village. We are amazed how nice the old houses are preserved and we feel like 150 years back in time.

 

CIMG3407_1024x768 From “God’s Window” we enjoy a beautiful view over the Blyde River Canyon. 

 

 

 

We always were looking forward to visiting the Kruger National Park, which is for sure one of the most famous parks in Africa. CIMG3415_1024x768 However, when we arrive, we are a little surprised how unfriendly we are treated by the guards and at the reception.  During our drive through the park we notice that it is very crowded and wherever CIMG3306_1024x768 an animal can be seen, there are already some cars around. Moreover, there are not so many animals to be seen. May be we have seen too many nice parks before and it is probably hard to top what we have seen so far. Unfortunately we even cannot stay in the park since all 3000 campsites are fully booked!!  So we decide to leave…

Sometimes we feel like being back in Germany…CIMG3431_1024x768

CIMG3472_1024x768 On our way to the Drakensberge next to Lesotho, we pass an area where a lot of battles took place. One of the most famous sites is the Blood River where they have an interesting display of the battle that took place in 1838.

 

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When approaching the Drakensberge, we notice how much we have missed the mountains in all these weeks! Even the almost unbearably cold night cannot prevent us to stay here for two nights and to make IMG_2064_1024x683some  nice hikes. The good thing of the cold nights is that the campground belongs all to ourselves, even it could host up to 500 people… It’s wonderful to hike, always with the amazing view of IMG_2086_1024x683 the “Amphitheatre”, a 3000 m high mountain range.

 

 

 

But we also are happy to leave, to the hopefully warmer South Coast close to Durban. It is indeed much warmer here,  but the CIMG3492_1024x768 first impression is that the real adventurous time of the trip is over. Campgrounds, or as they call them here Caravan Parks, are packed, quite busy and could be also somewhere in the middle of Europe. Probably a good way to get slowly prepared for the return to Germany.

There are a lot of Road Signs in South Africa which make you really think…

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We are now 5 months on the road, drove 30.000 km and are still enjoying every moment.

 

 

 16 - 280709 RSA Track

South Africa is a huge country. We drove from Upington to the South Coast 3180 km and it is still a long way to Cape Town.

 

29.07., Ifafa Beach, a place “even the South Africans don’t know it exists…”

Friday, July 17, 2009

Namibia – Swakopmund to Fish River Canyon (05.07.-15.07.2009)

IMG_1978_1024x683 Washing too many clothes was not a good idea. When Claudia wakes up in the morning, she cannot move her right arm. After discussing if we should go to Windhoek or to Swakopmund, we decide for Swakopmund, hoping that the warmer climate there will ease the shoulder pain. During the drive to the coast, the landscape changes from savanna with the typical yellow grass and trees and scattered mountain formations to dry desert shortly before Swakopmund. Fortunately, the temperatures rise from 12 to 22 degrees.

CIMG2985_1024x768 We find a nice campground directly at the beach and enjoy the warm temperatures, the sound of the waves and the crying sea gulls. However, after a terribly painful night for Claudia, we think it’s better to see a doctor. The diagnosis CIMG3012_1024x768 is an inflammation of the shoulder muscle which requires to rest the arm in a sling and some medicine. It takes a couple of days until the pain gets less. So, no more clothes washing for Claudia, lucky her!

 

CIMG2992_1024x768 Swakopmund is said to be more German than any German city. We really can confirm this. In the shops, everybody speaks German, the streets have German names, and the restaurants offer real German food. We feel CIMG2995_1024x768 like home and enjoy the city for a couple of days.

 

 

 

 

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From here, we make day trips to the Skeleton Coast which has its name from the many shipwrecks that can be found along the coast.

 

 

IMG_1932_1024x683 We also visit Cape Cross where the biggest seal colony of the world can be found, at times more than 200.000 seals. Already from a distance you can hear their noise and smell them. Nothing for the faint hearted!

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CIMG3044_1024x768 On our way to Walvis Bay, Namibia’s main harbor, we are reminded of the start of our trip: huge dunes along the road, but also sandstorm!

 

 

CIMG3066_1024x768 After some nice days in Swakopmund, we head for the Namib Desert. Most of the drive is on gravel roads…

 

 

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CIMG3085_1024x768Even though the off road tracks are very good, and are even used by 2x4, we witness a car spinning and almost flipping over. We help the shocked English couple to get the car back on the road and to fix the two damaged tires.

 

CIMG3102_1024x768 We stop for the night in Solitaire, a place in the middle of nowhere, just a gas station, a shop/bar, a bakery and a campground. The next villages are 200 km away. A nice experience, and we like this place.

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The next morning starts CIMG3117_1024x768with two surprises: it’s raining for the first time since months, and 14 km after Solitaire, one of our tires blows up. Fortunately enough, we can stop the car without any problems, but the tire is completely destroyed…

 

CIMG3125_1024x768 … this driver was not as lucky :-(

 

 

 

 

IMG_1951_1024x683 One of the highlights in Namibia are the sand dunes around Sossusvlei. The red and yellow dunes are the highest of the world, the highest one - “big mamma” – 325 m! We  enjoyIMG_1957_1024x683 climbing some of the dunes like the famous “Dune 45”.

 

 

 

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IMG_1963_1024x683 The distance to our next destination is rather long and after a break in Keetmanshoop, we arrive after two days at the Fish River Canyon.  This canyon is the biggest of the Southern Hemisphere. We make a IMG_1973_1024x683 walk along the rim and enjoy the breathtaking views down to the river 550 m below. Unfortunately, it’s not allowed to hike down without special permit.

 

Our last night in Namibia should be the coldest of our trip. When we wake up in the morning, the tent is frozen and the car is covered with an ice crust. So we are looking forward to go to Ai-Ais, the hot springs at the other end of the canyon. But even here it’s not warmer at all and we continue in one shot to South Africa.

CIMG3190_1024x768 Namibia was great, but it would be even better to have done it one or two months later when it’s warmer.  We also noticed that the whole country seems to be fenced. Possibilities for wild camping are very limited, but on the other CIMG3191_1024x768 hand, the campgrounds are in very nice locations, there is plenty of them, and they are very clean. We really enjoyed our time in Namibia, but we also look forward to our final and last country: South Africa.

CIMG3092_1024x768 Sunset ….

 

 

 

 

IMG_1927_1024x683 … and moonset in Namibia.

 

 

 

 

Namibia IIWe drove 4120 km in Namibia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

16.07.2009 Upington – South Africa