Thursday, March 15, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Our holiday Feb, 2012
Holiday 2012
27th Feb
After a very long day, but enjoyable flights to and from Luanda, I finally arrived home just after 20:00. The car’s fuel tank is full and we have packed. To keep things simple and to keep the house clean, we shared a veggie pizza. We went to sleep at midnight.
28th
We got up at 3:45, all excited! We packed the last stuff and left at 4:20. All went well. Carltonville! A twister will do this town a favour! It is a manmade wasteland, we took the wrong road and instead of the N14 via Coligny, we took the N14 to Klerksdorp. At the Wimpy in Klerksdorp we enjoyed a light breakfast. I had a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich and Rina had a Chicken wrap. Oh well, we travelled an extra 80 km, but at least we saw a new town, Hartbeestfontein. There cannot be more than a thousand people living there, yet they have warning signs, that it is a high crime area. We then made our way towards to Ottosdal!
I am so glad we have finally arrived at Barberspan. I am so tired after a whole week of waking up at three, I just fell asleep in the shade of a huge Karee tree for about two hours, it was the best sleep I had in weeks. Went to check out the birds at the waterfront, Rina slipped and fell in the mud! It was amusing. A strong wind started blowing from the north over the pan, high water level. Spotted groundlings are fluttering about. We had nice tomato, cucumber and avocado sandwiches with butter lettuce, onion and Thai chilli sauce. I slipped and fell in the mud! This is so not funny!
It is late afternoon. The wind finally stopped blowing and the pan is like a mirror, most beautiful sunset. Asshole with his jet ski/wet bike, seven and he is still at it.
Quiet at last, now all you hear are the sound of the frogs. We can distinguish at least three kinds. Blacksmith plovers are calling out to their mates. Peace! These are the sounds of the African bush at night.
29th
We just got the sad news that my daughter’s grandfather passed away today. The noisy people have left. We had a quiet day of birding around the pan. A very strong wind started blowing. We are having pilchards and salad for dinner. Just got news that my daughter’s Grandfather passed away.
Monday 30 January
The pan is like a mirror this morning. There is not a breeze in the air. Something bit me on my forearm. It is sore and feels very hot, swollen and red. We packed up early and left for our next destination. Not sure yet where that will be. Between Vryburg and Kuruman we had lunch at the Texas Brisotta restaurant at the Komtiekie Karen Truck Stop. Rina had a chicken wrap and I had vegetable pasta. The food was great. We decided not to stay over in Kuruman, but to head for Witsand nature reserve instead. A few kilos from Vryburg, many emergency vehicles passed at high speed. More or less 10 km from Kuruman we saw the reason, a delivery van overturned. All its cargo all over the road and the two occupants all bandaged up and in neck braces. The driver apparently lost control of the vehicle due to high speed. In Olifantshoek we bought some biltong. I asked the guy in the butchery if I can get some biltong, so he said; No, but I can sell you some” Then when I asked him whether he takes credit cards, he said no, but he will accept it as method of payment and then he’ll give it back to me. He also asked me whether I could take some of the folks in town with me, he said he’ll pay anything to get rid of them. We finally arrived at Witsand after a long drive on a very bad dirt road. We are the only people in the entire place. It is so peaceful and quiet. . We had cheese, tomato and onion sandwiches for a snack and vegetable stir-fry for dinner. Steenboks and mongooses came to visit us at our camp sight. The swelling on my arm got worse and it is more painful now. After dinner, we went for a late night skinny dip.
Tuesday, 31
We went for an early morning drive to do some bird watching and to climb the dunes at Brulsand. With the correct weather conditions, the sand makes a roaring sound. We were too early though, apparently, this only happens when it is very hot and the sand is very dry. Even Rina climbed the dune. It was strenuous, but it was worthwhile. My arm is now even more swollen.
I cannot believe that we forgot one of the lenses of our camera at the bird hide. Fortunately we were the only people at the resort, so it was still there. So, I had a bit of unnecessary stress. For lunch, I made us some toasted cheese, tomato and onion sandwiches and Rina made us Vegetarian sausages with vegetables in an Italian tomato sauce
It is dinnertime and I am barbequing some chicken breasts on the Cob. Rina made us some vegetables and couscous with that.
Now we are sitting, relaxing, sipping ice cold Millers while watching the birds. A Golden tailed Woodpecker is chipping away at the bark of the Karee.
Wednesday, 1 February
We had a little bit of rain during the night, but the ground is still dry, so it was not anything worth mentioning. There are lots of animal spoor in the camp. Judging by the size of the tracks, the Steenboks must have been the visitors.
My arm does not look worse this morning, but something also bit me on my right arm. I am picturing myself driving home without arms. Two braaitongs attached to the stumps, Rina changing the gears.
We decided to stay an extra night seeing that I do not seem to be in immediate life and death situation.
I went to pay for our extra night and we decided to do a little hike, but now the weather is hampering us. There is a continuous drizzle, so we cannot hike with the books, camera, lenses and binoculars. Meanwhile our zoom is acting up and it is almost impossible to use it on manual focus, while the wind blows so hard. I decided to cancel our little hike. The weather is not nice.
Back at camp, we saw a huge fight between some Cape Glossy Starlings. They all seemed to gang up on this one poor bird.
There were two mating tortoises at the hide. There has been a lot of rain today. Rina has a sore back, legs and hand.
We are going to make some Fry’s chicken for dinner with some vegetables.
Thursday, 2 February
We are leaving the peace and tranquillity of Witsand behind. The road to Groblershoop is in a very bad condition. We filled up in Groblershoop. Fuel is now R11, 19c per liter. While driving we are having nuts and dried fruit for a snack. The road is long!
Finally, we reached Upington. The time has come to stock up on some food items and off course, beer! We decided to have a pizza for lunch. What a huge mistake. We ordered a seafood pizza and the women insisted that we take it with seafood mayonnaise. We could not picture a pizza with mayonnaise on it, but surrendered. It was awful! I do not know how many thousands of bad calories we had.
Pizza behind us and we headed for Keimoes. They had a cloudburst and the town was knee-deep in water. We stopped at “Die Pienk Padstal”. They have decorated with number plates that had fallen from vehicles, an old pink scooter and all kinds of funny signs. The one sign read;”In 1904, nothing happened here”. Well they can change the sign now to read something like this: “In 2012 Francois ran to the toilet in the rain torrent and did not see this sign. Smacked into it with his head and went o fell flat on his ass!”
I got up, now soaking wet and started running again, but the slip-slops were so slippery.(I suppose that is why they call it that). I slipped and fell on the little white gravel pebbles. I was now bleeding profusely, not very impressed with myself. People looked at me and just smiled. In Kakemas, I thought we were going to need a boat to get through the town. The water sprayed high into the air on both sides of our vehicle. It felt or rather looked as though we were driving through a guard of honour.
We arrived at Augrabies more or less in one piece. We paid for our new wild card and camping spot and proceeded to pitch our tent before the rain started here too. We camped under two huge White Karee trees. We went for a walk to see the falls. There was a lot of damage from the floods a year ago and many of the walkways were not open. I could not believe that they have done nothing to fix it. It is one of the biggest and most famous attractions of the Northern Cape. I could not help but think, that if this were Japan or Germany, it would have been fixed within a month. As usual, the falls were brilliant, not in full force, but it is so beautiful. For dinner, Rina made us a lovely tuna salad. There are so many of those Biting Midges here. You hear the word”ouch!” a lot. We went to bed to the sound of owls and jackal. In the distance, you can hear the Orange River rushing into the gorge.
Friday, 3 February
We woke early and went for a drive to all the view sites. We first we went to Moonrock, then to Ararat and Oranjekom. At Echo corner, we tested the echo. It is truly beautiful and so quiet. Well, it was, once we stopped yelling to hear the echoes.
When we got back to camp, we had a big salad for lunch. We then went for a swim at one of the sparkling pools.
Late afternoon we decided to walk to the twin falls, but we got totally lost and ended up on the Dassie trail which is 5 km. We tried to turn back but could not find our way and the sun was getting very low on the horizon. We decided to finish the entire trail. Unfortunately, we were not prepared for a hike and we were walking in our swimwear and All Stars. Thorns just stuck right through the soles of the shoes. It was not long before Rina had bad blisters. She decided to go barefoot, but the rocks, the sand was scalding hot, and there were so many thorns. We had to walk through water and our shoes were soaking wet as well. Rina could not get hers back on. She took the laces out and then just tied her feet on top of the shoes with the laces. It looked very weird. We finally arrived back at camp as the sun disappeared on the horizon. We were just so happy that we did not have to sleep out in the bush without protection or food.
We were quite hungry after our walk. We made pork fillet with potatoes and mushroom sauce.
During the night, I went to sit outside the tent, as it was too hot inside. We heard the next day that the temperature was 36 degrees during the night.
Sa, 4Feb
We had a lovely breakfast consisting of omelettes and vegetarian sausages. After breakfast, we went for a drive. We did the 4x4 route. We had picnic way out in the boendoes. We nearly became stuck in a dry riverbed with deep sand. We saw a porcupine for the first time in the wild today! It is late afternoon on a sultry summer day. The temperature is 42 Celsius. We went for a swim. The water was divine. Warm, but it still cools you down. We spent most of the day at the pool, seeing that Rina was kind of out of action from the previous days walk. We decided to go and pay for an extra night.
Sunday 5 February
Lots of “Government approved high speed testing vehicles” arrived. They test their BMW, Mercedes, Porsche vehicles on this road from Upington towards Tweerivieren. The Italians also started to test theirs now. All their cars were wrapped in shading net and masking tape or something, the shape said they are Fiat.
We were relaxing by the poolside when I decided I had enough sun. Seeing that no one was around, I took off my swimming shorts and just put a towel around my body, so that I can dry. At that moment a German women camping close to us, came running towards us, screaming like a banshee. At first, I thought she saw me naked. Then she started shouting something about baboons in our tent! She threw her hands in the air! Shouting:”Oh no, baboons in tent, all over! Oooh!” That really got my attention, seeing that something like that has happened to us before! I got a déjà vu feeling! So, I start running to see what I can salvage at our tent. Have you ever tried to run in Crocs? All of a sudden, they felt three sizes too big. After every two steps, I lost a Croc. You try to grip it with your toes from the inside to no avail! The time is running out fast! A troop of baboons in your tent can do serious damage! I am also thinking of our special food: Tofu, Whole-wheat pasta, soya mince and all the herbs and spices. After about twenty meters of two steps, fetch crocs, two steps, fetch crocs. I decided to stuff the crocs, just run barefoot. Well, I am not into this Guru walk on coals type of stuff, so after about twenty meters of desert sand running, I started to do low flying! I realised I will never be able to walk on hot coals. Then the towel came off! The German women, still keeping up with me , just went on;”Ooh !” Throwing her hands in the air! “Baboon, all over!” I decided to put crocs back on, seeing myself now driving home with no hands or feet.
I could not run in the crocs and walking was too slow , so I put them back on my serious burnt feet and tried to walk as fast as possible, resulting in a kind of very fast shuffle, It was like running without lifting your feet. When I finally arrived at our campsite, I was so relieved to see, that the baboons inside our tent were in fact only monkeys on top of our tent. No harm, no damage! German woman just shook her head, “Oooh! Sorry! All over! Baboon!”
Well, you should have seen her the next day when the actual baboons arrived! She must have thought they were Alien baboon mutations on steroids, seeing they were so much bigger!
In the late afternoon, a group of very noisy Italians arrived in a massive vehicle. The baboons stole all their pasta. I was wondering what they were going to have for dinner.
We went for dinner at the restaurant and had a not so nice meal; food was overcooked and too salty. It is better cooking your own meal. It was suppose to be butterfish, but it could have been anything. The waitress did herself in with R100. I pointed it out to her, but she did not even say thank you, I should have kept quiet, seeing the service and the meal was so bad.
Monday, 6 Feb
A big troop of baboons woke us up. They were running through the camp, followed by the Germans and Italians. They were shouting at them in Italian and German, but the baboons just went to sit down and proceeded to eat their Salticrax, cheese and other snacks. I could not help thinking that the Italians must be getting low on provisions, seeing that they shared everything with the baboons.
Today we are packing up. We will go and get some food in Upington and then drive to Twee Rivieren. It is a long and very straight road to Twee Rivieren. The Germans were flying past us in their test vehicles, only to fly back past us in the opposite direction after a few minutes. We drove past Goerapan and some other pans.
When we arrived at Tweerivieren, we were quite surprised to see how full the camp was, but we managed to find a nice shady spot. We had a sandwich and a salad for lunch and then went to cool off in the pool. The Italians beat us to it. We spoke to their guide. After their trip through the Northern Cape , he was taking them to Namibia and then drop them off in Windhoek. He would then return to Capetown all by himself.
Tuesday, 7 Feb
There is a lot of traffic, very busy. A tortoise tried to cross the road. I thought he was going to be killed; the people do not look out for the small animals when they enter the park. Therefore, we carried it to safety and put him into the bushes on the side of the road in the direction he wanted to go. We went for a drive. There are so many beautiful wildflowers still in bloom. The Gifbolle dressed in pink, standing proudly in the red desert sand. At lunch time we arrived back, camp empty, Rice crackers and salsa for picnic at Auchterlonie. Dinnertime, I made a little fire and we did chicken, pap and sauce for dinner.
Wednesday, 8 Feb
It is a quiet morning. We drove to Melkvlei picnic spot for brunch. Back at camp we had a dip in the pool to cool down a bit. A big storm is brewing in the east, dark clouds forming on the horizon. This afternoon the tortoise from yesterday was back. It now tried to get back to the other side of the road again. I picked him up and put him further away from the road on the other side. This is our last night at Tweerivieren. We are going to make vegetarian pasta for dinner.
A German person is standing by the ablution block with a net. He apparently researches bats. You can hear them in the thatch. He is waiting so patiently. We had a wonderful meal. The German guy arrived at our campsite to show us the tiny little bat. Rina stroked his head. The little bat bit her. Fortunately, it did not pierce her skin. He let the bat fly off. It was interesting to see a new species of animal. It was A Cape serotine bat.
Thursday, 9 Feb
We had a big rainstorm during the night. We were a bit late in closing the flaps. Now it is kind of very wet inside. It is so hot, though. It should dry fast. We left camp at 07:00. People saw leopard yesterday. We shall see if we kind find it. It might still be in the area. On our way to Mata Mata we had a snack at Auchterlonie again. At Gemsbokplain we saw a very large herd of Springbok, two Black backed Jackal and a Pale chanting Goshawk observing them. Between Rooibrak and Kamqua we saw two large male lions and one female.
We found ourselves a very nice spot to pitch our tenet in the shade of two very large trees.
In the late afternoon, it started pouring and we soon found out that we pitched our tent in a place where the water gathers. As the water level started rising, I tried to redirect it away from us with a spade, but to no avail. I quickly pulled out all the pins and moved or stuff to a higher level. Our neighbours came over and we each picked up a corner of the tent and moved it. We made calamari and wild rice for dinner, with black beans and a couscous salad.
It started raining again. Once more, we found ourselves ankle deep in water. We decided to just sit and watch and hope it runs away somewhere. During the night, we heard Pearl spotted owl and Scops-Owl close by. In the branches of the tree above our tent was a Barn owl. You could hear it coming and going from hunting expeditions.
Friday, 10 Feb
We were glad to see that we were no longer sleeping in a lake. The water level has subsided. Only here and there was a puddle of water.
The sun was rising slowly and seemed to have been stuck in a thorn tree. What a beautiful picture. We went for a drive, but did not see much. There were plenty of birds though. The roads are badly corrugated. After our drive, we made fried eggs, vegan sausages with toasted sandwiches and toast with jam. At 12:30, we went to cool off in the pool. An Austrian lesbian couple arrived in their navy blue Landrover. The one was pitching their tent and getting everything ready. When she was finished the other one, who was sitting in the car the whole time, got out and went to sit in the shade. Is that a perfect relationship?
A German family just arrived in their massive truck. The coloured couple from Capetown told us that they saw African wildcat that morning and Rina did marshmallows on the fire. A couple of stands away a big boer was making potbrood. We should have made friends with them. Maybe they had some farm butter too.
We can now easily distinguish the South Africans from the other visitors. After a game drive The South Africans open a beer, the foreigners have cold drinks.
As night falls, we watch the moonrise. It looks as though it is using the tree branches as a ladder, step for step rising higher. We are after an owl and her baby with the torch.
We are having ostrich, potato and beans for dinner.
Sa, 11 Feb
We left camp at six this morning. We drove to Kumqa picnic spot. There is a very cold breeze blowing this morning. We had a sandwich, but we just gobbled it down and got back in the car. We were freezing. I do not know where the cold comes from after all that heat at Augrabies. On our drive back, we saw lots of Red Hartbees, Gemsbok, Springbuck and Giraffe and ground squirrels.
Back at camp we bought some home made all bran rusks. Rina put the kettle on the gas for some nice hot coffee.
We had a small sandstorm this afternoon. Some new arrivals wanted to camp where we at first stood in the lake, so we gave them a warning in case it rains again, but they just thought we did not want them to spoil our view. The old man was a dairy farmer from KZN. The people with him were family from England. He was the only nice person in that little group. We wanted to show them the owl in the tree, but the obese lot were more interested in their food. The old man appreciated the owl.
Rina made veggie strips with couscous and vegetables for dinner. I had a bottle of Orange river cellars shiraz. Rina stuck to her Millers. The ostriches were very busy during the night. Most people thought they were lions. I thought it was best not to correct them and to let them believe that they were indeed lions. People we met drove all the way to Tweerivieren to make a phone call. So weird to drive all that way to phone!
Su, 12 Feb
The staff only switched the power on at 07:30.Maybe they sleep in a bit on Sunday mornings. We are off to Nossob this morning.
A few kilos from Mata Mata we came across a fresh Lion kill. A lioness brought down a Gemsbok for her two cubs. One cub was completely inside the carcass. The lioness tried to cover all the blood by covering it with sand with her paws. I suppose it is so that other predators do not smell the blood and attack more hungry creatures. The two little one tummies were so full. It looked as though they were going to burst. Their faces were so full of blood.
At Morevet waterhole we saw a juvenile male ostrich displaying to no one, must have been a practise for his future adulthood. He was dancing and jumping, clapping wings, flipping his neck in all directions and every now and then, he ran back and forth, as though something bit him on his backside. It was spectacular, yet comical. We also saw quite a few striped mice, coming to investigate us, while we were watching the ostrich show. We also saw some Whitebacked Vultures today.
When we arrived at Nossob we picked a nice site, then we went to check out their pool and went to cool off a bit.We also ordered some freshly baked bread, as well as askoek from one of the local workers. While we were waiting for delivery, the squrels entertained us. One of them was all over Rina, on her lap and on her neck.
We made a nice curry and rice with our special soya mince for dinner and had it with some bread.
Mo, 13 Feb
We saw lions at Kwang this morning and a huge flock of Namaqua Sandgrouse just before Bedinkt. They came to drink water on the road. There are so many pools of water after all the rain. On our way back to camp, we saw some Abdims Stork. We got back early to shower, shave and eat and I then went to book our evening game drive. While we were eating another squirrel tried to rip Rina’s dress to pieces for nesting material. She was very pregnant. (The squirrel, not Rina) Then another one jumped on her again and bit her. Once again, the skin was not broken, but it was quite sore she says.
We did not see much on the game drive, only Bat-eared Fox, Cape Fox, Springhare and antelope. We also saw a beautiful Spotted Eagle owl. We were not very hungry, so we just had pilchards with askoek for dinner. We spoke to the Dutch family with their massive camper. In Greece, they put their vehicle on a ship to Cairo. They came down the east coast of Africa. It turns out the husband bought an old fire engine for 8000 euros and he converted it himself. It is a double cab, Mercedes Benz. They work for a year, and then they go on holiday for a year. They say they always did backpacking, and then when the children arrived, they decided to go for the camper. As far as money is concerned, they say , unlike other people who buy expensive houses, cars and other gadgets, they work for and spend their money on travelling! Nice! Wish we could do that!
Tu,14 Feb
You might not believe it, but we had a pot of mussels with pasta for breakfast. On our drive this morning, we saw mating lions at Cubitje Quap.
We had a nice swim this afternoon. We spoke some more with the Dutch people. It took them five months from Cairo to South Africa. They say that they were so happy to arrive in South Africa, because of all the nice fresh fruit, vegetables and wine they could now buy.
Apparently, because of the wars, they could not drive through Sudan, so, they had to put the truck on a boat from Egypt to Ethiopia. In 2005, they did the west coast of Africa, but it sounded as though that was a bit of an experience they did not really want to repeat soon.
We,15 Feb
Seeing that we wanted to stay at Grootkolk for a night and we could only get space on the 17th, we decided to stay an extra two nights at Nossob. This morning we were so lazy. We only got up at seven. We had some breakfast, which consisted of one fried egg each with vegetarian sausages and beans with askoek. We had a tap that dripped like crazy in the kitchen. I saw one of the workers with a bag of tools and I asked him to fix it, which he promptly did. Due to all the lime in the water, the taps do not last long he says. Water is quite scarce for most of the year, so one cannot afford leaking taps etc. We went back to see the mating lions. They were resting a bit after the hard work.W espoke to some South Africans in the swimming pool. We were talking about the young foreigners who only eat canned stuff and cup a soup and instant noodles. So, I mentioned that we also started eating canned stuff and frozen stuff, seeing that there is nowhere to buy fresh produce and you cannot preserve fresh stuff for more than a week.
That evening the guy walks up to us and hands us a braaipack and says, have this, then you do not have to eat out of tins tonight. He misunderstood a bit. I felt so embarrassed, but he insisted we should have it. So there we sit with fatty lamb chops and a big piece of fatty wors, while I am trying my best not to fall off the vegetarian wagon completely.
We kept it for the next evening; we later went to chat to them. Rina wanted to also thank them in person. I took some Guarana with or them to taste. After a nice visit, we went to eat our vegetarian schnitzel with pasta salad.
Th, 16 Feb
There are no animals or even birds at Marie se Gat this morning. We are just relaxing and taking photos of the beautiful wild flowers. After our drive, we went to the pool. Met some more, interesting people and then we went to buy some stuff, such as water, cold drinks and beer, for our stay at Grootkolk. We drove back to CubitjeCuap. The mating lions have left. They must be hungry after all the action. Cumulonimbus clouds started gathering again, but the wind just as soon, blew them away.
As we were waiting for our order of askoek and bread, a young lady came over and informed us:”Ons het meneer se askoeke misgevat” I have never heard such a beautiful expression for “forget” They found them later and brought them over.
Fr, 17 Feb
Off to Grootkolk. We had an early start. We left our tent and stuff at Nossob. They had lots of rain during the night and there was water and mud everywhere. The road was so slippery that we had to use the diflock in many places. At Unions end, we got out and took some photos. When I wanted to start the car again, I got the shock of my life. It did not want to start, but when I opened the bonnet, we noticed that, due to all the bumping on the corrugated roads, the wires of the battery became loose. People arrived while I was busy tightening the nuts and asked whether they could help. A few minutes later, we saw them with their bonnet open, but they also did not need help. Apparently, they had air bubbles in the petrol tank and they were busy shaking the vehicle. The Lesbian couple with the Landrover had the same problem a few days ago. I have never heard of this before and assumed it must be Landrover phenomena.
Grootkolk is a lovely wilderness camp. There are only four two-bed chalets. The chalets built with plastered and painted sandbags, the top parts being canvas makes the chalets nice and cool during the hot days. They have solar lights, fans, and gas for the stove and showers. We had salad and sandwiches made with the auntie from Nossob’s bread.
Black cheeked waxbills joined the sociable weavers and red headed finches for a drink of water at our chalet. All is quiet.
We had Hake, mash and vegetables for dinner. We are seriously craving fresh fruit and vegetables now.
Sa, 18 Feb
We left Grootkolk at 09:00. It was so relaxing and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay, even though we did not encounter any animals. Close to Grootkolk we encountered another two mating lions as well as a Cape Fox. There were Lappetfaced vultures in the trees at Bedinkt and we saw a Lanner Falcon and a Black shouldered Kite in a fight over what must be food.
At Lijersdraai a big Puffadder was sun tanning on the side of the road as well as another two lions but not any of the mating ones.
Back at Nossob we saw three young French, two guys and a woman who thought they could just break off branches from the trees inside the camp for their fire. Some of the other campers who told them that is a no-no quickly stopped them. Tail between the legs they went to buy a bag of firewood.
Su,19Feb
We left Nossob early for Tweerivieren. We had picnic at Dikbaardskolk. Between Kransbrak and Gunong we saw a big pride of lions. We arrived just after twelve. We went to have a look whether we can find fresh vegetables or fruit, but nothing. We are back in cell phone reception area and just got a message that my aunt passed away. We also just found out Whitney Heuston passed away. Every year while we are on holiday, family and famous perish.
A guy arrived with a massive, customized Landcruiser with six wheels. He even had a big scrambler on the back. Then you have these obsessive-compulsive car washers. They ask people to save water, it is scarce, but after every drive they take, they wash their cars. Some actually bring hosepipes with them from home. We bought some chicken from the little shop. It comes from some butchery in Upington. It costs R122 per kilo. It looked like road kill.
Dinner was good. The landmine chicken came out tasty. After the rain, twin rainbows adorned the horizon and at the end a pot of gold, the Kgalagadi! Here, the clouds do not have silver linings, but ruby, crimson and pink ones.
Mo, 20 Feb
This is our last day in the park. We will take it easy.
We went looking for new birds or leopard. We saw nothing, so we went back to camp for breakfast consisting of vegan sausages, eggs and bake beans.
We are just lazing by the pool. We are going to have dinner at the restaurant tonight.
We had a pea soup starter and a vegetable platter with some coffee afterwards.
Worst meal I had in my life.
Tu, 21Feb
We are leaving the park this morning. It is a long way to Kuruman, where we shall buy some food. Then we are going to camp at Red Sands, 15 km from Kuruman. We stopped at Vanzylsrus and had a divine chicken mayonnaise pancake for lunch.
Red Sands is very busy. Many contractors working on the roads are staying here. There are also many conference people. There is no holiday atmosphere. We are braaing chicken, vegetables and potato for dinner. The place is so lit up that it looks like daylight.
We, 22 Feb
After breakfast that consisted of a chicken sandwich and salad, we drove to Danielskuil. Nothing much happening there, but Rina had an ice cream. Close-by is Wonderwerk Cave. The cave is 139m deep and of extreme archaeological importance. There is evidence of occupation by humans dating back 800 000 years, which makes this one of the longest inhabited caves in the world.
Back in Kuruman, I bought some biltong to chew on, just to keep me from falling asleep. The Allergex I took made me more like a zombie than just merely drowsy. We ran out of clean clothes, so we bought some shorts and t-shirts at Pep in Kuruman. Back at camp we saw some black impala for the first time. Bushbuck came to visit us and we saw a massive Stick insect. Glossy starlings wanted to eat him, but he put on a big display of ferociousness and they backed off.
We had tofu and vegetables for dinner. There were some Red winged Starlings and Brubrus in the tree by our tent.
Th, 23 Feb
We just had a sandwich for breakfast. We later discovered some biltong left over from yesterday! We have now come full circle. Back at Barberspan, but just for one night. We drew some money at Delareyville. On the drive to our camp, we enjoyed the smiling sunflower faces in endless fields of golden yellow. In the late afternoon, we went to the pub. I had two Gin and tonics and Rina Red Squares. We played a game of pool.
A Black Egret was fishing along the shore of the pan, using his wings as a canopy, to block the reflection, making it easier to fish. What a nice good-bye presents from the birds.
We just got a message from our next-door neighbour that everything in our fridge is rotten. The power was off. All he had to do for us was to make sure the power stayed on.
Fr, 24 Feb
We are now on our way to Harmony naturist resort. We just thought it fitting to end the holiday at a nudist place, seeing that we do not have any more clean stuff. The road from Lichtenburg to Koster is terrible. These big trucks are driving on the wrong side of the road and you cannot swerve to avoid them due to the huge potholes. There are not really places that take credit card here. I found an ATM and drew some money. There is a Chinese with a bottle store, a Muslim with a green grocer and Choppies, a bit like a Spar. We also filled up the tank one more time and hit the road. We met Piet and Kitty and their family. The resort is at the foot of Aasvoelkrans. This is a conservancy for Cape vultures. The cliff face is beautiful.
We had a quiet evening at our chalet. Rina made pasta arabiata.
Sa, 25 Feb
We woke up early to the sound of Arrow marked babblers and Red chested Shrike. A Babbler was attacking his own image in our car mirror. High in the cliffs you can hear Chacma baboons arguing with each other. As we wanted to leave our chalet, we found a Zebra on our stoep. In fact, three zebras were grazing and sniffing us, wanting to see whether we have something for them. Late afternoon we spent some time in the Jacuzzi.
We met some more interesting people. Some serious bikers, a tattoo artist and a couple called Luis and Muis.
Drizzling rain kept us from braaing, so Rina grilled us some chicken and vegetables in the gas oven
Su,26 Feb
This is our last day of our holiday. Tomorrow it is back to work. We packed the car early and then went to the pool to enjoy our last bit of freedom and relaxation.
The drive home took two and a half hours through some scenic areas and the Cradle of Humankind.
We got home before four and immediately attacked the “living fridge”. We took it outside and Rina blasted it with the hosepipe. I think it is going to take a long time before all the smells will be gone.
Well, we had a wonderful time. It just went very fast.
We saw 158 bird species for the holiday, not as many as I thought we would and no new ones. Yet, the ones we did see gave us great pleasure. We took more than two thousand photos therefore; there is a lot of sorting and deleting to do.
We used R6400 for petrol, only R6362 on accommodation. The rest you cannot really count, because when you are at home, you still buy food and drinks, but I must say the further from Gauteng, the more expensive everything becomes. Now the time has come to get back on our health thing and lose the few centimetres and kilos we have gained.
It is time to start saving for the next holiday!
27th Feb
After a very long day, but enjoyable flights to and from Luanda, I finally arrived home just after 20:00. The car’s fuel tank is full and we have packed. To keep things simple and to keep the house clean, we shared a veggie pizza. We went to sleep at midnight.
28th
We got up at 3:45, all excited! We packed the last stuff and left at 4:20. All went well. Carltonville! A twister will do this town a favour! It is a manmade wasteland, we took the wrong road and instead of the N14 via Coligny, we took the N14 to Klerksdorp. At the Wimpy in Klerksdorp we enjoyed a light breakfast. I had a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich and Rina had a Chicken wrap. Oh well, we travelled an extra 80 km, but at least we saw a new town, Hartbeestfontein. There cannot be more than a thousand people living there, yet they have warning signs, that it is a high crime area. We then made our way towards to Ottosdal!
I am so glad we have finally arrived at Barberspan. I am so tired after a whole week of waking up at three, I just fell asleep in the shade of a huge Karee tree for about two hours, it was the best sleep I had in weeks. Went to check out the birds at the waterfront, Rina slipped and fell in the mud! It was amusing. A strong wind started blowing from the north over the pan, high water level. Spotted groundlings are fluttering about. We had nice tomato, cucumber and avocado sandwiches with butter lettuce, onion and Thai chilli sauce. I slipped and fell in the mud! This is so not funny!
It is late afternoon. The wind finally stopped blowing and the pan is like a mirror, most beautiful sunset. Asshole with his jet ski/wet bike, seven and he is still at it.
Quiet at last, now all you hear are the sound of the frogs. We can distinguish at least three kinds. Blacksmith plovers are calling out to their mates. Peace! These are the sounds of the African bush at night.
29th
We just got the sad news that my daughter’s grandfather passed away today. The noisy people have left. We had a quiet day of birding around the pan. A very strong wind started blowing. We are having pilchards and salad for dinner. Just got news that my daughter’s Grandfather passed away.
Monday 30 January
The pan is like a mirror this morning. There is not a breeze in the air. Something bit me on my forearm. It is sore and feels very hot, swollen and red. We packed up early and left for our next destination. Not sure yet where that will be. Between Vryburg and Kuruman we had lunch at the Texas Brisotta restaurant at the Komtiekie Karen Truck Stop. Rina had a chicken wrap and I had vegetable pasta. The food was great. We decided not to stay over in Kuruman, but to head for Witsand nature reserve instead. A few kilos from Vryburg, many emergency vehicles passed at high speed. More or less 10 km from Kuruman we saw the reason, a delivery van overturned. All its cargo all over the road and the two occupants all bandaged up and in neck braces. The driver apparently lost control of the vehicle due to high speed. In Olifantshoek we bought some biltong. I asked the guy in the butchery if I can get some biltong, so he said; No, but I can sell you some” Then when I asked him whether he takes credit cards, he said no, but he will accept it as method of payment and then he’ll give it back to me. He also asked me whether I could take some of the folks in town with me, he said he’ll pay anything to get rid of them. We finally arrived at Witsand after a long drive on a very bad dirt road. We are the only people in the entire place. It is so peaceful and quiet. . We had cheese, tomato and onion sandwiches for a snack and vegetable stir-fry for dinner. Steenboks and mongooses came to visit us at our camp sight. The swelling on my arm got worse and it is more painful now. After dinner, we went for a late night skinny dip.
Tuesday, 31
We went for an early morning drive to do some bird watching and to climb the dunes at Brulsand. With the correct weather conditions, the sand makes a roaring sound. We were too early though, apparently, this only happens when it is very hot and the sand is very dry. Even Rina climbed the dune. It was strenuous, but it was worthwhile. My arm is now even more swollen.
I cannot believe that we forgot one of the lenses of our camera at the bird hide. Fortunately we were the only people at the resort, so it was still there. So, I had a bit of unnecessary stress. For lunch, I made us some toasted cheese, tomato and onion sandwiches and Rina made us Vegetarian sausages with vegetables in an Italian tomato sauce
It is dinnertime and I am barbequing some chicken breasts on the Cob. Rina made us some vegetables and couscous with that.
Now we are sitting, relaxing, sipping ice cold Millers while watching the birds. A Golden tailed Woodpecker is chipping away at the bark of the Karee.
Wednesday, 1 February
We had a little bit of rain during the night, but the ground is still dry, so it was not anything worth mentioning. There are lots of animal spoor in the camp. Judging by the size of the tracks, the Steenboks must have been the visitors.
My arm does not look worse this morning, but something also bit me on my right arm. I am picturing myself driving home without arms. Two braaitongs attached to the stumps, Rina changing the gears.
We decided to stay an extra night seeing that I do not seem to be in immediate life and death situation.
I went to pay for our extra night and we decided to do a little hike, but now the weather is hampering us. There is a continuous drizzle, so we cannot hike with the books, camera, lenses and binoculars. Meanwhile our zoom is acting up and it is almost impossible to use it on manual focus, while the wind blows so hard. I decided to cancel our little hike. The weather is not nice.
Back at camp, we saw a huge fight between some Cape Glossy Starlings. They all seemed to gang up on this one poor bird.
There were two mating tortoises at the hide. There has been a lot of rain today. Rina has a sore back, legs and hand.
We are going to make some Fry’s chicken for dinner with some vegetables.
Thursday, 2 February
We are leaving the peace and tranquillity of Witsand behind. The road to Groblershoop is in a very bad condition. We filled up in Groblershoop. Fuel is now R11, 19c per liter. While driving we are having nuts and dried fruit for a snack. The road is long!
Finally, we reached Upington. The time has come to stock up on some food items and off course, beer! We decided to have a pizza for lunch. What a huge mistake. We ordered a seafood pizza and the women insisted that we take it with seafood mayonnaise. We could not picture a pizza with mayonnaise on it, but surrendered. It was awful! I do not know how many thousands of bad calories we had.
Pizza behind us and we headed for Keimoes. They had a cloudburst and the town was knee-deep in water. We stopped at “Die Pienk Padstal”. They have decorated with number plates that had fallen from vehicles, an old pink scooter and all kinds of funny signs. The one sign read;”In 1904, nothing happened here”. Well they can change the sign now to read something like this: “In 2012 Francois ran to the toilet in the rain torrent and did not see this sign. Smacked into it with his head and went o fell flat on his ass!”
I got up, now soaking wet and started running again, but the slip-slops were so slippery.(I suppose that is why they call it that). I slipped and fell on the little white gravel pebbles. I was now bleeding profusely, not very impressed with myself. People looked at me and just smiled. In Kakemas, I thought we were going to need a boat to get through the town. The water sprayed high into the air on both sides of our vehicle. It felt or rather looked as though we were driving through a guard of honour.
We arrived at Augrabies more or less in one piece. We paid for our new wild card and camping spot and proceeded to pitch our tent before the rain started here too. We camped under two huge White Karee trees. We went for a walk to see the falls. There was a lot of damage from the floods a year ago and many of the walkways were not open. I could not believe that they have done nothing to fix it. It is one of the biggest and most famous attractions of the Northern Cape. I could not help but think, that if this were Japan or Germany, it would have been fixed within a month. As usual, the falls were brilliant, not in full force, but it is so beautiful. For dinner, Rina made us a lovely tuna salad. There are so many of those Biting Midges here. You hear the word”ouch!” a lot. We went to bed to the sound of owls and jackal. In the distance, you can hear the Orange River rushing into the gorge.
Friday, 3 February
We woke early and went for a drive to all the view sites. We first we went to Moonrock, then to Ararat and Oranjekom. At Echo corner, we tested the echo. It is truly beautiful and so quiet. Well, it was, once we stopped yelling to hear the echoes.
When we got back to camp, we had a big salad for lunch. We then went for a swim at one of the sparkling pools.
Late afternoon we decided to walk to the twin falls, but we got totally lost and ended up on the Dassie trail which is 5 km. We tried to turn back but could not find our way and the sun was getting very low on the horizon. We decided to finish the entire trail. Unfortunately, we were not prepared for a hike and we were walking in our swimwear and All Stars. Thorns just stuck right through the soles of the shoes. It was not long before Rina had bad blisters. She decided to go barefoot, but the rocks, the sand was scalding hot, and there were so many thorns. We had to walk through water and our shoes were soaking wet as well. Rina could not get hers back on. She took the laces out and then just tied her feet on top of the shoes with the laces. It looked very weird. We finally arrived back at camp as the sun disappeared on the horizon. We were just so happy that we did not have to sleep out in the bush without protection or food.
We were quite hungry after our walk. We made pork fillet with potatoes and mushroom sauce.
During the night, I went to sit outside the tent, as it was too hot inside. We heard the next day that the temperature was 36 degrees during the night.
Sa, 4Feb
We had a lovely breakfast consisting of omelettes and vegetarian sausages. After breakfast, we went for a drive. We did the 4x4 route. We had picnic way out in the boendoes. We nearly became stuck in a dry riverbed with deep sand. We saw a porcupine for the first time in the wild today! It is late afternoon on a sultry summer day. The temperature is 42 Celsius. We went for a swim. The water was divine. Warm, but it still cools you down. We spent most of the day at the pool, seeing that Rina was kind of out of action from the previous days walk. We decided to go and pay for an extra night.
Sunday 5 February
Lots of “Government approved high speed testing vehicles” arrived. They test their BMW, Mercedes, Porsche vehicles on this road from Upington towards Tweerivieren. The Italians also started to test theirs now. All their cars were wrapped in shading net and masking tape or something, the shape said they are Fiat.
We were relaxing by the poolside when I decided I had enough sun. Seeing that no one was around, I took off my swimming shorts and just put a towel around my body, so that I can dry. At that moment a German women camping close to us, came running towards us, screaming like a banshee. At first, I thought she saw me naked. Then she started shouting something about baboons in our tent! She threw her hands in the air! Shouting:”Oh no, baboons in tent, all over! Oooh!” That really got my attention, seeing that something like that has happened to us before! I got a déjà vu feeling! So, I start running to see what I can salvage at our tent. Have you ever tried to run in Crocs? All of a sudden, they felt three sizes too big. After every two steps, I lost a Croc. You try to grip it with your toes from the inside to no avail! The time is running out fast! A troop of baboons in your tent can do serious damage! I am also thinking of our special food: Tofu, Whole-wheat pasta, soya mince and all the herbs and spices. After about twenty meters of two steps, fetch crocs, two steps, fetch crocs. I decided to stuff the crocs, just run barefoot. Well, I am not into this Guru walk on coals type of stuff, so after about twenty meters of desert sand running, I started to do low flying! I realised I will never be able to walk on hot coals. Then the towel came off! The German women, still keeping up with me , just went on;”Ooh !” Throwing her hands in the air! “Baboon, all over!” I decided to put crocs back on, seeing myself now driving home with no hands or feet.
I could not run in the crocs and walking was too slow , so I put them back on my serious burnt feet and tried to walk as fast as possible, resulting in a kind of very fast shuffle, It was like running without lifting your feet. When I finally arrived at our campsite, I was so relieved to see, that the baboons inside our tent were in fact only monkeys on top of our tent. No harm, no damage! German woman just shook her head, “Oooh! Sorry! All over! Baboon!”
Well, you should have seen her the next day when the actual baboons arrived! She must have thought they were Alien baboon mutations on steroids, seeing they were so much bigger!
In the late afternoon, a group of very noisy Italians arrived in a massive vehicle. The baboons stole all their pasta. I was wondering what they were going to have for dinner.
We went for dinner at the restaurant and had a not so nice meal; food was overcooked and too salty. It is better cooking your own meal. It was suppose to be butterfish, but it could have been anything. The waitress did herself in with R100. I pointed it out to her, but she did not even say thank you, I should have kept quiet, seeing the service and the meal was so bad.
Monday, 6 Feb
A big troop of baboons woke us up. They were running through the camp, followed by the Germans and Italians. They were shouting at them in Italian and German, but the baboons just went to sit down and proceeded to eat their Salticrax, cheese and other snacks. I could not help thinking that the Italians must be getting low on provisions, seeing that they shared everything with the baboons.
Today we are packing up. We will go and get some food in Upington and then drive to Twee Rivieren. It is a long and very straight road to Twee Rivieren. The Germans were flying past us in their test vehicles, only to fly back past us in the opposite direction after a few minutes. We drove past Goerapan and some other pans.
When we arrived at Tweerivieren, we were quite surprised to see how full the camp was, but we managed to find a nice shady spot. We had a sandwich and a salad for lunch and then went to cool off in the pool. The Italians beat us to it. We spoke to their guide. After their trip through the Northern Cape , he was taking them to Namibia and then drop them off in Windhoek. He would then return to Capetown all by himself.
Tuesday, 7 Feb
There is a lot of traffic, very busy. A tortoise tried to cross the road. I thought he was going to be killed; the people do not look out for the small animals when they enter the park. Therefore, we carried it to safety and put him into the bushes on the side of the road in the direction he wanted to go. We went for a drive. There are so many beautiful wildflowers still in bloom. The Gifbolle dressed in pink, standing proudly in the red desert sand. At lunch time we arrived back, camp empty, Rice crackers and salsa for picnic at Auchterlonie. Dinnertime, I made a little fire and we did chicken, pap and sauce for dinner.
Wednesday, 8 Feb
It is a quiet morning. We drove to Melkvlei picnic spot for brunch. Back at camp we had a dip in the pool to cool down a bit. A big storm is brewing in the east, dark clouds forming on the horizon. This afternoon the tortoise from yesterday was back. It now tried to get back to the other side of the road again. I picked him up and put him further away from the road on the other side. This is our last night at Tweerivieren. We are going to make vegetarian pasta for dinner.
A German person is standing by the ablution block with a net. He apparently researches bats. You can hear them in the thatch. He is waiting so patiently. We had a wonderful meal. The German guy arrived at our campsite to show us the tiny little bat. Rina stroked his head. The little bat bit her. Fortunately, it did not pierce her skin. He let the bat fly off. It was interesting to see a new species of animal. It was A Cape serotine bat.
Thursday, 9 Feb
We had a big rainstorm during the night. We were a bit late in closing the flaps. Now it is kind of very wet inside. It is so hot, though. It should dry fast. We left camp at 07:00. People saw leopard yesterday. We shall see if we kind find it. It might still be in the area. On our way to Mata Mata we had a snack at Auchterlonie again. At Gemsbokplain we saw a very large herd of Springbok, two Black backed Jackal and a Pale chanting Goshawk observing them. Between Rooibrak and Kamqua we saw two large male lions and one female.
We found ourselves a very nice spot to pitch our tenet in the shade of two very large trees.
In the late afternoon, it started pouring and we soon found out that we pitched our tent in a place where the water gathers. As the water level started rising, I tried to redirect it away from us with a spade, but to no avail. I quickly pulled out all the pins and moved or stuff to a higher level. Our neighbours came over and we each picked up a corner of the tent and moved it. We made calamari and wild rice for dinner, with black beans and a couscous salad.
It started raining again. Once more, we found ourselves ankle deep in water. We decided to just sit and watch and hope it runs away somewhere. During the night, we heard Pearl spotted owl and Scops-Owl close by. In the branches of the tree above our tent was a Barn owl. You could hear it coming and going from hunting expeditions.
Friday, 10 Feb
We were glad to see that we were no longer sleeping in a lake. The water level has subsided. Only here and there was a puddle of water.
The sun was rising slowly and seemed to have been stuck in a thorn tree. What a beautiful picture. We went for a drive, but did not see much. There were plenty of birds though. The roads are badly corrugated. After our drive, we made fried eggs, vegan sausages with toasted sandwiches and toast with jam. At 12:30, we went to cool off in the pool. An Austrian lesbian couple arrived in their navy blue Landrover. The one was pitching their tent and getting everything ready. When she was finished the other one, who was sitting in the car the whole time, got out and went to sit in the shade. Is that a perfect relationship?
A German family just arrived in their massive truck. The coloured couple from Capetown told us that they saw African wildcat that morning and Rina did marshmallows on the fire. A couple of stands away a big boer was making potbrood. We should have made friends with them. Maybe they had some farm butter too.
We can now easily distinguish the South Africans from the other visitors. After a game drive The South Africans open a beer, the foreigners have cold drinks.
As night falls, we watch the moonrise. It looks as though it is using the tree branches as a ladder, step for step rising higher. We are after an owl and her baby with the torch.
We are having ostrich, potato and beans for dinner.
Sa, 11 Feb
We left camp at six this morning. We drove to Kumqa picnic spot. There is a very cold breeze blowing this morning. We had a sandwich, but we just gobbled it down and got back in the car. We were freezing. I do not know where the cold comes from after all that heat at Augrabies. On our drive back, we saw lots of Red Hartbees, Gemsbok, Springbuck and Giraffe and ground squirrels.
Back at camp we bought some home made all bran rusks. Rina put the kettle on the gas for some nice hot coffee.
We had a small sandstorm this afternoon. Some new arrivals wanted to camp where we at first stood in the lake, so we gave them a warning in case it rains again, but they just thought we did not want them to spoil our view. The old man was a dairy farmer from KZN. The people with him were family from England. He was the only nice person in that little group. We wanted to show them the owl in the tree, but the obese lot were more interested in their food. The old man appreciated the owl.
Rina made veggie strips with couscous and vegetables for dinner. I had a bottle of Orange river cellars shiraz. Rina stuck to her Millers. The ostriches were very busy during the night. Most people thought they were lions. I thought it was best not to correct them and to let them believe that they were indeed lions. People we met drove all the way to Tweerivieren to make a phone call. So weird to drive all that way to phone!
Su, 12 Feb
The staff only switched the power on at 07:30.Maybe they sleep in a bit on Sunday mornings. We are off to Nossob this morning.
A few kilos from Mata Mata we came across a fresh Lion kill. A lioness brought down a Gemsbok for her two cubs. One cub was completely inside the carcass. The lioness tried to cover all the blood by covering it with sand with her paws. I suppose it is so that other predators do not smell the blood and attack more hungry creatures. The two little one tummies were so full. It looked as though they were going to burst. Their faces were so full of blood.
At Morevet waterhole we saw a juvenile male ostrich displaying to no one, must have been a practise for his future adulthood. He was dancing and jumping, clapping wings, flipping his neck in all directions and every now and then, he ran back and forth, as though something bit him on his backside. It was spectacular, yet comical. We also saw quite a few striped mice, coming to investigate us, while we were watching the ostrich show. We also saw some Whitebacked Vultures today.
When we arrived at Nossob we picked a nice site, then we went to check out their pool and went to cool off a bit.We also ordered some freshly baked bread, as well as askoek from one of the local workers. While we were waiting for delivery, the squrels entertained us. One of them was all over Rina, on her lap and on her neck.
We made a nice curry and rice with our special soya mince for dinner and had it with some bread.
Mo, 13 Feb
We saw lions at Kwang this morning and a huge flock of Namaqua Sandgrouse just before Bedinkt. They came to drink water on the road. There are so many pools of water after all the rain. On our way back to camp, we saw some Abdims Stork. We got back early to shower, shave and eat and I then went to book our evening game drive. While we were eating another squirrel tried to rip Rina’s dress to pieces for nesting material. She was very pregnant. (The squirrel, not Rina) Then another one jumped on her again and bit her. Once again, the skin was not broken, but it was quite sore she says.
We did not see much on the game drive, only Bat-eared Fox, Cape Fox, Springhare and antelope. We also saw a beautiful Spotted Eagle owl. We were not very hungry, so we just had pilchards with askoek for dinner. We spoke to the Dutch family with their massive camper. In Greece, they put their vehicle on a ship to Cairo. They came down the east coast of Africa. It turns out the husband bought an old fire engine for 8000 euros and he converted it himself. It is a double cab, Mercedes Benz. They work for a year, and then they go on holiday for a year. They say they always did backpacking, and then when the children arrived, they decided to go for the camper. As far as money is concerned, they say , unlike other people who buy expensive houses, cars and other gadgets, they work for and spend their money on travelling! Nice! Wish we could do that!
Tu,14 Feb
You might not believe it, but we had a pot of mussels with pasta for breakfast. On our drive this morning, we saw mating lions at Cubitje Quap.
We had a nice swim this afternoon. We spoke some more with the Dutch people. It took them five months from Cairo to South Africa. They say that they were so happy to arrive in South Africa, because of all the nice fresh fruit, vegetables and wine they could now buy.
Apparently, because of the wars, they could not drive through Sudan, so, they had to put the truck on a boat from Egypt to Ethiopia. In 2005, they did the west coast of Africa, but it sounded as though that was a bit of an experience they did not really want to repeat soon.
We,15 Feb
Seeing that we wanted to stay at Grootkolk for a night and we could only get space on the 17th, we decided to stay an extra two nights at Nossob. This morning we were so lazy. We only got up at seven. We had some breakfast, which consisted of one fried egg each with vegetarian sausages and beans with askoek. We had a tap that dripped like crazy in the kitchen. I saw one of the workers with a bag of tools and I asked him to fix it, which he promptly did. Due to all the lime in the water, the taps do not last long he says. Water is quite scarce for most of the year, so one cannot afford leaking taps etc. We went back to see the mating lions. They were resting a bit after the hard work.W espoke to some South Africans in the swimming pool. We were talking about the young foreigners who only eat canned stuff and cup a soup and instant noodles. So, I mentioned that we also started eating canned stuff and frozen stuff, seeing that there is nowhere to buy fresh produce and you cannot preserve fresh stuff for more than a week.
That evening the guy walks up to us and hands us a braaipack and says, have this, then you do not have to eat out of tins tonight. He misunderstood a bit. I felt so embarrassed, but he insisted we should have it. So there we sit with fatty lamb chops and a big piece of fatty wors, while I am trying my best not to fall off the vegetarian wagon completely.
We kept it for the next evening; we later went to chat to them. Rina wanted to also thank them in person. I took some Guarana with or them to taste. After a nice visit, we went to eat our vegetarian schnitzel with pasta salad.
Th, 16 Feb
There are no animals or even birds at Marie se Gat this morning. We are just relaxing and taking photos of the beautiful wild flowers. After our drive, we went to the pool. Met some more, interesting people and then we went to buy some stuff, such as water, cold drinks and beer, for our stay at Grootkolk. We drove back to CubitjeCuap. The mating lions have left. They must be hungry after all the action. Cumulonimbus clouds started gathering again, but the wind just as soon, blew them away.
As we were waiting for our order of askoek and bread, a young lady came over and informed us:”Ons het meneer se askoeke misgevat” I have never heard such a beautiful expression for “forget” They found them later and brought them over.
Fr, 17 Feb
Off to Grootkolk. We had an early start. We left our tent and stuff at Nossob. They had lots of rain during the night and there was water and mud everywhere. The road was so slippery that we had to use the diflock in many places. At Unions end, we got out and took some photos. When I wanted to start the car again, I got the shock of my life. It did not want to start, but when I opened the bonnet, we noticed that, due to all the bumping on the corrugated roads, the wires of the battery became loose. People arrived while I was busy tightening the nuts and asked whether they could help. A few minutes later, we saw them with their bonnet open, but they also did not need help. Apparently, they had air bubbles in the petrol tank and they were busy shaking the vehicle. The Lesbian couple with the Landrover had the same problem a few days ago. I have never heard of this before and assumed it must be Landrover phenomena.
Grootkolk is a lovely wilderness camp. There are only four two-bed chalets. The chalets built with plastered and painted sandbags, the top parts being canvas makes the chalets nice and cool during the hot days. They have solar lights, fans, and gas for the stove and showers. We had salad and sandwiches made with the auntie from Nossob’s bread.
Black cheeked waxbills joined the sociable weavers and red headed finches for a drink of water at our chalet. All is quiet.
We had Hake, mash and vegetables for dinner. We are seriously craving fresh fruit and vegetables now.
Sa, 18 Feb
We left Grootkolk at 09:00. It was so relaxing and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay, even though we did not encounter any animals. Close to Grootkolk we encountered another two mating lions as well as a Cape Fox. There were Lappetfaced vultures in the trees at Bedinkt and we saw a Lanner Falcon and a Black shouldered Kite in a fight over what must be food.
At Lijersdraai a big Puffadder was sun tanning on the side of the road as well as another two lions but not any of the mating ones.
Back at Nossob we saw three young French, two guys and a woman who thought they could just break off branches from the trees inside the camp for their fire. Some of the other campers who told them that is a no-no quickly stopped them. Tail between the legs they went to buy a bag of firewood.
Su,19Feb
We left Nossob early for Tweerivieren. We had picnic at Dikbaardskolk. Between Kransbrak and Gunong we saw a big pride of lions. We arrived just after twelve. We went to have a look whether we can find fresh vegetables or fruit, but nothing. We are back in cell phone reception area and just got a message that my aunt passed away. We also just found out Whitney Heuston passed away. Every year while we are on holiday, family and famous perish.
A guy arrived with a massive, customized Landcruiser with six wheels. He even had a big scrambler on the back. Then you have these obsessive-compulsive car washers. They ask people to save water, it is scarce, but after every drive they take, they wash their cars. Some actually bring hosepipes with them from home. We bought some chicken from the little shop. It comes from some butchery in Upington. It costs R122 per kilo. It looked like road kill.
Dinner was good. The landmine chicken came out tasty. After the rain, twin rainbows adorned the horizon and at the end a pot of gold, the Kgalagadi! Here, the clouds do not have silver linings, but ruby, crimson and pink ones.
Mo, 20 Feb
This is our last day in the park. We will take it easy.
We went looking for new birds or leopard. We saw nothing, so we went back to camp for breakfast consisting of vegan sausages, eggs and bake beans.
We are just lazing by the pool. We are going to have dinner at the restaurant tonight.
We had a pea soup starter and a vegetable platter with some coffee afterwards.
Worst meal I had in my life.
Tu, 21Feb
We are leaving the park this morning. It is a long way to Kuruman, where we shall buy some food. Then we are going to camp at Red Sands, 15 km from Kuruman. We stopped at Vanzylsrus and had a divine chicken mayonnaise pancake for lunch.
Red Sands is very busy. Many contractors working on the roads are staying here. There are also many conference people. There is no holiday atmosphere. We are braaing chicken, vegetables and potato for dinner. The place is so lit up that it looks like daylight.
We, 22 Feb
After breakfast that consisted of a chicken sandwich and salad, we drove to Danielskuil. Nothing much happening there, but Rina had an ice cream. Close-by is Wonderwerk Cave. The cave is 139m deep and of extreme archaeological importance. There is evidence of occupation by humans dating back 800 000 years, which makes this one of the longest inhabited caves in the world.
Back in Kuruman, I bought some biltong to chew on, just to keep me from falling asleep. The Allergex I took made me more like a zombie than just merely drowsy. We ran out of clean clothes, so we bought some shorts and t-shirts at Pep in Kuruman. Back at camp we saw some black impala for the first time. Bushbuck came to visit us and we saw a massive Stick insect. Glossy starlings wanted to eat him, but he put on a big display of ferociousness and they backed off.
We had tofu and vegetables for dinner. There were some Red winged Starlings and Brubrus in the tree by our tent.
Th, 23 Feb
We just had a sandwich for breakfast. We later discovered some biltong left over from yesterday! We have now come full circle. Back at Barberspan, but just for one night. We drew some money at Delareyville. On the drive to our camp, we enjoyed the smiling sunflower faces in endless fields of golden yellow. In the late afternoon, we went to the pub. I had two Gin and tonics and Rina Red Squares. We played a game of pool.
A Black Egret was fishing along the shore of the pan, using his wings as a canopy, to block the reflection, making it easier to fish. What a nice good-bye presents from the birds.
We just got a message from our next-door neighbour that everything in our fridge is rotten. The power was off. All he had to do for us was to make sure the power stayed on.
Fr, 24 Feb
We are now on our way to Harmony naturist resort. We just thought it fitting to end the holiday at a nudist place, seeing that we do not have any more clean stuff. The road from Lichtenburg to Koster is terrible. These big trucks are driving on the wrong side of the road and you cannot swerve to avoid them due to the huge potholes. There are not really places that take credit card here. I found an ATM and drew some money. There is a Chinese with a bottle store, a Muslim with a green grocer and Choppies, a bit like a Spar. We also filled up the tank one more time and hit the road. We met Piet and Kitty and their family. The resort is at the foot of Aasvoelkrans. This is a conservancy for Cape vultures. The cliff face is beautiful.
We had a quiet evening at our chalet. Rina made pasta arabiata.
Sa, 25 Feb
We woke up early to the sound of Arrow marked babblers and Red chested Shrike. A Babbler was attacking his own image in our car mirror. High in the cliffs you can hear Chacma baboons arguing with each other. As we wanted to leave our chalet, we found a Zebra on our stoep. In fact, three zebras were grazing and sniffing us, wanting to see whether we have something for them. Late afternoon we spent some time in the Jacuzzi.
We met some more interesting people. Some serious bikers, a tattoo artist and a couple called Luis and Muis.
Drizzling rain kept us from braaing, so Rina grilled us some chicken and vegetables in the gas oven
Su,26 Feb
This is our last day of our holiday. Tomorrow it is back to work. We packed the car early and then went to the pool to enjoy our last bit of freedom and relaxation.
The drive home took two and a half hours through some scenic areas and the Cradle of Humankind.
We got home before four and immediately attacked the “living fridge”. We took it outside and Rina blasted it with the hosepipe. I think it is going to take a long time before all the smells will be gone.
Well, we had a wonderful time. It just went very fast.
We saw 158 bird species for the holiday, not as many as I thought we would and no new ones. Yet, the ones we did see gave us great pleasure. We took more than two thousand photos therefore; there is a lot of sorting and deleting to do.
We used R6400 for petrol, only R6362 on accommodation. The rest you cannot really count, because when you are at home, you still buy food and drinks, but I must say the further from Gauteng, the more expensive everything becomes. Now the time has come to get back on our health thing and lose the few centimetres and kilos we have gained.
It is time to start saving for the next holiday!
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