End of the road

A night in Elandsbaai had us back on the windy coast where stretches of unspoilt white sand meet the huge crashing waves of the south Atlantic. After a bit of a chill on the beach and checking out the many dead sea creatures that seemed to be washed ashore here, big fish, seal, birds. We spent our last eve sheltered in a small backpackers.

28.09.13 Last day to Cape Town! By late morning we had the big flat topped mountain in sight and roads had turned into 3 or 4 lane highways with a traffic density I had been unused to for some time. Along with a good selection of cars that wernt 4x4’s!

We had arrived after 17,755 miles after turning out of the farm in Cornwall.

After cruising the waterfront and realising we weren’t going to find parking for 2 over height land rovers we stopped up further along the sea front and enjoyed the feeling of finally having arrived.

Before our much anticipated beers we had on last task a good pic of Table Mountain with the steeds in front. Capetown is set in a truly spectacular location with a dramatic coastline backed by the steep rise into the mountains. We wound our way up signal hill where they fire the noon gun from to a lookout spot and did the deed.

Then it was into town for a proper feed, proper bed and of course a proper drink!

The coast south of Cape Town

The following day we headed south to the end of the road at Cape Agulhas Africa’s most southerly point and the seperation between Atlantic and Indian Oceans, where we broke out the celebratory bottle of champagne. Thanks Nadja it was a very good bottle J

The road down was spectacular in places and we managed to see some whales near the coast.

 

A few sundowners looking over the wreak of some poor souls who didn’t make it round the cape and it was back to the warmth of a log fire.

Its still warm enough here by British standards by out of the sun the cool wind takes the temperature down to something we are not used to after months in the 30-50 degrees range.

The bow of a japanese trawler of somesort I think

All that’s left is to head back to Cape Town and clean and wrap the car up as its staying here a little longer for the moment. Then get ourselves on a plane and back to work.

Breakfask on the beach at Cape Agulhas with Millie the backpackers dog

So a many thanks to those who helped us at all stages along the way and those who took us into their homes making this trip so enjoyable.

I guess a special mention should also go in here to our two travelling companions we first bumped into in Turkey and have since travelled on and off with them on the way down, although since Kenya its been more on than off. It is of course the two boys from the Emerald Isle Tadhg & Bob. Who have given us a good laugh, assistance but mainly lots of verbal abuse. Its been fun guys and if your ever bored ive seen a nice little road down a valley on the sat nav that looks interesting.

And to those of you who have followed our little trip I hope it has provided a little interest and enjoyment.

Of course the landscapes, wilderness and wildlife make Africa an unforgettable experience that get under the skin but it would be nothing without the cultures and people we have met.

The generosity shown to total strangers is staggering and a optimism for life that’s infectious. I wonder if ill fall out of the habit of asking literally everyone I meet how they are whether I know them or not.

Namibia to South Africa

 After a few nights in Swakopmund the journey carried on south across big expanses of open plain broken up only by ridges of mountain to cross every now and then. A quick stop in a recommend German bakery which was very good with its large selection of cakes and biscuits.

Spent the afternoon in the big red sand dunes at Sossusvlei and watched the sun go down there. The Irish boys Tadgh and Bob bringing embarrassment upon themselves and land rover marque by managing to get stuck in the sand track that led to the dunes and spent sometime getting the tyres down and the tempermental difflock in. Honestly made it across some of the worst terrain in the remoter parts of Africa and they get stuck in a short sand track as tourists in their hire 4x4’s cruise past.

Bob and I had a few beers and decided we would attempt to sand board down on the piece of plywood that’s part of the bed in the back. It had mixed results at best and is extremely tiring walking up a 100+ meter dune in the hot sun. Beer does help though!

Next up was the mining town of Luderitz, stuck back out again on the Skeleton Coast surrounded by the Sperrgebiet the forbidden area where since 1908 the Diamond ming has made it off limits to the general public and its apparently enforced by some quite ruthless security patrols so not worth trying to venture into unless maybe that really is a Diamond you can see from the road!

The town has a very northern European feel and could be one of many small harbours back home. As were some of the bars, where we got a very hearty meal of springbok stew.

Kolmansop is a deserted mining town just inside the Sperrgebiet where you can go for a small fee. I was abandoned back in the 50’s but at one point had been a fair size with a station, hospital, bars, gym/theatre. Time and the dessert is slowly reclaiming it.

Heading south along the back roads in Namibia to avoid any more police checks and investigations into our lack of cross border permit we hit the orange river and the next day finally the border into South Africa. Were we quickly stopped in immigration then bypassed customs and the police and promptly left without getting done for any more charges!

The South African  border was very modern organised and efficient something I had long ago forgotten existed and we were swiftly on our way again.

As I finish we are heading the last 400 miles down to Cape Town, we will probably split it and arrive in Cape Town tomorrow.  Still high in some hills mist and rain have set in giving the impending end a bit of a gloomy feel. Still it feels odd after so many miles and days we are nearly there!

Namibia

From the Okavango we headed west towards Namibia. The first hundred or so Kms were nice hardtop but then we turned onto the road towards our chosen border crossing to enter just south of Khaudum park. Its 150kms to the border via Drotskys cave that went from graded dirt with deep sand patches to flat out deep sand tracks that would become a permanent feature of the next 4 days driving. A lot of it spent chugging through in first, second or if you were really lucky third.

            Still first stop was Drotskys cave which according to the guide book was free and there was no development there. On arriving it turned out there was some form of development and it wasnt free, but still a bit of a way off from having a finished camp site or even office. Im not sure a few weather beaten bits of ply count.

A lady informed us it was run by the community trust now and we should have brought permits to enter. The town was some 36 kms on.

However the guy who checked them was in Maun so apparently it didn’t matter and as she worked for the government as a tour guide we could have the cave tour anyway.

Not entirely sure we weren’t being set up for some later post tour payment stitch up we did get a nice tour from her. You still need to provide your own torch.

There was a good (flock?) of bats that came streaming out from holes as we woke them with our lights.

After we signed the book and left without a penny being asked for, very nice for a change. I felt guilty I had mis-trusted her earlier. Its not that we wouldn’t have paid a fee as long as it was reasonable its just no one would tell us what it should be and we had that nasty feeling you might be about to get tapped up for some unreasonable amount.

We then bush camped near the Aha Hills on the way to the border. The Aha Hills barely pass as hills but Botswana being mostly flat I guess they are a rise of some sort.

By this point the track to the border was just a sandy track and we arrived at the Garden shed that was the exit point for Botswana, It was all very easy going and laid back here as the officials strolled in from their tea break outside and did the formalities for us. There were no other customers and probably wouldn’t be today. The vehicle log had a few days where nothing had passed through on wheels anyway.

A quick disinfectant spray and we entered Namibia in a similar way. Although they did want to check engine numbers this time but other than a passport stamp there was a lack of any other paper work or fees.

A hour hunting round the small town of Tsumkwe for someone to change our money had us heading north again along the sandy road into Khaudum national park.

As mentioned earlier you are supposed to have at least two 4x4’s, 100 litres of water each and provisions for 3 days to enter. I would still recommend this but actually its not that bad as there was drinkable water at the campsites which are free as they are no longer maintained but they seemed to be in alright order to us, with working showers, toilets and even a bath! A first for any campsite ive been on I think. It did all look a little run down and abandoned having a slight ghost town feel to it with just squirrels running about. The old donkey boiler still worked though if you could be bothered to gather wood for it and light it which we did of course. Some of the best hot showers I’ve had yet.

I think Kahudum is one of those little remote wildernesses that will eventually end up like the rest of the much more touristy parks.  Not that they are at all bad but Khaudum has its own special remote feel.

We didn’t see the park ranger until the following morning as we past his office which was closed up the day before when we entered. Its only a mere $8 a day for car and 2 to visit here. He gave us some tips on where lions had last been seen and we headed on to explore further.

In our a whole time exploring the place we only saw some guys capturing elephants for another park with their trucks on the first day. Other than that the place was apparently deserted, I can see why you need the supplies they recommend, it could be a long wait for someone to find you if you did get stuck or break down. The further south you went the sand was even worse, and there many hours/days? of chugging through deep sand which I have definitely had enough of!

Elephant truck escaping

Animals wise I think there are lots there but it was very dry even at the rivers and it was hard to see them in the bush but there were still lots of Ele’s and a good smattering of other animals. You just had to be a bit more patient to see them.

Never saw the lions though, just their tracks.

 

We headed north through the park and camped at the top site with good views over the river/waterhole area. The following day it was a mere 2 ½ hour pull through more deep sand (sensing a theme here?) then finally the wonderful black hard stuff taking us on to Grootfontein.

Did I mention it was sandy? and dusty so dusty!

A couple of days staying at the very good German run  Marori campsite saw us trying Zedbra, Kudu, Gnu, Impala and Eland on the BBQ. Checked out the world’s largest Meteor and then headed north to Ruacana Falls.

On the way north again we were stopped at an animal fence where they generally confiscate items from your fridge. I think they are supposed to check you have no fresh beef or milk onboard although they seem to want different things at different points. Mainly what they are lacking in their own fridge I suspect. This time we ran into a bigger problem than losing dinner, a policeman who wanted to see our licence (check) and cross border permit. This we had no idea about and the cross border thing and spent considerable time explaining that they had made no mention of it at the garden shed border post of Dobe. We did suggest phoning but surprisingly Dobe has no links to the outside world. After some time the policeman agreed to let us go without fining us $250 US as long as we promised to get it at Ruacana’s border.

Ruacana falls were well, lacking in water, I had read that the dam/PowerStation now meant they only flowed properly when it had been really raining. There was however the chance to check out the old power station the victim of a Cuban attack during the Angolan war sometime in the 80’s I think.

Also there was a chance for a bit of illegal border crossing and I managed to get boots on Angolan soil without being spotted/shot.

Oh and you cant get the cross border permit here despit it being a much bigger crossing. The other Ruacana border apparently, onwards.

 We stopped in the beautifully located hippo pools community campsite at the bottom and it served as the start to a route we wanted to take along the river that forms the Namib/Angolan border to Epua falls. No hippos though only crocs and thieving monkeys.

Epua falls were much more spectacular and the winding road along the river is very scenic and has a large number of Himba peoples living along it of whom the ladies look fantastic with their extravagant hairdos. 

Next up was a blast down to the Skeleton coast park. Arriving to late to enter the park we stopped up in the campsite by the gate. Bleak is the best I can say about this place. Kinda like the rest of the skeleton coast though I guess only with toilets.

Landy dipping her toes in the south atlantic

The skeleton coast was as bleak and windswept as I had imagined and I cant think of a worse place to be shipwrecked in the old days when it was up to a 1000 km hike through the waterless desert to get out. There are a few rusting legacies dotted along the coast and an even a more recent one which had run aground after an engine fire so the guys selling rocks on the shore (possibly the crew) informed me. Before asking for any food and water we could spare.

  

The chill wind had dropped the temperature from the 30-50 degree range we had been used to, and after the windy chilly night before (+6 degrees!),  we have opted for a nice warm bed in a proper room with four solid walls in Swakopmund

A night walk in the Okavango Delta

From Maun we headed north towards Khwai. This area is the fringe of the Okavango Delta, a lot of it only being reachable by canoe or plane most of the time.
Some 120ks up gravel/deep sand road we turned of into the bush towards a river, then turned along its course deeper into the delta.
Initially passing through the southern end of Chobe park and later as we would discover Khwai comunity concession area.

The waters formed a rich green area in the now dry and sandy surrounding bush. The wide rivers and ponds filled with plenty of hippo, crocs and elephants grazing. Wildlife was generally thick on the ground here and we sighted our first wildebeest along with another pride of lions with, a decent male this time lazing by a tree.

There are a myriad of tracks in this area along and through the waters and been mid afternoon we were following tracks fording long deep crossings to remoter areas. Eventuality stumbling upon the Khwai river comunity camp which we had vaguely been heading for.

Apparently your supposed to pre book but other campers informed us someone would probably come around in the eve or moring to check permits and we could pay them. From the very well spread out spots found an empty spot only 30 or so meters away from a big bull elephant grazing the tree tops.
Sitting by the fire finishing of the last of our dinner we spotted a hyena lurking in the shadows. Reminded bob about the fact he was the only one sleepling on the ground in a tent,  much like a nylon wrap for hyena.
Around 9 the ranger turned up and we had to part with US$30 each for being in the park and camping, a bit more than we were hoping to part with but actually pretty cheap for a decent game drive + camping by general african park standards. Also we were told it was ok to do night drives here, fantastic as most parks your not allowed to drive after about 6/7 pm, mainly for your own safety I suspect.

We rounded up torches and hoped in Tadhg's landrover, actually I sat on the roof rack with him whilst Bob and Elena drove around inside. We saw more Hyena, hippos grazing along the river banks, lots of croc eyes, herd of Elephants and the pride of lions again now lazing in another spot in the dark. We did consider the safety implications of being sat on a roofrack only a few meters from the lions. Surely they cant scale all of 5 feet onto a landy roof right?? We did back away sharpish as soon as some of them got a bit grumpy and stood up.
Anyway a few good and terrible night photos later I had swapped positions with Bob and was driving heading back towards the camp.
After nearly running over the lions (hard to spot in landy headlights) and stopping to look at them again, we headed about 400 meters down a track and went to cross one of the smaller water crossings that we had crossed about 4/5 times already that day. Now due to me either going a bit slow to not chuck the lads of the roof, or allow Tadgh to get a pic of the headlights underwater (looks cool), or the suspect difflock or my poor driving or a combination of all, one of the back wheels dropped into a underwater hole.
A varity of forward and reverse gear combinations much bouncing and a change of driver it became aparent we were stuck with water slowly flooding through the back door (actually quite quickly, it is a landrover!)

It was 23:30 and the choice was spending an uncomfortable night with four of us in the damp landy waitng for day break and rescue (embarrassment) or walk the 6kms to the other landrover to return and effect a recovery.
For some reason I opted for the latter and accompanied by Bob we tentatively jumped into the hopefully croc free water and left the other two heading off into the dark of the bush, armed with a small trenching shovel each and a maglight and head torch.

We opted to stay mainly along the river bank as A - we couldnt get to lost if we followed it but B - walking through the dense bush is much scarier. Here we could at least see a little distance with the torches. On the downside we were more likely to bump into hippos grazing or elephants coming down to the water. Both of which are probably more likey to harm you than the big cats.
When your in a vehicle apart form the obvious security you feel the animals seem much less worried by you and in places where there are regular safari tours they arnt bothered in the slightst by you unless you get really close. However step out of the car and your size, smell and noise are are diffenrt thing, your suddenly much more liable to frighten or appear tasty. Either good reason to get attacked!

Anyway with all this in mind we walked on not at all comforted by the continuous big cat prints along the track, fresh atop of our tyre prints we had made only an hour or so ago!
It wasnt a walk without excitement, a hyena in the bush, the noises of hippos close by and a lot of eyes reflecting back in the torch light. At one point as we discussed different lion defence tactics Bob spotted the marks of a big snake crossing the track, I suggested we didnt spent to long investigating it.
There was one further small patch of water to cross, the sound of something splashing into it as you approach isnt something you want to hear. Needless to say we jumped through it as quick as we could barely getting our feet wet.
After 45 mins the sight of our smoldering fire and my landy was a welcome sight! Roof tent down and we drove the 15 mins back passing just the one elephant and pulled the soggy landrover to firm ground. Finally getting back to the camp it was nearly 2 am, still a bit on edge from the walk it took a hot choc and a while to get to sleep.

The following morning we drained the rear axle/diff of water and finally fixed that leaking diff seal on Tadgh's landy. Still on the plus side it had saved us finding a jet wash to get rid of all the salt pans salt mud off the chassis.

It was then back to Maun for hot showers and cold beers and a fair bit of (unfair I feel! ) blame about my poor driving being the cause of the evenings activities.

Obvoiusly people do walk the bush at night, although with more experience and guns! So ive asked a few more knowledgeable locals since about how risky it is to walk the bush at night, certainly none of them would recomend it as a tourist, and whilst no one called me foolish (to my face anyway) some said it was just how the luck fell and if you were unlucky enough to stumble across one of the animals in a pissed of mood (or really hungry).

Im not sure if I would do it again in the same situation but it all went well this time and certainly gave the night a certain edge!

So we are off to Khaudum a remote park in Namibia that see less people visit than elephants there. It requires a minimum of 2 4x4's in convoy to enter, you must have a minimum of 100 litres of water per cqr and food for at least three days. Theres unlikely to be any other tourists here and its unlikely you will see a ranger, just the entry track is 70kms of deep sand from the nearest town. Its a safari park untamed, what could possibly go wrong?

Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and into Botswana

Camping on the Island in the salt pans

Apart from parting with $50 each and $25 for the car entering Tanzania went smoothly as all the borders seem to now. There’s not a whole lot of anything as you cross into Tanzania from Rwanda other than a few small villages, so we headed for the only place we knew we would definitely be able to stop safely or the night. A old German Boma that let us camp inside for next to nothing.

We didn’t fancy chancing any bush camping as we had heard a few stories of the police rounding you up for your own safety from bandits on the road. Someone on an overland truck we met had also said friends of theirs we robbed on the road to Rwanda.

From here we headed south to Ruaha national park. We hadn’t done any proper parks yet due to the cost and having seen a lot of wildlife in other parts we had travelled through for free. But we wanted to check at least one out and this one looked like a good one.

That and we still hadn’t seen any cats yet.

Check out the Blue privates

Big Fella

 You get 24 hours for your entry fee although you can only drive around from 6 am to 7 pm after that you have either to have left or camped up in the park in a designated spot.  We opted to camp outside and save the $60 on top of the $100 to get in for 2 plus car.

It was a magnificent park and the wild life was positively teeming. We saw elephants in hundreds at one point being in amongst a group of 100+ elephants was amazing and a bit scary as a few of them got a bit agitated and started giving us trumpets.

There were lots of everything and you ended up very close to a lot of it as nearly every bush or tree you rounded had something behind it.

Many Elephants

Sunrise in the park

Lazing Lions

That afternoon we saw a lone lioness which fixed our need to see some sort of lion. However the following day we saw 2 different prides up close one with cubs.

From Ruhaha we took a track south to cut the corner of the main road route which was partly unsealed anyway.  Down through a bush track south to Mafinga where we stopped up in a old German farmhouse

The next few days were spent working south towards Malawi stopping off to climb up to the crater lake at Ngosi, which was tiring but rewarding. Some local kids made it look annoyingly easy as they literally ran up past us!

Entering Malawi we picked up a local phone sim and made contact with Tadgh and Bob the Irish lads again and agreed to meet up with them in a couple of days further south. We stopped at some lovely spots on the lake shore and climbed up the near vertical track to the plateau to check out Livingstonia the old mission.

Lake Malawi camp view  Nkhata Bay

Catching up with the Irish we chilled out for a few days in Nkhata Bay swimming and snorkelling in the lake, which is filled with hundreds of beautiful coloured fishes. And Bilharzias a nasty parasite that enters through your skin and then resides in your liver in 4-6 weeks. Must remember to buy the treatment pills!

Although one day was slightly less relaxing as I helped them change the clutch on their defender. The release fork had broken so they couldn’t really drive anywhere without some serious gear crunching. Luckily I had release for and a clutch in my spares. Hopefully this will be the only clutch I have to change this trip!

 

From here we skirted the lake a bit more then struck west for Zambia and Victoria falls in Livingstone. Getting into Zambia was getting back to towns as we know them with proper supermarkets and we spent the next few days indulging in some of the nicer foods as we covered the 1000 miles to Vic Falls.

Sunset on the Zambezi

Vic Falls was, well not as spectacular as I was hoping, being the nearer the end of the dry season water levels were at their lowest. However some bits were still good and you can only imagine them in full flow. They are supposed to better viewed from the Zimbabwe side, but as they wanted $55 each plus $20 entry to falls and it would have cost us $50 each to get back into Zambia on our single entry visas we decided for $250 we would just imagine.

Tadgh and Bod did pay for me to bungee jump of the bridge though in exchange for the clutch and parts I had given them. Nice views on the way down if you can take them in! Mildly concerned by the life jacket they gave you after one girl had apparently dropped in.

Still fairly impressive

Bungy

The ferry to Botswana

From here we headed into Botswana and spent a day in Chobe park seeing many more elephants, Giraffes, buffalo, antelope and finally a Leopard lazing in a tree.

You have to watch out a lot in Botswana as the many long roads through unfenced wild bush means Elephants, Giraffee, Ostrich and many others on the roads

Camping with Elephants

The road to the Makgadikgadi salt pans is mostly hundred of Kms of unfenced bush with lots of wildlife including elephants roaming across the road. We stopped in at Elephant Sands campsite. Here you get to camp next to a watering hole and get very close to the elephants! Within arms reach. It was magical to sit and watch them this close for hours as the sun went down. They would wander through the campsite and right past our camp. 

 

We spent 2 nights here waiting for the the Irish to turn up as they had stayed on in Livingstone. We wanted to go on to the Salt pans and certainly 2 vehicles are safe than one as we would later find out.

We skirted round along the animal fences along the eastern side of the pans and then cut in and headed west across them. First stop was a uninhabited island in the salt pan about 6 Kms in. The top offered unspoilt views across the pans and down on the “beach” a large Baobab tree provided a perfect campsite. 

The Island Well

Some test runs further into the pan ended in us getting properly stuck! My one tip is don’t slow down and keep the diff lockers in. Slowing down we ground to a halt before I could shift down, then pulling away I broke through the few centimetres of crust that keep you out of the sticky clay mud that seems to have no bottom.

 

Hot work

 

After much digging we got back to the camp and settled down by the fire to enjoy the wilderness.

 

 

The following day we made our way west heading towards Gabatsky’s Island a large sand dune that supposedly gives spectacular views and price Charles had painted there. Mid afternoon we decided to cut 40 Kms across a salt pan. Only 5 kms short of where we would hopefully pic up another track the Irish had there turn and broke through into the mud. A much deeper tract this time there was no reversing out. A few forward attempts ended in them getting bogged in again each time. So eventually the winch was broken out and we dragged them through to firmer ground.

 

Pushing, digging and winching out Tadhg & Bob

 

Darkness was falling quickly so we made camp there and then in the expanse of nothingness. Us “men” opting to sleep out under the stars deciding we were fairly safe form any predators this far out.

An assumption that was probably wrong as lena discovered a big cat print the following morning, admittedly not fresh but still.

 

After 3 days in the hot and dusty days of the pan the swimming pool and cold beer in one of Mauns campsites on the edge of the Okavango delta were a welcome sight.

Camping out under the stars

 There are more photos to this post but the internet is so slow and we cant spend any more time in the heat in the spar car park so ill add another post or edit this one later. - Done