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What next?
It’s funny how things turn out. After 65 days in the Kalahari Transfrontier Park, we spend less than 2 weeks in Namibia, less than 24 hours in Botswana and find ourselves back in South Africa!
The plan had been to spend a month in Namibia then enter Botswana for a visit to the Moremi Game Reserve on the edge of the Okavango Delta, followed by Easter in Chobe National Park. When we booked the camps 12 months previously we were thinking that two record rainfall seasons could not be followed by a third, how wrong we were!
Whilst sat in Windhoek at the Arebbusch campsite, (one of the quietest in Southern Africa if you exclude the noise of the adjacent airport, main road, truck stop, football stadium, speedway track and occasional evening gunfire) our neighbour Robin mentioned that record rainfall in Angola meant that the Delta water levels were approaching a 100-year high. It seemed likely that most of Moremi would be underwater and the animals dispersed. Never mind, we decided we would sound out the situation when we got to Maun.
Before leaving the Kalahari, Angela and I had been doing some serious thinking (unusual but true) about what we should do next. We both agreed we wanted another break from Africa, and we also agreed that going back to w….w….wo…wor…work (phew that was hard to type!) was too horrible to contemplate. With our tenants signed up for another 12 months it was down to a choice of a Round the World backpacking trip, a road trip from Canada to Central America or a trip around Europe.
A chance re-union with Austrian friends, Eva and Helmut, who sang the praises of motor homing in Norway and Sweden convinced us that it was about time we organised a proper trip round Europe, perhaps in a van, or motorhome if we could afford it. The decision was made easier by the fact that Angela was having nightmares about the concept of carrying a rucksack around the globe, even if empty, and neither of us could work out how we could afford an American road trip unless we robbed a couple of banks on the way!
With Europe in mind we decided to shorten our stay in a very wet and increasingly expensive Namibia and head for Botswana. Before crossing the border we had a lovely time at Zelda Guest Farm, where our campsite neighbours turned out to be Piet the Porcupine, 2 orphaned cheetahs, a hand reared leopard, a very cute young meerkat and over two hundred hens and cockerels of various pedigrees. The latter were clearly confused about the timing of dawn judging by the random c*** a doodling and were very lucky not to be fed to the aforementioned cheetahs.
Once over the Botswana border we headed east along the Trans Kalahari highway dodging the usual donkeys, goats, horses, sheep and humans that make driving in Botswana loads of fun. Near Ghanzi the roads splits, southeast takes you towards Gaborone and South Africa, northeast takes you to Maun and the Delta. Excited by the prospect of organising another adventure on a different continent we decided to skip our Moremi and Chobe trip, save our money and head back to South Africa.
Before planning the next big adventure we had one more little adventure, the border crossing back to South Africa! Bearing in mind that our last meeting with South African immigration officials had led to a warning that we were only entitled to a 7 day visa next time we turned up, we were understandbly twitched when we reached the Pioneer border post. We were even more twitched when a police officer insisted on checking our 8 jerrycans to make sure they were empty (petrol in Botswana is much cheaper even though it comes from South Africa). Luckily the jerrycans were empty, apart from the two I forgot to mention!
In the Immigration portakabin (the South African side of the border was being re-built) our worst fears materialised. Our passports were passed up the ranks to the head honcho, who acted as though his usual day job was President of the Democratic Republic of Congo. We were questioned as to why we crossed in to South Africa so frequently, what did we have in our car, did we have jobs, why did we want to come back to South Africa and did we have flight tickets home? (of course but they expired last January!!!)
It was at that point that if I believed in a God I’d have said it was divine intervention. Firstly an irate South African, who had apparently managed to leave and re-enter South Africa twice in 15 minutes thanks to the building works confusion, fortuitously lost his temper with our inquisitor. Then a large group of Namibians crammed in behind us, anxious to get themselves and their racehorses in to the country before the latter died of old age. It could only have got more crammed if the racehorses had joined us, though judging by the eau de equine wafting through the portakabin they may have done! At that point we became an irritation and with that flurry of rubber stamping that is a hallmark of African borders, we were admitted for another 3 months! Phew!
After a quick change of underwear we were on our way to Groot Marico, a quirky town in North West province famous for being famous. Whilst driving to the local dam (reservoir) to camp, we managed something that had eluded us in 5 years of visiting national parks; we watched a caracal walking along the road, completely relaxed, in broad daylight!
Despite two previous visits (June for the World Cup and Christmas 2010) Trudi and Stuart then welcomed us back to their home in Joburg, from which we sorted out flights back to the UK in May. In the meantime my father very generously offered us his motorhome, currently residing at his home in Southern Spain.
This motorhome is a step up for us in terms of comfort, for the first time since our travels started in 2006 we will have our own toilet (we are flushed with excitement at the thought of it!) as well as accommodation for 6 people. If you would like to join us somewhere in Europe please get in contact (terms and conditions apply, offer excludes anyone called Steve or Gary).
The only downside is fuel consumption, though 28 miles per gallon will seem positively frugal after the V8 petrol guzzler. Mind you, given that it took us from 2006 to 2010 before we managed to get north of Botswana in Southern Africa, it may be a year or more before we progress beyond the south of Spain!
The above info is probably already putting shivers down the spines of those European friends of ours who casually invited us to their hometowns, safe in the knowledge that we were at the opposite end of the planet. Time to move or lock up the drinks cabinet guys, the Spilsburys are coming. Please go outside after you’ve read this and check if your driveways are big enough to take a 7.4 metre Auto Trails Cheyenne motorhome. Not sure how wide the vehicle is but I’ll try and find out before I squeeze through your gate posts. We’ll need electrics, satellite TV, WiFi, a chemical toilet disposal facility, oh and 3 meals a day!
As this will be our last African blog for a year or two (we are keeping our Landrover and trailer ready for our return) we’d just like to say a final big thank you to all our friends in Southern Africa who’ve been so helpful, kind and generous over the years. It has been very much appreciated and, as the saying goes, we couldn’t have done it without you.
Hopefully we will get the opportunity to reciprocate should you ever head north to that mysterious island shrouded in cloud and rain, famous for big weddings (and I don’t mean Posh and Beck’s).
Finally thanks are due to Leisure Wheels magazine in South Africa for recognising literary genius when they see it and publishing two of my articles this year. Thanks also to Landrover Owners International magazine in the UK for doing likewise with one article (if you would also pay me as promised it would be even nicer!)
Having had 4 articles published in 5 years I’m beginning to suspect that a career as an “International Travel Writer” may be a slightly optimistic goal, still it sounds marginally more glamorous than “Purchasing Manager” so I’m sticking with it!
See you in Europe.
- comments
Jen Hi U2! Sorry to hear you are leaving our wonderful continent, and will miss your stories of Africa, but wish you LOTSA lekker travels!! and lotsa lekker Spanish veno too.. Travel safe, and remember our future trip... whenever.... Love Jen and Mike!! xxx
karel Stroebel North America can be an option. If you help Hildy's parents on the farm during seeding, they will most certainly give you one of the trucks to cross the continent. They are in the sticks but they do have flushing toilets, electrics, satelitte TV, wifi, farm cooking and 5 cats.
Bim and Linda Ralph and Angela, sorry to hear you won't be in North America soon. The plane is getting lonely and we have finally been able to restock our wine cellar. But as you know, you are always welcome for a Santa Barbara visit whenever you make it across the pond. Keep us up with your Europe travels and maybe we'll link up with you. We have never been to Scandanavia, so might track you down.
Ralph & Angela Hi Jen & Mike Thanks for your comments and we're definitely on for a future trip. Not sure where the sun has gone here in the UK!!! Take care
Ralph & Angela Hi Karel & Hildy I remember you saying about Hildy's parents' farm. Got back to the UK on Saturday and still trying to come to terms with the traffic, the cold and the long daylight hours, oh and the prices of things!!
Ralph & Angela Hi Bim & Linda You are very welcome to join us in Scandanavia, or anywhere else in Europe so do keep in touch. If we get to Scandanavia you may have to bring your own wine, places like Norway are notoriously expensive for alcohol!!! Would like to reserve a flying trip for the future, I need to keep up my hours and teach you a few new tricks as well.
Lyn Hiya - hope you're going to keep in touch and carry on entertaining us with your writing and your adventures! Who knows - maybe we'll catch up with you on your travels again one day..... Please note our new email address is [email protected] - travel safe and keep in touch.