Hi Heike

Thanks for comments.

Hope you and Lynn enjoyed the "sightseeing" in Luderitz and Aus, hope the fog lifted on the coast there. Presumably Clint and Simon are recovering well after the Canyon walk, are they mad?

You are very welcome to stay over in June, what are your plans? It would be nice to meet up.

Best wishes

Ralph

Many thanks for the birthday wishes. Spent the day traveling and carrying all the luggage as Ralphs back had gone!. Landed back in the UK to a glorious day of sunshine and warm weather a typical spring day.

Thanks again for all the messages on the website we have enjoyed them very much. Love Angela xx

A belated happy birthday to Angela. We will wish you all the best. Too bad you are married to such an old guy like Ralph!

Sorry to hear you have to join the rest of us in the real world, at least for awhile. We have so enjoyed living vicariously with you in Africa for the past three years.

Best wishes on getting the house in order. Once it is all repaired, find yourself a cheap airfare and vacation in Santa Barbara. We can always use a copilot like Ralph.

All our best,

Jim and Linda

AND..............Happy Happy Birthday to Angela !! Sitting on a plane can't be the best present around - but hopefully a wonderful English spring day will welcome you on the other side !!
With all the very best wishes
Heike, Clint, Ricki and Dylan

Hi There ! So sorry to hear that you had to "cut short" your Africa sojourn. Looks like the global recession is making its mark everywhere !!
We're still hanging in here at the Cape and hoping that business will pick up - as it is rather slow ! Have a big group going to the 20/20 cricket in London - so Clint and I will be in London from 13 - 22 June and then 1 week in Paris. Clint is walking the Fish River Canyon next week - with Simon, another chap and 13 women !! Lynn and I are dropping them off and then off to Aus and Luederitz for a few days of sightseeing and relaxation.
Wish you all the best - especially that you'll manage to get things sorted out quickly and get back to Africa.
Best wishes

Heike

Hi Beth & Perry

The spoons managed to survive the CKGR, Mabuasehube and Kgalagadi which is more than we can say about the Landrover!!!

Would love to meet up for that trip, just depends on whether we can earn a ton of money back in the UK this summer so we can get a better vehicle back in Africa. Heading to Uganda in 2 Landrovers would be interesting!!!! Assume you still have the 110 by default?

Sorry you missed the wildlife in Mabua and Kgalagadi, recommend going back there. Stay at Rooiputs and Polentswa campsites on the Botswana side of KTP then you have peace & quiet and no fences. Just visit Nossob and Twee Rivirien for showers.

Thanks for update, flying back to UK tonight from Joburg for a bit of a culture shock!

Take care

Ralph & Angela

Greetings Ralph and Angela! How are those spoons treating you? Hey- we have thoroughly enjoyed following your Botswana meanderings. Ralph - you are a cheeky b******.... and B. is sorry to have missed out on the group tick grope!

Excellent Mabuasehube stories. Our time there (last December) was bereft of animal life. Some paw prints, a few distant jackal jabbers and lion rumblings. Then, the day we made the drive to Nossob, Beth began to feel feverish and achy, and of course we both thought 'malaria'. s***. We only stopped in Nossob to load up on cold water, and Perry drove all the way to Upington, right to the front door of the clinic. Only a virus, they said. So, we feel largely unsatiated in our Kgalagadi time.

We plan to return to South Africa next October, make our way North through the CKGR, Chobe & Moremi, a side trip into Hwange, then up into Tanzania and Kenya and maybe Uganda. Maybe we will find you somewhere?

All our best - Cheers & happy trails ~ Beth & Perry

Hi Arjan & Patricia

Nice to hear from you guys. The Landrover had broken down at the Xade Gate entrance to the Central Kalahari, nearest garage would be a very bumpy sand road to Ghanzi, about 3 hours normal driving so 8 hours being towed? Not sure whether it was going in or out at the time!

Good luck with the Landrover in Tanzania, just take an extra fuel filter or two, don't want a repeat of Moremi do you?

Look forward to your email

Ralph & Angela

Hey guys,

Just a quick note, i will sent you an email update about our life (boring.....) Great pictures, and wow again a brown Hyena! Super! I will read your story tonight, I am working now.... Patricia is working the nightshift and is sleeping right now. Nice to see that everything is going well. Just worried about Landrovers..... Again a picture with a landrover with a tractor in front...... broken down or just got stuck there?

Our car in Tanzania will also be a landrover......

Ciao

Arjan

Hi All

Sorry about the gremlins with the photos on the last album, we loaded them the weekend Offexploring had technical problems, then went off on our latest trip through Botswana unaware of the problem.

We have just done 4000kms through Botswana with Isaac & Liesel, the car is giving us problems and is now back with Landrover in Upington for third time in two months.

Somewhere in the Central Kalahari we decided we will cut our losses with Landrover and buy Japanese, we need a more reliable vehicle for the places we go!

Right now the big issue for us is the fact that we have no tenants for our UK house, the last lot left last Friday (at least we hope they did, they withheld rental and complained about everything). If the house remains empty for long then the gas, electric and council tax bills drop on our doorstep and we will have to go back to work to pay them!

Happy Recession!

Ralph & Angela

Hi Richard

Missing it all like a hole in the head. There are moments (like in the Central Kalahari 2 weeks ago when the car radiator leaked and we were 300kms of sand road from the nearest garage) when we do wonder what we are doing but the feeling goes when you set up camp in the wilderness and know that your nearest neighbours are 17kms down a track!

Using Vodacom HDSPA in Upington at the moment to write this, the rest of the list I'm not missing at all!

Our tenants left last Friday so if we can't get any more we may be back to the rat race sooner rather than later. Manual labour or temp work this time, want to go off somewhere else when we get enough money.

Landrover is knackered now, 247,000kms on clock and oil and water leaking everywhere. Will buy Japanes next time, Toyota if we can afford it, need the reliability in the bush, the Landy is making us nervous wrecks!

Keep the good news reports re the UK coming, if only to remind us to stay out here!

Ralph

Hi Tim & Ann

Thanks for comments, would love that snow right now. We've just had a long trip through the Central Kalahari then down to Mabuasahube on the Botswana side of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park then across to the South African side. 22 days of wilderness, off road fun, animals, stunning campsites, no fences, dust, heat, car troubles, bucket showers, loved it!

Guess Brad & Jola will not be back to Africa for a year or two with the ankle biter on the way!

Take care

Ralph & Angela