Instagramming about home

A few days ago my friend Heather challenged me on Instagram. The social photo network has recently become my home for image creativity. I still publish my photos on Flickr, but Instagram is more fun, with a better community and wider reach amongst my friends. It's where my pictures have an audience.

So what's an Instagram challenge? Well, after shooting, editing, filtering and sharing the first few hundred photos, Instagram can become a little same-y. So apart from taking Instawalks (more on that next week), Instagrammers challenge each other to shoot photos on a certain theme. Heather's theme for me, quite innocently chosen, was 'at home'. She tells me she imagined that I would photograph pretty still lives around the house. Maybe a view from the terrace (it's a great view). Little did she know that her theme would throw me into full-on retrospective mode. Here are the results, with my comments, as the photos are more symbolic than pretty:

Shot one of my latest #5shotchallenge with the theme of #athome. This is my writing setup at my favourite cafe. It's as much my home as anyplace ever is.

I do spend my most productive days in cafes. Despite a good desk, a comfy sofa, and few distractions, the place where is sleep and eat is not the most conducive for writing. Since my work is who I am, where I work must be where I belong, right?

Shot two of my @5shotchallenge on a theme of #athome. Packing to move house is my way of cutting down on the clutter. Time to travel again, to make another place my home.

We move house multiple times a year. Some years we have a steady base, but others we seem to be constantly on the move. Packing suitcases, choosing what to take and what to put into storage is becoming ever easier. Right now we are just changing accommodation for our last month is Johannesburg, so the process is pretty painless. Still, I have trouble thinking of this place, or the last one, or the one before that, as home. The few possessions I cart around, the data on my laptop and the few cherished items of jewellery, the odd knock-knack and the essential camera gear - those embody home more than the actual location they are stored in.

Shot three in my #5shotchallenge on a theme of #athome - every morning, wherever I am, as if by magic, a cup of tea appears by my bedside. #stuartrules

And here is the real deal. The routine, the daily habits, the things we do together, those are the moments where I feel I belong. Wherever I am, I have learnt, my habits don't change. I used to imagine that if I were just in this other, better, place, then I could be a better person. I have realised that location is largely irrelevant. Who I'm with, what I do, not where I am, is what matters.

Shot four of my @5shotchallenge on the theme of #athome - this is not my home literally, but since we are Easter egg hunting together, and eating, laughing, chilling together, my friends are where I belong today.

Who I'm with, indeed. Just last weekend, leaning back in my chair during an Easter brunch with friends, I had a moment of utter contentment at spending time hanging out with some nice people. I have friends all over the place, which makes it sometimes hard to keep up. So being able to be in the same place with a few of them is a pleasure. Virtual connections help, like Facebook, email, Skype. Nothing beats a communal Easter egg hunt, though.

Last shot in my @5shotchallenge on a theme of #athome - I've been trying to think of the least cheesy way to say this, but there is really no way to avoid this: I am his home and he is mine.

'Home is where the heart is', they say. I have nothing to add.

Stuart's Latest Offering

...is here, covering the drive from Khartoum to Wadi Halfa. Enjoy!

More money lessons

Everything financial had been working so smoothly for us all through Malawi (despite its' scarcity of ATMs), Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, that we forgot that replenishing our funds was not always straightforward. Rumour had it that there were only two ATM locations in Ethiopia (in Addis and Gonder) and none in the whole of Sudan, which has had sanctions imposed so that VISA and Mastercard didn't work anywhere. We neglected to get more US dollars in Nairobi (which are always useful for changing money in the unofficial market), and when we got to the Ethiopian border we somehow managed to change too much of our US dollars into Ethiopian Birr. It was only when we reached Addis, hoping to draw more money from the ATM and change it to US dollars in preparation for Sudan that we found out how scarce the greenback is in these parts. I had a kafkaesque encounter at the bank and forex where I was told that there was only US$150 available per person, but only when showing and airline ticket leaving the country. When I told them that I had arrived and intended to leave by car I was firmly assured that this was not possible, no-one arrives by car into Ethiopia. Luckily the very pragmatic sales manager of our hotel used his contacts to procure us US$1000 for a fair rate and even got the guy to come to the hotel so that we could safely make the transaction.

Stuart changing money at the bag shop

Rumours were correct and the only other ATM was in Gonder. Having stocked up with US dollars in Addis, we were more concerned with acquiring Sudanese Pounds at this point as we were on our way to the border. When Stuart visited the bank on the Ethiopian side of the border (money changers were strangely missing from this otherwise busy border crossing) he was referred to the bag shop across the road where a guy changed our excess Birr into a few Sudanese Pounds. This was enough to get us through our custom expenses and to pay for the toll on the Khartoum road, but not enough to pay for the Nile hotel in Wad Madani, even after we had bargained them down from 90 to 60 SP. We had read that it was possible to change money in the souq at the goldsmith shops, so we took a walk in the mild evening air. It was easy to find the souq, although at 6pm not much was happening yet. Some non-verbal communication with a Quran-reading goldsmith later and we were sent to see Ahmed round the corner. Ahmed had a future as an extra in a Harrison ford adventure movie, sitting fat as Jabba the Hutt in front of his safe, counting thick wedges of various currencies. In front of him a desk laden with ledgers and receipts, flanked by hangers-on, he shook our hand and was happy to do business. In between handing out rubber-banded chunks of cash he offered us a reasonable rate, but before we could complete our transaction with this unofficial banker the communal dinner arrived and we were urged to take part. A huge metal bowl of foul (a mix of pita bread, tomatoes, cucumber and cooked beans with lots of spice) was placed on a table and everyone tucked in - right hand only. We were then served cool clear water in bashed metal mugs and, finally, our very own chunk of cash.

Now, in Khartoum, we realised what a good idea it was to equip ourselves with plenty of cold hard cash, as we have met two groups of overlanders going south that have to hurry to Ethiopia because they are running low on money. I hope the cyclists make it to Gonder before they are broke.

PS: It was my birthday for a whole weekend!

- about an age and a country away, but I did say I would write more. Well, as we have no space in the car for all the birthday presents I might have got, this year my treat was going to be of the non-physical variety. For weeks I had noticed Stuart and Merryl whispering and suddenly shutting up, and whenever we did any trip planning there was a gap around my birthday where they couldn’t tell me where we were going to go. Then Merryl mentioned that she would be going rafting on my birthday weekend and a little later we were heading for Kampala, but I still had no idea of the size of the surprise until we drove around Kampala on the day before my birthday after Merryl had left, trying to follow the GPS without giving away the destination. We were going somewhere in town, but the GPS kept sending us down closed-off roads. Eventually we did end up where we were going, the Kampala Serena Hotel, poshest of the posh in that part of the World. A whole weekend in a real house with real rooms and real windows! Not only that, but there would be running water, straight into a nice bath tub, with white towels, and a toilet that flushed, and a shower with water pressure (my big obsession), and a sink with a mirror and everything! The water might even be hot, if I wanted it...

And that was just the beginning. There was a huge bed with white sheets and the mattress was most un-lumpy, and there were lots of plump pillows, and little bed side tables, and lamps I could switch off from the bed without getting up, and in the evening someone came to turn the bed down.The room had air con and a mini bar and a balcony and a soft chair, and a TV with lots of channels, none of which were silent or fuzzy. To crown the luxury there was wifi with a decent speed and no cut-outs (which is more than can be said for the other 5 star hotel we tried recently, where high-speed internet translated to 192kbps). Too much!!!

A whole weekend with this luxe lifestyle made me quite crazy, I didn’t know how to spoil myself first. Should I have a bath (of course) or a snooze on the bed? What could I download while I was here? Should I watch some TV? Or order room service. It was quite stressful, I tell you, and on top of all that Stuart and Merryl had arranged for me to have a massage and a manicure in the spa. As it turned out that was the best thing that could have happened, as I was totally relaxed after that.

Uganda Roundup

When we worked out our route we had planned to travel from Tanzania North to Rwanda and Uganda, looping round Lake Victoria to enter Kenya from the west, but problems with the suspension prevented us from doing this. Instead we spent a few days in Kenya, heading up to the Lake and Uganda for a slow meandering arc returning us back to Nairobi after a couple of weeks. The result was that travelling in Uganda felt a bit aimless, being without a northward goal. The place still managed to get into my new top 3 country list (with Malawi and Namibia), for the amazing rain forest, the chilled people and the very funky monkeys (red-tailed, blue-tailed and black and white Colobus). We had no trouble to speak of, despite ongoing problems in the DRC next door and recent riots in Kampala related to changes in government.

Uganda also provided us with two new top ten campsites, a fab birthday treat for me and the fulfillment of one of Stuart's life ambitions, to see the mountain gorillas. We started to call Uganda the land of surprises, as it was so different from our expectations, and just when we thought we had worked out what kind of place it was, a new and unexpected vista opened in front of us.

Uganda was hills after hills after hills of green fertile farms, growing bananas, coffee, plantain and potatoes all mixed up together; it was riding our horses through the sugar cane fields and saying Jambo to every single child along the way, including stopping business at the local primary school; it was the perfect camp site and the wettest, a fabulous lake location where we got stuck due to the beauty and great company for far too long; it was also the frustration with badly-maintained sites that had so much going for them if someone just bloody well fixed the plumbing!; it was our first encounter with real rain forest, a green and dense mass of leaves, mushrooms and monkeys, being chased by the most evil mosquitos, struggling for air in the damp, cloying, hot, wet air; it was intense downpours which broke our awning and my patience, giving us clammy clothes and shoes for days and a great excuse for watching movies for a few days.

And then, after we decided that Uganda was pretty much a big lake and a lot of forest, we arrived at Queen Elizabeth National Park and discovered the Western Rift Valley, with its volcanos and crater lakes, great big hollows where we could watch elephants crossing the high grass way below us, where herds of Topi grazed among Uganda Kob, where water buffalo wallowed in grey damp patches until the layer of mud cracked off their hide, where pools of blue water shimmered against the salty edge separating wet from green, where we could see the next rain storm coming from an hour away across the acacia plains, a grey mass swallowing up the ground and the horizon.

Either we are getting more sociable or Uganda just has more interesting people, but we made some real cool new friends: a particularly good source was the Rwenzori guesthouse in Fort Portal, where we chatted with Donna the gorilla marketing lady from VSO, an auditor working on anti-corruption campaigns for USAid, some chimp researchers, an Israeli couple on holiday who entertained us with their horror story of getting Malaria on the second day of their trip, and the host himself, an opinionated Brit with fourteen years in Uganda and he was not holding back. We learnt a lot. Mustn't forget to mention the other overlanders, Trev and Jan, Anja and Jörg and Ben and Kate, fantastic company and deep wells of information, GPS tracks and ripped DVDs.

How cool...

Is this pillow case. We're staying in a hotel tonight (I know, again, but it's not a patch on the Serena, and this still is a camping trip, mostly) and they are obviously a bit worried about bedding going missing, so the sheets are tagged. I want to steal my pillow case, but Stuart said I'm not allowed. So I took a picture instead. Cool, not?

The lowdown from Stuart

You can find the story of our Uganda trip as narrated by Stuart here and here.

Birthday treats

I have to write an extensive post on the fabulousness of the Kampala Serena Hotel, a weekend here being my birthday treat, but just to get you going, here is the cake the hotel came up with. I love this place! And the water pressure, well it's amazing...

Roadside checks

There is a lot of talk amongst overlanders about corruption and bribery attempts along the roads. This usually takes place is the form of a speed trap or a police check where something is found missing with the paperwork or the car. We have heard from people who take a special budget of small denomination dollars for the express purpose of paying off bribes, and others who were stopped 8 times in one day in Malawi (we put this down to having South African plates, as South Africans are not very popular in Malawi, for historical reasons). Ever since leaving Botswana we encounter roadside checks multiple times a day, where a couple of uniformed police men and women check on the condition of mini buses, trucks and other local traffic. We are always amazed how these guys get let through, specially considering the condition the vehicles are in most of the time, with back doors tied down by rope and spewing black fumes while inching up the hill due to overloading, but we rarely see anyone pulled over for good. We are often waved through after everyone has had a good look at our strange number plates, the steering wheel on the wrong side and the woman driver, but we have also been stopped for a check on our paperwork. Our papers (driving license, registration, COMESA insurance, temporary import license and carnet) are in a business-looking folder and when we whip it out we are usually given up for a lost cause. No-one so far has asked for money outright, but I suspect that the cops who checked that we carry two warning triangles and that we have a fire extinguisher were secretly hoping that we didn't. Maybe we are dense, on reflection I now suspect that the cop who miserably told me that he hadn't had any breakfast yet was really fishing for a can of coke or a bit of cash. Who knows. Fake speed traps are another apparently popular way to extract some money, so the two times we were stopped for speeding we were very dubious. The first time was in Lusaka, just after we had been subject to a major rip-off by the local laundry, so we were not interested in paying any more money out to a spurious claim. There really was little chance that I had been speeding, as anyone who has driven through Lusaka traffic knows it's not possible to actually clock 80. As the police man came up to us, having flagged us down in the fast lane of the dual carriageway, Stuart - in the back seat - went into outrage overdrive and immediately told the guy that we weren't speeding, we could prove it with our GPS and we would be happy to go to court over it. And by the way, could he please have a complaint form, he would like to make a formal statement. This resulted in a back and forth for a few minutes where the cop claimed we were doing 86 in an 80 zone and anyway, we had probably not slowed down for the hospital zebra crossing earlier. In the end I left my South African address and phone number and left with the information that the police would call me by the end of the week with the court's results... Yesterday we were caught speeding for real, though, and despite arguing that there might not have been a 50 sign (there was, we were just distracted from it by a street seller waving his bunches of maize at us) or that the speed trap machine might be measuring wrong, we had to admit in the end that we had gone to fast. 20000 Tanzanian Shilling (£10/NZ$20) and a proposal of love to Merryl by the traffic cop later we had completed the long process of filling out a receipt - UK addresses are hard to spell - and we were back on our way.

A flash dinner

Our creature comforts have been gradually diminishing as we move further into the heart of Africa, and as our budget takes a beating from all the Savannah (lately discovered South African cider) we drink wherever there is a bar. Hot showers, white sheeted beds and classy restaurants are rarely to be found, and rightly so in a place as basic and poor as Malawi. But occasionally we hit a jackpot, and this one came at an unexpected time and place. We had already spent a night in Blantyre, Malawi's financial centre in the South of the country, on our way to Mulanje mountain, and we were back again to break up the journey to Lake Malawi and for Stuart to meet with the CEO of a financial company to discuss business opportunities. We had stayed in an overpriced and under-cleaned place the last time and had had a long and aggravated bargaining session with another hotel for this one night, spending US$150 for a family room with a toilet that made a noise like an aircraft landing and a TV with only one working channel (our normal camping rates are in the region of US$5 per person, but there is no camping in Blantyre, so our budget was blown for quite a few days). Regardless, we were happy. There was electricity, so I could capture my footage, the movie channel had sound, and I had running hot water to clean the fridge. We had baths with smelly stuff, started cooking dinner and Stuart went off for his meeting. Lovely. But it got much much much better. Stuart returned within 10 minutes to tell us that we had been invited out for dinner. Yes! Merryl and I got dressed in our one non-camping presentable outfit, slapped on some lipstick and perfume, dug round the car for the one pair of ear rings and vaguely matching shoes (we ended up wearing matching tops, we really need to get alternative going out outfits!) and dashed off to meet Stuart and the CEO at reception, feeling decidedly underdressed as we slipped into the leather seats of the brand new Land Cruiser that would ferry us to the restaurant, doors shutting with an expensive clunk as the car automatically adjusted seats and mirrors. Grill 21, the restaurant adjacent to the Protea Hotel, was a time warp back to Melrose Arch for us. Inside was smooth elegance, a haven of luxury with leather couches and glittering candle light, a well-stocked bar and waiters in pressed shirts. We could barely remember the dusty city streets outside lined with faded shops selling nothing very much, peopled by normal Malawians wearing dull coloured clothes for want of a washing machine. Inside we sat at a polished table, choosing Cabernet Sauvignon, discussing tempura prawn starters. It was bizarre, specially as I had the previous day had a discussion with Robert about the school fees he is earning by being a mountain guide in Mulanje, so that he can go to college eventually. His term fee would have been covered by the cost of our main course. A long time ago I would have made a scene and refused to spend the money on frivolous food, but that night I sat and ate and chatted pleasantly, admitting the impossibility of the situation. I also realised how much I needed after almost two months of travel to experience a piece of civilisation, a moment of elegance, a snippet of my previous reality; to get away from badly maintained rooms and cheap furniture, shoddy arrangements and the implicit demands of people who have so much less, from feeling like an alien in my white skin, from being the provider of a week's income at the drop of a bank note.

Stuart has deserted us...

No more guest posts from Stuart, he has gone back to updating his own blog, so head over there if you want to get his take. In case you didn't realise, Merryl also writes a funny blog here.

Big nests

All over Namibia we have been seeing trees which seem to have been draped in straw. However, on closer examination, you see that there are dozens of small birds flying in and out of this pile of straw. These are the nests of the Sociable Weaver', a species of weaver bird that, instead of building individual nests for each couple, gets together and build a tower block.

The birds themselves are unremarkable, but quite cute. Here is a young one.

Stuart's log

Trip Day 13 - Lüderitz, Kolmanskop, Sesriem

Up before 7:00. Drove down the road to the supermarket for a quick shop at 8:15 and then on to the abandoned Diamond mine at Kolmanskop. This was once a thriving place and a solid infrastructure was built there. It was then abandoned and became a ghost town. We started in the main hall, and associated rooms such as gym and kitchen, which has been renovated and took many photos before looking at some of the abandoned houses. It was rather strange and a little sad. I looked around one of the houses which was in pretty good condition almost as a potential buyer, checking out the sizes of the rooms!

It was then a long drive to Sesriem where we thought there was space. However, the number we called was for a different campsite as the numbers have been switched and the guide book is wrong! The Sesriem campsite is very popular and was fully booked. However, there was space in the overflow area which was well away from the facilities but not too bad. What did shock us though is that the price charged for us three and the car was ZAR750 per night, plus we had to pay a park fee of 250! This was well over what we expected to pay so we only booked for one night.

Set up camp, had dinner and looked at the stars (again a remarkable display) and then to bed.

Trip Day 14 - Sesriem, Sossusvlei, Naukluft

Up very early to visit Soussvlei - where the dunes either side of a river have come together to block it and so it cannot get to the sea anymore. The result is a salt pan (or vlei) surrounded by amazing red sand dunes. We were pleasantly surprised to see there was a tarmaced road to Soussvlei (maybe that is why the prices are so high at the campsite) and we covered the 64km to the 2WD car park quickly. The last 5 km is for 4WD only so I selected low ratio and diff lock and went for it. Driving on sand again was fun and we never felt we were going to get stuck even though we had not let down the tyres. We arrived at the final car park and there were only 2 others there before us. The dawn light was beautiful.

I wired myself up and Merryl and I climbed a large dune by the pan, with me talking to camera a lot of the time. I think the footage will be good. Fiver did not come with us as she is still sore from her fall from the horse. However, she had the kettle on as we returned. During our walk we saw an oryx close to the car. It only had one horn so it looked a little strange. Merryl took Fiver to see it as I made the tea.

We had breakfast here, having fun photographing many sparrows for whom we made mini water-holes- they liked being fed as well but we very keen on water, not surprisingly in this incredibly dry area.

We headed back to the campsite and tidyed up. We then set off for the short trip to the campsite we had originally booked last night! This was a bumpy journey on the least well treated roads we have experienced so far but they were not too bad. The last part of the journey through hills was particularly beautiful.

Once we had set up camp, Merryl and I set off to do a couple of hours walking along the Waterkloof river. We got about half an hour along it when we came across a colony of baboons. Merryl was a little spooked by them and did not want to go past them so we returned to the campsite and then set off in the other direction along the river. It was a beautiful but not so easy walk (and I am finding Merryl's youthful fitness hard to keep up with). We even came across a rock pool in this river which actually had a fresh water crab living in it.

Back to the campsite for a lovely meal of sweet corn and vegetarian chilli con carne with tortillas. It was very cold so we went to bed early. Before doing so I noticed once of the tyres had gone flat with a metal spike sticking out of it. Nice job for the morning!

Trip Day 15 - Naukluft, Swakopmund - 381km today, 4800 total

Up early and saw that the tyre was now completely flat (which explained me rolling onto Fiver all night!). Went off for a fun with Merryl which was doubly hard. Firstly, the track was very hilly and, secondly, it was a few degrees below freezing. We got very cold and it took me a long time to get warm afterwards.

When we returned from the run, Fiver had already put the tent away so we started on the tyre changing as we made breakfast. It was hard as everything so so cold. We used the hi-lift jack with pneumatic jack back up. We did the job rather easily in the end and got away not too late.

The drive to Swakopmund was another glorious experience through amazing, empty countryside, including a couple of mountain passes. We stopped in Solitaire - a one horse town, that was recommended for great apple pie baked by a guy called Moose, who basically ran the place. The apple pie was very good and as we took it out onto the lawn to eat we met a New Zealand couple called David and Heather, who were on holiday. We had a good chat.

At one stage in the journey we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and, like the contents of two overland tour buses, we got out to have our photos taken at the road sign.

As we approached Walvis Bay there was a dramatic change to real sand desert conditions, with huge dunes coupled with a sandstorm blowing sand over the road, which we had last seen in the UAE. As we got close to Walvis Bay we saw a train that was stopped while labourers cleared the tracks of sand.

We did not enter Walvis Bay but turned towards Swakopmund, passing the many smart developments on the coast between the two towns (but why anyone would want to live in these conditions is beyond me). On entering Swakopmund we tried the Municipal Rest Camp, that had many cheap bungalows but it was fully booked. We, instead, went into the Alte Brucke campsite that had places on grass with their own little bathrooms attached. It felt a little like camping on the lawn of someone's house in suburbia, but it was very comfortable.

Trip Day 16 - Swakopmund

Up early for a lovely run along the sea front at dawn with Merryl. Afterwards, we embarked on a day for doing chores. We did the laundry, got the tyre mended, did some shopping and spent plenty of time on the Internet. Fiver also went to the doctor to see to a pain she had in her ribs following her fall. I also tried to find some US dollars that I failed to do in Cape Town, but this time even though I could change money, no bank had any. Seems I need to order them a couple of weeks in advance, or be lucky that someone had changed dollars for Namibian dollars and the US ones had not yet been sent to Windhoek. One bank (Bank Windhoek) promised to call us tomorrow if any dollars came in.

Whilst Fiver and I spent the morning in town, Merryl headed off to the dunes and did some sandboarding - bit like snow boarding but with the big inconvenience that you have to walk up to the top of the dune rather than go in a cable car! I think she got quite worn out!

During the afternoon we bumped into David and Heather again and agreed to go our and eat Eisbein (knuckle of pork) that evening. We suggested the Swakopmund Brauhaus and agreed to meet there at 6:00 but when we tried to book found it completely booked out. So, we tried other places and one rang around for us and got us booked into the Wild West restauarant that had some. So, we hung around the Brauhaus until they turned up and we walked to the Wild West place. In the end we had two Swine Haxe and one Eisbein between us (they are the same thing except the Haxe is roasted and the Eisbein is boiled). We had a fun evening.

Trip Day 17 - Swakopmund

Up early for a run on my own (Merryl was sore from the sand boarding). Later went into town for more chores. One of which was continuing my quest for USD for our proposed visit to Zimbabwe. Went into Bank Windhoek and found they had around USD800 which they agreed to sell me. Had to get cash and got frustrated that my New Zealand cash card only works at one of the banks (where I promptly went and left it in a machine!). Also found my Lloyds card had been blocked as I had used it in Namibia and their sophisticated computer system assumed it had been misused - how much do I hate banks when I travel - they cannot cater for people such as us as we have a spending pattern that their systems cannot cope with.

At the end of the afternoon I went off on my own for a couple of hours, trying to capture photographically the essence of the town - and was quite pleased with some of the results. Returned to the camp to help get ready for a quick get away tomorrow morning. Once done so we went into town to the local cinema to see 'Angels and Demons', which made an interesting change.

Trip Day 18 - Swakopmund, Windhoek, Okaukuejo

Crazy day. Could not sleep during the night due to a tooth ache from my wisdom tooth that the dentist in South Africa thought would be a good idea to remove. I ignored his advice and paid the price. So, when we got up I told Fiver the problem and we agreed to head to Windhoek rather than Etosha, or rather then staying in Swakopmund, as there would be plenty of dentists there. So, up at 04:30 and away before 05:30, It was a relatively straightforward drive to Windhoek with Merryl and i sharing the driving while Fiver slept. Before we got to the City Fiver called ahead and found a dentist who could see me at 2:00pm. We headed for the area of the dentist but stopped at 10:30 by a Telecom office and found a phone book. We called a few dentists and got one who could see me immediately who was not too far away. We found the place easily and I was attended to be a young lady dentist. After a couple of x-rays we agreed to remove the offending tooth which she did quickly and painlessly.

As ths was all over by 11:30 we decided to battle on to Etosha. It meant our longest driving day to date (821km) but the driving was easy, all on straight, fast tarmac roads with little other traffic. We reached the gates of the park about 4:15 and drove slowly the remaining 19km to the camp we had booked for the night. On the way there we saw zebra, springbok, jackal, a distant elephant and many giraffe. This was very exciting for Merryl, her first sighting of giraffe in the wild.

Etosha is a very large national park, spread around an enormous salt pan. The salt pan does not support much life until it gets the occasional flooding but the area around is home to a very large amount of wildlife.

The office at the camp showed the usual African efficiency and I was getting annoyed - I was very tired by this stage. Eventually it was sorted - we booked in for two nights (for the crazy price of N$1500 for the two nights). We had planned to move on after one night but we found that the next camp we had planned to visit (Halali) was fully booked. We found our camping place but there was another car parked there and we found that the site had been double booked. We were offered another place but did not want to find that that was also double booked so we stood our ground with the hapless park official who found the owners of the car and they agreed to move, despite having arrived earlier than us. I was being unreasonable but I was very tired and stressed.

We set up camp quickly as it was getting dark. As we were staying 2 days here, tried putting up the ground tent but the ground was far too hard so we decided to use the roof tent instead. We then moved to the floodlit waterhole where we had a wonderful experience watching elephants, giraffe, springbok and jackals. Then back for supper of soup and to bed.

Trip Day 19 - Okaukuejo

Up early, before light, as usual. The jackals had been around during the night and they had eaten the straps off the bag of the packed ground tent, which we had left outside. Merryl also mentioned that one played with her tent for sometime during the night, which was a little scary.

After Merryl cooked, and I ate, a meal of beans on toast we set off for an early morning game drive. I drove initially, with Merryl in the front for her first game drive and Fiver in the back filming. We headed north west and were rewarded with many animal sightings, including very many zebra and springbok, several Blackbacked Jackals, giraffe and yellow mongoose. Among the birds, besides the many Sociable Weavers (there are a lot of their huge nests in the park) we also saw Fork-tailed Drongos, Cape Glossy Starling, Black-shouldered Kite, Crowned Lapwing, and a couple of Kori Bustards.

We returned around 10:30, did some quick shopping and chilled around the camp. Had a couple of visits to the water hole where we saw many Zebra and Elephant, along with a Blacksmith Lapwing and some Pied Crows. We did not go out on another game drive in the evening but did visit the water hole and sat for a while with a beer, taking photos and video. Back to camp later for a quick stir-fry and then to bed.

Trip Day 20 - Okaukuejo, Namutoni, Sachsenheim camp

Up before dawn for a long game drive. As we cannot get bookings at any other camp inside Etosha we need to get out of the Eastern entrance tonight. We were up at 5:30 and packed away by 06:30. We drove out into the park and, instead of the direct route towards the Eastern gate, we took several loops. New sightings today were rhino, elephant (one of which took exception to a car being in the way of where he wanted to cross the road!), a couple of sightings of Lion (a pair of males by a water hole and a male and female just chilling in the bush), Dukier or Dik-Dik (not sure which). In the Namutoni camp, where we stopped for a drink and look at their water hole in the late afternoon, we also saw many Banded Mongoose.

We popped into Halali camp in the morning for a coffee, but it did not seem a very inviting place so we are now glad we did not get a booking here. After this, we went to a short drive onto the pan lookout. It was completely bleak out there and the pan itself was very smelly with very sticky mud which caked our shoes. Mid afternoon, we stopped at the Namutoni camp, a wonderful old German fort now turned into accommodation and a camp site. We we stopped here for a drink and look at their water hole in the late afternoon (where there were several wildebeest drinking, along with several water birds). We also saw many Banded Mongoose around the site.

We drove out of the park (which took a little while as we had lost our receipt for the park fees) and drove to a much cheaper campsite called Sachsenheim, which caters for visitors to the park. The site was attractive and efficiently run (by Germans, of course!).

Trip Day 21 - Sachsenheim camp, Rundu

We had decided on a chilled morning so could sleep in a bit. We cleaned up camp and Fiver made us all pancakes. We left around 10:20. First stop was Tsumeb, an old mining town. We went to the well appointed local history museum which told the story of this very rich mine, along with a good anthropological collection of artifacts and photos (this was an area occupied by the San) Also stopped at local coffee shop called "Coffee Shop und Biergarten" to get some cake to eat on route. Roads here are very straight and a little boring to drive. Eating has become a good distraction.

Stopped in Grootfontein for fuel before tackling the 260km almost totally straight road to Rundu. Not far from Gootfontein we were stopped at an agricultural inspection point in the large cattle control fence that runs through Namibia. After this fence, things changed quite dramatically. Instead of the very large white owned farms with very few settlements, we entered the Africa of subsistence farming, with many small populous villages strung along the roadside. This continued all the way to Rundu where we stopped for the night. We checked into the Sarasungu River Lodge campsite. This is a lovely shady spot, full of tropical vegetation on the banks of the Kavango River. This river marks the border of Namibia and Angola and we sat and watched the sun set over Angola before having dinner.

From Stuart's Journal - Days 6 to 12

Trip Day 6 - Cape Town

Up early for a run - ran for half an hour to Company's Gardens and back. The Gardens were pleasant but the run to and from was not so good on major roads - good job it was Sunday. Then back to prepare our kit (and the new underwater housing for the video camera) for the diving today. Got it all together and then set off by cab to the the Two Oceans Marina on the Waterfront. Got there very early but as we were the only people diving today we met up with the guide (Matt) and went and got ready. We booked two dives - one in the large Predator tank which had Ragged Tooth Sharks, Yellow Tails, Turtles and Rays, and one in the Kelp Forest tank, which had smaller sharks and other fish.We kitted up and I borrowed a 'chicken suit' - covering the chest with a built in hood, as we were told that the predator tank is kept at 18 degrees and the kelp forest at a chilly 14 degrees. We got into the predator tank and sank to the bottom. Immediately Merryl started filming with the video camera and Fiver started taking photos and small videos with the Sony stills camera. We spent around 30 minutes in the predator tank, looking at all the fish and at the humans the other side of the 27cm thick plastic walls. I was getting chilly towards the end of the dive and, after we got out, we had to clean the water from our kit and ourselves so had hot showers while still in our wetsuits. For the second dive the other two also got a chicken suit to keep warm. The kelp forest tank was much smaller and cramped and very cold. We fed the fish in this tank with cut up smaller fish (seems wrong somehow). That was fun but after that I was pretty cold and we all agreed (except Fiver) to get our after 20 minutes. Hot showers revived us and we then left our kit to dry in the sun as we went to have lunch in the aquarium cafe. We picked up the kit and took it back to the cafe where Fiver stayed and looked at the footage and write her diary while Merryl and I went off. She went to look round the shops while I got money out of the ATM to convert to USD for the remainder of the trip. Once all done we returned to the hotel by cab and hung up all our gear around the car and in the room. Then Fiver captured the footage while I had a short nap. After that we went out again to the Waterfront and had a pleasant dinner at a restaurant called 'Wang Thai'.

Trip Day 7 - Cape Town, Clanwilliam Up early to pack up the room and all the drying dive gear which had been hanging around since yesterday (Fiver and Merryl) and for me to catch up on emails and finances. We had planned to then go on the cable car to Table Mountain but it was raining with low cloud this morning so we did not bother. Did all this before 9:00 and headed to the Waterfront again for breakfast and find an Internet Cafe for Fiver to continue improving the website and blogs. Went to Mugg & Bean who have wifi in all their cafes. Fiver made good progress with her tasks but I failed miserably with mine. Yesterday I got out moneyto change into USD so we had some when we went to Zimbabwe and beyond. However, no one would change it as I could not prove how I came by it (seems you should keep your ATM receipts). Very frustrating.When we had done all our tasks we drove away from the Waterfront for the last time and headed onto the N7 and drove north. We had hoped to stay in the Cedeberg Wilderness Area but the campsite had been damaged by weather and was closed. Instead we found a site near Clanwilliam which had vacancies. The weather improved as we got away from Johannesburg and the sky was clear by the time we got to Clanwilliam. We found the site, on the edge of the river, and set up camp and had an early dinner. Place is pretty basic and the owner does not seem to be onsite to pay!

Trip Day 8 - Clanwilliam, Noordoewer (Namibia) Up at 7:00. Everything very wet from the heavy dew. Packed up and had breakfast slowly and did not get away very early. I was keen to get on as usual as wanted to get across the border today and to Fish River, which is over 100km beyond the border. The road (N7) was good and traffic light so we made good progress. We stopped for refuelling and comfort breaks, having a longer stop in the town of Springbok to use the Internet cafe, add more fuel (I also filled one of the jerry cans now we are in Namibia). We stopped for lunch a little outside the town on the roadside, next to an attractive rock outcrop. While there, we also dried out our towels and fly sheets, which dried very quickly in the hot sun. We arrived at the border post at Vioolsdrif at the same time as an overlander truck/bus, so it took a little time to get through. On the South African side we had to visit immigration, customs and police in that order. Once our passports were stamped by immigration, the rest was just the stamping of a form we were given but no checks of any sort. On the Namibian side (Noordower), there was passport control and a room for owners of vehicles. Once my passport was stamped I went in there, filled in a form and got a permit for ZAR180 which I have to give up when I leave the country.As it was getting late I did not want to drive on to Fish River as planned, but looked in the guide book and found a delightful place on the Orange River called Abiqua River Camp. We were given a lovely spot by the river and we had glorious colours on the rocks on the other side of the river as the sun was setting.

Merryl cooked a stir fry and we got drinks from the bar to have with desert. We have already decided to stay a second day rather than moving on to Fish River tomorrow. Spent rest of evening looking at stars and photographing night shots. Pleased with the results Trip Day 9 - Noordoewer Not travelling today after all the efforts of the last week. Merryl and I got up early and went for a nice run at dawn (half an hour - around 5km). Rest of day spent in camp, taking it easy, not doing much at all. Photographed some birds during breakfast time.

In the late afternoon, Fiver and I took a rubber boat out on the Orange River to take some photos. We could not paddle together for toffee so Fiver took over and I took photographs. Got pretty wet. Trip Day 10 - Noordoewer, Canon's Roadhouse, Fish River Canyon Again up early for a morning run - did same as yesterday but met Fiver on way back who was doing a walk. After cleaning up and breakfast we set off for the relatively short drive to Fish River Canyon. It was a pleasant drive on empty dirt roads, including one graded on the bed of the Gamkab River. We stopped at Ai-Ais to have a look at the resort but, as advised by the manager of Abiqua River Camp yesterday, it is currently being upgraded (by some New Zealanders - perhaps they know more about volcanic hot springs resorts than other people!). There were many fit but exhausted people about who had just finished the 5 day walk along the Fish River Canyon (Ai-Ais is where the walk finishes). We drove on and stopped for a pleasant lunch beside the road, before arriving at Canon's mid afternoon (our earliest stop yet). We set up camp (including us putting up the ground tent for a change) and then had rather early sundowners (G and T - we bought tonic from the bar of Abiqua River Camp.

Trip Day 11 - Canon's Roadhouse, Fish River Canyon

Up very early for our visit to the Fish River Canyon view point past Hobas Camp. We wanted to capture the place at dawn so left in the dark and arrived before the sun got up. There was already a party of French people there before us and more arrived later. It is impossible to capture in words the grandeur of the the sight of the 2nd largest canyon in Africa (the Blue Nile Canyon in Ethiopia is supposed to be larger - we will try to comparelater in the journey). However, we took many lovely photos.

Fiver cooked breakfast at the lookout (which was most welcome as it was very cold this morning). We then walked to a second look out a few km away (this replaced our morning run today!).

We returned for coffee at the Road House. We took the opportunity to have a planning session as we are getting rather confused and stressed (me from worrying about getting through the trip on time and Fiver not wanting to rush). Fiver pointed out that we had planned for a couple of weeks in Botswana and we probably do not need all of this time so we will take some of it to add a day or two to Namibia so we do not have to miss the main attractions of this glorious country.

Due to the early morning we then all had a rest before lunch, after which, Fiver and Merryl went off horse riding at Canon Lodge, which they had booked yesterday. I stayed around the camp and amused myself attempting to take photos of flying birds and identifying ones we had seen already. I was very pleased with the results I got, despite the fading light which meant I had to use a very high ISO number (but all in all a good revision of the relationship between ISO number, focal length and shutter speed}.

Fiver and Merryl had booked to go riding at 3:00pm for an hour, so I was expecting them back by 5:00 at the latest. They eventually turned up at 6:15 and I had been getting very agitated. Seems that we did not realise that Namibia was one hour behind South Africa and we had not adjusted our clocks! Also, the ride took longer than planned due to them being given rather wild horses and needing to change them a few times to get ones they were happy with. As it was Fiver had a fall and has a nasty graze on her side and bruise on her leg (in the shape of her camera which, surprisingly, still works!). We cleaned up the graze and put a dressing on it but it is going to be sore.

Merryl cooked dinner on an open fire we made on the braai and we spent some time tidying up so we could have a quick getaway tomorrow morning for the drive to Lüderitz.

Trip Day 12 - Canon's Roadhouse, Fish River Canyon, Lüderitz

Up at 5:00 (Namibian time). It surprisingly rained a bit in the night and the top of the car and tent were damp. We got away efficiently and had excellent dirt roads on which it was possible to drive at 110kph (once the light was better). Stopped on side of the road for a brew before we hit the B4 main road to Lüderitz. Fiver took over the driving from me then as a way of taking her mind off the pain from yesterday's fall. Long empty tarmac road.

We stopped at Aus. A very small place that had a tourist information centre that had a cafe but was very cold. We left after having a pee and went into town to the Banhof Hotel which had been recently renovated. We had a cooked breakfast there. Whilst there, Fiver called a couple of hotels and we got a room for Fiver and I, and a room in the owner's house for Merryl.

Continued on to Lüderitz, where we arrived at 11:30. Checked into the Haus Sandrose hotel which is beautifully built around a sunny courtyard. Walked around this strange town with its odd German colonial architecture and bought local Namibia SIM cards. Place was dead after 1:00pm on this Saturday afternoon (just like Germany). Merryl quipped that she thought we were visiting the ghost town tomorrow, not today!

From Stuart's Journal - Days 1 to 5

Trip Day 1 - Johannesburg, Clarens 

Up very early.  Merryl woke us and then went off to the gym for a final swim in the pool.  Fiver and I continued working - she concluding the Bourse Consult website design work and me sending out email to all our friends, family and colleagues, and then buying the health insurance we need for the trip.  We are all a little stressed which is not surprising.

Owner's representative and agent came soon after 8:00 to check over the flat - they seemed happy but we are down a teaspoon and some glasses!  Sicelo (cleaner) arrived soon after and started collecting together the stuff we do not need or cannot take with us. Then the packers arrived to pick up the stuff for Germany.  Good news is that the volume was just about what had been estimated and quoted for.

Took Merryl off to the Travel Clinic for her last rabies jab and then back to Melrose Arch.  Continued packing until 12:00 then off to JB's for final lunch.  Joined by several friends. All these good-byes are making us very sad.

We returned for final, final packing and for me to finally do some talking to camera in front of the big map (why did we not do this week's ago?). Then all was finally done and we headed for the car.

We had decided, after a lot of discussion, to head for Clarens.  This trip is a tour of Africa, not South Africa, which is much easier for us to visit than most other African countries.  Therefore, we are taking a more direct route to Cape Town and will try to be out of the country before Fiver's visa expires on the 7th.  Clarens is only 3 1/2 hours away so is a relatively easy trip.

We left home just after 2:30.  We filmed us leaving Melrose Arch and then headed for the Freeway south.  On the slip road we were pulled over by a car with a guy in the back seat flashing what looked like a police badge.  We stopped and the guy came over and again flashed the badge, but not very close to us.  He claimed he was looking for 2 Dutchmen who had heroin and he started feeling me, smelling my penknife, wallet, Fiver's bag etc.  He asked about how much cash we had etc.  All very strange but he soon gave up and went on.  We think he was a con.  Great start to the trip!

We battled on out of town and took the N3 south and then on back roads to Bethlehem and then Clarens.  We had booked ahead to a B&B and got a self catering apartment. It was expensive but convenient.  We got a huge place but it was not warm and the open fire was disappointing (i.e. the logs seemed to have been treated so that they would not burn!).

Had nice dinner of mushroom risotto and then worked out route for tomorrow (heading towards Addo).  

Trip Day 2 - Clarens, Cradock

Agreed last night to leave at 6:00 but Fiver did not realise that this morning.  She had a bad night and really did not want to get up and was very upset.  We packed up the car and left around 6:30.  The dawn was lovely as we drove West along the northern border of Lesotho.  We had planned to go all the way to Addo which is over 800km and it was possible to make good time on the empty and pretty straight roads.

We stopped for tea a couple of times but Fiver was unhappy about the rush to Addo so, when we stopped to get some supplies in Aliwal North, I called ahead to Cradock and got us booked in at the Tuishuise - An hotel that owned most of the street of old artisans' houses.  We got there around 2:00 and were shown a property called 'Butlers' which was quite amazing - 3 bedrooms, 2 large reception rooms and a main bathroom with a very large old bath, all furnished with antiques!  The only negative point was that the place was freezing cold!

We had lunch in the garden, where we were adopted by a local cat, and then everyone went for a nap (or a bath in my case).  Afterwards I lit the fire and we sat around the fire doing our own thing.  Dinner was a buffet at the main hotel (Victoria Hotel) which was pleasant but, again, the room was not particularly warm.  We returned to the house and got the fire going again.  The cat joined us and fell asleep on Merryl's lap.

Trip Day 3 - Cradock, Addo

We agreed to get up at 7:00 - for Merryl and I to take photos during the golden hour and for Fiver to do some repacking of the car to make it more comfortable.  We got out around 7:30 but the light was still a bit low. Fiver moved the car from the hotel car park to outside the cottage to start the repacking.  When Merryl and I returned after a half hour or so (with several photos we were happy with), we all went for breakfast at the hotel, which was pleasant and at least warm!  We then spent over an hour repacking the car but it was well worth it - much more comfortable.

After settling the bill we set off around 10:30 and headed out to the local 'Mountain Zebra Park' - home to the endangered Cape Mountain Zebra, which is distinctively different from the more common Burchell's Zebra. 

We were lucky and, besides the Zebra, saw Springbok, Gemsbok, Blesbok, Kudu, Red Hartebeest, Ostrich, Vervet Monkeys, Chacma Baboons, Black Wildebeest, a Secretary Bird and a Blackbacked Jackal.   We spent around 3 hours in the park in all and then headed out towards Addo.  We called the Addo Elephant National Park but it was fully booked.  However, we found accommodation in Addo itself at a place called 'Homestead'.  We went shopping in Addo for dinner; the shop, which was attached to the petrol station, was pretty basic, but we found a lot of what we wanted.

We drove to the campsite and set up tent.  This was the first time that Merryl had pitched Mark's tent that he had lent her for the trip.  Her and Fiver did it together and got it all to work, as I set up the roof tent.  Merryl then cooked lovely dinner of corn fritters.  We spent rest of evening blogging, downloading photos etc.

Trip Day 4 - Addo, Bontebok National Park

Up at soon after 6:00 again.  Had some tea and did some packing up until it was light enough to see and then we went for a couple of kilometre bush walk, watching the dawn break over the park.  A very pleasant change after all the driving of the last few days.

I cooked eggs for breakfast and then we cleaned up the camp and drove off towards the first objective of the trip - Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of Africa and the traditional starting or ending point for trans-Africa journeys like ours.

After finding some yummy fish and chips for lunch we drove off to Cape Town where we booked ourselves into a Formula One hotel near the waterfront for a couple of days as we do some diving and get ready for the trip north to Namibia.

Mozambique

Stuart finished his project, so as a treat we took off for a few days to Inhaca Island in Mozambique (cool how the most exotic locations are right door next to us sometimes ;-). He has posted a lovely description and some fab photos (taken with his new camera) here.

Lesotho at Easter

Here is Stuart's takeon our first visit to another African country since arriving in South Africa:

http://www.stuartrturner.com/Site/Blog/Entries/2009/4/13_Lesotho.html

Plus some great photos.

A rare link

Since Stuart has already said everything there is to say about our weekend at Tshetshepi, I will just link to him. Some nice photos, too.

Stuart writes

...about cricket and horse riding, and a visit to Rhino Park. It's good that someone keeps up with the events in our life, as I don't seem to be able to. Enjoy.

Spot the Landrover

Can you see it? Of course not, silly. This is the very ship the Landrover is travelling to South Africa on. Let's hope there aren't any pirates or out of control oil tankers to hold it up.