Over the roof of Africa!
From Swaziland we drove to Ndumo NP which is on the border with
Mozambique.
The North of kwaZuluNatal is very far from everything and it is not clear where the people are living from. From Jozini to the park was about 1,5 hours driving time and it was also the time the pupils were leaving their schools (about 15.00 hrs). We felt a bit like the queen as many, many waved at us. We must have passed thousands of schoolchildren and are wondering what they are going to do, after school. This area has no industry or tourist attractions, just subsistence farmers.
The warden at Ndumo was very nice and arranged a camping spot for us. We did not expect the park to be full but a birder’s club had hired the entire site for a long weekend. They left after the first night and we were the next two days alone in the park. In this park we took our first game-walk.
The guide was very knowledgeable but
we did not see much birds and other animals. Apparently October to March
is a better season. Also for damp heat and the malaria mosquitoes
according to our travel book.
A friend had sent us a spare part for our cooker to friends of friends (FOFs) in Durban so we picked that up. We tried to contact other FOFs in Johannesburg but did not reach them. As we were urged to meet them before we traveled further into Africa we decided to drive to the North through Lesotho.
From Durban we drove via Pietermaritzburg to Underberg in the
Drakensberg Mountains (again thousands and thousands of schoolchildren
going home, what are they going to do later?).
Beautiful countryside and we have been urged to return and explore
further by Lillith and Doreen when we return to South Africa. In
Underberg it was very cold at night after the nice temperatures we had
in the weeks before. The next morning we drove up the Sani Pass.
The owner of the camping in Underberg warned us that it was a very rough
road, especially the last part. And it was very challenging for us! The
road was going up and up and up and seemed to get rougher and steeper
after every narrow curve. On the last part we had only looked at the
road as it was to scary to look beyond or down!
Of course we are sissies as the guys in the fully packed 4×4 minibuses did not seem to
have any trouble at all. The passengers did not look that happy though…
For the people in Mokhotlong in Lesotho is going to and down the pass to Underberg a quicker way to shop or see a doctor as going towards Butha Buthe. Lesotho is very rugged and some places are really remote.
At Sani Top we had beautiful wheather and views across the mountains
into the valley.Going to the top we stopped frequently and took photos.
Some people going down advised us to stay at Sani Top Chalet rather than
continuing. Agnes was a bit worried because we might get snowed in…
We managed to get a rondavel, the BYO everything camping would be much
too cold. At the end of the afternoon clouds were coming in and the
whole pass was shrouded in clouds. The bar had several open fireplaces
and was warm. We spend a very nice evening with Derek and Liza from
Nelspruit who were here on their honeymoon!
The next day a few cars, but Idefix did, would not start because of
the cold! After a warm and hearty breakfast we headed towards the new
Oxbow Lodge. Rough road, tarred roads with more potholes than tar and
going up and down on the Roof of Africa Road. Past the Afriski Leisure
Kingdom (the place to ski in Southern Africa!) and a final pass with
some snow on it we arrived at the Lodge. Idefix managed everything well,
we only had to stop once because the motor was getting overheated at
this great height.
At the lodge a fire was roaring again and we spend a very enjoyable
evening with Hendrik and Leverne. We are now more than a month later and
although we try, we have not been very successful at negotiating
prices… Hendrik has to teach us some more lessons I think.
Because it was really too cold for us we decided to leave Lesotho and go to Clarens in the Free State. This is a
very touristy artist town with a very nice atmosphere. Although we left the high mountains it was still high
enough to be so cold at night that we decided to stay in a self-catering unit for a few days. The days were
nice and we managed to update our website and send e-mails to friends
and family. The town has more than 20 galleries with art. Very special
were the drawings/paintings made in Vietnam and strangely enough sold
here.
Clarens is next to the Golden Gate NP with it’s sandstone cliffs and colourful views. With a bit of difficulty we finally managed to get in touch with Colin and Lillith. As they were enjoying a short holiday at the coast we needed to spend a few weeks before we could meet them in Johannesburg. We quickly decided to go to the Kruger NP and spend some time there. After a few nights in Wakkerstroom (birding capital of South Africa!) we arrived in Nelspruit.
At the campsite was a Landcruiser with plates from Bern. Stefan from Fruttigen was enjoying his early retirement and already traveling two years in Africa.
We talked a lot and hopefuly will meet Stefan later in the year again and travel a bit together.
Booking campsites in Kruger was more difficult as we expected, although no school holidays most were booked out. We finally managed to book about 8 nights and a logical route in this large park. So we left Nelspruit very quickly again and will try to see Derek and Liza next time.
Kruger was for us disappointing after the many different animals we
saw in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi NP. Very nice although we did not see so much
wildlife as expected. Perhaps next time. As elsewhere in the National
Parks the places were sometimes very beautiful. Especially Mopani and
Olifantsrivier Restcamps are in stunning settings.
Via Nylstroom we went to the FOFs. We watched a DVD with the early Sixties trip from Mike, Colin and Lillith fromPort Elizabeth to Copenhage in a VW beetle. Amazing film-clips and pictures.
We have now decided not to drive home but spend some more time in the Southern African countries. The route we will probably take is SA I-BOT I-ZAM-MAL-MOZ-(ZIM)-SA II-BOT II-NAM and back home shipping Idefix from Durban.
After a few days in Johannesburg we headed to Gabarone to enjoy the
hospitality of Bob and Doreen (and Kevin). Doreen and Kevin helped us
identify some bird and Bob and Kevin took us to some interesting places
in the area.
We managed to book campsites in some of the Botswana parks in
Gabarone and booked some more in Maun for our return to Botswana in
October. Pictures of the parks are in our photo albums. Very special
were the nights on Lekhubu Island with beautiful sunsets and full moon
at night. 
Also
special were the rainy days in Maun. Apparently it had not rained like
that in 50 years. We have been very lucky as we met people who got stuck
on the way to Lekhubu Island and also Moremi was very bad. The only
problem we had because of the rain was that we could not go to Baines
Baobabs in Nxai Pan. The additional nights we spend at South Camp were
very nice though.
Nxai Pan itself was partly very difficult to drive through. The mud
was sometimes very thick and extremely slippery. A few times we turned
on a track as we were afraid to get bogged. 
In these cases it is a disadvantage to travel with just one car.
Via Planet Baobab in Gweta and the millions of deep potholes between
Nata and Kasane we drove to Chobe NP. For the first time since our
arrival in Africa our count of elephants exceeded that of Rhinos. Two
nights at Ihaha with beautiful views (sunsets!) over the Chobe River and
the noisy Buffalos and Elephants next to Idefix at night. Across the
river is Namibia. Namibians are fishing on their mokoros in the Chobe
and their cattle is grazing near the river edge. On the Botswana side it
is elephants and other wild animals and tourists.
Linyanti and Savute were not as rewarding and were not worth the drive for us. Also in Savute elephants in the camp.
Back in Kasane we decided to take all the time we need to do our chores. Photos, e-mails, washing, car-maintenance and lots of other things. All in all a week’s work. Traveling is a hard job!
June 2009