Holiday 2014

 16 Jan, Thursday

We left Birchleigh in the early hours of the morning at 03:32. We took the N1 towards Bloemfontein.  A shimmering full moon rode shotgun, dressed up in a white cloudy veil. At the Kroon toll gate she winked at the rising sun and then went to sleep behind the western horizon. It was actually a micro full moon. That is when the moon is the closest to its apogee, or furthest from the earth. It was a beautiful sunrise. The sky painted in hues of pink, red, yellow and orange. Mozart was playing his clarinet concerto. It was the perfect way to begin the first day of our holiday.

At the Kroonvaal One Stop we stretched our legs and had something to drink to keep us awake. Rina had a white hot chocolate and I had a strong black coffee.

At Ventersburg we explored the town. It was rundown and the only thing from years gone by that still towered majestically over the dilapidated buildings, was the old NG church. At Maxi we had breakfast. For Rina there was a Chicken wrap with chips and I had a trio pepper and mushroom omelette. We proceeded on our journey, crossing the Sand River to arrive in Winburg.  In Winburg there were some beautiful old buildings. We visited an antique store. They had some amazing old things for sale. The Voortrekker monument stood abandoned just outside of town. It seems as though our heritage is being wiped out. You cannot even enter the area where it is built anymore.

Our next stop was at Bloemfontein one stop. We filled up the car there. Four chickens greeted us in front of the entrance to the cafe and restaurant. We avoided the city of Bloemfontein. We spoke to two interesting characters. They were having pies and cold drinks. They were on their way to Port Elizabeth for a funeral. They were to pick up friends there and then they were going to Terrabay in Namibia for a fishing expedition.

We hit the road again and stopped to stretch our legs and overcome our sleepiness at Trompsburg.  We then left for Springfontein, another little forgotten town.

We finally arrived at Gariep. We were so tired. I decided not to drive one more kilometre. We decided to stay at the Gariep dam nature reserve. It was shortly after one, when we sat under a shady Oak, sipping cold Millers, watching the view of the dam with the koppies in the distance. We had a short power nap on the green lawn. It was very hot. We pitched our tent. I went for a shower to cool down. The ablutions are very nice. The shower was cold and refreshing. They forgot to switch on the geyser. I found the switch and solved the problem. A German couple came chatting to us. They went for a swim in the dam. They asked us whether the water was clean enough for swimming. They were on their way to Upington, to meet with friends. They were also on their way to Namibia.

The water level of the dam is very low. They need rain. There are lots of flies. In the late afternoon the wind came up. We expected rain, but before long the wind stopped and the clouds disappeared. The flies returned.

After dinner we lied outside and tried to do some stargazing, but the moon was so bright, you could hardly see any stars. We decided to sleep outside. Just after ten the wind nearly blew us away, we packed away all our stuff and went back to sleep. At two thirty the mosquitoes started bugging us and we decided to continue our sleep in the tent.

17 Jan Friday

I woke up early and watched the beautiful sunrise. I was still so sleepy. I decided to get back in the tent and sleep for another hour. We only got up at 08:30. We had leftovers for breakfast and went on a game drive. We did not see many birds. It was already too hot. We saw Eland, Zebra, Impala, Springbuck and Kudu.

We drove to the ruins of an old hunting camp and took some photos. When we arrived back at our camp the beers were just perfect for drinking.

Rina made us veggie burgers for lunch. The wind was blowing continuously and kept putting out the flame of the gas. I was considering wrapping the food in foil, putting it on the manifold and go for a drive so that it can cook in the engine while driving. We went for a nice swim in the dam. The water was so refreshing. I got severe hay fever in the afternoon. Rina gave me an Allergex. It made me so sleepy, so Rina forced me to sleep for a while.

We were too lazy to start dinner and left it till late. We grilled vegetables, on the fire, but the coals disappeared so fast due to the wind, once again it also kept putting out the gas flame. We eventually got the food cooked. It was such a lovely meal. As the sun set we started a little fire and made ostrich wors with pap and sheba. A most beautiful red moon rose in the east .

We wanted to sleep outside again, but at midnight we had to get into our tent because the wind was getting so bad.

18 Jan Saturday

It was quite cold this morning. We packed up and were on the road at eight. We crossed the mighty Orange River at Norvalspont and headed for Colesburg.

Colesburg is a pretty, quaint little town. It has the most beautiful old buildings. We left for Noupoort. It was very quiet for a Saturday morning. The entire town looked abandoned. All the buildings from a different era were now in ruins. The ones still standing were all for sale. On the walls of the ruins someone wrote in big blue letters:”BEE Black economic empowerment?

We arrived in Middelburg, but the town has also seen better days. The set of traffic lights in town, as well as the signposts were all from the glorious old days, when things were better. The Country Inn in the main street is a beautiful building.

We stopped at a picnic spot on the way to Middelburg and had some cold veggies on bread for a snack.

We finally arrived at the Mountain Zebra National Park. We were promptly met by a family of Mountain Zebra. There is a very prolific bird life in the park and we ticked off quite a few species.  After we have pitched our tent we had sardines on crackers. I went to fill the car. The lady told me after 27 litres, that the tank is full. I told her that it should take at least another 30, but she insisted that the machine told her that it is full. Well, my petrol gauge told me that it was not even three quarters full.  I decided to let it be. I’ll fill up in Cradock tomorrow. We went to the picnic spot to have a swim, but there were so many people and noisy kids. By the time it became a bit more quiet, we decide to swim, but we have already cooled down and the water no longer felt nice!

We just sipped our Mojitos and drove back to camp. Now we have to make the big decision about what to have for dinner.

Our neighbour came to have a chat. He is a very interesting man. He is a retiree. He used to work as a scientist for the government.

We saw Vervet Monkeys in the camp. We had to run before they steel our food. We made it in time though.

Well, we are going to make couscous and ostrich goulash. I bought the sauce in Germany.The food was divine. It was rather cold, so we crawled in early and went to sleep at nine.

19Jan Sunday

We had a long early morning game drive. We did the Rooiplaat loop. We then proceeded along the Ubejane loop. There is a dam with lots of water birds. We saw a lot of game, but no lions. We saw some beautiful Blue Cranes.

Mountain Zebra NP is 28 412 hectare in size. It conserves three biomes. The Nama Karoo, Grassland and Thicket. There are at least 680 plant species, of which 13 are red data species.

After our drive we had breakfast, consisting of Vegetarian sausages with baked beans and chilli sauce. It just hit the spot.

After breakfast we drove to Cradock to take some photos of the town. Cradock is a very picturesque town. The old buildings are well maintained. We visited Olive Schreiner’s house. There is a beautiful Dutch Reformed Church in the main street.

When we returned to camp we had a lovely shower and afterwards we made ourselves a nice salad with some chickpeas, tomato, lettuce and cucumber and dried vegetable crunch from the states. We had a zero calorie French dressing from New York with that.

We spent the rest of the afternoon chilling in the shade of the trees, sipping beer. Roundabout 19:00 we started dinner. We made farfale pasta with vegetables and tomato and mushroom sauce. We just chilled the evening outside the tent. The mosquitoes had a royal dinner.

20 Jan Monday

I woke up early. I had nightmares about work. Every time I fell asleep I continued with the same nightmare. We stayed in bed until after seven, because it was quite chilly this morning.

We went for a long game drive, along the Kranskop route. The view from the top of the mountains is spectacular. There were many crystal clear mountain streams. We saw a pair of Black Harriers. It is a new tick for us. It was quite exciting. After our drive we made brunch. We had vegetarian prawn salad. We then went to the Doornhoekdam picnic spot. I had a refreshing swim, but Rina found the water too cold. She did a bit of sun tanning instead.

Afterwards we drove to the Weltevrede loop picnic spot , just to see what it looks like. There is a nice waterhole to swim in. There were also, little fish, tadpoles a crab in the water.

In the late afternoon we did the Ubejane link again and took a photo of the Scar of Groenkloof. In April 1974, the veld of the great Karoo was in great condition after all the summer rains. Just before midday, Park rangers heard a thunderous rumbling. It was very loud and was heard even in Cradock. The noise continued for almost thirty minutes. They went to investigate and saw a long scar against Bankberg. A huge dolerite rock had rolled down the mountain. The awesome power of the massive rock left a 250 meter scar on the mountain side. It is still visible today. AAfter coming to rest at the foot of the mountain, scientists estimated the rock to weigh 22 000 Kilograms. The rock was loosened by the previous heavy rains.

On the way back to camp we saw a Greenshank on the water’s edge. All the teals and the Shell duck had left.

Back at camp we just chilled until we went to make dinner. We had a lovely gnocchi with basil pesto sauce.

I had the worst hay fever during the night. My eyes were so bad, I could not open them. The wind also blew hard during the late afternoon and the entire night. Maybe it was due to that. Rina went to see whether we had any eye drops in the first aid kit, but to no avail. I went to wash my eyes out with water from a nearby tap. I walked around with closed eyes. A few scotches later I fell asleep.

21 Jan Tuesday

I woke up early. My eyes felt much better. I was worried I might have to drive with my eyes closed, while Rina gives instructions as to where I should turn or stop etcetera.

We left for Graaff-Reinet. We took the R61. We saw some Roan antelope along the way. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the mountains and the Wapadsberg pass. The weirdest thing I have ever seen was that each and every pothole was numbered with white paint. Maybe it was done, so they can write it down for the people so that they do not miss any when they fill them. We stopped at a picnic spot and were so disgusted with all the pollution. There is a rubbish bin, yet Mageu containers, booze bottles and lots of dirty baby nappies were scattered all over the place.

We entered the Cacadu district and joined up with the N9. We saw some Blue Cranes along the way.We travelled through the Naudeberg pass and shortly after that, we arrived in the picturesque town of Graaff-Reinet. In the centre of town was a beautiful church. We photographed some of the beautifully maintained historical buildings, such as Reinet house.

We went for a drive to the Valley of Desolation. It is so beautiful. The view of the dolerite columns against the backdrop of the Great Karoo is truly awesome. The landscape is said to be the product of volcanic and erosive forces of nature over a period of 100 million years.

We did the 1, 5 km Crag Lizard hiking trail, taking in the beautiful plants and shrubs, some still flowering.  We stopped at the Ribbokberg picnic sight to have our tuna salad. It is a lovely spot with a beautiful view over the dam. It used to be called the Van Ryneveldspas dam, but the name has now changed to the  Nqweba dam .We did a bit of shopping for food and beer in Graaff-Reinet. We checked in at the Camdeboo National Park shortly after one. We had to wait a while before we could set up camp as the sun was scorching the earth. We sat in the shade and had some beers, contemplating what to make for dinner.

We had a lovely shower to cool off .We decided to make salads and braai some chicken.  After dinner we did some stargazing. The sky was so clear and the stars so many in comparison to what you see in the city. It was truly amazing. Once again, something bit Rina during the night. We’ll wait and see what happens.

22 Jan, Wednesday

We went to the bird hide, but there were no birds. It is such a beautiful hide, though. The way reeds were connected must have taken forever, and the wires connecting the poles looked like works of art. We saw a Bat-eared fox crossing our path on our way out. We took some photos at the Andries Pretorius monument. We left at 07:30 for Knysna.  On the outskirts of town was the police academy! It was situated in a beautiful old building.

 In Aberdeen we explored the town and took some photos. Between Aberdeen and Willowmore  we stopped at a picnic spot just to stretch our legs. There were so many sheep. There were Merino as well as Dorper. We saw three tortoises at different places crossing the road. Just before Willomore lies the large Beervlei dam. There was not a drop of water in it. We drove through the beautiful Perdepoort and arrived in the pretty town of Willowmore. We saw a little donkey car decorated with yellow daisies. The two donkeys also had flowers in their hair. They use it to take tourists for a ride  in the donkey car. We filled our tank. What a pleasant attendant. He told us that the temperature today was going to be 37. We drove around town and saw the old jail. It is now a guest house/ b&b.

We saw the old Jewish synagogue, nearly in ruins. We went to the historical cemetery . There was even a mortuary, no doors, and two slabs for the dead. It looked very eerie.

We went to a very cute little restaurant and antique shop. The name of the place was Sophie’s Choice. The staff were very friendly. We had divine chicken burgers with a nice curry sauce and they used roosterkoek instead of bread. Each of the tables and chairs were old and antique and mismatched. It looked very authentic.

After brunch we hit the road to Uniondale. The road traversed through Buyspoort and Ghwarriepoort.  We crossed the Kamanassie. At Uniondale we asked at the police station whether the road to Knysna was in a condition to drive on. We went through Uniondalepoort.  The scenery was amazing. There were huge rocks and cliffs everywhere. We did not see the ghost of the women in the song, though; maybe because it was midday and not midnight. We then took the R340  to Knysna. The Prince Alfreds pass was absolutely stunning. We had the most magnificent views. I was scary at times, as the road was very narrow in most places. We slowly drove through all the twists and turns. Many of them had very interesting names such as, Rooielsdraai,Kouewaterdraai, Tiekieliefdraai. There was a Bovoogstekraal, Voor de Poort, Die Kerf, Hangkrans. There was a convict grave and  a rock with a huge hole, called Tatta Riet se gat and Bains’ Pillar.

We came across a cute little place called Angie’s G spot. There was a sign that said:” Hot beer, lousy food, bad service, kak accommodation” and in the bottom it read: ”Welcome to Angie’s G spot”

We walked to the Big Tree.  It is a beautiful, majestic old Yellowwood tree. We could not find Diepwalle. That is where we were supposed to camp. We decided to move on to Knysna to find accommodation, as it was getting very late. I told Rina that I was tired and I am going to stay over at the first place I find. Suddenly a sign loomed up that said; Diepwalle! Amazing, got to reception and went to the stands, but it was not going to work for us.  The electric points were to far from the car and our leads would not be able to reach. As we have the fridge in the pick-up, we needed to keep it plugged in. We decide that we would just take the guest house for the night. Unfortunately, they do not have credit card facilities. I did not feel like driving to Knysna.

Not to worry! The staff was so amazing. They phoned Sanparks and told me that I can go and pay in Knysna tomorrow. The guesthouse is a two star establishment, but it has everything one could possibly need.

There we sat, chilling in our guest house. I am writing the blog. We are both naked and a guy knocks and walks in. He got the fright of his life. He thought it was the resort offices. He could not stop apologizing! It was so funny!

It is time for sundowners and then we have to start dinner.  We made vegetarian strips with potatoes and vegetables. We went to sleep very late.

23 January, Thursday

We had Pilchards on toast for breakfast and then went to check out. We drove to Knysna through the most beautiful forrest.We drove to the Heads lookout point and Rina paid for our accommodation on the internet, as I did not want to search for Sanpark offices in the city.

From Knysna we drove through Sedgefield,past George. There were lots of people paragliding along the way. We visited Heroldsbay. We were thinking of staying over at Victoriabay, but they had no shady campsites, so we continued to Hartenbos. Along the way we stopped at Glentana, but the camping was not right by the beach. At Hartenbos, all the shady sites were taken. We decided not to stay over. All the little towns became so big. They no longer have any charm. We had chips coke for lunch and left for Mosselbay. Mosselbay has become a sprawling industrial city. Many people moved there to retire and it is very busy. Three skyscrapers went up since we have been there last. The camp we decided on to stay over only opens in December. The guy at the office sent us to The Point. There were so many people, only a few sites were open. We decide that it was not for us. We went to the Cape St Blaize cave. We took some photos and left for Jongenfontein. On the way we visited Dana bay, Vleesbaai, Boggomsbay and Gouritsmond where we filled up. We took a photo of the monument for the dog Gourits. He was everyone’s dog. A lot like the one in the Australian movie “Red”.

We then took the most horrible unpaved road to Still Bay. It was such a bumpy road. I was still shaking hours afterwards. It was also terribly windy all the way from Mosselbay to Groot Jongensfontein. We finally set up camp in Groot Jongensfontein. We went for a walk on the beach.

I made ostrich fillet on the coals and we served it on a bed of lettuce, with cherry tomatoes and garbanza beans.

24 January, Friday

We had a lovely walk along the beach this morning. It is very cool today and there is a strong breeze blowing. I grilled toasted cheese, tomato and onion sandwiches over the fire for breakfast. Around ten, we walked to the store to browse and get some firelighters. Rina had a soft serve ice cream in a sugar cone.

We finished two packs of tortillas with Paul Newman’s salsa. It is a very nice salsa. We finished a whole three litre bottle of Kuat Guarana. 

We went to all the little beaches around Twee Jongensfontein and then we visited all the beaches at Stillbay.  There are some nice rock formations at Stillbay. We took some lovely photos. There was a very large dead jellyfish on the beach. Late afternoon we went for a swim.

We made smoked hake with jacket potato and peas for dinner.

25 January, Saturday

There was a rainstorm during the night. I left the tent flap open on my side. By the time I woke up and realized, I was floating on my mattress like a surfer on his surfboard. I could not find the flap, because I could not find my torch, because I could not find my spectacles. Fortunately my young little Seeing Eye wife saved the day, or rather night by rushing out into the ferocious storm and closed the flap. If it wasn’t for her I would surely have drifted out to sea. This is going to cost me lots of ice-creams.  The sun peeked out from under his blanket and promptly covered him again with his thick cloud blanket.  Everything on my side of the tent was wet. Fortunately the sun decided to make reappearance. It did not take very long to dry.A little antelope was grazing in the camp. I could not make out whether it was a Steenbokkie or a Cape Greybuck. There are also lots of rock hyraxes in camp.

Damn neighbours brought their cat with. It is so fat. Must be from all the birds and lizards it eats.

I walked to the little store to buy some eggs. I made us a nice breakfast consisting of  scrambled eggs, vegetarian sausages and potato. We then drove past “Flip se baai” to the rock pool. What a lovely swimming spot. We met people from Robertson and had a good chat. After a refreshing swim, we each cracked a Miller and left for camp. I stopped by the bottle store to stock up with some more beer. While I am writing the blog, Rina is trying to increase her chances of skin cancer and lung cancer.

We had a lovely dinner consisting of smoked pork fillet with a garden salad. We sat chatting, listening to the waves. After eight we went for a walk on the beach.

26 January, Sunday

I woke up early and went for a walk to the beach and took some photos. I let Rina sleep a bit longer. We packed up early but had to wait for the lady to open the office at ten so that we can get our key deposit back. Rina had an ice cream for breakfast. I had a black filter coffee at the little beach cafe called “Drie Pikkewyne”.

We left shortly after ten for Riversdale, then we went to Heidelberg. We took more photos. The camera’s second and last battery is now also starting to give problems.  Just before the turnoff to Witsand we arrived at a lovely little farm stall. We bought fresh bread and quince preserve as well as a bag of Kudu biltong which we had for lunch while driving. Rina bought some shortbread biscuits as well.

Witsand is just another place like all the others along the coast where rich people build multi storey houses right onto the beaches and rivers, with no concern for the environmental impact. We decided not to stay over and we left for Bontebok National Park near Swellendam. We shall spend two nights here.

We stayed at Lang Elsie’s Kraal camping spot.

We are going to make some vegetarian sandwiches for dinner. We still have some Tofurky , lettuce and cucumber.

A tortoise came visiting our camp site. We gave him some lettuce.

27 January, Monday

We went for a game drive. We saw some Bontebok. We went to the picnic spot called “Die Stroom”.  After our drive we went back to Bredasdorp for some foodstuff and we needed things from the chemist.  

Lots of beggars  abound in Swellendam, a white , very British sounding one asking for five rand for half a loaf of bread, sitting on the bottle store stoep, a dark, coloured one without teeth, telling me he will give the money back to me in two weeks.

28 January, Tuesday

We left early for De Hoop and Skipskop, but we never got there. We stopped at Bredasdorp, filled the vehicle and went to Waenhuiskrans. On the way there was a picnic spot .Someone’s dog was buried there.  They actually made an entire grave for Simba. We heard some fighter jets flying over. We later discovered that it was Overberg Airforce base in the vicinity! There was another less spectacular grave for another poor dog. There was also a plaque  with engravings telling you that  it was the fences from years gone by, put up to protect the Bontebok. We went to the caves. A black guy in a Vito was stuck in the thick sand. We tried to help and push him out to no avail! He eventually got hold of people to help him.

We left for Struisbaai. We filled up at Bredasdorp. We found a nice place to camp at Struisbaai. We had a lovely, long swim. Late afternoon we made vegetable curry and rice. We went for a nice walk on the beach and the boardwalk!

29 January, Wednesday

We drove to Cape Agulhas this morning. It is the southernmost tip of Africa. We visited the lighthouse. It is the second oldest operating light house in South Africa. It is the third light house that was built in South Africa. It was powered by the tail fat of sheep until 1905, when the switched to an oil burning lantern. In 1929 they switched to a petroleum vapour burner and in 1936 they switched to a 4 Kilo Watt electric lamp. We took the stairs to the top. The view is beautiful from up there. The light house is 27 meter tall. We took some pictures of the shipwreck and where the two oceans meet. We had a seafood basket for lunch at the little restaurant on the beach, called La Mouette. Later in the afternoon we went for a swim. I left my spectacles on the beach. Rina found them again where we were sitting on the beach. On the way to camp I bought a piece of beach. I fell flat on my back and could not get up. I think someone spiked my drink. Maybe I am getting old? The rest of the day we chilled at camp. In the late afternoon we went swimming again. We decided not to have dinner as we were still full of deep fried seafood.

30 January, Thursday

We left for Gansbaai this morning.  In Bredasdorp I bought some clothes, seeing that I ran out of clean clothes. We drove through the village of Napier, where we had scones and tea at a little farm stall called “Die Bodorp Huisie”.  We drove through the Akkedisberg pass. We took some more photos in Stanford.

The place we wanted to stay at in Gansbaai did not look very nice. It is right on the harbour. We found a chalet at Uilenkraalsmond. We’ll only be staying here for one night. We got ourselves a nice little chalet overlooking the ocean. It was right on the beach. We chilled at our little place and very late in the afternoon we went for a long walk on the beach. We only got back to our chalet after dark.  We made ourselves a nice salad for dinner with some fish.

31 January, Friday

We left early for Hermanus. We went to the beach at Voelklip .

On the outskirts of the city we stopped at a place called “Cafe on Main” We had a delicious prawn lunch. The music was not very nice and a bit loud, but the food was good. Then we drove through Hawston, from there to Kleinmond.  At Palmiet camping site everything was closed and it did not look nice any way. We drove through Bettysbay and Hangklip and Rooiels. The drive was very scenic and beautiful. We wanted to camp at Koeelbaai, but we had to go to Gordonsbay to book and pay for the site. It looked very nice, but they did not have electricity. When we arrived in Gordonsbay, it felt as though we were somewhere in Southern Europe. It is a lovely town. It has a lovely swimming beach.

We went to check in at the camping site, but they told us that it was fully booked as were the chalets. It sounded very fishy! Maybe I looked to Bohemian to them. We tried a place at Strand, but they were closed for renovations. We ended up driving to Stellenbosch and stayed at a lovely spot between tall Pine trees. It was called “Mountain Breeze” We went to PnP after we set up camp to do some shopping. We made vegetable pasta for dinner.

A stupid, use to nothing female saw my painted toenails. She went to lie down on her stomach, peeping at me from underneath our pick-up. She even called her husband and mother to come and have a look. They we all lying on their stomachs, staring and talking and pointing!

1 February, Saturday

We are going to visit my cousins today.

We drove through lots of famous wine farms. We went to Muizenberg and Fishhoek. When we arrived at Simonstown, a penguin came walking down the road. It was so amazing to see a penguin right in the middle of town. We went to take some more penguin photos at Boulders. The African Penguin was our second new tick for the holiday.

As it was getting late, we turned around and went to fetch my cousin Gustav at his place and then we went to visit his sister and her family! We had a wonderful family reunion and a great fish braai. The time just flew. At two thirty in the morning we finally said good night. We had such a good time and lots of good food.

2 February, Sunday

We had a hearty breakfast with my cousins. At around ten, we left and went to Seapoint. We took photos at Mouille point of the lighthouse and then we went for a drive around Chapman’s Peak. The views on this scenic drive are truly spectacular. We went all the way to Cape point in the Table Mountain National Park. On the way I got diarrhoea. I jumped out of the car just in time and avoided a major catastrophe. We took the funicular to the top and walked the final steps up to the lighthouse. What a beautiful view you have of False Bay, Dias beach and Rooikrans. There were thousands of tourists. I have never seen so many young girls with long legs and very small shorts. The queues at the ladies toilets were impossible. I called them into the men’s toilets to help them out. We went to Cape of Good Hope. It is the most South Western point of Africa. There were so many cyclists as well. This one girl was cycling in her high heels. I have no idea how she managed that. There were so many buses and car. It caused a major traffic jam. One of the bus driver started redirecting the drivers in order to get everyone back on the road. It was chaos. After we left Buffelsbay, we went back to Kommetjie to find accommodation. At Sweatwater we were told that we had to make a booking and pay in Fishhoek at PnP or Shoprite, so that was not going to work for us. Just on the outskirts of Kommetjie we found a camping site called Imhoff. We decided to spend the night. I made us a delicious tuna salad, which we shall have a bit later.

3 February, Monday

We left Kommetjie at seven in the morning. The traffic was terrible. We went via Fishhoek and Muizenberg. The traffic was even worse getting closer to Capetown. It took us nearly three hours to get onto the N7 near Milnerton. We went to Bloubergstrand. The view of Table mountain is amazing from there. Then we left for Langebaan via Melkbosstrand. We stopped at Vygevalei Padstal for lunch. We had chicken mayo tramezzini.  We arrived at Langebaan and pitched our tent at  Leentjiesklip. We handed our clothes in at the Laundromat and bought some food. We had a lovely salad with Quorn for dinner.

4 February, Tuesday

After a nice breakfast of fruit and yogurt we left for the West Coast NP. We went to the bird hide to see whether we can find any new birds. There were some Greater Flamingo, Common Tern, Little Egret and Kelp Gulls as well as Hadeda Ibis and a Spoonbill. We went to the Seeberg viewpoint. There is a pretty little hut on the hill. You have the best view of the park from here. We then went to Abrahamskraal waterhole. There were some Cape Shovelers, Red knobbed Coot and Dabchicks.

We then drove to Kraalbaai and on the way back we stopped at the Preekstoel, a beautiful rock formation in the bay. In 1995 they found footprints in rock, formerly seasand. It belonged to a young woman who lived 117 000 years ago. It is also known as Eve’s footprints. At Tsaar’s bank we made another stop. Huge waves were smashing against the rocks.  We then went back to our camp. We went for lunch at the Oystercatcher and had crayfish. We went to get some salad stuff at Spar. We saw a car guard who was in a wheelchair. Weird! In the evening we had a salad and went for a long walk on the beach.

5 February, Wednesday

We left Langebaan early. We went to Elandsbaai via Port Owen, Velddrif and Laaiplek. At Velddrif there is a huge Cerebos salt factory. All the little towns have melted together to become one huge suburb. We had a snack of sardines and crackers at Elandsbaai and then left for Lambertsbaai.

We had an amazing prawn meal at Isabellas in Lambertsbay. Afterwards, we went to Bird Island and saw two new bird species; Common Tern and Sandwich Tern. The funny thing is, this morning I said a little prayer to thank God for our lovely holiday and asked if we could maybe see two new birds. All of a sudden we decided not to go directly to Cederberg, but instead go to Lambertsbay. Then we saw two new species! Makes you think!

6 February, Thursday

We left fot Cedarberg. At Clanwilliam we did some shopping for food. We accidentally took the wrong road. After 26 kilometres we realized that we were on the way to Calvinia. We went past Leipoldt’s grave! We went past the Kliphuis camp site and drove through the beautiful Pakhuis pass. We realized that we took the wrong road and went back to Clanwilliam. The road to Algeria was terrible. When we finally got there, we had problems paying for our two night’s accommodation. Their machine did not want to read our credit card. Rina eventually just paid it online.

When we got back to our bakkie, it did not want to start. I asked people for assistance, but when I opened the bonnet, I saw that the battery was nearly missing! All the bolts became loose from the terrible bumping on the bad road. The battery was only dangling by one of its electrical wires. Fortunately Rina saw some wires somewhere; she magically found pliers and tied the battery to the car. We shall have it fixed as soon as we get to a town, which means after three days of very bad roads.  

We went to the waterhole where you can go swimming the river. The water is very nice. We were both tired and just relaxed at camp.

Except for two women, we were the only people at the camp. It was so nice and peaceful. I put a pork fillet on the fire with vegetables and Rina made couscous and mushroom sauce. We made use of the opportunity to have a bath at the ladies ablutions.

7 February, Friday

Early this morning we went on a three hour hike into the mountain up to a waterfall. As we left camp and started walking into the bush, you could smell Rooibos. It was so nice and fresh and cool. It was quite strenuous and Rina really suffered with her legs and feet. We are so unfit. We saw the very rare and endangered Clanwilliam Cedar. We wanted to turn back on a few occations, but thank goodness we finished our hike. The falls were beautiful. The water was running over all these green mosses, ferns and grass. It looked like something out of a fiction movie. The water dropped into deep clear water pools. You expected to see fairies at any moment. When we got back to camp I made some braai sandwiches on a small fire. We spent most of the day, relaxing at camp. We tried to identify a tree, when a weird looking bug came and sat on our table. It was quite larege and we have never seen one before. We looked it up and it was a sub specie, or imitator of the Carpenter Robber Fly, Hyper echia imitator.

Tonight we are just having couscous that was leftover from last night, with a vegetable stew and Fry’s schnitzels

8 February, Saturday

Our holiday is fast coming to an end. We are going to the Tankwa Karoo National Park today! We are hoping to also get our car battery fixed again.  We drove from the Cedarberg on a long and very bad dirt road. We drove through the Uitkyk pass. There was some kind of competition on, because there were so many joggers and mountain bikers. There were many officials directing them as well as water points. We drove past Cederberg Wine farm.

We then took the R303 and drove through the beautiful Katbakkies pass. We turned onto the R355, the Hottentotskloof road. After a short distance we arrived at a lovely farm stall called, Tankwa Padstal. The people were amazing. On the stoep, all the farmers were sitting, having beer and farming. On the other end of the stoep, all the workers were sitting, also drinking and farming. Everyone seems to be visiting the store, bar and little kitchen, where they even make vegetarian burgers. The lady who owns the place makes all her own products. She even dries all kinds of vegetables. The husband told us that at the store they sell anything from a spade to a pregnancy test. We bought curry beans and prickly pears as well as sun dried tomatoes. I had a coffee before we left.  Everyone was saying good-bye and waving.

We drove through the Koue Bokkeveld, crossed the Doring River. The Skoorsteenberg was on our right. We finally arrived at Tankwa. To or dismay, our cottages with their own splash pools were all fully booked. So, we decided to stay only the one night. Instead of camping we checked into Dezyferhuis cottage. It is a beautiful, renovated old farm house. Nearby is a cemetery where people who once lived here were buried. We hope there are no ghosts in the house. Here is no electricity, just a solar fridge, oil lamps, candles and a donkey to boil hot water for a shower. The bed in the main bedroom looks antique and is very high off the ground. It even comes with a mosquito net.

As we sit on our stoep we can see the Roggevelds Mountains not too far away.

Tankwa consist of 143 600 hectares. Vegetation is classified as Succulent Karoo, divided into 12 distinct vegetation communities. The park boasts with numerous endangered and endemic species of birds, mammals and plants.

9 February, Sunday

I got up early to stoke the donkey for hot water for our showers. After a breakfast of Frys’ nuggets, we left for Calvinia. We decided to drive via the Gannaga pass over the Roggeveld Mountains to Middelpos. The little town was very quiet and every little shop was closed. Just outside of town we saw a large flock of Lesser Flamingo on a dam. We stopped for a snack at a picnic spot. In Calvinia there were directions for Klipwerf. “The place of the Klipwerf Boere Orkes.” We crossed the Sak River and arrived in Williston. There is a very colourful little place called Williston Mall.

On the way to Canarvon you drive along the railway line, the rusted tracks lying in disuse, snaking from abandoned station to abandoned station. At some, the name signs are still standing, advertising the beautiful names like Biesieslaagte. All the telephone poles are still standing, but the wires have long since disappeared. Tumbleweeds were blowing across the road. An abandoned corbelled house was standing next to the road.

We arrived in Canarvon. There are still pretty houses in the town. The Astoria hotel is now a funeral home. We are staying over at Out of Africa’s Ikhaya guest house.  It is a pretty little place with a double bed and one single bed and a kitchen. There is a big stoep where you can sit and sip sundowners.

W were lucky to get space, because from tomorrow night, dignitaries from all over the world arrive for the whole SKA thing. The even built a massive runway that can cope with huge jets.

10 February, Monday

After cereal for breakfast we left for Mokala National Park. Between Carnavon and Vosburg there was a mountain that looked like a replica of Table Mountain.  On my map it showed that the R 384 was untarred, but we were surprised to see that it was tarred. Apparently they tarred it a year ago. W drove through Kareebospoort, then through Volstruispoort. At Vosburg we crossed the Process fontein Spruit. A guy fixed our battery that we nearly lost. He could not stop chatting.

We then went on to Britstown, then to Strydenburg. Little abandoned lost towns with huge squatter camps. In Hopetown we did some shopping at an OK Grocer.

We finally arrived at Mokala. Mokala is also the Tswana name for the Camel thorn tree.  We checked in at Lillydale and drove to Motswedi where we camped.This is five star camping. There are only six sites, all overlooking a waterhole. Each site has its own bathroom and kitchenette.

11 February, Tuesday

After a hearty breakfast we went for a game drive. We went to the bird hide as well as the interpretive centre. We then spent some time cooling off at the swimming pool. We had some beers and then ordered lunch.  Rina had oxtail with vegetables and I had 300g Venison steak on a bed of vegetables with a chocolate chilli sauce. We had another swim and then drove back to camp. We played some scrabble.  Rina’ favourite glass went missing. There were monkeys at our kitchen, during our absence. The must have smelt the cold drink that was in there earlier and tokk it to see whether it is edible. We looked for it everywhere. We made a little fire, but decided not to braai, as we were still full from our lunch.  I went to put some cream on my face, when Rina called me. There was a huge Porcupine at our camp site.  It was so cute, his quills were pointing in all directions. He looked as though he needed a comb. We took so many photos of it. It spent a long time by our tent, coming and going. We sat outside till very late, staring at the last embers and looking at the stars.

12 February, Wednesday

We packed up early for our last night at Bloemhof dam. Rina found her glass at the site next to ours, where the monkeys left it. She was so happy about that. On our way to the main gate we saw a Pale Chanting Goshawk hunting a Ground Squirrel. He kept attacking and missing, the squirrel  kept changing directions. Eventually the squirrel got away by disappearing into a hole. Then we hit the long road. We took some photos of the old blockhouse at the Riet River. The towns after Kimberley were all scruffy little places. We have been in Kimberley a few years back and we went to all the sights and museums, so we just stopped for some shopping .We stopped at Steers just outside Kimberley. We passed Warrenton, Christiana and then Bloemhof. We found a place to stay at the Sandveld Nature Reserve. We are staying in a log cabin, overlooking the Bloemhof Dam.

For our final night we are going to make a fire and braai a piece of ostrich with vegetables.

We fell asleep, listening to the night sounds.

13 February, Thursday

We are feeling so sad to go home. The time went so fast. As they say, all good things come to an end.