Southern Africa Safari 2017 – Planning Phase – D Day plus 70 Days

Can you believe it only 70 days to go before we start our next adventure, still a lot to do and prepare, but so much can only be done a week to 10 days to go, at least that is my theory.

I need to book “Salama” our car, in for a service as I do not want what happened to a family that was on our last Namibia trip with us, he had his car serviced the day before leaving Potchefstroom for Namibia and 200 kms down the road his wheel fell off causing an accident, he had to hire a car to join the trip, seems the garage did not tighten the wheel nuts properly, guess who will be checking his wheel nuts before departure and when "Salama" comes back from service.

  

A 3 wheeler from way back

AJS 650cc 1975 model

We have had a hectic time of it in our sleepy holiday town, Knysna, and we need a small break before the Oyster Festival in July. As I mentioned in my last post we had a vintage Car Festival, which included motorbikes and latest models of cars, it was fascinating, as you walked around you would hear comments like “My Dad had one of those and at the time it was “The Car” then there was “Look at that engine it was so simple even a fool like me could fix it” and one lady commented on seeing a 1920 Ford “you wouldn’t find me dead in that” I was also guilty looking at a 1970 AJS 650 Sports Twin I told Denise I had one of those, exactly the same colour, I must say it looked very puny against a                                                                            1000cc BMW of today.

                                                                                 

BMW 1000cc Sports Model

Brought back many memories this AJS 650cc Sports Twin

Denise and her MG choice

We spent a couple of hours viewing these fantastically well looked after vehicles and some looked like they would be a good investment IF you could pick them up cheap and fix them up to manufacturers specifications.

I think this was a Sunbeam

Denise said I can have a motorbike as long as it has 3 wheels

Then we had the Pink Loerie Festival and if you are into that sort of thing it was the place to be with lots of events for all the LGBTI participants I include some photos from the web sites. Google tells me that LGBTI stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (Questioning) the latter, it states, are not sure of what they are.

Whatever takes your fancy

Knysna supports everything that brings business to the town

Two of the lovelies attending the Pink Mardi Gras

The eventual winner overall

Then we had the Speed Festival over 3 days known as the Jaguar Simola Hill Climb they race their cars up Simola hill for 1.9kms at an average speed of 181.456km per hour, the winners time in qualifying in a 1989 Dallara T189 single seater sports car (Formula 1) with Andre Bezuidenhout behind the wheel. You had a Nissan GTR doing it in 39.892sec and a classic car, a Chevron B19 turning in a time of 42.795sec. I am told that it was very well organised and the petrol heads got more than their share of adrenalin. I am including a couple of photos of the cars to get you drooling if you are into cars and motor bikes old and new.

I thought the pace in Knysna had slowed down somewhat, but Denise had other ideas and for Mothers Day lunch we had 3 Mothers/Grandmothers plus two, thank goodness she did not have the view that she would do nothing and the lunch was a great success.

Then on Wednesday the 17^th May, Denise and two of our friends decide it was time for a Safari dinner and we get to cook the main course. The theme was South Africa and we all had a great time, that is one of the advantages of being retired you can have a party on Wednesday and not worry about how you are going to feel on Thursday.

Night skys over Namibia cannot wait

Southern Africa Safari 2017 - D day +100days

100 Days to go, sounds like Trump and his "First 100 Days" Hey but it will be wonderful to get away from our own political meltdown, no TV, no newspapers, no cell phone, no E Mail, no Face book now how good is that, guess you will only know if you do it and make a vow not to allow any distractions from any of the multi media incursions we endure on a daily basis.

In 100 days time we will hit the road for a 7000km journey through South Africa, Botswana and Namibia and talking of journeys how about this; We were down at Great Brak River visiting my sister Loraine and her husband, that's my Brother-in-Law, Cedric and upon arriving back home in Knysna on Saturday afternoon I get this SMS from a friend who I have not seen for 43 years, Graham Duncanson, we played rugby together for Mombasa Sports Club and Nondescripts RFC in Nairobi, Kenya. Graham is asking us to join him for dinner that night in George some 50 kms away back the way we have come and we declined the invite, but asked him what he was doing on Sunday, he replied he would be in Mossel Bay just 50 kms down the road from George and he gave the name of the hotel and suggested a late lunch which we agreed to.

On Sunday morning we get a message saying he cannot find the hotel, no problem we say, we will go into Google and phone him back with directions, we tell him that from where he is he will have to go back up the road he had just gone down, this is about 12h00 and he says; "oh no I am knackered and need to get some sleep in the afternoon once I find the hotel before we meet up with him at 15h00" Denise and I look at one another and say he has just driven 50 kms from George and his knackered, either he is very old, or he had a heavy night.

The next message is that he is at a different hotel and a late lunch is still on. Well we meet up and I see a sprightly man who has not changed a lot in the intervening 43 years. We are half way through lunch when it transpires that he has been cycling from the UK to Cape Town, now we can understand why he was knackered and why he declined to follow our directions back up the hill to his original hotel destination. He told us he had skipped a couple of countries like Egypt and the Sudan because of unrest, but still quite an achievement at 75 years old and travelling largely on his own. So our journey is not half as adventurous as Grahams.

It is really great to meet up with people that you have lost contact with and taking a trip down memory lane with them. I must add that he had met up with a couple of visitors at his George hotel and had a few drinks until two in the morning so we were right about one of the reasons he was knackered.

Talking of memories and storing them, because, guess what, memories do have a habit of failing us as we age, well some of us. However, we have in the past either using the blog material or a write up by yours truly to record the trip including photo's given them to a friend who produces a wonderful album very professionally done. It beats having photos all over the place on computers, phones, etc: We often look at these travel books and enjoy the trip all over again. Only one word of advise do a spell and grammar check before you go to print as writing up a daily blog post after driving 500+kms a day is just looking for mistakes to happen and they are with you for life so "Edit before Print"

Here in Knysna we have had a busy Eater with lots of visitors/tourists visiting Knysna and the Garden Route we have had everything from Yacht, Running, Mountain Bike and Road Bike races as well as a walking festival. In Sedgefield they had their Slow Festival which was very well supported.

Like many other places around South Africa we had marches on the 7th April attended and supported by the community urging President Zuma to stand down. As a member of the black community said to me "at least Zuma is bringing unity to large portions of the Country"

Some of the marchers on Main Street Knysna

Some of last years LGBTQ contestants

Upcoming we have the following events in Knysna:-

26th April to 1st May: LGBTQ - Pink Lourie Mardi Gras and Art Festival
30th April - Knysna Motor Show - Classic Cars and Motorbikes back to the 30's up to 2017
4th May to 7th May - Jaguar Simola Hill Climb, different categories of cars climb this twisty hill climb of 1.9kms (Last winner took just 38.6sec topping 179.99kms per hour.


 

Have a Lovely Day

Southern Africa Safari 2017 - D day plus 116 days

The Namib Wild horses waiting for the train at Garub Station

Fish River Canyon

Mine houses at Kolmanskop being reclaimed by desert sands

Dune 45 on the way to Sossusvlei

Vingerklip (Rock Finger)

Petrified forest-Fossilised trees estimated to be 280million years old

 I am including some photos of some of the interesting places to visit in Namibia from our 2011 trip.

I mentioned the need to be patient at the border crossings and it brought to mind Kingslaey Holgate's answer to being held up at a border post by immigration/customs officials and I quote him as follows:-

"When I get a stroppy border official I always put on a stut...stut...stutter and you will find the guy wants to get rid of you as fast as possible"

Just picture it, with apologies to anyone who stutters:-

Border Official: Where are you going?

Kingsley: I...I...a...a...am go...go...go...going t...t...to..Lu...Lu...Lusa...Lusa...Lusaka

Border Official: Where are you coming from?

Kingsley: J...J...Jo...Jo...Johan...Johan...Johannesburg

Denise on the Skeleton Coast, Namibia

Border Official: What are you going to Lusaka for?

 Kingsley: I...I...Its...m...m...my d...d...daugh...daugh..daughters w...w...wed...wed...wedding.

Border Official: (stamping his papers with undue force) For goodness sake go, go

I may well try it some day perhaps at Beit Bridge on the Zimbabwe border they are always slow and insist on knowing your name and address and the place where you stay, but I will probably get arrested.

I must share a post I saw on a 4x4 web site the other day where it said that at a particular place in Southern Africa had an attempted robbery at a camp site and this is the first reported incident in 3 years, the web site was full of warnings to travellers to avoid this place and this country. A South African citizen posted "one in 3 years, in SA we have 3 a day" The gentleman was understating the facts as in South Africa we have 51 murders a day and 363 armed robberies a day according to Stats SA. I guess what I am saying is there are many alarmist's out there and one should not be unduly worried, careful yes. There are exceptions like right now the Eastern Congo bordering Uganda, and Northern Kenya bordering Somaliland which should be avoided and you can, without messing around with your journey too much.

On our last trip we took in Moremi National Park and it was great, but on reflection I think we saw more wildlife outside the park than in it. There are no fences in Botswana and as a consequencethe wildlife can follow their ancient migratory routes. Today we blame elephants for destroying the flora, but when you allow unfettered movement they are not confined to one area and the vegetation has time to recover. In fact in Botswana you have to be aware of elephants and other wildlife walking down or crossing the road as one would for domestic cattle, goats and donkey's and night travel is not reccomended.

We are going to spend 6 days in the Caprivi Strip which belongs to Namibia and is bordered by Angola and Zambia in the North and Botswana in the South it also has a number of large rivers coursing along the borders and across the Strip namely the Kwando, Chobe, Okavango and the mighty Zambezi. The Caprivi Strip is less than 50kms wide and 300 kms long from Katima Malilo to Andara.

In researching our intended journey I came across some interesting facts, The Strip is named after a German Chancellor, Leo von Caprivi who had visions of using the Zambezi river as trade route from what was then a German territory (South West Africa, now Namibia) to Tanganyika (Tanzania) also a German territory, however, he did not bargain for the Victoria Falls. Von Caprivi did a deal with the British who were the Colonial masters of Bechuanaland (Botswana) to exchange the Strip, which belonged to the British for German interests in Zanzibar and the island of Heligoland in the North Sea and that is how South West Africa now Namibia became the masters of the Caprivi Strip.

There endeth your Geography/History lesson of the day.

It is difficult if not impossible to plan trip that covers everything there is to see and do unless you plan to travel for a year or two, but that is a very good excuse, if you needed one, to go back to Namibia and Botswana. This will be our third trip to Namibia and Botswana  and there will still be places we have not been to.

 

Have a lovely day!

Southern Africa Safari 2017 - D day plus 122 days

Southern Africa Safari 2017 Route Map

As a matter of interest we thought you may like to see our route through Southern Africa (South Africa, Botswana and Namibia) and above is a high level map of our proposed journey. The total distance is +/ 8000kms

I must confess that this was mapped as the fastest route on "Tracks for Africa" and we will be most unlikely to take the fastest route as we have a tendency to go off the beaten track and have now and again been accused of taking the scenic route or toughest route and most of the time I am guilty as charged.

 As the saying goes "It's about the journey not the destination that matters" and we are often asked "why do you do all that travelling why don't you rather go to one or two destinations and explore the surrounding areas and avoid the stress of long drives and border crossings"

It has been our experience that indeed it is the journey that is most enjoyable, seeing a lot more of the countries we travel through, meeting wonderful people, both local and travellers like us and as for the borders, build in a time factor, be patient and above all keep your cool and be polite and if one gets impatient let the other take over, believe me it works.
 

Southern Africa Safari 2017 - Planning Phase - D Day plus 124 Days

One of the time consuming tasks in the trip planning phase is finding the right accommodation on your planned route and not forgetting you have a budget, I have seen prices from R360 per person a night to R14500 per person a night, but I guess you get what you pay for, however I would question justifying the top end and its real value.

In a similar vein have you noticed that on checking out a place to stay and reading the travellers reviews, on Trip Advisor for example, the views expressed vary so widely you wonder if they are reviewing the same place, but perhaps it is about perception and expectation. To illustrate this here are the reviews of one establishment.

Staff not motivated, miserable and unhelpful - vs - Excellent service smiling and helpful staff
Food terrible and totally unacceptable - vs - Superb food
Good price, value for money - vs - Very expensive
Rooms clean and bright - vs - Rooms gloomy

These views expressed over two months January and February 2017, and it is the same place, that's people for you. Warning, in Botswana in particular they use the term "Lodge" which can also mess with your expectations.

Pleased to say we have all our bookings confirmed and when I told Denise (my better half) she said "What are we waiting for lets pack and go"

We have found someone who will baby sit "Snuggles" for the month of August, a couple of ladies who have a couple of African Grey parrots themselves and have been involved in bird rehabilitation so there is a few orphans of other bird species. Snuggles wont mind he speaks most bird languages and if he doesn't he picks it up very quickly.

So we have made good progress and can tick off a couple of key tasks.

We are spending 6 days in the Chobe and Caprivi area of Namibia and thought I would load some photo's of our last trip to Chobe.

The Green-Grey Greasy Limpopo River at Martins Drift

Elephant Sands north of Nata in Botswana

A rather large specimen of the Nile Crocodile

A beautiful Kudu in Chobe National Park

A rare sighting of a Sable Antelope in Chobe

Southern Africa Safari 2017 - Planning Phase - D Day plus 141 Days

We are in the planning phase of our Southern Africa Safari later this year, which will take in Wild Coast of South Africa, Southern Drakensberg, Botswana, Namibia and West Coast of South Africa from 1st August to 27th August a trip of +/- 7000kms.

We left planning later than we normally do and have had to re-route and re-plan where and when we stop over. Be advised if you plan to stay in lodges and hotels especially in the popular tourist spots like Chobe in Botswana for example, make sure you make reservations a minimum of one year ahead of time, when we did our Africa safari in 2013 we were doing the planning up to 2 years in advance, very necessary for places like the Masai Mara in Kenya and the Serengeti in Tanzania.

We are just waiting for 3 places to confirm our bookings and then we will be able to slow down the surfing on the internet, that will be a relief, although it certainly gets one in the mood, the problem is, it is still another 141 days before we depart, however, we know how fast time travels and there will still be a lot to do.

Stay with us and we will share the trials and tribulations in preparing for travel into Africa. 

Day 26 – Namibia/Botswana Safari 2015. Serowe to Pretoria via Martins Drift Border Post

Our Namibia and Botswana safari sadly comes to an end today although we will have a few days in Pretoria/Johannesburg seeing friends and family before we head off for home in Knysna.

Last night I asked Denise what was her highlight of the trip and she quite rightly said you cannot pick out one or more highlights as every day had its highlights and it was another adventure of note, full of highlights.

We get an early start and cross the Limpopo River and the border at 09h00 the Botswana side was very efficient and we were across in 15 minutes when we get to the South African side there was one official dealing with arrivals and departures, which takes us another hour.

We have breakfast at a little pad stop and go through a very busy and growing Mokopane (Potgietersrus). I remember this as a one horse town and it shows what a newish Platinum Mine can do for a town, on the downside is what happens when the mine closes.

We arrive at Michael’s house in Centurion at 15h30 thereby ending another wonderful adventure.

We trust you have all enjoyed following our trip as much as we have sharing it with you, we have around 1500 photos and so many memories and now all we have to think of is where to next?

Van Zyls Pass Namibia

Epupa Falls on Kunene River Namibia

Desert Elephants of Namibia

Baines baobabs - Botswana

Makgadikgadi Pans

White Rhino in Khama Rhino Sanctuary Botswana

Proud Granny with her three grandaughters
Sinead, Amber Lee and Naomi