South Africa

Welcome to the civilized world said Slade.  We were quickly stamped into SA and had our pictures taken in front of the South African sign. We made it!! It was all very strange and because Slade and Krissy did not know the area, it did not really feel like we were here.  We arrived in Pof Adder a town apparently the butt of many SA jokes.  Amusingly the local Auto garage had ox wagons displayed in the window, civilized eh Slade! We stayed at the largest date farm in the southern hemisphere, a very cool place called Klein Pella.  In fact it has got really cold. The shorts have been ditched and trousers, jumpers and coats are now more appropriate. Slade is gallantly still wearing his sandals, in denial that it is freezing, yes, he is moaning about the weather! 

We spent a day in the Gemsbok National Park in the southern Kalahari on the Botswana border. It was quite expensive to get in but was well worth it as we saw a lion among other animals. It is a lovely park and the grassy red sand dunes and the valley the road follows was good to see.  From there we headed to Joburg and Slades sisters house.  We stopped in Uppington which had the most amazing butchers shop we have ever seen.  Biltong rotated on the ceiling, the fridges were stacked with steak and they even had whole carcasses in a transparent freezer unit, with barcodes on them so you could take the whole animal to the check out. Obviously hard to get the Venters out of that particular shop!  We spent the night in the weird town of Vryburg, the main street had 2 names so it was impossible to find anything easily. We stayed at a lodge just outside town and spent the whole evening in the bar as it was too cold to sit outside. They had a pool table and then served up a huge dinner, no complaints. A particularly huge man, who had a wife and according to him family connections with the IRA told Slade that he would like to keep Tubbs warm for the night. Slade passed on the news which did not get the response the guy was hoping for!

Poor Connie got very ill the next day with a mystery bug and she was in a poor state to meet her parents the next day.  We said goodbye to them in Joburg and arranged to meet them at the Kruger park. So for the last 500 yards to Slades sisters place it was just us, the first time for 9 months! 

It was great to see Vanessa and Gordon again. It was very weird for Krissy and Slade to arrive by car to their house. Although for the Venters the journey would officially finish in Pennington where Slades parents live, arriving in JoBurg did bring home that the journey was almost at an end. We had a tour around the shooting range that Gordon owned and then went up to the house for a braai. Cooking outside in the middle of winter just proves how much South Africans love to braai, although the amount of heat kicking out, it was actually nice and cozy. We have spent lots of evening around it with the family including Gordons sons Jason and Grant and his fiancée Monique.

We spent 5 days there and enjoyed just staying in one place for a change. We have been reintroduced to the latest music via MTV and caught up on some of the movies. Krissy had her hair cut by a professional and not Tubbs or Elza and felt like a new woman! We visited a few of the shopping malls and came out overwhelmed by how much stuff is for sale and how much of it is either rubbish quality or just not needed, yes, we feel very out of place in the busy city. The jam packed roads, huge shopping malls selling everything and the mediocre fast food seems quite alien at the moment.  However, we probably look quite out of place with our well worn zip off trousers and tired looking tops!  The market in Joburg was worth the visit and was a good place to pick up handicrafts or new clothes. 

Gordon owns the Guthries Shooting Range so we spent a fun afternoon shooting.  Slade taught the girls how to fire a 38 special, Glock nine mil short and a LM 5 with silencer, so now the Landy crew are fire arm specialists. Slade and the boys went duck shooting on the Sunday, wading around in the cold water and had a good time.

We decided not to go up to the Kruger Park which unfortunately meant we could not meet up with Graham and Connie. Instead we drove up to the much closer Pilansburg Park.  It is a gorgeous place and was great to back in countryside again. The park is set in the Pilannesburg mountains and has the big five (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo). We did not see any buffalo or leopard but we did spot the others. It was lovely to see the elephants browsing on the hills and huge rhino walking past the car. The park also had lots of hippo and it was fantastic to see huge families sunbathing on the banks or moving slowly into the water. The little babies were especially sweet. We camped in the 2 campsites based just outside the park.  We had our last camp together here which was a sad thought and seemed pretty unbelievable as living out of the Land rover and sleeping on the roof is so normal now. Tubbs flys to New Zealand on the 22^nd June so it was her last night in the tent. We decided to celebrate our last breakfast in style, with a huge fry up and bucks fizz. Feeling good we made our way out of the Park to the neighboring Sun City, a huge complex of casinos, entertainment centers, the lost city hotel, designed with big towers and animals carved on the sides and big grounds. We wondered around the place and then made our way back to Joburg

The next day Friday 18^th June we went to the Out door Show where they had all the overland equipment on display. The over land equipment was amazing, loads of different designed tents, fitted out trailers with built in cookers, shelves, drawers, wine and spice racks, these guys know how to camp in style. We picked up Witt and Jen from the airport that afternoon. It was great to see them again; they had successfully climbed Kilimanjaro and had a fantastic time. We took them to the overland show which we knew they would appreciate. After a go on the trampoline bungee we headed back for another braai.

It has been great fun staying in Joburg and now all 5 of us are staying with Vanessa and Gordon we have completely taken over their house. Tubbs is trying to pack her new bag, brought especially with wheels and a handle as she seems to accumulated a lot of stuff, Slade thinks its mostly rocks which she collected and hid in different parts of the landy.  It is crazy to think after so many years of planning and then almost a year of traveling that it is almost over, it has been a great trip. No doubt Krissy and Slade are looking forward to being a couple again although the landy may seem empty for while with no one in the back seat singing (not like a wheel bearing) and passing out water from the fridge! However, plans are already being made for another trip be it driving from South Africa back to Europe or maybe South America up to Alaska over the Bering Strait and into Russia, so check out this site in a couple of years time for the next installment!

If you want to keep in touch with any of us, our emails on the website will stay the same  Krissy and Slade will be living in Pennington, near Durban with Slades family for the moment and will welcome overlanders to stay and exchange tales. Tubbs is off to New Zealand where she will be living with her friends Gaynor and Colm near Hamilton. She will be working on their dairy farm helping calve over 800 cows in the next few weeks, which will be a shock to her system. With a working visa for a year she will be there until this time next year so if any overlanders reach New Zealand feel free to get in touch.

Until the next trip.........Cest  Finit!

South Africa Summary

Gemsbok National Park, south Kalahari, Good to see but expensive at 120 rand per person plus camping fees.

Pelinsburg Park, they have the big 5 and is a beautiful place. Only 20 rand per person plus camping fees.

Guthries Shooting Range, Vorna Valley, Joburg