After months of organising (and stressing), we finally hit the road early on Friday morning with Dustin looking slightly stressed at what he had got himself in for (two girls threatening to play ABBA for 600km/10hrs)! This was only compounded by squeals of delight from Meg and I every time we hit “new” road and the fact that we threatened to lock him in the car when we finally stopped in Ermelo for a loo break (he was taking a long time and we were bursting!). Ermelo also meant Wimpy breakfast - what would a road trip be without a Wimpy meal? Or for that matter, a quick stop in the Crazy shop? (This has become a habit since a girls weekend to Clarens). So after buying hats and things, we pointed the car for Sodwana – and then stopped. And went. And stopped. And went… And so it was that quite a couple of hours later, we arrived at Triton in Sodwana.
And of course, arriving at Sodwana meant only one thing – quickly unpack and head to the Smoothie Bar – Yum yum! The only problem is the choice of what smoothie to get! Think Tara and I did well with a French Kiss though – Vanilla, Kahlua and not sure what else but REALLY good! Good start to the trip! It was also a good time to catch up on the happenings of the last year with Henri and Leigh :)
We got a late launch so only needed to be at the beach 8:30 (Greg – 8:30, not 9:15! Lazy bugger got an extra hours sleep and used the useless excuse that he only arrived at 1am!). But late launch = lie in on a dive trip = amazing! The only problem was my usual coffee-in-bed-person was looking after his girlfriend so I actually had to get out of bed and make my own coffee – a first for a Sods trip I think! Need to get that sorted! Our first dive was to Antons (saw dolphins on the way, about 10m from the boat!), and it didn’t disappoint – eels, rays, lots of fishies, porcelain crabs… Bounce, bounce! No wait, bad idea - that uses lots of air! But after 50mins, most people were hitting critical pressure (thanks for the 15l cylinder Doug – I was fine even with Liesl buddy breathing!) so it was back to the beach. There is a 2 hour blank in my memory here – bit concerning… as suddenly, it was time to start kitting up for the next dive! It was a “special interest” dive with Peter Timm over the sand. He gave us the most incredible briefing and then it was off to south of Jesser point. As predicted, we saw very little for the 1st 5mins but then… Sand dollars, sea pen forests, cuttlefish, sea stars… INCREDIBLE! WOW! We packed up and headed to, you guessed it, the smoothie bar. Brazilica this time – hazelnut and frangelico? Also good :)
Back at Triton, it was time to get ready for the graduation of 1*’s , fines and then the party. Pat was an awesome Turquin – hoola hoops and all – and duly made all the 1* promise various things! And somehow emphasized the “Bode Brothers” status – not quite sure what this status is and whether we should laugh or be in awe… Then the fines came up – one whole boat, bar two people, “fed the fish” = fines all around, breaking down before getting to Sods = more fines, being an awesome instructor, being a fish and not using air – its amazing the fines that got dished out! But it did get the party off to a great start.
And party we did! Awesome music (thanks Doug) with two individuals (Jason and Dustin) not allowing anyone to leave and an amazing group of people. However, what goes on tour stays on tour, so for those that were there, I say 99 red balloons has scarred me – “Epic” (in a good and bad way?) FAIL! For those that weren’t there, you may need to bribe people to find out… We literally brought the roof down – and Hardy put it back up! The party ended close to 1 am (sorry for those with an early launch) when Doug (early launch!) turned the music off and we went swimming – in various stages of clothes (no – there was amazingly no skinny dipping!). And then the chirp of the trip came up: Imagine 30 odd people swimming in tiny little pool, all on a high after an amazing party. Noise may (or may not) have been made. So Hardy stands at the end of the pool, and in a very responsible voice, requests us all to keep quiet in 15min, party over. To which the response from the pool was “Hardy, are those tighty whitey’s?” - the laughter was probably louder than any noise we may (or may not) have been making! But within 15mins, every one was on their way to bed, and I was fast asleep (apparently I was called to go chat/go for coffee/something…)
The next morning, my coffee in bed issue was solved when coffee and breakfast (fruit and yoghurt) and juice was brought to me in bed – Thanks Dust and Meg! Very soon we were off to the beach, where some people, feeling the effects of the night before but still brave enough to dive, fed the fish! We had an awesome dive – lots of rays which buried themselves, more pretty fish, a geometric eel… The highlight of my dive however was SEEING MY FIRST TURTLE! Yay! Eventually! Right at the end of the dive as well! I was on my way up to safety stop (after a 70min dive!) and went back to look at it! :) :) :) And then we got to the surface and a HUGE one swam towards the boat! :) The next dive was also good! My buddy by this stage had learnt to talk underwater and so yelled at me every 10mins to check something out! This was a good thing as the previous dive he pointed stuff out to everyone else and then me! Remember some beautiful nudi’s on the this dive… We also took a slate down so communication became easier. I also learnt that if I briefly lost him for a second, I just needed to look for someone floating head down :)
Back at Triton, it was lunch time (at 5pm!) while others passed out - either in their cabins (= good option) or in the middle of the central camp area (= bad idea - you shouldn't surprised to wake up a while later surrounded by people and with a savanna being poured down your throat!). And then off to the Smoothie Bar. Again :) I hear your shock and horror and match it with a mochagelico (frangelico and coffee? – YUM). Except that this time we also ate – pizza - mmmm.... Then while the rest of us went back to bed, others went for a walk on the beach, and came back a couple of hours, sopping wet, to complete darkness – there was a huge storm and the electricity went!
The next morning, bright and early (and after a bit of bribery to DM’s so my boat could get a nice DM), we went for our last dive for the weekend. I saw my 3rd turtle. And my 4th. And my 5th. And my 6th. And then I stopped counting and starting swimming past them! One huge one though was very cute as he had wedged himself inbetween some rocks and was having a back scratch. Funnier though was Dustin who went quite close to watch him and with a surge ended face-to-face with him. We also swam past (as there were so many) honey comb morays at cleaning stations. We did however see an octopus, an ENORMOUS marble sting ray and at our safety stop were surrounded by fish balls! Another amazing dive!
And an amazing weekend!
Long live the turquin in epic awesomeness!
Link to the pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/EpicAwesomenessSodwanaNovember2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCMSah7eCsLiHbA#
Thursday, 09 December 2010
Tuesday, 09 November 2010
Halloween by cylume-light
With much excitement, we jumped into our cars one Friday afternoon and quickly made our way to Marico Oog for the weekend. So maybe jumped is a bit of a euphemism – there wasn’t much space to do anything to squeeze into the cars with all the dive gear, camping stuff and food. And if I have to admit it, quickly was also an exaggeration - 90mins we were 40km into a 200km journey! However, the only other time we stopped was at one of those stop-go’s – and I think the other people in we queue were only too glad when we moved on (3 girls singing ABBA out loud in the middle of a dorpie… I think they may ask us to come back – or not! But think we provided better entertainment than the discussions on hydrogen as an alternative fuel source and psychological analysis (Dan did Dustin in 15mins?) that went on in the other car.
And then we hit (literally) the dirt road. The road was in shocking condition but we finally made it there, with cars in 1 piece (quite an achievement – a car before us left the contents of its sump on the road!) and started putting up tents. It was then we realised that the girls were far more organised than the boys :) (Don’t worry boys, what goes on tour, stays on tour! Moobies, girls opening cylinders and all! Oops – sorry did I say that?). So while 1 girl (aka Liesl) unpacked the cars (plural!) the other 2 (Karen and I) managed to put up a tent and then contributed to setting everything out – while 3 boys (Dan, Dustin, Duncan) couldn’t even get 1 tent up! Determined to prove themselves, they then pumped up Liesl’s mattress – and promptly complained about having stiff arms! Hardy arrived back from a brief, enforced visit to Zeerust (to get parts to fix the above mentioned sump) and after devouring an amazing amount of food we hit the sack. Well, Hardy hit the floor first after falling through his hammock but the idea is the same!
EARLY the next morning, we were woken by those-that-left-the-contents-of-their-sump-on-the-road as they hit the road again. Read 1 x Grumpy me. Even after coffee. In bed. Rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep… But by 7:15, coffee was calling (again) and we headed onto the pontoon and watched the world wake up - in other words we slowly, with the influence of caffeine, became aware of our stunning surroundings. We finished setting up camp (hammocks were deemed to be very important, especially after someone fell through his the night before) and eventually headed to the water for some free diving (and diving). As usual, Hardy showed off, closely followed by Dan, Dustin and Duncan who swam around quite happily while I was just SUPER excited to get to 10m and back with neither ears nor lungs exploding! Stunning diving though! Although I did make mental notes NOT to breathe through my snorkel after putting it in the water (choke choke). SCUBA gear was then donned and we went off for a dive to the bottom and through the floating reed beds – amazing!
Back out the water, we all did some much needed relaxing/reading/dozing in the sun. And then ate. And the relaxed/read/dozed in the sun. And then ate. Again. And relaxed/read/dozed some more. And ate AGAIN. Wait, maybe there wasn’t space for that last eat. Anyway, see a pattern emerging?
Eventually we headed back to the Oog – but more to cool down and relax than dive though Hardy and I did test our cameras – his battery went flat and mine leaked, Big time. = unsuccessful! And then I forgot my mental note about not breathing through submerged snorkels. So we got out and while Karen, Dan and I headed off to get the Donkey lit so we could have hot showers later, the others got things ready for the night dive. Which was AMAZING! Sitting on a grid at 5m blowing bubbles and looking at them through torch light. Incredible. And no torch light. Spectacular And I had a new fancy schmancy new torch that actually works! We saw tonnes of freshwater shrimps, including ones whose eyes glowed in the dark! I was having such fun, I really didn’t want to leave, but was underweighted with an ally so it told me it was time to come up after about 20mins!
While the boys started the fire for the braai (despite not being able to put up a tent/pump up mattresses/open cylinders etc., they do have their uses!), the rest of us went to shower – only to find the donkey had gone out. I must have somehow had extra oxygen in my lungs coz one or two puffs later, there was a roaring fire – and hot water. Magic! And we emerged “good and clean and fresh – tra la la la”. And food was already being cooked! Bonus. After eating another extraordinary amount of food, the question became what to do with cylumes on Halloween? Or alternatively, how do 7 “adults” occupy themselves on Halloween when we have glowsticks? Well play with settings on cameras and draw pictures of course! And so followed a couple of hours of deciding what to draw, drawing it and excited squeals when it worked out! And a couple of shots of Dustin attacking himself!
The next morning it was time for the swim-through-the-fence dive to the more substantial reed beds – but on the unfriendly neighbouring farmers property. Again – wonderful. Although battling with buoyancy (I was now using 5 weights!), it was still fun swimming through all the caverns formed by floating reed beds – well at least until Dan lay on the floor and Dustin tried to catch up with someone with tiny fins (= swam hard) and both kicked up silt – compounded by me floating near the top. We decided it was time to get out of the reed beds and went back to the main pool where we did saumersaults and star jumps and cartwheels at 7m. Want a good laugh? Watch someone try to do a cartwheel in full SCUBA gear. We explored some more and saw “pretty fishies” (that’s all I can tell you about them!) and shrimps and crabs and and and…
And then it was time for more food - a huge cook up brunch. When we literally could eat no more and could barely move we starting packing up. And after fitting everything back into the cars (not much more space despite giving stuff to Hardy), we decided we didn’t really want to leave so went and relaxed on the pontoon for a while again. Two engineers + spare time on a raft = competition to push each other in. Until of course they figured out that the two girls swimming and diving off the raft were in bikini’s which were likely to shift position when entering the water. And then followed push Liesl into the water and when she goes in easily, chase her so she can’t get out!
Eventually we got out and started the drive home.
Not wanting the weekend to end we decided to stop in Magaliesburg for a wimpy coffee milkshake. Dan’s car kindly agreed by getting a puncture as we drove into the town (on decent, pothole-free and tarred roads?). So we found somewhere to get it fixed and watched in amusement as the engineers repositioned everything to their standards. As soon as the tyre was back on (supervised by said engineers of course) we headed for a much anticipated milkshake.
I think that this has to be one of the best inland dive sights – the dives, the venue and the great people always make this a relaxing, fun and enjoyable weekend filled with happy memories and laughs.
Some pics (also courtesy of Duncan and Hardy) are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/HalloweenByCylumeLight?authkey=Gv1sRgCM7oj8S_6_fRRg#
And then we hit (literally) the dirt road. The road was in shocking condition but we finally made it there, with cars in 1 piece (quite an achievement – a car before us left the contents of its sump on the road!) and started putting up tents. It was then we realised that the girls were far more organised than the boys :) (Don’t worry boys, what goes on tour, stays on tour! Moobies, girls opening cylinders and all! Oops – sorry did I say that?). So while 1 girl (aka Liesl) unpacked the cars (plural!) the other 2 (Karen and I) managed to put up a tent and then contributed to setting everything out – while 3 boys (Dan, Dustin, Duncan) couldn’t even get 1 tent up! Determined to prove themselves, they then pumped up Liesl’s mattress – and promptly complained about having stiff arms! Hardy arrived back from a brief, enforced visit to Zeerust (to get parts to fix the above mentioned sump) and after devouring an amazing amount of food we hit the sack. Well, Hardy hit the floor first after falling through his hammock but the idea is the same!
EARLY the next morning, we were woken by those-that-left-the-contents-of-their-sump-on-the-road as they hit the road again. Read 1 x Grumpy me. Even after coffee. In bed. Rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep… But by 7:15, coffee was calling (again) and we headed onto the pontoon and watched the world wake up - in other words we slowly, with the influence of caffeine, became aware of our stunning surroundings. We finished setting up camp (hammocks were deemed to be very important, especially after someone fell through his the night before) and eventually headed to the water for some free diving (and diving). As usual, Hardy showed off, closely followed by Dan, Dustin and Duncan who swam around quite happily while I was just SUPER excited to get to 10m and back with neither ears nor lungs exploding! Stunning diving though! Although I did make mental notes NOT to breathe through my snorkel after putting it in the water (choke choke). SCUBA gear was then donned and we went off for a dive to the bottom and through the floating reed beds – amazing!
Back out the water, we all did some much needed relaxing/reading/dozing in the sun. And then ate. And the relaxed/read/dozed in the sun. And then ate. Again. And relaxed/read/dozed some more. And ate AGAIN. Wait, maybe there wasn’t space for that last eat. Anyway, see a pattern emerging?
Eventually we headed back to the Oog – but more to cool down and relax than dive though Hardy and I did test our cameras – his battery went flat and mine leaked, Big time. = unsuccessful! And then I forgot my mental note about not breathing through submerged snorkels. So we got out and while Karen, Dan and I headed off to get the Donkey lit so we could have hot showers later, the others got things ready for the night dive. Which was AMAZING! Sitting on a grid at 5m blowing bubbles and looking at them through torch light. Incredible. And no torch light. Spectacular And I had a new fancy schmancy new torch that actually works! We saw tonnes of freshwater shrimps, including ones whose eyes glowed in the dark! I was having such fun, I really didn’t want to leave, but was underweighted with an ally so it told me it was time to come up after about 20mins!
While the boys started the fire for the braai (despite not being able to put up a tent/pump up mattresses/open cylinders etc., they do have their uses!), the rest of us went to shower – only to find the donkey had gone out. I must have somehow had extra oxygen in my lungs coz one or two puffs later, there was a roaring fire – and hot water. Magic! And we emerged “good and clean and fresh – tra la la la”. And food was already being cooked! Bonus. After eating another extraordinary amount of food, the question became what to do with cylumes on Halloween? Or alternatively, how do 7 “adults” occupy themselves on Halloween when we have glowsticks? Well play with settings on cameras and draw pictures of course! And so followed a couple of hours of deciding what to draw, drawing it and excited squeals when it worked out! And a couple of shots of Dustin attacking himself!
The next morning it was time for the swim-through-the-fence dive to the more substantial reed beds – but on the unfriendly neighbouring farmers property. Again – wonderful. Although battling with buoyancy (I was now using 5 weights!), it was still fun swimming through all the caverns formed by floating reed beds – well at least until Dan lay on the floor and Dustin tried to catch up with someone with tiny fins (= swam hard) and both kicked up silt – compounded by me floating near the top. We decided it was time to get out of the reed beds and went back to the main pool where we did saumersaults and star jumps and cartwheels at 7m. Want a good laugh? Watch someone try to do a cartwheel in full SCUBA gear. We explored some more and saw “pretty fishies” (that’s all I can tell you about them!) and shrimps and crabs and and and…
And then it was time for more food - a huge cook up brunch. When we literally could eat no more and could barely move we starting packing up. And after fitting everything back into the cars (not much more space despite giving stuff to Hardy), we decided we didn’t really want to leave so went and relaxed on the pontoon for a while again. Two engineers + spare time on a raft = competition to push each other in. Until of course they figured out that the two girls swimming and diving off the raft were in bikini’s which were likely to shift position when entering the water. And then followed push Liesl into the water and when she goes in easily, chase her so she can’t get out!
Eventually we got out and started the drive home.
Not wanting the weekend to end we decided to stop in Magaliesburg for a wimpy coffee milkshake. Dan’s car kindly agreed by getting a puncture as we drove into the town (on decent, pothole-free and tarred roads?). So we found somewhere to get it fixed and watched in amusement as the engineers repositioned everything to their standards. As soon as the tyre was back on (supervised by said engineers of course) we headed for a much anticipated milkshake.
I think that this has to be one of the best inland dive sights – the dives, the venue and the great people always make this a relaxing, fun and enjoyable weekend filled with happy memories and laughs.
Some pics (also courtesy of Duncan and Hardy) are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/HalloweenByCylumeLight?authkey=Gv1sRgCM7oj8S_6_fRRg#
Fabulous females, horizontal hail and “perspiring pink”
It all started over a milkshake when Liesl and I decided we needed to get out of Jo’burg and was confirmed when Shona (aka Twoot) agreed that an all girls pampering weekend was in order. So we booked, paid and got excited – which wasn’t hard as we happened to decide to go on the opening weekend of the soccer world cup. And yes, for all of those who are concerned, we only left on the Saturday morning AFTER Bafana drew with Mexico (Go Bafana)!
So very early on Saturday morning (so early that Karen and Liesl forgot not only their coffee (BAD thing at that time of the morning!) but also their wine! Tragedy!), Liesl, Karen, Alex, Anne (who we managed to convince on the Thursday to come), Meg and myself (but not Twoot – there were “issues” and despite many pleas that he was a “Miss comfortable Girly Pant”, not Marius either) set off for Sunnyside Guest Farm near Clarens. There was a road trip kind of atmosphere so we stopped in some pretty little dorpie (actually it was a loo stop but...) and then in Bethlehem (to replace that wine but there also just happened to be a Crazy Shop and you can’t walk past those!). Anyway, onwards towards Clarens – until we (Meg and I) suddenly decided that stopping at the Ash River outlet point for the Lesotho Highlands water scheme was a good idea and managed to convince Anne of photo opportunities and the others had no option but to follow. Very pretty! And incredible amount of water – I think the “channel” was 6m deep! Photos taken and it really was onward to Clarens.
The intention was only to go into Clarens “very quickly” (lunch was calling – Sunnyside is full board and besides it was going to be a relaxing, pampering weekekend), but we still managed to support the financial well-being of Clarens residents, with assurances to each other that we definitely needed (not wanted) to come back and line the pockets of the community further later that afternoon. And so to Sunnyside and lunch.
We were welcomed with the most delicious tea (and I’m not a tea drinker!) and shown our rooms (we were moved together in case we made a noise!) with just enough time to get settled for lunch. And then began the eating. Homemade. Everything. Soup. Bread. Butter. Steak or macaroni cheese. Fruit salad and ice cream. Yummy cheese. We attempted to walk out but think it was more of a waddle and then it was back to Clarens.
Clarens really is a “cute” little town. We wondered around looking in all the shops, spending lots and being amazed at Annes bargaining power, all the time watching the clock (couldn’t miss tea at four!). Luckily for us, the weather helped us along and a huge storm blew into town just before 4 – it was amazing how quickly the town emptied as people rushed to cars and under cover as the hail came down – horizontally. And so it was 6 giggling girls driving back to Sunnyside through horizontal hail – so much of it that the gardens were white! And back to more food. Again!
After chatting around the fire for a while with other guests (who were knitting scarves for kids schools in what was decided to be “perspiring pink”) we went back to the rooms. And attempted to think past what was waiting for dinner! So while some organised horse riding (Anne), others went for walks or started playing board games in front of the fire gain.
And then it was dinner time. And there was even more food than at lunch time. All of which we managed to find space for – soup and homemade bread and butter, a roast and 6 veggies and a hot pudding. We decided that nothing much else was going to happen that night – except for some pampering of course.
So baths with bath salts bought that day and in PJ’s we all ended up in one room. And Anne hit mafia mode. Not only in accent and behaviour but also with the ferocity with which she attacked our feet and gave us foot massages with foot scrubs and foot masks. Meg, Liesl and I attacked everyones face with face masks and somehow we also all painted each others nails – so full manicures and pedicures were also had by all. Well, we were actually just impressed that we got a facemask on Alex and Anne got her foot treatment from Liesl slightly later. All of this was accompanied by laughs – so much so that Liesl’s back actually went into spasm – unfortunately for her she had both a face and foot mask on so couldn’t really actually move. Which of course made the rest of us laugh even more! And so the evening continued until about 10pm when we were so exhausted we headed to our own rooms and bed.
The next morning, we headed to breakfast – and yet again over-ate with prrodge, fruit, full cooked breakfast etc etc. Luckily by this stage, Anne had managed to book horse riding in Golden Gate National Park. So off we headed – this time in 2 cars as the roads were slippery and wet – as Liesl found out when her car went down the road for a couple of meters at 90deg but we couldn’t stop as we would then get stuck! Our cars covered in mud (literally covered – spray on mud had nothing on us!), we found the place. It was with great trepidation that Alex, Karen and Liesl took to their horses having never ridden before (or not having ridden since pnies in childhood) but with great excitement that Anne, Meg and I got onto ours. It was a divine ride – through the foothills of Golden Gate with wildlife all over the place. And Liesl’s horse alternatively cantering or trotting to stay in front and Alex telling her horse “Good horsey, no horsey, No, NO, stop, STOP”. We finished and quickly went back – for tea! And then decided to stay for lunch as well! As if we hadn’t eaten enough.
So while the rest went for a walk along the river, I got roped into go for a MTB ride with a 10year old girl – how hard could that be! INCREDIBLY! Especially when the “bike” you’ve been lent only has a barely attached front wheel, no back brakes, no shocks and is stuck in “downhill” gears – and we were riding uphill! Combined with an hyperactive kid! However, I managed to stay upright for 2 laps and then suggested we go down to the river for a walk – which (luckily) was accepted readily. The lunch bell went and we hurried back for lunch – an “indoor” braai! YUM! We really did waddle out of the dinning room.
And then packed.
And headed back to the Big Smoke.
It was a weekend of fabulous females, horizontal hail and “perspiring pink”. And putting on 2kg – apparently! Not surprisingly though!
Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/FabulousFemalesHorizontalHailAndPerspiringPink?authkey=Gv1sRgCNuUsdWq5NaE7gE#
So very early on Saturday morning (so early that Karen and Liesl forgot not only their coffee (BAD thing at that time of the morning!) but also their wine! Tragedy!), Liesl, Karen, Alex, Anne (who we managed to convince on the Thursday to come), Meg and myself (but not Twoot – there were “issues” and despite many pleas that he was a “Miss comfortable Girly Pant”, not Marius either) set off for Sunnyside Guest Farm near Clarens. There was a road trip kind of atmosphere so we stopped in some pretty little dorpie (actually it was a loo stop but...) and then in Bethlehem (to replace that wine but there also just happened to be a Crazy Shop and you can’t walk past those!). Anyway, onwards towards Clarens – until we (Meg and I) suddenly decided that stopping at the Ash River outlet point for the Lesotho Highlands water scheme was a good idea and managed to convince Anne of photo opportunities and the others had no option but to follow. Very pretty! And incredible amount of water – I think the “channel” was 6m deep! Photos taken and it really was onward to Clarens.
The intention was only to go into Clarens “very quickly” (lunch was calling – Sunnyside is full board and besides it was going to be a relaxing, pampering weekekend), but we still managed to support the financial well-being of Clarens residents, with assurances to each other that we definitely needed (not wanted) to come back and line the pockets of the community further later that afternoon. And so to Sunnyside and lunch.
We were welcomed with the most delicious tea (and I’m not a tea drinker!) and shown our rooms (we were moved together in case we made a noise!) with just enough time to get settled for lunch. And then began the eating. Homemade. Everything. Soup. Bread. Butter. Steak or macaroni cheese. Fruit salad and ice cream. Yummy cheese. We attempted to walk out but think it was more of a waddle and then it was back to Clarens.
Clarens really is a “cute” little town. We wondered around looking in all the shops, spending lots and being amazed at Annes bargaining power, all the time watching the clock (couldn’t miss tea at four!). Luckily for us, the weather helped us along and a huge storm blew into town just before 4 – it was amazing how quickly the town emptied as people rushed to cars and under cover as the hail came down – horizontally. And so it was 6 giggling girls driving back to Sunnyside through horizontal hail – so much of it that the gardens were white! And back to more food. Again!
After chatting around the fire for a while with other guests (who were knitting scarves for kids schools in what was decided to be “perspiring pink”) we went back to the rooms. And attempted to think past what was waiting for dinner! So while some organised horse riding (Anne), others went for walks or started playing board games in front of the fire gain.
And then it was dinner time. And there was even more food than at lunch time. All of which we managed to find space for – soup and homemade bread and butter, a roast and 6 veggies and a hot pudding. We decided that nothing much else was going to happen that night – except for some pampering of course.
So baths with bath salts bought that day and in PJ’s we all ended up in one room. And Anne hit mafia mode. Not only in accent and behaviour but also with the ferocity with which she attacked our feet and gave us foot massages with foot scrubs and foot masks. Meg, Liesl and I attacked everyones face with face masks and somehow we also all painted each others nails – so full manicures and pedicures were also had by all. Well, we were actually just impressed that we got a facemask on Alex and Anne got her foot treatment from Liesl slightly later. All of this was accompanied by laughs – so much so that Liesl’s back actually went into spasm – unfortunately for her she had both a face and foot mask on so couldn’t really actually move. Which of course made the rest of us laugh even more! And so the evening continued until about 10pm when we were so exhausted we headed to our own rooms and bed.
The next morning, we headed to breakfast – and yet again over-ate with prrodge, fruit, full cooked breakfast etc etc. Luckily by this stage, Anne had managed to book horse riding in Golden Gate National Park. So off we headed – this time in 2 cars as the roads were slippery and wet – as Liesl found out when her car went down the road for a couple of meters at 90deg but we couldn’t stop as we would then get stuck! Our cars covered in mud (literally covered – spray on mud had nothing on us!), we found the place. It was with great trepidation that Alex, Karen and Liesl took to their horses having never ridden before (or not having ridden since pnies in childhood) but with great excitement that Anne, Meg and I got onto ours. It was a divine ride – through the foothills of Golden Gate with wildlife all over the place. And Liesl’s horse alternatively cantering or trotting to stay in front and Alex telling her horse “Good horsey, no horsey, No, NO, stop, STOP”. We finished and quickly went back – for tea! And then decided to stay for lunch as well! As if we hadn’t eaten enough.
So while the rest went for a walk along the river, I got roped into go for a MTB ride with a 10year old girl – how hard could that be! INCREDIBLY! Especially when the “bike” you’ve been lent only has a barely attached front wheel, no back brakes, no shocks and is stuck in “downhill” gears – and we were riding uphill! Combined with an hyperactive kid! However, I managed to stay upright for 2 laps and then suggested we go down to the river for a walk – which (luckily) was accepted readily. The lunch bell went and we hurried back for lunch – an “indoor” braai! YUM! We really did waddle out of the dinning room.
And then packed.
And headed back to the Big Smoke.
It was a weekend of fabulous females, horizontal hail and “perspiring pink”. And putting on 2kg – apparently! Not surprisingly though!
Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/FabulousFemalesHorizontalHailAndPerspiringPink?authkey=Gv1sRgCNuUsdWq5NaE7gE#
Friday, 05 March 2010
Eyes opened at Marico Oog
The long awaited trip to Marico Oog finally happened!
And it took a bit of organisation: not sure how many times we tried, and when we eventually set the weekend, the Wits compressor broke, so we had to spend hours at NUC filling cylinders. Thanks Paolop! And we were missing some of the orinators of the idea (:( to Doug and Roach!) Then rushed day on Friday, but eventually we were in the car just before 4! At 5, we were about 30km – from home. At 6, we were still in Jo’burg (!@#$%^&* traffic). Eventually, we were in Rustenburg, then Swartruggens and finally Zeerust. With no music! Not because we weren’t organised or because we couldn’t decide on who’s music to play (this was a likely scenario) but because the GPS/music player kept blowing the radio/cigarette lighter fuse. So poor Paolo had to make do with Shona and I. I think he would’ve preferred our music!
Eventually though, with the help of cell phones with GPS, we were almost there. Or so we thought. The co-ordinates were wrong! And it was pouring with rain! And the roads were very muddy! And we had Alex following us in a little Taz. (Read we got stuck in the mud. And rain). Eventually, after SIX AND A HALF HOURS, we got there! And amazingly, it stopped raining for long enough for us to put our tents up :) And Julie and Chris had been there for an hour already!
Early Saturday morning, Hardy and family arrived. While having coffee and breakfast, we all took bets as to what time Peter, Jolande and Karen would arrive and were all hopelessly wrong when they arrived way before any of us expected them.
Eventually, we got to the water and decided to try some free diving. SUCH fun! I was so happy to get to 5m – and then watched the others showing off with Hern and Little easily going to 10m and Hardy and Alex freaking 1*’s out while they were doing skills by watching with no gear and swimming under the grid! We also free dived to an eye. Then it was onto SCUBA diving and the real eye! Viz was amazing – about 10m! Until we went through the water lilies and reeds that is – when lots of silt meant that half way through overhangs you could see Nothing! Nada! Niks! Niente! Was interesting :) But still absolutely amazing. While some of us made it out, others swam in “deeper” and ended up the other side of some reeds from us – and so ensued a game of Marco Polo. Eventually though, we all swam back through the fence (the cool reed beds are in another “angry” farmers land so the eye has a fence through it) and went for lunch.
The afternoon was spent relaxing around the campsite and getting ready for a night dive – which was also on the list of to-do’s for all the other divers. We were luckily the 2nd group in and were able to sit on the grid and moon gaze through the bubbles at the full moon from 5m under the water – AMAZING! But (insert expletive – use your imagination!) cold!
So while Shona and I counted the minutes until we could have a hot shower, Paolo cooked our food for us! And just as we got out of our nice warm shower, food was ready – perfect timing. And then we hit the sack early – 4 people in my little tent (when there was a HUGE tent free) meant that we all (except Chris) woke up at some stage during the night boiling hot and finding the tent very stuffy.
After a lazy morning and full cooked breakfast, we went back to the water and after a brief amount of training, Julie hit 10m! And Zena got to 7m! And then I got to 10m! And Shona swam under the grid! We finished off doing another SCUBA dive while Hardy and others were free diving. Hardy decided to “shadow” us – unbeknown to Alex. Resulting in an amazing face-plant/corkscrew action into the silt when he pinched her bum. We were all laughing so much we had to surface to catch out breath. And then we went back to the reed beds – and with just 3 of us and minimal silting, it was incredible – swimming under reed beds with caverns. And the viz was about 10-15m so we could see so much.
Then it was home time – packing up tents and all that wonderful stuff that has to happen at the end of a camping weekend. And back to reality! And even after loosing Flex, and going to find her, the return trip took about 3 hours!
Pics can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/EyesOpenedAtMaricoOog?authkey=Gv1sRgCLub5YvH-5_N_wE#
Or
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/EyesOpenedAtMaricoOog?authkey=Gv1sRgCLub5YvH-5_N_wE#
And it took a bit of organisation: not sure how many times we tried, and when we eventually set the weekend, the Wits compressor broke, so we had to spend hours at NUC filling cylinders. Thanks Paolop! And we were missing some of the orinators of the idea (:( to Doug and Roach!) Then rushed day on Friday, but eventually we were in the car just before 4! At 5, we were about 30km – from home. At 6, we were still in Jo’burg (!@#$%^&* traffic). Eventually, we were in Rustenburg, then Swartruggens and finally Zeerust. With no music! Not because we weren’t organised or because we couldn’t decide on who’s music to play (this was a likely scenario) but because the GPS/music player kept blowing the radio/cigarette lighter fuse. So poor Paolo had to make do with Shona and I. I think he would’ve preferred our music!
Eventually though, with the help of cell phones with GPS, we were almost there. Or so we thought. The co-ordinates were wrong! And it was pouring with rain! And the roads were very muddy! And we had Alex following us in a little Taz. (Read we got stuck in the mud. And rain). Eventually, after SIX AND A HALF HOURS, we got there! And amazingly, it stopped raining for long enough for us to put our tents up :) And Julie and Chris had been there for an hour already!
Early Saturday morning, Hardy and family arrived. While having coffee and breakfast, we all took bets as to what time Peter, Jolande and Karen would arrive and were all hopelessly wrong when they arrived way before any of us expected them.
Eventually, we got to the water and decided to try some free diving. SUCH fun! I was so happy to get to 5m – and then watched the others showing off with Hern and Little easily going to 10m and Hardy and Alex freaking 1*’s out while they were doing skills by watching with no gear and swimming under the grid! We also free dived to an eye. Then it was onto SCUBA diving and the real eye! Viz was amazing – about 10m! Until we went through the water lilies and reeds that is – when lots of silt meant that half way through overhangs you could see Nothing! Nada! Niks! Niente! Was interesting :) But still absolutely amazing. While some of us made it out, others swam in “deeper” and ended up the other side of some reeds from us – and so ensued a game of Marco Polo. Eventually though, we all swam back through the fence (the cool reed beds are in another “angry” farmers land so the eye has a fence through it) and went for lunch.
The afternoon was spent relaxing around the campsite and getting ready for a night dive – which was also on the list of to-do’s for all the other divers. We were luckily the 2nd group in and were able to sit on the grid and moon gaze through the bubbles at the full moon from 5m under the water – AMAZING! But (insert expletive – use your imagination!) cold!
So while Shona and I counted the minutes until we could have a hot shower, Paolo cooked our food for us! And just as we got out of our nice warm shower, food was ready – perfect timing. And then we hit the sack early – 4 people in my little tent (when there was a HUGE tent free) meant that we all (except Chris) woke up at some stage during the night boiling hot and finding the tent very stuffy.
After a lazy morning and full cooked breakfast, we went back to the water and after a brief amount of training, Julie hit 10m! And Zena got to 7m! And then I got to 10m! And Shona swam under the grid! We finished off doing another SCUBA dive while Hardy and others were free diving. Hardy decided to “shadow” us – unbeknown to Alex. Resulting in an amazing face-plant/corkscrew action into the silt when he pinched her bum. We were all laughing so much we had to surface to catch out breath. And then we went back to the reed beds – and with just 3 of us and minimal silting, it was incredible – swimming under reed beds with caverns. And the viz was about 10-15m so we could see so much.
Then it was home time – packing up tents and all that wonderful stuff that has to happen at the end of a camping weekend. And back to reality! And even after loosing Flex, and going to find her, the return trip took about 3 hours!
Pics can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/EyesOpenedAtMaricoOog?authkey=Gv1sRgCLub5YvH-5_N_wE#
Or
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/EyesOpenedAtMaricoOog?authkey=Gv1sRgCLub5YvH-5_N_wE#
Midmar madness
It was that time of year again – when half of Jo’burg (or so it seems on the N3) heads down to Midmar, swims a mile and then turns around and comes back again with a brief stop at the Bierfasl. We joined the madness… again!
Friday afternoon saw us hurriedly packing the car in order to beat the traffic – err – good attempt, but it still took us a LONG time to get out of Joburg. But pretty soon we were at Woodwind Cottage and unpacked. It was then that a theme for the weekend was set – tease me (not bad) and decide what-Jenny-wants-for-her (suppose my fault for going away with 4 guys!), beginning with what makes someone attractive (after analysing George Clooney)… Interesting conversations! “Hello” rapidly became a better option for me :) – which means conversation had stooped to an all time low!
And then onto another theme for the weekend – Marius “Miss Girly Pants” Van Wyk – who refused to share a bed with Theo and insisted on sleeping on cushions on the floor instead! Even worse, he made Theo sleep on the floor the next night, thereby giving Theo the better bed the night before “the race”.
And so it was that the next morning, we left (late) for Midmar, parked the car and headed off to register – what a pleasure in comparison to other years! And then for the reason we went – the swim :) Yes, we all made it, despite it being significantly further than previously due to all the rain recently. Well, that’s my excuse anyway…
After relaxing in the beer tent for a while, we headed off to Hilton to pick up a friend of Mikes and then headed towards Howick Falls, with me in the boot of my own car! I still wonder! Anyway, Howick wasn’t far away and pretty soon Mike, Henk (the friend), Chris and I were at the bottom of the falls to climb/relax while Marius and Theo stayed at the top (remember the girly pants?). Climbing was unsuccessful and Chris and I realized that perhaps, maybe there was sudden;t more water coming over the falls. We almost ran back up and then it started raining. And raining. And pouring! So I ran to get the car, Mike, Henk and Chris walked, then found shelter and proceeded to open beers and I fetched Marius and Theo who were waiting 300m away (err, need I say girly pants – they didn’t want to get wet!).
We headed back and within an hour, all 5 of us had showered and warmed up and we headed off (in the rain) to the Bierfasl to meet Julie and co. Yummy dinner while attempting to control 4 boys – 1 who was dancing while sitting at the table (Theo), another who was drooling over school girls (Marius) and another two were picking out cougars and men I should take home. *sigh* Got home and attempted to watch Troy. Fell asleep.
Next morning, Valentines Day I may add, I cooked breakfast for all while they watched Troy. Again! Well, there were offers of help and Chris and Mike did wash up… And then it was off to the chocolate shop! YUM! And coffee! Also good! And then Rawdons for beer! :) And then the long drive home :(
Pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/MidmarMadness?authkey=Gv1sRgCOWEyrKjtojSLw#
or
http://picasaweb.google.com/home
Friday afternoon saw us hurriedly packing the car in order to beat the traffic – err – good attempt, but it still took us a LONG time to get out of Joburg. But pretty soon we were at Woodwind Cottage and unpacked. It was then that a theme for the weekend was set – tease me (not bad) and decide what-Jenny-wants-for-her (suppose my fault for going away with 4 guys!), beginning with what makes someone attractive (after analysing George Clooney)… Interesting conversations! “Hello” rapidly became a better option for me :) – which means conversation had stooped to an all time low!
And then onto another theme for the weekend – Marius “Miss Girly Pants” Van Wyk – who refused to share a bed with Theo and insisted on sleeping on cushions on the floor instead! Even worse, he made Theo sleep on the floor the next night, thereby giving Theo the better bed the night before “the race”.
And so it was that the next morning, we left (late) for Midmar, parked the car and headed off to register – what a pleasure in comparison to other years! And then for the reason we went – the swim :) Yes, we all made it, despite it being significantly further than previously due to all the rain recently. Well, that’s my excuse anyway…
After relaxing in the beer tent for a while, we headed off to Hilton to pick up a friend of Mikes and then headed towards Howick Falls, with me in the boot of my own car! I still wonder! Anyway, Howick wasn’t far away and pretty soon Mike, Henk (the friend), Chris and I were at the bottom of the falls to climb/relax while Marius and Theo stayed at the top (remember the girly pants?). Climbing was unsuccessful and Chris and I realized that perhaps, maybe there was sudden;t more water coming over the falls. We almost ran back up and then it started raining. And raining. And pouring! So I ran to get the car, Mike, Henk and Chris walked, then found shelter and proceeded to open beers and I fetched Marius and Theo who were waiting 300m away (err, need I say girly pants – they didn’t want to get wet!).
We headed back and within an hour, all 5 of us had showered and warmed up and we headed off (in the rain) to the Bierfasl to meet Julie and co. Yummy dinner while attempting to control 4 boys – 1 who was dancing while sitting at the table (Theo), another who was drooling over school girls (Marius) and another two were picking out cougars and men I should take home. *sigh* Got home and attempted to watch Troy. Fell asleep.
Next morning, Valentines Day I may add, I cooked breakfast for all while they watched Troy. Again! Well, there were offers of help and Chris and Mike did wash up… And then it was off to the chocolate shop! YUM! And coffee! Also good! And then Rawdons for beer! :) And then the long drive home :(
Pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/MidmarMadness?authkey=Gv1sRgCOWEyrKjtojSLw#
or
http://picasaweb.google.com/home
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
For the love of a bike (or lack thereof) – Botswana Road Trip
This story starts with a frantic phone call from Anne (aka Banan) on the 30th Dec to see what I was doing the next day and if I had a valid passport and ends 2400km and 3.5 days later... The long and short of it was that Anne’s oldest brother, Vito, was in a motorbike accident in Botswana (luckily only 2 broken ribs but sill needed to be flown back to SA) and so we went up, with her youngest brother, Luigi, to fetch the bike!
And is was one of those trips were a pictue (link a the bottom) says a thousand wods!
So, we duly hit the road and, with no particular plans, headed towards Botswana and Gabarone. We got to Gabs and continued on… and on… and on… Until we got to Mahalapye and dinner. And then on… and on… and on some more until we got to Francistown at about 1am. Bed was very welcome – and a very comfy one at that! The birding (a couple of lifers but this wasn’t a birding trip) started with a Woodland Kingfisher, whose 4:30am wake up call did not go own well! The hotel (Cresta Marang) was very well set out but we had no time to enjoy it as we left early and headed up to Nata the next day, not knowing exactly how long anything was going to take. However, the police couldn’t have been nicer and everything was sorted out very quickly with no fuss. They had listed everything and all was in a box waiting for us – apart from valuables which they had locked in a safe! I don’t think even a drop of petrol was taken! After making sure we knew where we were going, we continued towards Kasane to get the bike at a veterinary control barrier.
And then we stopped in absolute amazement – there was an elephant walking down the road towards us! This would not be surprising – except that it was on the A3, the main road between Gabarone to Kasane! And this was no chance occurrence – there was another one a couple of kilometers further along! Again, the Botswana people (in typical hospitality and friendliness) at the barrier couldn’t have been more helpful, helping us (read Luigi) load the bike (while telling us about the 3 lion that had walked past earlier) and then giving us detailed directions to the accident site. So off we went…
We think we found it, took a couple of pics and then headed back towards Nata wondering what we should do with ourselves. The idea was to try to get to the Makgadikgadi Pans so we stopped and asked around. It was recommended that we head towards a lodge, Planet Baobab as the pans were flooded (strange being the wet season!) but that they would have a better idea. The road was interesting with donkey carts, termite mounds, huge concrete aardvark (?)… Planet Baobab was an oasis and we didn’t venture further – a pool, cold dink, large baobabs… Amazing! The lounge/bar area was decorated in cow hide with beer bottles and an outside lounge suite in concrete couches and the rooms were stunning as well with a very cute bathroom. After a game of “straight sharky, we had a braai dinner and despite huge plans to download pictures, we hit the sack.
Next morning we drove around for a while looking for markets but once we realised that the only place to find them was Francistown or Gabarone, decided to head down that direction via Nata to see if we could go quad biking. Banan and I made very good use of our cameras while Luigi struck different poses on the bike – not only while we were sill but while we were driving as well! No luck for quad biking (pans still flooded!) but it was suggested we head to Nata Sanctuary. We couldn’t take the trailer in and the P55 seemed a lot but we went for it anyway!
Brilliant decision! The sanctuary is the north east corner of the Makgadikgadi pans and really made the vastness and flatness real. Absolutely amazing and indescribable. The road often disappeared – either in mud (those flooded pans again!) or into a large pan where it was pot luck as to where the exit was. After playing in what we thought was a large pan, we headed to the “river mouth” but didn’t make it – need a 4 x 4. We did however get super dooper excited at 3 flamingo’s! We continued along the road for a while and then came across the view that everyone looks for – MILLIONS (literally!) of flamingo’s – and a couple of ostrich. This pan was Humungous and literally stretched as far as the eye could see. We were all 3 speechless – for the 1st and last time on the road trip – and for about ½ hour as we just attempted to take in the sites (and not get stuck in the mud!). Reluctantly, we started heading back but found some other interesting sites along the way back – a baobab, some springbok…
And then on to Francistown, and yet more chicken for dinner J We found ourselves another hotel (Tati Rive Lodge – not as nice as Cresta Marang) and duly crashed into bed - again! The next morning we went shopping and looked for the now infamous markets which were nowhere to be found. Instead, we found a whole 3 roadside stalls… We continued looking all the way out o Botswana, even taking a detour to a “craft centre” (closed) and an ostrich farm (yip – you guessed it – also closed!). We left Botswana, crossed over the Limpopo and immediately got “welcomed” back to SA with a glare from the customs official (she was talking on her phone). We decided to push on home rather than stop and eventually got home (after a Wimpy – no chicken!) at about 11. Thank goodness for Banan’s Mom who quickly made coffee while we unpacked and repacked cars. Vito arrived very quickly – supposedly to drop off keys but to check his car and bike (and us?) were back safely?
In conclusion: Essential ingredients for an AWESOME road trip =
2 x amazing friends (thanks Banan and Luigi)
1 x no real plan for 3.5 days and 2400km
1 x kind bother who wants his bike from somewhere in Northern Botswana back (thanks Vito)
Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/ForTheLoveOfABikeOrLackThereofBotswanaRoadtrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCK_dluymm_nXPQ
And is was one of those trips were a pictue (link a the bottom) says a thousand wods!
So, we duly hit the road and, with no particular plans, headed towards Botswana and Gabarone. We got to Gabs and continued on… and on… and on… Until we got to Mahalapye and dinner. And then on… and on… and on some more until we got to Francistown at about 1am. Bed was very welcome – and a very comfy one at that! The birding (a couple of lifers but this wasn’t a birding trip) started with a Woodland Kingfisher, whose 4:30am wake up call did not go own well! The hotel (Cresta Marang) was very well set out but we had no time to enjoy it as we left early and headed up to Nata the next day, not knowing exactly how long anything was going to take. However, the police couldn’t have been nicer and everything was sorted out very quickly with no fuss. They had listed everything and all was in a box waiting for us – apart from valuables which they had locked in a safe! I don’t think even a drop of petrol was taken! After making sure we knew where we were going, we continued towards Kasane to get the bike at a veterinary control barrier.
And then we stopped in absolute amazement – there was an elephant walking down the road towards us! This would not be surprising – except that it was on the A3, the main road between Gabarone to Kasane! And this was no chance occurrence – there was another one a couple of kilometers further along! Again, the Botswana people (in typical hospitality and friendliness) at the barrier couldn’t have been more helpful, helping us (read Luigi) load the bike (while telling us about the 3 lion that had walked past earlier) and then giving us detailed directions to the accident site. So off we went…
We think we found it, took a couple of pics and then headed back towards Nata wondering what we should do with ourselves. The idea was to try to get to the Makgadikgadi Pans so we stopped and asked around. It was recommended that we head towards a lodge, Planet Baobab as the pans were flooded (strange being the wet season!) but that they would have a better idea. The road was interesting with donkey carts, termite mounds, huge concrete aardvark (?)… Planet Baobab was an oasis and we didn’t venture further – a pool, cold dink, large baobabs… Amazing! The lounge/bar area was decorated in cow hide with beer bottles and an outside lounge suite in concrete couches and the rooms were stunning as well with a very cute bathroom. After a game of “straight sharky, we had a braai dinner and despite huge plans to download pictures, we hit the sack.
Next morning we drove around for a while looking for markets but once we realised that the only place to find them was Francistown or Gabarone, decided to head down that direction via Nata to see if we could go quad biking. Banan and I made very good use of our cameras while Luigi struck different poses on the bike – not only while we were sill but while we were driving as well! No luck for quad biking (pans still flooded!) but it was suggested we head to Nata Sanctuary. We couldn’t take the trailer in and the P55 seemed a lot but we went for it anyway!
Brilliant decision! The sanctuary is the north east corner of the Makgadikgadi pans and really made the vastness and flatness real. Absolutely amazing and indescribable. The road often disappeared – either in mud (those flooded pans again!) or into a large pan where it was pot luck as to where the exit was. After playing in what we thought was a large pan, we headed to the “river mouth” but didn’t make it – need a 4 x 4. We did however get super dooper excited at 3 flamingo’s! We continued along the road for a while and then came across the view that everyone looks for – MILLIONS (literally!) of flamingo’s – and a couple of ostrich. This pan was Humungous and literally stretched as far as the eye could see. We were all 3 speechless – for the 1st and last time on the road trip – and for about ½ hour as we just attempted to take in the sites (and not get stuck in the mud!). Reluctantly, we started heading back but found some other interesting sites along the way back – a baobab, some springbok…
And then on to Francistown, and yet more chicken for dinner J We found ourselves another hotel (Tati Rive Lodge – not as nice as Cresta Marang) and duly crashed into bed - again! The next morning we went shopping and looked for the now infamous markets which were nowhere to be found. Instead, we found a whole 3 roadside stalls… We continued looking all the way out o Botswana, even taking a detour to a “craft centre” (closed) and an ostrich farm (yip – you guessed it – also closed!). We left Botswana, crossed over the Limpopo and immediately got “welcomed” back to SA with a glare from the customs official (she was talking on her phone). We decided to push on home rather than stop and eventually got home (after a Wimpy – no chicken!) at about 11. Thank goodness for Banan’s Mom who quickly made coffee while we unpacked and repacked cars. Vito arrived very quickly – supposedly to drop off keys but to check his car and bike (and us?) were back safely?
In conclusion: Essential ingredients for an AWESOME road trip =
2 x amazing friends (thanks Banan and Luigi)
1 x no real plan for 3.5 days and 2400km
1 x kind bother who wants his bike from somewhere in Northern Botswana back (thanks Vito)
Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/ForTheLoveOfABikeOrLackThereofBotswanaRoadtrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCK_dluymm_nXPQ
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