Peregrinations end

Wed 27 July 2016 - Drive to Johannesburg and fly home

Who ever thought this day would finally come? We had emptied the car and packed our bags for the final time yesterday so this morning’s getaway would be easy and with mixed feelings we said farewell to Ernest and Michelle and admired the beautiful snow capped Drakensberg Mountains lit by a bright sun under a blue sky - typical!

Our journey took us back over the Oliviershoek pass and past the Border Post, home of Simon the Phatt Chef and Megan, where we’d spent an enjoyable evening at the end of May. As we had plenty of time we called in to say hi and ended up staying nearly 2 hours chatting. They had had heavy snow on the Monday night and told us they had been mobbed the following day as apparently South African’s go crazy when there is a snowfall and travel for miles to play in it and there were still the remains of melted snowmen on the grass where the hoards had been. Megan also told they lost electricity for nearly 24 hours, which left them struggling to cater for their guests and the day visitors.

Leaving the Border Post we continued along the scenic R74 then made our way to the motorway and sped along the next 200km until we reached Heidelberg, where hunger finally got the better of us and we found a Steers burger restaurant, the South African McDonalds, and pulled over to repeat our first South African dinner, this time with a twist. This morning we had a lot of food and some wine left over so once we had our burgers we sat at an outside table in the sun and added some vegetables that we’d steamed before we left then poured some Cederberg wine into borrowed glasses to enjoy fast food in style.

After our meal diner we rejoined the motorway and covered the short distance to reach the sprawling outskirts of Johannesburg where we promptly ran into a massive traffic jam. With only three and a half hours before our flight left and the rush hour approaching things became a little tense but we were saved by the Sat Nav, which found us a way along some back roads and through an industrial estate to get us to the airport on time.

The friendly car rental guy checked the car and joyfully told us we could leave any spare food in the boot so he inherited the remains of our last bottle of Cederberg (which broke our hearts to leave) and some other goodies. Checkin and boarding was painless and we were soon sitting in our seats on the plane for the 12 hour flight home reminiscing about the amazing experiences we’d had over the last year and pondering our next adventures.

In the morning we traversed Heathrow arrivals in record time to be collected by our, soon to be, daughter-in-law Jess and Grandson Riley, who is now 3 and very chatty, and headed along the M4 to sunny Wokingham - home for now!


A big thank you to all our followers, especially those that left comments. You kept us sane.

It rained and rained

Sun 24 - Tue 26 July 2016 - River Crossing Regretfully the weather forecast was correct and it rained almost solidly with occasional thunderstorms, day and night, for three days leaving us watching wistfully from the window at the cloud shrouded mountains. Occasionally the clouds parted revealing a snow covering on the upper levels and we wished we had our winter gear with us to go exploring. Consequently we stayed indoors trying to keep warm under rungs in a typical South African house that is built for the hot and therefore has single glazed windows, high ceilings and no insulation. Fortunately the internet was reasonable and the TV had good sport coverage so life was ok. On the evening of the 26th, the last night of our trip, we went out to dinner with Ernest and Michelle, our host at River Crossing, who have also travelled extensively so we had a lot to talk about comparing adventures. They had both worked in banking and retired at 55 when they bought the farm where they built River Crossing but they told us they were in the process of selling as they wanted to be ‘property free’ so they can travel around the world and live wherever they fancy. Ernest had taken a degree in later life and moved on to become a Phd in Theology. He is currently using his auditing skills to write a book that analyses the bible exploring the provenance of its stories.

This was a good break in the clouds...

..and on the last day they finally cleared

Dinner with Ernest and Michelle

I can see clearly now

Sat 23 July 2016 - Injasuti, Central Drakensbergs

Having suffered the masses at Monk’s Cowl yesterday we sought solitude at the adjacent park of Injasuti. Although it is only a few km from Monk’s Cowl as the crow flies it is over 40km by road - and what a road. The first few km out of the Champagne valley and along the link road were fine but once we turned into the next valley things went steadily downhill. At first it was hundreds of pedestrians plus the odd cow herd in the road (this valley is clearly where the blacks live) then our beloved potholes appeared in increasing frequency and size and then the road turned into a dirt track. A very bumpy, stony track that wound up and down the valley floor for many km. 

We eventually arrived at the car park with Yvonne in a state of nervous distress and Glenn relieved to be there in one piece. After discussing our route with a ranger and filling in the log book we were on our way. What a difference a day makes. The weather was much cooler (actually ideal walking conditions), we had the path to ourselves and the scenery was spectacular - much greener than anywhere else in the Drakensbergs that we’d been to with large valleys and lots of trees.

The first part of the walk was the inevitable climb up a large valley at the base of which we saw several waterfalls and then we climbed steadily diagonally up the valley side until we reached Grindstone Cave. The cave is really just a large overhang, similar to many others in these mountains, and the dried grass on the floor gave testament to the fact that they are often used as overnight stops by hikers on multi day trips. It was a very pleasant spot with a trickle of water running over the overhang into a small pools, which made an great water source but would have had us out of bed all night had we stayed here!

After mooching around in the cave a while we pushed on and climbed a little higher to reach the plateau then walked along until we below a rocky ridge rather charmingly named of “old women grinding corn”. As we sat on a windy hillside eating our lunch we noticed a large cloud bank rolling in - not the bright blue skies we’d been accustomed to and a portent of the rains forecast for tomorrow. Deciding to crack on in case the rain came early we walked along until the path we planned to take should have forked off the path we were on but there was no sign of it. No wishing to waste time searching for the path or forging a way across country we dropped straight down the hillside to meet another path that crossed the stream in the valley below us.

Although the new path was well defined it climbed back up the other side of the valley to regain the height we’d just lost but at least it did give us great views along the valley and we soon atop the far side looking down into the next valley and our way home. This valley is named ‘Cataract Valley’, which was strange co-incidence as the yesterday Yvonne’s mum had been in hospital having cataracts in her eye removed.

During our descent the sun reappeared, which made it very pleasant and we were soon ambling along the valley floor passing the many waterfalls, cascades and rock chutes that presumably give the valley its name. Once back in the main valley the path became easy and we wandered in the sunshine admiring the lovely scenery until we met a troop of baboons - Yvonne’s nemesis. She called for Glenn to wait and walked close until we’d passed them.

We arrived at the car mid afternoon, early for us, and drove slowly along the treacherous road - probably the worst we’d been on in South Africa, which is saying something. Once again the sides were thronged with masses of people and when we reached the crossroads with the link road we found where they were all heading to/from. A couple of bars playing music and some small shops clearly makes this THE place to be on a Saturday. Edging our way through the crowds we made the main road and were back in no time but with no sunshine and the temperature much cooler there was no sitting on the patio today.

A green and leafy start to the day

Green slopes - very un-African

Yvonne passes the entrance to Grindstone Cave...

...then goes inside

Yvonne approaching our lunch spot 

The valley we crossed

Hiking with the masses

Fri 22 July 2016 - Monks Cowl Park, Central Drakensbergs

River Crossing our resort, is in Champagne Valley, the most developed area of the Drakensbergs with many other resorts off the central access road and very convenient for the Monks Cowl park, which also meant there were many other cars in the car park when we arrived in the morning. Having chatted with the rangers we decided to tackle the Blind Man’s Corner hike - a steady 19km to get us back into the swing of  walking, which we hadn’t done since Sossusvlei in Namibia, weeks ago.

It was a warm, clear morning with temperatures in the mid 20’s forecast, not bad for mid winter, and we set off on the steady climb to a rock feature named the Sphinx. As we wound up the trail we leapfrogged some couples of our age and were then overtaken by a large group of French speaking youngsters - what were all these people doing in our mountains? Half way up we stopped at the Crystal Falls, an aptly named waterfall of crystal clear water that had carved a narrow slot in the rock down which it was running.

A short while later we reached a large rock outcrop that we took for the Sphinx, although it didn’t bare much of a resemblance. What it did have was spectacular views and we tarried awhile watching the young French men climbing a rocky promontory to show off for photos, listening to some of the more frail girls crying and complaining about the exertion and waiting for them to get on their way. No solitude for us today.

Although old enough to be their parents, we soon powered past the youngsters working our way along a large plateau when, out of nowhere, the wind started blowing. As we reached the T junction of Blind Man’s Corner, where we would about turn, we rounded the corner seeking some shelter from the wind, which while not cold was blowing dust about, for our lunch.

Rested, nourished and satisfied with looking at the views we began making our way down. Fortunately the noisy youngsters had wolfed their lunch, as youngsters do, and left some time before us so peace had returned to the mountains and we enjoyed a steady descent down a different path. At one stage the wind picked up drastically and we had to stand still with our backs to the force to keep the dust from our eyes while we felt it blasting against our bare legs.

With most of the descent out of the way we reached a junction of paths and briefly discussed adding an extension loop but opted for an early finish to enjoy the sunshine. By mid afternoon we were back at the car and the short drive brought us back to our chalet where we sat on the patio in the sun soaking in the heat and admiring the view.

With the weather forecast not good for Sun, Mon and Tue so we prepared for an early start tomorrow.

Crystal falls

Great scenery

Cathkin Peak, over 3000m 

Yvonne at the Sphinx

Yvonne (the small figure) crossing the plateau

Cathkin Peak and Sterkhorn

Time for a holiday

Thu 21 July 2016 - Central Drakensberg mountains

With a healthy breakfast start and fantastic shower we left Maropeng hotel to make our way south bypassing Pretoria and Jo’burg to our final travel destination before we head back to the UK. We’ve decided to take a week’s holiday returning to the Drakensberg mountains which we enjoyed so much weeks ago. This time we are heading to the Central area for 6 days of hiking if the weather allows, not forgetting it is still winter here so we anticipate minus nighttime temperatures.

Our route started on the N3 Durban highway with good quality tarmac roads and plenty of traffic moving around the outskirts of the two cities, we’ve not experienced this volume of traffic for months. We elected to leave the highway to take the scenic route passing through the northern Drakensberg area and passing the Phatt Chef hotel we had stayed some weeks ago at in preparation of hiking Sentinel Peak but had been permanently closed the same day due to hikers being attacked by some Lesotho locals.

In Winterton we did our last supermarket shop treating ourselves to some of the foods we have enjoyed in SA not least their rusks then headed to Bergview to find our lodge, River Crossing where we are staying for our last 6 days. Michelle and Ernest greeted us on arrival, introduced us to their african cat, Hunter and gave us a detailed tourist map of the area. We explained we were here for some good hiking and they shared the unfortunate news on the local weather, which is expected to turn very wintery in the next day or so, even the possibility of some snow.

Our lodge at River Crossing...

...and the view.

The Cradle

Wed 20 July 2016 - The Cradle of Humankind, SA

We had intended to leave early but breakfast in bed is never a good way to expedite getting up so we ended up a little late. Today we visited the Cradle of Humankind, an area of South Africa with the perfect combination of rocks and terrain to create and preserve fossils in caves where many remains of our ancestors have been found and the last place recommended by Carol and Philip, our SA friends.

On a hope we punched it in the sat nav and were surprised that it found it and presented a route so we joined the N4 and sped on our way. An hour and several sets of roadworks later we turned off the and followed a regional road across the rolling hills - a very pleasant change from the flat plains of Botswana. We followed brown (tourist) direction signs that were contrary to the sat nav and ended up taking a massive detour until we gave up, followed the sat nav and reached the Maropeng visitor centre. It seems a large area is named ‘The Cradle of Humankind’ and we hadn’t realised the visitor centre had a name of it's own.

So, somewhat later than intended, we arrived at the centre, bought our tickets and entered the very snazzy foyer. Maropeng is a hands on centre dealing with man's evolution from apes and the fossil record that identify the various hominid species that ultimately ended up with home sapiens i.e. us. The entrance took us on a small boat ride through the four elements of water, earth, fire and air trying to give us a feeling of going back through time with volcanic activity and ice ages. It was very Disney but must be good to grab children's attention. Once off the boat we walked through a rotating cylinder covered with stars that was very disorientating but not sure what relevance it had and finally we emerged in a large underground hall containing all the exhibits.

At first we pretty much had it to ourselves and we spent a long time reading the information boards and looking at the life sized models of what the experts think our ancestors looked like. It was interesting to learn about the evolutionary stages e.g. standing up to walk on two legs, and the advantage each bestowed, freeing the hands for other tasks, initially food gathering, and how we slowly developed larger brains, controlled fire, made tools and developed speech. We really are quite amazing.

As we neared the final exhibits about our advanced skills a large group of teenage schoolchildren entered making a heck of a racket. They whisked through the exhibits, paying very little attention, then went outside - not sure how much they learned.

As they left and calm returned we walked along one of the walls which had information about global warming, overpopulation, water scarcity that sort of thing and as we left we got the twin message - it’s taken hundreds of thousands of years to get to where we are now and if we’re not careful we’re going to destroy it all. Apparently there have been 5 mass extinction events in history (asteroid collisions, ice ages etc) and many experts believe we are in the process of a 6th - the first ever caused by one species on all others. That’s not one for the cv!

Once out of the centre we took a short walk and then returned to the car to find our hotel. Glenn pulled up the booking and found there was no address, only some directions, so we poured over the maps to try and make sense of them when Yvonne noticed the name was the same as the visitor centre. She asked the security guard for directions and found the hotel was on site, just around the corner. What a result. And to make things even better the hotel was gorgeous: modern, bright, well finished, fabulous views and with the fastest internet we’ve had in Africa. We cranked the heating up, a real treat, slipped into the thick towel dressing gowns and spent hours surfing, blogging and communicating with home. Later we snuggled into the comfy warm bed and pondered what breakfast would be like.

The Cradle of Humanity

We've seen these all over - weaver bird nests

Glenn takes a cuppa at the boutique hotel

Sunset from the terrace

The last leg

Tue 19 July 2016 - Kang, Botswana to Swartruggens, SA

Another 500km travel day that took us from our overnight stop at the Kang Autostop to South Africa (SA), our last country before home. The Autostop was a strange place with motel like rooms, a petrol station, shop and restaurant - in fact everything one could need to break a journey across a desert. I’m not sure what the definition of a desert is but the Kalahari that we passed through certainly didn’t look like any other desert we’ve been to, just miles and miles of low trees and shrubs. Maybe the designated parks are better.

About half way along our journey we saw what we first thought was a small hill, very noticeable in the flat landscape, but as we got closer a sizeable town appeared and we realised it was the spoil from a vast mine. We’re not sure what they were mining but the town looked very prosperous and the level of traffic on the road increased dramatically afterwards.

As we neared the border the terrain finally started to undulate until we dropped into a significant valley to the border post. Like the SA - Namibia border, the Botswana side was a simply pull over with a visit to a small hut to have our passports stamped whereas the SA side comprised of dedicated lanes for trucks, cars and buses and large modern buildings all surrounded by high fences topped with razor wire. The transition was actually very swift and within 20 minutes (yup, that’s swift) we were back on SA soil heading along a toll road for the small town of Swartruggens. Like the rests of rural SA the roads were lined with people walking, especially when we passed two schools at leaving time, and hundreds of poor houses.

An hour or so later we’d just entered the town when the sat nav instructed to turn left along a dirt track that we bumped along, seemingly heading out into fields, until we found a sign to the Hadida Guest house. We drove down the long bumpy drive until we came to a small farm to be greeted by Alma, our host, who showed us to our charming thatched house complete with garden. Yes, garden, the first we’ve seen for a very long time. After unloading the bags we sat on the porch drinking tea while two of Alma’s dogs befriended Yvonne and curled up at her feet.

A short while later Gary, another SA guest, arrived and we chatted about football (he was a Chelsea fan), Brexit, the state of SA and the chances of him immigrating to the UK - like many young white South Africans he was looking to leave. Mid discussion Alma arrived with our dinner: Lasagne. We couldn’t remember the last time we ate that and it was a real joy, especially washed down with a lovely Cederberg Rose wine - we have 8 days left to drink the last 3 bottles we have left. A challenge but we’ll try our hardest.

The Kang Autostop

Crazy people cycling across the Kalahari 

Our house at the Hadida

Yvonne with here new best friend