The End

Difficult as it is, I must declare that today is the end of our bos-toe experience. We drive back to Hilton tomorrow morning.  The stay at Ngwenya has not been what one might call 'bos'. To the contrary, we have stayed in the most luxurious home on the banks of the Crocodile river. Thanks to my father who rented out this magnificent place.  Let me put it this way: seeing three buffalo crossing the Crocodile river silhouetted against a falling sun just over the infinity pool is not what I call 'bos' but manicured safari at its best. 

It has been a great time to catch up with the London family and hear all about the 'Lon-done' experience that Roger set up just before he left for Hong Kong. We have spent time in the Kruger each day and have seen some great sights like the fish-eagle with her catch of tigerfish up a tree. She was enjoying a morning meal was a hundred camera shutters snapping.  A remarkable sight that will stay in my mind for some time. 

What today brings I don't know. The 'foreign nationals' in our family are out on an organized safari whilst the plebs sit and work out their itinerary for the day.  (We landed up doing our own trip and saw a lionness with her cubs and were almost charged by two humongous Rhino - we live to tell the tale)

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We travelled back through Swaziland and it took us about 10 hours with an hour or so stop and some traffic in Durban. We end off our trip having covered just under 6000km.  

Angassi Game Lodge

This is where Kate and Marco live, work and breed. Yes, breed children and a few golden wilderbeest for their inheritance.  They work hard at making this place work, mainly self catering accomodation and oversees hunters bringing in the rest.

It used to be our hide away when we were in Pretoria North as it was just a couple of hours away if that. We hopefully leave tomorrow for Ngwenya lodge to meet up with my UK family at the Kruger National Park. 

4014km on the clock already.  So far the Toyota bukkie has treated us well. The only issues were some water in the tank after filling up at Richtersveld but otherwise she has been a dream traveller. 

Horrors of history present

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Always somebody been there done that

I came across this article in a 'Drive Out" magazine today.  There was no ways I could not add this to our bos-toe blog as Lawie stands in the footsteps of some great VW explorers. These fellows went from the old Rhodesia to London in a 1950 combi. The story is rather harrowing considering they soon lost count how many times they had to dig themselves out of the sand and had to rely on crude rusty signs to show them the way. To be this intrepid you need to moonlight as a mechanic as well for spare parts are very hard to get hold of in the middle of the Sahara desert. 

Liminal day

We spent the day catching up on our healthier selves.  I love doctors, they sit with that forever public smile, stick various tools up your nose and in your ears and after pretending to hear things in your chest with archaic listening devices they draft a pharmaceutical list that breaks the bank. You also land up feeling as though you are a geriatric who needs a nurse to remember the countless pills you need to take at scheduled times each day. Ok, it's not that bad.  I have just been out for a quick drive and it was not five minutes before I almost entangled myself in the legs of a giraffe on the road. We watched each other as the bushveld enjoyed sundowners.  Let me attach some pics I haven't yet shared of camp life on the first journey of our trip. 

Arrived at Northam - Angasii Game Lodge

One is almost at a loss for words after such a trip. The rigour of each day is so foreign to the everyday, that returning to civilisation (although for just a few weeks) is a little difficult. I pine to return to places like the Richtersveld as they provide an opportunity to be quiet and completely enwrapped in nature.  The unusual beauty and remoteness of such places helps prioritise the mundane from the important or the necessary.  

We did a lot of 'up and go' type of camping in that we did not spend much time in one place. The longest we spent anywhere was three nights and so the experience of setting up and breaking down camp was maybe a little too often. The Oz tent was great but we will get a fly-sheet for it next time as it didn't have much insulation and in the big freeze it is an ice brick. 

We took a short cut in Namibia that was marked as a 4x4 route but in the end all of us took it as the time to travel the longer route would have made our arrival time far too late.  It turned out to be such a wonderful ride between canyon walls and our Tracks for Africa on the Garmin saved the day. Riding in the Richterveld was also a great challenge for Dennis and Lawrie who did not have a 4x4. Lawrie's combi was taken to the limit and Dennis' car saw road it had never seen before. There is nothing better than spending a day travelling those tracks and eventually coming to the Orange to pitch tent. 

Howard and I playing Badland in Kuruman

This is an overnight stop on the way to Kate's place. Kuruman? um, not sure what say 😉