Ai-Ais

After we shortened our stay in the Richtersveld we now are running so far ahead of schedule that we decided to fit a visit to the fish river canyon in before our boat trip down the Orange river. Our first top is in Ai-Ais which means hot – very hot in the local Nama language is also dubbed the place of burning water. A fitting name for a resort build on various hot, sulphurous springs.

We dipped our hands into the 65°C spring and Haitske even managed to walk/tiptoe/jump through this really hot water. We also checked out the indoor spa area with its various hot pools and had some fun splashing around in the huge outdoor pool. A lovely place to be.

We were lucky and shared this whole resort with only 10 other guests. In high season (april till june) Ai-Ais can accommodate approximately 700 people! Those indoor pools must get really REALLY crowded then….

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Richtersveld – De Hoop

The campsites in the Richtersveld are quite basic and very quiet this time of the year. When we booked at the reception in Sendelingsdrift the lady even told us that we are the only tourists in the park at the moment. It is just too hot for most people with temperatures reaching 45°C.

On our way to De Hoop, our first campsite, we really struggled with the heat as well. The sun was burning right through our front window and we were very happy to reach our campsite. We had read that there were only cold showers at De Hoop and that sounded really nice. =)

The campsite is basically two ablution blocks and some stone circle fireplaces where previous guests cooked their dinners. We parked the car underneath a tree and first tried to cool down and get our energy levels back up with a light lunch and some cold drinks in the shade. When that wasn’t enough we decided to try the cold shower option. Sadly enough the water was heated up so much by the outside temperatures that we almost couldn’t relax under the water.  Instead we had to cool down by standing in the shade, just waiting for the water to evaporate of our bodies. We thought we were the only people around for miles so we felt quite comfortable and free.

Later in the afternoon we were suddenly surprised to suddenly find a local caretaker walking around the camp looking after things. Lucky for us he didn’t come by during the heat of the day….  =/

Sandra shaking hands with god

In the middle of the Richtersveld NP there is a stone with a huge imprint of a hand. This site is called the Hand of god. Sandra just couldn’t drive past without shaking hands. *gg*

Hiking the Wolfberg Cracks

The Cederberg region is absolutely beautiful. After the descriptions of our lovely host, the amazing Ms Louise from Nuwerust, that the hike to the Wolfberg Cracks was some easy up and down trip of just 3 to 4 hours we decided to get a permit, and check them out.

As the days get quite hot here with temperatures around 40°C we started our trip nice and early and started walking at 8 in the morning. Within 2 hours we had reached the summit and started looking for the entrance to the narrow crack.  The hand drawn map wasn’t really easy to read so we ended up climbing around for about one hour before we found the starting point, a big rock that you either climb over, or under to end up on a ledge leading to the entrance.

We realized that from now on it would be more climbing than hiking to reach the top, but we were not deterred by that thought. But after one hour in the crack where we had to climb through narrow, dark places (aaargh, the feeling of spider webs in the dark. Brrrr) and over big heaps of boulders we found ourselves stuck at the last hurdle. After passing the arches and the hanging bridge the crack got narrower and narrower with some massive boulders stuck in between the two walls. The third boulder was just too big for us to climb without a rope so we decided to turn around again and go back the way we came.

We were very happy to return back at the entrance and treated ourselves with a nice lunch enjoying the view before starting the descent down to the car.

Climbing down took us another two hours and we arrived back at the farm around 4 in the afternoon. The lovely cool pool took care of our tired and overheated bodies and we slowly floated around, absolutely exhausted but proud of our achievement!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Tenikwa – close up with the cheetahs again

We visited Tenikwa today and made some beautiful close ups of the various cats.

There is no comparison to encountering them in the wild, but feeling a grown-up cheetah brush against you while walking past remains a hair-raising moment!

Storm river mouth

Driving back along the Garden Route we now passed the Storm river mouth in the Tsitsikama National Park with beautiful weather. Therefore this time we decided to visit the famous suspension bridge right across where river and sea meet.

We had great fun running on the bridge, bouncing all over the place. Luckily nobody saw us! When we got off the bridge we saw a sign saying bouncing is strictly forbidden. Oh oh…

Finally Baviaanskloof!

Before driving north towards Namibia we decided to double back on our previous route to visit Baviaanskloof, a classic south African off-road route. Now that Patsy is fixed we are finally allowed again to take her off the tar roads. Back to gravel travel, the way we like it!

 

Baviaanskloof in itself was nice, but not as challenging as expected. It more resembles a mountain gravel road than a real difficult off-road route. Our highlight definitely was the lonely campsite at bo-kloof. We only had to share the whole campsite with two leopard tortoises and a steenbokkie. =D

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

On the road again!

After 34 days in Chapmans Peak Caravan Farm (the longest we have stayed in one location!) we are finally on the road again.

Before we make our way back to Namibia we will visit Baviaanskloof (and meet up with Allan and Vanessa near Plettenberg Bay), Cederberg and Richtersveld. If time runs short, our visitor permit for RSA expires on February 4 already, we will skip Richtersveld and first go for a boat trip on the orange river. And then we will try to enter South Africa once again via Sendlingsdrift. =)

We’ll see how things go. Total flexibility is the way we like to travel.

Patsy is back!

Today we finally got Patsy back again! Her steering rack is fixed and we can now continue our travels without all the squeaking noises that  accompanied us ever since the wild coast.

3 days turned into 5 and the costs were double the quote we received when bringing Patsy in, the seat covers were covered with dirt and they forgot to rotate the wheels… But hey, at least we finally got our car back. =)

Africa certainly teaches us patience and laissez-faire.

Another day in the city

As our dear Patsy is still at the mechanics (“we’ll have her ready in 3 days” …ha ha ha!) we decided to make good use of the motorbike again and go for a drive in Cape Town. Haitske wanted to do the design route and the various stations are spread out over the whole city. With a motorbike we were much more flexible to visit some of these locations without the trouble of finding parking.

The design route itself is a bit confusing  as not all locations you find on the map are really open for visitors. But we managed to visit a couple of showrooms and shops and saw some beautiful local designs. Sadly enough we can’t buy any of the big stuff due to lack of space. Next time we’re here we’ll definitely need to bring a bigger car. =D

After all that browsing  we had a late lunch in a lovely little bakery called Charlies Bakery where they serve mucking afazing cakes and cookies and then we drove around for some sightseeing. Great city!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.