At lake Oanob Resort you can book campsites that set a new standard to luxury camping.
For 150N$ (~15€) pp you get a little house with a complete kitchen, an extra floor and fold down walls right at the side of the Oanob Dam. There is even a small lawn and private stairs leading down to the water. WOW!
Pfffft.
After being offline for 3 weeks our first goal after leaving the Kgalagadi NP was to find an internet connection. Mariental seemed the closest location possible so we started asking around immediately and there seemed to be two options.
1) The telecom shop
2) A newly opened independent internet café that everybody had heard about, but nobody really knew where it exactly was
Always in for a challenge, we decided to look for the independent shop first. And after asking around in town (at our accommodation, at the filling station, at the spar supermarket, at Mariental’s top range hotel and even the butchery) we finally found the right courtyard, only to stand in front of the closed doors!
Next we decided to try out the Telecom shop. This was a whole lot easier to find and the lady at the counter happily sold us a 50N$ voucher for their Wi-Fi. After 30 minutes of trying we still couldn’t connect to the internet and our list of possible solutions ran out.
When we asked to use the other available pc that was connected to the landline we realized that the Telecom network itself had a problem and the Telecom employees started calling in their IT support. It then turned out that the whole network was down and they were working on a solution.
Hmmm. As our two available options in Mariental were not working we decided to drive to the next town en-route. This was Maltahöhe, approximately 120 km away.
We arrived in Maltahöhe around 2 pm and first tried the local Telecom shop again. But due to renovations they did not have their internet set up at the moment. Next stop was the local hotel that had a big sign promising free Wi-Fi but also here there was no connection available. New owners had taken over and were still waiting for Telecom to setup their connection….
But the hotel manager knew of one other place that offered internet. The Woestijnkombuis, a filling station café on the main road, a place we would never have looked at twice for a Wi-Fi. We got back in the car and drove up to the Woestijnkombuis and were finally able to download our emails! Yippie!
From Maltahöhe we continued towards Sesriem as our overnight destination was the Betesda Lodge. A Christian retreat that advertises with their free Wi-Fi. But with our internet luck we happened to arrive in the middle of a powerful thunderstorm. At the moment there is no power and therefore…… no internet! So we are currently sitting in the lobby, writing this text as a preparation for the next connection opportunity =D
This is Africa!
WOW!
We absolutely love Kgalagadi NP. In our opinion this is definitely one of the best game parks in Southern Africa.
As our South African visitor permit has expired again we decided to enter the park via the Namibian gate Mata Mata. This way, as long as we leave the park again via Mata Mata, we do not need to do the immigration procedure. In and out via the back door so to say.
We have stayed for a total of 17 days during which we tried out all three South African camps and have done a 5 day trip to Mabuasehube on the Botswanan side. The South African camps are like little holiday resorts. They have a reception, shop, filling station, chalets and even a small pool.
The camps on the Botswanan side are something completely different. They are wild . As is normal in Botswanan National Parks there are no fences between the roaming wildlife and yourself. You have to be vigilant and keep your eyes open as especially lions are often curious and like to come take a closer look at the tourists. On most sites there are no facilities. If there are any they consist of a A-shelter for a bit of shade, a long drop toilet and if you are lucky a tap or maybe even a shower. Although that doesn’t necessarily mean there is water…
We liked the Botswanan camps a lot and would have stayed there much, much longer if we had the possibility to stock up on more water and diesel at the gate. The round trip from Nossob to Mabuasehube and back (including daily game drives) was approximately 600 km long. But due to the soft sand our diesel consumption increased so much that we were running on the last diesel fumes by the time we returned to Nossob.
Additionally to loving the scenery we also had some really special animal encounters and even found some species we hadn’t seen before! The African wild cat walked in front of the car four times and we even saw a curious Aardwolf family. And we also enjoyed the many sightings of lions. We even got to know the alarm behavior of Hartebeest, Wildebeest and Springbok so well that we found some well hidden lions sleeping in the bushes.
But now we really have to go back to Namibia to stock up on some fresh food. We completely ate our way through our provisions and only have a can of mushrooms left. HONGER! =D
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!
We had to leave Patsy at the mechanic today. She will have her steering rack refitted with two new rubbers. According to Neil from Drivelines we should have her back in three days…
Our dear friend Alan was so kind to lend us his motorbike to drive around the Peninsula and what fun we have with the little bumblebee. Vroeeeem!
Today we went to Hout bay for a bit of lazy lying on the beach. But before we got comfortable in the soft sand we took a stroll on the weekly craft market. And in between all the usual drawings, wire/bead art, wooden sculptures and masks we found Joshua.
A local with a brand new idea. He makes guinea fowls out of pine cones and his work is really, really good! Not only are all his guinea fowls balanced to withstand the blowing south-easter wind , they are also made to last. He uses pine cones, wood chippings, wood glue and various covers of paint. On his table he even has examples of each step in the design process.
Our current camping neighbors have given us two enormous crayfish today!
We decided to eat them with our favorite summer salad with mango, mint and flowers. We were all set for dinner when our neighbors spotted our (too) healthy plates. They had made a really lekker seafood potje with crayfish, snoek, calamari and mussels which they wanted to share with us as well.
Yummie! That was baya lekker!
We came to Noordhoek planning to stay at the Chapmans peak caravan farm for two weeks in total. Right now we have already been here for more than three weeks and we are not leaving yet!
The reason for extending our stay is that we have some problems with Patsy’s steering rack. End of December/ beginning of January is the main holiday season here and many factories are now closed. They will open again on Monday the 9th. And that is when we have an appointment with a local mechanic to get a new rubber manufactured. This whole process should take 3 days. So if everything goes according to plan we will be able to start travelling again on Friday the 13th.
There are of course much worse area’s to get stuck for a month than the cape peninsula. Apart from numerous visits to Cape Town and the surrounding districts we are thoroughly enjoying the many distractions offered here on the camp site itself. This is not called a caravan farm for nothing!
There are horses, cows, piglets, geese, ducks, turkeys, peacocks, tortoises, running guinea fowls and a whole lot of sacred ibis (birds) around. In the ablution block a fat gray cat is often begging for a cuddle and the farmers dogs are always around somewhere. Our site is right next to the horse field and they tend to come by a few times a day hoping for some treats and a cuddle. Another animal with a visiting routine is the male peacock. He always comes by in the early morning and late evening looking for another bite of our coconut biscuits. And if we are not careful he’ll just take whatever else we have on the table or stove. He’s definitely not picky.
The family of geese go around the camp twice a day and keep a close eye on everything. You can always see them inspecting some camp site or other. Our neighbors left their kiddy pool inflated one day and before you knew it all the baby geese were enjoying a bath.
But the most funny visitors are the 7 piglets that run around freely. We sometimes feed them our leftovers and that is such a funny sight. After eating every little molecule from the ground they start looking for more and sniff and nibble around on anything they find. They are worse than a pack of puppies. You can even pet them and when they really like it they lie down and roll over for a belly rub. Nope, we are definitely not bored here! =D
Today we went for a sneaky sundowner drive on Chapmans Peak.
As there is no toll station on the Noordhoek side we could just drive up the road, park at view point and sneak our way back to Noordhoek unseen. =D
As our wildcard enables us unlimited entry into all South African national parks we decided to check out the penguin beach at Boulders.
We were really surprised by the nice environment you can watch the penguins at Boulders. We have seen some other penguin beaches where the smell of the animals is just overwhelming. As if you are sitting in a big bag of guano. Compared to that you can enjoy the animals in real comfort at Boulders.
Travelling Patsy 