Blogs from Orange River, Northern Cape, South Africa, Africa

Orange River, border of Namibia and South Africa, 7 September 2012 Orange River Bushwacked Camp at Vloolsdrif South Africa We left our camp at 9.00am to drive to the mighty Orange River and to cross the Namibian-South African border. The border crossing was very quick, with computerisation helping the system. Again the countryside we drove through was beautiful, rugged mountains, and boldered plaines. We arrived at the Bushwacked Camp Site at about 1.30pm after stopping off in the last town in Namibia (Noordoewer) to get rid of our Namibian dollars as South Africa retail outlets does not accept Namibian dollars. We could use both SA Rand and Namibian dollars in Namibia (exchange rate is same for each country - $1.00US to 8.1 Rand/Nam Dollar) Our camp site was on the banks of the Orange River. It ... read more

Not too much to update today. Today was a nice early start. 6am to the truck. Yay..... We had a 12 hour drive ahead of us today so it was a perfect day to get to know people. I spent the day chatting to Anita. Luckily we got along right from the beginning and had no problem talking crap for 12 hours. We also got to know our guides for the trip. Hettie, our guide, Kobus our driver, and Ray, a guide in training who was to take over once we reached Livingstone. After our long drive we arrived at camp just at sundown. We had a quick explanation from Kobus about how to put our tents together then we aettled in for a nice dinner cooked by the camp site. After dinner we sat around ... read more

M – Back again. Getting on line in Namibia when you are camping, although possible, doesn’t really fit with the flow of the whole thing. As such I have been ‘off-air’ for longer than normal. To catch up the next few blogs will be short and hopefully sweet with the ‘story’ told by the photos. Day 1 - Rather than risk delays at the border and arrive at night at our first camp site we played safe and drove 750km North from Cape town to the Orange River which forms the boundary for the South Africa and Namibian from the West Coast inland several hundred km. The landscape began to change into desert a couple of hundred km from the border. We were told to keep a look out for the desert flowers. We couldn’t miss ... read more

As Africa is so large, some days on the truck are simply travelling days. Luckily we can amuse ourselves, the seats are comfy for napping and reading and there are 2 tables of 4 at the back for chatting or cards. The game of the trip is cribbage, which we play without the board but score correctly anyway using paper and pen. Better than the day we played poker without chips so just bet willy nilly, trillions of dollars went down. Worst was Jon losing to Megan when he bet a real item, cooking duty! Also for the start of the trip the roads are smooth and surfaced so the ride is comfortable. Later into Namibia the bare gravel roads are bumpy and make playing cards even more of a challenge... After a day on the ... read more

Day 7 (Monday 27-Apr-09, JRJ & NJJ) Woke Up at 6am. Jamie's didn't have hardly any sleep and his back and neck were in agony. This camping malarky isn't all it's cracked up to be. Dressed, packed and tents down. Bacon, egg, beans and bread brekkie around the campfire. On the road from 8am till 12:15. Lunch at roadside of last nights leftovers. On bus for the majority of the afternoon. Had a few food shop problems as it was a bank holiday in RSA. Eventually found a supermarket that was open. The team stocked up with food and we bought 4 x 750ml bottles of Castle Lager for under £3 - bargain. Crossed RSA / Namibian border at around 5pm, then on to Felix Unite Campsite on the Orange River. Put the tents up then ... read more