Blogs from Northern Cape, South Africa, Africa - page 2

So it is time at last to start our journey into Africa and as our son-in-law, Geoff drove us to Dubai Airport the sun was coming up and there was a lovely view out over the desert. The roads had just started to get busy and we overtook a lorry and sat in the back was two Camels (mother and baby) - they were just looking around calmly at the desert sands (probably wishing that they were there) - as we passed all your could see were their heads peaking out over the top of the lorry - quite surreal. So we were off but we nearly didn't leave Dubai as Paul was initially refused exit out of the country.......... I had gone through the passport security check no problem just before him only to turn ... read more

Hey Bloggers, i trust you are well. Today i want to tell you about my experience at The Big Hole,Open Mine or Kimberley Mine. This trip started when i visited my family in Kimberley for the first time. That was in 2008. I was excited because at the time ive never been in another provinve before besides my own. I took this trip with my father and my sister. To have a better experience we took a bus to view more of the towns we drove through. The day we went to the Kimberley Mine Hole it was extremely hot, as it usually is hot in the Northern Cape. We met our tour guide and she took us through the mine. it was amazing! The Big Hole is an open pit and underground mine and it ... read more

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

Orange River to Cape Town, 8 September 2012 Up at 4.00am and away by 5.30am, after packing up our tent for the last time. As soon as we left, almost everyone went to sleep in the bus. After 1 ½ hours of driving (and the sun was up by this stage), we stopped at Springbock for coffee and food from Wimpys, a franchise like Hungry Jacks or McDonalds. This was breakfast for some of the group and morning tea for others. Along the way we saw that the wild flowers were out... There were purple, yellow, orange and many shades of green. Often this was seen with a mountainous backdrop. The road was excellent. We phoned ahead, orders for lunch. We ate lunch on the bus because our aim was to get to Cape Town as ... read more

Day 2 of our overland tour began with 4 grumpy girls waking up at 5:30am getting ready for long day of driving from Stellenbosch to the Orange River which is on the Namibian border. Following our wine tour on Day 1 we returned to the hostel keen for some time to relax. This, however, did not happen! The staff of the hostel felt it was appropriate to sit outside our room and watch TV on full blast until 11pm, then as if in tag team a french group sat outside our window (which we were unable to close) and have a birthday party. By 2am we thought the noise was over and everyone was safely tucked up in bed, sadly though there was one more element of the relay we didn’t see coming -- obnoxious American ... read more