The Holly Holy Day. Nantwich was the site of a crucial battle in the English Civil War when, in 1644, the Royalists lay siege to Parliamentarian Nantwich. By the end of 1643, Cheshire was in the hands of the Royalists with the exception of Nantwich, which was a Parliamentarian Garrison. For six weeks, the village was under siege until Sir Thomas Fairfax and his army of 5000 Parliamentarians arrived on the scene. Finally, on the 25th January 1644, a battle lasting for two hours culminated in the capture of the Royalist baggage train together with several senior Royalist officers and the siege was lifted. Fairfax's success led him to command the New Model Army just over a year later but in celebration of the lifting of the siege, the locals wore sprigs of holly in the ... read more

Another early start and another race to have breakfast and put the tents down by 07h00. This morning was a record and we managed to leave the camp site by 06h45! Fortunately it wasn't a cold night although the wind of the previous afternoon had disappeared. Most of the sand from the Namib was now in my tent, even though I'd closed the air vents and zipped the flaps tight. We were all settling down to the start of the journey when a Cheetah ran across the road and into the grass. None of us was prepared and no cameras were out. In fact, this was not Cheetah country so it was a surprise even for our guide! Roughly an hour into the journey, we stopped outside a local village and went to meet the Himba ... read more

Another late morning! Breakfast was served at 08h00, giving us time to take our bags to the truck in time to leave by 09h00. We were ready by 08h45 but as our first stop was a seal colony, we couldn't arrive early. The day was dawned so differently to the previous day. The sky was blue and there was no wind. It was even warm! This must have been one of the 35 days in the year when the weather was perfect! We took our seats on the bus and headed northwards, out of town, on the C34. Being a C road, it was simply sand. We drove through the desert with little to differentiate the beach and the desert, passed an airfield and a small town, until we eventually arrived at Cape Cross, the largest ... read more

Last night, we dined under the stars, drinking a very expensive bottle of wine purchased in Morgenhof. My French has improved a great deal and the group has now split into two - the French speaking and Andrea, who has made very little effort to join in preferring to pitch her tent away from the rest of us, preferring to sit away from us for meals and wandering off on her own when we're doing things together. Surprisingly, my best buddy is the French guide; both he and I have an interest in photography and we're always the last to return from a trip as we're too busy behind the lens. With the sky so clear, the Milky Way was (again) very visible and I was delighted to be included in a (French) conversation regarding the ... read more

During our meal last night, three Black-Backed Jackals came into camp obviously interested in our food. Later in the night, whilst we were all tucked up in our tents, they came back, this time as a choir and serenaded us! At 05h30, it was time to get up. The sun wasn't yet in the sky but it was beginning to get light as we went to wash. Once dressed, I loaded all my bags on the bus and lowered the tent before getting breakfast. Once sated, I packed the tent into its little bag and loaded it on the bus. By 06h40, twenty minutes early, we were leaving the camp site! Early morning in the desert is still cool and we passed Springbok, Kudu and Ostrich in the early morning sun. Unfortunately, last night's rain had ... read more