Matt and Birgit

Sanibonani from Soweto. Despite some initial confusion with our booking, we eventually arrived at the colourful township of Soweto. We stayed at Lebo's Soweto Backpackers, run by a young guy called Lebo and his Swedish wife. His parents were part of the 1976 Soweto uprising. Fleeing to Botswana he was then raised by his grandmother until he could be safely smuggled back to his parents in Botswana under a false name. His grandfather was a founding member of the PAC party and he grew up hearing stories about the struggle. Frustrated at seing white tour guides take white tourists around in buses explaining how dangerous the township is, Lebo set out to change this preconception - after all Soweto is the homeland of the black people, its history and influence on politics today can only be ... read more

Leaving stormy Cape Town, we picked up a rental car to begin our journey around South Africa. No trip here would be complete without venturing to the wine-lands area of Stellenbosch, a gorgeous European town set among some of the most picturesque patchwork of vineyards and dramatic mountain ranges. We sampled the wines at Neethlingshof, a wine farm at the end of a gorgeous tree lined avenue, with rose gardens and delightful wines. Unfortunately we were short on time so could only sample one wine farm in this area. Driving through the beautiful Western Cape along the Garden Route was interesting in itself. Stunning scenery of golden beaches and forested mountains mingled with mansions and huge rudimentary townships that sprawl for miles along the main roads. We had lunch at a café while we watched people ... read more

After the excitement of the desert we then headed to Luderitz, a small town sandwiched between the Namib Desert and the battered Atlantic Coast. There is little plant life here, just dry barren rocks and colourful German heritage buildings. We drove to Dias Point which is about 22km out of Luderitz. A huge lighthouse let us know that we had arrived at the barren point. Walking down to the shore we could see flamingoes and hear the seals on the nearby island. At the top of the hill overlooking the sea is a replica cross of the one that was erected by the Portuguese in 1488 on their return from the Cape of Good Hope. There was hardly any wind and the sea was calm apart from the surf that pounded the rocks. A real highlight ... read more

After Etosha National Park we had one night in Outjo, a small town with flowered bougainvillea on every corner and a delicious German bakery which I think is its claim to fame. Bus loads of German tourists poured into this bakery while we had our lunch clearing it of apple strudel and chicken schnitzel. Tribal Himba women set up a small market in the town. Their lovely red skin is produced by mixing ochre, butter and bush herbs. This gives their skin a burnt orange hue which serves as a sunblock and insect repellent. We had a big drive to the small settlement in the north-west of Opuwo and such an interesting place, dusty streets lined with small commercial buildings and topless Himba women walking with the beautifully and colourfully dressed Hereo. It was quite a ... read more

!Kao from Botswana. Despite Livingstone only being 70km from Botswana, it was the slowest border crossing yet. Matt had tried to pull a swift one over immigration in Zambia by not buying a new visa when he came back from Zimbabwe. Luckily for him, I managed to divert the Zambian immigration official - he checked my passport first, very carefully and then we started chatting. He did not pay any attention to Matt's visa status so we luckily avoided a huge fine. Once through the border we then had to wait over 2 hours in a queue for the rickety ferry to take us 750m across Chobe River. There was only one barge which could only fit two small and one medium sized truck. Half a dozen trucks were pushed ahead of us in the queue ... read more