Nerine n Mark

Hi everyone It would seem that our last entry about Africa did in fact publish, but I don't think it sent out the emails. This one is just a reminder to check it out! Hope you enjoyed all our pictures! If you want to see more, you'll have to come visit us personally for the full show! Stay tuned- we will try to send a blog about our summer adventures later this year! Nerine & Mark... read more

This is our last picture show- as I write this, I am sitting at the edge of the Florida intracoastal waterway. It's pretty, but not as beautiful as what we saw in South Africa! The most southern point in Africa is Cape Agulus. This is where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean. Of course, we expected to see some visible sign in the water.........a colour change- different wave action??? Naturally, there is nothing. Justa sign- telling you the two meet here! We climbed up to the top ( surprised???) of the lighthouse so Mark could get his “up high” fix. It was like climbing a ladder all the way up- not the usual spiral staircase. Not for the faint of heart- that's for sure! For another thrill seeking adventure- we decided to rent ATV's for ... read more

WE are SOOOO loving this trip- hope you are too thru the pictures! Continuing down the “Wild Coast” as they call it, we drove through an area called the Transkei (pronounced “sky”) This is an area inhabited by traditional Xhosa Africans. There are no whites at all, and there are traditional houses dotted ALL over the beautiful rolling hills. We had been warned NOT to drive thru this area by people in Canada, but on further investigation over here, heard it was no problem to do the drive in the daylight hours. So we did. We had absolutely no problems- with many friendly waves from the locals- we even stopped at a mall- where we were the token white people. Again- everyone was super friendly. We spent one night in Port St. Johns, which was off ... read more

After leaving Kruger Park, driving south, we entered yet another African country: Swaziland. First on the agenda was to clean the camper. The dirt roads in Kruger made a red dusty mess of both the inside and the outside of the camper. Frequently, on the roadside, you see CAR WASH- at some very unlikely spot. The first one we saw, we pulled in. There was a tap for water, with a hose, some buckets, and one guy who looked VERY ragged. The price- 50 Rand- (South American Currency) equivalent to about $6. Cdn. Mark commited to the deal. Immediately, about 4 other guys showed up- they all took buckets and rags- and proceeded to clean the camper like it had never been cleaned. They scrubbed- sprayed and dried it- even under the wheel wells- the tires- ... read more

FYI- I've heard that the captions I carefully spend time on for the pictures loaded onto the blog, then become all jumbled up when everything is actually posted. Sorry about that! No idea why. But rest assured, the water taxi from Botswana to Zambia was not an ultralight!!!!! As for our next adventure- check out the pics of our new home! It's amazing and we love it. We have 30 days to drive in this caravan from Johannesburg to Capetown, a trip of approximately 3000 km. Altho the bed is a bit small, we have to play the 1-2-3 roll over game. We can leave the bed made up permanently, and still have a small dining table for two. The drivers captain chair swivels around so that both of us can sit having dinner quite comfortably- ... read more

Today we saw our first ELEPHANT. In Ontario, we worry mostly about deer crossing the road while you are driving. (I know my Dad hit a cow in the Florida keys once....??????) Here in Africa,, the worries are a tad bigger! As we were driving along the road, there he was- our first elephant! There are no fences and the elephants roam free- actually- we did see one fence- which the elephant calmly stepped over....... There is nothing quite so intimidating as looking at an elephant close up- beside you or even beside your vehicle! They are BIG BIG BIG!!! This area of Botswana has the highest population of elephants in Africa- approximately 120,000. We stayed at a place called Elephant Sands- aptly named! This was another bush camp type resort, with the power shutting down ... read more