Blogs from Northern Cape, South Africa, Africa - page 6

Africa » South Africa » Northern Cape » Upington August 6th 2009

Road trip - Jo’burg into the Kalahari (Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park) via Upington No difficulty getting to the Jo’burg airport to drop Jennifer off, but noticed two interesting road signs by on and off ramps on the motorways: “Crime alert - do not stop” and “High-jacking hot spot” and also noticed police cars sitting on the berms - some reassurance we thought. We did however experience some difficulty getting out of Jo’burg as we somehow managed to get onto the N1 heading north instead of south so we did a complete circuit on the ringroad midst heavy Saturday midday traffic before we got the right road south. Meanwhile we were both busting to go to the loo, as we hadn’t found the place for high vehicles to park at the airport but just dropped J off making ... read more

Camping Shmamping

Africa » South Africa » Northern Cape » Orange River April 27th 2009

Taking the down the tent after our first night camping

jayandnat

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

The Adventure Begins

Africa » South Africa » Northern Cape April 26th 2009

View on our way to Citrusdal

jayandnat

Day 6 (Sunday 26-Apr-09, JRJ & NJJ) Up at 7am for brekkie, then went to meet Benji, the Africa In Focus overland truck. He's a massive turquoise truck with lockers along the sides for our luggage and lockers and safe inside for our day packs, cameras and valuables. Seats are very comfy with loads of leg room (thank god) and there's a fridge and snacks to help ourselves, along with a small selection of books. Left Cape Town and headed off on our adventure. It was still really overcast and miserable in the city but as we headed north the weather brightened up for us. Had to miss out on a spectacular view of Table Mountain, because we couldn't see it due to the cloud cover. Arrived at Gekko backpackers campsite at Citrusdal at around 1pm ... read more

The Long (and not the Fastest) Road to Namibia

Africa » South Africa » Northern Cape » Springbok February 13th 2009

Rocklands

Alex Armitage

The Long (and not the Fastest) Road to Namibia Rocklands, South Africa February 2, 2009 After leaving Jeffrey’s Bay, we headed west with a plan to make our way along South Africa’s Route 62, an alternative to the well-traveled Garden Route. The road traverses the high plains desert of the Karoo and winds over passes and down into valleys. But, to get to Route 62, we chose an even less-traveled road through the Baviaanskloof wilderness area. About a quarter of the Baviaanskloof can only be done with a four-by-four, so the Land Rover had its first shot at some off-roading. The driving was tough and a bit stressful. Some small boulders blocked parts of the road, but these were the lucky ones. Others had made their way off the road and down the cliffs into the ... read more

Kimberley and Karoo

Africa » South Africa » Northern Cape » Kimberley May 9th 2008

Old Bath

pwincess

Day one and the road to Kimberley is fine,boring scenery,lots of trucks and speed traps. Day two and i am skipping forward a little to sunset,when the mosque made us look east!!! This and the road right behind the caravan park are the two biggest cons. Another irritation is the supply of electricity at the caravan park in some kind of foreign plug style. apparently this is how all caravan parks operate.This being our second one, i don't know yet.We arrive late -5 ish,the trip took 5 hours ,and are pleasantly surprised to find the Friendly Supermarket is open till 9. However,the Open Mine caravan park is RIGHT opposite the big hole area,which is the only attraction in kimberley.The ablutions are very well equipped with baths, showers,vanity stations and laundry facilities,with a communal braai area and ... read more

N7 northern cape

Africa » South Africa » Northern Cape » Springbok February 25th 2008

chrisonabike

springbok: camped indoors. I wonder how big an insect needs to be to hear it scuttling across the floor? Some big bugs got up at 4am, crossed the floor and then climbed the walls in all directions, so I put my tent up on the bed, not wanting some black bug crawling across my face in the nite. It stands quite nicely on a flat bed with the two ends attached to the bed posts. I've been carrying 6 liters of water and still got caught out in Kamieskroon with the granite mountains and something like 34 degrees. 60kms to Garies took me to midday, but the 46kms to Kamieskroon took 6hours as the sun got the better of me. The Hotel in Kamieskroon put my 5 litres water bottles in the freezer, so I had ... read more

Happy Christmas Everyone!!!

Africa » South Africa » Northern Cape » Kimberley December 28th 2007

Sammy D

Hi everyone! Its been a while since my last blog so I’ve got lots of things to tell you about! After a lovely holiday with Frans’ family we set off traveling up the coast stopping at Durban to watch a Zulu show, called Africa Umoja, at the Sibaya Casino. This show was all about their music and dance, it was really good to see (especially as we got free tickets). We then traveled to Balito Bay where we found a really nice beach, with no sharks, and had surf lessons. This was great fun and we both managed to get standing on the board. Further on up the coast we reached St. Lucia where we stayed at a really nice backpackers where there was lots of nice people and lots of free activities to do. These ... read more

Antelope 3 (Springbok, Gemsbok, Bontebok)

Africa » South Africa » Northern Cape » Springbok December 15th 2007

Sole springbok

Euro Africa

Springbok - a national symbol for South Africa. ... read more

Bushmen Painting

Africa » South Africa » Northern Cape December 15th 2007

Euro Africa

Some from Kwa-Zulu Natal, Northern and Western Cape. ... read more

Namaqualand

Africa » South Africa » Northern Cape » Springbok December 14th 2007

Goegap Nature Reserve near Springbok

Euro Africa

The pictures are taken in Namaqualand or Land of the Nama, in the north of Northern Cape Province. ... read more

Brief history of South Africa

After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (the Boers) trekked north to found their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjug...more history

Forum Topics for Northern Cape

Planning a safariPosts: 6

Capetown SuggestionsPosts: 9

where do you recommend ...Posts: 2

Volunteering at a big c...Posts: 2

Private game reserves i...Posts: 5

Volunteer / Intern in C...Posts: 2

Safari Tour Company to ...Posts: 13

Tick Bites and Pink Soc...Posts: 2

A honey moon next month...Posts: 9

erniePosts: 3

beware corrupt copsPosts: 7