Today was a day of rest. As such, I slept in until 07h00, washed, dressed and headed off for breakfast. Whilst there were some other tourists in the room, I was the only one from our group. Taking coffee, bacon and eggs, I dined slowly ensuring that I finished at 08h00, the time at which my free day would start. Pieter arrived exactly on schedule. We shook hands and he let me to his car. Five minutes later, we were at another hotel where he collected six Germans. It appeared that I was going to spend my entire time in Southern Africa having to speak anything but English! Swakopmund was cold when we set off across the desert road to Walvis Bay. The entire journey was shrouded in mist, which is not uncommon in an area ... read more

Today was the day I've been waiting for. Four weeks of travelling around southern Africa and finally I'm at the place I've dreamt of most of all. We were woken at 04h00 this morning and gathered around the light for an early morning coffee and rusk. At 05h15, we were already in the bus and heading for the gate to Sossusvlei. So efficient were we that we were first in the queue. It was a 45km drive down to Dune 45. This was purely coincidental as the dunes are numbered sequentially from 1 to 69, anticlockwise. Because of the weather patterns, the dunes themselves do not move, hence, a numbering system is possible. After waiting for roughly 15 minutes, the gates opened and we were permitted through. In the pre-dawn light, we headed west and about ... read more

Last night, David, the French Guide and myself, sat beside the Orange River until 00h30 talking (and drinking beer). Fortunately, we didn't need to be up until 08h00, but even so, most of us were up by 07h30. Although my phone had developed a fault and none of the buttons worked, I managed to charge it so that I'd at least know what time it was. After a late breakfast, David disappeared back to the border in the hope that his work permit had finally come through and, in the meantime, the French Guide and myself, patrolled the camp site trying to take photographs of the birds. We were trying to capture a picture of the Orange River White Eye but these little yellow birds seemed to have too much energy and didn't stay in one ... read more

Awake at 07h30, breakfast at 08h00, packed by 08h45 and waiting for the Big Red Bus. At precisely 09h00, to the second, it arrived. Clearly the discussion on punctuality had been taken in! Loading my bags into the van, the French guide closed the doors and we set off into the rush hour traffic. Progress around Cape Town was slow and soon we found ourselves in the industrial part of the city, passing stacked boxes in the container port. With the bus now full, even by 09h15, it was beginning to feel warm. Continuing to the outskirts, we passed numerous unfinished building projects that, with only 40 days to go to the World Cup would probably remain unfinished. Eventually we joined the N7 and headed north, following the Atlantic coast towards Namibia. The city gave way ... read more

Today was a day of rest - please enjoy the photos!... read more