Table Mountain, Cape Town, morning of 11 September 2012 We woke up and looked out the window, to see a very clear day – perfect to go up to Table Mountain. We tried to go to a different place for breakfast each morning so this was no exception. Table Mountain, with its near vertical cliffs and flat-topped summit over 1,000 m high, and with Devil’s Peak and Lion’s Head on either side, together form a dramatic mountainous backdrop enclosing the central area of Cape Town, the so-called City Bowl. As we saw yesterday, a thin strip of cloud, known colloquially as the "tablecloth", sometimes forms on top of the mountain. To the immediate south, the Cape Peninsula is a scenic mountainous spine jutting 25 miles southwards into the Atlantic Ocean and terminating at Cape Point, where ... read more

Orange River, border of Namibia and South Africa, 7 September 2012 Orange River Bushwacked Camp at Vloolsdrif South Africa We left our camp at 9.00am to drive to the mighty Orange River and to cross the Namibian-South African border. The border crossing was very quick, with computerisation helping the system. Again the countryside we drove through was beautiful, rugged mountains, and boldered plaines. We arrived at the Bushwacked Camp Site at about 1.30pm after stopping off in the last town in Namibia (Noordoewer) to get rid of our Namibian dollars as South Africa retail outlets does not accept Namibian dollars. We could use both SA Rand and Namibian dollars in Namibia (exchange rate is same for each country - $1.00US to 8.1 Rand/Nam Dollar) Our camp site was on the banks of the Orange River. It ... read more

The Namib Desert, 5 and 6 September After leaving Swakopmund, we drove through a rocky desert that extends all the way from Sossusvlei to the Swakop river. This area is traversed by the Tropic of Capricorn where we stopped for the obligatory photo. This area is mostly flat, although some scenic canyons and elevations are found in some areas, for example in the Moon Valley system. While most of the soil is rocky, sand dunes are still occasionally found in this region; for example, sand dunes occupy much of the coastline between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund. The road was pretty good considering it was unsealed. After an hour of driving, we stopped at a place called Solitaire which is famous for some amazing pastries. We were all looking forward to sampling some. Tom had an apple ... read more

Damaraland, Namibia, 1 September 2012 – Tom’s birthday After an excellent drive on sealed roads, we arrived at Damaraland at the Aba-Huab Camp at about 3.00pm. It was a simple camp by a dry river bed, with hot water (heated by the donkey method), a pool table and lots of sand – after all, we were heading towards the Namib Desert. All the members of our tour wished Tom happy birthday in the morning, presenting him with a card with everyone’s birthday messages. We all looked after him very well. For the evening meal, we had arranged ice cream with candles on top and sang him happy birthday. Georgina gave him a cap with the big 5 embroided on it and I gave him a DVD with images of Africa and African music on it. Damaraland ... read more

Waterberg Plateau Park, Namibia, 29 August 2012 After a 4 hour drive over a good road (roads in Namibia were excellent), we arrived at the Waterberg Plateau Park. This was almost completely surrounded by an escarpment. It was beautiful. Waterberg Plateau Park is located on the Waterberg Plateau in Northern Namibia. The nearest major city is Otjiwarongo about 68 kilometres to the west of the park, by conventional roads. The park is 40,549 hectares in area. The term "Waterberg" refers to the fact that sandstone of the plateau absorbs moisture which runs off on the southeast side of the plateau as springs, hence, the name "Waterberg" or water mountain. The vegetation of the plateau is green subtropical dry woodland. This contrasts the acacia that grows at the base of the plateau. We saw that the north ... read more