Tuli Game Reserve to Johannesburg (South Africa)
This was definitely the long run to home and involved 600 + kms of driving from the Serolo Camp in the Tuli Block, through the border crossing (very fancy, all automated on the South African side, complete with passport scanners and flushing toilets) and back to Johannesburg. No trailer for this big vehicle - instead the luggage was piled in the back seats and The Crew still had room to spread out with a row each and two drivers in the 22 seater Sprinter van.
TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS:
Left on the dot of 8:38 after a final cooked breakfast from @Kennedy and the ladies (gosh the pork sausages were a hit) and were joined by @Bennett our driver who had brought the van for the rerun journey. The warthogs turned up to enjoy the waterhole to give their biggest fan @Margi her final photo shoot.
Always a little consternation on leaving a venue on what to do about tipping. Lots of talking and comparing notes - and by that, I mean working out what currency you actually have left in your stash. Have US $, Rand and Pula. The Crew is always grateful for the fabulous support we receive at each of the camps and understand that a small tip may make a difference to the teams we leave behind.
On exiting the security checkout, we seemed to encounter our very own guard of honour of elephants. The breeding herds lined both sides of the dusty track an gave us a wave of their ears and a raised trunk in what seemed an appropriate tribute to our return journey to our normal lives.
Did have to endure the rough and tumble of a 90-minute drive at a crawling pace over the rutted and corrugated dirt roads. Extremely rough going and there must have been something wrong with the seal in the rear door of the #Sprinter because the inside of the van was enveloped in a red haze of choking dust. @Margi and @Tom were literally lost from view at one stage and we might need to vacuum the luggage before trying to re-enter Australia and New Zealand.
Platjan border crossing was our first stop to complete our border formalities to get an exit stamp from Botswana. And then a few metres later we were the proud owners of an entry stamp back into South Africa. Worth noting, it was freezing cold under the cloud covered sky. If you think Africa = hot - need to reassess. In this huge continent there are definite extremes of temperature.
Immediately noted the use of the land for irrigated crops including maize, soya beans and wheat. All getting their water supply from the "green, greasy Limpopo" and protected from the elephants by three strand towering electric fences.
It was also home to the breeders of exotic game where genetics have been changed to breed specific colours in the game and then offered as trophies used in game hunting. This is big money - with the record for a buffalo bull sitting at $2.7 million AUD. Breeds include black faced impala, copper springbok as well as black and white impala and golden gnu. This 29 km stretch of our final bit of dirt road was home to dozens of game hunting lodges.
After our three weeks of watching and learning about these amazing animals, it is hard to empathise with the passion of those who want to sit in a vehicle, with a mounted gun and pull the trigger to fell one of these beautiful animals. Well, I suppose, that's Africa.
Big round of applause from The Crew when we turned towards Allday's and hit the bitumen road - AT LAST. This town was built around a big fig tree that the old prospectors said they could sit around all day. Hence the name. Citrus farming, sheep and goat farming and also excellent trophy hunting.
Seeing mountains now including Blouberg (Blue Mountain) which has spiritual significance for some tribes. Passed the highest peak of Sau Pan Mountains with 380 species of birds including the Cape Culture (white coat over closed wings) - a nature lover's dream. Also includes a legendary golf course, where you fly in helicopter and then tee off to the valley below.
We are passed through Vivo, meaning speed, a tiny village of 300, where the wind gushes through the valley at great speed. Lots of lodges, with hunting with bow and arrow as well as chrome and diamond mining.
Retraced our steps over the Tropic of Capricorn - but a little more quietly this time. Thinking The Crew was a little travel weary, lots of nodding off and very little conversation. The high seats and the room in the #Sprinter has us separated and in our own private little pods. We are casting our minds forward to the trip home tomorrow and the rest of the group were making plans for their three day stay in Cape Town.
A quick stop over in Polokwane for lunch. A recent name change that means "place of safety." A large urban centre of 155 000 people and is the capital of the Limpopo Municipality, a very large urban area with a large soccer stadium named after one of the freedom fighters and it is a major town on Cape Town to Cairo route (10 000+ kms.)
Moria is just to the west and hosts an annual migration of 2 million Zionists who descend for Easter worship and celebration. It presents as a sea of yellow as the migration progresses bus after bus and apparently drum after drum of money is then transported to the banks after the followers make their offerings to the church. According to @Louis "organised chaos." I wonder if @Joe attends - he was proudly sporting his membership badge and said he had been a member of his church for 42 years.
Joined the N1 for the run to Pretoria and Cape Town. This is divided Highway - 4 lanes each way and only slowed by toll roads and peak hour traffic.
@Louis still had lots of info to share and picked his moment to be on the microphone. Definitely was giving The Crew time to catch some additional zzzzzs if they needed it. Interesting stories shared around:
- Waterbury Mountains (???) and its archaeological find
- Springbok Flats and today's absence of springboks.
- Jerusalem trekkers - and their quest to find Jesus and sighting of pyramids and Nyl (not even close)
- Mokopane (????) ladies with rings on their necks
- Modemolle and the legend of the sacred mountain - if you climb, never seen again
- Dunokeng Reserve - largest reserve within an urban area
- Pretoria 380000 student university, co capital, city of jacarandas,
- E-toll white elephant and refusal of population to pay
Our ten-hour trek door to door had loads of familiar tinges in it: overloaded trailers; speeding trucks; broken down vehicles; dry dusty verges; people randomly wandering on the side of the road hitch hiking; strong contrasts between rural and urban areas; electric fences for miles and miles.
Lunch (fish and chips) scoffed down and combined with a poshie poshie and we were back on track, enjoying the luxury of the glide over the smooth bitumen and wide divided road of the N1 and trying to hit Johannesburg before peak hour traffic delays. Did run into a few slow spots - but only minor.
Arrived at the Willow Inn in Johannesburg and its predicted cold with light to spare and thankfully very little to no peak hour traffic. But despite being "hopeful" of some change at the Inn there was no happy ending to this tale. Poor @Cecilia has to manage everything single handed - opens and closes the electronic gate (hence why the front door is always open despite the freezing conditions); welcome guests; allocate rooms; prepare, cook and serve the meals; service the rooms - no wonder there is no time to have the home fires stoked and burning.
It was a little "chaotic" on arrival. Only a handful of rooms here and I am not sure how it could all be so confusing - but it was. There were literally "no rooms at the inn." At one stage, it was only @Louis who had to pack his bags and head home for the night to Pretoria. But @Roz and @Gill who have had single rooms for the entire trip - suggested that they would "share" one room and that would enable @Louis to take the extra room allocated to them. Then the story changed - still no room for @Louis AND there was only a single room available for @Roz and @Gill. Meanwhile, the countdown to load shedding was on and we were congregated together in the front sitting room, caught between the open front door and the open back door.
This went on for a good 30 minutes until @Cecilia suggested she could use the room of a 'long stay guest" who wasn't here tonight so that would mean two rooms were available. There are 12 official languages in South Africa - and I am in awe of anyone who speaks more that one - but do think that English was about @Cecilia's fifth language and communication was a barrier to sorting all this out. Anyway, we had downstairs Room 4, @Roz and @Gill shared, @Louis took the "long stay guest's" room - after @Cecilia had remade it up - and everyone was sorted at 5:58 - and load shedding kicked in on the dot of 6 pm for four hours.
Set up the room by the light of the trusty headlamps (we thought we had seen the last of them for a while) and reported to the ice-cold sitting room for pre-dinner drinks (wine supplies were low so the transfer driver @Francoise somehow materialised with bottles) and then shivered into the dining room for a lukewarm dinner. No idea how @Cecilia was managing all this - but she did. BTW, no mention of showers here because the water is still freezing! Might have to wait until power comes on tomorrow morning for an extended period before trying that one.
This was truly our last hurrah with the group, gathered at the dinner table and relived the highlights and craziness that was our 5 000 km trek touching on South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana in a fleet of vehicles encouraged, herded and organised by @Louis.
And then the night got a little crazy. The big focus for the last 24 hours has been @Louis verifying and hunting down the arrangements for each pair's transfer to the airport - for us to come home and for the others to get to Cape Town. He thought he had everything "tickety boo" and had even checked in with @Jude in New Zealand to ensure he wasn't overwriting any plans that may already have been in place.
No power - so no internet connection provided by Willow Inn for each of us to access our arrangements. @Louis activated the hotspot on his phone and then went group to group so that we could all complete our check-in for flights. Pretty lucky that he did that actually, because "surprise, surprise" @Gill and @Roz had booked their transfers for 6 am tomorrow morning - when in fact they weren't leaving till the following day! Not sure what was more traumatic - the thought of turning up to the airport 24 hours early or the dread associated with enduring another 24 hours at the Inn.
@Francoise was cancelled for the 6 am trip, they booked a day of touring Johannesburg with @Mai (the great trip that @Del and @Steve had completed before the safari started) and did not hesitate in cancelling the Inn and rebooking alternate accommodation.
Found our way by torchlight to the room (no heater, no hot water, no double bed) and put on extra layers (that's one layer for @Mac) and voted to leave the packing for tomorrow's late checkout. Let there be light, hot water and connectivity! And please, let our stuff fit back into our suitcases. Pretty please.
Accommodation:Willow Inn (happy it's for one night only)
Wildlife spotting:
Impala
Rock kestrel
Wart hog: sounder of warthogs
Monkey: black face
Red billed ox weavers: stick nests in Cooperative breeders - only one pair breeds - others look after chick's and breeders
Southern Ground hornbill: large black bird with red wattle
Baboons
Zebra
Wildebeest
African grey hornbill
Baobab
Elephant
Rock hirex: closest relative of elephant - @Roz's python ate one
Domesticated animals
Cows
Goats
COLLECTIVE NOUNS revisited
- Bask, float crocofiles
- Implausibility of wildebeest
- Dazzle of zebra
- Sounder of warthogs
- Troop/congress baboons
- Parade of elephants
- Gang of buffalo
- Tower, journey, stride
- Leap pf leopards
- Coalition cheetahs
- Pride of lions
- Cart load of monkeys
- Raft of hippos
- Crash if rhinos
- Flo k, swarm, party of birds
- Swarm of bees
- Orchestra of cicadas
- Slither of snakes
- Parliament or stare of owls
Just a final thought on Google Maps and the roads taken: don't think that there has been much driving completed on some of these routes and they must just be "estimates." The roads in the "bush" are "horrendous" and as an example today - that first part of the drive was completed at between 5 and 25 kms per hour. We often scoffed at the "speed limit" signs - as if it were even possible to do the proclaimed 60 or 80 kph that were displayed.
Not a cosy ending to your marathon trip...but you'll soon be back in the luxury of your own bed! Keep that thought as you wing your way back to Aus....xxx
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