We arrived in Buenos Aries, Argentina, a week ahead of Big Bertha and stayed in a hotel in the centre so that we could explore this renowned city. Initial impressions are that it feels a lot like Paris – European architecture, cafés on every corner and pavements covered in dog s**t. The monetary system takes some getting used to: there […]
We are very lucky to have Raquel as a friend. A Londoner, Raquel moved to Béziers in 2003 to give the Mediterranean lifestyle a try and hasn’t left. With time on our hands, whilst Big Bertha waited for a ship to transport her to Argentina, we accepted Raquel’s invitation to stay in her flat in the heart of Béziers, for […]
Leaving the baking hot Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park behind, we made our way to Durban, where we readied Big Bertha for shipping to South America. On the way we visited Kimberly, home of the ‘Big Hole’ – a huge diamond mine, our friends Johan and Lyn, Terry (our champion mechanic) and the Drakensburg mountains. Here we are with Johan and […]
Perhaps not the prettiest of waterfalls, but certainly one of the most powerful we have seen, Augrabies Falls was almost at full flow when we visited. Eastern South Africa had experienced very high rainfall (unusually high, locals said) during February and a number of sluice gates on the Orange River had been opened to try to prevent flooding in the […]
On the way across from the West Coast to the Kgalagadi National Park we camped for a night at the Kalahari Trails Meerkat Sanctuary. Aside from a very nice welcome from Richard, a fellow Brit making his home in South Africa, we were treated to some fun encounters with their resident mob (yes, that’s the correct term) of meerkats. We were first […]
After the excitement of the new washing machine and a quick detour back to Cape Town (so that we could join the friendly Fish Hoek Scottish Dancing group for a class), we continued our journey north up the West Coast. The village of Paternoster has a laid-back feeling to it and it was nice to see pretty white-painted bungalows, rather […]
The Garden Route is a famous route in South Africa and it didn’t disappoint. For us, the coast and inland areas just got better and better as we approached Cape Town. We were lucky to be able to stay at some of the more popular campsites (Storms River and Nature’s Valley) before the busy Christmas period started. From mid December […]
Having left Lesotho behind, we headed for the foothills of the Drakensburg to meet up with our friend Bud and go hiking together. The scenery in the Garden Castle was spectacular, but the weather was so-so. Good enough to hike though. From the Drakensburg we headed towards the Wild Coast. Our first stop was the remote coastal village of Mboyti. […]
Landlocked by South Africa, Lesotho, an enclave, is situated in the Maloti Mountains – the highest mountains in Southern Africa. Crossing at Foriesburg in the north we immediately realised we were back in the ‘real Africa’ – mud huts, outhouses and donkeys. We were initially disappointed by the copious amounts of rubbish strewn around – but this got better as […]
Between eSwatini and Lesotho are South Africa’s historic battlefields. the Zulus vs the Boers, the Boers vs the British, and the British vs the Zulus. But not necessarily in that order. We first visited Isandlwana – the site of the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom on 22 January 1879. 20,000 […]