The Adventures of Jim & Rhonda

Well, here we are back in Cape Town, one of the prettiest places on earth. It was a bit sad leaving everyone yesterday when we arrived. We drove the 1hr from Stellenbosch playing all of our favorites tunes and singing and dancing down the aisle of the truck (it got a bit crazy on there more than once on those long drives) and hugging. The truck dropped us at the Seapoint Inn so Jim and I had to gather our gear and call a cab to take us to our B&B at 4th on Varneys. We had brief goodbyes since we’re planning on seeing everyone else again in the upcoming days as we’re all hanging around Cape Town for a bit. It will be odd to suddenly not see people you’ve basically been living with for the past 2 months!

Our B&B is totally fantastic! It actually lives up to it’s website. It’s run by 2 guys and it just gorgeous, our room has floor to ceiling windows, a fireplace, beautiful bathroom, tv w/ DVD player, couch, king size bed, etc. ahhhhhhhhhh. We got all checked in and headed out for a wonderful lunch and to see how far the waterfront is from us (turns out only about a 15minute walk..yippee) and had planned on meeting everyone for dinner. It was Rob’s last night in town as he’s already flying out tomorrow but we couldn’t get his cell number to go through and the hotel the others are at couldn’t get them a message until this morning and blah blah. So, we went to the very upscale market down the street and got stuff for a carpet picnic in our room, bread, cheese, pasta salads, wine, etc. A very nice evening over all.

This morning we woke up to the best breakfast we’ve had since Cairo and spent most of the day down at the waterfront buying some African music, booking tickets for Robben Island, etc. We’re looking forward to another great stay here in Cape Town.

Well, that is it. We’re actually fully updated so I’ll blog again in a  few days with info on our days of fun here. We can’t believe in only 3 weeks we’ll be back home so we must make the most of our time left! Wishing you were all here with us in Paradise!!!! love, Jim & Rhonda

Back again! On 19May we headed off to Botswana for the second part of our trip. The 10 of us from the original truck, Jim & I, Tim, Giles, Mel, Toni, Aneeta, Keith, Rob and John plus Joe, the new addition and our new guide, Nicho and driver James. We got a smaller, new truck which is a bit more comfortable and we’re looking forward to better roads and camps!

It was a short drive to the border of Botswana and the crossing is by ferry. Thank goodness we are done with visa fees! We camped in Kasane and unfortunately the camp was really crowded for the first night. The next morning we all piled into trucks at 5am for a gamedrive. It was pretty funny with us all sitting in our openair vehicle in our sleeping bags to attempt to keep warm! The game drive itself wasn’t great as we didn’t see a lot of animals but it was really gorgeous scenery and I just love the smell of Africa in the morning more than almost anything! After a couple of hours to have lunch and relax we headed out for a sunset cruise. It was truly lovely. Botswana’s north is covered in water and we saw Kudu, crocodiles, and loads of hippos and elephants. We had gotten some wine and cheese in town and it was a really nice trip. However, what we thought would be an early night changed when John announced it was his birthday. Jim & I, luckily, were already in bed by the time he said it at the bar but unfortunately we had to be awake for 2hours while everyone was drunkedly stumbling around camp singing “fluffy sheep” (I can’t explain in print except to say it’s become our silly theme song..we’ll demonstrate it when we get home), falling into tents, throwing up, etc. Not pretty! So glad we’re old and boring and got to bed before the ruckus!

The next day we took off at 5:30am (yep, that is right…left camp at that time meaning breakfast in and tents down, etc. yuk)for a 9hr drive to Maun. Basically nothing happened that day except we got to camp and did see Rene and Lawrence and our old truck (they hit Maun/Delta on their way to Joberg) and it was nice to see them. The camp is nice enough and at least we FINALLY had really hot showers. We’re starting to hit more and more camps where they burn fires to keep the water hot which is lovely!

22May (happy birthday dad!) we headed out for 2 nights in the Okavango Delta. This area is famous for elephants and hipps and we had a great time going out. It was about 1 1/2 hrs on the truck and then about 2hrs by makoros , which are dug out canoes. The scenery was beautiful and it was so peaceful. In our 2 days in the Delta we went on 3 nature walks (and didn’t see much but it was nice to be out hiking around), had dinner by campfire, and had our polers sing and dance for us. It was really nice. The 2nd night we went in the canoes to the hippo pond to watch them as the sun set. They were not too happy we were there (one of the polers got killed by a hippo around 6months ago) but it was an amazing experience to watch the sunset from the water.

Back in Maun for 1 night we had all opted to take the optional flight over the Delta. It was a wonderful experience. There were 5 of us per plane and our pilots flew map of the earth so we got to see hundreds of hippo, elephants, giraffes, crocs, impala, etc. A really worthwhile experience (just think of “Ouf of Africa” ).

25May we were off to Namibia. It was an 8hr drive and a decent camp for 1 night and truly, one of those travel days with nothing much to report. The change from Botswana to Namibia is quite astonishing as were surrounded by water in Botswana and Namibia is so dry and desolate in many places. Day 2 we headed to the first of 2 camps in Etosha National Park. Just driving in we saw loads of game, the highlight being 2 huge male lions and 1 female that were lounging right near the road. Literally dozens and dozens of giraffe, zebra, elephant, etc. The camp itself was the nicest we had had by far. Lovely tiled bathrooms, kitchen facilities, a great bar, pool, restaurant, gift shop, etc. Very nice! They also have a water hole that is set up as a viewing area so we went before and after dinner and saw lions and rhinos with some other animals come down to drink. It’s a magical experience to sit in the dark and watch them all come in while listening to the sounds of the night.

Next morning (happy birthday Warren!) we headed to the south end of Etosha park to our next camp. Basically, whenever you’re in a national park it’s a game drive whether that is the intention or not! That camp was also very first rate and had a water hole with viewing area. Between the drives and viewing areas we certainly got in a lot of animals in 2 days.

From Etosha we had a nice short drive to the Cheetah Farm campground. It’s 2000acres owned by a family who raises cheetahs. They have 3 “tame” ones that live in their house complex with them, as well as 15 “wild” ones. Along with some cool dogs, a baby giraffe, and lots of cows and sheep it’s quite a place. We first got to have our cheetah petting time which was truly amazing. They wandered among us (the 3 tame ones) and we got to pet them, take photos, etc. Their hair is much coarser than expected and they truly seemed quite tame, until they fed them, that is, when they started ripping into huge hunks of donkey meat. I don’t think I need a cheetah living with me! Then we went out on trucks to feed the wild ones. The difference was quite obvious since the guys had to carry sticks to keep them from jumping them and there was much growling, snarling, and fighting amongst them for the meat. All in all a neat experience!

From the cheetahs we had, you guessed it, another very long driving day to the coast and Swakopmund. This town is an actual “town” something we haven’t seen in a very long time. Before we hit Swakop we stopped at the Cape Seal Colony. Thousands of really stinky, noisy seals live there and we tooks some photos and had lunch but it was cold and windy and so smelly we really couldn’t wait to leave! In Swakop we had chosen to upgrade (the group was staying in dorm rooms) to a private double and we are so glad we did! The 9 of them are in a very crowded dorm and we were given the “famly suite” which had 2 bedrooms, a full kitchen, living room w/ tv, and big bathroom all for an upgrade cost of only $20/night!!! Absolutely fantastic, especially since we had 3 nights there!

Swakop was originally a German settlement when people started coming in from the Skeleton coast (so named because people would walk along the coast looking for diamonds and the weather and landscape is so tough most would die) and is now a happening little activitiy hub of around 40,000 including the township. The main activities are quad biking on the dunes, sandboarding, and ski diving and the biggest company is run by an American named Beth and her partners. They first came there 13yrs ago at the end of a RTW trip and realized the potential for activities to keep people in town more than 1 night passing through and they’ve become very successful. In our 3 days there we ate well (I actually got to cook which was great, great, great!) and we did some activities. Jim did the quad biking which I skipped because the tendon in my wrist is still not great. We both did the sandboarding although I did the lie down one and Jim did the one on a snowboard….all great fun except it is exhausting walking up those dunes after every run!, and we both did the township tour which was a disappointment after the one we did in Malawi. Overall, however, we all really enjoyed our time in town.

By 1 June we headed out of town south through the Naumklitt national park towards South Africa. The first day was just another day of driving but we camped in a gorgeous location that looked very similiar to Yellowstone park area in the US.

On 2 June (our 18th wedding anniversary..happy anniversary to us!!!!) we started out at 4:30am!!!! yikes, but part of the day was climbing the dunes for sunrise pictures. It was really nice. Mel,Tim,Giles, Aneeta, Jim & I were the only ones who climbed to the very top and we got great photos and it was beautiful watching the sun rise over the mist and the dunes. Well worth it. Another day of driving and we got to camp at Konkiep Lapa. Jim and I had upgraded again and the lovely owner, Elsa, gave us a nice big room. Aneeta very nicely took over my cooking duties as a treat and we had great pasta and garlic bread for dinner and then we found out everyone had signed a card and Elsa had baked us a chocolate cake. We all had a load of shots and some wine in the bar after dinner and it turned out to be an unusual but really great anniversary!

The next day we left for what was meant to be a relatively short driving day but we had yet another flat tire, our second in this truck, and it took the guys in town 2 1/2 hrs to fix it! Oh well, as usual, T.I.A. and we’re now used to being the object of an entire towns attention. After it was finally fixed we got to Fish River Canyon for a bit of a hike for some photos. Fish River is the 2nd or 3rd largest canyon in the world depending upon whom you speak to and it was a great hike. Then, on to Orange River camp. Due to our delay we didn’t get there until after dark but luckily the camp cooked dinner for us that night.

Most of the group went on a canoe trip the next morning. We stayed behind due to my wrist but also to attempt to do some laundry and get our bags a bit more organized since we’re off the truck and traveling on our own again soon. Scary thing that was! We have managed to acquire way too much stuff. ugh! We may be shipping soon rather than carrying it all home. The afternoon we all spent lying on the grassy lawn in the sun drinking wine and talking….very relaxing!

Off at 7am the next day for our final long driving day on the truck! Sometimes when you cross into South Africa they actually remove all the bags from the truck, etc. but luckily we escaped that crap. The scenery got more and more beautiful as we traveled further into SA. Namibia was beautiful in it’s own way but whenever I’m in a desert environment for long I really long for green! We camped at Gecko’s Backpacker lodge for our last night in a tent. It was a fun place with hostel rooms, lovely setting, fireplace room, tv room, etc. Very comfortable. I was just feeling tired and was in bed by 10pm but, big surprise, some of those boys partied until 2am. Amazing how they can keep it up but then, they’re all young 20’s not 40’s like we are!

6 June we drove for about 2 1/2 hrs into Stellenbosch, a town I love in South Africa. It has a huge dutch feel to it from all the dutch settlers and is so scenic with a great range of restaurants, etc. without being overwhelming. At 10:30am we all headed out for our wine tour. We went to 4 wineries (including Simonsig..one of my very favorites) and had lunch and back to the Stumble Inn around 5pm. We had upgraded again, sure we just could not handle a dorm with everyone together for their final night. It was a very basic room but at least we got some privacy! We ordered pizza for dinner and everyone had a great time (some too good) singing and dancing. Amazing that this journey with these new friends is over after our drive into Cape Town the next day!

Next update, Cape Town, one of our very favorites anywhere! Until then, love you all, Jim & Rhonda

Hello friends & family, back again. We're now at a fantastic B&B in Cape Town so I actually have time to blog! On 7 May we had our first days in Malawi. It is one of the poorest countries on earth ... [Continue reading this entry]