More RSA, Mozambique & Swaziland

RSA continuing…

Day 17 to Day 21 – 11/4/13 to 14/4/13

We spend a few days in Pretoria and enjoyed being with family and doing some minor chores.

We picked up the vehicle from the local Toyota dealership and found that much of the work had not been done. We will need to get it done when we return. This is one of the few times a Toyota garage has let us down.

Day 18 – 15/4/13

After returning (twice) to Toyota, we were finally on the road again. We drove through to Nelspruit. The road along the Highvelt was flat and unimpressive, but the hills dropping into the Lowvelt and Nelspruit were scenic and offered some great views. Looking at the signs, it must be a big trout fishing area. As you would expect in RSA the road was a very high standard, but with many tolls booths!!

In Nelspruit we caught up with Ben & Jen, fellow overlanders we had met a few times down the East Coast. It was great to share a meal and chat about our experiences along the way. We also got hints on where to stay in Mozambique.

They introduced us to Marcel and his family who are starting a business in Mozambique. They informed us that you could cross from RSA into Mozambique from Kruger National Park.

Whilst in Nelspruit we decided to check in with the Mozambique and enquire about visa requirements for tourists. They strongly recommended that we obtain a visa there and not at the border. They issue visas on the same day.

We camped at the well appointed Natures Gate, ~ 7 km west of Nelspruit.

Avril  driving; 336 km; S 25⁰ 26’ 51.0’’ E 030⁰ 53’ 08.2’’

Day 19 – 16/4/13

We were the first in line at the consulate, but discovered we needed ‘Proof of Accommodation’ in Mozambique. Thanks to Beverley in Pretoria, this was quickly arranged and the Consul accepted an email version of the confirmation. The visas were issued promptly at 14:00 as promised.

While waiting for the visa we caught up with Jen. Ben, as is normal for Landrover folks, was at the garage!

Following Marcels advice, we decided to drive via KNP. We checked into Berg en Dal and went for a game drive. We were very fortunate to have 3 different and close sightings of Rhinoceros. First a mother and baby, then, very much in the open, a lone Rhino and finally on the way back to camp 4 Rhino walking along single file. There has been a lot in the press about poaching in KNP since the fence between KNP and the Great Limpopo NP was taken down. So, we were very lucky. We also managed to see impala (of course), some buffalo and a Kudu.

Avril  driving; S 25⁰ 25’ 36.1’’ E 031⁰ 26’ 46.1’’

 

Day 20 – 17/4/13

For game viewers, we had a relatively slow start ~ 07:30. We drove via various loops and roads to Letaba camp.

Along the way we managed to see: warthog, waterbuck, elephant, tree squirrel, giraffe, impala, zebra, (distant) rhino, buffalo, hippo and wildebeest.

We also went on a night drive and were lucky enough to see a civet plus Spring Hares, Rabbits (unlike Oz, not considered a pest), 2 dens of Hyena (with baby cubs), hippo grazing out of water and Elephants.

Whilst there was some variety in what we saw, we thought that there was not a lot of game and at times we travelled a large distance without seeing anything. Given KNPs reputation, this was a bit disappointing.

Avril  driving; S 23⁰ 51’ 18.1’’ E 031⁰ 34’ 45.9’’

Day 21 – 18/4/13

No rest for the wicked and we were on the road by 6:45 so as to arrive at the border crossing by 08:00. Along the way we saw some elephant, Impala, waterbuck, buffalo and Tsessebe.

The RSA formalities were quickly and efficiently completed.

Mozambique

Day 1 – 18/4/13

The entrance formalities were completed efficiently, but it took a little time as everything was done via paper not computer.

As expected the Great Limpopo NP did not have a lot of game. We saw a few Impala and a lone elephant. The southern part of the park seems to have been taken over entirely by pastoralists.

The initial gravel road was in OK condition. This was followed by a tar road was initially in OK condition, but then deteriorated and was badly potholes until we reached the main N1.

The road verges have been badly eroded and at one point a truck swerved to miss a crack at the edge and in the process knocked and smashed our driver’s side mirror. Avril got some minor cuts in the process. Of course the other driver did not stop.

We drove on to the Sunset Beach lodge, which has camping. Marcel and family were also camped there. They have travelled extensively in Africa and so we had a nice time chatting about places and events.

Avril  driving; 462 km; 9 hrs; S 24⁰ 57’ 25.3’’ E 034⁰ 11’ 21.0’’

Day 2 – 19/4/13

We decided to be lazy and had breakfast at the lodge and then drove through to Tofo beach. Similar to Tanzania, the speed limits are closely monitored and we had to slow to the speed limit, immediately at the speed sign in all of the numerous towns and villages (no matter how small they are!). The drive was quite pleasant, there was not too much traffic and generally the road was lined with tropical vegetation, palm trees and such.

On the way we stopped off at Inhambane. The guide book rates this as one of the top attractions in Mozambique, supposedly for its Mediterranean appearance and feel and for the clean streets and non dilapidated buildings. The guide book was printed in 2011, so we can only assume that the author had very different standards to us and maybe had never been to the Mediterranean so gathered his information on Mediterranean appearance and feel from books or such!

We camped at Bamboozi on the beach. The beach is very nice, golden sand and smooth, warm water. However, we both commented on how lucky Australia was to have our magnificent beaches. In the afternoon we went for a walk along the beach.

Ray driving; 231 km; S 23⁰ 50’ 29.7’’ E 035⁰ 32’ 13.8’’

Day 3 – 20/4/13

A day at leisure on the beach. Mozambique is famous for its large Tiger Prawns. For the previous 2 nights we had ordered Tiger Prawns at the lodge restaurants, only to be given some very small shrimps. So, we went for a walk to the local marked and managed to buy some proper Tiger Prawns. There was no negotiation on price: ~ $ 12/kg. Dinner was garlic prawns, with salad (brought from RSA – little is available in Mozambique) and local bread.

The area has a great number of mosquitos, so we decided to move on the following day. There were reports of Remano attacks further north, so we decided to head back south.

Day 4 – 21/4/13

We drove back to Sunset beach in the morning. There had been a large storm in the area the night before, so the beach was very choppy and not the brilliant blue it had been a few days previous. Ray went for a swim anyway.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing, reading etc.

Avril  driving; 714 km; 9 hrs; S 23⁰ 04’ 58.2’’ E 026⁰ 49’ 26.1’’

Day 5 – 22/4/13

We drove through to the Mozambique ~ Swaziland border. Along the way we stopped off at Xai Xai to get our mirror repaired. We hhad been told that there was a vendor around the corner from a particular office, but did not appreciate that the “shop” would be a stall on the street. Ray wandered along the street, broken mirror in hand, looking for a shop. A chap came running after him, and with a lot of hand gesturers he informed us he could fix the mirror and it would cost M 250 = $ 7 and would take 20 min. So we left the mirror with him and wandered off looking for brunch. We had already had breakfast!

After 20 min we returned and found that a piece of mirror had been cut to approximately the correct dimensions and fitted into the broken rear view mirror frame.

We taped some gaffer tape around it, just to be sure and set off with at least some visibility on the passenger side.

The border crossing was completed with a minimum of fuss.

Mozambique Summary

From a tourist perspective, Mozambique seems to be mainly about the beaches. They are very nice, but it is a long way to go for a nice beach. Apparently the folks from RSA like to holiday at the beaches because it is safer there than in RSA. This is sort of ironic, as in RSA they blame the immigrants from Mozambique for a lot of the crime.

Apart from the main coastal road, we found the roads to be generally in poor condition.

We found Mozambique to be relatively high cost when compared to its neighbours. 

The 2011 Bradt Guide was already dated with some of the places mentioned closed. As it always the case, you can never get good or services for the prices quoted in the book. 5/10

We used the Riese Know How map. 4/10.

Swaziland

Day 1 – 22/4/13

The crossing into the Kingdom of Swaziland was completed with a small hold up. We completed the immigration and customs/formalities very quickly but were stopped at the final gate. Apparently we needed tp pay a road toll (R 50). But the discussion centered on the need to pay import duty. Ray pointed out that the carnet was already stamped and a carnet meant that we did not need to pay duty. This all took some time to resolve. The gate guard also took our raw meat; apparently this cannot be imported from Mozambique. We did manage to salvage some nice marinated chicken.

We drove through to Hlane national Park and checked in. There had been a lot of rain in the area and a lot of the roads were closed. We went for a pre-dinner game drive and were fortunate to see some Nyala – our 1^st ever! We also saw impala, warthog and bushbuck.

We cooked up our illegal chicken for dinner. The night was very clear and we had a good view of the southern cross. After dinner we wandered down to a dam near the camping enclosure and saw some Impala and noted that the fence around this part of the camping area consisted of 2 strands of loose barb wire. On the way back to our vehicle we heard the roar of a lion very close by. He seemed to walk along the fence. We assume that he was mating as we heard the intermittent roar all night.

Avril  driving; 407 km; S 26⁰ 15’ 38.9’’ E 031⁰ 52’ 35.7’’

Day 2 – 23/4/13

In the morning we went for another game drive and saw more Nyala, Impala, bushbuck, wildebeest, a Kudu and elephant.

We then drove through some wonderful hills to the Ezulwini Valley – ancestral home of the Swazi kings. For us it was a chance to have a look at some curios. We had been very good on the shopping front to this point. We bought a nice table cloth with an African theme.

We then drove through some great mountain scenery to Piggs Peak. The area reminded us a lot of the mountains in France and Andorra during our trip there. 

We drove to the Malolotji Reserve for our last camp of the trip. The reserve has a herd of Blesbok.

As the Swazi border people had taken our “good” meat, we ate some of our emergency rations for dinner. The night was FREEZING!!! After 3 summers, it will be hard to go back to a winter.

Ray driving; 189 km; S 26⁰ 08’ 38.0’’ E 031⁰ 07’ 54.7’’

Day 3 – 24/4/13

As we were freezing, we decided to pack up quickly and get some breakfast on the road. On the way to the border we stopped off at a glass works and brought some curios. We also went into the furnace area to get warm.

Swazi formalities were completed in less than a minute. As there is a customs union between RSA and Swaziland, there were no customs/carnet issues.

Swaziland Summary

Swaziland has had some negative press recently, mainly to do with the king and his many wives and the cost of the entourage. However, we though the country was very well set up. Very little litter, high standard and well maintained roads. No beggars.

The scenery is stunning.

Lonely Planet guide was useful. 7/10.

More RSA

Day 22 – 24/4/13

The entry into RSA was ultra quick. We drove through to Pretoria to prepare the vehicle for shipping.

Avril  driving; 341 km

South Africa, again

Day 1 – 24/3/13

RSA formalities took time: there was confusion over our initial entry (19 months ago) into RSA, then a vehicle inspection. We made time to assist some motor bikkers from Gabs who needed a jump start.

The country side was similar to Botswana i.e. flat and desert. The difference was that in RSA most/all of the land was farmed.

Again, with good roads and no speed bumps we made good time to Kathu, ~ 50 kmk past Kuruman.

Ray  driving; 700 km; 10 hrs; S 27⁰ 41’ 57.8’’ E 023⁰ 02’ 46.2’’

Day 2 – 25/3/13

Another long days driving. We passed through Upington and checked in at a tyre garage to get an wheel alignment. Unfortunately it seems that the tie rod ends have worn to such an extent that the alignment is not possible. Ewe asked the garage to source the parts and we will fit them on the way back.

We managed to get to Kgalagadi NP in the mid afternoon. We had tried to book a camp site on the internet, but the site would not allow us to do that, but it showed accommodation was available. On arrival  the receptionist informed us that the park accommodation was fully booked. A family beside us at reception overheard this and offered to share their site with us. How great is that! So, we had accommodation and as events turned out, there were camping spaces available so we did not need to impose.

On exiting the reception area a chap approached us and told us where we could spot a cheater and some mating lions. On entry to the park we went straight to a game drive and dutifully saw the cheater and mating lions. Nearby the mating couple there was another very dejected looking lion. IN addition we saw some hyena, gemsbok, springbok and wildebeest.

Avril  driving; We forgot to take the coordinates. But the coordinates from T4A are: S 26⁰ 28’ 23.8’’ E 020⁰ 36’ 45.6’’

Day 3 – 26/3/13

As good game viewers, we were up reasonably early, but not as keen as those who were at the gate opening at 06:00. On entry into the park we saw a lioness strolling up a dune and across a ridgeline. That took the pressure off for the day – “we had seen lion”. We also say 2 other groups of lions, including the copulating couple again. We were very fortunate to see a rare Brown Hyena, just after we had seen a more common spotted hyena. Another highlight was some giraffe sitting down under a tree – we had never seen a sitting giraffe before. We were also fortunate to make a number of sightings of (cheeky) jackals, including 6 at one water hole. In addition to the buck we saw the day before we say a herd of Hartebeest. We stopped for a while to watch a colony of ground squirrels acting sort of like meercats.

We drove around until ~ 16:00 – Avril wanted to get back early and do some washing.

In the evening we went for a night drive. There had been a fierce storm late in the afternoon and the guide apologised that the game would have probably sought shelter. However, we thought it was rather good. We had our first sighting of a Cape Fox, a number of jackals, incredibly another sighting of a Brown Hyena and of course the normal buck.

Day 4 – 27/3/13

Another early start to the day. On our game drive we really only saw large herds of buck. Unfortunately, the BFGoodrich tyres failed again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Both the rear tyres developed bubbles. The left one failed and we had to change it. Whilst we were doing this the police happened along. They were concerned for us, as there were apparently lions in the area. So, nice chaps they are, they changed the tyre for us. They told is that a number of RSA soldiers had been killed in the CAR and the President (whom we met when we were there) had fled. They were (rightly) outraged at the deaths of the soldiers. Apparently the 200 RSA soldiers fought 13 hr fire fight against 3,000.

We had the spares fixed at the rest camp. The fellas there did a great job matching tyres to rims etc. But, we decided that we should go through to Upington and get the issues sorted.

During our time in the park we noted a camaraderie among the game viewers. Folks would stop us to tell us where there were interesting sightings may be just to chat whilst we were looking at animals. Everyone waved to each other when passing. Everyone in the camp ground was interested in our travels etc. We also noted that Afrikaans was the predominant language spoken.

In Upington, we stayed at the River Bank Guest House and had an absolutely fantastic red meat dinner (Ray steak & Avril lamb chops) at a local pub. This was at a fraction of the price we would have pain in Australia.

Avril  driving; S 28⁰ 27’ 18.4’’ E 021⁰ 15’ 06.8’’

Day 5 – 28/3/13

Avril decided on a morning of leisure whilst Ray attended to the car. Unfortunately Toyota could not provide the parts for the tie rods – so we will have to put up with that issue for some more time. We did purchase 2 new tyres. Great  news, NOT BFGoodrich. We fitted Pirelli’s.

We then drove onto Springbok along an excellent highway. The initial part was flat desert, reminiscent of some deserts in Nth Africa. Around Springbok the countryside changed to small mountains, still desert.

We had wanted to do some grocery shopping in Springbox, but on Good Friday eve the whole town was in a shopping frenzy. So we decided to go without.

Ray driving; 376 km; 5 hrs; S 29⁰ 40’ 23.9’’ E 017⁰ 53’ 57.4’’

Day 9 – 29/3/13

We had a quiet day relaxing in Springbok. We went for a drive around the barren hills surrounding the town. Then we did a bit of shopping and had coffee at a local café.

Mias & Ronel, friends from the Angola trip arrived in the mid afternoon. We spent the remainder of the day chatting and catching up and in typical RSA style, Mias cooked up a wonderful BBQ for dinner.

Day 10 – 30/3/13

Under the guiding eye of Mias and Ronel, we drove through the shore based section of the Namaqua National Park and onto the marine section. This is a relatively new NP and we were fortunate to see Gemsbok, Springbok, Steenbok, Hartebeest and a klipspringer. This was all unexpected. After fish and chips at a fishing village, we proceeded down the coastal section of the park.

Sections of the road down the coast are sandy. We did get stuck and then Ray remembered to lock the vehicle into 4WD! The going was a bit tough in stages, but as long as we deflated our tyres we were OK. At one point a couple of vehicles were stuck, we lent them our sand plates and continued onto some interesting caves/rock arches. On the way back to the road from the caves we retrieved the plates. Mias towed out a stuck vehicle and as a reward was given a freshly caught crayfish. The area is very big for recreational rock lobster diving.

We made camp at Vairswater bay – right on the sea. We cooked up a great feast of lobster, followed by a full beef fillet and veggies done on the BBQ. A wonderful sunset added to the delight.

It began to rain at ~ 21:30 and the rain followed us down the coast for the next + 24 hours.

Avril  driving; 206 km; S 30⁰ 41’ 11.8’’ E 017⁰ 28’ 44.9’’

Day 11 – 31/3/13

After a bit of a sleep in, we packed up our soggy tent (LIB for Ray for not putting on the fly!). We continued down the coast, though a mix of drizzle and sea mist. The coast was a great variety of white sand beaches and rugged, rocky areas. The sandy sections of the road were generally OK, though we did need to deflate. However, in one area there was a clay/salt pan on a hill and we lost control of the vehicle. We commenced a series of 360⁰ turns. It was not dangerous and we both laughed loudly. It may have been a lot tougher for those leaving later in the day.

Mias & Ronel had kindly invited us to stay at their home, on a canal in Velddrift. They have a great community there. We were invited over to a neighbour’s house for fresh lobster, but had to decline (as a boat load of local chap arrived to raid the bar and have a chat) and so a young chap when a collected a couple for us.  Mias cooked up a wonderful seafood BBQ.

Avril  driving; 308 km; S 32⁰ 47’ 14.7’’ E 018⁰ 09’ 16.0’’

Day 12 – 1/4/13

After a hearty brunch we drove through to Cape Town and spent the rest of the day with our niece, Brittany. We went for a delicious Italian meal we did a bit of shopping. In the evening we watched Brit play hockey, in the pouring rain.

Avril  driving; ~ 150 km; S 33⁰ 57’ 20.6’’ E 018⁰ 28’ 28.0’’

Day 13 – 2/4/13

We were up very early to start the long trek to Pretoria. Fortunately we were against the traffic as there were massive and very long traffic jams into Cape Town. We had forgotten just how spectacular the mountains though the Hex valley and surrounding area were, so it was delightful to drive through them again. We had a similar experience in the Great Karoo.

After a couple of false starts, we stopped at Kroonstad in the Hacienda Hotel. Ray had red meat again – great taste as ridiculously low priced.

Oh, yes, we HAVE put on weight!

Avril  driving; 1220 km; 12.5 hrs; S 27⁰ 38’ 56.8’’ E 027⁰ 13’ 55.7’’

Day 14 – 3/4/13

We arrived in Pretoria in the early afternoon. Avril went to the hair dressers and Ray checked out garages.

Day 15 – 4/4/13

Avril departed for hew sojourn in Australia and Ray booked the car in for a service. Fortunately, the garage will look after the car for the next week.