2011 – Nata, Botswana to Home – Sandton, South Africa

I woke up, trying not to think what it was going to be like to have to get back to domestic ‘bliss’. It was a confused state of mind – I have loved this trip and don’t want it to end but at the same time, I have missed my friends, family and animals and look so forward to catching up with everyone.

We decided to skip breakfast and head off for an early start – 7:30. We are definitely on our way south, each morning gets colder and this morning it was straight into winter clothes.

The novelty of yesterday’s veterinary check point stops wore off very quickly. By the third stop at 10:30, we were so over it and the officials were less than pleasant. We are clearly heading south, gone are the friendly and helpful officials from north of Botswana.

At the stop at Sesse, we had no smiling face, just some bolshie guy barking orders for us to get out and dip our feet. Then he wanted our flip flops dipped; trying to explain they were in bags, in the bottom of a tied up trailer that would stay that way till we arrived back in Jhb, would not appease him. Gray could only find one of his flops in the car and told him he had lost the other one – grouchy official was still not happy and demanded slops from me. Having extracted my bag, Gray, for the first time in 4 months, kind of lost his cool and threw my bag on the ground. I found my slops, dipped them and then he demanded that I do my slippers – trying to explain that my comfy sheep woollies were back home (no doubt giving foot & mouth to my dogs and cats) – and that I did not think they would be much use while camping in the Serengeti. After a cursory search of my bag, he seemed satisfied that slippers were not part of my luggage. While Gray was repacking, the official proceeded to give him a hard time for holding up the queue. Yep, we are definitely on our way home.

We stopped off at Palapye; for money (got lucky at the 4th ATM), a quick Nando’s take-away (lost our order and so took forever – no apology), and diesel (no problems) – I was ready to head back up north, where things sometimes get done, but always with a smile.

Our Botswana leg, with all the foot bath stops, took 2 hours longer than expected. The scenery was extremely dry and the bush is pretty barren.

We arrived at our, sort of remote border post, at 1:30. The Botswana side at Parr’s Halt, had a customs official missing in action and once located, had no idea what our Carnet was and it took a lot of patient convincing to get him to sign it.

On the S. A. side at Stockpoort, the official told Gray he had been caught speeding in Bots – Gray tried to convince him that it was impossible as he was using speed control but he persisted, saying they had it all on camera – just as I saw steam coming out of Gray’s ears, the customs policeman said it was a joke – the rest of us found this hilarious but Gray has kind of lost his sense of humour.

We officially arrived back on S. A. soil at 2:00pm. As on Day 1, we were plagued with road works and had to wait ages at road stops for the oncoming traffic to come through. After the roads we had encountered up north, we were just grateful for the condition of the roads in S.A. and the fact that they are maintained.

And we have touch down – the 800km journey took us 11 hours and we arrived home at 7:30.

We received a warm and slobbery welcome from our 4 dogs and even the two cats, who had put on huge amounts of weight were all over us like a rash. Animals are so forgiving – you leave them for 4 months and they just forgive you and love you when you get home.

Dinner and groceries were on the kitchen table, thanks to Al, the best neighbour ever.

We all had long, hot baths and sunk into our marshmallow mattresses – we dreamed of Africa.

Our last pack up

Home – sweet – home

Day 108: 31/07/2011 – Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe to Nata, Botswana

We had breakfast and headed off on an early start, as we had a border crossing today. Gray, having done his homework, as always, found us one of these obscure, little border posts to head for. All the more exciting because it was called – Pandamatenga.

After breakfast we headed off south east and back through parts of the Hwange Reserve and then into the Matetsi Park.

We arrived at Pandamatenga around 12:00. When Panda chooses an obscure border post, he does a good job, we were the first car through in a week and the officials were so excited to see us that the paperwork went through in double quick time – so they could chat to us for a while. No mans land and then the Botswana side- likewise the lady was so excited to see us and we got treated like royals passing through. The Zims rotate their officials monthly, so the guys only had a month to sit around and twiddle their thumbs. The Bots people have a 4 year rotation – shame, you really have to do something bad to land up there (like sleeping with the bosses wife).

Just as we were congratulating Gray for the easiest border crossing yet – there was a surly gate guy waiting for us. Then it all went pear shaped; we had to dip our feet in some old, dirty liquid (all except Gray had flip flops on) – what foot diseases we hadn’t picked up in Africa, we now have. Then he started on the car and trailer – we knew we couldn’t take meat into Botswana and had given what was left in the fridge to local villagers along the way. We still however had to unpack the boot as the fridge and cooler box are at the bottom. Once satisfied, our cheerful official started on the trailer – we , as I have mentioned have a sick trailer and have to tie and ratchet the top down every morning – so now all had to be untied, locks opened and trailer opened for him to inspect our bags, pillows and sleeping bags.

This guy would have made a great employee for Aussie Border Patrol – still he was just doing his job.

With everything repacked we headed off through a dipping trough for the car – only to be stopped less than 100km later at another check point. This time we all managed to locate takkies and hide all other footware (as this also has to be dipped – by hand) and head through the wet cloth trough. This time, after unpacking the boot only, they took away our tomatoes – guess we had the rabid sort. Then the car was back into the dip. All this was a right pain in the arse – but they have have big foot and mouth problems in the area, so this is understandable.

Shortly after entering Bots we came across an ‘elephant crossing’ sign and yes – there was this big bull Ellie crossing the road – where is the camera when you need it?

We drove through Nata, another little African town and headed to our destination for the night – Nata Lodge.

We are using Botswana as a route home and not touring around. We have been fortunate enough to travel Botswana fairly extensively over the years and have had some awesome game viewing experiences. However, it is a popular destination and with the European holiday season starting, we would not find accommodation in the parks as we had not booked ahead.

This being said, we decided not to draw out the home stretch and head home tomorrow – so this is the last night of our African adventure.

Gray has this deal with us; on our camping trips around southern Africa, we always spend our last night in the best place available. One of our best was after 3 weeks in Mozambique to stay in the Polana Hotel.

Tonight, he did well again, we booked 2 huts at Nata Lodge – they were big log cabins, neat and very comfortable with bush decor. It had Gray’s best, an outside reed shower and a ball and claw bath for me.

Robs and I hit one of the best stocked curio shops we have come across – you know you are in desperate need of retail therapy, when you spend 1/2 an hour in a little shop selling African curios, which you are not going to buy.

Nice as our accommodation was, the food in the restaurant was definitely forgettable and below average.

Pandamatenga Border Post – obviously

Nata Lodge

Our last sunset

Day 107: 30/07/2011 – Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

It’s so strange to wake up in a room and have a TV set to switch on, not that there was a huge variety of channels available, but it was still fun to have a cup of coffee in bed and catch up on the cooking channel.

After a lie in, we set off to meet up with the folks for brunch at the Vic Falls Hotel. Buffets, like this one, should be illegal; you just eat far too much. However, as it turned out, it’s just as well we were well fortified for the long day ahead.

We took the walkway from the Hotel to the falls, escorted by the Falls police, not that there is danger but just to keep away the peddlers trying to sell their soap stone statues and wooden carvings (and one offering weed). The falls, on both the Zim and Zam sides, is one of the few places that we were bugged by locals.

We entered the falls area and first wondered up the top section of the Zambezi River and watched the flowing river channel through the rapids before cascading impressively into the gorge below. Then we wondered past the giant statue of Livingstone that is erected so he can permanently overlook the length of the falls.

Then for the best part – walking through the rain forests, along the path and watching the thousands and thousands of litres of water gush around islands and rocks and plummet over a kilometre into the narrow gorge below. It then hits the bottom and returns back up in a mist and spray that makes amazing rainbows and gives visitors a good shower. One can never tire of visiting the falls and we have been so fortunate to visit it 3 times in the last 18 months. Each visit was at a different time of the year and each time was different depending on the rains and volumes of water.

After spending a wonderful morning at the falls, we ambled down to the border post on the old bridge and got our pass to cross over into ZimZam (no man’s land). Besides giving another awesome view of the falls, it is also the place of the dreaded bungee jump.

One look over the edge was all it took to convince the kids this was all they had ever dreamed of doing in life and for the adults to feel the exact opposite. So off we set to the view point, come office (sure the kids would see more sense when it came to actually signing up). No such luck, so US$240 later, we were heading back to the middle of the bridge to wait their turn, while watching other idiots plunge into the gorge below.

Ga went first, after being strapped up, he walked the edge and without blinking executed a perfect swallow dive off the 111m bridge, as if it was a 3m diving board. After all the years of Lina, his diving coach, nagging him to point his toes, she would be delighted to know that in executing this dive, his toes were pointed- and we have the video to prove it.

Then it was Robs turn, she was doing the gorge swing – almost the same and just as stupid (and apparently more scary) than the bungee. The main difference being that the jumper jumps off feet first and swings backs and forth across the gorge, instead of going off head first and bouncing up and down. Robs got to edge, looked down at the swirling waters below and had serious second thoughts but after a little pep talk from the guys there – about it being soooo safe and they had never had an accident – she also jumped off and swung around the gorge, waving up at us.

While watching my brave/idiot kids head off, Gus asked me how ‘mommy’ was feeling – actually I was very calm and if it had not been so busy, I might have considered going across the gorge on the zip slide.

With all in one piece, we returned across the bridge to find the longest queue of people at a border crossing to date. A bus load of Chinese tourists were doing the whole passport and visa crossing. After waiting in the queue for 15 minutes, without it moving, Gray headed inside and managed to sort out our pass in a minute and then it was back for high tea at the Vic Falls Hotel.

We had another lovely dinner at Vic Falls Hotel (all except Ga, who was man down with a tummy bug).

The only thing that would have made this a perfect day was if Kirst was there to share it with us. As it turned out, she was having a pretty perfect day herself at the Stellenbosch Wine Festival.

Victoria falls in July

The Family

Rainbow in the gorge

Ga doing his bungee

Robs on her gorge swing

Day 106: 29/07/2011 – Hwange to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

After spreading ourselves around a nice big camp site for 3 days, it took us a while to pack up. This was not a problem as we had an easy day’s ahead to Victoria Falls.

We were visiting Vic Falls for the second time this trip, this time staying on the Zimbabwe side. We had two main reasons for the visit; firstly Gray’s folks, Gus and Jill, were flying up for the weekend to see us and secondly Ga had not been there before.

Along the way we drove parallel to an old strip road, still in perfect condition. Gus said that when he had done a trip around Zim when he was about 15, his dad had travelled along that strip road.

We arrived in Victoria Falls town around mid morning and set about looking for accommodation. The first place was Rest Camp; the camp site was packed with overlanders, so we had a look at the family cottage. Gray took one look at my face and knew he best look further. We drove around, checking out some stunning but out of budget hotels and eventually settled on a nice, reasonable hotel, the Vic Falls Rainbow.

At 3:00 we headed off to the Victoria Falls Hotel, to meet up with Gus and Jill. This is the most famous and oldest hotel in the area. It is probably a century old but still holds all the old glory and colonial feeling of bygone days.

It was wonderful to see Granny and Grandpa after such a long time and to catch on the last 4 months. After tea on the veranda, where you can see the spray from the falls, we went for a walk to explore the area.

In the evening we had dinner in the outdoor restaurant at the Vic Falls Hotel, where we were entertained by local drummers and dancers. It was such a lovely evening, with such a lot of catching up.

Victoria Falls Hotel

Family reunion

The kids with the spray from the falls

Evening entertainment

Day 105: 28/07/2011 – Ivory Lodge, Zimbabwe

This morning, because we hadn’t planned anything for the day, we woke up early. We had coffee around the fire and relaxed till the sun was well up and the day was warm. We did some camp chores and then headed down to the hide.

After watching 3 different herds of ellie amble down, a herd of buffalo came to drink and a kudu then arrived, as well as zebra, impala and so on – I’m glad we didn’t rush off into the park. After a profitable morning of doing, well nothing but watching game, we wondered back to the camp.

We are having one of Panda’s potjies for dinner (the one where the rest of us do all the chopping and preparing and he stirs the pot and gets the credit). It takes a fair amount of preparation and a lot of slow cooking to get this meal sorted.

With the potjie, bubbling away slowly over the camp fire, we set off to take a look at the Painted Dog Rehabilitation Centre, in the area. In S.A. we usually refer to painted dogs as wild dogs – it was explained to us that ‘wild dog’ has a negative connotation in that people think of them as rabid and they are nothing of the sort. Each dog has a unique marking that tells it apart from any other and hence the name painted dog – we liked the ‘new name’ for these intelligent animals. This centre was certainly one of the best we have visited in terms of rehabilitation – it was great for Robs to see, as she would like to follow a career in animal rehabilitation one day. They have a great information centre and a guide showed us around and answered questions. We then went on a walk along a 800m long and 2 ½m raised platform, above a huge enclosure There were no dogs in this enclosure, as a group had just been relocated into another reserve. We then visited 2 smaller enclosures, where there were 3 dogs. Due to our interest, Washington our guide, then took us it into the bush to track 4 dogs that they had collared, unfortunately, we didn’t find them.

Gray was eager to return to the camp to check on his potjie. With it still bubbling away nicely, we went down to the hide for sunset G & T’s and then red wine around the camp fire.

The potjie, thanks Gray, was a culinary master piece – watch out Justin Bonello.

After dinner, armed with a torch, we headed off into the bush, for the lodge and a huge boma fire. We sat around, sipping Amarula and chatting to the only other guests, a Dutch couple, on their first trip to Africa. They were a little out their depth, with the ellie being so close – they had never seen a wild animal outside a zoo before. This brought us to some of the funny things overseas tourists have been heard to say:

‘What do I do if I get bitten by a lion?’

· ‘Do giraffes hunt in packs?’

· ‘What species of dog is a lion?’

· ‘Are there lions in the street in South Africa?’

· ‘Is the hyena related to the brown bear?’

· ‘What time can we expect the lions to roar?’

· ‘I know why giraffes are so tall, so they can hunt monkeys in trees.’

· ‘You should catch the monkeys and teach them to eat with a knife and fork and sit at the table with us, so they can entertain us’

· ‘At what time do they round up the animals and lock them in the cages for the night’

· ‘Where do rhinos lay their eggs?’

We eventually got to bed around 11.30. A late night for us!!!!

Robs in the info centre

Painted dog

Ga at the potjie

Robs and the ellies

Day 104: 27/07/2011 – Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

Although we had decided to wake up early in order make for an early start into the park, our bed was too comfortable and warm and so we chose to stay in a little later than planned before braving the morning cold.

We drove about 12km from our camp site to Hwange National Park. Ivory Lodge has proved the perfect place to stay – we could have stayed in the park and shared the camp site with 2 school tours and a laager of my ‘favourite caravaners’. The park bungalows and camp site looked like they had recently been redvamped, the camping costs were the same as Ivory Lodge but then we would still have had to pay park fees. The park entry fees were US$70 for the 4 of us – certainly a lot cheaper than the Tanzanian and Zambian parks.

We did a 120km loop that took us around 5 ½ hours. There is a great variety in vegetation in different areas of the park. Having no natural water in the area, it is very dry and relies on water holes for the animals. At the Kennedy Waterhole, which the ellies had recently visited, Robs and Gray had a huge ellie dung flinging competition. Not sure who the winner was but both landed up full of regurgitated grass.

Despite there being areas where we saw very little game, overall, we had an amazing days viewing. We saw a puff adder crossing the road and numerous birds. Spanning over 3 waterholes we saw a herd of between 500 and 600 buffalo, we were able to drive into the middle of the herd and to listen to and smell them. In the space of a ½ an hour we saw gemsbok, sable and roan antelope – this is certainly a first time for us all. This was in addition to the ellie, zebra, giraffe, impala, warthogs and other general game.

On returning to Ivory Lodge, we drove into a herd of ellie on their way to the watering hole. We headed down on foot and sat in the hide watching them; they then wandered up to the hide area and at times they were as close as 2m from us.

During sun downers, Cedric – one of the owners of the lodge arrived. He is a fascinating guy, one of the old farmers who was driven off his farm and subsequently arrested and jailed for refusing to leave his land. He told us about life in Zimbabwe and how he, like so many thousands of Zimbabweans had lost everything. It turned out his daughter and son-in-law are responsible for revamping the Bulawayo Club, after it had gone down badly during the war years. They now lease the land on which Ivory Lodge is built, as well as a lodge in the Matopos. It’s amazing the spirit of some people and how they have bounced back in this wonderful country.

Just as we were packing up for the night, one of the camp workers, Kumalani, arrived and started chatting about his life in Zimbabwe, he turned out to be a bit of a history boff and we heard about Zim from way back, dates and all. He also likes to reminisce about the good old days, it is amazing that all the people we have chatted to in Zim, Black and White, are all so anti the present regime. One man said to us – “you in South Africa live in fear of your ex-president, Nelson Mandela dying and we in Zimbabwe can’t wait for our president, Robert Mugabe to die”.

The dung fight

One of hundreds of buffalo

Ellie at the hide

Elephant eye

Day 103: 26/07/2011 – Bullawayo to Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

Happy Birthday Gayl and Lois – hope you have a great day.

After an English and continental breakfast combined, we left the Bulawayo Club with very full tummies. We meandered around Bulawayo filling up with diesel, looking for an ATM, with money in it and we found a nice shopping centre. There was a good supermarket and a butchery; with a Blue Bulls logo and it had some pretty decent boerewors.

We then left Bulawayo and headed 260km north, west to an area just outside Hwange National Park. Our destination was Ivory Lodge, Gray had seen a recent article in the Country Living Magazine and I had seen an advert in the Bulawayo Club for the place. We arrived around lunch time and it was wonderful – attached to a stunning tented lodge, with all the facilities and a swimming pool, was a very newly built camp area. We are surrounded by bush, with a great thatched living area and great ablutions. The lodge area has the most comfortable hide, more like a lounge, overlooking a waterhole. We were welcomed by a herd of ellie drinking at the waterhole. Shortly after that a lion arrived to survey the area. Vultures were pecking at a buffalo carcass that had been killed the day before.

After setting up camp and exploring around, we went down to the hide and watched various animals drift out the bush for a drink and drift back in again. Late afternoon, Gray and Ga went back to camp to sort out the fire, while Robs and I bonded in the hide and watched the sun set. We left just before dark as we had been warned that there were lions around and didn’t want to encounter one in the dark on the way back to camp.

When we arrived back the fire had already been made by the staff from the lodge – it was huge, they had taken 3 tree trunks made this amazing fire place in the bush. We were so thankful for this, as although the days are hot (around 28°c), the temperature plummets at night and we were kept nice and warm. After a braai, we all headed into our tents for an early night.

Ivory Lodge

Lounge

Day 102: 25/07/2011 – Gweru to Bullawayo, Zimbabwe

Robs had decided to spend the night in the rooftop tent with Gray and I and she was the only one who was warm during the night. I had on winter pyjamas, a fleece top and a fleece sleeping bag, a down duvet over us and I still kept waking up because of the cold.

Thankfully, morning came but only gray had the courage to leave the tent before the sun was high in the sky. He checked the temperature in the car and it was 0°c. Not helping matters, the water in the shower was only luke warm. As the sun warmed us, helped on by hot coffee, we were able to function. The highlight of the morning was watching some woodpeckers build – rather peck out – a nest in the tree in our camp area.

Eventually we were on the road, for an easy 160km journey into Bulawayo. Bulawayo is a very busy town and filled with people who don’t seem to be doing anything. It is neat and clean and the shops are busy. There are a number of old buildings, obviously dating back to the colonial era – they are in great condition and are still in use as government departments, the post office, the National Gallery and so on.

We (Doris) easily located our accommodation for the night – The Bulawayo Club. Being members of Jo’burg Country Club, we have reciprocity in a number of Clubs around South Africa and other parts of Africa. This has been a bonus and we have enjoyed evenings in a few of places, particularly enjoying the Kimberly Club. I so love these old buildings, filled with pictures of pompous old men, war heroes and royalty. The huge old rooms, with wooden floors, smelling of polish and decorated with antiques from a bygone era, make one feel part of history. The wide ornate staircases led us to our comfortable rooms on the 2^nd floor.

From there we set off to explore the town. Gray deciding we needed a local experience led us to the Take-away food court area for lunch. I would rather have had a real local experience and found a rural hut, serving pap and goat meat. As a ‘real treat’ he got us ice cream cones and set off down some dirty alley way, hoping the dust swirling around and landing on our cones didn’t contain anything life threatening, in the form of germs and bacteria. We already had concerns of having contracted botulism from our lunch. Eventually we landed up at a beautiful old building – the National Art gallery, obviously it was closed on a Monday, but we still went in and had a look around their art shop. From there we wondered around some curio shops and then headed back to the Bulawayo Club to investigate all the old rooms, it really is like a museum and it was wonderful to soak up some colonial culture.

We found the smartest we could find in our cases (not easy to find anything after so long in the bush) and dined in the old dining room. It was a wonderful evening.

National Art Gallery, Bulawayo

Entrance Hall, Bulawayo Club

Antiques

Atrium

Day 101: 24/07/2011 – Gweru, Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has turned out to be the easiest country to travel by road; the roads are in good condition, the traffic is not a problem and drivers are courteous. We are also finding the distance between destinations of places to visit is short. Due to this we are able to take it easy in the mornings, we are able to lie in, have a leisurely breakfast and pack up slowly before heading off to our next destination.

Today was no exception and after to chatting to Norma Jeanne and some of the other guests we set off for the 260km trip to Gweu. Gweru was not prettiest town we have passed through but was pretty busy with weekend shoppers.

Once out of town we headed a few kilometres along to the Antelope Park, where we were camping tonight. We saw giraffe on the way in and I was expecting a small reserve with a few buck and general game. On entering the reception/camp/entertainment/dining/chalet area, I was surprised to see how commercialised and busy the place was.

We were given a personal guide and shown to our camp site, overlooking a pretty dam, teaming with birds. The buffet lunch, in an open thatch covered area, was clearly popular and the area was packed with people.

We soon discovered that far from this being a little game park, it was more of a glorified zoo. We could go on elephant rides, swims, training sessions, lion walks, lion feeds, horse rides and so on and so on – each one costing more than the next in US$. Although we are not in agreement with this unnatural way to keep animals, it didn’t stop Ga, Robs and I booking a slot to interact with the lion cubs. We spent an hour playing with 2 adorable, 4 month old cubs – Robs thought she had died and gone to heaven.

The Antelope Park, is assisted by ‘volunteers; people, mainly from America who pay huge fees to come over and stay at the park, while helping – feed, walk and play with the lions, horses and elephants. There were plenty of these volunteers around, someone has stumbled on a great business plan and is making lots of money.

We had been warned that Gweu is can be very cold at night, this was an understatement, it was bloody freezing. We hurried through our braai, made hot chocolate (with marshmallows) and headed for our tents, duvets, fleeces and sleeping bags.

Robs at her happiest

Ga having fun

How cute !!!!!

Day 100: 23/07/2011 – Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe

100 Days on the road

I had a really bad night; I have pulled a muscle in my leg and couldn’t get comfortable in the tent. We lazed around this morning enjoying the garden, the view and the resident trumpeter hornbills, which sound like crying babies.

Around mid morning we set off to Great Zimbabwe – formerly known as the Zimbabwe Ruins and the place from which present day Zimbabwe derived its name, after its independence in 1980.

Great Zimbabwe is a ruined city that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, which existed from 1100 AD to 1450 AD during the country’s late iron age. At its peak it housed up to 18 000 people. Great Zimbabwe acted as a royal palace for the Zimbabwean chiefs and would have been used as the seat of their political power. One of its most prominent features is its walls, some of which, in the Great Enclosure, are over 11m high and which were constructed without mortar.

Eventually, the city was largely abandoned and fell into ruin, first being encountered by Europeans in the early 16th century. The most important aftefacts recovered from the ruins are the eight Zimbabwe Birds, made mainly of soapstone. One ofwhich is depicted on the Zimbabwean Nationa Flag.

It was truly a humbling experience visiting these amazing ruins and we spent three hours exploring the various complexes, the most impressive were the great Enclosure and the Hill Complex. The Great Enclosure is surrounded by 11m high walls, and housed many smaller complexes, including the conical tower. The mostly square stones were made by heating rock and then pouring water over them to weaken and shape them. No concrete type material was used. Walking through the narrow passage way of the great enclosure, clearly none were overweight, made one feel a little nervous. I guess if the high walls have survived the last 6 centuries, we were ok. In order to reach the hill complex, 450 m up a hill, overlooking the valley of ruins below, we took the ancient route up (sore leg and all). It was even more exciting to explore all the nooks and crannies of the walls and rocks, knowing that the rocks had to be carried all the way up the mountain. Gareth decided to climb up one of the boulders at the top, his slops slipped on the smooth surface and he just managed to stop on the narrow wall below, or we might have been scraping him up from the bottom of the mountain – clearly no Health and Safety rules had been put in place.

After exploring the area, we headed down for a well deserved cooldrink and back for lunch. I eventually gave in and took an anti-inflammatory and for the first time this trip had an afternoon snooze. Gareth made dinner and we all had an early night.

Part of the ruins

Inside wall of the Great Enclosure

Passage way in the Great Enclosure

Ga Exploring the Hill Complex