Day 1: Home to Upington

WE HAVE LIFT OFF !!!!!

4 days and 4 hours behind schedule, but as my good friend, Al, said “when you are away for 5 months, what’s 4.25 days”. We left home our home in Hurlingham at 10:00, our destination for today is Upington, according to Doris (our trusty G.P.S.), we should arrive at around 7:00. However, we are being slowed by numerous road work zones – those that only allow one lane of traffic at a time, with a sign informing motorists to “Please be patient, average 20 minute wait”. I am sitting at the 10^th one today and tired of being patient.

Graeme’s original plan to leave on Monday was always a touch optimistic, as I only finished school last Friday. We have both been pulled in opposite directions all week, sorting out final preparations for the trip – visas, police clearances for the vehicle, final touches to the car and trailer, shopping for those at home (Lettie and the animals), sorting out the kids in Cape Town, having jabs for all kinds of deadly diseases (it’s a wonder anybody in Africa is still alive). Not only did Dr Verster (Travel Clinic at Sandton Clinic) facilitate our jabs but he also gave us useful advice on what we might encounter and what to take, hence I have a medical kit that would stock one of the small hospitals, that hopefully we won’t have to encounter.

For the past week I have been waking up with a feeling fluctuating between wild excitement and mild panic. My “To Do” list had reached 5 pages. I sympathise with Henry Morton Stanley (I am reading his book, “How I found Livingstone”), who embarked on a trip into the same areas that we are going into a 140 years ago. He devoted an entire chapter on “How to prepare for an expedition into Central Africa”. As he tossed in his bed at night he asked the following questions: How much money is required? How many carriers? How many soldiers? How much cloth? How many beads? How much wire? What kinds of cloth are required for different tribes? And so on. He made pages of notes, calculations and estimates of keeping 100 men for 1 year. These issues were of more concern to him than the geographical, ethnological and other information pertaining to the study of Central Africa as, even in 1871; this information was readily available to him from traders. Likewise, our route maps (thanks to Doris) are of less concern than the admin and what to take. In saying this, Graeme has studied books, magazines, web sites and every 4×4 site imaginable to plot our route. Our previous trips into Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia and around South Africa were a breeze compared to the preparations needed for this trip.

Preparations completed, we left in our Discovery with a roof rack and trailer, all fully laden – we look like a taxi heading up to Zimbabwe.

The last two weeks have not all been about work, we have done lots of socialising, with numerous “last suppers” as they have fondly become known amongst family and friends. At one of our “last suppers” we were given a Survival pack, with instructions by our friends, Gayl, Ian, Jo, Jeff and Sally – it included:

· Duo Pack – Baked beans, toilet paper and body mist spray.

· Panda’s in Africa Survivor pack: Sta soft – “for use when the kids are there, they think you have only had sex 3 times” and Starch – “use frequently, efficient for 4 hours”.

· Doggy snax – a snack pack

· Life Buoy Soap (original smelly type) – Putsy fly repellent, so it won’t lay it’s eggs in you, cause boils that when scratched will cause worms to work their way out of the wound (do I still want to go?).

· Animal Calls CD – in case we didn’t leave (this week it was a close call).

· Durex – Uses: place over head while sleeping to prevent insects from laying their eggs in mouth, nose and ears; to prevent any more Morrison toddlers being let loose in darkest Africa; place over shoes to prevent them from getting dirty when taking a bush poop (bos kak); write HELP on the outside, inflate with helium gas (from where???) and let loose as an SOS.

· Squares of newspaper on a big paper clip – Loo paper to use sparingly.

· Candle – You will need this.

· Small rope (with noose) – Uses: tow rope (for vehicle & humans); to commit murder; to commit suicide; to keep contact with each other when taking a dump; for any other reason. Warning: keep out of reach of anyone who has nervous or irrational tendencies.

· Magnifying glass – Uses: to look for lice, putsy fly, scabies and invaders of the scalp and skin; hold still over dry grass in order to make a fire for cooking.

· Inflatable Puncture Repair Kit (way past it’s sell by date and half full) –“Africa no fix it, non puncture repair kit”. Instructions: on getting a puncture (you bloody fool), place the flexible tube over your tyre valve and push the top plunger; guaranteed not to fix your puncture but will give you something to do while your wife holds up the car and your daughter changes the spare wheel; ensure you have a cold beer at hand while you watch them work. Warrantee: zip haha.

· Bottle of Amarula – something useful at last, we will think of you guys as we have a sunset drink at a waterhole one evening.

· Box of games – to replace Grays Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and Top Gear.

· Scrap book equipment for Robs – she had already made some stunning pages.

Thanks my friends – I think!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 6: Swakopmund

Day 6: Swakopmond

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PANDA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With all the preparations for the trip and no clues from the Birthday boy, buying him a present was bottom of the ‘to do list’. We are giving him an IOU for something he likes along the way. He did get a book – ‘Dark continent My Black Arse’ by Sihle Khumalo and a wooden puzzle of Africa to open this morning.

We are now having breakfast in a German Bakery (with internet access) and plan to go Sandwich Harbour later. It is overcast, humid and rainy – glad we are not camping at the moment. Will keep you posted.

Day 5: Sesriem to Swakopmund

I had a much better night’s sleep, I took one of the spare mattresses that we had packed in for Ga & Kirst, so I had some extra padding for the night (one will have to sleep on floor when they join us). We woke early, had breakfast, packed and were ready to leave by 8:00. We are getting into a routine of what goes where and by the end of the trip we should be pretty good campers.

The journey to Swakopmund was a drive of major contrasts. We left behind the red dunes and travelled through the Gaub Pass and Kuisib Canyon, this was a beautiful area of flowing rivers and grassy hillocks. The terrain into Walvis Bay was a return to the white desolate sands of the coastal regions. The long sand and stone road returned to tar and the Atlantic Ocean was in front of us.

The 40km trip from Walvis to Swakopmund was something of an enigma for me, desert on the right and sea on the left. I am so used to the tropical vegetation of Natal and don’t associate desert and sea side by side.

Robs was very excited about visiting Swakopmund, as she had visited the area two months previously on a Round Square Conference and had fallen in love with the town. We checked into the Sea Horse Holiday flats, our home for the next 3 nights, then went exploring around the city centre. Swakopmund is a neat town, with no litter and like the rest of Namibia, has a distinctly German influence.

We had dinner at ‘The Wreck’, a restaurant shaped like the front end of the Titanic. Another stunning meal of oysters & prawns, white wine and the great company of my husband and daughter.

Day 4: Aus to sesriem & Sossusvlei

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD & AUNTY DOT – Hope your 82^nd birthdays are awesome, sorry we are not in Durban to celebrate with you but we are thinking of you.

We left Aus at 8:00 (still trying to get used to the hour time difference, we arel an hour ahead of ourselves, hence the early start) and took an easy 360km drive, along back roads, to Sesriem. On today’s drive we encountered very different vegetation; wheat coloured grass, trees and mountain passes, it was very picturesque.

It is hard to believe planet earth has an overpopulation problem. In 5 hours we encountered a City Golf, a broken down truck and a herdsman with 2 cows. On similar trips, in Botswana, we have driven for 2 days at a time without encountering another human being.

We arrived at Sesriem around 2:00 and booked into the Sossus Oasis Camp site – this is luxury; we have our own ‘bathroom’ and electricity. In addition there is a swimming pool, Robs and I headed for our first swim in the desert. In 35deg weather, this is a real treat.

Our afternoon drive took us into Sossusvlei Park, this park boasts the highest dunes in the world. The white desert sands of Luderitz are in sharp contrast to the orange sands of this desert area. We travelled for 60km amongst the mountainous dunes. We then hiked up into the dunes and took loads of pictures. Graeme and I eventually sat in the shade of a dune and watched Robs hike up and roll down one of the highest dunes.

Robs is loving this holiday: she is always busy; exploring, soaking up knowledge about the areas we visit and in the evening she scrapbooks and writes a journal about the days happenings. I really miss Ga and Kirst, can’t wait for them to join us!!!!!!!!!!

Day 3: Luderitz

We decided after 2 long days on the road to spend a second night at Klein Aus.

We took a trip into Luderitz, 125km away, it was a stark but beautiful drive. The first part of the journey reminded me a bit of the Richtersveld; desert mountains and vast plains, before we encountered our first area of “real” desert”. We drove along the southern section of the Namib Naukluft Park, it’s amazing that anything can survive in this area but we saw Garub wild horses, springbok and ostriches.

10 km from Luderitz we visited Kolmanskop. This old ghost mining town was absolutely fascinating. Miners deserted the town and the sand from the desert has reclaimed the old houses and shops. After exploring the buildings for about 2 hours we headed into Luderitz.

This misty, grey harbour town clearly relies on mining and fishing. Fun to visit but we decided not to buy property here any time soon. Being Sunday, everything was closed, not even the churches seemed to be open. We were starving and after checking out the town from one end to the other, we found the Luderitz hotel open for lunch. OMG, the oysters were to die for and the calamari wasn’t bad either. After a great lunch and good wine we headed back to our camp site at Aus.

Robs and I hiked into the mountains to watch the sunset and had the added bonus of watching a full moon rise. Stunning!!

My one “major” complaint – I can’t believe I have swopped my ‘feels like you are sleeping on marshmallows’ king size mattress for this ‘hard as nails’ roof top plank and inch of ‘hard as nails’ foam. (Roof top manufactures, you have a great concept, please find a comfortable mattress). I eventually gave up at 5 am and slept on the camping chairs.

Day 2: Upington to Klein Aus

We arrived at Upington, dog tired; at 7:45 (clearly Doris doesn’t factor in road works and rain). Along the way I googled a few B & B’s and we struck it lucky with Three Gables, highly recommended. After a quick unpack we headed off for dinner at Le Must, a real must for anybody dining in Upington. It is South African cuisine with really friendly staff and a relaxed atmosphere (I should become a food critic). It is voted as the no.1 restaurant in Upington, with the Spur as no.2, clearly a no brainer as to where to eat.

Our last meal in S.A. was breakfast at Three Gables: fruit, cereal, yoghurt etc, followed by mince, poached eggs, bacon, mushrooms and fried banana. I have a feeling I might be dreaming about this meal in the months to come.

The road from Upington to the border at Nakob was long and straight with stunning buffalo weaver nests on the telephone poles. We passed through the border at Nakob (S.A. side) and travelled 16km to Ariamsvlei (Namibian side). Officially, we left S.A. at 11:00; I hope all our border crossings are this painless.

We headed into Karasberg, where not much has changed from the first time we went through the town 10 years ago. Robs was 4 and taught herself to read in the back of the Discovery; Gareth, at 10, could change tires in his sleep due to all punctures we had; and Kirst, well the princess read all the fashion magazines she could find.

We stopped off at the Spar to buy meat – on previous trips into Namibia, we had the kids sitting on frozen meat, as due to foot and mouth, we were banned from taking meat in. This time, we decided not to abide by the law and for the first time we were not searched. How I wished we had bought some of Manny, the butchers, steaks, chops, ribs and pregos. We left the Spar with 3 T-bones (these turned out to be tougher than old boots and inedible). Payment by credit card was another experience, it took a while, during this time the teller used her bic pen as an ear bud – the same pen was then given to me to sign with. I am so going to miss Woolies!!!!

We encountered more road works, due to flooding, in the area but they had built side roads for traffic and it was a pleasant drive. There were thousands of tok tokkie type beetles crossing the road. We had no way to avoid squashing them; this upset my bunny hugging daughter terribly.

We went through Keetmanshoop and arrived at Klein Aus around 4:00, then set up camp in a pleasant camp site for the night. Along the way Robs joked about seeing one of my pupils, teaching sport, I teach many children and wherever we go I have a “Hello Mrs Morrison”. I told her that I thought in the middle of Africa, we might be ok. As things turned out the tables turned – in the camp site next to ours were two of her teachers from Girls College (what are the chances?). Tracey Harvey and Ginny Ross were touring Namibia with family and friends. It was great to catch up with colleagues away from work. Graeme and Dougal Ross, are friends from way back and they had a good chat too.

Our first night in our roof top tent was warm but the serious winds kept most of the camp site awake.

Our proposed route

Our route map looks a bit like a child drawing squiggles on Africa and on our return the route may have changed significantly. From a planning aspect, we have to take some major detours to find airports to accommodate the comings and goings of the kids. There will be unforeseen detours: floods, bad roads, wars, places to find supplies and fuel – this is Africa.

Graeme has spent months of investigation and the art work above is full credit to him.

So the plan is:

Namibia

Zambia

Malawi

Tanzania

Burundi

Rwanda

Uganda

Kenya

(back through Tanzania)

Mozambique

Zimbabwe

Botswana

South Africa

Why Pandas in Africa?

When we first “blogged” on Graeme came up with ” Morrie’s Travels”, this was quickly vetoed by the kids as being ‘so lame’. The various titles of “Into Africa”, “Out of Africa” and “African Odyssey” were discarded as so last year. Robyn liked “Sandton to Serengeti”, Kirsty thought this was pretentious (rich coming from the princess) and Graeme thought it was too long. We at last agreed on “Pandas in Africa” – Graeme’s nick name. Cuddling up to her dad, when Kirsty was younger, she remarked that he was just like a panda bear and the name has stuck. He is a touch on the cuddly side, size wise.

All being well, we will be departing in the next week. Robs and I break up for our Easter school holidays on Friday, if it was up to her we would be heading for Namibia an hour later. I have much to do and want to be a touch better prepared than I am at the moment. I will need a good few days to shop and pack and I am still very busy at school putting things in place for my term away.

Our African Adventure

Where to start? I guess it was about 18 months ago when I casually informed Graeme that I was due for long leave in 2011. As a teacher, at St Stithians College, I am in the fortunate position to get a terms sabbatical (3 months off school and a months school holiday on either end = 5 months leave). Graeme, casually informed me, a few days later, that he thought we should use this time to take a trip into Central Africa. This dream has always been top of his bucket list – personally I would rather be touring Europe, Asia or South America. In saying this, Graeme has taken our family on numerous trips around Southern Africa, from the stark desert mountains of the Richtersveld to the crystal clear waters of the Bazaruto Archipelago, we have loved them all. He has always made our trips adventurous enough to be exciting but we have never felt in any danger.

As a “retired” corporate banker, Graeme gave up corporate life about 4 years ago, never to return. We have, in essence, role reversed, I go off to work every day and he keeps the home fires burning. He does a bit of work on the side line and is always planning our next trip. I think he would make a great travel agent – whether we are planning a weekend away or a month away – he has the routes, the accommodation, the transport and the places to visit all sorted. 95% of the time he gets it right but we have been in situations where I would rather be in my bed at home with a nice hot shower.

I went along with the idea – it was 18 months away – we have 3 children, 4 dogs, 2 cats, a bearded dragon and a house etc.and besides, it was quite fun living with a 47 year old who was acting like a boy with a new toy. Being caught up in all the domestic trappings of our lives didn’t make 5 months away a viable option.

We leave in 2 weeks time.

My reality is only starting to settle in. Graeme’s reality has been months of planning and preparation.

On the domestic side:

Our two eldest children are living in Cape Town – Gareth (20) is doing the practical component of his chefs course at La Colombe on Constantia Uitsig Wine Farm. He is hoping to join us in June after he graduates.
Kirsty (18), is studying a BCom at UCT, she is our princess and this not her kind of trip. She has conceded that she will join us for a few weeks of her mid year holiday, if we are “at the beach”.
Robyn (14), our youngest wouldn’t miss the trip for anything, just one tiny glitch, she is still at school. We will be taking her for the first month of school holiday, flying her back from Livingstone, to attend “bush school’ (3 weeks of schooling for her Gr 9 year in the bush) and then she will join us for the rest of the trip. The school has been wonderful about her joining us on this trip.
The animals and our house will be left in the care of our trusted friend Lettie. Lettie has lived and worked with us for the last 20 years. I know they will be good hands, with family and friends popping in on a regular basis.

On the practical side:

We will be travelling in our Land Rover Discovery – it has been our trusty vehicle on many bush trips, as well as mom’s taxi around town.
On our trips we have a 4×4 trailer, which is packed with camping equipment accumulated over many years. A new addition is a roof top tent for comfort and convenience (I already sleep in an extremely comfortable bed that is very convenient – thanks G).
Graeme has spent the last few months examining maps, visiting web sites and contacting people around Africa. Although we have a roughly planned route, we are going to take each day as it comes – the best one can do in Africa.