Convoy and potholes

April 17th 

Really early start this morning. Breakfast was served at 6 am, we were the first in, so one would expect everything to be piping hot! But no, the chefs must have started cooking hours before because everything (scrambled eggs, baked beans, sausage, bacon, tomatoes and hash browns) was cold!

7 am coach arrived to take us back to the airport, and to Bobo Campers, where all 14 motorhomes were waiting to be collected. By 10.15 am, the motorhomes pulled out of the yard to the nearest supermarket to stock up on provisions.  

A long drive lay ahead of us: 370 km, taking 5 hours to reach our first campsite. 14 vans, all in convoy, were a sight to see; the locals thought so, as phone cameras were pointed in our direction.  

 

Comfort stops on route were factored in, as was a lunch stop at a service area. Gosh, what a place to stop. If only our services had a watering hole where animals congregated, this place was amazing.

 

Lunch over, all 14 vans tried to leave together. Well, the inevitable chaos occurred, blocking traffic and coaches; it was laughable. We had done the sensible thing and parked nearer to the entrance; it was a great place to watch it all unfold.

 

So potholes!!! We Brits moan constantly about the state of the roads. Well, try taking your car here, and you will soon take back everything you said about the English roads. Km after km we dodged those retched things. A few caught us unawares, and I feared for the suspension and tyres! Our guide, Kobus, then mentioned this was one of the better roads we were to travel on. Oh, ‘eck, what have we let ourselves in for?

 Anyway, we eventually arrived at the campsite, was told to back the motorhome toward the river, the electric meter was nearby. Hmmm…what was not mentioned was how soft and spongy the ground was. We backed onto it okay, the next two vans followed, but then got stuck and had to be towed out.  6 further vans had the same plight, 4 decided to be pulled out, the other two and us decided to stay and see what the morning brought. By now the light had gone, and we could hardly see a hand in front of one's face; the thought of trying to move in the dark was not an option. It didn't bode well for us leaving tomorrow! And then to top it all, we plugged in the electric kettle and tripped the electrics. Too late to see the site owner, by now they had long gone. Anyway, we can live without electricity for one night, early to bed, I think cos another early start for us tomorrow (if we make it off the mud!)

Us by the watering hole

 

Still in Johannesburg day 2

 April 16th

Had a bit of a session last night, getting to know our fellow travellers, quite a few drinks were consumed. Didn't stop us falling asleep as soon as heads hit the pillows, although I did have a bit of a wobble first when I noticed this had been left on the table!

Arrgh...Cockroach and fly spray!

 

 If something had crawled over me during the night, I certainly wouldn't have felt it cos I slept like a log. 

Today we were off to do the Lesidi village experience. Took an hour to get there, and one of the most noticable things about travelling along the road was that at every traffic light, drivers were being accosted by the natives trying to sell their wares.

 

 

I expect we will be running the cauntlet when we take the motorhome! 

 On arrival, we were greeted by the villagers with a traditional 'welcome' song.

 Before the tour started, stalls had been set up for visitors to spend their money on beautifully authentic, handmade African crafts, beadwork, and souvenirs, but apart from a peaked sun cap for myself, nothing really took our fancy. A lovely Lisoto girl with a great name of Porscha was our guide and walked us through authentic, replicated tribal homesteads, where the residents shared their history, customs, folklore, and daily life. Five distinct homesteads were represented: the Zulu, Xhosa, Pedi, Basotho and Ndebele tribes. 

I'm not sure Ian would make a good warrior!

The lady in black is unmarried and available, but the prospective husband must pay a fee of 10 cows and two horses for her hand. The one next to her is married, and her headwear is sewn into her hair, where she is never to take it off. If she does, it means she must divorce her husband. 

The making of their tribal homestead

Traditional face painting

Ladies pipe for African tobaggo (Marijuana)

 

Traditional costume for the men when they spend time up in the mountains

Grinding the corn

After the tour, a traditional dance show was put on, very energetic, lively and tribal, and they even pulled a couple out of the audience to partake. Phew, glad it wasn't us, and we chose to sit high up! Anyway, all in all, the day was amazing even though a bit pricey at £135 each!

 

Tonight is the welcome dinner, so looking forward to that, especially as we are starting to remember our fellow travellers' names. Then an early night because tomorrow we pick up the motorhome and breakfast has to be early, ready for pick up at 8 am! 

From now on, and with limited Wi-Fi, blogging will be when I can, but I will do my best to keep the pictures to a minimum, it's the uploading of them that takes quite a bit unless I edit every one first, and that could eat into my time for the evening socialising. 

And wildlife today

Nyala

One very big fly!!

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Day 1 South Africa

 April 15th

I know it costs a bit extra, but going into an airport lounge is the best way, in my opinion, to wait for the flight. Drinks and food are all complimentary, and best of all, away from the hustle and bustle of the airport concourse. It was here that we met two of our fellow travellers, George and Jill. 

The motorhome safari was organised by Savannah Tours as part of the Motorhome and Caravan Club holidays. 12 vans in all, which meant trying to remember the names of the 24 people joining us, not easy for us geriatrics with memory loss! At least we now know two of them! Then we got a message through the new WhatsApp Group to say a further 6 people were at the Evergreen bar near gate 26, so we all upped and went to meet them too. Yes, names were given, but can I remember them????? No doubt by the end of 5 weeks, I hopefully will!

Our seats were economy delight, which gave us extra leg room, great for the inevitable toilet break. Surprisingly, no one joined us in the end seat, so we had them all to ourselves. In fact, looking around the plane, there appeared to be more empty seats than full! One downside of these particular seats was that the USB ports didn't work, and with only 15% charge left on the phone, I was not best pleased. But with all these empty seats, I could plug my phone into one on the other side of the aisle, within viewing distance of said phone, so the problem was resolved.  

12 hours later, we touched down at O.R. Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg. Here we were met by our tour guides, Kobus and Deidre. Another 8 of our travellers were greeted, more names to try and remember, and a shuttle bus was arranged to take us all to the hotel. Unfortunately, our rooms were unavailable until after 2pm, which was a bit of a downside when all I wanted to do was freshen up before setting off for the first of two excursions booked in Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Museum 

 In hindsight, we shouldn't have signed up for the excursion. Boy, were we both tired. 26 hours without sleep was catching up fast. But it was good, a real eye-opener, and we did get to see some of the sights in Jo'burg.

 

Nelson Manela's study and sitting room

Great use of disused Cooling Towers, now a bungee jumping platform

Goats roamed everywhere

Jo'burg skyline

And we stopped just past a shanti town to watch these amazing Zulu dancers

 Back to the hotel for the official meet and greet. Finally, all our fellow travellers had joined us. They look to be a great bunch, sense of humour same as ours, so I expect we will be having a hilarious 5 weeks.

Tomorrow off to do the Lesedi Tour, more of that later.

And first of the wildlife photos

Hadeda Ibis