FreeSpirit : Made good use of brooms

May 14th

Before we left this morning, a family of Wart Hogs came for a visit. A muddy hollow was found, and the youngsters had great fun wallowing in the mud.

A short drive to our next campsite meant we didn't have to leave too early. One thing we had to do was find a shop that sold gloves! Winter is fast approaching in South Africa, and the mornings are really cold. Why the gloves now, I hear you ask. Well, on the 15th, we take to the air in a hot air balloon! Originally, the pick up time was for 4 am, but as the mornings are so cold, we will now be collected at 5.45am, a much more acceptable time!

Gloves for me and a beanie hat purchased for Ian, we set off to do the 105km drive to Pilanesburg National Park. This is another site in the middle of the park, so animals will be present, and as we entered the park, plenty of mongoose and impala were seen.

We found a spot and waited for the rest of the group to arrive. Slowly, the site filled until just Kobus and Deidri were left. We saw them coming in, found a place to stop and within minutes watched them drive off again. Turns out Kobus had an altercation with a short post and cracked the back bumper. He was not best pleased!

For our leader to do that gave us all a good laugh. I think he may have lost his deposit as well!

The afternoon was spent cleaning the outside of the motorhome. Not everyone decided to give it a wash, but we had read that we would be charged if the van came back in anything other than normal road dirt. I don't think the dirt roads were in that assumption! Anyway, the van was almost as good as when we collected her 5 weeks ago. We did find scratches on the paintwork that, had we not cleaned her, would be hidden. Oh well, it is what it is.