southafrica

South Africa

Tuesday 2nd September 2008:

We crossed the Resano Garcia / Lebombo border control point at Komatipoort, entering into South Africa for the first time on our trip and for Duzi2, the first time ever. We needed a gate pass before we could get our passports stamped and Customs then insisted we needed to have the carnet stamped too.

We sadly had a very rude Customs lady, who wouldn't deal with us because we were hesitant about handing our carnet over to be stamped. We had been told by the RAC in England, who issued the carnet, that it wasn't valid for SA. This very rude and unpleasant Customs lady then didn't want to deal with us and ignored us completely, continuing to check her emails!!! A very helpful, more senior man, who understood our concerns, politely explained the procedure to us.

We needed to enter into SA on our carnet, as we hadn't yet gone through the registration process, so the vehicle was still registered as a UK vehicle. Only once we've completed the entire process and paid the duties owed etc., will the carnet become null and void. At that stage we will need to return it to the RAC in the UK and get our holding deposit refunded. We were concerned that by having the carnet stamped upon entering into SA and not having it stamped out of SA, due to us permanently importing Duzi2 into SA, we would be jeopardising getting our deposit refunded. Once he had explained this to us, he ordered another lady to stamp our carnet, much to the rude lady's displeasure.

We were pleasantly surprised by the excellent tar road to Nelspruit and White River. We paid the R37.00, M4 - Crocodile Bridge toll and headed on towards White River. The wide shoulder lane running on the lefthand side of the normal single lane, was being used by heavy trucks and people driving slowly. This made the normal single lane road into a double lane, without anyone having to pull out into the on-coming traffic to overtake. Drivers who had overtaken were flashing their hazards to say thank you for moving over. All very friendly and polite. The drive was very picturesque, through a long winding section, following the Crocodile River.

We followed Brad's directions to their estate and found their new, lovely home very easily. They have only been in their home for just over 1 1/2 years and have designed it all themselves. It is stunning with wooden floors and cupboards, granite topped kitchen surfaces, big glass windows and doors creating a real farmhouse feel. At long last we met up with the "Shutties" again, who have changed since we last saw them. Nicole and Kirsty are grown up girls now with lovely long blonde hair, and totally different personalities. They have two gorgeous cocker spaniels, Sandy and Fudge, and a big black labrador cross ridgeback cross rotweiller. The dogs slip a bit on the wooden floors, especially when they chase the girls or each other.

There was lots of chatting, catching up, joking and laughter. Everyone was keen to hear about the trip and we were keen to hear their news. Gill made a scrumptious roast lamb dinner, which we enjoyed with lots more chatting, laughing and fun. Ross tucked Kirsty into bed, telling the most ridiculously funny story about Mr Injury, while Heidz tucked Nicole in. Ross' Mr Injury stories caused more chaos and hysteria than calm, but the girls did settle to sleep quickly. Brad and Gill chatted with us until late. They are both SO incredibly positive about South Africa. Brad was raving about the Mighty Men's conference he'd been to in Greytown, on Angus Buchan's farm, "Shalom". He said something which really struck us, "People are always praying for revival. I tell you, South Africa is in revival and it's real and exciting!"

Kirsty and Nicole have always wanted us to stop and stay with them, on our way through to Durban, so they can show Duzi2 for their show-&-tell/ news. Brad and Gill had checked with their teachers if this would be okay and the head of their school, Uplands College, got wind of it and decided it would be good for us to do a presentation to the entire primary school. This was mentioned to us when we first arrived at their house and so we stayed up until after 2:00am, choosing photos to put up as a slideshow of our trip, for the school talk tomorrow. Kirsty's Grade3 class would be easy as we would talk quickly and then let them explore and ask questions, but the whole senior school talk needed more prep. We hadn't even sorted through our east Africa photos, so just chose a few from west and southern Africa to speak about and then we would open the floor to questions.

We had a very comfy room to sleep in, with choccies on our towels. It was so lovely to finally see where Brad and Gill live and are so happy. At long last, with scratchy eyes and headaches we climbed into bed and crashed.

Wednesday 3rd September 2008: Brad and Gill's home, White River, South Africa

GPS Info: S25° 21' 07.4" E31° 00' 32.6"

Miles Today: 35 Total Miles: 35 752

The girls left early for school and as we weren't finished choosing our photos or preparing our talk yet, we were up early too. We left the house after 8.30am to have coffee and breakfast with Brad and Gill at a lovely coffee shop near Uplands College. Both nervous and tired, it was great to be distracted over coffee.

We arrived at the school and parked Duzi2 right outside the Grade 3 classrooms, in their playground. Brad and Ross popped open the tent while Heidz spoke to the children. With the tent up, both Ross and Heidz answered questions and explained things to the children when they explored Duzi2. They loved being able to climb up the ladder and see our comfy bedroom.

From the Grade 3's we drove Duzi2 around to the main school hall, still with the tent open. Ross connected the laptop to the projector, shining onto the screen, while Heidz set up more stuff around Duzi2. The bell rang and the hall filled up with what seemed like 400+ children from Grade 4 to 7, who all sat staring at us. We played the slideshow and each spoke on various aspects of the trip. After we had finished speaking, Brad told the children he'd discovered this morning that we'd travelled the same distance as driving 1 1/2 times around the world, along the equator!!! Wow!

The children asked some fantastic questions and this prompted us to tell more things about our trip, leading on from what they had asked. Each class was then able to come outside and explore Duzi2, climb the ladder up to the rooftop tent and ask us many questions on a one to one basis. Many of them have travelled in 4x4's and slept in rooftop tents too and have been to some of the places we'd spoken about, so were keen to find out where we'd stayed etc.We both felt huge relief when the talk was over, and had ended up actually quite enjoying it. The more you do them, the easier they must become.

From the school we drove into White River and dropped the broken shock cone off at Speedy-Exhaust to be welded. We also asked them to supply us with two new front shocks, as ours were squeaking and empty. We changed money at Rennies in the Riverside Mall. They offered us the best rate and were very friendly. While we were busy in Rennies, Brad had bought us an Mpumalanga sticker to add to Duzi2's story. We then drove back to Speedy, who had welded the shock cone and painted it, and got the shocks we needed. They fitted the two new front shocks with lots of help from Ross, and certainly weren't Speedy at this, but the one guy was very thorough and a perfectionist which was great. We drove back into Brad and Gill's estate and saw the wild zebra grazing inside on the communal areas. What a pleasure.

The girls were home and persuaded us to play X-box (or Wii, I think) tennis, etc. We played with the dogs and Kirst and Nix. Gill outdid herself again, making a delicious mince and creamed spinach canneloni with salad for dinner. We were both feeling rather jaded after our late night last night and so were Brad and Jill, so we chatted after dinner, enjoying some chocolate and then headed for a longer night's sleep. Brad was driving up to Tzaneen early in the morning for work, only to be back home again on Friday night.

Thursday 4th September 2008: Brad and Gill's home, White River, South Africa

GPS Info: S25° 21' 07.4" E31° 00' 32.6"

Miles Today: 214 Total Miles: 35 966

Brad left in the wee hours of the early morning and Gill took the girls off to school. We repacked all our newly, machine-washed clothes and enjoyed a lovely long chat with Gill when she got back. It was chilly this morning. We left later than planned, but Heidz had loved hearing all the stories of the early days, when Brad and Ross were a lot younger and when Gill and Brad had first got together, etc. We had spent such special time with very special friends, who are so encouraging and real.

The roads from White River past Nelspruit, southwards to Barberton and on to Swaziland were excellent. We couldn't believe how developed this whole part of the world is and how many big shopping centres there are. We refilled Duzi2 with fuel in Nelspruit, at the much cheaper rate of only R10.55 per litre.

From Barberton we climbed steadily upwards, still against the wind, straight up into the mountains. It was very fresh and cool and poor Duz really had to work hard up the long steep climbs. This drive was very scenic and hilly. As we approached the Swazi border, the road construction increased and at one stage we were stopped, while they were placing sticks of dynamite into holes drilled along one of the banks.The road was narrow, single track and luckily we didn't meet any oncoming traffic along this stretch. All the drivers along today's drive were very courteous, patient and law abiding.

Arriving at Josefsdal border post, we handed in our passports to be stamped out of SA again, to enter into Swaziland. This is a very small border post and has no customs office, so we didn't get the carnet stamped out of SA again. Hopefully when we cross back into SA on the other side of Swaziland this won't be a problem.

========================Travelled through - Swaziland ... and then ... ===================================

Friday 5th September 2008:

From leaving Swaziland, our African country number 25, we finally entered into South Africa at 15h35, with very mixed feelings. We saw our lovely, familiar, colourful flag fluttering in the wind above the cluster of official buildings and couldn't help but feel our spirits lift. On approaching the border we had received a text from Mom and Paps, "H&R, thinking of you as you travel the last few miles of your long + dusty safari. You have been blessed with such an amazing experience. Enjoy 2day, see u 2moro luv usxx", which brought tears to Heidz's eyes.

We had a very friendly "Welcome Home" from the border officials. The Immigration officer shared the exact same birthday as Ross, even the same year, which was amazing. We gave our gate pass over to the Customs official, who stamped it and wished us a lovely stay. We were so lucky not to have to explain the carnet malarchy here. We hadn't had our carnet stamped out from SA when we entered Swaziland, as the border was too small. This meant it was still valid from when we entered SA from Mozambique. About 5 minutes after we crossed into South Africa, we got a very cheerful text from Ange and Hennie, saying they had just crossed into SA too, but were heading down the coast in KwaZulu Natal to Hluhluwe for a few days. Hopefully we'll be able to meet up with them on their way through Durban and Pietermaritzburg, as they continue up to Lesotho to their pre-arranged pony trek.

It was so weird to be driving through areas that are so familiar to both of us, but in Duzi2. We could see the pink blossoms of plum and cherry trees lining streets and in gardens of the various towns we passed through. There was also quite a lot of burnt land, due to all the recent fires and strong winds. It was also very weird to see the familiar Natal number plates - ND, NUR, NU, NP. Luckily the roads were quite quiet so we were able to drive along freely. It was hot today and we were once again very grateful for our fans, which at least circulate the air inside from the front and back, inside Duz.

We passed the open, dry, long, brown grasslands with Brahman cows grazing, along with blesbok, other cattle, pigs, etc. We saw our first home sunset and noticed it getting quite a bit cooler outside, as the locals were all wearing long sleeves and jackets. The sunset colours of red, orange and brown, lingered on the cloudless horizon long after the sun had set. It felt good to be home.

We texted our parents telling them we were in SA and on our way down, as fast as Duz could go. Sadly we would only be getting to Ross' parents very late. Far later than we had planned. Mom and Paps phoned on their way down to the airport to fetch Nats, Heidz's sister, who is flying in from Sydney, Australia tonight for Mom's 60th birthday. They were very excited and can't wait to see us tomorrow.

The drive down from northern Natal to Camperdown was fairly quiet, as far as traffic was concerned, especially when you consider it was a Friday night. Luckily for us, there weren't too many heavies on the road and the traffic moved along steadily. The wind however was still blowing strongly against us, making our fuel consumption really bad, even though we were only driving at around 90km/hr, being Duzi2's most economical speed. We paid R76.00 in toll fees today (Bergville toll R12.00 + Ladysmith toll R37.00 + Estcourt toll R27.00), but at least the roads are good. We filled up with fuel just outside Estcourt (R10.36p/l) and noticed how the diesel price was now slightly cheaper per litre to what it had been in White River (R10.55p/l). It was dark and we both still had very mixed feelings. Really excited to see our families again, but SO sad and tearful that our African dream was fast coming to an end. We've had an incredible 10 1/2months together, sharing every minute of every day together. Sometimes this proved character building and stretched our relationship, but we've both realised what a priviledge it has been for us to have had this special time together. Many people will never have the priviledge to know their spouse so closely and to be able to share so much together. Africa has blown all our expectations and has left us feeling extremely proud to be African.

Duzi2 met and crossed over the great Umzunduzi River, where he/she got his/her name from, as we travelled through Pietermaritzburg. We were tempted to stop and take a photo of Duzi2 next to the sign for the Umzunduzi River, but thought it a better idea to press on. Duzi2 will probably become very familiar with the Umzunduzi River in his/her life in South Africa. We arrived at the Syme's farm very late and were welcomed by an emotional Mom and Dad. They greeted us with lots of hugs, tears, laughs and much chatting. None of us could really believe we were together again, in SA with Duzi2! We chatted until late, showing as many photos as we could, and then finally retired to bed, feeling emotionally drained. We could see Duzi2 through the window and felt a bit guilty to be going off to get warm and snug in a bed inside the house and out of our fondly loved rooftop home.

Saturday 6th September 2008: The Syme's house where Mom and Dad are house sitting, Camperdown, South Africa

GPS Info: S29° 44' 38.4" E30° 31' 06.1"

Miles Today: 24 Total Miles: 36 236

Today started with a leisurely, yummy cooked breakfast, using Hugh's special double-yoked, bum-buster eggs and toast. It was a real treat to make toast so easily in the toaster! Both of us were still unable to believe we were actually in Camperdown with Duzi2. We were back in our old home environment, but with all our stuff from the African trip, most of which we'd bought in London. After breakfast, we were sitting outside the front of the house, enjoying the sunshine and chatting, when Ronnie drove our Freelander around for us to see. We had shipped it across from the UK a whole year ago, along with our household. It was so weird to see this vehicle now in SA, rather than where we were so used to seeing it in London. Our two Landrovers were re-united once again, but this time on African soil. Duzi2 made the Freelander look so small in comparison. Duz with BIG shoes on (tyres and wheels), compared with the Freelander's little ones.

After numerous cups of tea, and constant catching-up, we set off down to Hillcrest after lunch. Our plan was to buy some lovely flowers to put into both our mom's Ngwenya Glass vases, before we gave them their vases for their special birthdays - Mom Maureen for her 70th last December and Mom Lynn for her 60th tomorrow. We drove to the Heritage Market in Hillcrest, hoping to get some lovely flowers from the flourist there, only to find it had moved. As we parked we noticed another white car pull up right close to us. A blonde, very excited, girl jumped out and was shouting 'It's Duzi2, I told Andre "Follow that car! It's Duzi2". It was Brenda and Andre, Heidz's cousin and her husband. They were SO thrilled to see us and we were SO thrilled to see them too. We were able to meet their little Aron, who was born during our trip. After much excitement and chatter, they escorted us to the new Checkers Centre in Hillcrest, to where a flourist would be. We chose our flowers and the flourist painstakingly wrapped them up. We were anxious about the time, as we had texted Heidz's parents that we had left the Syme's house and were on our way, and we were now VERY late.

Eventually we were on our way to Winston Park. We entered the beautiful, nearly 2km long, avenue of trees along Jan Smuts Avenue. The little leaves were not quite open yet, so it was quite light. With sad hearts, mixed emotions and quivering chins, we filmed the last 1km of our trip, pulling into the gate with some 'Welcome Home' balloons dangling from it. We rang the bell and waited for it to open. We parked Duzi2 outside and waited. The house looked locked up and seemed to show no movement. Eventually Paps, Mom and Nats appeared at the front door and Mick and Bianca bolted around the side, to see who this big vehicle belonged to. Mick was so excited he lifted his leg on three of the four wheels twice. Bianca was also jumping with delight. We were greeted with lots of hugs, kisses, tears, laughs and chatting. There was great excitement with family and the dogs. The painting was admired and Nats loved Duzi2's big shoes. We were both still feeling very mixed about this being the end of our amazing dream come true.

We parked Duzi2 for her/his well earned rest, after the 57 977.6km African drive she/he had completed so perfectly. What an AMAZING adventure and what an INCREDIBLY capable vehicle. We could never have done Africa in anything other than a Landrover and we are SO proud of how excellent Duzi2 is.

After lots of chatting, catching up and questions, over delicious coffee and birthday cake, we changed our clothes and were treated to scrumptious spare ribs at RJ's in Hillcrest, finished off with a Bar-One milkshake which we shared. It's so good to know we aren't here just on a holiday from the UK, but are actually home to start the next chapter of our lives...

Wow! After 10 1/2 months on the road, covering nearly 58 000km, visiting 33 countries (8 European countries and 25 African countries) and using 7 438 litres of diesel, (with diesel being on average €1.50/litre), we've come to the end of our African adventure.

If there's anyone out there even vaguely thinking about exploring Africa, we would say DON'T THINK about it, DO it!!! The more you research, plan and prepare, the more enjoyable your trip will be. Our trip has made us SO proud to be African and something we would definitely do again! Duzi2, our 1997 Landrover Defender 110, has done us and Landrover so VERY proud. Thank you to EVERYONE who has been praying for us during our trip, your prayers have been answered and greatly appreciated. Thank you to Big-G who has been with us every step of the way of our trip. We have been priviledged to have explored an incredibly beautiful continent and to have seen remote amazing places, still unaffected by the world's modern age.

================================== HOME AT LAST !!! ==========================================

WATCH THIS SPACE for more news from us as our new chapters unfold.

Lots of love,

Ross & Heidi .... & Duzi2

xxx