DOWN TOWARDS THE EAST COAST

 Blyde Canyon   21st April 2022

Left Jurie and Natale after coffee and took the Troopy in for it's 15000km service at Hoedspruit where we also picked up supplies, and then headed to Blade River Canyon.

We got a nice Chalet and then went for a cruise on the dam which was well worth it. Left the following day and tried to see some more sights of the canyon but it was to foggy. Had some navigational problems and ended up back in Kruger, this time at Pretoriuskop campsite which was the only one available. On entry we got to see some wild dogs on the side of the road. The gamed River the next day we only saw hyen and a pack of wild dogs on the road.

After two days there we went to Sabie and camped at a campsite next to a stream  and then it rained an Charmain got a Chalet for the night after we were all wet, it never rained again that night, I was conned again. 

Pretoriuskop Campsite KNP.

BLYDE RIVER 

Monday morning we left early, but the locals were protesting and had blocked all the exists out of the town. I tried all three and explained to them that I needed to leave and I was all for their cause, but to no avail and was warned if I don't  go the will burn my Troopy and a few other people were stoned, so I went back to the campsite. The owner told me of a way out through the forest pass which I found and off we went to Ladysmith (535km). Charmain  found us a real crappy place and we should have left but we stayed the night. 

BLOCKED ROAD IN SABIE

The next day we went to the Drakensberg (291km) and stayed at Silverstream Camp just 30km outside Underberg. I had never been to the Drakensberg before and was blown away at the spectacular mountain scenery and the crispness of the views and blue skies looking into Lesotho. The camp was all large  grass sites and lovely ablutions with a scullery with scalding hot water.

But when the sun dipped it was bloody freezing and we have no warm clothing so we suffered two nights there and had to leave unfortunately a day early. Met two couples there that told us of where we should head ,which we did thankfully and it's  a long story for some other time.

After the freezing night we huddled until the sun hit us and then it was fine, we packed up and headed to Durban to visit a friend and stayed the night and had a great evening with Rocky and Biddy.

SILVERSTREAM CAMP 

FRIDAY 29 APRIL 2022 

Went the long scenic route via Kokstad, Umtata to Coffee Bay (565km). From Umtata the roads were severely potholes and we ended up arriving at sunset at a camp right by the beach , was like a jungle setting and very private with only three other vehicles there.

The beach was beautiful  and the campsite was fenced and we had a lot of the locals trying to sell us shit all day long and they don't  take "no" for an answer. Stayed three nights and I did a coastal hike on my own, got lost a couple times but it was all along the coast for about 6km and then hitch hiked back along the road. A colored chap that picked me up then asked me ''why at my age am I walking on that road ?" They all laughed,  I always get picked up by the black guys, the whites just speed up and drive by.

COFFEE BAY 

We left Coffee Bay taking the dirt roads down to Morgan Bay. Some of the worst roads I have been on and needless to say Charmain was not happy, but they were so much fun, I thought.  They sure tested the Troopy out, but it just gobbled it up and churned it out. Took 8 hrs  to travel 168km to Dwesa camp on the coast which was a shitty campsite. Was quite a drive and tough to know where you were at times and plenty of cows and people on the road.

DWESA CAMP

TUESDAY  3RD MAY 2022

After a very damp night in Dwesa I was happy to leave for Morgan Bay, another three hours of bad roads and then we hit tar roads all the way to the Kei River where we took the pontoon across and then into Morgan Bay where I decided to spoil Charmain again and stayed at the The Morgan Bay Hotel which is on the ocean and we had the best room upstairs overlooking  the bay and the cliffs. Included was a set menu five course meal and breakfast. The dinners were exceptional, every night it was so damn good and the staff so friendly, the Xhosa women are just so pleasant and smile and joke with you, they just have it in them. We stayed for three nights and were well rested after that splurge. We did some lengthy walks on the beach and a hike along the coastal cliffs that were very easy and scenic. 

FRIDAY 6th May 2022

Left Morgan Bay for Tsitsikamma,  stopping at Kent on on Sea for one  night (318km) and then onto Tsitsikamma National Park (340km). My son paid for a bungalow for Charmain as it was Mother's Day, so that was a real nice gesture  and then we stayed another night because Charmain  wanted to watch the Miami Grand Prix. Then we went and got a camping spot right on the rocks overlooking  the wild Indian Ocean, with non stop waves pounding the rocks relentlessly,  absolutely  a stunning place to camp, but you can feel winter approaching in the evenings.

TSITSIKAMMA 

INTO KRUGER PARK. 11APRIL 2022

Decided to go to Kruger but there were no campsites available so took a Rondavel at Crocodile Bridge, which is self catering and are very nice.

The next night went to Skukuza campsite for 3 nights and then to Berg en Dal campsite for another 3 nights. 

We had some amazing animal sightings, saw five leopards and 27 lions. Sat for two hours and watched two leopards in a tree having a go at each other, when we arrived one was in the tree and was agitated and kept looking down to the ground and then a leopard jumped onto the tree and climbed up effortlessly to a branch above the other one and then they growled and fake charged each other, was quite a show. 

The other two leopards we came across was at Berg en Dal early in the morning and caught a hyena stealing an impala carcass right from the leopards mouth and they just roamed around licking the blood on the ground.I must have taken  a roll or two of film of that, what a luck. The fifth leopard crossed the road, ambled a bit in the bush and then was gone.

There were hours when we didn't  see anything and then boom, a huge pride of lions with cubs and on another occasion we got to see a hyena devour an impala for an hour. Only saw one rhino briefly and our neighbors in camp saw seven lying in the road and waited an hour for them to move and then saw another three. 

Monday 18th April

We left Kruger and went up to Hoedspruit to Jurie and Natale. I met them 26 years ago at Glacier View Golf Course when I was building some condo's on the golf course. He is a doctor and they live in Regina, Canada. I had them come over for dinner and then a few months later they came and stayed with us for a weekend in Columbia Falls. We lost contact with them and then about two years ago Jurie called me out of the blue. We stayed in touch and then last year he had clon cancer and I didn't hear from him at all, after I texted him a few times and then I gave up. The day we arrived in Mozambique he called me and he was on the farm and invited us to come up there, which we did. It is Klaserie which is next to Timbavati which is all connected to Kruger.

On our first game drive on the 3600 hectares of his farm we came across a huge Cape Buffalo in the riverbed and then Charmain saw a brown thing in the bush and out came two lions. Had we been two minutes earlier or later we would have missed them, it's just luck on timing. 

We stayed three nights and braaied every night and chugged a few beers. Had elephant come to the drinking hole and some lions roaring at each other clos to camp , so we drove out to try find them but had no luck. Was a great visit and Jurie is here for three months and I have a feeling it will be for a lot longer.