Tuesday 3rd October 2017

Nambiti Game Reserve

                                         Our accommodation on the game park reserve

It wasn't obvious this morning that we had such heavy rain last night as it had soaked in. Our first morning game drive and it is exciting not knowing what animals we will come across. The rangers say that we will not see lions today as they had made a kill a few days ago and would be sleeping off the feed.
We saw large herds of zebra, giraffe, wildebeast, kudus with large antlers, impalas and ostrich.

Walking along the path to our room after breakfast, a long skinny animal with reddish fur and a black tipped tail ran across in front of us. From our description the ranger identified it as a mongoose.

On the afternoon drive we came across three enormous hippo wallowing in the shallows of a dam. From the rear end they are huge. A pretty Kingfisher bird was sitting by watching them.

We also saw two rhino and the ranger explained that they actually remove part of the horn to stop poaching. A small portion of horn would fetch up to 67,000 rand. Also to stop poaching the rangers never say how many rhino are on the reserve. Interestingly, the rangers do not carry guns and their respect for the animals is obvious.

                                                             Weaver bird and its nest

Monday, 2nd October 2017
Bethlehem to Nambiti Game Reserve (north of Ladysmith)

We drove on the N5 heading to Ladysmith. At the scenic point for Sterkfontein dam we stopped for the view. A group of young men had their wares spread out on the ground. They were selling plain grey pottery animals which they were painting and decorating as they waited for customers.

Along this stretch of road there were large fields of wheat, most of which had been harvested. The silos were bursting at the seams and the overflows of wheat were under canvas covers. The wheat stubble was being burnt off so there was a lot of smoke around. Lots of cow herds and large travelling irrigators. Rondavels are now rare and the small stone houses have iron sheeting roofs held down with many rocks.

We stopped at Harrismith for a coffee- not a very nice town. The main square was dead grass. As soon as we parked a young man offered to "mind" our car for 50 cents. The coffee was awful- a large polystyrene cup filled to the brim, covered with glad wrap and microwaved.

On to Ladysmith to find the lodge in the Nambiti Private Game Reserve where we are staying for two nights. Putting Springbok Lodge into the GPS took us past the turn off, down a rocky and gravel road to what looked to be derelict houses. Wrong place!. Back to the turn-off and once on the right road we saw a young hippo at the edge of a dam.

The lodge is situated in a 20,000 acre game reserve and the accommodation is stone rooms with tented roofs. The windows were mesh with canvas blinds and the shower was outside. There was a large bath but the area is in drought so water was restricted. Included in the accommodation fee were two game drives each day, one at 6am and one at 4pm. Each lasted for three hours.

Our first afternoon game drive had nine of us in a jeep. Soon after starting out we came across a large bull elephant busy chewing on a tree branch. He was removing the bark with his truck to get to the juicier interior bit. He wasn't at all perturbed by us staring at him.

The giraffes also elegantly stood by and watched us.

 Lots of birds, a falcon chick in a nest, a brightly coloured lizard, buffalo, kudus and impalas.

 Nearing the end the weather changed and we all donned the provided warm ponchos. By the time we returned to the lodge there was lighting and rain. It bucketed down and the loud thunder made us jump. The power went off and didn't come back on until we were having dinner. We didn't expect such wild weather. The grass is so dry and the whole area has been in drought for a long time.

Sunday 1st October 2017
Sani Pass to Maseru
Maseru Lesotho to Bethlehem South Africa

After a cold night in the rondavel (each had a small, ineffective wood burner), we headed towards Mokhotlong. The road was excellent, appeared to be new and we noticed Chinese road making machinery beside the road. We climbed through scrubby mountains to 3,250 mts with steep gradients (1:6, 1:8). No habitation at all. 

Once we descended there were rondavels clinging to the mountainside. Lots of washing handing out to dry. Once we left Mokhotlong the roads deteriorated badly and it was 4WD only. Noticeable were the outdoor toilets belonging to each rondavel glinting in the sunshine. They were all the same, appeared to be new with white stink poles sticking up.

                                                 A typical local shop in Lesotho

There were lots of small groups of sheep, lambs and donkeys. Shepherds in this inhospitable terrain were rugged up in thick dark coloured blankets and many wore woollen balaclavas. The shepherds had mobile phones though! For identification purposes, some sheep feeding by the roadside had small pieces of yellow plastic bags tied to the wool on their necks.

We came across small groups of three or four young boys (about 8 or 10 years old) filling potholes with small stones. It was if they were driven there each day and then collected later as there were no villages in sight. 

There wasn't much traffic on this terrible gravel road (who would be mad enough to travel on it unless necessary) but we had to keep going to Thaba Tseka where the road looked much better on the map (couldn't rely on the GPS as she had us driving where there weren't any roads). 

Throughout this area there were terraced hills which had been ploughed ready for the next crops.

We came across a group of youths moving as one up the side of a hill. They all had on what appeared to be skin hides on their backs. They looked like a swarm of locusts moving in formation. We have no idea what it was about but was an amazing sight.

The tarmac road from Thaba was much better with lots of hairpin bends. Many vehicles on the road have no number plates whatsoever...unregistered??

We passed two bullocks on the road dragging  a small load which was placed on vehicle tyres. Nothing goes to waste!

Planning to stay the night near Maseru close to the South African border we put in the hotel GPS co-ordinates listed on our booking. They were definitely wrong as we soon found ourselves in a queue at the border. It was pouring rain and such was the disorderly four lane queue  that we couldn't turn around so decided to keep going.

It took us an hour to get out of Lesotho and faced yet another immigration shambles on the South African side. Standing in the rain with locals pushing in it was time to take matters into our own hands and shove our passports in. Surprisingly the immigration officer stopped arguing with a group of locals, stamped our passports and we were on our way.

We decided to halt for the night at Bethlehem which would put us closer to tomorrow's destination at Ladysmith.

30^th September 2017

Durban South Africa to Sani Pass, Lesotho

Before heading off to Lesotho we had to have a look at Durban harbour where all the troubles lie. Drove to a high point and looked down on the harbour. Couldn’t see many ships in harbour or out at anchor but huge numbers of containers all about and incoming roads clogged with trucks waiting to unload.

Durban is hilly and spread out city and there was fog/smog about so probably not seeing it at its best but the jacaranda trees are in bloom so quite colourful in places.

Took the road to Pietermaritzburg, passing slum huts on the outskirts. In contrast further on were large houses on what appeared to be new estates. We passed acres and acres of sugar cane crops and agricultural areas with large herds of cattle, then tree plantations, mainly pine and gum trees. There were a few logging and other trucks on the roads but they kept to the left so no major hold-ups. 

What surprised us was the large number of police vehicles about. Probably saw about 20 in the space of a few hours, also some speed cameras. Speed limit was 120 for a lot of the day and road wasn’t too bad. The toll roads are cheap, today we paid $1.10.

Stopping for a coffee at a highway truck stop there were large signs about warning motorists about “remote jamming” and to make sure they checked the locking. We double checked!

From Pietermaritzburg we turned south to Richmond and Donnybrook. Rondavels are very common now, these are round huts with thatched or iron sheet roofing (or sometimes both), often painted in bright green, pink or blue.

Through Underberg and Himeville we reached the South African border and had our passports stamped. The next 8 kilometres was a nightmarish drive over rough, rocky narrow road and it’s no wonder the authorities only allow 4WD to go through.

 Despite the road the scenery was spectacular as we drove over the Sani Pass.

After rocking and rolling about on this stretch and stopping to allow descending cars to pass we reached the Lesotho border and paid 60 rand entry fee. Despite paying $150 to take the car into Lesotho, no-one looked at the car or its papers.

Our mountain lodge was nearby and the accommodation was a stone rondavel with a thatched roof. Part of the lodge complex has a pub, the highest one, at 2,874 mts, in Africa with a great view back over the mountainous pass we came through.

Given the remoteness of this area, dinner was surprisingly good. Afterwards many congregated in the bar to watch the rugby, South Africa vs Australia which ended in a draw.

29^th September 2017.

Johannesburg to Durban

Shuttle back to the airport, leaving early as we heard a news report that the check-in system at many airports around the world, including Johannesburg, had a system failure. Didn’t appear so and check-in was swift. Arrived in Durban about 12.30 and picked up a 4WD Ford as we planned to drive the Sani Pass (3,400 mts) into Lesotho. First of all we made drove to Aviocean who were handling the incoming container. Unfortunately the woman handling the case was in meetings for the rest of the day so we drove on to our B & B, Mackaya Bella, a 1930’s house in Glenwood. Nicki the proprietor is Australian but has lived in Africa for many years. Mike her husband was also frustrated with the current shipping as he has exports waiting for shipment. Very loud thunder with lightning into the evening. 

28^th September 2017

Melbourne – Sydney – Johannesburg

Early flight to Sydney then 14 hours to Johannesburg on a comfortable 747-400 and an 8 hr time change. On arrival took the shuttle to an airport hotel as we have a morning flight to Durban tomorrow. Reading email at the hotel discovered that the Susanna, the ship with our container,  has been diverted to Coega, the port at Port Elizabeth and should berth on Saturday. After the ups and downs with various arrival dates, we’ll wait and see.

Phil's stressful ponderings!

As our loyal followers will know, we had entered the 1934 Railton in the Classic Safari Challenge which runs from 9 October to early November in southern Africa.

Two weeks before the Railton was due to be shipped, it started to overheat which turned out to be a cracked block.   So, the engine is off to the third engine builder for a complete rebuild using a spare block we had stored.

The upshot of this is that the poor old Puce Goose is pressed into service again.

Regular readers will be aware that we have had a lot of trouble in other rallies with rear springs, having to undertake repairs and spring rebuilds on rest days or at the end of a hard days rallying.   With time short, we spoke to Chris and Marlene from Morgan Cars Australia and they offered us a set of later model Roadster rear springs which were surplus to their requirements.    Anticipating having to modify them to fit, we were astounded when they bolted straight in, even the axle mounting pin being in a suitable position.  Those springs raised the rear ride height by around 50mm – something which will be very useful in Africa    

On the day that I drove back from our factory to home from where we were taking the car to the shippers in a couple of days time, I smelled a burning odour and returned to the workshop.  There I discovered that the ignition switch / lock had disintegrated and caused the starter motor to turn continuously whilst I was driving.  Result was destroyed starter motor ( now full of powdered innards ) and the need for another switch.   Again, Morgan Cars Australia came to the rescue.  We now have a new ignition switch fitted along with a spare starter which we had on the shelf.

Many thanks to Chris and Marlene from Morgan Cars Australia.

The Goose was taken out to the container yard and lashed down in a container for transport to the docks.

We intended to collect the car in Durban around 29 September and spend a relaxed week driving down to Cape Town for the start of the rally.

We chose a shipping schedule with a 33 day transit time which would have easily met the required dates in Durban, arriving on or about 19 September.   However, the shippers had changed their itinerary without advising our agent and along with severe port congestion and wild weather in Durban, the expected arrival date for the ship was 4 October, some two weeks later than we anticipated. Too late for clearance and driving to Cape Town for the rally.   

Eventually after considerable effort on my part harassing everyone concerned, the ship was to now call at Coega, the port for Port Elizabeth instead of going to Durban where the expected berthing date was getting further away with every passing day.  No one at the shipping line had any idea as to the actual situation.  The next email received by us however stated that the shipping line HQ in Geneva had vetoed a change of port

On the eve of our departure to Africa, I telephoned the Mediterranean Shipping line HQ in Geneva and eventually spoke to someone who was involved in the transit of our ship.  I pointed out the situation very bluntly and reminded them of their broken commitments.  They asked for an email which I then sent, again containing extracts from the multitude of emails received from them all, containing incorrect or misleading information.  That person rang me back at home an hour later and said that they were indeed now looking to redirect the ship to Port Elizabeth

Arriving in Johannesburg the next night we found an email containing our agents confirmation that they had redirected the ship as indicated with a view to it docking on 3 October – just enough time to get it cleared and for us to dash down to Cape Town

The next five days resulted in more changing of dates and uncertainty

As I sit writing this on Tuesday afternoon, the intended berthing is now 2.00 am Thursday 5 October.  We hope to have the car unloaded and customs cleared by late Monday or Tuesday next week.  Too late to meet the rally start but soon enough for a cross country 2-3 day dash to catch the rally in Namibia..

Not everyone can claim to have had a mega tonne container ship diverted at their own request.