The day of reckoning!! We left Fish River Canyon early and headed for the border at Onseepkans. We crossed into South Africa mid-afternoon, and there was much celebrating. For Krissy and Slade this was the last country on their journey. For Vicky it was the last country in Africa, and for Connie and Graham it was the end of the new countries on their journey. We took some pictures at the South African border post and then headed for Pofadder. Unfortunately, being Sunday no banks were open and there was no ATM available in town. Though we had no local currency, we decided to head for Klein Pella anyway. The farm at Klein Pella is the second largest date farm in the world and the largest in the Southern hemisphere. They were kind enough to let us camp without paying, with the promise that we would transfer money to their account as soon as we reached a bank. The campsite was excellent, with a great view of the Orange River valley. We bought some dates which were excellent, and only available from the farm in South Africa. Their entire crop is for export only!

First thing in the morning we took a tour of the farm at Klein Pella. We drove around and looked at the 13,000 date palms and the vineyards as well. The farm goes to the banks of the Orange River and is very neat and tidy. We then hit the road for a long day of driving, ending up at the Kgalgadi Transfrontier Park, or Gemsbok Park as it used to be called. Connie and Graham had been to the Botswana side in 1998, but this was their first visit to the SA side. Krissy, Slade and Vicky had planned on staying in the park for a few days, but the entrance fee was so high that they decided to stay only one night like Connie and Graham. The Twee Rivieren camp is just inside the gate and we stayed there, assured by fellow campers that we would hear lions roaring at about midnight. Unfortunately they were either quiet or too far off to hear.

Had a wonderful day in the park. We drove from Twee Rivieren to Mata-Mata where we had lunch. On the way up we saw a young male lion next to the road. He was recently injured from a fight, but looked in good spirits and made a great subject for photos. Apart from the lion, we saw impala, gemsbok, ostrich, wildebeast, jackals, hartebeast, and secretary birds. For one day of game viewing it was excellent. The park is very beautiful and quite desolate, though not a patch on the desolation of the Botswana side. Unlike the Botswana side, the roads on the SA side are smooth and easily accessed by non-4x4 cars so it was an easy day of driving. We left the park late in the afternoon, and found a place about 40k down the road to camp. The site was surrounded by red dunes and included a hot water 'donkey' that Slade utilized to make up a hot bush bath. The sunset was exquisite.

A long day of driving! Still determined to get to Johannesburg before Connie's parents arrive, we pushed on to Vryburg. Not much to say about driving through South Africa, except that Hotazel is very, very cold in winter, and running out of diesel 5k before a fuel station is a pain.

Today was a long and hard day. Yesterday we stopped at Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch, which, today, proved to be a large mistake! Connie had nasty food poisoning. She was feeling bad as we started out, and got progressively worse, to the point that she passed out in the road when we stopped for fuel! We decided not to find a hospital, but pushed on to Johannesburg.

Just north of the city we stopped for lunch and said our goodbyes to Krissy, Slade and Vicky. They are going on to Slade's sister's house and we will by picking up Connie's parents and going to Kruger Park. Once in Johannesburg our good friends John and Carmen found us a lovely bread and breakfast to stay at.

A day of rest and planning. We picked up Alpine and Sue at the airport, and brought them back to the B&B. Connie spent the rest of the day in bed still trying to get over KFC! Bev was nice enough to allow us to store some of our unneeded equipment in her garage. We plan on picking it up again when we get back from Kruger Park. We picked up food and converted the truck to a four seater.

The weather is exceptionally cold in Johannesburg, and we will be glad to get on to warmer climes!

We made the long drive Johannesburg to Hazyview. Everything went well, and we were checked into Kruger Park Lodge by early evening. We went to the lodge restaurant for an amazing buffet including Kudu and steak!

First day in the park! We drove into Kruger by the Paul Kruger gate and were imediately imersed in the wildlife wonderland that is the premier game park in South Africa. During the day we saw all the major players, apart from lions. Impala, vervets, zebra, wildebeast, hippo, elephant, giraffe, waterbuck, etc.! On our way out of the park we caught the back end of a leopard heading into the bush! This is the first leopard I've seen in the wild on many many game park trips! It made for a relaxing day and Alpine and Sue seemed to really enjoy their first 'safari' experience.

Another day of relaxed game viewing. We made our way south in the park and saw a good deal of game. We stopped for lunch at Pretoriuskop and just as we were getting back into the car saw a young spotted hyena watching us from the bushes.

Today we made a large loop into the more central section of the park. We stopped for lunch at the Mlondozi Dam and watched a magnificent fish eagle hunting over the lake. Leaving the dam we climbed the escarpment and could see into Mozambique. On the way back to Skukuza we saw a very large herd of cape buffalo.

Just to mix things up a little, we went into Nulspruit to do some shopping. The supermarket there has an excellent butcher, and we picked up some meat for a later braai. Graham also found a tire shop to get some tires repaired and a junk yard to get a new crash cover for the rear fuel filter. We stopped by the Land Rover dealer long enough to take pictures of one of their safari trucks. Then we took a leaisurely drive back to Hazyview.

For the day we relaxed at the lodge and did some sightseeing around Hazyview. Then in the evening we drove to Phabeni gate for a night game drive. It was just us and the guide in an open Land Rover on a chilly evening, but the game we saw was amazing! First up where a pair of white rhinos on the road. A mother and calf, and they moved off the road when we arrived. Then we caught a leopard on the side of the road. She stopped in the spotter light for a few moments, giving us a great view! Much better than the vanishing arse from a few days ago. Further down the road we saw another leopard! This one was moving away from the road, but we did get a clear view before she disappeard. Back on the main road we can upon two lionesses walking down the road. They were quite unperturbed by us, and passed right next to the truck, their claws clicking on the pavement. Next we saw a pair of bull elephants right next to the road. In the span of an hour we had seen four of the big five! Really exceptional. We also saw a spring hare, a genet and a lesser bushbaby. Great game viewing for two hours!

The idea for today was to try to complete one of the 4x4 trails in the park. These trails have a limited attendance, so we needed to start early. Graham selected the Mananga Trail, which meant we had to get to Satara camp before 11am. We drove north outside the park and made it to Orpen gate by 9:30. Things were looking good until a man from a tour truck (Safaris Africa) approached Graham and claimed we were breaking the law by not paying for commercial entry into the park. Seems he thought we were a tour company because of the logos on the Rover. Graham said that we were just tourists, but the man didn't accept that. He started yelling and foul language was exchanged. He tried to get the park rangers into the argument. Eventually we all got into the car and went to the gate. The ranger asked who we were and then smiled appologetically and opened the gate. By this time it was 10am and with about an hours drive to Satara at the speed limit, we decided to bag the 4x4 trail and just game view from the regular roads. We were rewarded by seeing a pair of cheetah really close to the road, and catching up with the same buffao herd from a few days earlier as we approached Skukuza.

Leaving the Kruger Park Lodge we made our way south towards Durban. We crossed into Swaziland and drifted slowly south. We found the Lismore Lodge, a strange place trying to be very upscale, but pleasant enough.

We crossed back into South Africa early this morning and made our way to Umfalozi National Park. Known for its rhino population, we saw 6 white rhino and 1 black rhino before lunch! We had lunch at the Hilltop Camp restaurant offering a magnificent view over the park. In the evening we made our way to Riverview and found a B&B.

After all our time in the bush, we decided to go urban and go shopping. We stopped at the massive Gateway Mall in Durban and spent some time wandering around. We found a great overland equipment store and checked out items we might want to take home to the US! The OysterBox hotel is pretty near to the hotel that Connie and Graham stayed at during their honeymoon in 1998, so that brought back some memories.

We spent the day at uShaka Marine World in Durban looking at marine life and eating it too. Interesting to watch, fun to eat, win win! The park isn't completely operational yet, but enough of it was open to give us a great time.

We decided to make our way from Durban over to Lesotho so Sue and Alpine (and Connie) could see where Graham was born. Connie and Graham had tried this on their honeymoon in 1998, but ran out of time. So west from Durban we headed towards Ladybrand, finding lodging along the way in Mooi River. We found the Hartford estate outside Mooi River, and they were very welcoming. This was the most luxurious living Connie and Graham had experienced all trip. A true 5 star B&B in a 200 year-old mansion that used to house the Prime Minister of Natal. When we went to the restaurant they called in the chef (who had already gone home) and she came back to cook for us. The food was amazing!

This morning we got up to find that the Land Rover had been washed! The people at Hartford House were really fantastic! After a wonderful breakfast, we hit the road, skirting the edge of Lesotho. By evening we had made it to Ladybrand, and we hunted around for a place to stay, finally stopping at Casa Romano.

We got going pretty early and made out way into Lesotho. The border crossing was pretty easy, and soon we were in Maseru. We stopped at the Basotho Hat, which Graham had many memories of from childhood. Then we moved on to Roma, where Graham was born. We found the very hospital, Saint Josephs, and then stopped at Thorns Trading Post. The Thorns were good friends of Graham's parents, and Bethyl was there. She didn't recognize Graham immediately, but was very happy when she found out who he was. She told the story of how she was there when Graham was born!

After we left Roma, we went back to Maseru, crossed the border again and made our way to Johannesburg. We called Bev from the road and arranged to stay there again. We also got in contact with Krissy and Slade and arranged to meet them and Witt and Jen for dinner at the Butcher Block, a restaurant of some legend. Slade had been espousing its virtues all the way through Angola! It was good to see the group again and catch up with their stories, and both Slade and Graham were shamed into getting 750gram steaks by the 'butcher'!

A day in Johannesburg. Alpine and Sue went to Bruma Market World to try to fill the remaining space in their luggage, while Connie and Graham went to 4x4 Mega World and did some shopping for the truck. They also stocked up on supplies for the days ahead in Botswana.