9 April, Rustenburg

It is now April 9th, almost 8 o’clock in the morning and Lisa and I have just spent our last night in the Bushcamper. We slept on the river Vaals, almost as only guest on this campground. Our ride from De Aar was long, lonely and a bit boring. The Karroo is beautiful in its expanse but after 200 km you really do desire trees and some grass. Everywhere along the N12 we saw signs of rain and that is great news for this region. We slept in the village of Richie on the Modderrivier which is indeed quite muddy. On the way we passed the village of Orania where the last apartheid fans live together. Lisa and I have had a nice lunch!

Via Kimberly (what a mess is that place) we drove further north to Wolmaranstad where we drove right to the Klipspruit resort. This campsite proved to be unreachable because of the rain. The last piece was full of very deep (> 50 cm) ponds as well as deep and muddy pits. I got off to find a good route but nowhere was a sign that someone had passed through the last 24 hours so the camp site, must have been closed. We are only 40 km away now, on the same river, at Lumana Resort.

In about an hour or so we leave for Rustenburg where we will meet Brumilda and Rowan around five. Lisa is going to make lasagna for them and that is good of Ozzie’s family kept eating it.

Last night we sat under a beautiful starry sky with a thunderstorm on the horizon that caused an unreal atmosphere. It seemed like a pop concert of Mother Earth. Planet Earth in optima forma! Sleeping was, like almost every night in the RV, delicious. What an incredibly nice way of sleeping is this, high above the ground and therefore with a cool breeze. There is only one disadvantage and that is the nightly pee party because that ladder is quite steep!

I asked Lisa yesterday what she had found the most beautiful the last six months and after much discussion it came out that we have experienced many impressive and beautiful things. Our visit to Mozambique was memorable with unimaginable government corruption but a friendly and cheerful people who laughed everywhere. The camp site in Inhambane with the great Baobab tree but also the Gorongoza Park which has reinvented itself after the massacres of the last few decades. The unpredicatble and unimaginable state of the major roads in this country are also memorable. The cyclone Idai has a large part of those roads and houses all washed away.

Then Malawi with its friendly but so poor population and with their wonderfully correct policemen. Hello Sir, where are you going? Where are you from? What is this for type of car? And all that with a friendly smile on their face. The most impression, however, made Monkey Bay Lodge. Seldom have we felt as guest as with these people.

Zambia with their beautiful nature parks as well as cycle paths along the way. The South Luwanga Park is huge and the way Zambia exploits it is an example for the region. Zambia is a country that is in the process of development and that is what you see. Our campsite along Lake Kariba where we could see colonialism and racism in its purest form. It was very hot. Or the lodge along the Zambezi near the Victoria Falls with that wonderful trip across the river.

Then the civilization of Botswana where everything is much better regulated compared to Zambia. We made the trip on the Chobe River for the third and last time. Both we found the first time, in 2014 with Tom & Tamara, the most beautiful. We were silent when seeing the Okavango Delta and the richness of birds and flowers. What a nature reserve is that.

Namibia then with those beautiful roads and clear skies. Memorable is our stay at the border with Angola where we saw the Angolans washing and in the evening the campfires with accompanying drums. I found the development in North Namibia a positive one. Kakaoland with its Himba population and absolute loneliness but also Hentiesbaai with all those South African fishermen. Sossusvlei on foot with the tour through the desert and what of White Lady with the desert elephants? Helmeringhausen with the camp site where 10 km in the nearby perimeter no one was present but also Ais-Ais/Richter Field Park. Then the trip to Oranjemund via Rosh Pinah which my father made 40 years ago as well.

South Africa is much more modern though you wouldn’t say this when you see the northwestern part. The Cedar Mountains were a revelation for us and the road to Wuppertal memorable. Of course we came mainly to South Africa for our children and Lisa’s family. Tamara was the first one who came and it has done her well. We have spent a lot of time with my parents in-law and could assisted them in many areas.

In general, we can say that the governments of southern Africa are ruling their countries as if they own or inherited it. There is an urge to fill the own wallet without an eye for the public interest. South Africa is without doubt the worst; Here, robbing for their own gain is a state affair which, under the guise of damage done in the apartheid years, is used. In this way, the heads of all those who do not belong to the same tribe or population, are robbing othres. To be clear, in South Africa there are many more tribes and populations than what we know of in the Netherlands and these are currently totally ignored, actually discriminated against, by the current rulers. Zimbabwe is, of course, much worse, and in Mozambique too they are doing the same.

Lisa and I have felt completely safe and free when we travelled together. We could, at last, not worry about work or children because we were gone and unreachable. Especially that freedom has hit us both and we are not going to give this up. We plan the next trip again! Cycling along the Danube I believe…. Lisa thought of at the beginning of May.

Tips for other Africa gangers I have enough. I will dedicate another blog in the next few days because there are quite a few misperceptions about these areas.

We have now arrived in Rustenburg and will soon be with the family. The ride here went through very rich agricultural areas interspersed with very poor cities. Tomorrow home!