Rob and Dee Overland in Africa 2014 – 10,000 miles – 4 months – 10 countries

Monthly Archives: May 2014

When Dee and I sailed around the world we were part of a wandering band of cruising gypsies and it was normal to enter each new harbor and look for boats we knew.   It was quite common to find friends we had not seen in a year or two and 8,000 miles previously. Wonderful as these reunions were they were really not all that surprising as most sailors head the same way- downwind, and call at the same ports at the same times of year dictated by hurricane seasons.

Today as we pulled into a small border post to enter Swaziland from So. Africa we were the only tourists there. All the other vehicles were heavy commercial trucks or buses transporting local workers. Then we saw another truck almost identical to ours pull in. It was rigged with roof top tent and camper just like ours.   I  only glimpsed the back of the driver’s head as he went into the customs building, but I had an immediate thought that he looked like a friend from Boulder, Colorado. I realized that was a ridiculous idea but a second later Dee said, “that looked like Jethro’s ponytail.” I laughed and replied that “I had thought the same thing.”

But no sooner were we inside when I heard his familiar voice as he greeted the Swazi immigration officer. It was our friend Jethro who had joined us on our Grand Canyon trip the previous year. We had done the river together for 25 days but were not really close friends and had not stayed in touch.   Dee and I have a huge circle of friends from all our travels but nevertheless, what are the odds of seeing only one other tourist car in this rather remote border post into Swaziland at the exact same instant we were there and that car being a friend from Colorado, 10,000 miles away.

Rob


We came to Mozambique for a few days of scuba diving in the Indian Ocean.  Our previous dives on the far side of the Indian Ocean were in the Similans off of Thailand and the Maldives- both were spectacular.  Unfortunately the diving was not the same caliber here but the trip was exciting anyway.  The pavement ends at the So. African border- you clear out of So. Africa, drive 100 yards of dirt no man’s land then deal with the Mozambique customs who were very nice to us (though we have heard other stories).  After customs you simply put it in 4WD and take-off though the deep sand dunes heading north and keeping the ocean on your right side.  When driving in deep sand the key is to keep up your momentum and speed.  This is interesting of course because if you come around a sharp curve and meet another 4WD heading in the opposite direction he also is trying to keep his momentum up.The result is sometimes wild split second decisions to pass each other on the wrong side, fly off into the scrub at the edge of the dune and hope your speed will carry you through as you bounce wildly out of the track and try to keep control of the truck.

After the thrilling ride to get here to Pont d Ouro Dee decided it did not matter how the diving was as the drive alone was worth the adventure.

Meeting the dive operator, a South African named Hilton was a treat- he told us about being jailed for years in So. Africa during apartheid and described a few of its horrors without any bitterness.

His best story though was about his time on this coast which he has been visiting since his youth.  He remarked how bars in the US often have free bowls of peanuts or popcorn on the counter to enjoy while you drink.  Here in Mozambique prawns (shrimp) used to be so plentiful that the bars had free bowls of them on the counter as snacks.

Rob


We stopped at Tembe Elephant Park for a quick look. The park is only open to 10 vehicles a day and all must be 4 wheel drive. As soon as we got in the park we saw a sign that said to put it in 4WD here. Tembe like all the parks that have lion or leopard do not allow you to get out of your car once you are in the park and for some 4WD vehicles you need to get out and manually lock the hubs on the front wheels. I went into 4WD but soon found out that the very deep sand throughout the park also means you need to lower the air pressure in your tires down to about 15 or 20 psi- which I had not done. Now the question was do I get out and risk a lion attack while letting air out of my tires, or risk getting stuck somewhere and then have to get out and first let the air out of the tires and then try to get unstuck. Recalling the buffalo carcass we had seen eaten by lions, then vultures, then hyenas a few days earlier I decided to stay in the car and risk getting stuck. This meant driving as fast as possible- too fast for the conditions- and skidding left , right, left continually in the deep sand ruts. After an exciting hour of this we got to a safe place to stop and get out – letting the tire pressure down had an instant effect and I could drive slowly and sanely without risk of bogging down. But we still had not seen any elephant and were a bit disappointed. We were also lost as the 10 or 12 sand tracks though the park were not particularly well labeled. Finally we got headed towards where a ranger had thought the elephants might be and we were soon rewarded beyond expectations. We first saw a few elephants crossing the road in front of us, then a few more, then more. Pretty soon we were parked with over a dozen elephants on each side of us, some very close to the truck. We watched the western group of about 15 playing in a waterhole. The day continued like this with sighting of up to 30 elephant at a time all within a dozen yards of us.

As we went to leave the park we encountered a lone mother with baby walking on the road in front of us. As soon as she heard our engine she swung around in a quick 180 facing us and started to shake her head and pound her feet- we had been much closer to the large herds at times but even though we were over 100 feet away this mama was having none of it. She mock charged and I started the engine and quickly reversed. What then ensued was a standoff. We waited and waited but the pair never showed any inclination of leaving the sandy road. Finally we agreed she had the right of way and we turned around driving 10 or 12 slow sandy kilometers out of our way until we found another route back to the main gate.


As every Floridian knows the United States has alligators. Here in Africa they have Nile Crocodiles. The two look may similar but the crocs are MUCH MUCH larger and way more ferocious. Last week I went into a car parts store looking for a cigarette lighter plug I could attach directly to the truck battery to charge cameras while at camp. I asked for a “cigarette lighter plug with alligator clips.” The lady looked at me funny for a moment and said, “oh, you mean a 12-volt plug with crocodile clips.”

 


Three weeks in Africa and much has happened. One great week outfitting our new home the Toyota HiLux 4×4. Bushlore folks were terrific and we left Saturday morning for our first camping adventure. Up to the Drakensberg escarpment for Golden Gate Nat’l Park. Chilly in their autumn season – down bags and long underwear in the evening. Got short hike in – up ravine, around meadows for good views. Noticing mostly white people at the National Parks. Some South Africans and lots of European tourists. I guess the local majority (Black) have to deal with 45% unemployment and a battered education system so visiting national resources is a luxury, not a high priority. All people are very friendly with wonderful smiles that shine forth from a sincere inside of good wishes. Onto Royal Natal National Park with more walks and a view of San rock art. Indigenous tribes were prolific in drawing events of lives and dreams, as the story goes. Then our first 4×4 mountain pass- Sani Pass- up to 2873 meters, about 9400 feet. Rob did a great job around the hairpin turns. Luckily the grading was pretty good and he has been a 4 wheeler for 40 some years! Next stop was home of Tina & Jones between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. An excellent visit for gaining local knowledge, having fun with Maya, 6 yrs old, and Noah, 4 yrs old. They even took us to a local private reserve where we did our first animal viewings – zebras, wildebeests, blesboks (they graze together sharing their individual specialty senses of smell, hearing and eyesight), giraffes, hippos and then rhinosorous! Really a great day. Then we moved on to Hluhluwe/Imfolosi National Park for three more days of great animal viewing.

Dee


Dee and I are just learning how to spot the game.  Our first park was Tana reserve which we visited with our friend Tina and her kids, Maya and Noah- much of it was open country and we could easily see the game- though at one point we initially missed a giraffe that was 15 feet away.  Our second game park was the combined park of Hluhluwe/umFolozi.  Here the thickets were very dense and as you drive the backroads of the park at 10-15 mph you have to try to spot the game.  Other times they wander across the road in front of you or in the case of a herd of Cape Buffalo they stand on the road and challenge you to try to get by.

One afternoon some lions killed a huge Cape Buffalo right next to a road – those that stopped by that afternoon saw the lions only feet from their cars.  We did not find this spot until the next morning – by then the vultures had moved in for their feed until the hyenas seeing the vultures in the air- found the spot and the hyenas chased them away and guarded the kill ferociously.

Here are some photos from our first few days in the parks.

Rob