Other Travels that we have been on (1)

We have been to many places and this is just a summary of these,

2009 - Witsand kalahari

In 2009 we decided to be a little m ore adventurous and we booked to travel to Witsand Kalahari.

This time we were staying in a chalet.

We left Johannesburg and overnight in Vryburg. We booked at a B&B called, Hannekraai. It was a fantastic place, but the lady kept show cockerels, which "Kraaied" from early morning. (we have stayed there on an other 2 occasions and most of the cockerels seem to have gone, its still very nice.)

After a fantastic breakfast we left for Witsand.

The accommodation was superb and we stayed in one of their chalets.

There were some small animals that visited daily. We went along to the "Roaring" dunes (but they did not roar for us).

We also proceeded to a nearby 4x4 trail in the dunes and had a good time driving around there.

The ground squirrel visited every day and was a really friendly fellow.

The Witsand dunes are referred to as the Roaring Sand. This is because they can make a sort of rumbling sound. However, the conditions, temperature and moisture content have to be correct. I've not heard them roaring !

below is a view from the top of the main sand dune. Its quiet a walk up, but we made it.

below is part of a 4x4 track on a nearby farm.

below we are walking down the main sand dune. Coming down was easy !!!

The sand was rather thick on the 4x4 trail. However, we let the tyres down and the Range Rover had no problem at all.

Somabula - 2009

This is a place not very far from Johannesburg and we camped here. There is no electricity, but it is in a game farm. It was a fun weekend.

The girls tent next to the caravan.

Giraffe and buck near the campsite. You are able to drive around the farm.

Fish River Canyon

We tool the Land Rover Discovery and off road trailer and went off to Fish River Canyaon in December of 2009. It really was very hot.

We travelled to a farm stay just outside of Upington, then onto Ais-Ais, up to Canon Road Lodge, onto Aus, then Luderitz and back via Rosh Pinah, a campsite near the Richtersveld (caled Brandkaros which was in need of some maintenance - but I just read on the internet - December 2015 - that it has been taken over by new management and upgraded), Upington and home.

Ar Ais-Ais we were to camp, but it was just much too hot, so "converted" the campsite in to a hotel room with aircon. Camping at Canon road lodge was also not an option and opted for a room there as well. We did camp at Luderitz, which was very nice and cool. 

The farm near Upington where we stayed on our way to and from namibia.

The Ai-Ais resort in the Fish River. It really was so hot here !!

The Discovery and off road trailer parked in the parking places under the rooms at the hotel.

leaving Ai-Ais. The roads are all good in Namibia.

We stopped ff at the Canon Road Lodge. We stayed here, in one of their rooms, as well. Was very comfortable. Was wondering if the landy would look like the old truck, after our trip !!

Either the tree or the truck had been in one place for a very long time (or perhaps even both !)

Above, we visited the wild horses on our way to Luderitz. Its amazing how they live together with the Gemsbok and other animals. Some horses were looking sad, but the all seemed healthy.

the road down to Luderitz. Not much around, but loads of sand.

We stopped off at Kolmanskop and its amazing to see the houses in which the mining people used to live ibn. Most of them are full of sand, but I guess that's whet the wind and sand will do.

We camped at the Shark Island campsite in Luderitz. It was much cooler in Luderits and enjoyable. We had heard that the wind can blow gales, however during out time there, we experienced no wind at all.

From Luderitz we traveled via Rosh Pinah where we overnighted in a small hotel. It was fine.
The next day we exited Namibia at the Sendelings Drift pontoon and border post. They even provide life jackets for all travelers and it was mandatory that we put those on. The "trip" across the Orange/Garip river was no problem.

From there we moved onto a small campsite, on a farm near the Orange river.The park was called Brandkaros.  The camp site was really nice and there was green grass, shade and electric power points. The only problem was that the farm was/is part of a land claim and is no longer operating. It was a real shame to see the fruit trees just dying, not been watered or looked after. But, thats the way it goes, I suppose. (I was reading up and  found some information on the web that the camp has been taken over by new owners/management and is again operating and fine to stay in).

We went for lunch into the small town of  Port Nolloth and the restaurant we chose was on the beachfront and called Vespetti. It was really good. This old fishing boat was washed up on the beach.

the Vespetti Restaurant.

We also visited the Augrabies Falls on our way back home. It was 45c when we arrived here, so we did not even walk down to the falls (we have been many times previously). We enjoyed a cold drink and something to eat.

Moholoholo 2010

Easter 2010 and we decided to visit Moholololo. Of cause, it rained !

It rained and was misty basically the entire week-end. But we still managed to get to see some of the local sights and also visit the Kruger. We went along to the rehabilitation center, the cheetah park and Gods window etc.

We caked up the caravan and tent all sopping wet. Had to put them out on the veranda when we got home to dry !

We stayed in what they call the unique caravan park, and I'm still  not too sure why it is/was unique. Anyway, it was good fun !

Below is our campsite. The resort is advertised as a "unique"campsite. It was rather unique, I suppose.

This is the view of the vendors from the Three Rondavels view site. There are quiet a few vendors and they mostly sell wooden and stone items.

We also visited a cheetah sanctuary. You are able to "touch" the cheetah (it sits on a table with the handler). It was quiet an experience to be so close to such an animal.

Bourke's Luck Potholes was good.

We did make it to God's Window. But it was raining so only had a quick short walk around.

We also visited the Kruger Park and we had quiet a lot of sightings.  We did see a pride of lions, with cubs as well.

Mokala and Witsand kalahari - May 2015

Mokala and Witsand - May 2015

In April 2015 we had decided to travel to the Mokala National Park outside Kimberly.

On the way, we would be staying at a guest house in Welkom, then at Alymer Game ranch, Mokala Campsite and Witsand Camp site.
www.witsandkalahari.co.za
www.sanparks.org

Leaving Johannesburg late morning on 10 May we made our way to Welkom, via Kroonstad. the road was relatively quiet and we stopped off at the Kroonstad ultra city for a bite to eat.

From there its a short distance to Welkom.

The guest house was very nice and we had our own self catering unit, fully equipped.

Welkom, itself, is a strange town. We were looking for somewhere to have dinner and when we asked at the local shopping center we were advised that there was nothing in town and also, actually nothing happens in Welkom.  Anyway, we found a shopping mall, and a local casino. We are not gamblers, so the casino did not really interest us. Except that we though that there would be a restaurant there. We did find a small place to eat. But, we were the only guests and they started packing up, cleaning and packing the chairs on top of the tables before we even finished dinner. Oh well...........

That afternoon we had a major hail and rain storm. Luckily the car was parked under a shelter and the trailer next to it. So we had (other than the chalet leaking through the thatched roof) no problems.

The next morning we left Welkom for Aylmer Game Ranch. This is a place near Bloemhof. The road that we selected to travel would take us across the Bloemhof dam (the road literally goes across the middle of the dam).

It was strange to see people camped on the side of the dam, as there appeared to be absolutely no ablution facilities. Oh well, I suppose we are all different, thank goodness !

We progressed onto Aylmer Game farm and took a gravel road to the establishment. It was very quiet and we were the only guests. Another family arrived later that evening.

However, this is a superb place and the accommodation was really 5 star. We stayed in a chalet, which was more like a house. Fully equipped, self contained home from home. It had 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms. Its a wedding venue as well and has its own chapel.

From Aylmer we made our way back to the tar road and headed for Mokala National Park. Our route took us through the center of Kimberly. But luckily we did not need to stop as we had all the provisions that we required. I did stop to fill up, at a filling station outside of town. You leave Kimberly and travel for about 54 km before having to turn onto a dirt road for the last 26 km's to the park gate. This time there was a guard at the gate and we had to sign in there (the last time we went there was an intercom to the main camp reception).

We made our way to the main reception where we received the key for our camping site ablution (each of the 6 sites has its own ablution facility).

The sites are located around a waterhole. This time around there was only a small amount of water but we were visited daily by a tortoise, gemsbok, eland and other small game. Mokala is really a place which is quiet and tranquil and you can relax and enjoy the natural surroundings.

We had some lovely sunsets as well.

These were taken from our camping trailer.

We drove around Mokala and had sighting of most of the animals in the park.

From Mokala we were travelling to Witsand Kalahari. The route we chose was going to be quiet a lot of dirt (the shortest route) and through some scenery that we had not had the opportunity of travelling through previously.

We traveled through a place called salt lake, then onto Douglas (which is on the Orange river) through Campbell, Griekwasatd and finally onto Witsand. We stopped at a small coffee shop in Campbell and had a superb cup of coffee.

We arrived at Witsand late afternoon, but it was still light.

When we arrived, we were the only campers. So we had the choice of the sites. 

We found the campsites good, the power supply better that that in Johannesburg (it never went off while we were there) and the ablutions clean and tidy.

Of cause Witsand is famous for the roaring dunes (they were quiet when we were there) and I did climb up to the top of the dunes.

I found on the Garmin a place of interest. It was an old pass (I cant remember the name now and did not make a note of it at the time) and we decided to take a drive there. It was an interesting road.

It seems that the road is still used by local farmers in the region.

The road to and from Witsand is in a bad state of repair. We found it full of corrugations and in need of a grade.

Each evening that we were at Witsand, we were visited by a Genet.

Our return from Witsand was via Olifantshoek, Kuruman, Vryburg to Johannesburg along the N14.

Interesting, nice successful trip.