Day 4

Day 4	Departure Time	From	To	Arrival Time	Distance Travelled	Trip Duration
	5-45am	Etosha Nstional Park	Rundu	6-40pm
Road Condition			Weather Conditions		Low	High
Good Tar Late afternoon cattle herded on side of road			Sunny winters day		1	25°C
Camp and day's, trip information;			Camp Site Name; Hakuseme Lodge
We were the first teams up and out of the campsite(many I suspect will struggle to get up  early judging  from the  by the amount of partying last night).Our objective was to spend a few hours in Etosha National Park entering at the Anderson Gate in the west and  exiting at the Von Linequest gate in the East. The gates opened at 6-30am. Pushed for time we spotted many of the mammals including Springbok,Giraffe,Hartmans Zebra,Wildebeest,Black Backed jackal,the Black Faced Impala that were relocated from the Kunene region in the 1970's and the Etosha elephants. A first time sighting for us were the Hartman Zebras and Black faced impalas.Unfortunately we missed a sighting of the Etosha lions.Alex is a passionate birder resulting in the spotting of Batleur eagle,Kori Bustard.Secretary Bird,Lappet faced and White faced vultures at an old kill,Lilac breasted roller,and a first for me luminous pink Lesser Flamingoes on the salt pans,The reflection from the salt crystals caused the water in the pans to glimmer startling colours of pinks,purples ,and indigoes  So much to see not enough time. Dashed out the park for the long haul to Rundu via Grootfontein.Much to Alex's disdain too many Manchester United soccer shirts are worn by the local population-one lone Liverpool supporter.Driving the last hour and a half in the dark is not ideal due to the unfenced bush and settlements on the side of the road.Alex lit up the skyline with his sp[otlights on top of the car which gave us extra "daylight"to spot unwanted obtacles moving across the road.Taking the gravel road to Hakuseme has its own dangers. The Lodge is set on the banks of the Kavango River which in the rainy season can be impossible to access .The road is raised only a meter above the floodplains so one careless turn could see you stuck in the waterpools of the floodplains.Tired from a full days driving and freezing temperatures we collapsed into our trusty ,warm caravans.Aaah my electric blanket!

Day 3

Day 3	Departure Time	From	To	Arrival Time	Distance Travelled	Trip Duration
	9-00am	Canon Roadhouse	e to	6-15pm
Road Condition					Low	High
Gravel to Seeheim then tar			Overcast and drizzlingbut clear by 9am		-2	22°C
Camp and day's, trip information;			Arreebbusch
Headed for the showers early as the campsite had filled up with overlanding vehicles filled with tourists.The morning was cold with drizzle so we went into the Roadhouse for breakfast and warmth from all the fires burning inside  dining room and bar.We each pulled an angel card Alex-Freedom Tracey-Dreams,Carol-Guardian angel and Zelda-blessing.We all acknowledged the messages -pretty uncanny.Darren Hillhouse the Put Foot Rally Director introduced himself at breakfast .Alex and i definately increased the average age of the participants somewhat.This was confirmed when we headed out to the Canyon again and met the other crazy part of the team.One standing in his red speedo waving the South African flag the other half singing Shosholoza at the top of their voices.Zeldas chirp"Hey dude its cold you nIeed to put a sock in that speedo!" The mates reply dropping him "The socks are already in."Back on the road for the long haul to Windhoek.Once again the landscape is vast expanse of flat grasslands with no sign of any living creature.Initially annoyed at the flatness and 'boring' landsccape i felt myself mesmerised as it enticed me with its own type of beauty.Then suddenly purple mountains were surrounding us and the signs of  civilisation wer evident ,traffic lights.people,Windhoek and our campsite Arrebush Lodge A red citi golf with 4 passengers and a driver with luggage piled on rhe roof  pulled into the campsite next to us.In the spirit of the Put Foot Rally(anything goes)they fell out of the car and proceeded to set up camp.After introductions and a lesson on how to fit a mantle to the gas canister(Alex DB) and a donated kettle(De Barros household)we set off  to Joes.This is a well known eating house due to the decor it looks like a cross between a pawn shop and an antique shop with many nooks and crannies making up different bars and eating areas.More redwine and home to our electric blanket.

Day 2

Day 2	Departure Time	From	To	Arrival Time	Distance Travelled	Trip Duration
	9-00am	Augrabies Falls	Canon Roadhouse	3-30p m
Road Condition			Weather Conditions		Low	High
Good dravel roads with a few suprising dips in the roads			Fine clear sunny winters day		2	15
Camp and day's, trip information;			Camp Site Name; Canon Roadhouse
WENT TO THE MAGNIFICENT Augrabies Falls at dawn to watch the sunrise.With pegleg Zelda leading the way along the maze of boardwalks we emerged to the thunderous raw of natures power.With some of the lower viewpoints collapsing due to flood damage we took in the awesome sights from a safe but breathtaking view.With the Garmin set for a remote border post we set off through Kakamas,Pofadder and onto Onseepkans Border post.
Emerging like an oasis was the remote border post of Onseepkans.Chatting the the friendly local policeman a busy day sees 10 vehicles throughthe border but most days 1 or 2 is the norm.Needless to say saw a whole lot of nothing, we kept looking for signs of life with no luck but the Fish River Canyon beckoned us.Our stop over stay was the quirky Canon Roadhouse well known for the vintage cars used for plant containers,fireplaces,barcounters and serving surfaces.We set up our camp under a large tree and drove to thne Canyon.This is the 2nd largest Canyon to the Grand Canyon in the States.168 KM long and its widest point 27km wide.Our second magnificent sunset. Back to camp for braai and red wine.Sleeptight

Day 1, The Adventure Begins,

Day 1	Departure Time	From		To	Arrival Time		Distance Travelled	Trip Duration
	04:00:00 AM	Edenvale		Augrabies Falls National Park	04:00:00 PM		940 km	12:00
Road Condition				Weather Conditions			Low	High
First 20 Kms Bad Gravel with Potholes. The rest of the route was good tar road.				Partly cloudy at first, once the cloud cover lifted, it was sunny & mild.			-4°C	26°C
Camp and day's, trip information;				Camp Site Name; Augrabies Falls National Park
Left from Edenvale at 4am after a lot of preparation by Alex ie day by day breakdowns of destinations ,ETA,and route names. Stopped just outside Delareyville to 'snap' our first sunrise after high fives.Stopped at Vryburg for a Wimpy breakfast and Total fuel fill up.Alex bravely gave up the driving seat to me due to exhaution as the excitement only allowed us 3.5 hours sleepthe previus night.True to form made a rookie towing error which caused the caravan to say violently from left to right.Like a grizzly bear waking up from hibernation Alex enquired if i was allright.....implying in the manner of his speech was i all right in the head and who had given me permission to turn off to Gold Reef City and take him on the Anaconda ride! Zelda radioed in after a noticeable restraint period with a postive "Great Save Trace but did you know that at one point both caravan wheels were off the ground.......Anyway Onward bound to the beautiful Augrabies National Park to spend our first night.Like pros we unpacked our sparkling new caravans,lit the fire,took out the red wine and Amarula and tucked into the chicken bought in Uppington.Goodnight and a well deserved sleep.

The Day Before

Hey everybody just wanted to say sorry for not posting in such a long time but with all the nights wihtout sleep we have been extremely busy and are now back with lots to talk about.

So to start off with we have been working extremly long hours on our beast (The Land Rover Discovery 3) and fitting it with every up grade availible. There will be lots of pics to come so stand by we just havnt had the time to take photos but be prepared.

This is our Last night at home before our three week adventure around Southern Africa. We even had a special braai today to thank every body that has helped us with our trip and it couldnt have come out any better even Alex (Grumpy) cracked a well deserved glimpse of a smile as he stood back to admire his new machine. WewWould also like to give a very big thanks toTotal SA for supplying us with the soccer balls which we will be delivering to to our schhools on the way.

To all sitting at home sit back relax and fasten your seatbelts because we certainly will and we will keep you uptdated from every destination.
a nother night witout sleep.