The tables are turning (Day 2-6)
Door: Nayan
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Nayan
05 September 2016 | Zuid-Afrika, Marloth Park
Day 2-6: The tables are turning
First I have to rectify something from my previous post. Day 1 and day 2 should be called day 0 and day 1. The day of departure was actually not the first day in Africa, so from now on we call that day 0. The second day in the previous post is thus from now on day 1. This brings my story to day 2 in Africa.
On the second day (in Africa) we went to the Outdoor Warehouse in the afternoon to do some shopping. We ended up with a bill of €380. Including: a cooler with cooling system, roadmaps for Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, cups, matrasses, a lighter, cutlery for 4 persons, 2 foldable chairs, a lantern, medical kit, 2 reflecting bibs, tyre repair kit, a small gas stove, cooking pans, batteries, jerry can, foldable warning triangle, stickers and a big bag to put everything in to take it on the plane.
We brought our own tent and sleeping bags with us, so now we are all set and ready to go camping between the lions!
After loading in the newly bought stuff in the canopy of our beast, we checked where the tyre change tools were, but noticed that they were missing. Besides that, the orange light of the fuel filter started burning, which means that it has to be replaced. Would this be more TIA or just bad luck? We decided to drive back to Hertz, to get the tools we needed and have the fuel filter replaced. So after 45 minutes of driving we arrived at Hertz. The employees still remembered us and apologized for the inconvenience that was caused once more. They said that we had to get a replacement vehicle and asked if we would agree to get a Toyota Hilux 4x4 DOUBLE cab with canopy. We looked at each other and were both smiling on the inside. This was an upgrade, which would normally cost almost double the price, in comparison with the single cab. Finally the tables were turning! So of course we happily accepted and returned to our hotel happily.
In the evening we called Henry again and he brought us to the area Mellvile, were we had dinner at a rock cafe called Hell’s Kitchen. After dinner we had some drinks in a bar with a one time Burlesque-theme and show. They asked 3 guys from the audience and François was one of the lucky guys who got picked to get on stage. We both thought that he would be getting some sort of lap dance, however it was him who had to give the show. On stage he had to pretend that he was undressing his (imaginary) corset, in a sexy way of course. He gave the ladies a show to remember. Sorry, that is all I am going to say about it (for video’s, ask me on whats app ☺.)
After this bar we went to two other clubs and lots of vodka, shots and whiskey later we got home around 3 or 4 maybe? I don’t remember.
The next day we drove 335km to a small place called Alkmaar, where we found an amazing guesthouse 2km from the highway (Almar View Guest House). We rented a sort of cottage for 2 persons, which was very big and luxurious. It had peacocks walking at our doorstep. After dinner at the restaurant next to the highway gas station we noticed that the left back tyre was looking a bit flat. We filled it with air in the hope that it is still good in the morning. Else the tyre repair set would already come in handy on the second official day of our road trip.
The next morning we had breakfast in a sort of living room from the 1940’s. It looked nice and the breakfast was good. After we checked our tyre again and we noticed that it had lost a little bit of air. From Alkmaar we drove towards Kruger National Park. We set up our tent in Marloth Park, a smaller wildlife park right next to Kruger. The camping site was called “Amazing River View”. The view was nice however the river was missing. Henry had told us before that it hadn’t rained for 18 months in the Southern part of Africa. So what should have been a broad river full of wildlife (crocs & hippos) turned out to be a small stream without these animals.
In this park (not the campsite) we already saw giraffes and zebras right next to the road, so of course we got out of the car to take pictures with them. The giraffes were afraid of us, however the zebras were quite curious. At night we used the cooking gear we bought for the first time and had a very healthy dinner, hot dogs on a white bun with chakalaka out of a can. We called it a day quite early, because for the next day we had booked a morning safari through the famous Kruger National Park. Our alarms were set at 03:40, started the beast at 04:00 and arrived at the park around 04:45.
At 05:00 our safari trip began. Since we were the only two persons on the safari trip we got the seats with the best view. However this were also the seats, which caught the most wind. It felt like it was freezing. The trip was one hour in the dark. After the safari trip we drove into Kruger Park ourselves. That day we saw all kinds of animals amongst others: elephants, rhinos, buffalos (sadly only these three of the Big 5), springboks, kudus, gnoes, warthogs, baboons and impalas, impalas, impalas, impalas. All those impalas that just didn’t give a fuck about crossing the road while a 4x4 was coming. In Dutch I sometimes use the words: “you are not afraid”. Those impalas were not afraid, or tired of living. Maybe even both. One impala almost kissed our front bumper. So we had figured out that our breaks were in fine condition. (Throwing out the anchor)
After some hours of safari driving, we went on a sandy road and eventually saw a lake with a stop to take pictures. Both of us had to pee; however in Kruger nobody is allowed to leave the car (because there supposed to be lions, leopards and other dangerous animals present.) After checking our surroundings we left the car to pee and to take some pictures of the car. At one point I looked at the end of the lake and I saw a big herd of elephants at the lake at approximately 100 metres. We had been standing there for 5 minutes already and we both hadn’t seen the herd taking baths. It was a beautiful sight to see.
In the evening we used our cooking gear once more, on the menu were noodles, meatballs and canned veggies. The next morning we packed our stuff at 06:00. It was time to leave South Africa for a while, time to head to Mozambique (Moz.)
First we had to fill the tank with petrol and check the tyre again. Once again the tyre had lost some air and we decided to call Hertz. They told us that we were allowed to have tyres fixed to a max amount. After we had the tyre fixed in Komatipoort, we could finally head for Moz.
Getting out of South Africa was no problem at all. When entering no-mans-land the so-called runners came running towards our vehicle. We waved them away and passed some shop looking small buildings, so we continued with a slow pace. At the end we saw an officer who stopped our car. He asked us for our TP-form, which of course we didn’t have. I played the dumb tourist and put up my innocent smile. He said that we were lucky that he stopped us, because after the next gate was Moz-territory already. Entering without all the rightful papers and visa could mean big problems. Apparently we had passed the immigration office already, but how could we have known? We don’t speak Portuguese, which is the only language on all the building-signs in no-mans-land towards Moz. A runner came to our aid and he helped us with the visa application and vehicle registration. This last part seemed somehow strange. At first he said we had to pay 480 Rand for the vehicle registration, but when François said we didn’t have that amount anymore he said that the 400 and some small bills would suffice. We were probably being fooled of course, but we wanted to continue our daytrip. The paperwork was going to be filled in by the car and our runner talked with the inspector (same guy who received our 400 and some small bills) and then the inspector walked away. The runner whispered to me: “you should arrange something with him, I told him not to check your vehicle”. Of course he was hoping that I was tired of this long lasting fight to get into Moz and that I would bribe the inspector, which of course would result in him getting some of it as well. However, bad luck for them, François and myself were not in a hurry at all. Since we had nothing to hide, we decided to let them work for their money, instead of giving them extra money to do nothing. After the check the runner told me to get in the car and of course he asked some money for his help. We gave him 50 rand, which is like a day’s payment or something. He laughed and gave to the inspector. “This is for him, give me 50 rand as well”, we knew this was all part of their game and even if we gave him 500 rand, he would act the same. We happily gave them another 50 rand (€3) and could finally continue. We drove towards the exit and the first officer found no objections to fine us. The second officer asked for some other forms and also he could not find anything to fine us.
We were finally allowed and ready to enter this Portuguese spoken country.
First I have to rectify something from my previous post. Day 1 and day 2 should be called day 0 and day 1. The day of departure was actually not the first day in Africa, so from now on we call that day 0. The second day in the previous post is thus from now on day 1. This brings my story to day 2 in Africa.
On the second day (in Africa) we went to the Outdoor Warehouse in the afternoon to do some shopping. We ended up with a bill of €380. Including: a cooler with cooling system, roadmaps for Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, cups, matrasses, a lighter, cutlery for 4 persons, 2 foldable chairs, a lantern, medical kit, 2 reflecting bibs, tyre repair kit, a small gas stove, cooking pans, batteries, jerry can, foldable warning triangle, stickers and a big bag to put everything in to take it on the plane.
We brought our own tent and sleeping bags with us, so now we are all set and ready to go camping between the lions!
After loading in the newly bought stuff in the canopy of our beast, we checked where the tyre change tools were, but noticed that they were missing. Besides that, the orange light of the fuel filter started burning, which means that it has to be replaced. Would this be more TIA or just bad luck? We decided to drive back to Hertz, to get the tools we needed and have the fuel filter replaced. So after 45 minutes of driving we arrived at Hertz. The employees still remembered us and apologized for the inconvenience that was caused once more. They said that we had to get a replacement vehicle and asked if we would agree to get a Toyota Hilux 4x4 DOUBLE cab with canopy. We looked at each other and were both smiling on the inside. This was an upgrade, which would normally cost almost double the price, in comparison with the single cab. Finally the tables were turning! So of course we happily accepted and returned to our hotel happily.
In the evening we called Henry again and he brought us to the area Mellvile, were we had dinner at a rock cafe called Hell’s Kitchen. After dinner we had some drinks in a bar with a one time Burlesque-theme and show. They asked 3 guys from the audience and François was one of the lucky guys who got picked to get on stage. We both thought that he would be getting some sort of lap dance, however it was him who had to give the show. On stage he had to pretend that he was undressing his (imaginary) corset, in a sexy way of course. He gave the ladies a show to remember. Sorry, that is all I am going to say about it (for video’s, ask me on whats app ☺.)
After this bar we went to two other clubs and lots of vodka, shots and whiskey later we got home around 3 or 4 maybe? I don’t remember.
The next day we drove 335km to a small place called Alkmaar, where we found an amazing guesthouse 2km from the highway (Almar View Guest House). We rented a sort of cottage for 2 persons, which was very big and luxurious. It had peacocks walking at our doorstep. After dinner at the restaurant next to the highway gas station we noticed that the left back tyre was looking a bit flat. We filled it with air in the hope that it is still good in the morning. Else the tyre repair set would already come in handy on the second official day of our road trip.
The next morning we had breakfast in a sort of living room from the 1940’s. It looked nice and the breakfast was good. After we checked our tyre again and we noticed that it had lost a little bit of air. From Alkmaar we drove towards Kruger National Park. We set up our tent in Marloth Park, a smaller wildlife park right next to Kruger. The camping site was called “Amazing River View”. The view was nice however the river was missing. Henry had told us before that it hadn’t rained for 18 months in the Southern part of Africa. So what should have been a broad river full of wildlife (crocs & hippos) turned out to be a small stream without these animals.
In this park (not the campsite) we already saw giraffes and zebras right next to the road, so of course we got out of the car to take pictures with them. The giraffes were afraid of us, however the zebras were quite curious. At night we used the cooking gear we bought for the first time and had a very healthy dinner, hot dogs on a white bun with chakalaka out of a can. We called it a day quite early, because for the next day we had booked a morning safari through the famous Kruger National Park. Our alarms were set at 03:40, started the beast at 04:00 and arrived at the park around 04:45.
At 05:00 our safari trip began. Since we were the only two persons on the safari trip we got the seats with the best view. However this were also the seats, which caught the most wind. It felt like it was freezing. The trip was one hour in the dark. After the safari trip we drove into Kruger Park ourselves. That day we saw all kinds of animals amongst others: elephants, rhinos, buffalos (sadly only these three of the Big 5), springboks, kudus, gnoes, warthogs, baboons and impalas, impalas, impalas, impalas. All those impalas that just didn’t give a fuck about crossing the road while a 4x4 was coming. In Dutch I sometimes use the words: “you are not afraid”. Those impalas were not afraid, or tired of living. Maybe even both. One impala almost kissed our front bumper. So we had figured out that our breaks were in fine condition. (Throwing out the anchor)
After some hours of safari driving, we went on a sandy road and eventually saw a lake with a stop to take pictures. Both of us had to pee; however in Kruger nobody is allowed to leave the car (because there supposed to be lions, leopards and other dangerous animals present.) After checking our surroundings we left the car to pee and to take some pictures of the car. At one point I looked at the end of the lake and I saw a big herd of elephants at the lake at approximately 100 metres. We had been standing there for 5 minutes already and we both hadn’t seen the herd taking baths. It was a beautiful sight to see.
In the evening we used our cooking gear once more, on the menu were noodles, meatballs and canned veggies. The next morning we packed our stuff at 06:00. It was time to leave South Africa for a while, time to head to Mozambique (Moz.)
First we had to fill the tank with petrol and check the tyre again. Once again the tyre had lost some air and we decided to call Hertz. They told us that we were allowed to have tyres fixed to a max amount. After we had the tyre fixed in Komatipoort, we could finally head for Moz.
Getting out of South Africa was no problem at all. When entering no-mans-land the so-called runners came running towards our vehicle. We waved them away and passed some shop looking small buildings, so we continued with a slow pace. At the end we saw an officer who stopped our car. He asked us for our TP-form, which of course we didn’t have. I played the dumb tourist and put up my innocent smile. He said that we were lucky that he stopped us, because after the next gate was Moz-territory already. Entering without all the rightful papers and visa could mean big problems. Apparently we had passed the immigration office already, but how could we have known? We don’t speak Portuguese, which is the only language on all the building-signs in no-mans-land towards Moz. A runner came to our aid and he helped us with the visa application and vehicle registration. This last part seemed somehow strange. At first he said we had to pay 480 Rand for the vehicle registration, but when François said we didn’t have that amount anymore he said that the 400 and some small bills would suffice. We were probably being fooled of course, but we wanted to continue our daytrip. The paperwork was going to be filled in by the car and our runner talked with the inspector (same guy who received our 400 and some small bills) and then the inspector walked away. The runner whispered to me: “you should arrange something with him, I told him not to check your vehicle”. Of course he was hoping that I was tired of this long lasting fight to get into Moz and that I would bribe the inspector, which of course would result in him getting some of it as well. However, bad luck for them, François and myself were not in a hurry at all. Since we had nothing to hide, we decided to let them work for their money, instead of giving them extra money to do nothing. After the check the runner told me to get in the car and of course he asked some money for his help. We gave him 50 rand, which is like a day’s payment or something. He laughed and gave to the inspector. “This is for him, give me 50 rand as well”, we knew this was all part of their game and even if we gave him 500 rand, he would act the same. We happily gave them another 50 rand (€3) and could finally continue. We drove towards the exit and the first officer found no objections to fine us. The second officer asked for some other forms and also he could not find anything to fine us.
We were finally allowed and ready to enter this Portuguese spoken country.
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