WEATHER: Cooler and overcast 24C
HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Getting off Gypsy after 7 hours
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Saying goodbye to Ben and Kitonga
BUYS OF THE DAY: Wine tasting at 8AUD
WORD OF THE DAY: Hel-lo (Dave and my code for good looking people)
CAMP SITE RANKING: AWESOME – we are in a winery after all 5 out of 5 stars
Good morning and HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAM. We were up at 6am and breakfast was at 7.30am. We meet our new ride for the next 2 days and the truck looks like a midget compared to our beloved Kitonga. Her name is Gypsy and she looks like something you would find in a child’s toy room. But beggars can’t be choosers and we need to stuff all out gear from a 22 seater to a 16 seater for the next well day and a half. Lisa and I made sure we got in early, firstly to get a good spot to pop our bags under the truck and to also make sure all out gear would fit. Yesterday I condensed 7 bags down to 3, so I think I was doing okay but we wanted to make sure we didn’t get a weird spot we couldn’t reach. Mission accomplished. No lockers on gypsy, just compartments underneath and also no overhead space either, geez what sort of truck is this. Okay so we maybe a little biased as Kitonga just sat and looked on, and I know I have gone on and on, but really?
So after some group photos it was time to climb into Gypsy but when Billy went to start her she was dead. She just kept clicking over with nothing. How embarrassing for Billy firstly and maybe it was a sign that Ben had to take us? Not sure but after 6 of us got behind the truck and gave her a push she kicked to life and we all jumped on while the going was good and strapped in for the ride. As we waved goodbye to Ben it really started to sink in that the trip was coming to end. I know why they have to do the truck change over, but it sucks as it makes it feel like the trip is already finished when we still have 1 more night and 2 days to go.
We only had to drive 10 minutes to get to the Namibia / South African border formalities. There was no-one else there so we were processed on both sides quickly and it only took us 40 minutes to clear through. Welcome to South Africa and our last country. The roads have improved, well somewhat, there were still quite a few bumps, but that could also have something to do with Billy’s driving, I think his care factor was quite different to the careful driving of Ben’s. Sometimes you just don’t realize what you have till it’s gone and just what a good driver Ben was. The scenery has also changed to greener pastures, hills / mountains and the wild flowers are still in bloom, so there are patches of beautiful purples, whites and yellow dotting the countryside as we hurtle past in our truck.
Well Gypsy reminds us of a lawnmower. In the noise department as well as the comfort department. It really feels like we are riding a large mossie or piloting a lawnmower. It is so NOISY you can hardly hear anyone talk in there; oh I know I am still complaining, but we just don’t like her. Also, I forgot to mention to get into the bloody lawnmower you need at least a step if not 2, and guess what? There is no step! The floor of the truck would have to be a good meter off the ground; it was embarrassing to get on and off the bloody thing. Dave got into the routine of giving my back a push as I hefted myself up each time it was hilarious! If you hadn’t noticed I am not a fan of Gypsy, to just state the obvious.
We had a stop in Springbok at 10.30am for an hour. It was a good chance for us to stock up on our rand and I am buying some USD off Manu, so I was able to start drawing out money to be able to pay her back before the end of the tour. As it was getting close to lunch, Dave and I couldn’t let a KFC run pass us by, so after getting my South African sim card and credit and Dave having to buy a new pair of thongs, we sat and had an early lunch at KFC and it was just like back home. We ate chicken in Springbok!
After getting back on the road we stopped for a photo op for the wild flowers before getting into our last camp for the entire trip at 3.30pm, but it was at a winery, so we will be able to drown our camping sorrows tonight and in quite an appropriate location. Highlands Camp was just amazing. The view over the vineyard with the mountains in the background was magic and we made sure we had our door facing that, so when we wake up in the morning it will be the first thing we see on our last day. As our tents were back in Namibia with Ben, the vineyard provides them, well little did we know that the pole bags and the tents are numbered, well we had tent 523 and the poles for tent 567 and needless to say we didn’t realize till the hooks wouldn’t fit on the last pole and it was 80% up. GG told us not to worry, so we didn’t but our tent looked like it had been sat on by a giant! It was the funniest shape and hilarious, so we did only what we could do and that was take a bunch of photos. We had started to race the boys for the last time as well and I got GG to video it, but my camera went flat, which was just as well as we lost to them again, so who needs to see that on footage? Not us.
We had some free time before the wine tasting at 5pm. So we decided it would be good to get some video footage of the jokes and words that have been made famous on the trip and it’s another thing for me to look at should I need a laugh, so over the next hour, I videoed animal calls, singing, speeches, Simon introducing dinner and Sean and Si having a push up competition (who can argue with 2 shirtless men). So it was a great way to finish off our last afternoon and I now have something I can keep on each of my best buddies I have made on tour.
5PM!!!! WINE TASTING TIME. How many wine tastings do you know of that finish off with everyone sober? Yeah well this was NOT one of those times. Sparky (the owner) used to be an Intrepid guide, so he knows how it all works, so we were going to sample 6 wines and the serving portion of the wine was to say more than generous, and the great thing was you got to pour your own sample for each bottle. Wicked!!!! So the afternoon progressed, the wine tasting finished, we bought more wine (win win for Sparky) and consumed the night away. We did have a small interval with dinner and then a whip around from everyone to say their thanks and how much we are going to miss each other. Lisa by far had the best speech as she had been working on a poem for the last few weeks, so she read that out to everyone and it was a tear jerker, wine or no wine it is an absolutely AWESOME poem which will get its own entry onto the blog as it is the least that it deserves!
With some tunes pumping, wine getting consumed and last conversations it was a great way to end the trip and one that I won’t forget. It was cold and come 11pm Dave and I took our leave and headed back to the tents for the last time. As I closed my eyes, I had a smile on my face remembering a blonde moment with Lisa at the bar. We were toasting Pam again for the 100th time for her birthday for example “Happy Birthday Pam” to Lisa replied “Happy Birthday Japan” (to which she was looking at Meyouki)!!! This is an indication on just how much wine we had consumed but bloody hell it was funny!!!! J
When I told people I was going to Africa and I was camping for 60 days, a smile would bust out across their face and then they would laugh, some uncontrollably. Okay, so I wasn’t a camper, I can count on one hand how many times I went camping in my life, let alone attempt 60 days. So not only is this a testament to myself, for doing something out of the box (again) but also to Intrepid for running an awesome tour with awesome people with awesome equipment. I would HIGHLY recommend Intrepid and by far they have the best trucks on the road. If you have ever thought of Africa, do it and do it with Intrepid, I swear you will not regret it. Pats on the backs all round. It has been the ride of a life time for me and in more ways than one.
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