From Capetown to Cairo

Hello hello,

Lots happened in 3 weeks time, so quite a big story this time. If you don't have time to read then def have a look at the pics as they are worth it!! 

Capetown
Three weeks ago we flew from Amsterdam to Cape Town, where we started our amazing trip. We were here for about 5 days and it was quite what we expected, although it is a lot safer than people make it seem and for me it was funny to hear and see the Afrikaans everywhere, which is basically old Dutch but with very incorrect grammar. There's a massive difference in people, culture and wealth everywhere, and obviously you know a little what to expect, It's still different to see it with your own eyes. We visited the bars and restaurants at the waterfront, and we met Richard and Jonti here, family of Joe, and we had a really nice evening with them! They told us about South Africa and gave us tips and tricks for on the road. We visited the botanical gardens, which I was a bit sceptical about at the beginning - plants are plants - but these were really beautiful. That same day we took the bus to see Hout Bay, where we ate the apparently famous lekkerbekkies and chips, and we saw the outskirts of Cape Town by bus. Here you see the difference between rich and poor very clearly. One side of the road is a slum, and across from there you see big villa's with gates. I still don't really understand how this lives and goes next to each other. I don't understand how that man that lives in the villa can go out and walk his dog without any problems, and why they would build it there in the first place. The next day we visited Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent 27 years as a political prisoner and where he wrote ' a long walk to freedom.' It was very impressive to be here and see this place in real life and get a tour from an ex-political prisoner who spent 7 years of his life here. We thought it was a shame that the place was so touristy though, and that the emphasis was on Mandela's story and facts. I saw the film and read the book so I already knew Mandela's story, but would have found it interesting to hear more about how the guide had experienced it. 
The last, really cool thing we did in Cape Town was paragliding. After we booked it we had to be on top of the mountain in half an hour.. And go! We thought.. Our pilots turned out to be an hour late, and we had to see 26 people jump before we had a go. If you sit there, hearing left and right from all the (male) pilots that the weather conditions weren't great that day, and you see some people trying 3 times before they get up, you remember what adrenaline feels like. And there they were, our pilots.. And of course one of them turned out to be the only female pilot on the whole mountain, about 50 years old. Steve and Caroline. Joe looked at me and said: well, I promised your grandad I would bring you home safely so I guess you go with Steve... When I got into the suit we had to wait a little, walk, stop and run. And there we were, up high in the air flying in silence above the chaotic city and then the blue see underneath us.. It was amazing. Before I knew it I was safe and sound on the ground again, and then I started wondering where Joe was, who was suppose to jump 2 minutes after me. We were 20 minutes later by now and I still couldn't see him anywhere so I started to wonder what Caroline had done with him. But then there he was,  panic over, back to how much of a great experience it was. When he had landed too we got some pictures and thanked Caroline and Steve. Really an amazing experience, would def do it again! 

Garden route
After Cape Town we rented a car - a lovely lime green Kia picanto - and we started the most traveled route in South Africa. We visited Hermanus to see the whales and got a very nice room with jacuzzi in Mosselbay. We visited Oudtshoorn, where we had a lovely dinner at a hippo lake and we rode an ostrich. That was really cool.. They go so fast! For about 4 euro each you can visit a farm, get a tour, learn about the animals and eggs, feed Betsie, and if you want to you can ride one. Hold on tight and go like a mad man with 50 km/h around the farm. So much fun!! This time I went with the woman and we both had a safe landing again :) 
We visited wilderness, knysna and Plettenberg bay, and at the end of the garden route we stayed in Tsitsikama national park for 3 days, in the wild spirit lodge. This was so far my favourite; the lodge was totally made out of wood, in the middle of the jungle with a hippy community where everyone is a vegetarian, drinks wine and smokes weed around the campfire. Joe and I had watched 'wanderlust' when we were in Iceland, and I'd said to him I would love to end up in a place like this once, and here we were.. Joe liked the place too but was ready to leave after 3 days haha. During our time here we did a 6,5 hour hike through the jungle, rocks, beach and river, and of course we got lost on the way and so our hike took 9 hours with the 10 km detour we did uphill. Definitely worth it, cause it was absolutely beautiful here. The next day I could hardly move my legs, we're not all athletes after all, but we decided to do another short hike to the hidden waterfall. No blood, but lots of sweat and almost some tears later we arrived at a little beautiful spot where we ate our picknick. The last stop on the garden route was Jeffrey's bay. Great place for beaches and surfing but the weather wasn't great so we left the next day. 

Wild Coast
In the next two days we drove 1200 km along the wild coast. I was slightly disappointed with the garden route, how easy and touristy it was and you don't really see the "real" africa as how you'd expect it. The wild coast has its name for a reason though, cause this is definitely the real africa. We drove the N2, the motorway, that doesn't have exits but goes straight through all city's and villages on the way. Absolute mayhem.. People are EVERYWHERE.. 5 lanes turning into 2 lanes without lines or signs, cows, sheep and more people selling crap everywhere. Respect for Joe, who did the driving, cause if I had to do this I would have just stopped the car and gone for a glass of wine and a smoke. It's driving in a computer game, avoiding people, cows, goats, potholes, mist, baboons making babies, and so on. After two days we arrived at Mary and Warwick, more family of Joe. We stayed here for 2 nights and visited the school where Mary works, and the non profit organisation and township where Warwick works. We also visited Mandela's capture site, where you see a monument where you, from the right angle, can see his face in it. 

Lesotho
We traveled to Bergville and from here we went to Lesotho. Lesotho is a different country, surrounded by South Africa, and the third poorest country in the world. We visited a school here, a small building with 5 classrooms and 250 children. We climbed a mountain and saw old ethnic rock paintings, and we visited the local brewer - a man who makes and drinks his own citrus beer in a little hut - and a spiritual healer. 26 % of the population has aids and the average age expectation is 36. There are only dirt roads and no hospitals. It was very special to be here and hear about the place. We didn't know how to feel about visiting this place as a tourist, but after hearing how much they stimulate tourism - you are for a lot of people there main source of income after all - we realised it was a good thing. Apart from the poverty, it really is a beautiful country. Remote landscapes and mountain like. 

Swaziland 
The next day we drove to Swaziland. We spent the night in a cozy b&b in vryheid, owned by a sweet old Afrikaans couple and we had dinner at the local pub Dee's. The next day we drove on to Lobamba, Swaziland. Swaziland is the second different country in South Africa, not as poor as Lesotho but definitely as beautiful. We stayed a few nights in a lodge here, ate sushi, visited the cultural village, watched a cultural dance and we went to the movies and saw Lucie. 

Kruger National Park 
After Swaziland we went on to an absolute dream destination, kruger national park. Definitely one of the highlights we looked forward to all along and we saved so hard for. We plan on doing etosha, chobe, and the Serengeti as well, so we decided 3 days in the kruger would be enough for now. We left at 4 am to be at the gate at 5.30, and enter the park early. The kruger is as big as holland, and our camp was about 80 km away. As soon as we got into the park we both absolutely loved it. We saw giraffes, zebras, elephants, Impalas and kudu straight away. It is amazing to see these animals all in the wild, in their own environment where they have to hunt for their own food and where they can come and go whenever they want. Because we didn't visit in high season it's harder to see the animals, but the good thing about it is that they all have young around this time. We saw almost all animals, other then leopards and cheetahs. The nice thing about kruger is that you can do self drives everywhere, so you can stop where and as long as you want. The campgate closes at 6 and opens at 5.30 am, but they don't mention that anywhere, so on day 1 Joe and I were still cruising around at 6.30 pm because we wanted to see the sunset. As we just avoided some Buffaloes and almost reached the top of the mountain, we bumped into a ranger who told us we should head back to the camp, every half an hour you're back in camp late you pay 70 euro. Oops.. Good rule, but a bit strange they don't stress that to you when you check in. Typical us this, but luckily we didn't have to pay the fine and I had some beautiful illegal pics of the sunset.. :) 
On the last day we did a sunrise safari, because they specially leave at 4 am when the gates aren't open yet. For 15 euro they take you for 3 hours to see the park as it wakes up. Stunning, but again no leopards or cheetahs.. We did see a big group of hyenas with cups, super cute! When we left the park a baby elephant charged at us, with its trunk up making loud noises. Probably used to big SUV's, and thought our little Kia was a big avocado to play with.. 

Jo'burg 
We had to move on to Nelspruit, where we stayed for one night to move on the next day to Johannesburg. The whole way we've been warned about this place, as some say it's the most dangerous city in the world. We stayed in a hostel in an apparently safe area of town, and as soon as we drove around the city we realised it was as dodgy as they say. They told us not to walk around at all and not to drive around at night. Apparently you don't even have to stop at a red light in the evening because of the chance to get highjacked. We visited Soweto, the biggest township in the world, with over 5 million people. It was incredible to see the different parts of Soweto nowadays, where there are million rand houses next to matchboxes with no electricity and water. We saw the house of Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela and Desmond Tutu. We also visited the ... memorial, where they have a little apartheid museum, which was very interesting. The next day we dropped off the car at the airport and took the 28 hour train back to Cape Town. 
From here we start our new journey up tomorrow, and we will be on our way to Namibia. So far so good, we absolutely love South Africa! Amazing wildlife, beautiful nature, nice people, funny stories and finally some sun :) 
Hopefully the next blog will be a bit sooner and shorter,

lots of love, 
Charlotte & Joe