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Overlanding Through Africa

maja - września 2023
This is the big one - the trip we have been planning since before the pandemic! We will be overlanding from South Africa 🇿🇦 to Kenya 🇰🇪 passing through 9 other countries and taking four months. Czytaj więcej
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  • 397ślady stóp
  • 12kraje
  • 125dni
  • 5,3kzdjęcia
  • 172filmy
  • 21,9kmile
  • 11,2kmile
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Data rosnąco
  • Overlanding Through Africa
    Dzień 4

    A day at the apartment

    10 maja 2023, Afryka Południowa ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    After a couple of busy days, we decided to spend today at the apartment catching up with posts, listening to the radio, and preparing for the truck 🚚 😂.

    The photos attached to this footprint 👣 were taken from the roof. Czytaj więcej

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  • Overlanding Through Africa
    Dzień 5

    A walk around the Mining District

    11 maja 2023, Afryka Południowa ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We decided to take the City Sightseeing bus 🚌 again today. There were a couple of places we still wanted to see, and the easiest way to get to them was to use the bus 🚌.

    Our first stop was the mining district, a large open-air museum tracing the history of mining in Johannesburg.

    The area is in downtown Johannesburg and centres around Main Street, which has been home to the city’s mining headquarters ever since Johannesburg was founded 130 years ago. Back then, the city was little more than a dusty mining camp filled with fortune hunters and prospectors, but in the space of just three years, it became the biggest settlement in South Africa. Through the 1890s and early 1900s, the low-rise buildings that dotted the landscape were steadily replaced with taller, grander edifices that reflected the metropolitan’s sudden enormous wealth.

    Today, you can explore the city’s early mining history in this pedestrianised area. Old relics of the gold rush such as mining headgear, stamp presses, rail locomotives, and covered wagons line the way, complemented by information boards explaining what you are seeing.

    There is a striking sculpture in the front of the Chamber of Mines building on Pixley ka Isaka Seme Street. It depicts a mineworker at work at the mine face and was erected in 2007. A plaque next to the statue reads: “The monument represents the symbolic and historical role played by mineworkers in shaping the economics of the mining towns and labour-sending areas, in particular, and that of South Africa, in general.”

    One of the most noteworthy buildings on Main Street is the former headquarters of the Anglo-American mining company. It was modelled on the League of Nations complex in Geneva and is home to sculptures by celebrated South African artists, fountains, and an urban garden. The undoubted highlight is the bronze sculpture of a herd of leaping impalas.

    Also in the area is the huge Magistrate’s Court, completed in 1936. It is an extremely impressive building! Outside the front entrance is a statue of Nelson Mandela shadow-boxing. It is the work of sculptor Marco Cianfanelli.

    Opposite the Magistrate's Court is Chancellor House, once the offices of the first black law firm in the city, Mandela and Tambo Attorneys. You can't go in, but there are window displays focusing on the lives of Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo.

    We really enjoyed our time in the mining district and learned a lot, both about mining for gold and other resources and about Mandela's time as a lawyer working hard to represent black people in the city.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Overlanding Through Africa
    Dzień 5

    Mandela's house

    11 maja 2023, Afryka Południowa ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    After our walk, we caught the next bus 🚌 to visit the Apartheid Museum. We were the only passengers! It is winter here, so there are very few tourists about. I don't understand it because the weather (mainly dry and sunny but not too hot) is perfect for sightseeing!The driver was great, going slowly past notable landmarks so that we were able to take photos.

    One such landmark is the house that Nelson Mandela lived in between 1992 and 1998. He was there while he was president and entertained many famous people there, including Michael Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill Clinton.

    The house is located in the leafy district of Houghton, an upmarket area where the city's randlords (early pioneers who made their fortunes from gold mining) built their mansions away from the dust and dirt of downtown Johannesburg.

    Nelson Mandela's house is now a hotel called Sanctuary Mandela. Nelson insisted that all the staff be trained in the art of storytelling so that they can entertain guests with tales about him and the history of South Africa 🇿🇦.

    We also saw the house where Mandela died in 2013. Huge crowds gathered outside at the time to mourn and to give thanks for his life.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Overlanding Through Africa
    Dzień 5

    Visiting the Apartheid Museum

    11 maja 2023, Afryka Południowa ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    The last place we visited on our City Sightseeing tour was the Apartheid Museum, which opened in 2001. It is recognised as the world's best museum on 20th century South African history. Obviously, it focuses on the rise and fall of apartheid. Everything is explained in great detail with superb clarity. No visitor could come away without a greater understanding of the terrible injustices of the regime, but also with a sense of hope for the future based on what South Africa has achieved since the collapse of apartheid.

    Photography 📸 is not allowed inside the main building of the museum.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Overlanding Through Africa
    Dzień 6

    A trip to the cinema

    12 maja 2023, Afryka Południowa ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Having seen everything we wanted to see in the city, we decided to have an easier day today.

    We spent the morning doing posts, getting caught up on our laundry, and sorting our bags 🎒 out ahead of our trip.

    Later, we walked up to the mall to go to the cinema 🎥. We had tickets to see The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry starring Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton. I read the book 📖 a few years ago while we were working on Yole. I knew the film was coming out, but I thought we'd miss it because we were travelling. I was very happy to find out it was on here in Jo'burg. We both enjoyed the film. I thought it was true to the book.

    I found myself taking photos 📸 of the toilets 🚻 in the mall! Every public toilet I've been in this week has had fresh orchids on display and these very clever toilet seat/flush systems. Another reason to love Jo'burg!! 😂

    While we were at the mall, we went shopping for a suitable hat for Mark to wear on safari. He definitely looks the part now 😀.

    On the way back to the apartment, we spotted a hadeda ibis. This bird is found all over the city. It has no natural predators, so numbers are out of control. It is named for its loud three to four note calls made in flight, especially early in the morning when it leaves its roost, and when it returns in the evening. Locals have nicknamed it 'the flying vuvuzela'!     Czytaj więcej

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  • Overlanding Through Africa
    Dzień 7

    A change of hotel

    13 maja 2023, Afryka Południowa

    We were up early this morning to shower and sort out our last bits and pieces ready for check-out at 10am. We were on time, but when we went to get the lift, our access codes had been cancelled! Mark left me with the bags 🎒 while he used the stairs to go down 15 floors to reception! He could only get as far as the 4th floor before he was stopped by a locked door! After some shenanigans 🤪 involving going through the car park, he made it to reception and, eventually, back up to the 15th floor to get me and our bags!

    Back at reception, we asked the guy to organise a taxi to take us to the Holiday Inn, the starting point for our Johannesburg to Cape Town trip. We knew it wasn't far, but we didn't fancy dragging our heavy bags up the hill and through the mall. The fare was only 28 rand (about £1.20!), but we felt guilty for using him for such a short distance, so we gave him 50!

    Check-in wasn't until 2pm, but they let us store our bags, gave us the access code for the wi-fi, and showed us to a lounge area to wait.

    We got into our room at about 1pm, dropped our bags 🎒 and went straight out to get some lunch. Seeing as we're going to be on the road for a little while, we treated ourselves to a Greek meal. It was all delicious 😋! Before going back to the hotel, we had some of Paul's homemade ice cream 🍦 for dessert - it wasn't half bad! 😂

    Back at the hotel, I edited the photo book of our Seychelles trip, and Mark caught up with the football ⚽️.

    Ahead of our 6pm meeting, we heard our truck arrive. Attached is a photo 📸 of it taken from our 8th floor window!     Czytaj więcej

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  • Overlanding Through Africa
    Dzień 8

    And we're off!

    14 maja 2023, Afryka Południowa ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    At last night's meeting, we met our leader, Rene, our driver, Ernest, and our cook, Ivan, along with our 8 fellow travellers. They seem like a good bunch. After the meeting, we went straight back to our room to get ready for our 4am start this morning!

    Thunder during the night kept waking me up, so I wasn't feeling particularly refreshed when the alarm went off!

    We were the first ones down to meet Rene so we were able to load our bags 🎒 and get the first pick of the seats. There are only 10 of us on a 24-seater truck 🚚, so it's not really an issue, but we did choose seats near the biggest windows, thinking ahead to safari days 😂. (Unlike Dragoman, there doesn't seem to be a rule that we have to change seats every day.)

    Our big bags 🎒 were stowed underneath the truck 🚚, and we have lockers on board to store our small stuff and valuables.

    The truck 🚚 is quite different to a Dragoman truck. For a start, it's white, not orange! The seats are like coach seats and are fitted with seat belts which we have to wear whenever we are moving. There are cool boxes for us to use and there are charging points above our heads.

    Because of our early start, the hotel gave us food bags to cover breakfast and lunch.

    It was raining 🌧 and dark, but everyone was on time so we were able to leave ahead of schedule. Just down the road, however, we realised that we had left our water bottles in the fridge in the hotel room! We had to go back. They were our expensive filter bottles. So we turned round and Mark went to retrieve them!

    After our false start, we were finally on the road. Our much-anticipated trip had finally begun! The first leg was from Johannesburg to Kruger National Park, so we had a 12-hour drive ahead!     Czytaj więcej

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  • Overlanding Through Africa
    Dzień 8

    Coffee stop

    14 maja 2023, Afryka Południowa

    The sun came up after we’d been driving for 90 minutes or so. It was very cloudy and there was some rain, so there wasn’t much of a sunrise.

    Our first stop of the day was at a service station to buy coffee. It’s the only garage that I’ve ever been to that has its own waterhole! It was a bit grey and misty, but we could make out a number of kudu.

    Back on the truck, we had our breakfast supplied by the hotel. We had three pastries each plus a banana and a fruit juice.

    Continuing our journey, we passed a huge number of coal mines. South Africa is trying to move away from fossil fuels, but they have a long way to go!     Czytaj więcej

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  • Overlanding Through Africa
    Dzień 8

    Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve

    14 maja 2023, Afryka Południowa ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We drove along the Panorama Route. The first place of interest on the way was at Three Rondavels. Here, you get a great view of the Blyde River Canyon, which is thought to be the third largest canyon on earth. It is a nature reserve with 1600 flora, 100 mammals, 94 reptiles, and 34 species of amphibians. It was very misty with low cloud hiding the peaks in front of us, but stunning nevertheless.

    There were the usual stalls selling local souvenirs that you find at every beauty spot in Africa. At the start of such a long trip, we weren’t tempted to buy anything. Byrand, one of our group, treated himself to a bush hat suitable for the adventures to come.

    We took our first group photo in front of the truck.     Czytaj więcej

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