Springbok Camping

Thursday 5th April – Goodbye to Cape Town

At breakfast I looked out of the window up to Table Mountain. Although it had only been 4 days since we arrived in Cape Town, I think we had all grown very fond of that massive rock, especially after we had climbed to its summit. But as pleasant as our stay in Cape Town had been, it was now time to move on and experience the real Africa. We packed our gear and bade farewell to the hotel that had been a very comfortable home for our stay in Cape Town.

The drive from Cape Town to Springbok was well over 500 km and took us deep into the Namaqualand Region and close to the border with Namibia. On arrival at our campsite we had our first chance to practise setting up the tents. This was made a little more difficult by the fact that we had arrived just before nightfall and had to do most of our unpacking in the dark.

Already Cape Town and Table Mountain seemed a long way away. It had been a long day in the bus and we were all keen to get some rest. I fought to find some order in the jumble of gear that I had deposited in the tent, but one thing was certain – it was far too mild to sleep inside the sleeping bag. Propping my bag behind my head for a pillow and using the sleeping bag for a mattress it did not take long for me to drift off into a comforting sleep.Read more