We touched down in Johannesburg, where we had a great stay with John and Ilse and their TV watching dog, Bonzo.

We met up with Chris and Gabrielle of the USA, our travel partners for the next few months, and sorted out our expedition gear. We had met them in Morocco, earlier in the year and had agreed to co-purchase a vehicle. Chris and Gabrielle arrived a day before us and bought a 1971 VW Kombi, complete with a peace symbol on the front, from a departing German (within 2 hours of their arrival). We shared in fuel purchases but not repairs.

Johannesburg is a bit like Calgary; without a car, it is not an easy place to get around. We didn't get mugged, attacked or carjacked.

Our first week on the road was spent in and around the Drakensburg Mountains, approaching the impressive escarpment from various angles. We admired bushmen paintings that are found beneath rock overhangs; the art of a lost people, exterminated by the white man.

At Elliot, we shared the campsite with a herd of zebra and one wannabe zebra in the form of a donkey.

We stayed in Grahamstown and visited a museum to look at our first "camera obscura". The local watchmaker of the 1800's had built a sort of periscope on the roof of his home which projected an incredibly clear image of the town below onto a large viewing dish.

We decided to lay low during the South African election at Addo Elephant National Park. We had scored a huge bag of oranges in a citrus town only to find that oranges are a forbidden fruit in the park (elephants go mad for them), so we squeezed them into orange juice before entering the reserve. 51 kilometers of elephant-proof fence in the midst of farmland provides a sanctuary to an amazing array of animals including 300 elephant. We saw over 100 jumbos come down to the waterhole by the campsite and had a herd of buffalo graze below our tent. At another waterhole, we munched on potato chips washed down with cold beer while elephants lumbered through.

The South African election itself was a non-event as most people were more interested in the cricket world cup than politics.

We then set out for the coast to take in the surfers at Jeffery's Bay and then watch Chris take the plunge at Bloukrans; the world's highest bungy jump (216 meters). His post-jump grin is just wearing off now.

We spotted thousands of dolphins and plenty of Cape fur seals in Plattensburg Bay. Fur seals and Sea Lions are the only seals with ears.

At Oudtshoorn it was time for us to ride ostriches at a show farm. Sheila also faced and conquered her claustrophobia crawling through the "Devil's Chumney" at the Cango Caves.

We worked our way towards Cape Town, staying at Bontebok National Park and Die Hoop national Park, enjoying plenty of game viewing, spectacular ocean side sand dunes and the southern right whales.

We made an unscheduled 3 day stop in Bredasdorp (a farming community) for more vehicle repairs. An Afrikaner mechanic and crew worked on the dead Kombi for an entire day. They disassembled the engine, replacing valves, etc then charging a whopping 100 USD. If you need a car fixed, then bring it to South Africa!

Finally, we reached the actual Cape. We visited a fantastic small colony of African penguins (5,000), braved the food seeking baboons of Cape of Good Hope and reveled in the magnificent coastal scenery.

BEST DEALS

Bungeeee jumping is free for anyone 60 years or older.

Camping and entrance fees for 4 persons at Addo Elephant park was 10 USD per night.

Ostrich steak cost us 2 USD a kilo (beef and chicken are good deals too!).

Banana Index: 12 bananas for 1 USD.

In the Cape Town area, we took the cable car up to Table Mountain to meet the very friendly and overweight hyraxes and equally friendly ramblers club on our exit route along the "12 Apostles". The aquarium and whale room in the National Museum were not to be missed. We also met up with Bokkie whose hobbies include collecting psychedelic mushrooms.

We visited a variety of vineyards north of CapeTown, large and small. At one vineyard they used bar codes on the oak barrels and could bottle 12,000 bottles an hour on one bottling line.

Onto the Cederberg Mountains and its bizarre rock formations (huge bookshelves, cathedral, tables, arches, Easter Island heads, etc.). We spent a couple of nights in the basic huts wandering around exotic flora including fuzzy bamboo-like plants and snow ball protea. Yes the Cederberg rocks!

At Lambert's Bay we visited the cape gannet colony; they are close relatives to the boobies and are every bit as interesting. Good beach too!

At Augrabies National Park the Orange River thunders through an incredible 18km gorge carved out of solid granite passing through the desert and its surprisingly interesting flora. The desert giraffes took a backseat to the thousands of hyraxes (like agile guinea pigs on steroids).

Further up the road, the Kalahari-Gemsbok National Park was a winner. The juxtaposition of red sand dunes, camel thorn trees and animals was a real privilege to visit even in the middle of a South African school break. On our first morning, we sat beside (15metres from our vehicle) a hunting cheetah awaiting a Springbok herd, watched a leopard have a drink (water, no ice), then watched a group of meerkats (a type of mongoose) digging away like mad fools on the side of the road. Gemsbok (Oryx with magnificent colouration and horns) that visited us at the dinner table were much less mischievous than the next nights dinner guests, the black backed jackals. Much of the dirt roads (excellent condition) follow dry river beds including the Nossab river which last flowed in 1963. We'll always remember the pink clouds (reflections of the red dunes).