Journey to the Botswana border

Starting our adventure!

We left Somerset West only at 12h00 on Thursday. Our destination: Calvinia! The drive was beautiful - all the stress and rush from the past two months dissipated - the countryside looked green and lush after the recent rain. We arrived in Calvinia at about 17h30, and seemingly brought the rain with us! We booked into a cozy Hantam huisie, and set off to have dinner at "Die Blou Nartjie" . Apparently an old Jew wanted to marry a local farm girl. She told him she would marry him if he brought her a "blou nartjie". The cunning Jew bought the restaurant, named it "Die Blou Nartjie", and presented it to her!  

Die Blou Nartjie Restaurant

 

'Maiden Voyage'

 We thought it a good idea to go camping for one night, just to try out the 'new rig'. The weather played along beautifully and we left late  morning and drove to Clanwilliam. The Cruiser was fully loaded, complete with ammo boxes, a second spare wheel, Engel fridge (also fully loaded), tables, chairs, spare jerry cans and water containers etc. The caravan was packed as if we we off on our trip. It took us an hour and a half to set up camp (we set up all necessary and unnecessary tents, awnings etc.) The tent and caravan set-up was all new to us, and it took us a while to figure everything out. Everything fitted and worked well. This was an excellent exercise and we noted areas to be improved and missing items. It also gave us a chance to repack to better utilize available space. One more week before we leave - one loooong new list to work through!  

Finish setting up camp at last!

 

Preparation

A  life long dream is taking shape - a dream to travel through Africa - leisurely........

Steve has retired from a corporate job (which he loved) and we are now busier than ever with preparations for our African Odyssey.

After a relatively short deliberation, we decided on buying a 4x4 caravan (JugensX-CAPE) to make this long journey more comfortable. Typical 'Drinkrow Style', the new acquisition needed alterations.

The first was to add a nose cone to the front of the caravan, and a long, thin storage box (for tent poles) to the back.  Steve also added another battery and an inverter with extra power points to the caravan. The addition of the nose cone resulted in me having to alter the stone guard. (Thank goodness for my trusty industrial sewing machine!) Steve also bought 2 x 80 watt solar panels to make up a 160 watt solar generator (which also needed a protective bag!) 

Our 200 series Land Cruiser was fitted with an ARB Front bumper, 12000 pound winch and LED spot lights, as well as new BF Goodrich AT Tyres. A second battery and pneumatic assisted rear suspension had previously been fitted.  The next project is to fit a second diesel fuel filter with a water trap, roof rack, two way radio, and a drawer system to accommodate a second spare wheel, recovery equipment and spares, fridge, water tanks and empty jerry cans. 

I went through all our camping equipment and did the necessary alterations to bags etc.(Every tool, pot, chair, etc must be in a protective cover!) I still have to make a seed guard for the vehicle, and protective bags for the spot lights. The last big sewing job will be to make an outside insulated cover for the external sleeping quarters for those freezing, cold nights ( further north the latter will be discarded!)

We have 3 weeks left before we leave.........!!!!

 

Our new X-Cape