Anyone seen the bushcats?

In case anyone was wondering, perhaps concerned, or not, the bushcats are actually with us.
As some of you might be aware Kaz and Rich are not the most tech savvy people around and have not managed to organise their tech for communications yet. Watch this space!
The Woolies will however be keeping you up to speed, phone connections willing!

The Gorongosa NP Experience

It was a long drive, but we made it to the Gorongosa NP. Aiming inland from lnhassoro it was again slow going with more holes than tar on the road but after the initial 50km the road changed and we had nice smooth tarmac all the way to the Save river. We were then confronted with a large bridge and a toll to pay, thankfully the toll was not in proportion to the bridge.
The NP turning finally came into sight late on, but our hopes were dashed when the 'Campsite Closed' sign came into focus at the start of the track leading in. Having no other option with the diminishing light we ploughed on to the park entrance. After passing security at the main gate we continued on to camp hoping for the best. Reception was open and we were shown the camping which was 'open' but mostly in use by staff tents. Anyway, we managed to find a nice spot and set camp.
A new day dawned and we headed off to explore the park, making the most of our Mts500 conservation fee charged to take a vehicle into the park on a game drive. We all jumped into the James' double cab as we were certainly not going to take 2 vehicles at that price. First though we had to empty the piled up contents from their back seat into the back of our truck, boy they have a lot of stuff! The morning's drive was good, and we saw many different buck and plenty of birds. Sadly after quite a wet summer a few of the tracks were not passable so we did a fair bit of backtracking. The lions we never found and the hippo pool we never made it to in the afternoon due to the track conditions. Overall it was a good stay in the park and perhaps one day we shall return to see how they have progressed with its rehabilitation

There's a 'pot of holes' at the end of the rainbow

The further we go the further we realise we still have to go, even just in Mozambique!
We made steady progress up the coast stopping in Inhambane to change some money but couldn't stop for lunch thanks to the rain. Instead we headed to Tofo to eat and find a spot to sleep. Not finding anything suitable sometime later, to sleep, we diverted to Barra in the fading light. After an interesting drive on a very loose sandy track we made it to the site of 'choice', next to the lighthouse. The view was great, the ablutions interesting, and the dog that barked all night, tiring! Kaz shut it in the ladies at about 1am and some sleep was finally gotten.
A new day, a released, relieved, and now quiet dog, and back on the road. We couldn't stay another night with the barking and the ladies was not an option as the dog had almost eaten its way out overnight! Ironically the faded painting on the side of the toilets read 'PONTA DA BARKA'.
Our daily coffee stop turned into a lesson on opening coconuts, and amusing the crowd of children that appeared from nowhere. They seemed most amused and bemused in our ritual.
Our next stop evolved into Morrungulo, a beach resort. A delightful 2 nights was spent, and a combination of swimming, clothes washing, and relaxation was had.
Back on the tar again, well the tar that could be found amid the onslaught of potholes! Vilanculos was a diversion on route for essentials like money and fuel. The bank took ages, not too busy, but slow and they also did a check on Rich to see if he was a money laundering Columbian drug lord, very thorough!
It was a relief to make Inhassoro at the end of the day. A hotel on the beach that is slowly being rebuilt with ample camping to the side. So 2 nights here, swimming etc sigh, and then attack the potholes again!

Coasting along

It has been a long 2 days but we have made to the Mozambique coast. The border from Kruger was a breeze, but the drive thru the park on the other side was hard going in places. We made the park exit in 2 hours, 70km. We needed to buy 3rd party insurance but the man had gone home for the day, 3pm! So we camped at the site at the gate, nice, and bought some this morning.
Tonight we are on the coast at Chidenguele. A fab drive, despite Rich going the wrong way around a roundabout and then taking a wrong turn, he blames the GPS! The last bit was on a very nice super smooth sand road!
It is now time to braai!
S24 57.455 E34 11.365

The adventure begins

At last we are on our way. We had a great day yesterday, my 40th birthday (many thanks to my lovely wife and our travelling companions), and got sorted for departure.
Today we head east and for Mozambique. Where we end up tonight will depend on the condition of the roads.
Let the dreams begin!

Then there were Five

Yes they have arrived! We have 2 more nights before we head off for distant shores, not that we want to leave this camp, it is so nice.
I think tomorrow will be a busy day for the James'. We have had a week to organise ourselves, they have one day.
Anyway, the lions have been roaring close by tonight, and it is time for our dinner too!

We will be gone soon ... promise

If you haven't seen the update on 'bushcats' Richard is out of hospital, on
Thursday, and now on the mend. He has an appointment with his doctor first
thing on Monday and if given the green light they will make haste to Kruger.
We are still holding position at Tsendze, its tough but someone has to do
it, and will extend our stop here, again, until Tuesday night ready for an
early start into Mozambique on Wednesday. We are keeping busy with trying to
get the truck and the packing as we want it and doing some odd jobs here and
there that we didn't get done before we left or that we have dreamed up
since.
Yesterday we had a nice drive out in the morning, after packing up camp, and
saw a fair amount of elephant, giraffe, zebra, buffalo, various buck, and a
few birds. We hit our first gravel track with what seemed like bad
corrugations, I am sure there is a lot worse to come, and discovered the odd
rattle or two emanating from somewhere. We think that those have been
resolved but until we head out again we wont know.
Today is odd job day again, and Sue has been hand washing (she loves it
really). Coffee has been brewed, the sun is shining, and the solar panel is
giving the auxiliary battery a good kick up the rear.

Here is a picture of Sue's kitchen cupboard, I fitted it out (he says smugly), with supervision of course, and there is room around the corner inside to the left called 'the Tardis'.

Oh, and the route blog has been updated with a very rough idea of where we
are aiming for on the trip

Roughing it in Kruger

We are still under a safety car situation waiting for a green flag to get
the trip going again. Rich is still feet up in hospital and is having
surgery today to assist with the infection and swelling from the wisdom
tooth removal. We are hoping that he will be well enough for them to join us
here in Kruger over the weekend, and we can then depart together for
Mozambique next week. The clock is ticking though as my SA visa expires on
the 25th May so I need to be across the border by then come what may.
We have had 3 pleasant nights in the park. First at Pretoriuskop, then
Skukuza, and last night at Satara. We have tried to extend our stays at
those sites but they were all 100% booked up. It is concession month for
pensioners and they place is full to the brim with the older generation.
Perhaps they supplement the animals diets with them!
So today we headed to our next camp, Tsendze, a 'rustic camp'. It is very
new and near Mopani rest camp, and we were not sure what to expect. There is
no power for us to use here, so we are reliant on our solar panel to keep
the batteries charged. We were very pleasantly surprised with the site.
Rustic does in no way mean bare essentials. I am not sure how many pitches
there are, possibly 30 or so, but there are two very nice ablution blocks
and 2 equally nice kitchen blocks. No shop, restaurant, or day visitors,
bliss. The pitches here cost a wee bit more than the other larger camps, but
I guess you are paying a bit more for exclusivity. Everyone has their own
separated pitch with braai, bin, and water tap, as opposed to the free for
all at the other camps. We have extended here until Sunday night to
hopefully give the James' time to catch up with us. Best of all it is nice
and quiet!!

Current position: S23.55613 E31.44260

The 1st night

It has been a long day. We had a fantastic send off at Kaz & Rich's place. All their friends turned out to see us all off, but sadly we were the only ones going as Rich is still not well. He is in hospital now and hoping for a speedy recovery from his infection.
We are now in our 1st camp in Kruger and all setup for the night. Dinner has been eaten and a couple of gin and tonics drunk.
We will try and stop here one more night to get ourselves sorted out rather than move onto the next camp booked tomorrow.
Life is good!

Ready ... Steady ... GO !!!

Yes we are finally leaving today. I am sure it will be a great relief to all
those family and friends in SA that we have been pestering for the last 5
months!
We are heading over to Kaz and Rich for 10h00 sharp for departure and then
head for Kruger where we have 5 nights booked before we cross into
Mozambique. Our last luxury.
Sadly, we are going on our own. Rich has had teething problems, quite
literally. He has an infection in the mouth after dentist work this week on
a wisdom tooth. So until that is under control, hopefully in the next day or
so, they will stay put and then catch us up during the week somewhere. We
wish him a speedy recovery, he is our cook!!!
So, many things to do this morning, final packing etc. must dash.

Time gentleman please!

Well almost. It has been a busy few days. Hopefully the water ingress has now been sorted, but until it rains again we wont know. So 99!% of the to do list has been done, but the truck is back to toyota tomorrow to have another go at the clunking problem.
Anyway, thanks very much to those special people for my early 40th tonight, I may not be a man of many words but THANKS!
Only 2 more sleeps until we head off, gulp!

The final countdown .... probably

Well, we leave a week tomorrow into the unknown, or the relative luxury of
Kruger, depends how you look at it. I just hope the weather improves, wet
and cold here in sunny South Africa today. Not very convenient as I was
planning a day of DIY on the truck. Thankfully though I managed to get the
majority of the jobs ticked off before the wet stuff started to fall after
lunch. The kitchen cupboard is now fully installed with all the essential
bits and bobs fixed in, a photo will follow as and when the sun decides to
visit us again. Solar power is also fully installed and is probably working,
hard to tell when there is no sun in the sky!!
Our knock is still knocking, Toyota were unable to find the problem, which
is not surprising as the weather last week was hot and sunny and the knock
only knocks when it is cold, like it is now. So we will have to revisit that
one this coming week and try and get a resolution on it, might even try and
fix it myself. Oh, and thanks to our first rain since we have had the canopy
fitted we have found out that it leaks!! We are already booked back in to
Alu-Cab, the ones who made it, on Monday to have a couple of other problems
fixed, so they will have to sort out the water ingress too!! Apart from that
all is going swimmingly, no pun intended.
Kaz, Rich, and Rebecca now have their truck back from Alu-Cab after a long
wait. I don't think everything is done to satisfaction, but they have gone
down to their place in Clarens to 'shake it down' for a few days. Not sure
if they will be sleeping in the roof top tent or their comfy beds indoors
though. Perhaps they don't wont to get it dirty before we head off.