Back behind the wheel again, for a little while.

Sometimes you just get the feeling that it is time to pack your life back into boxes and load them up ready for the open road.
After 3 weeks back and my visa application lodged a quick trip to pastures new is needed before the heat and the rain arrives, not to mention the long busy school holidays. Where to go is always an issue with so much choice on the doorstep, our decision is east to Swaziland.
But before setting off we had a very pleasant pre trip test run to the Pilanesberg Game Reserve made up of a long weekend at the Kwa Maritane Resort with Mike Sally and James, followed by 3 nights camping at Bakgatla with early mornings and some great game viewing. With everything checked off it was time to head off on the new adventure.
Getting away from the big city is always a delight but sometimes you have to encounter the powerhouse behind all of the city hustle and bustle. On this occasion it was the landscape of coal fired power stations and the endless acrid clouds they emit. It is hard to imagine living in the towns immersed in the ever looming pollution, it feels like our lives have been culled by a few days just passing through the 60km or so of oxygen free air between Leandra and Bethal. If nothing else it makes you appreciate the sacrifices some make for the bulk of the population, let alone the damage that we are doing to the planet.
Anyway, we continued to chug on in our very own oxygen eater to our destination of Chrissiemeer and the little gem that is Miss Chrissie's Country House (S 26 18.673 E 30 13.933). They have some 'historic sandstone accommodation', and also a very nice oak tree wood to camp in. The ablutions are basic and the water is sometimes very orange, but it is quiet and all ours. This seems so far to be a quite untouched part of the country as far as crime goes which is nice. The area is dotted with some 300 or so pans and pools, and the 6km or thereabouts long lake just next to us. We sat down by it for sometime this morning bird spotting. The only problem with the woods is the roosting Hadedas that went off like a loud out of tune alarm clock at some vulgar time this morning, aint nature great!
From here we head to Barbeton and then into Swaziland and the unknown.