Aveiro to Lisbon

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Peter

Not a lot to blog about today as we left Aveiro this morning and drove the 220kms down to Lisbon. Motorway most of the way with a stop for lunch at one of the many motorway services. The weather was overcast for most of the day and there were patches of thick mist as we drove south down to Lisbon. I am sure I have said this previously, but the road network in Portugal is ridiculously good. The motorway was 2 or 3 lanes most of the way and very little traffic. And more incredibly (at least for South Africans) the drivers are very disciplined and pass left and immediately pull back into the right lane. It is a pleasure to drive here (and pretty easy too).

We arrived in Lisbon at about 2:30pm. We are staying at the HF Fenix Garden Hotel (http://www.hfhotels.com/gb/?s=3&ss=21). Our room looks very similar to what you see on their website (which is unusual) and yes it is in pink (if you look at the website). Helen said she thinks it is the first time she has stayed in a pink hotel room. The room overlooks Ave Liberdade and the main traffic circle at the top of the road. Parque Eduardo VII is what you can see directly from our room (see pic). It is noisy (traffic) when the window is open but with the window closed you can hear no traffic noise at all but the room is terribly hot. The aircon only works on fan or heating and we definitely don’t need heating.

It is considerably warmer in Lisbon (around 18 degrees) and it feels hotter. We walked down and back up Ave Liverdade tonight to find a place for dinner and by the time we found a restaurant we had all stripped down to just our shirt sleeves. The city clearly traps in the heat.

Not much to share today but that is sometimes how it goes when traveling.

Until tomorrow

P, H, S, L, M, O & C

Porto to Aveiro

Posted on January 4, 2017January 4, 2017 by Peter

We definitely seemed to have timed our movements perfectly with the weather this week. It was raining overnight and again this morning but even let up slightly when we had to load up the car as we left the hotel. We left at just after 10:30am and drove up the river toward the sea so that we could at least see what the beach area of Porto looked like (though it definitely wasn’t beach weather). At one point I wondered why all the cars were parked facing us and then realised we were heading up a one-way road (pretty wide road so not really any danger .. sorry Clegg & Moyles’ parents). I did a quick u-turn and blamed the two other people in the front seat (Oli & Michael) for not spotting the no-entry signs. What’s the point of the passenger seat if not pointing out road signs?!

The ladies wanted to spend the morning at the shopping mall and so we headed back to the mall we had located on the day we arrived in Porto but on route we passed another mall and decided to give it a try instead. It had all the requisite shops needed so it turned out to fulfill the needs of the ladies. The men toured the tech stores while we waited for the ladies to finish and then we met up in the food court (the most extensive one I have ever seen – even bigger than the American food courts) for lunch. We stuck with the tried and tested and ended up having Wok to Walk again with only Stephen having a burger from Burger King.

We then headed south to Aveiro which is our overnight stop back on route to Lisbon. It was less than an hours drive from Porto. It is billed as the ‘Venice of Portugal’. As we discovered this evening when walking around the town that is a bit of an oversell. It basically has two canals which run at right angles to each other and the ‘gondola looking’ boats are actually motor powered. It is pretty but after walking around for about 45 minutes we had covered the whole town and so we headed back to the hotel again. It is the best hotel we have stayed at so far on the trip. We are staying at Hotel Aveiro Palace (http://www.hotelaveiropalace.com/hotel-overview.html). It is actually also the cheapest hotel we have stayed at so far. The rooms are the biggest we have had and the quality of everything is very nice.

The highlight of today was definitely the dinner. Oli researched the restaurants and suggested this place as it had a vegetarian option for Lara. It was called ‘O Barrio’ (meaning from the neighborhood). When we got there we were the only people in the place but by the time we left it was basically full (some reserved tables still unoccupied but they were turning people away). The waiter was excellent. He made a real effort to talk to us and explain things and he made an effort to ensure that Lara got a dish she would eat too. He explained the wine choices and encouraged me to pick a less expensive wine from the area (rather than the one which was more expensive that I had planned to pick – the one we got was only €13 a bottle). They gave a free glass of Portuguese sparking wine (with their compliments) and also crisps with a paprika dip (which Helen and Stephen both loved as evidenced by ho much they are of it). The menu was only in Portuguese but they translated the whole menu for us.

The main courses were also excellent. Lara had a vegetarian risotto; Michael & Stephen had Barrio steak (done their special way with a poached egg and mushroom sauce); Chloe & Helen had duck risotto and Oli and I had the local fish of the day with a vegetable parcel (the restaurant is right near the fish market in the town so I have no doubt it was purchased fresh there – pic of my plate). The chef is only 22 years old but he is right up there with top chefs in my view. The food was of a very high standard and definitely the best we have had in Portugal (probably from any visit). It ws definitely the best meal Lara has had so far and she went on to say it was probably one of the best Vegan meals she has had ever from a restaurant. Add to that the service we received from the waiter (he was exceptionally good and I am not exaggerating at all), the whole experience was the highlight of the day.

Until tomorrow

P, O (because of finding the restaurant), S, L (because the two of them have mocked me the least and Lara not at all actually), M, H, C (because she ‘kindly’ pointed out all the no-entry signs the rest of the day)

{I apologize if you receive this twice as the first edition seems to have lost a whole portion so I re-sent it)

Porto

Posted on January 3, 2017 by Peter

We had expected it (thanks to our weather apps) but this morning we woke to it having rained lightly overnight and being totally overcast. The good thing was it stayed overcast but fortunately never rained (while we were out) so we could spend the day walking around Porto without getting wet. I definitely haven’t walked so much in a long time and my feet are really very sore this evening. The biggest issue is that to get anywhere you seem to end up walking up hill all the time. This morning was no exception as we headed out to Lello bookshop (the oldest bookshop in Portugal and the most beautiful one I have visited). Michael’s route to the store took us up the steepest incline that could possibly be found. We were all out of breath when we got to the top (even the runners).

It was also the first time in my life I had to buy a ticket to a bookstore (€5.50) but I can fully understand why they do it as the place was packed. It was a beautiful bookstore and the photo’s don’t really do it justice. With your ticket purchase you do get a €5 voucher off any book purchased which basically means you only pay 50c if you actually do buy a book (which 4 people out of the 7 of us did). By this point we were ready for a coffee break. Only in Portugal would you be able to get a beer at Costa Coffee though. We were right next to Clerigos Tower and some people were thinking about climbing it but as it is attached to a Church (Catholic of course) there was a fee involved and so we ruled that one out (one thing paying to get into a bookshop, another whole thing paying to walk up a tower).

We walked across the top of the Ponte de Dom Luis I bridge. The top-level is for pedestrians and the metro only. No fence between where the people walk and the tracks. It would never to be allowed in the UK as it must violate every health and safety law. I wonder how many people are killed every year by the metro on that bridge?! The views are really good from the top of the bridge across both Porto and Gaia (the other side of the river where the Port Lodges are found). We took the Gondola’s from the top of the bridge down into Gaia. Lara was a touched freaked out (she is scared of heights) but managed to still enjoy the view and the good news (Bryan and Sharon will be pleased to hear), she is still alive when I last saw her a few minutes ago.

We then walked up the hill to Graham’s which is arguably the best port wine producer in the world. We did a port tasting and then afterwards a bought a bottle of crusted port (it was exceptionally good) which I am hoping Helen will take back to SA in her luggage. We walked back down the hill and had lunch at a riverside restaurant and then headed back across the bridge (lower level this time), over the river and back to the hotel. On the river bank you still find the old port boats (called rabelo boats) that are used to transport the port barrels from the estates (up the river) to the port lodges (cellars). These days they are no longer used but still line the river in front of the port lodges (they are used once a year only).

By the time we got back to the hotel it was 3pm and we relaxed for the balance of the afternoon. We had dinner at a nearby restaurant (Tapas place though only Stephen and I had tapas in the end). I am sure everyone will sleep well again tonight after all the walking.

Until tomorrow

P, S (because he had tapas with me), L (because she definitely doesn’t mock me as much as the rest of the them or for that matter she doesn’t mock me at all), M, O, C, H (close call but the last two as they both enjoyed mocking me today but Helen wins out today)

Coimbra to Porto

Posted on January 1, 2017 by Peter

Stephen, Lara and Chloe managed to stay up and go and see the fireworks last night over the river. While I was awake, I had run out of the ability to take another step (my feet feel like they are bruised underneath). I could hear the music and the noise of the fireworks but had to content myself with Stephen & Chloe’s pictures and video this morning,

After a late breakfast (we only went at 9am), we packed up and headed out further north to Porto. We had plenty of time as we only had to travel just over 100 kms. We took the ‘scenic’ route which turned out to not be that scenic. After going through the 50th roundabout, we were ready to get back onto the motorway and get to Porto. We arrived just after midday and as we couldn’t check into our hotel yet (check in time was 3pm), we went to the mall with the distinct purpose of getting lunch there. Everything was closed in the mall except the food court. Everyone’s tastes could be covered in that Stephen, Chloe and Michael had MacDonald’s and the rest of us went to ‘Wok to Walk’ (which was pretty good Asian noodles with whatever ingredients you wanted). Probably the best meal Lara has had so far.

By the time we were finished lunch we thought it was close enough to check-in time and so headed back to the hotel. We are staying at Hotel Carris Porto Ribeira (http://www.carrishoteles.com/en/hotels/hotel-carris-porto-ribeira-porto/). It has a great location but as many hotels in Europe there is no obvious place to stop outside and offload the luggage. It has become pretty much standard routine for Michael to go in and find out where we stop and he again did that and he was told that we should stop and offload in the taxi rank. The problem was that by this stage we were already past it and to do a U-turn is near impossible (see pictures of the narrow roads and bear in mind I am driving a Mercedes Vito around these roads!). We eventually managed to get back to Michael after 10-15 minutes and offloaded the car and then Michael and I took the car to the car park they had directed us to (again another challenge of driving skills).

The hotel rooms are pretty small and Helen and I are going to have close fellowship tonight in the double (definitely a double and not an inch bigger than that) bed. We rested this afternoon and went out at about 6pm for a walk around the area and to find a place for dinner. The number one attraction in Porto is the Ponte de Dom Luis I bridge. Yes a bridge is the top attraction. It goes over the Douro River and carries cars at the bottom of the bridge and the metro at the top. It is the bridge in the background of the picture. Construction of the bridge started in 1881 and the architect was the partner of Gustave Eiffel (who designed another bridge in Porto and some other things in Paris I believe). Across the river are the Port Lodges (which we hope to explore tomorrow). The second top attraction is the Cais da Ribeira which is the boardwalk along the river right where we are staying. We walked along there tonight and there were many restaurants open and buskers out playing their music.

We then walked up the hill (no such thing as a flat walk in any Portuguese city it seems) and eventually found our way to the train station which is also one of the top things to see in Porto. It is beautiful inside (and outside) but unfortunately it was littered with rubbish on the floor which really spoilt the beautiful architecture. The panels inside the station depict the History of Portugal. By this stage we were ready for dinner and as we had walked past a really nice looking restaurant we headed back there. I had been told that goat was the local specialty and so Stephen and I decided to give it a try. We were not disappointed. I thought it was going to be tough but it was very tender and tasty. Definitely worth repeating.

Even though we didn’t walk as far today, I still feel pretty tired from both the driving and the walking this evening and so I can foresee another early night.

Until tomorrow

P, H, M (for his assistance with the parking, driving and hotel management), H, S, L, O and C (because despite my hope that posting the blog last night would bring less criticism this am she sat at breakfast opposite me and read the blog and picked up on the odd mistake!)

Coimbra

Posted on January 1, 2017 by Peter

We all had a great nights sleep and were up for breakfast at 8:30am. Of course the boys overslept and only woke up at 8:30am when we messaged them to say we were going for breakfast. They did get up in 5 minutes at least. The breakfast was a buffet with a really good array of breads, cold meat, cheese, scrambled egg, fresh fruit etc. I thought it was pretty good for the fact that it is included in the room rate.

We headed out to see the University of Coimbra which was founded in 1290 (one of the oldest universities in the world). The only issue is that you have to walk up (and I really mean UP) to get to the university buildings as they are on the top of the hill (see yesterday’s photo). As it was only 5 degrees C outside, everyone was panting when we finally got to the top due to the cold air. It was also quite a steep climb so even the summer we might have been panting.

We went into the New Cathedral of Coimbra. “New” is really not an appropriate description as it was built-in the 17th century. But it did displace the Old Cathedral as the seat of the Bishop of Coimbra and so it is now the officially recognized Cathedral of Coimbra. What struck me was the number of ways they try to get money out of you in the Cathedral. Not only did you have to pay €1 per person to enter it but there were at least 25 other forms of money collections in the Cathedral itself. From electronic candles (pay €1 and the candle lights up to pray for some dead person – the Cathedral has numerous stations remembering Our Lady of Good Death) through to electronic guides (pay €1 to be informed about some statue or altar) to a plain box on the wall to give whatever money you feel you need to give out of guilt or to get your loved one out of purgatory or whatever. It was so obvious to us that it makes you wonder why people attending can’t see it. It also frustrates me to think how much money would have been spent on the Cathedral in the 17th century (it is pretty impressive inside) and that money would have definitely come from the people in the town who would most likely not have been very wealthy.

Michael was just itching to get himself into a confessional booth and eventually when everyone else in the Cathedral had vanished he did slip in (though unfortunately the photographic evidence didn’t come out well). I did get a shot of Lara and Olivia bowing at the altar though (don’t worry Simon & Bryan … I’ll sort out their theology by the time we get back). The best comment of the day did come from Stephen. When we were all together at the back of the Cathedral just before we were about to exit he said “Thank goodness for Martin Luther”. Quite appropriate given 2017 is the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his thesis to the door at Wittenberg.

We also walked around the university buildings which have quite fantastic views over the city and river. We had hoped to visit the botanical gardens but when we arrived we found a sign on the gate saying they were closed 31/12 and 1/1 so unfortunately our trips timing was going to prevent us from seeing those (they are the biggest gardens in Portugal). We walked back towards the hotel and found a street cafe to have some lunch. I am staggered at how reasonably priced everything is. Our beers at lunch cost us €1.50 each which really is incredibly reasonable and the total lunch only cost us €35.

This afternoon the ladies went shopping at the mall while the 3 men got in some sleep and recovered from the 7-8km of walking this morning. It is now 10pm and Helen is already fast asleep in the bed next to me. She is definitely not seeing in 2017 tonight. I am not surprised as she has walked about 40% further than me today and I’m tired too.

We had hoped to go to a restaurant for dinner tonight that was a recommendation on TripAdvisor. I had messaged them to ask for a reservation but got no reply. We walked up to restaurant anyway but unfortunately discovered they were totally closed. We tried a few other places also with no success and so we finally headed to the side of the river where we had seen an Italian restaurant yesterday and we were fortunately able to get a table (outside though they did have a heater). Nothing fancy as they had a limited New Years’ Eve menu but enough for all of us to find something we wanted to eat (I think Lara was the happiest because she managed to get a vegan pizza made for her). The food was fine but the dinner was quite enjoyable because of the company.

There are meant to be fireworks over the river tonight (and there is a band set up as well) but Helen is clearly not going to make it and I might not either given the lethargy I am currently feeling. I’m definitely posting the blog now regardless of whether I make it through to midnight or not because I am likely to get less criticism tomorrow morning at breakfast because they won’t be reading the blog while we eat breakfast. The 6 people traveling with me are the most brutal critics of my daily blogs (or at least 5 out of the 6 are). They tell me what I said incorrectly, what I missed, what I shouldn’t have commented on etc etc etc. Lara remains the only exception to that general statement and for that alone she deserves to move up on the blog sign-off tonight.

Until 2017 …

P, S (for his comment on Luther), L (for her lack of commentary/criticism), H, C, M & O (and O earned her last spot today!)

On our way to Portugal

Posted on December 31, 2016 by Peter

Yesterday (now day before yesterday when you read this!) we left home at just before 2pm for the airport and we arrived today at 3pm (Portuguese time which is 5pm SA time) at our first overnight stop in Portugal. 27 hours of traveling! No easy way to get to Portugal from South Africa unfortunately.

We flew from Cape Town to Johannesburg to Frankfurt to Lisbon. While we were all on the first and third flights together, we were on different airlines on the JHB-Frankfurt route. Chloe, Helen and I were on Lufthansa and the other four (Stephen & Michael and girlfriends) were on SAA. My preference would have been to rather fly on SAA as Lufthansa is my least favourite airline in the world. I always get the feeling when traveling on Lufthansa that since I don’t speak German as my first language that I am a second class person. They speak to you constantly in German despite you clearly only replying in English (I know enough German to be able to respond to their questions). It happened again last night in that in the middle of the meal service she offered Chloe and I something and only spoke in German despite all our interactions up until then being in English.

The good thing about the traveling was that everything went smoothly for all of us. At least it went smoothly until we arrived in Lisbon where there is a ground handlers strike at the airport. When we disembarked there was no way to actually get into the terminal as no one had opened the exits into the terminal. When we did finally manage to get out into the terminal, our bags were delayed for about an hour. The baggage belt would come on, a few bags would be delivered and then it would switch off again. Just tempting you into thinking something was going to happen. The boys went out of the baggage area to get SIM cards for everyone and they found the collection point for the car rental company so that once we had the bags we could spend the least time possible at the airport before getting on the road.

Picking up the car was relatively painless except that the rental car company had not filled up the car at all (we have a Mercedes Vito) and so we had to find a garage to do that before heading out of Lisbon. What also makes life a lot easier is using a cellphone app to navigate with (I use Waze – best app for navigating anywhere in the world). Helen remarked that it was a the first time I hadn’t taken my GPS with me on holiday.

We were heading north to Coimbra for the next 2 nights. Coimbra used to be capital of Portugal and today has a population of just over 100 000. The drive took us about 2 hours including a quick stop at one of the motorway service areas for the usual. We arrived at the hotel (we are staying at Hotel Oslo – http://www.hoteloslo-coimbra.pt). The pictures (as usual) look better than the hotel really does but it is perfectly adequate for our purposes. What always strikes me about Portugal is that you get the beautiful alongside the run down. That is the case in Coimbra too. It is really a beautiful city alongside a river but there are then abandoned buildings and a significant amount of graffiti.

Once we had settled into our rooms and had a short break, we decided to go for a walk to explore a little of Coimbra and then find a place for dinner. We walked over the river and found one of the historical places – a monastery which was abandoned due to the river flooding it (it was built below the river – not very clever). They have now obviously controlled the flow of the river and started excavating the monastery. It looks pretty interesting and worth a walk around it but we couldn’t see how to get into it and so decided to skip it especially since the sunset was at 5:15pm. We then crossed back over the river and walked on the other bank and by this stage the sun had set.

There seems to be a competition between everyone to see who can get the best photos and so there are numerous stops for selfies, attempted artistic shots using iPhones etc. The only person with a ‘proper’ camera with her is Lara. I am sure you will see numerous photos on Instagram or Facebook if you follow any of family or girlfriends on those platforms.

We discovered that no restaurant opens before 7pm and as it was only just after 6pm (we were all starving already) we decided that we should go kill a little time at the hotel and then find a place for dinner. We had spotted a place on our way back to the hotel and so at 7pm we headed back there. It was called Solar do Baculhau (rated 15th best restaurant in Coimbra on Trip Advisor). The waiter only had a smattering of English but enough for us to get by. He was very impressed with my choice of wine (a Pinot Noir from Portugal). Not sure if that was because it was definitely above the average price of wine on the winelist (most of the wines were around €15 which is pretty cheap) or whether I had genuinely picked a good bottle. Either way it was a pretty nice wine so I’m going to claim the latter.

The food was also pretty reasonably priced with most dishes around €12-14. Helen was probably the most adventurous having the cod fishcakes (made using dried fish) which came with a side portion of rice & beans (mixed together). 4 of us had a type of Risotto (though it had a lot more liquid than a traditional risotto) – 2 of us had risotto with prawns and 2 with calamari (the calamari being all parts of the octopus cut up). The waiter also came back to try and explain the difference between the Pinot Noir I picked and 2 others from Portugal. He got as far as explaining the regional differences and then couldn’t do more without getting a younger waiter to come and do the translation.

By this stage I was ready for bed and while I tried to get the blog out last night I realised at just after 9pm that I was in a losing battle with sleep and packed it in and completed it this am. I certainly had an excellent night sleep and I woke at just after 6am and Helen at 7am. Who knows about the rest of them but we going for breakfast at 8:30am (sunrise is only at 8am).

Until tomorrow

P, H, C (because she sat next to me on 3 flights), S, L, M & O

And we’re home!

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Peter

We had 700 kms to do today. The first thing that was evident is how much better the roads are in South Africa to either Botswana or Namibia. The quality of the roads and the general maintenance are in a different league. In order to maintain that though it means people working on the roads all the time and so today was slightly frustrating because of the amount of road works on the way back including numerous stop and go’s.

We left at 8am and arrived home at 4pm with only two main stops to refuel and to buy biltong (at our favorite store in Trawal). The other 2 ‘minor’ stops were made because Michael’s toilet needs didn’t coincide with the other two stops (or he was drinking more than the rest of us). It was a pretty uneventful 700 kms. We are glad to be home (including a nice home cooked meal tonight) but also sad to be home (as we have to be back to reality and work tomorrow). It is incredible how disconnected we have been over the last 2.5 weeks. News updates have been seldom and even getting sports scores have been sporadic. It was like living in another world entirely.

We also really enjoyed the company of the other families. You would have thought that after 2.5 weeks everyone would be tired of each other but it really wasn’t like that at all (or at least we think so!). We will miss the dinner table conversations of the group of 14. One of the families stayed an extra night at Oewerbos and texted this morning to say they were having withdrawal symptoms. It was strange only having 3 cars driving together and not the 4.

As I usually do, here are my random thoughts to summarize the trip:

With hindsight things we would do differently next time

Spend more time in Moremi and ideally sleep overnight there for at least 2-3 nights
Skip Maun altogether (lowlight for many people)
Spend at least another night at Elephant Sands (that’s the pic) and go into the Makagagadi Pans
Drive straight from the Caprivi to Etosha and spend a few nights there and then back to SA
Take all our meat for the whole trip from SA with us (with a decent freezer)
Take replacement valves for the tyres (quickest way to let down the tyre is to take out the valve but if you lose it then you’re really in trouble)
Take a full set of cutlery and crockery and proper glasses and mugs

Thoughts on Botswana:

Lovely friendly people, no hint of crime, no hint of corruption. A pleasure to travel through the country.
Poor roads generally with potholes appearing out of nowhere sometimes. Drive carefully and definitely don’t drive at night. The further north you go the worse the roads.
Very poorly stocked shops even in the main towns (including Maun). Don’t expect to find much fresh produce (and as I said rather take your meat with you from SA). I wonder how the locals survive.
Animals everywhere you look. In the ‘town’ areas goats, cattle and donkeys all over the place and regularly on the roads or crossing the roads. Drive carefully. In the outlying areas, warthog, kudu, elephant, steenbok etc on the road side. Drive carefully. I was staggered by seeing elephant on the side of the national road while driving 120 km/h (and not in a national park).
It seems to be poor country and yet it is the wealthiest country in Africa (per capita). I suspect the money is in a few people’s hands only or in the main towns like Gaborone or Francistown (which we didn’t visit).
Beautiful country and amazing to see game and the bird life was incredible.
They worry a lot about ‘foot and mouth’ disease and I wonder whether it really is a big problem and whether their checkpoints make any real difference.

Thoughts on Zimbabwe:

Vic Falls is beautiful but you get a sense that it is an outlier of a town in Zimbabwe (given most of its revenue must come from tourism).
You also get a sense that corruption is the way of life. My sense is police checkpoints would be hard to get through without a local guide.

Thoughts on Namibia:

Infrastructure is much better than Botswana (even in the Caprivi) and just seems better run and better organized (much closer to SA).
Besides the shops in the Caprivi (which were absolutely horrendous, I really do wonder how the locals survive there), the shops are much better stocked and run and much closer to what we have in SA (even in the remote areas).
As we have noted before, there is a strong German influence and that almost seems to be getting stronger and not weaker.

The highlights of the trip remain the Chobe River cruise (pic on left) and lunch at the Vic Falls Hotel. Final bird tally of 159 (though we have a few photos we are hoping a friend can identify for us which might add in a few more!) including 17 lifers (now up to 413).

Until next time … P, H, S, M & C

Windhoek to Oewerbos

Posted on July 12, 2016 by Peter

Today’s drive went without incident (thankfully). It was the longest drive of the trip being just over 800 km and including the last border crossing from Namibia to back into SA. Thankfully PG Glass had my car ready with a brand new windscreen installed and we collected it immediately they opened at 7:30am Namibian time (which was 8:30am SA time). We packed up and left Windhoek at 8:15am. We stopped to refuel twice (once at Mariental and then at Keetmanshoop) and also stopped for lunch at Keetmanshoop. Otherwise we drove straight through (and straight is a key word as the road is very straight and the landscape is desolate).

We arrived at the border at about 5pm (SA time) and as this was the 6th border crossing of the trip we now have it down to a fine art. Paperwork for Namibia pre-filled in so no waiting to do that and then back in the car to the SA side. It all went very smoothly.

Tonight we are staying at Oewerbos which is just over the SA border on the side of the Orange River. Immediately after crossing the border we turned right and then followed the river for about 12 kms before we arrive at Oewerbos Camp. It is a beautiful setting on the river looking across to Namibia.

They have a bar and pizza oven at the river side and we met for a drink, our last group photo and pizza for dinner. The talk over dinner was about the highlights and lowlights of the trip, the things we would do again and the things we would do differently. It was pretty unanimous that the Chobe River cruise was a universal highlight. The periods of sickness for various people were the universal lowlight (for their period of sickness). Once again it was an enjoyable night with good company and conversation. It is our last night together as tomorrow we will be home.

Until tomorrow (when I will send out some thoughts on Botswana and Namibia) …

P, H, S, M & C

PS: That’s a picture of the view of from Guma Lagoon Lodge

Ghanzi to Windhoek

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Peter

We left Ghanzi this morning at 7am. We had 500 kms to do to get to Windhoek and a border crossing so we figured it would take us at least 5-6 hours. There was not really anything in Ghanzi to keep us there so we left early. The accommodation in Ghanzi was minimalist and the cold was not staying out of it. When we left at 7am the temperature outside was -2 C. The road from Ghanzi to Windhoek has a lot of warnings about ‘Beware of’ followed by kudu, warthog, horses, cattle. There clearly is a reason for it because after about 45 minutes of driving the lead car dodged a few guinea fowl but unfortunately one flew up and hit our windscreen. We were driving at 120 km/h and the impact shattered the windscreen entirely.

The impact was massive – Helen and I both could feel the windscreen shatter from the force. The two cars behind us said the impact was impressive in that the guinea fowl flew up about 50 meters in the air (like a soccer ball) and there were feathers everywhere. The window was very badly damaged and so we pulled over and applied ducktape to the top and one of our group had a sticker for cracks which we applied to the middle to try to hold it all together. Fortunately I had a small square uncracked in my line of vision still. Helen was a little shaken and so she had some tea while we stopped.

One of our group (Bryan) has an office in Windhoek and he got the numbers of the places who could possibly replace the windscreen and my PA kindly called them (thank you again Cecilia!) and found out that PG Glass had the windscreen and could replace it for us this afternoon. It is a 2-3 hour job and then it has to set overnight. Fortunately we were heading to Windhoek and overnighting here. They said to get the car to them as soon as possible. We managed to get to Windhoek around 12:30pm (there is an hour time change as Namibia is one hour behind Botswana and SA) and so we got the car to them around 1pm. We will collect it tomorrow at 7:30am when they open as we have a long drive tomorrow (800 kms). We are very pleased that we are OK and that we were heading for Windhoek where the windscreen could be relatively easily replaced.

What I have failed to mention though is that about 2-3 minutes after we hit the guinea fowl, a male kudu decided to cross the road between us and the next car and they almost hit the kudu (which would have been a far worse result). An hour later we saw another car who had hit a cow (cow dead on the side of the road). We also managed to kill another sparrow and we found it stuck in our front grill (when we took the car to PG Glass we discovered it).

We are staying tonight at Arrebbusch Lodge just on the outskirts of Windhoek. It is right next to the airport situated inside Windhoek (Eros Airport). We have the best wifi and cellphone signal we have had in over 2 weeks and so everyone seems to be catching up with world news, emails etc. It is incredible how much has happened in the two weeks (including Portugal winning Euro 2016, an about to be new UK Prime Minister etc etc). We had pretty much forgotten there was anything but open expanses and wild animals.

Tonight we went to Joe’s Beer House for dinner. Bryan had booked when we were in Botswana already but when we got there they didn’t have our booking. After a bit or arguing they said they would make a plan and about 40 minutes later we actually got a table. Joe’s is a Windhoek institution and even on a Monday night the place was packed. The food was pretty good so long as you like meat! Michael and I had Gemsbok fillet which was very tender and tasty. Helen had Eisbein and it was massive. Even when she was full it looked as if she hadn’t made a dent in it. Chloe had Gemsbok lasagna and Stephen had a trio of Kudu, Gemsbok and Springbok. It was an enjoyable evening even though we had to wait for the table.

Until tomorrow …. P, H, S, M & C

Guma Lagoon to Ghanzi

Posted on July 9, 2016July 10, 2016 by Peter

No blog post yesterday because we didn’t do much (at least the Temples didn’t) and the WiFi was very ‘sketchy’. The other 3 families went on Mokoro’s but we all opted out. Firstly, we have done it before and while enjoyable it wasn’t something needing to be repeated and secondly, it was pretty windy and cold. I haven’t mentioned much about the weather in the blog posts mainly because there has been nothing remarkable about it. It is usually quite chilly in the mornings (between 2-7 degrees) and then it heats up during the day eventually getting to around 24-28 degrees. But at Guma Lagoon it felt much colder. The wind was blowing off the lagoon and straight into our accommodation or the main lodge area which made it feel pretty cold (especially in the morning).

We spent the day at the pool area which was more sheltered and we just read, played Frisbee, watching TV shows and just relaxed. It was just what I felt like and I was glad we did it. At about 3pm the group got back from the mokoro trip and unfortunately young Ben had felt unwell toward the end of the trip and he was pretty unwell the rest of the afternoon and evening. Unfortunately, Lara (Stephen’s girlfriend) who also stayed behind to work also developed a similar thing and so she spent the afternoon and evening in her accommodation as well. The end result was that Chloe ended up sleeping in Stephen’s bed last night and Stephen (very generously) slept on the floor. Fortunately both Ben and Lara and slightly better today (though neither is fully recovered).

This morning we left Guma Lagoon and are now starting our long trek back home. We need to do over 2000 km in the next 4 days. Today we went from Guma Lagoon to Ghanzi (about 400 kms). It takes about an hour to get back to Etsha (nearest main road) and we had to follow the process to get out as we did to come in. We then had to re-pump up our tyres and back onto the ‘main’ road. The road was appalling for about 100 kms. Very bumpy and numerous potholes. Not really pleasant driving.

To add to the frustration, when going through one small town two of the four cars in our convoy were pulled off for speeding. Bryan & I were in the front and we were not pulled off. You can figure out who was … we’ll call them the lawbreakers in future. What was quite annoying is that the back car was waved through originally and then he stopped to wait for the 3rd vehicle and ended up getting a fine as well. As you can imagine how annoying that was. Spot fines of Pula420 and Pula320. About 25 minutes of paperwork and then we were on the road again.

There was nothing on route for lunch to be purchased and supplies are running low and so it was pretty much biscuits and Marmite for lunch for everyone. We got to Ghanzi at about 3:30pm and filled up our cars (fortunately multiple fuel stations as the first one was out of diesel) and we purchased some snacks and some lunch for tomorrow.

We are staying at Thakadu Lodge which is about 2-3 kms out of Ghanzi and about 3 kms off the main road. The lodge to get to the lodge was very bumpy and now that we are here we will do dinner here (they do have a restaurant). The accommodation is pretty basic but it has a bed and en-suite bathrooms and there is Wifi in the lodge area.

Until tomorrow …

S (because of his sacrifice of his bed last night), P, H, M & C

Temple Travels

Author: Peter

Aveiro to Lisbon

Porto to Aveiro

Porto

Coimbra to Porto

Coimbra

On our way to Portugal

And we’re home!

Windhoek to Oewerbos

Ghanzi to Windhoek

Guma Lagoon to Ghanzi