So Far ...

(Sarita): Left Springbok behind with the wind blowing at us at speed while we plodded along at 80km, not too bad considering we towing a citi behind us. The road was long and after each bend the next stretch of road looked exactly like the last stretch of road. No decent 'padstals' to stop at, although the friendly weaver birds at the laybys made a cute distraction along the way. They all congregate on the fence & check you out and then 1by1 they fly right by your feet to pick up any tit-bits you might throw their way - they got the burn't part of the bread from the night before... LOL! We arrived in Augrabies and took a chance sneaking in the cats... got bust by the park ranger, who was really very decent about it, & we quietly left the next day.  But we did not leave without seeing the falls itself which were not that mighty but nevertheless still amazing, so we shall return in February when the river is in full force  - hopefully without pets!  When we left Augrabies it was the first time on our journey that we were actually doing what we were supposed to be doing - hitting the road with no definite target in mind but a resolve to find us a place to rest our bones for a night or three.

As we drove the clouds threatened some rain but we escaped with only a few drops, if you can call it that.  The cats were getting restless & I was stressing that they would just squat on the floor! OMG surely a furry ball of confusion would have been flung far & wide into the desert only to stop a few kilometers later to clean the mess off our van!!!  Seriously, it took some time to finally find us a place but when we did it was dusk & there was dust! We camped out at Red Sands Lodge outside Kuruman & it is beautifully red! At sunset the hills are a magnificent colour unlike I've ever seen. But enough with that, there are wild animals here! That come right up to our van! Holy crap I feel like a city-slicker! At every camp-site we have encountered some form of 'wild' animals - firstly those beastly cats with their cute little eyes begging for food at every opportunity, then the tribe of monkeys at Augrabies that surrounded our camp site to check out our little lionesses., and now at this place the first night we were welcomed by the sound of jackals howling on the hills & the buck eating his way through the bushes by reception! A monkey stuck his head in Erin's window today & seemed a little more than interested in the kit-kats, especially Peppa.  We will upload some fotos as soon as we get stronger internet signal because at the moment it take almost 30 minutes just to download emails... such is the way, small price to pay for where we are.

So far I speak for us all that we are enjoying the challenge - this is a totally different lifestyle & everyday we are learning new things! A different way of thinking and embracing everyday tasks is taking some getting used to but we are catching on and one really starts to look at what was once considered important is perhaps not so. I admit there is a lack of privacy so you have to find ways to spend me-time so I meditate a lot more than I used to - which is a good thing! & Andrew and Erin read - getting lost in books. Besides all that we generally busy with school and this and that and the other... there always seems to be washing!