OverlandSphere
Overland Travel, Expedition & Adventure Information for 4x4, motorcycle and truck overlanders
Late on the evening of the 10th of June, exactly nine months after the team set off from Perranporth, the Cornwall to Cape Town expedition arrived in Cape Town. The punters of Long St, central Cape Town, found their evenings interrupted by the arrival of a large red Land Rover, complete with three foot Kudu horns on the front, firewood…
Het betere kampeerwerk is begonnen! We hadden onze trip bijna ‘van garage naar garage’ kunnen noemen, maar sinds een week lijkt Pino eindelijk in z’n element. En wij ook! Een week geleden zijn we vertrokken bij Mike, waar we uiteindelijk drie weken gelogeerd hebben. Regelmatig kwamen er vrienden van Mike eten om ‘de Nederlandse attractie’ te zien en te spreken…
Our Hilux’s registration number is BOS2 WP and means going to the country side, bushveld or offroad. Now it has also an unofficial nickname…..MOOI DING! This means pretty thing although it sounds better in Afrikaans. Wherever we camp men walks up to our campsite to look at the truck and talking about how good it still looks and frequently we…
Aantal dagen in Zuid-Afrika: 24 Aantal dagen met auto: 24 Aantal dagen met Pino: 1 Aantal minuten lol gehad van Pino: toch zeker 30 Aantal zonnige dagen: toch zeker 19 Aantal muggen: 2 Aantal muggen gedood: 2 Aantal ijsjes voor Felice: 15 Aantal dagen zonder wijn: 3 Aantal keer overwogen hier te blijven wonen: toch zeker…
Wat als je panne krijgt op dag 1 van je roadtrip, vlakbij een dorp waar geen bal te beleven is? Ergens anders panne krijgen! Maar zo werkt het dan weer niet. En zo zijn we gedoemd om tenminste VIJF dagen te blijven in Grabouw, op nog niet eens 70 km van Kaapstad. Een arbeidersplaatsje waar vooral fruit wordt geteeld. Heuvelachtig…
We arrived late in Letaba on Friday because of the long delay at Skukuza workshop. Arno decided to drive the Hilux in 4×4 because the vibration that we heard at the front right wheel then stops. We were lucky to get the very last campsite against the fence. As normal, the hyenas came at dusk running up and down the…
Saturday, the day before we left for the Kruger National Park, we invited Willie, Annette and Cora for a farewell braai at Naas & Heleen’s house. Liena were also invited and it felt as if she is part of our family now. She flew to London on Monday so in a way it was her farewell braai as well. Eretha…
Het is zover; na maandenlange voorbereidingen was het afgelopen zondag d-day. Pino staat al een tijdje op de boot (en dobbert nu waarschijnlijk ergens rond voor de kust van Nigeria), van alle vriendjes en vriendinnetjes op de creche is afscheid genomen, Marleen heeft haar baan opgezegd en Joost zijn fondsenwervende en droombaanactiviteiten even geparkeerd. Naast de voorbereidingen van al het …
After the very hectic running and driving around period in Pretoria, we relocated again to Johannesburg. Eretha and Vin took us for a farewell (Pretoria) dinner where we had a lovely time with the two very overworked children. Thank you guys We appreciate the time you made to spent with us in your very busy schedule and between deadlines. The…
It hasn’t been All work and no play !! Patricia and I managed to take a few days off and spend them at a private game reserve in the north eastern part of South Africa, on the border of Botswana. Our days here were spent taking early morning and late afternoon game drives to view the animals in this 75…
We were supposed to go camping with the children the previous weekend. The weather changed dramatically and we all decided that it will be better to stay at home. The nice thing about that was that we had very good family time with Eretha and Vin while it was pouring outside nonstop for 24 hours. So this Friday we, Naas…
We went shopping for a Compressor. Arno made a huge study of about each and every Compressor in the whole Universe. We finally bought the ARB Compressor at Voetspore’s 4×4 Megaworld. Thank you Francois!! The happy man with his compressor The paperwork for the Ethiopian Visa is really impressive. Each time there is another letter to write! Because we do…
It was completely dark when we reached the campsite, and the guard at the entrance to this side of the park looked at us suspiciously when we arrived. After producing park permits, camping bookings, and the receipt for the cultural walk he let us in. We proceeded to the campsite where we had to “take down” the electric fence before…
Yip – it’s here! After a long break, we are back on the road. We have met up with as many friends and family as possible, here in South Africa, given the vehicle some well deserved TLC … and it is time! We have one last stop in South Africa – yes, another national park - and then it is…
We started our Visa route with the Austrian Embassy who chased us away to get everything on internet and to make an appointment. All we wanted to ask was information but so….. we made via internet an appointment for Thursday morning 9.25 which was accepted. Next was the Ethiopian Embassy where the “Keeper of the Gate” very friendly told me…
Eretha, our daughter stays in Centurion. We moved to her house on Friday to enjoy a leisurely and lazy weekend with her and her fiance Vin. Saterday morning we went to the opening of the new 4×4 Megaworld shop of Johan Badenhorst. Johan is well known for his program called “Voetspore” about travelling through and exploring Africa. We talked a…
We enjoyed our last few days with Naas & Leentjie before moving on to Pretoria to Eretha. Heleen took me to a High Tea. What a morning it was!! We had a real mom and daughter morning while her dad held himself busy with the Hilux. (It seems that there is always something to do around that Toyota. Mom and…
Our time in Johannesburg has not been idle time! With much to do, and our departure date of 27th April – at the latest – looming, we are keeping active. Most importantly, of course, is meeting up with fellow overlanders. As I have mentioned many times, it is such a welcoming community, so generous with knowledge, and frequently you get…
In an overflow of the brain, musings and reflections of the stage completed and the stage about to begin are oozing. These are my own opinions, so be warned. I have never subscribed to the belief of handouts – anywhere in the world. To my mind, and from what we have seen, it creates a culture of dependency and in…
When we started researching about routes, places, campsites, trip advise and information about other crazy explorers busy overlanding Africa exactly 2 years ago, we found 2 fantastic websites. These are Africa-overland.net and Overland-sphere.com. From the links on these websites, we started to follow many people starting from Europe going south on the West-African route,others going through east Europe and Turkey…
When we left the UK – in quite a rush of packing, storing, visiting as you may remember – we hadn’t done detailed day to day route planning. We knew which countries we wanted to visit, and we had our trusty guide book. We also chatted to people along the way, about what was worth seeing, what was worth avoiding,…
From the moment of waking up Friday morning, we helped Heleen with the finishing touches for her launch of her business “Little Honeypot” that would take place Saturday evening. We were busy, busy……very busy. Saturday evening was a beautiful evening. Not too cold. The event was held at Naas & Heleen’s house in Parkview. It was a house gig with…
We woke at 3:00 Thursday morning. The day we dreamed about, talked about, planned for about 10 years and finally equipped ourselves for the last 2 years has finally arrived!! We had a quick cup of coffee, packed the last personal items into the Hilux, closed the security gate, threw the front door keys through the security gate and closed…
We always enjoy it to visit our eldest daughter Hanli, her husband Leon and our grandson Troi Boy. They stay on the Pretorius family’s smallholding in the centre of Witsand. Leon manages the Breede River Resort & Fishing Lodge and he and Hanli are also the Franchise holders of Rawson Properties, Witsand. We were booked into a very luxurious room…
At some point it had to happen – back to Johannesburg to repack the vehicle and complete route planning. The first time Viking Explorer visited South Africa – all those years ago – we completed this 1,500km journey from Cape Town to Johannesburg in one epic day. Not so this time … we are more like the tortoise and less…
So glad we stopped! We were discussing our route from Cape Town to Johannesburg when Sheelah remembered that there is a small national park in the Karoo – the Karoo National Park. It is about 450km from Hermanus – where we were staying – and provides a perfect 1/3-of-the-way stop. It must be explained here that even though we did…
One of the things that we have missed the most when living in the UK, is that our family are far away. So, our Easter weekend spent in Onrus continued the immersion in African GirlChild’s family embrace which started in Cape Town (when we stayed with my uncle and aunt, Tim & Margie). Gavin & Cynthia (yes, more uncles and…
There was a certain amount of sadness today. The last 5 days have been an emotional roller coast ride. On Sunday, we flew down to Cape Town in anticipation of being reunited with our vehicle on Monday. My aunt and uncle, Margie & Tim, kindly came to collect us from the airport, and had arranged for us to stay with…
A Western Cape gem When we prepared for our trip we tapped into the Overland Community. There were many people who helped us with information, but particularly patient were Langebaan Sunset. So, after collecting Brodie in Cape Town we invited ourselves to visit Langebaan Sunset in – yes you guessed it – Langebaan. Confirming directions we discovered that it is…
After saying our farewells to the West Coast children on Thursday, we had a hectic business afternoon in Cape Town and a late run to Vloedbos Holiday Resort near Caledon to meet up with Lucas, Petro and Little Luke who already set up camp. We had a lazy and relaxed evening (without wind) around the campfire. The children treated us…