After about ten hours in the bed and only around five hours sleep we set off to pick up our car and the proper power adaptor for South Africa. Both quests were succesful. Along with our Toyota two door (no air) standard white compact car came a free cell phone.... well free isn't really as advertised. When you add the insurance and 1500Rand deposit which you (hope to) get back when you return the phone. Budget puts 5200 Rand on your Visa with the same guarantee.
Just like our Japanese experience earlier this year, we are agian driving on the left. This time we have a crummy map and no GPS (probably would have spoken Afrikaans anyway!).
The very helpful directions to get out of town did not include warnings about the dreadful driving habits of the locals. High speeds (120km / hr on an undevided highway) where you are expected to pull over on the bike / emergency lane to let people pass. There were times when 4 vehicles were abreast on a 2 lane road doing speeds over 100km/hr. Gulp!! This is even more dangerous when the vehicle you are following (in the bike lane) decides to stop. Murphy's Law says this will happpen as you are both being passsed! Absolutely no margin of error playing this video game,
Suffice to say that by the time we made it to our destination for the night our nuckles were white and jaws hurt from clenching. Did I mention getting lost? For those of you who know us getting lost is something we have perfected. First you need to know we had been warned many times to lock our doors, be wary & don't go to the bad part of town. We had also been told that if we broke down call for help and keep the doors locked. If help will take some time then leave the car and hide in the bushes and pray.
With this in mind we got lost in Rustenburg trying to find a grocery store. In the worst part of town we decided the area just wasn't great and turned back towards the highway. We wanted to continue wests but all the access ramps were to go east.   Finally, in a better area we stopped at a mall, bought water and asked directions. First girl didn't know, neither did the second or the third. Finally they asked a customer who, after consulting with the manager, drew us a map. We were told to turn at the robots.... what they didn't tell us was that a robot is a stoplight! That is confusing and so is the fact that people from Rustenburg don't often go west towards Botswana.
Back on the highway we then realized we must have passed our turn off .... it didn't have a robot to tell us what to do.
Twenty km past we turned back and found the R52 (unmarked) and turned down towards Koster. This time we were right. Someone had decided to take the signs down on the main highway.
Our directions from there were great. Go 8.7 km down the R52 and turn left at the second Kommissiedrift St. for 1.8km then right at the 2 spoor cement paodjie..... Huh?? Amazingly enough we found the gate and it was locked. This is the point where we decided it was time to figure out how to use our (not so free) cell phone. Once the phone decided I didn't want to play games or surf the net or take pictures it connected me and the gate was opened.
I absolutely fell in love! We have stayed in many places all over the world but Janice's B&B is by far one of the most enjoyable experiences we've had. The hosts are very hospitable but not in your face. Their home is beautiful and welcoming. A large pool, big patio braai area, spacious lawn and garden area overlooking the veld. The trees are alive with birds and animals roam wild along the fence line. Marnice is a wonderful cook & the food is healthy. JP is full of stories with a smile and sincerity that is quite refreshing. Needless to say our evening was much more relaxing than the rest of the day.
After a traditional braai (barbecue) dinner we fell fast asleep not waking until 9AM.
Rested and fed we said a reluctant goodbye to our new friends and headed off to face the dreaded Highway 4 again.
If this blog entry sounds like an ad it ikind of is. We found this place by chance on the internet. She has only recently opened and is going to change the name and market a bit differently. I'll update this blog with the new information when I have it.
At 250 Rand per person per night this place is terrific value.