We were excited to be crossing into a new country and the border procedures were straightforward enough, after the usual paperwork on both sides we were in the kingdom of Swaziland. Our plan was to drive across the south, up the eastern side then across the north to exit this small country in the north west. We followed some roads less travelled in the south camping on our first night in front of a small rural police station. The local residents seemed more than...

We had a couple of uneventful days hacking across the north west of South Africa on our way back to Donkey Valley farm, where we volunteered as WWOOFers at the beginning of the year. It was fabulous to go back to somewhere that is so special to us. While some things have changed since Jeanne & Hannes separated, many things have not. On arrival we were greeted by the larger than life Hannes, who promptly had to dash back into his dental laboratory to finish m...

After months of preparation we were finally here walking through Cape Town airport ready to begin our African adventure. First port of call was to go and see the shipping agents so we asked a friendly shuttle bus rep where their office was, to which he very confidently pointed to a place on a map. Just to check he knew what he was talking about we asked him to point out where the airport was. Again he very confidently pointed at the map, this time to a red dot w...

We left Donkey Valley about a week later than planned as we were having so much fun, which meant we only had 3 days to dash down to Cape Town to meet Ralph's Dad, Graham, and partner Liz for their 2 week holiday in South Africa. The highlight on the way to Cape Town was the arid Karoo National Park which we drove ourselves around spotting zebra, ostrich and antelope. The guided walk with our armed escort was fun; luckily we didn't encounter any lions along the...

We arrived in South Africa back on 1st December, escaping the grim English winter, with a rough plan of how we were to spend our 3 months here. Our first stop was Donkey Valley farm, where we were to spend our first 5 weeks. We contacted them through an organisation called WWOOF which puts volunteers in touch with farms who want help in exchange for board and lodgings. The farm is run by a lovely South African couple, Hannes and Jeanne, along with her daughter...