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Exploring the known and unknown
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Location Date South Africa 
1397516400 Lesotho 1397430000 Swaziland 1396306800 -
Location Date Heilbron 1397516400 Soweto 1397516400 Fouriesburg 1397430000 Bethlehem 1397430000 Colesburg 1397343600 Aliwal North 1397343600 Lady Grey 1397343600 Laingsburg 1397257200 Beaufort West 1397257200 Cape Town 1397170800 Scarborough 1397084400 Sea Point 1397084400 L?agulhas 1396998000 Swartklip 1396998000 Muizenberg 1396998000 Swellendam 1396911600 Struisbaai 1396911600 Addo 1396825200 Summerstrand 1396825200 Oudtshoorn 1396825200 Uitenhage 1396738800 Grahamstown 1396652400 Port Elizabeth
1396652400 Kokstad 1396566000 Matatiele 1396566000 Elliot 1396566000 Dordrecht 1396566000 Queenstown 1396566000 Ixopo 1396479600 Ballito 1396393200 Pietermaritzburg 1396393200 Mkuze 1396306800 Nqulwane 1396306800 Eshowe 1396306800 Barberton 1396220400 Nelspruit 1396051200 Graskop 1396051200 Phalaborwa 1395964800 Seekoeigat 1395878400 Johannesburg 1395705600
2014-04-05
Port Elizabeth
Lesotho or bust.
At times when people try to reach a difficult destination they have a sign on their car: "( XYZ Place) or Bust".
Leaving Ixopo we headed for the country of Lesotho which is a type of Switzerland within South Africa. The country is situated on top of an enormous circular range of mountains forming a natural border of rough rocky peaks. Its lowest point is 1000 meters, the roads rise to 2500 meters. This country is difficult to get into due to its location and height.
Our little car should be able make it, but only just, as the engine is but small (and so are the wheels) We drove south to Kokstad and westward to Matatiele. From there the dirt road started taking us to the border of Lesotho…or so it was planned. In reality the roads towards the border was the worst we encountered shaking everything there was to shake apart inside the car while the small wheels were fighting a losing battle with the ruts and the very severe corrugation causing the car to drift sideward at times. We knew from studying various maps that this was what it was going to be from here on for hundreds of kilometers and we were only at about 400 meters elevation. The mountains were looming in the distance. We stopped the car and discussed our options. We are in a fairly new Hertz hire car and needed to take care like if it were our own. If we had our own new car would we proceed? I think not. This was definitely four wheel drive country. So for now- no Lesotho and no Bust either ,perhaps on the way back when we pass it on the western side.
For the last two days we have been making our way south. The scenery is hard to describe and almost impossible to photograph as in pictures you can only see part of the view and hardly ever a clear depth.
On the way we passed Dordrecht and a sign to another Middelburg and even one to Adelaide. I think it will be a matter of time and all those names will have been replaced with African names. If you look at the map on this blog you can see that some places are now listed by two names.
We have just arrived in Port Elizabeth which is like a breath of fresh air (actually it is as we are right on the coast)
Anyway here are some pictures with some more comments.
Port Elizabeth
Lesotho or bust.
At times when people try to reach a difficult destination they have a sign on their car: "( XYZ Place) or Bust".
Leaving Ixopo we headed for the country of Lesotho which is a type of Switzerland within South Africa. The country is situated on top of an enormous circular range of mountains forming a natural border of rough rocky peaks. Its lowest point is 1000 meters, the roads rise to 2500 meters. This country is difficult to get into due to its location and height.
Our little car should be able make it, but only just, as the engine is but small (and so are the wheels) We drove south to Kokstad and westward to Matatiele. From there the dirt road started taking us to the border of Lesotho…or so it was planned. In reality the roads towards the border was the worst we encountered shaking everything there was to shake apart inside the car while the small wheels were fighting a losing battle with the ruts and the very severe corrugation causing the car to drift sideward at times. We knew from studying various maps that this was what it was going to be from here on for hundreds of kilometers and we were only at about 400 meters elevation. The mountains were looming in the distance. We stopped the car and discussed our options. We are in a fairly new Hertz hire car and needed to take care like if it were our own. If we had our own new car would we proceed? I think not. This was definitely four wheel drive country. So for now- no Lesotho and no Bust either ,perhaps on the way back when we pass it on the western side.
For the last two days we have been making our way south. The scenery is hard to describe and almost impossible to photograph as in pictures you can only see part of the view and hardly ever a clear depth.
On the way we passed Dordrecht and a sign to another Middelburg and even one to Adelaide. I think it will be a matter of time and all those names will have been replaced with African names. If you look at the map on this blog you can see that some places are now listed by two names.
We have just arrived in Port Elizabeth which is like a breath of fresh air (actually it is as we are right on the coast)
Anyway here are some pictures with some more comments.
- comments
Anneke Hahaha, wat een leuke zinnen!
Anneke Kerk doet echt Hollands aan
Anneke Lijkt wel een slavenhuisje die ook op Curaçao staan..
Rob Nou Anneke, eerder Anglicaans hoor! Wel eens in Engeland geweest?
Anneke Jazeker wel, maar deze lijkt heel erg op een kerk waar ik vroeger als kind kwam, vlakbij de school waar Richard ook op heeft gezeten en vooral de toegangsdeuren van de kerk
Gert Roos great adventure Richard