This morning has to have been my best breakfast yet! We weren't leaving till 8am, yup that's right 8!!! So it was actually light when we got up, and it was a gorgeous morning. My alarm went off at 6.30am because I needed to have a shower, since we didn't have one last night. It was just so chilled and there didn't seem to be any rush which was such a fine change. The second last time Phoebe and I will take down our tent... sad times!
We set off at 8am and headed straight for the South African border! I sat in the front with Adrian for the first part of the journey. The landscape is unbelievable here, one minute it's flat desert and the next huge mountains.
As we got closer to the border we passed the biggest grape farm in the world. It is right next to the Orange River and up to 12 000 hectares. They use the river for irrigation all year round and harvest is between February and May! Miles and miles of grape vines :) Roll on the wine tours in South Africa!
The border crossing was a quick one as South Africa's side was all electronic. Thats me now in my 8th and final country in Africa, exciting times. We arrived at our last campsite at 12pm and there was GRASS! Yup we actually pitched our tent on grass. I fell sound asleep in the tent after lunch and next I knew Chris was waking me telling me it was time for the canoeing trip.
7 of us all went canoeing on the Orange River. It was so much fun and beautiful scenery. There was Clare, Randa, Sophie, Simone, Matt, Jason and me. I went with the guide which was the easy option :) as the girls took some time to get the hang of it. We stopped half way for a break and all went swimming. In total we were on the river for 3 hours and went 7km down stream. The wind was really strong so made it quite tough going.
In South Africa net fishing is illegal and our guide kept checking for nets that had been placed over night. We found one that was huge it went the whole way across the river and had 15 massive fish in it. He pulled it up into our canoe and let all the fish go, I felt like I was on a fishing trip. Hehe.
The showers at this campsite were strange... people could see into the showers from outside the toilet block. Photos were taken for evidence! :)
We had tea at the campsite restaurant tonight which was really good. Pork casserole and chicken legs! Every single meal in Africa has been amazing, that's why I am so fat :)
We emptied the cool box of all the left over beers, ciders and wine then partied at the bar with the ATC folk. Everyone in the group was drinking tonight and all very merry! It was our last night in a campsite and our last night with the ATC group :( You get to know everyone really well. Sarah and I ended up having loads of really nice 'after eight' drinks, they were so yummy. I can't wait for my flight to Sydney with her.
Noone really knows when we all headed to bed but everyone was aware we had a 4.30am alarm in the morning and it wasn't going to be a good one!
5 weeks, 24 hours every day with Phoebe, Nicole, Clare, Randa, Sam and Chris have been fantastic. It will be sad saying our goodbyes when the time comes :( The rest of the groups that have joined us and left us, were absolutely fantastic too. So many new friends all around the world!!!
Camping in Africa has been EPIC xxxxx