Leaving South Africa

After Karongwe Anel drove Marli and I home, via all the scenic parts of the Blyde River Canyon. It was good to be travelling with them, prolonging ecoTraining by another day. The view of the Three Rondavels was stunning, the company was good, and the pancakes in Graskop were of course delicious.

It was good to be back in Graskop, much like going home. Edwin turned my tin of beans into a tasty dinner and even invited me to stay and help run the hostel. I was sorry to have to decline, but with a flight to and tour in Namibia already booked, it didn't seem practical. It was easy to while a few days there, cycling to Lisbon and Berlyn waterfalls, sorting out my Karongwe photos and just enjoying doing nothing for a change.

My plan had been to head to Nelspruit on Thursday, catch up with a gorgeous bloke I'd met for a beer, then fly out on Friday morning. Edwin's suggestion though was to hike a local hill on thursday, then he'd take me direct to the airport on Friday morning, which seemed like a perfect plan. Of course it meant forgoing the opportunity of meeting up with lovely man... but need to be realistic here - well out of my league! The hike was great, excellent views of the area and especially dramatic was where the earth seemed to end at the escarpment.

My flight to Jo'burg from Nelspruit was in a little 30 seater plane, with a fabulous no-nonsense stewardess:
"Hi, can everyone hear me? Good. Do you all know how to do up a seat-belt and breathe through an oxygen mask? Great. Let's go!"
She then showed the two of us at the front of the plane how to open the door in an emergency and asked if that was ok. The guy across the aisle from me said he didn't understand, so she turned to me and said:
"Ok, you'll have to do it - he doesn't speak English."
And off we went.

Spent a couple of hours in Jo'burg airport, discovering that you can't take duty free into Namibia from SA, and buying a thermal vest.

The flight from Jo'burg to Windhoek was only noteworthy in that we were served lunch by the most ridiculously camp man I have ever met. And he had an alarming pudding-bowl haircut.

Windhoek is tiny. Hard to believe it's a capital city. The backpackers was a bit iffy too, though they did do free pancakes and coffee for breakfast. And so to the south...