Capetown Fort

On September 28th the group did a guided excursion/bus/walking tour of Capetown: the fort, downtown, Green Market, the Company's Garden, Table Mountain, and the harbor area; a long but enjoyable and edifying day.

Capetown's dramatic background, Table Mountain

Downtown scene from the bus

Fort and moat; dates from the 17th, the current version 19th
century

Helpful model: yup, it's a star fort, just like we saw in Naarden
way back in 2015

In the military museum: Buffalo Bill Cody
worked here briefly before getting into show
business; wait, no...

Inside the fort, the governor's mansion, etc.

Statues of other warriors

Cannon to be fired at re-enactment ceremony; it's from the
the Royal Hobbit Fusiliers

Serious science I did not know about

Capetown skyline from roof of the castle wherefrom I was
supposed to photograph the firing of the cannon; I got lost or
possibly distracted

Re-enactment: Governor handing keys to officer who will
open the fort for business

Pomp

Circumstance

Drama

Kate and Bob found the roof-top perch I missed

The cannon enthusiast/volunteer explains to us all the steps
involved in firing a cannon

Which includes a jigger of gunpowder

And now, the moment we all have been waiting for: a student
from the audience has made a donation to the cannon society
and thereby gets to fire it

Bang!

Melkbosstrand

A short drive September 27th brought us from Citrusdal to Melkbosstrand and its Ou Skip campground, our final campsite together. The drive took us past mountains and valleys to the seashore and views of Capetown and Table Mountain.

On To Citrusdal

September 26th took us from Springbok to Citrusdal, at the beginning of South Africa's big-time fruit and fruit-of-the-vine country, the Cedarburg Mountains, and the Olifant River. Beautiful country. The geographical diversity is amazing.

The storm clouds of the previous afternoon and evening were
for real: we awoke to 2 degrees C (35F) , for which the little
heaters in our rigs were not designed; and it stayed relatively
cool for the rest of our tour

The scenery initially of huge domes and the croppie rubble
adorning them

Giving way to a huge block that seemingly becomes the
Cedarburg Mountains

And in the valleys, mile after mile of beautiful agriculture

Cedarburgs

Olifant River, reservoir

Entry to our penultimate campground, in Citrusdal

And another braai; we miss this great group so much already...

To Springbok, South Africa: Or, A Lesson In Tidiness

September 25th took us, at last, back into South Africa...

Only a few more kilometers of corrugated washboard...

And then miles of wonderful tarmac, all the way to the border

And a final look at Namibian geology

And villages

And then, after an easy border crossing, back into South Africa;
and more croppies

And a small campground in Springbok; as soon as we were
out of Namibia, all the Brits took to washing the mud and the
dust off their rigs, cleaning their wind-shields (-screens), even
their wheels; I was aghast

Even the Australians

I was not going to be shamed into this; we had several more
days of driving ahead, and I could see significant storm clouds
coming our way (we eventually held a group meeting in one
of the campground's out-buildings to avoid the wind and rain;
in any case, I spent the time re-acquainting myself with a beer
brand I had not seen since the 1960s; our rig got its cleaning,
by "professionals," the day we turned it back in to Bobo in
Capetown; nonetheless, among the many lessons learned on
this trip was this lesson in tidiness

Ai-Ais Resort And Camping

At the end of Fish River Canyon is Ai-Ais Resort, a wonderful hot water spa and fitting end to our long Namibian odyssey. The hot waters have never felt so soothing. September 24th.

Near the end of the canyon

There's the original spring, 65 degrees C, an outdoor pool at
about 27 degrees C (tepid; for Germans), and the two indoor
luxury pools, both at 37 degrees C, just about body temperature,
just about right

Two of these in the nice hotel building; I should have taken
more pix, especially of the woman in the gold thong bathing suit

Our encampment, right on the river; separated from us by gabions

How others travel Africa

The original hot water spring at Ai-Ais: no entry: 65 degrees C