The Kalahari Express, one very long day of travel.

We left the Karoo before dawn as we had a full days travel to get to our next destination in the Kalahari. Driving through Klienpoort and turning North towards Graaf Reinet, we saw the sun rise and slowly illuminate the changing landscape.

We left the Hilly part of the Karoo behind and headed into the great open plains, we stopped for fuel and some snacks in Graaf Reinet and it was here that Jack somehow managed to purchase a fossilized Mars Bar. The offending fossil was later exchanged for a far younger product by the service station attendant with a somewhat sheepish grin.

The Fossil of Graaf Reinet.

Greg pointing to where we are headed, the Kalahari.

After refueling we again hit the road heading North towards the town of Kimberly, the landscape became even more desolate and barren the further North we went. At one stage we left the sealed roads and were travelling on a section of dirt when we were passed by a horse and cart travelling in the opposite direction, you certainly see some sights travelling in Africa.

We rejoined the sealed road some 100 kilometers or so later, this brought with it some more mind boggling sights, hideously overloaded trucks poking along at a snails pace, a derailed train and shanty towns. It always amazes me that wherever I see a shanty town there is always a washing line covered in the most vibrant and brightly colored clothes. How on earth the women manage to get their clothes so clean and bright in such an environment has me stumped.

A man with an impressive pile of wood on his head, one of the curious sights one see's in Africa.

We continued our journey North and as the day drew on we talked about what we had done so far and what we hoped to do in the Kalahari. I was hoping to hunt a Gemsbok and Jack was of course still after a Red Hartebeest. The heat was getting more oppressive the further North we went and the poor Landy was starting to feel it with the temperature gauge starting to creep up by mid afternoon when we reached Kimberly.

From Kimberly we headed for the town of Kuruman and arrived just on dusk. We quickly refueled and the got something to eat at a Kentucky Fried Chicken on the main street. Then after a quick leg stretch we set off again, travelling through Hotazell and leaving the sealed road behind us. On into the night we drove, the GPS showing we were closing in on our destination close to the Botswana border. Finally we reached the gate to Sans Souci and drove into camp at around 10:30pm, bringing to an end one very long day of approximately 1200 kilometers of travel behind us.The Camp boss Jason, the PH's J.S and Whitey and hostess Maree were all waiting for us and introduced themselves before offering us refreshments and showing us our rooms.

We were all a little too wired after such a long day of travel and decided a cold beer around the camp fire would be just the ticket. Our PH J.S told us he would meet us in the morning at breakfast and excused himself as he had some distance to travel home, Jason, Whitey and Maree told us make ourselves comfortable and to help ourselves to refreshments from the bar, before also excusing themselves for the night.
After unwinding for about half an hour the day caught up with us and we called it a night, I showered and climbed into bed, set my alarm for the morning lay down and was quickly asleep.