25 April 2009    to      3 May 2009

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The two long weekends after each other lent themselves well to a longer trip. The Northern Cape south of Upington was an area that we had not explored before. Instead of staying over at the Eiland resort as we had done previously, we decided to see if the Spitskop Nature Reserve had anything in the way of camping. We were pleasantly surprised as they have a very nice camping site and some chalets just across the road from the main entrance. We virtually had the place for ourselves.

After arriving on the Saturday afternoon we explored the reserve the next day. The trails that they do have are heavily overgrown, so its best to stick to the jeep tracks. Nevertheless we had virtually no traffic in all the hours we walked along the tracks. The main feature of the reserve is a huge pile of rocks, hence the name Spitskop. You can climb to the top and check out the area through a small telescope.

A big rock at the base.

The surrounding countryside in the direction of the main entrance. We spent a couple of hours walking along the various tracks and saw some quite big herds of game along the way.

On Monday we headed off towards Kenhardt which is more or less south of Upington.

We ended up staying over at a guest house with a typical small town atmosphere. Our hostess was very glad to get some company and we sat in the kitchen for quite awhile talking.

About 10km south of Kenhardt are quite a few Kokerboom our Quiver trees that one can take a took at.

Probably the most interesting shop in Kenhardt.

Next morning after a good breakfast we were on our way again. We had a small stop over and look at the dusty little town of Brandvlei.

Further south of Brandvlei one comes across these large empty pans.

Closer to Calvinia the countryside gets mountainous again.

In Calvinia we managed to get a whole house to ourselves.

The town has actually quite a bit going for itself with an excellent museum and good restaurant.

For larger postal items they have a postbox just the right size.

From Calvinia we drove to Loeriesfontein. Here they have an interesting Wind-pump museum, one of only two in the world.

The road between Loeriesfontein and Nieuwoudville.

Just before Nieuwoudville there is an interesting gorge to view.

At the top of the gorge we found a whole lot of Water Lilies in bloom.

We decided to camp over in Nieuwoudville and spent the afternoon exploring the area. They are trying to establish a botanical garden just outside town and there are also some old ruins to explore. The camping spot was deserted and we had the whole braai area to ourselves.

During the night it started raining, so next morning it was quite a mission packing the tent and everything in the rain.

Our next stop was Carnarvon. The area has some fine examples of Corbelled Houses. These houses roofs are built with local stone and are more or less dome shaped. No wood or other material is used in the roof. Its just the shape of the roof that keeps it from collapsing.

That evening we had a very nice dinner in our self catering apartment.

Just south of Carnarvon on top of a koppie, stands an old Boer war fort.

View of Carnarvon from fort. At this point we discovered we had a flat tire, so it was back to town to find a place that could fix it.

Being a public holiday we were very lucky to find a place that could help us in this small town. Here the guy is running across the street with our tire after having pumped it at the garage across the road.

We wanted to see what was going on in Victoria West but the place was deserted, so we carried on to the Vanderkloof Dam where we found a nice camping spot. There is a huge nature reserve next door called the Rolfontein Nature Reserve which also contains a very nice day hike.

The Vanderkloof Dam in the distance.

Having a break in a dried out stream bed.

The camp site was virtually deserted.

Driving through the famous Afrikaner stronghold of Orania. Just outside Kimberly the ignition to one of the cars cylinders stopped working. Of course being a Sunday there was no hope in hell of any garages open for help and so I nursed the car all the way back to Joburg on three cylinders. I hope I do not need to repeat that in a hurry again!