2012 Weekly Summary #10: 11 Mar 2012 – Askham to McCarthy’s Rest

Week 10 on the road.

4^th Mar 2012

Day 64

Askham to Vanzylsrus

Had a lovely breakfast at the newly opened Diamond T coffee shop, run by the lady that owns the Askham Post Office Guesthouse. Were on the road by 11 am and got to Vanzylsrus 4 hours later, via Botswana for the sole reason of a nice tar road. Stayed in the lovely hotel of the town, colourful and vibrant enough to cheer the soul after a long and laborious drive.

5^th Mar 2012

Day 65

VanZylsrus

Left the hotel and went just outside town to a beautiful farm, set in the middle of nowhere. In fact, all that could be heard was the moo-ing of cows and neighing of wild horses. We had the place all to ourselves which was nice –a slightly dated place but nice all the same. It was so hot that night that we had to move our mattress into the cooler living room!

6^th Mar 2012

Day 66

Van Zylsrus to Hotazel

After breakfast which was left for us by the lovely owner of Leeupan Guestfarm, we set off for Hotazel, hoping to god that it wasn’t in fact ‘hot as hell’. Luckily, we arrived at modest temperatures of 38 degrees, a far cry from the 45 that we had become so used to. After a slight mix-up with accommodation, we ended up staying with Hester on her Olive farm which turned out to be lovely. We ate that night at Kalahari Cottage, the guesthouse where we were originally meant to be staying.

7^th Mar 2012

Day 67

Hotazel

Ventured into town after breakfast and visited the local Hotazel College school which has been recently updated with all the latest technology and equipment (30 million was pumped into the college). We also learnt a lot about BHP Billiton, the mining company that is responsible for sourcing 80% of the world’s manganese. The town is well looked after courtesy of the company and it is nice to see that the town is being well looked after.

8^th Mar 2012

Day 68

Hotazel to McCarthy’s Rest

After a rather ‘hot as hell’ night and not much sleep, we weren’t exactly thrilled about the prospect of a 3-hour drive to McCarthy’s Rest. When we arrived, all that greeted us was a border post. It was literally a dead town. That said, we stayed our first night with Tess at Springbokpan, a lovely little place. She invited us to church on Sunday which we were touched to be invited to and happily accepted.

9^th Mar 2012

Day 69

McCarthy’s Rest

The next 2 nights at Kalahari Rangers Lodge just down the road. We went on an amazing game drive and learnt a lot about the environment and the protection of the animals in these parks. It saddened us to learn that people are frequently trapping animals during the night and selling them off for high prices. More needs to be done to protect these creatures.

10^th Mar 2012

Day 70

McCarthy’s Rest

Up at 5 am to spot the sunrise on another game drive. We were lucky enough to virtually stand at a hyenas liar although sadly didn’t get to actually see the animals as they had retreated into the safety of their home. We did however see a herd of warthogs –a mother and her 5 babies, as well as an abundance of springbok, gemsbok, oryx and wildebeest.  Said our goodbyes and headed for Bray.

…of the week:

• Towns visited this week –Askham, Vanzylsrus, Hotazel, McCarthy’s Rest
• Accommodation sponsored this week –Loch Maree, Askham Post Office Guesthouse, Hesters, Springbokpan, Kalahari Rangers Lodge
• Food sponsored this week – Diamond T Coffee Shop, Hesters, Kalahari Cottage, Kalahari Rangers Lodge
• Highlight of the week –Spotting the hyenas hide out during a Kalahari Rangers game drive
• Lowlight of the week – Learning that animals are being caught and illegally sold in the Kalahari
• Meal of the week – Meat and cheese platter at Kalahari Rangers Lodge

See you in a week…