DAL Kalahari

http://www.safemariner.co.uk/dal_kalahari.html

This is the website for our ship, which is where we'll be now for the next three weeks until we arrive in Tilbury Docks, London, UK. The berthing of the ship in Cape Town was due today, but we've been told it will be at midnight, so asked to come at 7am tomorrow morning. That is when we'll do passports and immigration as well. Now I'm looking forward to it even more.

While we were travelling on the train, it was difficult to get to grips with the boat part, but now we're thinking about how much sea-sickness we'll have, and what to do all the time. Lots of plans! Maybe write a novel, read some books on my kindle, and study the Welsh language. Maybe. Watch this space!

Table Mountain

Our new friends, Tracy and Peter have welcomed us like family. Yesterday we set out to climb Table Mountain, but the table cloth cloud was too thick in the morning when we arrived. It was sad, because the day before had been sunny and clear.

Instead we decided to go to Robben Island, just off the coast, where Nelson Mandela was in prison for many years, so we drove around town to the habour and stood in the queue. But when we arrived at the front, the boat was full, so we couldn't go there either :^(

Instead of that, we took a boat round the harbour, "To get our sea legs in" as Peter said.

Then to cheer us up even more, we had an amazing game lunch there in the Harbour. As we were eating it, looking up at the mountain, we saw the cloth was lifting off!

Such a welcome from the maker of the Table! We drove back to the foot of the mountain and went up to the top, in the cable car! There we found, as well as the stunning view all around, it was warm, calm and peaceful. Normally there is a cold wind blowing.

At the end of the day, sleepy heads couldn't keep our eyes open, and later today, Sunday is the day we are set to board the VERY big ship in the container habour. That ship, the DAL Kalahari will be our home for the next three weeks.

Cape Town Leg

The train we took from Johannesburg to Cape Town was very different to all the others. It was the last and fifth of the overnight trains, a comfort and a delight to ride in. Kevin had booked a ticket in tourist class while we were still in Kilolo, Tanzania, but because we were not in South Africa, it was too risky to pay over the ether as required, so we lost our booking.

Our God is greater, and he gave us another of our many angels in the booking office man at Musina station. 'Dr John' found a compartment for us on the already fully booked train we wanted to take, and in addition he made sure no-one else would book into it, and we didn't even have to pay for all four seats. That meant we could totally relax and enjoy the last leg of trip South.

We went to the dining car for both dinner and a magnificent breakfast, and had some fun with the waitress taking photos for and of us. This one of Kevin, I took, though!

Johannesburg

We pulled into the station after a rough night on the train. No sleepers, so Kevin sat all night and I put my fleece blanket on the floor under the seats and lay with my feet and face under opposite seats. Amazingly I did get some sleep.

The train was very late arriving on Monday morning, but Ruth our friend met us and took us to her house. She left us getting cleaned up and went back to work, and Dave came in later after he got back. We had a wonderful evening of fellowship with them, even though we had only just met that day!

Across the Limpopo into SA

A relief to connect again. For too long we've been relying on internet cafes where we can't easily upload photos. Now using Kevin's netbook on a South African phone card, life is getting easier again.

The border crossing over the Limpopo river yesterday was long and tiring, but we made it to this Lodge in the middle of town. Most of the place is noisy and full of traffic, but this is an oasis. Even so the local music is loud and constant.

The night train from Bulawayo was less clean than the last one from Vic Falls. In fact I would rate our Tanzanian overnight as the cleanest, safest and roomiest of all. It is also the easiest border crossing, as the officials board the train on both sides. Yesterday we had to catch transport and wait in a long queue on both sides of the bridge and border.

Birdsong in Bulawayo

This morning we woke up to birdsong in the trees around our hostel. They are not bothered by all that I am concerned with. We arrived in Bulawayo on Wednesday morning and found the temperature had dropped. The views on the way in were depressing, including graveyards for both humans and trains. The city is flat, and a strong wind blows all the time, making it necessary to wear a fleece jacket and closed in shoes instead of sandles. The streets are wide and the whole place built for traffic, but sometimes strong smells make my nose sore! The power station, which looks like Battersea, dominates the main street that we use. A strange icon.

We mostly caught up with internet yesterday, though no picture uploads, and had lunch in a local Bar. We found the people extremely friendly and helpful, especially when we asked directions from them.

Today, Thursday we take another overnight train to Beitbridge on the border with South Africa. The long journey South is half complete.

Victoria Rain Falls

Watch this space. Here it is...

On Monday we went to the Falls. There are three great waterfalls on the earth; Niagra, Iguasu and Victoria. The others have a greater height or volume total, but in terms of a single falling sheet of water, Victoria takes the prize.

The canyon in front of the falls offers an amazing viewpoint from lots of different places, and the cool spray came across to fall on us. We were there until the afternoon, and had a picnic lunch in the hot shade of a fruit tree. Not sure what the fruits were, but the birds liked them. Later on we wandered back, and the sun gave us a rainbow treat in the mist above the Falls.

Back in our hostel, during the night after we had been to the Falls, the first rain fell for many months. It cooled the air, making it almost pleasant to walk around. On Tuesday evening we boarded the train on to Bulawayo, and almost boiled in our compartment as we waited for the train to set off. The night was hot, but we were well looked after by the train crew.