Saturday 2nd August

Seeheim, Namibia – Vioolsdrif, South Africa

We were up before the sun appeared and headed south to Fish River Canyon. En route, we had a huge breakfast buffet at Canon Roadhouse which produced over 70% of the goods on-site, of which we demolished most. Once we passed the entrance gate to the park, we suddenly came across the canyon which was vast – second only to the Grand Canyon in America.

We left after taking the necessary photos and chatting to a South African family who were about to embark on a popular five day trek along the canyon. The drive to our last border was only another couple of hours and it was strange to think of it as our last crossing as we entered country number nineteen.

The efficiency at the border was unreal with no paperwork to fill in and numbered doors to enter for the relevant stamp on a numbered piece of paper. The dark, but more fun days of Egyptian border crossings were a distant memory now. We headed to Fiddlers Creek campsite just along the road from the border and on the south bank of the Orange River.

After much needed showers, we chilled out for the afternoon before joining the barman, Leon, for some sundowners. Being a kite surfing instructor in Cape Town in the summer, Leon filled us in on the chat for when we get there. We were later joined by a couple of South African bikers, Hugo & Pedrie, who were about to spend a couple of weeks cruising around Namibia on their Honda African Twins.

With the braii producing endless meat throughout the evening, the night finished with the drinking Jenga being played on the bar, the bagpipes out and the two motorbikes being driven around the bar!!

19,274 miles

Sunday 3rd August

Vioolsdrif – Highlanders Camp

The drive in the morning was a painful experience along straight roads in desolate landscape. Energy levels rose a little after a quick stop for fuel and food in Springbok which kept us going until we arrived at Highlanders Camp (www.highlanderssa.com) near Trawal (S 31º54.027’, E 18º39.003’).

The place was run by a great South African ‘oke (South African lingo – short for bloke) called Sparky and his wife Hope. With Scottish parents, he had the saltire flying from his flag pole and a Land Rover very similar to Bru in his shed. With lots in common, we spent the afternoon chatting about Land Rovers and overland trips before making an attempt at clearing all the dust from Bru which had collected in every spot over the past few weeks of driving gravel roads.

We were then invited to join an overland truck for a wine tasting held by Sparky on his fantastic lawn overlooking the wine growing valley. We sampled some of his fine wines which were produced by a local cellar whom which he supplied the grapes. We were then generously invited for dinner with Sparky before spending the rest of the evening playing table tennis and chatting to the guys from the truck who were still settling into the trip on their first night.

19,556 miles

Monday 4th August

Highlanders Camp – Cape Town

With the end of the trip in sight, we packed up the tent for what we expected to be the last time and decided a last minute attempt at getting fit was in order. We took a run along the irrigation canal with Sparky’s dog, Arusha, which helped get some endorphins flowing for our arrival in Cape Town.

We bade farewell to Sparky with a blast of the bagpipes over the valley, much to his delight. Having heard the pipes over the phone, Sparky’s  brother was very keen to take us out for a night in Hermanus, which sounded like it could be a great option.

We continued South along the tarmac towards Langebaan which was renowned for it's kite surfing. Unfortunately, when we arrived it was as calm as the infamous winds we found on the Red Sea. We had a nice lunch by the water chatting to a family from Birmingham before the final leg to Cape Town. We stuck by the sea in order to get a good shot of Table Mountain as we approached. Unfortunately, the cloud was not on our side and we only got a couple of pics in.

It was a strange feeling as we entered the city's rush hour traffic thinking that this was the end. Whilst driving around the waterfront area of town during a quick cruise of the town, we came across a fleet of ten UK registered expedition Land Rover Discovery's parked outside a hotel. This obviously caught our interest so we asked in the hotel about their story. The next thing you know, we are chatting in the car park to a great guy who is in charge of external events at Land Rover. They were part of an charity expedition around Southern Africa (www.burnabyblue.com) and due for shipping back to the UK tomorrow. With nine vehicles, we deduced there may be a space in one of their containers which sparked an idea for tomorrow.

We headed to the recommended 33º South Backpackers (www.33southbackpackers.com) which is run by a couple of cool chicks - Cindy and Kim - who were into Land Rovers as well as skiing etc etc. Kim cooked us dinner over some celebratory champagne with her sister and some of the other guests and the wine flowed into the evening.

19,847 miles

Tuesday 5th August

Cape Town - Hermanus

The first port of call in the morning was to see where the Land Rovers were heading in the morning in case they had a space. Unfortunately, we missed our ten o'clock rendevous and so continued to the Cape of Good Hope, the most South Western point in Africa where we donned our kilts and got out the cameras. Unfortuntely, we were not alone there and so struggled to get a space for the end of road picture. There was a lot of interest in our trip though and the kilts only helped to attract the attention.

20,034 miles