TRAVELLING via Springbok from our home in KwaZulu-Natal to attend a wedding in Worcester would certainly be a roundabout way of doing things, but we weren’t in any hurry.
And, as we set up camp on the first evening of the five-week camping holiday we’d wrapped around the Worcester wedding, we were so looking forward to seeing all the places we’d included in our convoluted route.
Originally, we were going to spend our annual leave in Zimbabwe, a trip we’d planned for 2013 but postponed to attend our younger son’s wedding in Australia. We’d booked our 2014 leave and were fine-tuning our Zimbabwean itinerary when our niece, Kim, and her fiancé, Matt, announced their wedding.
The date for this auspicious occasion was slap-bang in the middle of the leave we had booked for our Zimbabwean holiday but we wouldn’t have missed their wedding for the world.
So, once again the distant peal of wedding bells prompted us to put the Zimbabwean trip on ice and we got out the maps and started to devise what we soon began calling our ‘Filling in the Gaps’ road trip.
You see, normally when we head for the more arid western section of southern Africa, our main objective is the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, one of our very favourite places.
Although over the years we had done a fair amount of exploring en route to this wonderful game reserve, it was always a hurried sort of exploration, and there were many Northern, Western and Eastern Cape destinations that deserved more of our attention.
So, after a little soul searching, we resisted the temptation to book for the Kgalagadi and set about drawing up a camping road trip that would be a journey of exploration and discovery.
Eventually, our ‘Filling in the Gaps’ itinerary comprised a good mix of places like the recently established Namaqua and Camdeboo National Parks that we had yet to visit; places like the new Mokala National Park that we’d visited briefly and wanted to get to know better; and more established places like Augrabies Falls National Park that we’d neglected over the years.
We also added a few much-loved places we knew well – like the Karoo and Mountain Zebra National Parks – for good measure. And, although we would probably arrive a bit late for the Namaqualand flower extravaganza, we hoped to see at least a bit of this amazing spring floral display while travelling through that area.
Setting a trend for the holiday ahead of us, we chose to spend the first night of our trip at a campsite we’d only recently heard about, at the Cedarberg Guest Farm between Cedarville and Matatiele. We left our home on the Lower South Coast soon after 1pm and headed inland through the undulating, winter-stark countryside for about 200km.
It was September 2, officially the second day of spring, but very little greenery softened East Griqualand’s harsh winter palette. It had been a particularly dry winter and this prosperous farming area had suffered massive fires. The scars still showed. But some of the extensive blackened area was showing signs of recovery.
We reached the beautifully situated guest farm at around 4pm and received a warm welcome from owners Gerrie and Mary-Ann Nel. Over the last few years more and more farmers have set up rustic camping grounds on their land and these comfortable, clean and safe – if sometimes rather quirky – farm stays are much appreciated by the ever-growing tribe of southern African tent travellers.
The camping facilities at Cedarberg were first class and the guest farm also offered self-catering and bed and breakfast accommodation options as well as rustic but attractive facilities for smallish weddings and other gatherings. Most of all, though, we liked its friendly informality, often a feature of a farm campsite.
One of our reasons for electing to spend the night there was its proximity to the Qacha’s Nek border post into Lesotho as we’d planned to start our trip with a couple of days in the mountain kingdom. However, political unrest had raised its ugly head in Lesotho shortly before the start of our holiday, so we’d decided to give it a miss and to do a route through the Eastern Cape mountains instead.
It didn’t take us long to park our vehicle on a level patch of lawn next to a pretty little farm dam, erect our rooftop tent and to set up camp for the night. As we lit our braai fire to make the first camping meal of our holiday, we didn’t know then that our road trip would eventually end a bit prematurely and rather dramatically, with me tripping and breaking an arm. (Editor’s note: Judi typed this entire story left-handed!)
However, we also didn’t know that our slightly shortened road trip would still be such a magical journey of discovery – and that all our happy days would more than cancel out the abrupt and unpleasant end.
It would be a trip of over 7 000km that would once more leave us feeling proud of our country and of South African National Parks (SANparks). We visited six of our fascinating and incredibly varied national parks and each one was so wonder-filled, well-run and lovingly maintained.
From the helpful staff members who assisted us with our bookings to the lovely SANparks people we met in the different game reserves, they were all such good ambassadors for their organisation and for South Africa.
We would also visit lots of little dorpies and more substantial towns and although we wouldn’t like everything we saw we would be left with a distinctly positive overall impression. More and more we would feel that good things were happening in our sometimes troubled land. And when we were suddenly faced with a bit of an emergency, the prompt, efficient and kind treatment I received after breaking my arm compounded the optimism that our journey inspired.
But more about that much further along the road. Instead let’s enjoy the happy anticipation that is always present at the beginning of a holiday as we pack up after a chilly but pleasant night and head off to explore the Eastern Cape mountains.
Join me for the next few weeks on a virtual road trip that will take in some of South Africa’s most gorgeous and exciting destinations.
