Sunday, October 6, 2013

Days 17 & 18, Lambert’s Bay and Holy Crap it’s COLD!!

Wow, what a difference 60 miles makes in climate.  It’s absolutely freaking COLD once you hit the South African border.  Holy cow, we were soooo not mentally prepared for this one!!

Our time in Namibia has officially ended, to the sadness of all of us I think.  And that also means that our time camping has ended, as it is too cold to brave the elements in the northern part of South Africa (I may be a camper now and all, but I’m not stupid).  But, we still have so much to explore in South Africa, that leaving Namibia doesn’t feel as though our vacation is over; rather, it’s just another chapter in the story.  Nonetheless, I know our time in the desert is over (for now), and I feel a little sad to say goodbye to all the friends I’ve made so far: the 12 dogs we met at various campsites, the water otter, Bokkie Spit Braai the goat, lions, elephants, giraffes, springbok, leopards, cheetahs, zebras, the list goes on…

But, we’re on to another country, and that means more to explore!  So since our drive from the border of Namibia to Capetown is about another 600 miles, we decided to break up the drive and visit the west coast of South Africa.  Except we had no idea it was going to be so cold.

Our original plan was to stop in a place Namaqualand, where flora and fauna flourish in the spring.  Evidently it looks like a Monet painting.  But since we found South Africa to be a wee chilly for flowers, the flora and fauna called in sick and all we saw was buds.  Oh well.  Can’t say I blame them…

On our way to Lambert’s Bay, we made a pitstop in Springbok to replace the flat tire, and found a restaurant to sip on some hot chocolate and eat some cold-weather food while they mounted the tire.   Once the tire was ready, we made our way to Raston Guest House, where our rooms were waiting for us with (mostly) warm and cozy accommodations.  There were space heaters in the rooms, so once we plugged in the heating plate, loaded ourselves with blankets and closed up all extra doors to keep the heat in, we started to thaw out a little.  Luckily, our room had a bathtub so I was able to soak my chilled bones until my legs were rubber.  But I won’t lie; I was in absolute HEAVEN with a bed, a bath, a heater and a tv.

Our night was spent eating some fantastic seafood and we all went to bed fat and happy.  The next day, sunny but cold, found me in my cozy bed literally the whole day while Matt, Ron and Anya went exploring around Lambert’s Bay and socializing with the locals at a pub.  After driving and driving and driving the last 2 weeks, we were happy to not have an itinerary.  It was a very chill couple of days, which was good to have because according to Ron, once we hit Capetown we’ll be going and going and GOING. 

So as long as I have a bed to live in, I’m gonna take advantage of it!!

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