Day 144… Sunday 13th August
Had a tour round the Langbaken cheese production/storage/packing area. Fabulous set up where cheese tastings are offered to tourists passing through. Highly recommend this place. Said our goodbyes and headed back to Williston. Dropped a cheese order into the local restaurant and headed north on a gravel road. Saw several dussie (rock rabbits). The plan was to head into Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and camp for 2 nights which was the minimum requirement for camping. However, discovered that the park gate closes at 4pm and we were not going to get there until 5pm. Decided to find a campsite near Upington closer to an alternative border crossing into Namibia. Stayed at Kalahari Monate Lodge. Great set up with our own braai stand and water tap. Our campsite spot was right next to a hibernating tortoise tucked up for the winter under some bushes. Watched Gazelle wondering nearby (I had to look up what deer species they were in my grandmother’s book on African animals).
Allen’s perspective…
The drive out from the farm was a chilly and misty one. Rachael took the controls and drove us to the main road. The gravel roads out this way are good fun to drive on and at least you don’t have to worry about slow lorries or fast traffic.
The drive was a long one and with a late departure it was a shame to miss out on Kgalagadi, but our schedule for getting up to Lusaka by the 25th is rather tight. We did at least drive over the Orange river which was beautiful, and there appear to be plenty of vineyards around. We may have to go back one day and explore more.
A small bonus though was getting to see the ‘Khi Solar One’, our second Concentrating Solar Power station on the trip so far (the other was in Morocco). A geeky thing but still very cool to see.
