13th Sept. Pretoria

11th Sept Pietermaritzburg
The van went into the container yesterday. Lovely and clean and well tied down. We gave it a gentle pat before they closed the doors. Hope it gets to Sydney safely. They had made a mistake earlier and it was booked to go to Brisbane but we were able to change that in time. We had to ait for the customs inspection then longer for the container to arrive but managed to have it completed by 2pm. The staff at the warehouse who loaded it were very helpful and dropped us off at the Avis depot after .
We have hired a VW Polo to drive up to Joburg and will have a look at the Drakensburg Ranges on our way. They are meant to be spectacular. It is funny to be driving a small car after the van for so long.
South Africa is a very picturesque country where you cold spend months looking around nd the people are hospitable. Yet there is sch a divide etween the blacks and the whites with many of the whites still looking longingly back at the apartheid era. The problem is going to get bigger as time goes by.
13th Sept. Near Pretoria.
We met Ria & Len At Etosha NP and had a couple of good evenings together. During that time they insisted we visit them before we fly out. We arrived at their beautiful house yesterday, had a braai last night, visited one of these amazing shopping malls this country has in abundance this morning then spent the afternoon in the game reserve that borders their property. It was very fulfilling seeing many animals including a couple of meerkats, an animal we hadn’t seen up to now.
This will be the last post while in Africa but I want to do a final one back home giving a run down on the costs etc in doing a trip like this.