WRAP UP {EDITION 36}

HELLO + WELCOME to the regular Wrap Up of what’s going on as we make our way from Sydney to London, via Africa.

At long last we have arrived in South Africa to begin the African leg of our epic overland journey.

It’s Kirsty here with Wrap Up {Edition 36}. I feel quite nostalgic writing this one… I guess it has been a long time coming and also because I have read so many other overlanders posts kicking off their African overland adventures. Now, it’s our turn.

FLYING TO SOUTH AFRICA

^ We flew from Sydney to Dubai and then down the length of Africa to Durban. Here we are flying over Somalia.

^ Coming in to land in South Africa

^ The very awesome burgers and wine we digested at 830am in the morning in Dubai! Take note if you you have a layover in this airport any time soon, Jack Daniels bar is a brain saver and comes with free WIFI to boot.

After driving around Australia for 6 months, and our break in Sydney, it was finally time to jump on a plane to Africa.

The day we flew out felt like a BIG day. All the dreams, the hours of preparation, the emotion… came down to today.

Walking towards check-in for the flight we were both carrying a load of emotion. Shifting between sadness (as we were saying goodbye to loved ones), excitement (we are going to Africa!!), and pride (we have made our dream a reality). Plus, after talking about it for so long, a good dose of bewilderment… THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING!?

Door-to-door our transit time was 36-hours and we gratefully tumbled into bed to get horrie (horizontal) when we reached South Africa.

CHEERS LONELY PLANET

Just before we set off Lonely Planet’ PR team generously made sure we had their brand spankn’ new Africa Guide on board.

Cheers Lonely Planet! We’ll be putting it to good use.

WHOAAAH, WE ARE IN AFRICA

I’m not sure what we expected flying to Africa, but all of a sudden we were IN AFRICA!

On the taxi ride to our lodge we had beggars at the windows of the car. We’ve been in South Africa before, I’ve lived here too, but it did take us back a notch in the haze of our jet lag.

To all of a sudden be in a city surrounded with barbed wire and bars across windows was quite overwhelming. Amplified by the fact that we felt a little nervous to venture out from our lodge, let along start driving across the continent on our very own.

But right now, we don’t have to drive across the continet. That is too much to comprehend. Right now, we just have to do one thing at a time.

DURBAN

^ Chilling out on our lodge’s day beds, getting on Africa time

^ Durban’s golden mile of beaches

^ Springbok Carpaccio deliciousness at Butcher Boys in Durban

We have made the lodge we are staying at our new little home. The leafy streets and bumpy foot paths lead to two close-by supermarkets and an upmarket restaurant district.

The price differences have been a welcome change! Beers are $3 served or $1 from the bottle shop. We treated ourselves to a feast at a fancy restaurant recommended by friends, Butcher Boys came with the promise of ‘the best steak in South Africa’ and the whole lot set us back only $50.

One thing I LOVE is venturing through the supermarkets. I know that might sound odd, but I really do love it! All those new brands, products, ways of doing things. Here’s G today grabbing some lunch at the Spur supermarket.

Yesterday we ventured on a walk through the city to the beach. With absolutely no ‘whities’ in sight we are not sure if it was an incredibly safe idea, although we had been assured it was OK by the lodge. We walked along the beachfront, taking in the surfers and mamas down at the water sitting on their big round bottoms in the water plucking who knows what from the sand (bait we think?). Looking out to sea we had visions of our Troopy’s ship entering the harbour.

TROOPY HAS ARRIVED

^ Troopy sitting off the East coast of South Africa

^ Troopy pulling into Port Durban

From the minute we landed we have been tracking the Troopy like a hawk. It was floating around off Durban. Then it was entering the harbour. Then, when it entered port, we got really excited!

Early this week we headed down to meet our shipping receiving agent who we needed our Carnet ASAP. The agent, Maurita of LWW, is an absolute godsend and we feel so well taken care of. She instructed us ‘Now keep your phone on at all times, I must be able to be in constant contact with you’. Music to our ears!

We keep hearing updates from Maurita and as it stands right now the Troopy’s container has been offloaded from the ship and carted off to customs. From here the major thing has has to happen is for a customs official to approve that Troopy is who he says he is on his passport (i.e. the Carnet De Passage document) by checking his VIN and Engine number.

Maurita will handles it all. All we have to do is come down right at the end to collect the Troopy.

And how’s this? She has said she will drive us around to the port ‘because you might get lost!’ and will then escort us to the nearest petrol station to fill up ‘just to make sure you are all OK’.

Our hearts are up in our throats and stomachs are twisting and churning. We are ON and ready to drop everything the moment we get a call. The thought of having the Troopy in the driveway at this lodge is very hard to get our heads around!

Fingers crossed the Troop is in our hands this afternoon, we are ready to get going!

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UPDATE: Just as we were about to press Publish on this post we heard from our receiving agent. The customs check has happened but timings are looking tight for this afternoon. So, we have a date (!!), 7am tomorrow morning we’ll be meeting Maurita and the Troopy! Yeeeeehah!

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That’s us all wrapped up.

Once we get the Troop we need to get a few things sorted (gas bottle, brakes, groceries) then we will hit the road to our first game park!

Thanks as always for sharing the journey with us. Send us a ‘hello’ in the comments below, we would love to hear from you 🙂

Cheers