Happy New Year

May 2015 be the start of many good journey's for you. May your roads be without too many bumps and if there are may you sail over all obstacles without a care. Let 2015 be a fantastic year, look for adventure, take risks, have fun and make your dreams happen. When the road starts to get blurry, stop and smell the flowers. Spend time enjoying the sunsets and sunrises and look for the rainbows. Take pleasure in all that is around you and look forward to seeing what new experiences the next rise or turn in the road brings.

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park - an amazing wilderness

Suzie and I have just fulfilled a lifelong dream to visit the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. 

Nothing can prepare one for the experience of the place. It is a harsh and unforgiving part of the country, with little water a baking sun, strong winds and sand storms. But there is a sureal beauty to the place, with the red sand dunes and the dry river beds - the Aoub River apparently only flows every eleven years, and the Nossob River every fifty years.

Yet in spite of its harshness many animals thrive here. 

This gemsbok is walking along the Aoub River against the backdrop of one of the many red dunes.

Adventures with Koos - Tankwa Karoo

Take an elderly couple and put them in an elderly 4x4 and hey presto you have a recipe for travel, to all the weird and wonderful places they have never been able to get to before.

That's me and Suzie and Koos (aka Hyundai Terracan 2.9 CRDI). Maybe I should also mention that we have some eccentric habits like naming our cars, cameras and whatever else takes our fancy. Let's face it, giving them names is a lot more fun than sticking to the generic trade name - it gives them a personality and makes them part of the family. I'd better stop right here, before someone decides to lock me away....

The adventures with Koos are about some of the interesting places we have visited on our travels around South Africa. Many of these are places that have been on our bucket list for many years, but were not accessible in our "platkar" (that is 4x4 speak for a low slung two wheel drive vehicle).

Last year in Spring we traveled to the Northern Cape to see the flowers and to visit one of the driest places in the country - the Tankwa Karoo. That was not to be, because we arrived after record rains and were greeted by a magnificent show of colour and plenty of water.

We are seen here, unbeknown to us at the time, heading the wrong way down the Leeuberg 4x4 Trial - it was fun though.

I am not sure if I should be looking forward to the next adventure in which we will be heading to the North, where foul weather and snow are predicted.  Yes, Winter is finally here and is coming in with a vengeance. Watch this space for the next Adventure with Koos.

Life with Suzie - The lure of the open road

Suzie and I have become avid travelers and it is not just about reaching a particular destination, the destination is only one part of the journey. As soon as we hit the road, the holiday begins and the cameras start clicking. There are so many beautiful places to see in this country and photos to take, so why rush it. On one occasion it took us over an hour to travel 20 kms and on another we had 700 kms to travel that day, but only managed 180 kms.

But that is the way we are. The only rule when we travel is to shout "stop" when we want to take a photo. This of course means that the time and distance become subordinate to site-seeing and photography.

When we travel we always try to take a route we have not been on before and to preferably take the back roads. We try not to book our accommodation ahead, because we are apt change our routes on a whim and inevitably fall behind our schedule - and with today's smart phones it is easy enough to search for accommodation when we want to call it a day - provided there is cell phone reception.

This road from the Seweweeks Poort to Laingsburg epitomizes the lure of the open road for us. Always something new to see and experience. A dusting of snow on the mountains, the leucadendrons making a bright statement against the darker green of the fynbos - what lies over the the next hill, or what will we see when we go round the next bend......it's all a big adventure.

Koos the Terracan

After driving my trusted Ford Bantam bakkie (truck, ute, van) which featured in many of my posts for the past thirteen years, I traded him in for Koos, a Hyundai Terracan.

Being a 4x4, Koos has opened up many new routes for me and Suzie and we will be heading out to places that were inaccessible to us in the past. Well the travels have actually started already.

Watch this space for forthcoming "Adventures with Koos" as we head out onto the known and the unknown roads.

Autumn Leaves

This was one of those “wow” moments on a recent road trip, when we drove around a corner into a grove of poplar trees, on the road to Die Hoek, near Oudtshoorn, in the Western Cape. The leaves were a blaze of yellow and the wind was gusting through them and whisking them away flurries.

Skywatch Friday - Big skies and open spaces

The wide open spaces and big skies of the Great Karoo are quite breath taking. 

This scene was taken at the Karoo National Park where you can get as much enjoyment from the scenery as from the animals.

Visit Skywatch for more great sky pictures from around the world.

New life - Impala

When it comes to favourite antelope, impala are on the top of my list. This impala fawn is probably one of the newest residents of the Kragga Game Park.

Skywatch Friday - The grey is not in the sky

A bright blue sky at Addo Elephant National Park and a few ellies

Visit Skywatch for more great skies from around the world.

Addo Trip #3 - Getting back to the lions

This is the young male who waited at the water hole the day before, for the hartebeest to arrive. This morning he was enjoying basking in the early morning sun.

After looking for the lions for four years, it was nice to get up close and personal - well not too close and personal.

Addo Trip #2 - The big and the small

When I head out into the bush I enjoy all the animals, from the smallest to the largest, whether it is striped field mouse or an elephant. They all have their own beauty, strange behaviours and appeal and I can spend hours watching them.

This striped field mouse was hanging around us at Jack's picnic spot, hoping for a handout. Of course being near the bottom of the food chain he also makes a nice meal for a raptor. We had in fact observed one of his relatives being devoured with great gusto a few minutes earlier, but never told him.

We got to know these young bulls over the two days of driving around. They were like naughty young boys, who were the best of friends, yet were constantly sparring, to see who was the strongest. They were quite amusing to watch and I will post more pictures of their antics one of these days.

Here they were enjoying a mud bath to cool of from the heat of the day, at the same water hole where the lions were reigning supreme the day before.

Addo Trip - Time for the lions #1

I don’t enter many competitions and generally don’t win anything, but, last year I was delighted to win a weekend away for two at the Addo Elephant National Park.  All I had to do was post a picture of me that was taken at the Park, and the rest is history.

This weekend Suzi and I claimed our prize, which was a two night stay at the Matyholweni Camp. The camp is set on the side of a hill in a valley, where the only sounds to be heard were the songs of the birds and frogs and crickets around us. What a pleasant change from the sounds of the city.

This turned out to be one of our most memorable trips to the Park ever. It was almost as though a special show had been put on for us.

For the past four years we have been on the lookout for lions and were beginning to believe they were a myth, but on our last trip we did get to see two rather large males, which gave us hope. This time we had four sightings of six lions during our two day stay.

The highlight was coming across these three young lions. Well it did not seem like it at first.

After spending so much time looking for them I casually remarked to Sue, “Lions are such boring animals; all they do is lie around doing nothing.”
But Mother Nature must have heard me, for it was not a minute later that an unsuspecting hartebeest came strolling down the hill for a drink of water. When he was still a long way off the seemingly comatose large male suddenly came alive and all the sat up fully alert. The three seemed to have a quick confab.

The large male then he ran off into the bush to the left of the waterhole and the female ran off to the right. The third fellow just made himself comfortable and remained where he was. “Lazy bugger,” I thought.

It was only when the unsuspecting hartebeest arrived that I realised I was witnessing the lions hunting strategy first hand. By this stage the young male was crouching low ready to launch himself, at what he must have believed was his dinner.

The hartebeest quickly realised his blunder and only had one option open to him and that was to make good his escape through the field in front of him – not realising there were two more lions lying in wait, for that exact move.
When the lion launched himself, the hartebeest took off, as only a hartebeest with a lion in pursuit can take off. In a matter of seconds there was nothing to be seen as hey disappeared over the ridge and we were left wondering whether the poor creature had been caught or not.

A few minutes later we had the answer, as the three unsuccessful and disconsolate hunters returned to the waterhole quite breathless.

They were soon stretched outagain, as only cats can, as though nothing had ever happened. Anyone who arrived after the hunt could be excused for thinking that butter would not melt in this fellow’s mouth.

Skywatch Friday - Great Karoo and Great Skies

The start of the Great Karoo, just after the village of Strydenburg in the Northern Cape. To get out into these wide open spaces, was one of the reasons why we embarked on this trip. I find this open country with its big skies amazing. When you close your eyes and stand still and listen, there is absolute silence and you know you are in the middle of "nowhere". It is a harsh, but beautiful part of the world

Visit Skywatch for more great skies from around the world.

Skywatch Friday - More Karoo skies

The Karoo between and  Laingsburg and Ladismith in the Western Cape is is a particularly rugged and beautiful part of the country. When we travelled that route the sky was filled with cotton wool clouds and the karoo bush was a blaze of yellow.

Visit Skywatch for more great skies from around the world.

Skywatch Friday - Gauteng sunset

This was one of those sunsets where the red seemed to linger on forever. It was taken at the Ezemvelo Nature Reserve, on our road trip around the country.

Skywatch provides links to many great pictures from around the world. Pop in you won't be disappointed.

Black Wildebees

Black wildebees photographed at the Ezemvelo Nature Reserve - definitely the beast and not the beauty.

Country Garden

This looks more like an English country garden, than a scene from Africa.

Hydrangeas in the garden of the Walkersons Hotel, near Dullstroom, Mpumalanga.

Early morning dew

The digital era has added a wonderful new dimension to photography, with the flexibility it gives you and the the ability to manipulate your images. This flower, which may or may not be of the gladiolus family was photographed at the side of the lake at the Walkerson Hotel, at Dullstroom.

Skywatch Friday - Vaal River Sunset

This is the sunset that bid the day farewell, when we spent a night alongside the Vaal River at Bloemhof, on our recent road trip around the country.

Visit Skywatch for many more great pictures from around the world.

Road trip

The Max Files has been in the doldrums for the past few weeks, but that was because Sue and I went on a tour around the country.

The idea of the trip started with an invite to my nephew's wedding at Dullstroom in Mpumalanga, which made us decide that if we are going to travel that far, why not make a holiday of it and come home on a circuitous route via the Great Karoo. This has been something we have wanted to do for a long time - so we grabbed the opportunity.

Big skies and wide open spaces in the Free State

We ended up travelling 4,193 kilometres over 11 days and visited seven of the nine provinces. For much of the time we were in the Northern Cape, enjoying the wide open spaces and rugged beauty of the Karoo.  The area is so sparsely populated that there is little or no Internet connection, so there was no real opportunity to do any blogging.

The road from Fraserburg to Sutherland is typical of the wide expanses and openness of the Northern Cape

Not being people who like being tied down to schedules, we only booked our first three nights accommodation and from there onwards, it was a matter of going where our whims and the road took us. Luckily Sue and I are both very flexible and made a few impromptu changes along the way and had a fantastic trip.