South Africa + Namibia 2006
Namaqualand - Fish River Canyon - Namib Desert - The Great Karoo - Cape Town - Cape Winelands - The Klein Karoo - Goats

Flights

Day 1 - Saturday Aug. 19

Get to the airport bright and early - 5:30 AM at the latest!

In Chicago, exchange our Ameniti vouchers for admittance to the United Airlines lounge.

Sleep on the plane.

Day 2 - Sunday Aug. 20

Arrive Heathrow early in the morning. Clear Customs and find Mom and Dad! Spend the day ambling around the English countryside; return to Heathrow by 5 PM to check in for the overnight flight to Cape Town.

Day 3 - Monday Aug. 21

Arrive Cape Town Airport early morning. Pick up our Nissan X-Trail 4x4 from Hertz. Confirmation letter is here. Cost is approximately R7800 for the rental.

Pick up our rental car from Hertz and leave Cape Town to head north along the coast via Bloubergstrand towards Langebaan. The foreground to this spectacular view is a mass of yellow daisy-like 'perdeblom' and 'vygies'. Continue to Langebaan, where we visit the Postberg Nature Reserve, which boasts the greatest variety of birds, game and Sandveld flowers in the western Cape. Travel through Piketberg, over the Piekenierskloof pass and onto Clanwilliam to stay overnight at Ndedema Lodge in historic Park Street with its picturesque 1820 settler houses.

In the afternoon, visit the Ramskop Wild Flower Garden which probably has one of the best displays of wild flowers in the country and looks especially fine during the flower season and beyond.

Overnight at Ndedema Lodge in Clanwilliam. Cost is R760 including breakfast and taxes. Confirmation letter is here.

Day 4 - Tuesday Aug. 22

This morning continue northwards through the wide swaths of wild flowers to Springbok in the semi-desert area of Namaquland which comes alive each Spring. En route you visit the Skilpad Nature Reserve near Kamieskroon. Our exact route will depend on where the flowers are particularly fine. We stay overnight in Springbok.

Namaqualand, the coastal strip between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Karoo to the east, is a sun-scorched semi-desert for most of the year. But following the winter rains, the vast Sandveld plains are cloaked in the brilliant oranges, purples and yellows of spring flowers such as daisies, mesembryanthemums, lilies and many others.

Overnight Mountain View Guest House Springbok. Cost is R600 including breakfast and taxes. Confirmation letter is here.

Mountain View, as its name aptly describes, is situated high on a hill overlooking the picturesque and bustling Northern Cape town of Springbok.

Day 5 - Wednesday Aug. 23

After breakfast, visit the unspoiled beauty of the Goegap Nature Reserve which is a wild flower paradise and is particularly known for its succulents in the Hester Malan Wildflower Garden. It features 581 indigenous plant species, including one rare succulent found nowhere else in the world, the bizarrely formed Halfmens or 'half men', which look like an armless person - hence the name.

Day touring around Springbok. Namaqua National Park.

Overnight Mountain View Guest House Springbok. Cost is R600 including breakfast and taxes. Confirmation letter is here.

Day 6 - Thursday Aug. 24

In the morning, run for the Namibian border, taking time to stop and look at petroglyphs just W of the border crossing. After crossing the border, head for the Ai-Ais hot springs resort. Entry is N$170 for the both of us, and the restaurant opens at 12 noon for lunch. After eating and splashing around in the hot springs for a while, head up the road about an hour to the Fish River Canyon viewpoint and/or just check into our hotel.

Overnight at the Cañon Lodge near the Fish River Canyon. Confirmed. Cost is N$1,290 including breakfast and taxes. Waitlisting letter is here; version 2 of waitlisting is here. Final confirmation letter is here.

Day 7 - Friday Aug. 25

In the morning, return to the Fish River Canyon viewpoints if we haven't seen them already. Then, it's a long drive out to Lüderitz - just over 400km.

Overnight at the Nest Hotel, Lüderitz. Cost is N$999 including breakfast and taxes. Confirmation letter is here.

Day 8 - Saturday Aug. 26

Depart Lüderitz by 10 am for the long drive to the Sossusvlei Lodge. Stop at Kolmanskop en route.

Overnight at the Sossusvlei Lodge. Cost is N$2,118 including breakfast and taxes. Confirmation letter is here. [-> ["Dear Christopher, Thank you for credit card details received. Your booking have been confirmed. Kind regards, Rugaya.]

Day 9 - Sunday Aug. 27

In the morning, we'll get up before sunrise, have our breakfast, and head out to the dunes at Sossusvlei to watch the sun rise. Afterwards, we'll scoot along towards Walvis Bay and Swakopmund. [By the way - if we want to see the national aquarium in Swakopmund, it closes at 4 pm and won't be open on Monday.]

Overnight at Sam's Giardino for N$800. Confirmation letter is here.

Day 10 - Monday Aug. 28

In the morning, head out to the Welwitschia Drive after breakfast - after buying the appropriate permit at the Namibia Wildlife Resorts office in Swakopmund.

Overnight at Kashima Bed & Breakfast, Windhoek. Cost is N$347including breakfast and taxes. Confirmation letter is here. Pay cash.

Dinner is at Joe's Beerhouse.

Day 11 - Tuesday Aug. 29

In the morning, head out of town early as we've got over 500km to drive!

On the way south, consider stopping at the Hardap Dam game park and resort.

Overnight at the Pension Gessert, Keetmanshoop. Cost is N$400 including tax and breakfast. Confirmation letter is here.

Day 12 - Wednesday Aug. 30

After driving through the quiver tree forests near Keetmanshoop, head southeast for the border with South Africa. We'll probably opt to stay on the sealed road, arriving in Upington in the late afternoon. After a quick tour of Upington, head west on the sealed road to our hotel.

Overnight at Vergelegen, Kakamas. Cost is R530 including breakfast and taxes. Confirmation letter is here.

Day 13 - Thursday Aug. 31

In the morning, visit Augrabies Falls. If we can find it, visit the succulent nursery at Brabeesmond.

 Then, head southeast towards Brandvlei and then on to Calvinia. This is a fairly long driving day.

Overnight at Loggie's Lodge in Calvinia. Cost is R830 including dinner, bed, and breakfast. Confirmation letter is here.

Day 14 - Friday Sept. 1

Back to Cape Town. I've arranged for our 4x4 to be collected at our hotel at around 8 PM.

Overnight at Oceantide Apartments. Cost is R480 per night. Confirmation letter is here.

Day 15 - Saturday Sept. 2

Day tour of Cape Town with Klaus Pieper.

Day 16 - Sunday Sept. 3

In the morning, take the ferry to Robben Island. Afternoon shopping in Cape Town.

Day 17 - Monday Sept. 4

In the morning, sort out our rental car arrangements. Drive down to the Cape of Good Hope via Kirstenbosch. Overnight at Somerset West.

Dinner at D'Vine Restaurant at 730pm.

Overnight at Willowbrook Lodge. Cost is R500 including breakfast. Confirmation letter is here.

Day 18 - Tuesday Sept. 5

Wine country.

On the way over the Helshoogte pass to Franschhoek, stop at Tokara for lunch.

Overnight in Franschhoek at Vreugde, one of the Akademie Street Guesthouses. Cost is R700 per night including breakfast. Receipt of payment in full is here.

Dinner is 730pm at Reuben's. Confirmation is here.

Day 19 - Wednesday Sept. 6

Wine country. Overnight in Franschhoek.

Dinner is 730pm at the tasting room. Confirmation is here.

Day 20 - Thursday Sept. 7

In the morning, it's get up early and get on the road, arriving at the Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden soon after it opens at 7 am. When we're done, stop in at Kleinplasie for lunch and tour of the museum there - and get on the road by 3 pm for the short drive back to Cape Town.

On the way back to Cape Town, stop at Fairview winery for a tasting - and goats!

Arrive Cape Town airport by 5 PM. Check in for overnight flight to Heathrow

Day 21 - Friday Sept. 8

Arrive Heathrow around 7 AM. Take the bus to Sutton; take a nap. Then, go into town for shopping and bears night at the Kings Arms.

Day 22 - Saturday Sept. 9

Free day in London! Go supermarket shopping for tea and Foamburst. Go to XXL if it's on tonight.

Day 23 - Sunday Sept. 10

Leave the Pratt Flat for Heathrow airport at 8 AM. Arrive by 9 AM and check in for flight to Chicago and Seattle. Use Ameniti voucher for United lounge at Heathrow.

Arrive Seattle 6:46 PM - drive to Salmonberg - sleep.

End of vacation.