Road trip on the West Coast of South Africa

Hello dear people

Unfortunately, I have to change my platform. My Word version has expired and now I can't use this Word anymore. So if anyone has a Word registration code lying around at home, I'm a happy recipient of it ;-)

Now to something more interesting than Word keys. Last time I checked in, I was just starting my road trip. I was waiting for my credit card in Calvinia. It arrived and I continued my journey.

From Calvinia, I continued to Groblershoop. My destination was actually the Witsand National Park. But they didn't have any accommodation in the park. So I stayed a bit outside. A small village like there are many on this West Coast. Very small and not much going on. The West Coast in general is very deserted and monotonous. But that doesn't mean it's not beautiful. I really enjoyed the landscape, especially the Karoo, a semi-desert. You drive hundreds of kilometers straight and the landscape hardly changes. There are also very few cars coming the other way. Often there's no cell phone reception either. At the beginning, I was a bit uneasy about that. I wondered what would happen if my car broke down :-) Just to be safe, I watched a video on how to change tires in case of a flat.

So back to the topic. I visited the Witsand National Park. It's known for its sand dunes. You could rent a sandboard. So I had to climb up the dunes and then come down with the board. I was really excited about it. But the result was a bit disappointing. You move very slowly and can hardly steer, and it's tiring, I can tell you. Climbing up the dunes in the blazing sun wasn't just fun ;-)

Next, I went to Upington where I booked a safari. I was alone with the guide on the tour. We went to the Kalahari National Park and camped there for 3 days at the campground. The safari itself was very impressive and the guide by my side was very experienced and could tell me a lot about the animals. We saw lions, giraffes, cheetahs, springboks, hyenas, and more. Going on a safari feels a bit like gambling in a casino. You drive around for hours and maybe you don't see much, but on another day, you're so lucky and see lots of animals. It was a great experience and I will definitely do a 6-day safari in Kruger Park on my own next time :-)

After this safari, I had enough of the inland and really wanted to go to the coast and see the sea again. That day, I drove 950 kilometers and also visited the Augrabies National Park. I bought a Wildcard. Now I can enter most of the national parks in South Africa for free. Driving the car was always pretty easy and I hardly ever got tired. I passed the time with music, podcasts, and audiobooks.

So I reached the coast and stayed in Elands Bay for a few days. It's also a small sleepy village. There wasn't much going on. But I could go surfing for a few days.

But the highlight of the tour on the West Coast was the hike in the Cederberg. Again, I was with a guide. Teodor, about the same age as me, led me through the wild and deserted Cederberg Mountains. We slept in caves or simply on the ground. We cooked our meals over his gas stove and admired several sunsets and sunrises. Wow, how cheesy :-) The meals in the mountains taste so much better than down in the valley. Every time, we had a feast.

The scenery there was impressive. So wild and deserted. Very, very impressive. We didn't see a single soul in 3 days.

After a short stop in Langebaan, I drove back to Cape Town to say goodbye to the people there.

In summary, the West Coast is very interesting and impressive in terms of landscape, but it's also very deserted. It's not really touristy.

Since Monday, I've been traveling on the Garden Route by bus. My first stop was Mossel Bay, where I am writing these lines. The climate in this country is incredibly different. In the north, for example, Upington, it was already 30 degrees at 9 o'clock in the morning and it got up to 43 degrees hot. In Cape Town, it's often windy. It's hot during the day but quickly gets chilly in the evening and you need a sweater. Now on the Garden Route, everything is completely different again. Very humid and warm weather.

My plan is now to travel the entire other coast of South Africa. The East Coast. I am now traveling by bus to Durban. After that, I want to rent a car again.

See you