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The Road to Mokala, Part 4 - Vermilion, Ochre and Gold

January 22, 2018

Squarely sitting off the beaten track, Mokala National Park is remote enough that a lengthy dirt road approach would be required. Our paper map and Google's insights seemingly as prone to disagreement in second class areas of the Third World as the political factions that divide them, we hesitated and finally gambled on an early branch off from the N12 and a surreptitious arrival from below. A rather perfidious absence of any road signs or directions to the park was unnerving, and when the road turned into a...

The Road to Mokala, Part 3 - Of Elephants and Mousebirds

December 31, 2017

A couple of eventful years ago, after driving up the spine of South Africa while wearily watching the glow of a lit t-belt light, our initial reward upon entering Kruger through the Orpen gate had been elephants, my first encounter with them in the wild. From neurotic mud-covered attractions swaying at the far corner of a smelly zoo enclosure, the magnificent giants had metamorphosed before my amazed eyes into the largest land mammals alive, and a force of nature to be reckoned with. Mud-encrusted wisdom - Addo Elephant...

The Road to Mokala, Part 2 - Ride of the Tsitsikamma Dolphins

November 18, 2017

Dutifully purring her way up Sir Lowry's Pass on Cape Town's eastern flank with the Hottentot-Hollands peaks rising above us like unbelieving eyebrows, our beloved Landcruiser Mogashagasha, locked and loaded for a week-long foray far into the Northern Cape, felt about as comfortable to me as the proverbial saddle we were back in. Vinyl might have replaced worn-out leather and a weathered hat was still to come, but the rhythm was there and empty, beautiful space lay ahead. We had planned on exiting Constantia at...

The Quest for Meeleon

September 15, 2016

It's a long love story. Back in 2008, upon my first visit to South Africa and after hearing from various Cape Town informants that elusive chameleons were possibly to be found nearby, I set out on a quest to seek out new life and new reptile civilization, to boldly go find what I had never found before. Unknown to me, I had begun the unlikely search for Meeleon. After much staring at bushes under the quizzical looks of dog-walkers who could not understand why I seemingly ignored the two good looking corgis that...

Out of Africa

August 28, 2016

For now, however, a glimpse of the Karoo's perfect solitude. Empty...

The Namaqualand Bloom, Part 5 - Luxing Out at Babylonstoren

April 5, 2016

Having disdainfully discarded the main artery option and instead opting for a rougher drive south on yet another isolated dirt road, we sliced our way through beautifully empty Karoo-like scenery, stacked landscape layers fading to the horizon like memories in a tired mind, losing sharpness as they grew distant. Karoo In Clanwilliam, we rejoined the busy N7 exactly at the point where major roadwork had impressed us on the way up. It did again. Of massive proportions, the project featured its own cement factory and a...

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