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SOUTH AFRICA MAPS + PLAN |
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The main purpose in South Africa is to visit a
project in Badhurst, and access the neighbouring countries. The entire tour will bring me through all the climatic areas and biomers, found in southern Africa. It looks like a 10.000 km drive, but I guess 15.000 is more realistic. I drove 15.000 km in Namibia alone. Below is a list of the routes I will take.
THE PLAN FOR SOUTH AFRICA - MK I (Changes might have to be made) First, I will visit the project, and get an idea of what the future involvement can be. Then I planned to buy a 4x4 and rig it for the tour, but I can't on a tourist visa. Renting a fully equipped 4X4 is quite expensive, and I can do with a normal car, while I stay at the project. The national parks, on the other hand, requires a rough 4X4, and due to the lack of hotels - at least in a affordable price class, the camper/roof-tent seems like a good choice. Unfortunately, the 4X4 is twice as expensive in Port Elizabeth compared with the best price in Johannesburg, and I have to flight back to get it. Solution: A small car for the first 17 days in the south, then a flight back to Johannesburg to pick-up the 4X4. The first stint is a rather fast tour from Johannesburg through Kroonstad to the Maseru Bridge border to Lesotho. Around 420 km. Back from Lesotho, another quick tour through Underberg, Pietermaritzburg, Ladysmith, Dundee, Vryheid and Mahamba to Swaziland. Another 550 km After Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Botswana, it is a 650 km drive through, Kuruman and Kimberley to reach Bloemfontain to drop-off the co-driver and see the botanical garden. Then up to Johannesburg to drop-off the 4X4 and a flight back to Port Elizabath to reach Badhurst and the project again. Another 650 km. After we got robbed, the plan changed, and we had to do a detour around Pretoria to get temporally passports, adding 1400 kilometres.
Then an additionally meeting with the board of the
project, and perhaps a cosy drive through the Garden
Route to gather inspiration and plants for the project,
while planning it. The Garden Route tour might be around
1000 km. For a first, I'll try to navigate by GPS. Quite fast, it turns out the addresses for the sights are not useful in a GPS. Most are simply the name of the state, nothing else. A combination of internet sites, Google Maps and aerial photos along with the route descriptions leads me to a set of coordinates, which can be programmed into the "Off-Line Maps" on my smartphone. I try to make a route, but even the first two sights are connected by a huge "G", covering the entire Lesotho. I would prefer a small "i"! That is going to be funny... |
To
plan my tour, I have found some maps.