January 14-31: Cape Town, South Africa

Over the past 2 weeks, Maarten and I have been pleasantly “stuck” in Cape Town, making all the final preparations for the next five months on the road. Our vehicle has been in the shop, getting some routine maintenance done and a few new parts put on; we have had a 5-hour immersion course on “how to fix your Toyota if/when stranded in the bush”; we’ve been frantically running around buying camping gear, tools and spare parts for the truck, and food for the next few months; and Maarten has been making all sorts of modifications to the vehicle to make it Africa-proof!

New and improved Hilux with aluminum canopy and rooftop tent

The best part is that we now have a snazzy new canopy and rooftop tent on the back of the Hilux, thanks to Brian and June Flanagan (friends of the Braithwaite family). The Flanagans took the canopy on the Cape to Cairo overland route last year, and as it is now covered in African flags and the obligatory Hakuna Matata bumper sticker, it never fails to get attention wherever we go with it. Most people seem genuinely interested in what we are about to do!

Penguin Colony, Betty's Bay

In addition to all of the days spent on trip preparation, we’ve managed to find some time to hang out on the beach, climb up Table Mountain, go fly fishing on the Elandspad River, spend a day at the Mudge’s cottage at Hangklip picking mussels and catching lobster from the rocks, visit the penguin colony at Betty’s Bay, attend a few braais (barbeques, for you non-South Africans!), go to a local play called Footsteps to Freedom at the Cape Town Waterfront, and spend an afternoon near the Cape Point Nature Reserve with a bunch of happy hippies (some things are the same no matter where you go!) listening to a local band called Hot Water.

Lobster that Maarten and Anthony caught at The Rocks cottage

Closeup!

We have made quite a few new friends, and Maarten has renewed many of his old friendships. It has been good fun spending so much time in Cape Town, but we are both itching to finally get on the road and start our trip. Our plan is to leave this Friday, and begin driving along the east coast of South Africa, toward Mozambique. We are a bit worried about of all of the flooding that has been going on for the last month in Mozambique (no snorkel on the truck), and about all the violence that continues in Kenya (no body armor either!). Our route may have to change somewhat, but we will deal with it as we learn more and get closer to those countries.

Hanging out with the hippies and our new friend, Jock, at the Hot Water show