What a day it has been! It was the longest driving day on the trip and a one filled with new discoveries and ending in adventure. But let’s start at the beginning…
I left Victoria West two hours late. Those who know me well will sigh and shake their heads knowingly. Time-keeping is not a strong point of mine. But I was in no rush to leave the Kingwill’s Guesthouse and the kind country folk in it, so I dawdled a bit. I drank tea, had breakfast and chatted. Only when Nell told me that my driving time would be about 10 hours did I decide to move a little faster. Out the door I scampered with two home-made muffins that I swiped from the breakfast buffet while Trevor waited patiently for me in the passenger seat.
First stop was Kambro Padstal just after Britstown, where we had a cup of tea in the little restaurant. They serve breakfasts and light meals and also have a bakery. Everything in the farm stall was in Afrikaans (including the music), but thankfully the menu was translated. Otherwise I may have ended up with something other than tea! After browsing through the jams and trinkets we re-joined the N12 with a springbok pie to add to the padkos stash.
It was a pretty drive, with yellow flowers lining the road and puffy clouds in the sky. We passed sheep (of course), cows, horses, windmills and people on bicycles. After Hopetown we crossed the magnificent Orange River and “popped” in at Biggi Popcorn factory. If Nell hadn’t told me about it we probably would’ve driven past. I love popcorn and this was too good an opportunity to miss. The factory was closed for the holidays, but the shop was open so we grabbed some microwave popcorn (R5 a packet!) and traditional cook-in-the-pot popcorn (R7 a bag!) I hope I don’t have to give them away at the roadblocks in Zim! I found out that Biggi Popcorn supplies various outlets in South Africa including Ster Kinekor. So the next time I have popcorn at the movies I will know where it came from! They also have customers in 25 countries, including Europe and the Middle East. Armed with new-found knowledge of the popcorn industry and a Ster Kinekor box of freshly popped corn, we carried on our journey.
Next stop was Kimberley where I tried to get foreign currency for Botswana and Zimbabwe. My thinking was where there are diamonds there must be Dollars. I was mistaken. I went to two malls and numerous banks, but found nothing. The banks didn’t have foreign currency tellers and there were no Bureau de Changes either. Most infuriating! The hour that I wasted trying to find Dollars could’ve been better spent either having a snack at The Kimberly Hotel or even visiting the Big Hole! I will have to go back to Kimberley again one day and do those very things. Knowing my luck I will stumble upon a Bureau de Change at the same time (they are everywhere when you don’t need them!)
At Warrenton we turned onto the N18 to Mafikeng. What a glorious road! A national road in great condition that goes through small towns and farms. There were maize fields (perhaps this where Biggi’s popcorn originates from?) and giant irrigation systems. The road was lined with trees and everything was so green! We passed Pumba’s Pub and Grilll (was tempted to stop and investigate, but time was fleeting) and a place called The Sheep Pen, which made me laugh out loud. I love the things you see on road trips. There were countless signs warning of sheep crossing, cows crossing, horses crossing and even tractors crossing, but the only thing I was worried about was guinnea fowl crossing – hitting one of those can seriously damage your car (and not nice for the guinnea fowl either). Luckily we didn’t hit any spotted birds, but the biggest challenge was yet to come.
The warning signs started just outside of Vryberg when giant drops of water fell out of the sky. At first I thought it was from birds flying above as there was little cloud cover, but then realised it was raindrops. Giant raindrops. From one cloud. By the time we passed Stella there was a glorious red sunset behind us and a lightning storm ahead of us. It was all quite beautiful and wonderfully “African”, but little did we know that we would drive right into the eye of the storm.
Blinding flashes of light with dramatic fork lightning and heavy rain reduced the last 40 kilometres into the capital of the North West Province to a slow drive. By the time we arrived it was after 20h00 and Friday night mayhem was in full swing. We had gone from the storm into a hurricane. A more deadly hurricane of taxi’s and lorriesin the rain. We couldn’t find the guest house and got lost downtown (which of course is exactly where you end up when you get lost). Everyone was trying to get somewhere in the pouring rain and at one point my little Getz was wedged between 3 taxis with a bakkie trying to cut in front. It was chaos! Trevor went pale and quietly slipped on his seatbelt and I tried to remember if I had the number of my insurance company in my phone.
We eventually got directions from a kind man at the petrol station who was cheerful and helpful despite having a blown tyre with no spare. When I thanked him for being so kind, he laughed and said “It’s no problem. I live here. I know where everything is!” Turns out he did indeed as his directions were spot on. A few potholes in the rain later and we found our abode for the night. The whole fiasco had taken almost an hour, but getting lost was worth it. We are staying in the Royal Fern suite at Ferns Country House and it is certainly fit for a king! The bathroom is divine with its black tiles and giant spa bath (pity it is too hot for a bath, but the shower is fabulous too) and the bedroom is quite opulent. I haven’t seen much of the rest of the place as it is dark and raining, but I will let you know about it tomorrow.
It’s been 10 hours behind the wheel, but it’s also been one of the best days of my life. I tend to agree with Jac Kerouac when he said, “the road is life”. If today had’ve been the day the world ended, I would’ve died happy. But thankfully it didn’t end as we’ve got a road trip through Botswana tomorrow! See you in Francistown. I hope the guys at the border are as helpful and kind as the chap with the blown tyre…
Ps. Don’t attempt to eat a pie while driving. You only end up with pie bits down your front and gravy on the steering wheel!
Follow me on Twitter, @Rachel_CapeTown (#ZimPilgrim), email me at [email protected], or keep an eye on my blogs on the Getaway website.
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