Sunday, 27 November 2011

A Pye interlude

On the spur of the moment Terry and I decided to head off from the Drakensberg to have a little time with the other girls so we left the Macs to return to Pretoria without us and have "time out" so to speak.






The Sinfonia in the background as we disembarked at the port of Durban before the Drakensberg reunion. 



The sea at Ballito where Kathy and Don live just north of Durban after a day of rain. So sorry not to have a nice picture of Don and Kathy to put here.



On our hired car - a personalised number plate for Gay at last!



Buying oranges as we drove through Zwa Zulu - at the heart of what used to be called Zululand. Note the hat made of plastic bags - not by me I hasten to add!



A little heart cry!
I hope you can read this. It was the sticker on the dashboard of our Hertz car!



Coffee stop in Zululand! 



Even this heavy mechanical digger had a Christian sticker on it! 



And so to Newcastle to see Ann and Bert's lovely new retirement home 



Overlooking Newcastle but Ann is by far the best part of this picture.
Ann was a bridesmaid at our wedding in 1973.
 



The morning we left Newcastle Nomsa, Ann's maid, sang to us. I tried to persuade her to come home with us to Borrowdale but she said she would miss Ann too much!! 

Saturday, 26 November 2011

What went ye out into the desert to see?

For some reason it has taken me ages to get this last part of our MacPye blog sorted. We had hoped to do it  as we travelled but there was no internet anywhere along the route for a whole week and for several days not even mobile phone coverage. How did they manage before technology? Anyway, we are back home in Pretoria now. In fact we leave for London tomorrow night hoping to creep under the wire before the threatened strike on Wednesday. We had lunch together today to celebrate Ed's birthday this coming Wednesday and to celebrate a momentous eight weeks together. But enough of that, in no particular order, some images of our final adventure together......





Roads we travelled....... 



Signs we saw.......




Terry making a fashion statement for desert travel?




Ed not only the driver but the barman handing out the drinks from the mobile bar


How Jessica travelled on the better roads!


Bird on a tree


                                                                       Bird behind a tree?






windmill in the Kalahari






wooden telephone poles in the Kalahari




visitors for breakfast






tented camp kitchen





tented camp bedroom




unpacking in the tent





view from tent bedroom






I found our retirement home at last

For days we travelled knowing something was not quite right and Ed knew exactly what the problem was. On our last day when we needed help there was plenty of it,





Broken pieces from the handbrake mechanistm that jammed the back wheel






when you come to the end of a perfect day........





getting them in



Another excellent braai....




We visited the Moffat Mission in Kuruman on the way to the Kalahari ....
Those early pioneers





We followed his footsteps and now we want to read his book



David Livingstone's house at Kuruman




On this printing press the first Bible in Africa was printed in Seswati by Robert Moffat.



Moffat mission ministers past and present?





Calling in for tea with Mary Moffatt



The church at Moffat Mission



She never could resist a pulpit




One of my favourite places even though there was nothing there except a fascinating little hotel. I am coming back to Africa one day just to stay in the hotel!



Vanzylsrus hotel toilet




A cup of tea at the end of a travelling day





Nossob camp at sunset



It ain't half hot here


The ever welcome swimming pool





coffee stop in the desert



Loo stop in the game park. We heard that a lion had been lying across the gate the day before and then someone else told us there had bee a snake in the ladies'loo! But as for us, lizards and mice.



Giraffe - a rare sight in the Kalahari



A beautiful glossy starling. You can still be beautiful even if you are very ordinary!


a bulbul


A nesting tree for the social weaver birds


social weavers' nest



No wonder they are called social wevers


our friend the Bee eater



Bateleur Eagle at a water hole



Steppe Eagle


ostrich - no shortage of them!


Gemsbok locking horns. The Kgalagadi park is famous for gemsbok.





wildebeest another common sight.


Gemsbok



Watching the prey




prowling lion



Four cheetahs under a tree - what a privilege to see them



Tired lion?


thirsty lion



Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun




Springbok. Although we saw many hundreds of them they never failed to delight us.




dawn at the hide waiting for visitors



Jessica in hiding



The reward for waiting - thirsty cheetah




Not at the same time - thirsty springbok


thirsty jackal




The way into the hide at Nossob


Kalahari sunset


Thank you so much for travelling with us. We have been delighted by the comments you have made both on and off the blog. By the time you read this our humble blog will have had over 3000 page views. It has been an amazing time together. We have slept in more beds than we can count and travelled thousands of miles.


There may be a postscript when we are back in Borrowdale but for now 
farewell from the Macs - Ed and Jessica, and the Pyes - Terry and Gay