the last post

THE LAST POST
Thanks to our family at home for keeping the farm running so well and for looking after our parents, houses and pets and thanks to all our friends for their support.
Nev’s summary:
My African Dream is over. My first objective was to see the pyramids from the Landy. My second was to complete Africa and enter Europe and reach London.
My six highlights in Africa in order are:
1 Sudan: People, country, heat, desert, Wadi Halfa
2 Uganda: Rafting down the Nile
3 Kenya: Lake Turkana
4 Ethiopia: (believe it or not) The different people, the churches which drove me mad, Axum, the farming (and potential), the mountains
5 Egypt: So different from the rest of Africa, (like SA is so different)
6 Libya: so controlled, the poor women who are treated worse than dogs.
My highlights in Europe:
Slovenia: People, caves, subsistence farming.

My lows were
Loosing the camera and video in Tunis
putsy flies in Uganda
The mad men in The DRC
Sitting on the ferry in the heat for four hours in Aswan
not having spent more time in Tiwi beach (Kenya), Zanzibar, the South Omo (Ethiopia), Libian Desert, Sudan’s desert and coast, and the Egyptian Black and White deserts.
Would I do it again? YES
Would I do it differently? YES:

OBSERVATIONS:
1 Africa is not for sissies.
2 Take less stuff, one can always buy on the way. Clothes, food, Toilet rolls, even fuel
3 Be independent of others, Africa can be done in one vehicle as you meet up with people all along.
4 Go slower, spend more time getting to know the people.
5 We should have gone through the Serengetti into Kenya, and along Lake Turkana, north into the South Omo in Ethiopia.

Advice:
1 Do not alter your basic vehicle.
2 Don’t put in electronic switches when you can use manual.
3 Start with new batteries
4 Do not weld your side shafts (all the welded ones broke)
5 Take good tyres and don’t hit potholes in the tar. (Coopers STT only 2 punctures in 43000Km)
6 Load the heavy things in the middle at the bottom, not at the back or up top.
7 From Ethiopia north, the vehicles are ‘left-hand drive’, and ‘right-hand drive’ vehicle spares are not always available.
8 Speed is less important than the right gear ratios as most African road are not in ‘speed’ condition and you use far less fuel.
9 Do not take a doxycycline prophylactic for malaria. At least five of the eight of us has adverse skin reactions and we do not know what other long term conditions like loss of eye sight and bad teeth we are still going to experience.
10 Pack so that daily requisites are easily available, and the other stuff is accessible.
11 Fuel is generally available, fuel capacity for 1000Km is more than enough. Fuel consumption is important as fuel is expensive south of the Egypt. Diesel is much cheaper than petrol.
12 Choose your traveling companions with great care, and if you think you should part company, do so sooner rather than later. They should have the similar interests, time available and financial constraints as you have.
13 Eastern Africa is much safer than you think, and in preparation, far more scary than in actuality.
14 Follow the weather patterns carefully. Preferably leave in September to avoid the rainy seasons and the heat of Sudan.
15 We love our Landy!!!! She did us well.


Lorraine’s summary
1 SOUTH AFRICA
My home, always where the heart is.

2. BOTSWANA
The country is stable and un-corrupt. However it has one of the best wild animal experiences to offer. This trip we just zipped through in transit.

3. ZAMBIA
We got here in March and it was still too wet to go to the places not explored on previous trips, or places we really enjoyed previously. The tsetse flies in Kafui were horrific, as they were last time we tried the reserve.
Zambia is still one of my favourite countries.

4. MALAWE
We only went to the northern area and experienced the snorkeling in Lake Malawe, the scenery around Livingstonia and the Nyika Plateau.

5. TANZANIA
Interesting (terrible) roads, fertile and well developed agriculture. Dar es Salaam. Fantastic beaches, Serengetti, Ngorogoro Crater, Mt Kiliminjaro, the Masaai people, the artistic carvings and creative abilities are the things that stand out in my memories. Bicycles are the main transport mechanism and they use them to transport everything, literally. Zanzibar and Stone Town.

6. UGANDA
White water rafting down the White Nile at Jinja near Lake Victoria. Kampala. The delicious fruit. The Murchison Falls. Queen Elizabeth Park. Chimp tracking in the Kibale Forest and the terrible putsy flies. Shoebill and the airport at Enthebe.

7. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
My experience is limited to the gorilla tracking in the Varunga mountains and in getting through the border. My impression from the bad state of the vehicles and the wooden scooters with wooden wheels, which appeared to be the main method of agricultural transport was that the country is a very poor one.
From the armed guards which were required to accompany us everywhere makes me wonder about the general safety in the country.
From the strange and aggressive behaviour of two of the men at the border makes me think that the ongoing wars have had a bad psychological effect on some of the people.
From the fact that we had to go twice through the border, as the first time was not properly organized, makes me wonder about their organizational abilities.
The country around the border with Uganda appears tropical and fertile and very highly populated.
Although it was a wonderful experience to get so close to the gorillas, the overall impression I got of the country was not good.

8. RWANDA
Three days is really not enough to form a complete idea. However I get the impression that the people are slowly healing, although the history of the Hutu vs Tutsi genocide is still very real and present in their minds. They are way over populated, and they looked at me with almost fear and suspicion until I caught their eye and smiled, at which the lights were switched on in their eyes and the friendliness and contact was very moving.
The country is litter-less, full of flowers and the people trying to unite to heal the past.
Every single square inch of ground is under the plough.


9. KENYA
The Rift Valley Lakes of Borgoria, Magadi. The culturally rich and fertile area around Mt Elgon. Masai Mara. Mt Kenya. Lake Turkana. Fossils of …. near Lake Magadi and Lake Turkana. Nairobi. The fantastic beaches (Tiwi). Lamu Island.

10. ETHIOPIA
A totally unique country in Africa from the time you enter across the border to the time you step over the border again. They have their own unique language, alphabet, food, religion, time and calendar. They have many different and totally unique cultures, especially in the South Omo Valley. They have a rich archeological heritage which they are proud of, and is fascinating. They have a scenically spectacular and diverse country ranging from steep, moist and cold mountains to flat, hot and dry desert to fertile, flat and agriculturally perfect midlands. The potential of the fertile volcanic soil is being wasted in inefficient agriculture and loss of soil by erosion. The universal culture of begging, and the resultant receiving of donations of food from the outside world has made them lazy and dependant on these donations. Any development is done by foreign governments or companies. Their time is spent either involved in religious activities, having coffee ceremonies, or ‘chat’ parties. The basic populace has no concept of respect for general privacy, nor of basic hygienic toilet facilities. Agriculturally it is like stepping back 2000 years where the subsistence farmers plough with oxen, sew, weed, and reap (mostly the very low-yielding crop of teff) by hand.


11. SUDAN
Although a Muslem and policed state, in a state of war in places, and although we entered at the end of summer and the heat was at times quite a challenge, the general safety and the open and kind hospitality of the people were outstanding highlights of my trip. The ability to drive off into the desert and camp behind a dune in safety and privacy contrasted hugely with the ‘Ethiopian’ experience.
Wadi Halfa: The name conjures up the sprawling, hot, dry, dusty but loveable laid-back town which is a meeting place of travelers from Egypt in the north and Sudan from the south.

12. EGYPT
Money seems to run everything. They expect to be paid even just for pointing you in the right direction, which they more often don’t do. They hassle you to part with your money, but respect a person who shows them a bit of respect by trying to speak Arabic, and listening to them for a second. They treated us from South Africa differently from those tourists in ‘group tours’. Bustling, vibrant, cosmopolitan but friendly. Cairo is unique. Sinai and the west coast of Dahab, diving/snorkeling. Oil wells. Tourist resorts up the west coast. The Red Sea and the gulf of Aqaba. Siwa Oasis.

13. LIBYA
Libya is a land of untapped potential. It is a rich land due to the abundance of the desirable oils fields which is its wealth at present, but could also be its downfall. Inasmuch as the wealth it has created, as well as its restrictive and controlled police and Muslem culture seems to be stifling creativity and growth is all other areas eg manufacturing, research and development. Compared with its immediate neighbours, Egypt to the east and Tunisia to the west, which are both very effectively selling their culture, desert scenery, coastal activities and marine life, Libya is very much behind. Not only that, the cheap products of oil, viz plastic, in the shape of disposable bags and bottles, combined with the lack of policy regarding disposal of waste and litter causes unsightly mess. The mandatory traveling with an escort is expensive, claustrophobic and restrictive. It prevents contact with the general populace, so one cannot get to know the people, but it does make traveling in a country where you cannot speak the language much easier.

14. TUNISIA
Lack of information with respect to books on the country made me feel that we were wasting our time and not seeing the parts that we should have seen. Also we were really only had a transit visa, so did not have enough time to get to know the country. Tunis is still the most beautiful city in its bright white buildings set around the lakes. Matmata and its troglodyte community of 500 years. Chott el Jira, salt lake. Dates in Nefta. Camping in the desert with the flies. Green mountains full of olives. The cork and oak forests. Biserte and the old city with the saunas in action. Tabarka and the yacht club.

Europe

Friday 9th November 2007 Daphne, Edinburgh
We woke up early to a clear sky and stars. We packed u in the dark, and it was so cold the zip on the tent wouldn’t close and our hands wouldn’t work. It took us half an hour of warming the zip with water to get to close. By then it had started to sleet. We traveled towards Calais and the Channel Tunnel as we wanted to experience it rather than go over another ferry. The procedure was very slick and smoothe and we drove straight onto the train into linked coaches and along the train till we were told to stop. As we went through the tunnel our ears clicked from the pressure, and the trip was quite bumpy as they had not had time to pump up the stabilizers (they apologized). At Dover we drove off with no stopping as our passports had been checked in Calais. All this time in Europe we went through borders with no border posts. Not once did anyone ask for or require the carnet or any car papers or insurance.
We drove towards London and met with Sam of Easy Shipping Limited. We parted with our Landy at Southampton which had done us so well, being our home and transport, with so little trouble and only two punctures, and so ended our trip of eight months through Africa and Europe. We now go to Daphne in Scotland and then fly home to our family.


Thursday 8th November 2007 Farm camping, France
We left the hotel very early in the dark (it got light after 8am), having decided we have seen enough of Europe for now as the weather is not favourable. We traveled past Baden-Baden (Kargs origin) and Heidelberg (Laue origin). Lots of vineyards around Baden-Baden. The country in south Germany is very industrialized, so we are glad our ancestors emigrated to SA. As we entered Luxembourg the land was flatter, there were less forests and farms looked larger. Luxembourg was similar to Belgium except the price of fuel was R10/l whereas in Germany and Belgium was R14/l.In Belgium the farming changed to neat, fenced-off larger farms. The cattle were mainly Charolais crosses, shorthorns and frieslands. The cattle were very fat. Belgium seemed far less populated than Germany. The animals were grazing whereas before they were housed, with no fences in the fields. (Bearing in mind that these opinions were formed from the view of the Landy on freeways, and we haven’t really given these countries much time, and our impressions are open to review.) Belgium looks a nice peaceful place to farm. Then we went into France with large farms, big tractors (100KWatt+), lots of implements, big barns, large herds of cattle grazing. No wonder Germany wanted France. We didn’t find that the vehicle drivers were impatient or aggressive.
We found a farm camp to sleep. We knew after an hour that we had made the wrong decision to camp as it started to rain bitterly cold rain (dropped down to 4deg) and the wind blew hard, but by then we had cooked and eaten our last meat (camel from Libya), we were back in our own little home in bed in the tent and had one of the best nights sleep for long time.


Wednesday 7th November 2007 Hotel Rezidenz, Pforzheim, Germany
We spoke to the 80 year old father on the farm and he very proudly told us that 40yrs ago he exported a Pinzgaur bull to South Africa. It had snowed during the night and Landy had 6cm of snow on her. On the way to Germany it rained. Yesterday the scenery changed magically from green and gold to white and geys. Today as we dropped in altitude it changed again, back to green and gold.
At first there were mountains similar to Austria, but Germany isn’t as neat and tidy or as pretty as Austria. As we neared Munich, the land flattened out and the fantastically flat farmland was planted to maize, wheat, ryegrass, and sugarbeet. Germany’s small villages are big towns and cities. The highways are absolutely packed with cars and there were at least 3 traffic jams of more than 10Km long on the east-bound 3-laned double autobahn. We were traveling westwards, and there were certain sections with no speed restrictions and some cars passed us going over 160Km/hr. Drivers here seem tense and Landy got hooted at quite often (and quite unnecessarily) in an aggressive manner, quite unlike the hooting in Africa, which was more informative than derisive. When we first arrived in Germany, there were so many signs off the Autobahns directing us to Ausfahrt, that we thought “All roads lead to Ausfahrt”, until we realized that Ausfahrt meant exit!

Tuesday 6th November 2007, Holts Farm B&B near Salzburg, Austria
We left the apartment in Slovenia and traveled towards Austria. At the border we went through a tunnel under the Alps from Slovenia to Austria of 8.4Km. Still no problems with going from one country to another, they just look at the passports and let us through. Austria is just like the postcards you always see. Can it get any more beautiful? Austria is similar to Slovenia but better. Our journey has been like taking little steps up from third world to first world, every country a bit more organized, a bit cleaner, farmed a bit better. We climbed towards the Alps at nearly 2000m, it got to -4deg, snowing and the snow was lying 30cm in places. We jumped out and had a snow ball fight for two snowballs and then jumped back inside the Landy. Having been through places like Sudan at over 50 deg, we weren’t really equipped or dressed to play in -4deg. All the hotels and apartments were closed as the season hadn’t started so we couldn’t get a place to stay up there in the mountains. The snow machines were switched on and were making extra snow for the ski runs.
We found a B&B on a dairy farm near Salzburg where all (40 Siementalers) of his cattle are housed for 7 months of the year, and he is considered one of the biggest dairy farmers in Austria. The farmer and his son are the only workers and milk with 4 machines. They get R4/l for their milk. Diesel costs R12/l.

Slovenia

Monday 5th November 2007 An apartment in hotel in Bled, Slovenia
We left the B&B having chatted with Ivanka, the owner about Slovenia. She said one of the biggest problems is the subsistence farming. People have between 3Ha and 56Ha of land, but the area could be in 10 different blocks varying from 1/3Ha upwards, and no-one will sell their land for sentimental reasons as it has been in the family for generations. We encountered a similar thing in Holland when we were there. So driving along we see little patches of maize 8m wide by 100m, which is one of the sections. So nothing can be farmed on a commercial scale. They have small tractors, mostly old like Massey Fergusson 35. The crops we have seen is mainly maize, rye grass, vineyards and orchards and many, many little vegetable gardens. She said there is very strict control of everything. The cows all have to be numbered, and if they don't have a number the owner is heavily fined. The villages are double-storied, free standing, quaint, clean, old but well maintained with geranium flowers in pots on the balconies. There are no fences or walls between the houses, the dogs are caged and the cattle are in small barns. A group of farmers form a co-op and milk their two cows each and pool their milk. She says the co-ops don't work too well as some farmers don't care about quality so they all get a lower price averaging R5/l. The farmers are poor, most leaving the land to try to find jobs.
A nice house, double storied with central heating for R400,000. She says half the population of Slovenia work outside the country.
We skirted the capital, Ljubljana, which is smaller than Pietermaritzburg, where there were lots of blocks of flats for residents. We went into a giant 4-story furniture/electronic/home store, where things cost a bit more than in SA.
Diesel costs R10/l and long-life milk R8 to R10/l. Meat is about 50% more than in SA. We are struck by the picturesque beauty of the place with little villages in green valleys set against the backdrop of distant snow covered mountains.

Sunday 4th November 2007 Logar B&B, Cercnika, Slovenia
Woke up, looked at the map and we had to decide whether to go to Amsterdam via France, Switzerland or Austria so we chose Slovenia.
The rest of Italy was flat agricultural land with mainly grapes, fruit trees and a bit of maize, wheat and lucerne. The Alps were on the left of us all the way with snow in the distance, we were only 300m above sea level.
At the border the officials didn't quite know what to do with us because the Schengen visa didn't cover Slovenia and Africans don't go through that border. Eventually they just gave us our passports back and let us pass without stamping them. We were surprised that he could speak English as hardly any Italians outside the tourist area could.
The country became more hilly with smaller valleys and the farms looked very 'bitty' like subsistence farmers, small patches of maize or rye grass or vineyards etc. All the hillsides were covered in beautiful trees full with their Autumn colour. We came across a toll in the freeway and worried about the currency, luckily it is Euro so we proceeded without problems. We have never entered a country so blindly and un-researched. We are now exploring again and are much happier than being a tourist.
The pretty little villages dotted around, some consisting of only ten houses, with colourful flowers outside in the yards, a bit like Scotland, but less inhabited.
After 100Km we came across a sign to Postjana Caves so we impulsively decided to investigate. They were like Cango X50!!! We went via a little electric train for 2Km into the mountain, walked around for 2Km and then went out by train again. We just kept saying Wow round every corner at the magnificent stalagmites and stalactites. The lighting lit up the formations to perfection. We always explore caves, and they are by far the best we have seen. The river (size of the Mooi) that made the caves is now running 50m underground underneath the existing caves which run 20Km into the mountain.
So far this country has good roads, the houses are more free standing than in Italy, and people can speak English! In Italy the women are very fashion conscious and all dressed the same, and if you look different from them, they look you up and down quite blatantly. They lack smile muscles, and we joked that anyone we saw smiling could not have been Italian. Here they are far more down-to-earth.
We found this B&B as it is getting too cold to camp comfortably.

Venice, Italy

Saturday 3rd November 2007 International Camping, Venice
We watched from our tent as an obviously new camper van was being leveled by a husband watched by a critical wife. We couldn't hear anything, but the body language was obvious. He had stabilized the front, but too high, while she kept checking to see if it was level (it must have had a level inside on the cupboard) while he cranked and cranked the back higher and higher. Eventually she took over the cranking, then suddenly limped off rubbing her knee the crank handle having come off and knocked her knee. They got a big hammer and knocked bocks underneath the wheels, which attracted a bigger audience, and just served to push the blocks into the ground while not raising the camper at all, amid much Italian arm-gesticulations. We laughed for ages.
Nev did the washing this morning (as he usually does), he hung it up to dry and we prepared to leave to catch the ferry to Venice again. He couldn't find the tickets and eventually, muttering and swearing, came around the Landy with little pieces of soggy paper in his hand. We had to buy new tickets.
Nev said "when in Venice do as the Venezuelans do", so we wondered around Venice, soaking up the atmosphere and getting lost and taking it easy trying to decide whether to send the Landy home or leave it here. Internets are very expensive R100/hr, in Tunisia R5/hr.
Everyone is walled in either for security or privacy and they all have burglar guards on the windows which surprises us as crime does not seem to be a problem. There are HUGE mozzies here, although there is snow on the mountains in the distance, and they are still nipping us.
Today we are off to Slovinia.

Friday 2nd November 2007 International Camping Venice
We traveled towards Venice over the Po River and although we are 100Km from the sea, we are only 2m above sea level. The area is flat flat flat, and they grow maize, wheat, lots of orchards and vines and the lands extend for kilometers. The rivers are above land level and are canalized, with dykes to prevent flooding. There were signs of flood irrigation.
In the afternoon we went from the campsite via a ferry to Venice. 20m from our Landy huge ships pass up and down a deepened canal at the edge of the bay to the harbour. We can see the skyline and buildings of Venice over the bay from our campsite.
Venice is similar to Zanzibar with its narrow, windy streets and lots of little shops and hotels. The difference is that Venice is first world, (and has canals) whereas Zanzibar is 3rd (or 8th). There were 1000s of tourists. We gazed at all the artistic glassware, artwork, masks, chocolates, clothing, and gaped at the prices. It cost R10 to go to the loo.
We arrived back to a chilly cloudless camp, like May weather at home.

Thursday 1st November 2007 AND Wednesday 31st October 2007
International Camping, Firenze (Florence)
We traveled to Florence from Rome through hilly, Autumn coloured forests with very little agriculture and we wondered where the Italians were growing their food. Just before Florence the land flattened out. The soil is full of clay and the farmers battle with the hard lumps when ploughing. We arrived at Florence in the afternoon and had a violent thunderstorm and it poured with rain, but the next morning was cold and clear and we did the Florence thing. By this time we had seen enough of churches, having seen the best at the Vatican.
The statues of course were stunning, especially the bronzes and the marbles. Somehow we missed seeing 'David', but saw a monestary with parchment (calf-skin) books from 1200 years ago. Anything beautiful or lasting has some connection with religion, whether Christian here, or Muslem in Egypt, or ancient tombs in North Africa.
Florence is a very beautiful city, not as good as Rome though, with clean, cobbled streets. We had to catch a bus into Florence and back and nearly froze to death waiting for it on the return journey. We had decided to start walking home when it came, luckily because the campsite was 6Km away. We bought a book about the Medici family to acquaint ourselves with the history of banking there.

Tuesday 30th October 2007 AND Monday 29th October 2007
Happy Campers, Rome
We did the 'tourist in Rome' thing. Nev really battled. Up to now he has been a traveler, now he feels like a tourist. We feel we did the trip from the right direction because Rome is the pinnacle of the ancient civilization, although many ruins in Egypt and Libya are in better condition.
The campsite provides a shuttle service every half hour to the train which gets you to the underground, which takes you nearly everywhere in Rome, and from there you can take busses. Very easy, but we walked and walked and came back to nurse blisters. The Colosseum is awe-inspiring in its enormity, still being restored. Then we stopped looking at ruins as we were all ruined-out by this time. We paid R50 each for huge delicious ice creams and ate them watching the Trevi fountain, which had been cleaned of the red paint by then.
Even Nev agrees that in the Vatican the decoration and architecture in St Paul's Basilica is truly awesome, and the paintings of Raphael and Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel are worth the wait in the two-hour long queues. All the tour groups were walking through the long corridor called 'Raphael's Logge' looking up at the ceiling and looking at the paintings on the walls, not noticing that if they stopped and turned around, all the paintings would make sense and not appear upside down. We met two New Zealanders there whom we had met before, Paula and John McClean who agreed that we should be walking in the opposite direction.
Rome Centre is quite compact and every piazza has a beautiful water feature. The streets are cobbled and the alleys narrow. You can walk across the heavily trafficked road at any zebra crossing and the cars all stop to let you pass. Luckily Nev didn't drive in Rome, he would have forgotten to stop.

In Italy now, the fashion is to wear black, no colour, and when it rained all the old colourful raincoats, umbrellas etc were hauled out, although when we passed all the fashion houses at the Piazza de Spagna, colour for the coming winter was again being displayed

Sunday 28th October 2007 Happy Campers, Rome
The Italians had the last laugh. They went to Ethiopia and taught them how to make bathrooms with toilets and showers and a drainage point in the middle of the floor. Then the Ethiopians drove them out before they told them their secret, and the Italians left them to wallow in their own sh.. and sewerage. The secret: a little water trap in the drains to prevent the smells coming up from the sewerage pipes.
We drove up the long windy road to near the top of Vesuvius and had to walk up the last kilometer. There is no crater lake although the crater is very steep and deep, 460m across, but there are 'fumeroles', (smouldering whisps of sulpherous gas). Before it erupted in 79AD there were earthquakes and the Pompei-ans used to run into the street, put their hands up and ask the gods for forgiveness, and of course the earthquakes would stop after 45 seconds. When the fatal eruption occurred they thought the gods were very angry and so it caught them unexpectedly.
Then we found out that the saying is correct. All roads do lead to Rome, even from Sudan's Wadi Halfa which felt like the end of the world.
Happy Campers is one of the best serviced campsite since Warmbaths in SA.

Pompei, Italy

Saturday 27th October 2007 Certe Notti B&B Pompei
We went today using the train and metro to National Museum at Napoli to see the recovered treasures from Pompei. It taught us that nothing has changed over the last 2500 years, even the instruments found in the doctor's house are similar to today's. Axes, chisels, coins and Ethiopian ploughs are exactly the same as they were here in 200BC.
Some of the statues and frescoes (paintings on the walls) were like new. The floor mosaics were so delicate and intricate that leaving them on the floor would have ruined them, so they have been well restored and preserved in the museum.
We visited the little church of San Siviero where there are famous (well deserved fame) marble statues of "the Veiled Christ" and a fisherman wrapped in his fishing net. You would never say they had been chiseled out of marble, they were so delicate and well done. The best, however for me was a marble statue of a man climbing out of his coffin, looking, so deathly white and ghostly, I was sure the sculptor had a warped sense of humour.
There is graffiti everywhere, no wonder they have the reputation for being such good artists. It is on the train, on the stations, on the walls, just everywhere. Some is actually quite colourful. On our way home on the train we stopped at Erculano, (Herculaneum) the other city wiped out by Vesuvius in 79AD. It was a port town with narrower streets and smaller than Pompei, although the houses were probably more luxurious. They haven't even excavated ¼ yet as the old city lies underneath the new one. It wasn't as devastated as Pompei, although it was hit by all five 'surge clouds' Pompei was hit by three, and amazingly some of the buildings' roofs are still intact. Buried under 12m of ash and lava the city has been beautifully preserved. Every house had mosaic floors, magnificent wall paintings on every wall of every room, and most had a courtyard with a water feature and a garden enclosed in a roofed quadrangle. Scorched to charcoal by the heat, and thus preserved, are papyrus scrolls from one house and wooden beams in the houses all over. Walnuts in a dish here, a sandwich there, even wax writing tablets with the wax not melted were preserved by 'shock cocoons' when all else in the room was devastated. I enjoyed Erculano better than Pompei.

Friday 26th October 2007 Certe Notti B&B Pompei
I had just read a fascinating book about Pompei and Herculaneum, (Ghosts of Vesuvius by Charles Pellegrino) so today was really exciting for me to visit the old city of Pompei which was buried 12m under volcanic ash after Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. Pompei was a large Roman city from 500BC to 79AD. The Italians rediscovered it in the 1500s while digging an irrigation canal, but only started excavations in the 1800s and it is a work in progress, as we saw them injecting glue into walls, stabilizing the plaster, digging, erecting scaffolding and restoring.
The town is very similar to the old Roman towns we saw in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, but this one retained the obvious affluence of general populous. They had slave chambers, servants quarters, beautiful murals and intricate mosaic floors. They had been using pressurized tapped water from towers to the houses through lead pipes. The streets were paved with huge slabs of rocks with grooves worn down by the cart wheels. The streets had gutters, pavements, and the road was recessed half a meter down from the pavements with stepping stones at pavement level across the streets. Speed was already a problem, as there were speed bumps in the streets. Security for the shops was addressed by having sliding doors which slid along the grooves in the door step.
The hollows left by the decomposed bodies in the ash have been filled with plaster, and then excavated, resulting in plaster moulds of the people who died in the surge clouds. Sometimes whole families died together. A lone cast of a dog with its chain at the end of its tether died in agony by suffocation as it could no longer climb up the mounting ash. We spent six hours there, and could have spent days exploring. Many of the houses are closed to visitors because they are still being restored.
We are now exhausted because we are so unfit!!
At the restaurant a ham roll cost R50 and 500ml water R15 so although we bought the water, we didn't eat till we returned to the Landy.
Diesel fuel is R12.50/l, but milk is 'only' R9/l. Meat costs about R90/Kg, but then a cooked medium sized chicken costs R40.

Thursday 25th October 2007 Certe Notti B&B Pompei
We decided to proceed straight towards Pompei. We went through some nice farm land today in between the mountains, but not a large area.
We even saw one pivot and a lot of "I"&P. They had planted mainly fruit trees and vegetables under plastic tunnels and a bit of lucern.
We saw one large dairy farm. Most of beef cattle we have seen have been nice Charolais. Unusually, we can see more from the freeways here than the little byways (except in the tunnels) because of the trees next to the roads. The first tunnel we went into Nev was frantically looking for the light switch. I couldn't make out what the panic was because the lights were on. Then he realized he couldn't see because he had his dark glasses on. He said: "Shoo, what a relief to be able to see". I nearly wet myself!
The Italian's favourite hobby is making tunnels. Sometimes in a 10Km section of road we go through 10 tunnels of between 200m and 1Km long.
The roads are excellent and we are convinced that as soon as they have nothing to do they say: "Where can we build a tunnel?" Sometimes there are tunnels even where we wouldn't put a tunnel. The Italians are also the worst in the world at parking cars. Most of the roads are so narrow, there are 'no parking' and 'tow-away' signs all over. This is no problem, because they just park on the pavement and the people have to walk on the road. When there is parallel parking and there is no room to fit in, they think they have fitted the car in if they put the front between the parked cars and leave the backside sticking into the road. This causes huge congestion. Most of them also got new hooters for Christmas and hoot for any hold up (but not as bad as in Cairo).
Found a B&B in mid town Pompei and went for a walk around the town. We joined what we thought was a tour group and entered a cathedral at 6pm. We walked around admiring the beautiful paintings inside on the ceiling, when we looked down everyone was sitting and the priest had started the sermon. Luckily they hadn't locked the doors and we snuk out.
Nev's beard is causing us a lot of amusement. He was mobbed by four Italian women in the village, but they were talking Italian so fast we couldn't understand what they were saying, but we worked out they said Nev had a lovely beard. He stands out like a sore thumb as none of the Italians have a beard longer than stubble. In Tunisia they wanted to know if Nev was Russian.

Wednesday 24th October 2007 Largo Argo Camping
Traveling north and east into the mountains, I can see why the Italians liked Ethiopia and thought nothing of building roads there.
Here it is similar, but not as varied. The mountains are covered in chestnut trees in their golden autumn leaves. The little two and three-story clusters of houses snuggle into the sides and the bottom of the mountains rather than perched on the tops, as in Sicily. There is very little agriculture, mainly small vineyards, market gardens and a bit of siviculture. This campsite is in a glade of tall pines next to a half-full lake ready for the winter rains and snow. And it is freezing cold and raining, so we have taken a bungalow and are snug inside cooking our dinner.

Tuesday 23rd October 2007 Il Casale, Tropea near Vibo Valentia
The weather forecast says it will clear partially today, and this is such a nice place we are going to stay for two nights. So, since I am now able to communicate in Italian, as the Auzies very kindly gave me their phrase book, and with much help from the family here, we ventured out to buy a new thermostat for Landy. We haven't needed one up to now, but it is so cold, and the engine is cooling down when we descend a long downhill, that Nev decided to change the thermostat. It didn't help though.
I am always amazed at the reaction I get when I speak a foreign language. Either (in Swahili or Arabic) I get a reaction of surprise and pleasure that I can 'speak' their language, or with Italian, they start to speak back to me as if I am Italian, so fluently that I cannot follow them. Either way it gives me great pleasure and a sense of achievement to be able to communicate. I battled in Tunisia with no French phrase book, and their Arabic was totally different from that in Egypt. When I said shukran (thank you) to them, they took great pains to explain it was 'merci'. Oh well, I have been warned that in France they actually laugh in your face if you try to speak French.
Because of the cold weather we make coffee in the lay-byes on the side of the road. Today two Italian men stopped and came and spoke to us.
It is amazing that when they realize you cannot understand them, they speak louder and together and faster and gesticulate wider with their hands all at the same time. We stand open-mouthed in amazement, and when they stop I get out my phrase book. He was a citrus inspector and he had a Landrover like ours and we chatted for a long time.
Eventually he gave us armfuls of the samples he had collected from all his citrus farms, so our Landy is full of lovely oranges from Italy mixed with the ripening pomegranates from Tunisia.
The rest of the day was spent cleaning up, doing washing and relaxing.
One needs a day off from traveling now and again.

Monday 22nd October 2007 Il Casale, Tropea near Vibo Valentia
We chatted to Gunilla Grimlund and Olle Ostberg (from Visby, Gotland in Sweden) who were staying at the same B&B as we were and exchanged addresses in case we are in each other's countries.
The clouds parted as we were passing Mt Etna and we saw the snow covered summit for a few seconds, and it is bitterly cold today with a very strong wind blowing and squalls of rain and sleet. We made our way to Messina on the northern tip of Sicily and drove onto the ferry to Italy mainland with no problems. Once landed, we explored around the southern tip and found many places to stay had been closed for the winter. The beaches would look really inviting in summer, but this weather is like Cape Town in winter. We wasted time at a closed caravan park while the owner tried to find us somewhere to stay in vain. We tried a hotel, but refused to pay €135 for one night (R1350!!). At 7pm in the dark and wet and quite desperate by now to find a place to sleep we drove up a steep hill along a very dark and overgrown ally which had hotel signs and were very doubtful about finding accommodation as there were no sign of lights anywhere and I was sure the place would be closed too. When we arrived there was a man with a windbreaker in the rain, directing his vehicle's lights at a building and he welcomed us to his hotel saying the lightning had just put out the lights. He was so welcoming, and we couldn't believe we had somehow been led to this place.
Inside this candle- and torch-lit dining room were two Aussies (Hayden and Hein) who are here helping to get the local tuna-fish farm working properly. They had been requested by their Japanese buyers to come from their farms in Lincoln, South Auz to teach the Italians how to catch the fattened tuna in the 'feedlots'. The tuna-farming process is that tuna are caught in the open sea (2 months) and placed into huge cages and fed (6 months) until the fat content is acceptable to the Japanese market. Then divers (these two) get into the cages and catch the tuna, now up to 100Kg, by hand, cut their heads and tails off, pump water through their arteries to get rid of the blood, and freeze them to send to Japan. (2 months). They then have one month of maintenance work and one month holiday (this is when they come to Italy every year to teach Italians what to do). Very interesting chat we had with them. In Auz they catch the tuna, put them in the cages, feed them AD1mil worth of food and sell the fish for AD15mil to the Japanese.

Sicily

Sunday 21st October 2007 B&B Capricci D'Arte Nicolisi, Sicily
Over 'breakfast' of a lousy biscuit and a jug of ice-cold milk to mix with three teaspoons of strong hot liquid coffee, Salvatore taught me a bit of Italian. He then brought a croissant which was worse than the biscuit!
So yesterday I thought we were in Nicolosi, and all the time we were in Nicosia. No wonder I felt lost and miserable, I felt I couldn't trust the map or the GPS. It is very difficult to navigate as the names are in Italian or French on the signposts and different on the map. (Like Venice is Venizia or similar). We of course don't go along the easy freeways, but meander through the villages and farmlands, so it is easy to get lost.
Through a flatish valley were ripening oranges, grape vines in their autumn colours and wheat just germinating. Today we headed for Etna (again!). It was shrouded in cloud, as expected, and as we neared the cable car area it started to rain, then sleet, then snow. The snow settled all around and on the lava ash and stone and was quite beautiful. We had a lovely cup of coffee (latte) and watched a video on the eruptions (last one in 2001). The areas not effected by recent lava and ash were covered in chestnut trees and, being Sunday, the Sicillians were out in force with their families collecting the ripe chestnut fruit.
The clouds and mist lifted long enough for a magnificent view down the mountain towards Catania city on the coast and Italy in the distance over the Med.
As it is still cold and rainy we are staying in another B&B, in Nicolosi this time.

Saturday 20th October 2007 B&B Casa Albergo, Agira, Sicily
We traveled towards Mount Etna, the smoldering volcano (which has been calculated to be overdue for eruption).
Nev says that I can now put in this following paragraph:
The villages were either nestled in the valleys below precipitous cliffs along the rocky shoreline, or, inland, perched on the top of steep hills. The wrought iron balconies protruded giddily over the retaining walls which bind the houses like bandages keeping the ancient five-story dwellings from falling down the mountains. At the very summit, pride of place, a medieval castle takes an organic form as if in growing, it bled houses down the mountainside, slowly engulfing the chequered farmlands in the valleys below.
How is that?
We had been warned that Mount Etna could be shrouded in cloud for days at this time of the year, and since it was, and it also had started to rain, we headed for the coast, finding this lovely B&B of Salvatore, on the way in Agira. It is pouring with freezing rain now and I am very glad to be snug and dry in the room. For supper Salvatore said he would take us to a pizza place in the village, but instead we landed up in an agricultural hall like a mini Royal Show. This language thing is really difficult. After the designated time, hungry and munching on very salty garlic salami which we had managed to buy at the show, he asked us if we had enjoyed our meal. We were then able to explain somehow that we hadn't eaten, and he then took us to a pizza place, driving through the alleyways in the dark and wet, hitting other car's mirrors on the way. Landy would never have made it, she is far too wide. She had to make a six-point turn to make it down his very steep, curved driveway.) Some of the houses had been hewn out of the stone cliffs, like troglodytes but have beautiful facades to fit in with the general architecture of the village. Landy was very proud to have negotiated al the tight curves, steep hills and narrow allies in Nicosia, but sometimes did go over the white lines and nearly hit the wall on the other side, stopping the oncoming traffic. Luckily Landy is deaf and didn't hear the hooting.
The farmers here grow olives and plough up and down the steep mountains in preparation for the winter, probably wheat.

Friday 19th October 2007 Caravan Site, Sicily
There was no problem entering the ferry and it left an hour or two late. We were lucky to have arrived there early, as having not booked a cabin we had to find a place to lie down and sleep. We were expecting another Wadi Halfa ferry but this was sparkling clean, and very 'first world'. We found a padded bench and stretched out for the night. We woke to the sun rising over the cliffs of Sicily on our right. The passengers who had arrived later slept on the floor, chairs or on the window sills. It was only ¼ full. We had to go through passport control (which took nearly 2 hours) on the ferry, like Aswan, but nothing for the Landy which we just drove off and onto dry land.
Palermo was the worst driving experience so far. The streets are very narrow, there are thousands of tiny cars and everyone double parks, leaving one lane open for two way traffic. We watch in amazement how when they parked their cars they nudged and bumped each other to squeeze into a parking place. We walked down the line of parked cars and more than 50% had been dinged both back and front (which made them even smaller than they actually were!). There are many (unmarked on the map) one-way streets and navigating is a nightmare. Most of the left-hand streets have no-entry signs (no problem for the locals, they go up them) and we ended up going in circles getting further and further away from where we wanted to go. Eventually we found a parking and walked around the city. We started to get city-phobic and headed out eastwards along the coast, Nev muttering that if this is what Europe is like we will be getting home sooner than planned as this isn't fun.
Once we were out of the city we relaxed and took in the scenery and went through several small villages along the coast and there is no flat land around.
We landed up at the campsite and guess who arrived - the Swiss cyclists Corina and Daniel, whom we had last seen in Cairo. They were traveling in the opposite direction to us (towards Palermo) and had been to Greece and Italy while we had been in Libya and Tunisia.
We had a nice catch-up over pizza and ice cream.

Last BLOG from Africa

Thursday 18th October 2007 Ferry to Palermo Sicily
On the way to Tunis we passed through lovely flat farms, some irrigated where they are growing tomatoes, onion and the main crop being grapes, wheat and pomegranates. We drove straight to the ferry terminal to book for the crossing. It was 10.30 but nothing was open yet. At 11.15 they opened and even with Ahmed's assistance it took us an hour to get done. We intend to spend a lazy day in Tunis before boarding the ferry tonight at 8pm for the overnight trip. Ahmed says it will leave an hour or two late. This is after all Africa.
We don't have much more of Africa to see (this trip) and are looking forward to the bonus European section, half sorry to leave this wonderful and diverse continent which has taught us so much about people – others as well as ourselves and each other.

Wednesday 17th October 2007 Pomegranate Orchard Camp near Testour, Tunisia
We left the yacht club and traveled through semi mountainous terrain and a lot of poor farming. Cork Trees and Oaks covered the steep hills and gradually gave way to conifers, mainly Elliotii type pine trees, but short and stubby. The ground flattened with beautiful soils, irrigation with pivots and "T"&P (T=Tunisian) and traveling irrigation watering mainly wheat and lucerne. On the flats we found a large dairy farm which we visited. They milk 500 cows all in barns on a deep litter system using wheat straw as bedding. The cows (Frieslands) were good, but their feet were suffering as the passages hadn't been cleaned for days. They had a herringbone parlour and a large bulk tank. Most of the milk we have seen so far has been transported on bakkies between 2 and 10 cans per farmer. The cows were being fed wheat silage, which had to been chopped, maize silage again which hadn't been chopped finely with half-cobs in the silage, and green lucerne, also long chop. Our French was not good enough to distinguish between whether they averaged 30l or peaked at 30l.
We then proceeded towards Dougga which was in inland Roman city from early BC. Subsequent invasions by Ottomans, Vandalls, Berber etc have left their mark, but it is remarkable for the wonderful state of preservation of the whole town. The guide's family house had been built on top of the soil covering the ruins, and the families had to be relocated by Unesco once excavation was initiated in the 1960s.
Again the drainage, water-borne sewerage and piped water to every house from 12Km away through a system of reservoirs and then lead pipes into the houses amazed us.
We then headed for a campsite. We asked a farmer and he led us into a pomegranate orchard. We had to go over his plastic irrigation pipes.
At first Nev refused, but he was insistent in his 'no problem" response (the only English words they know), and only once we were in situ and he had brought us a whole lot of pomegranates that we thought (worried) that maybe he didn't like his neighbour and let us run over his neighbour's irrigation pipes, given us all his neighbour's pomegranates and we were hoping the neighbour wouldn't appear to find us scoffing his fruit, squashing his pipes and making ourselves at home in his orchard. However all turned out well. The farmers here have huge farms of pomegranates (we have found them a bit insipid).

Tabarka, Tunisia

Tuesday 16th October 2007 Tabarka Yacht Club (39Km from Algerian border), Tunisia
The countryside west of Tunis is green rolling hills. They plant wheat right to the top of the hills (bit of erosion) and all types of vegetables, and lovely tomatoes, pomegranates (and persimmons). There is only the odd dairy cow and lots of sheep. As you get nearer the Algerian border the farming deteriorates from efficient commercial farms to badly run subsistence farms.
Tunisia has a very active rail system but the line to Algeria is not in use. Libya has no railway system at all since Dad Karg blew up the last train in Tobruk, however they are thinking about putting in a new system.
We went to shop in Biserte and a guide took us to the old quarter through Turkish, Spanish, Italian and Berber housing, all with different architecture. He showed us the saunas which are still in daily use. It was like seeing the Roman ruins in action. We had breakfast (at noon) at a Tunisian kitchen, a delicious Tuna dish. The Italians and Spanish make a living fishing here and the Berber by doing woodwork.
We then traveled west and found Tabarka, 39Km from the Algerian border. This is a beautiful town with many yachts resting from sailing round the Med, and campers from all over Europe. The natural harbour is peaceful and quiet with a huge fort overlooking the harbour.
Strange rock formations like fingers guard the harbour entrance.

Monday 15th October 2007 Biserte Tree Camp, Tunisia
Yesterday evening we camped where they recommended we should, right outside the police gymnasium. As they closed a chap approached and told us that he was the security for the police gym and he would look after us too, no problem. He went to do his prayers for half an hour, up and down bowing to Mecca. Then he offered to show us where the toilets were, and took us across the road to the ferry clubhouse. We showered, locked the Landy with a small gap near the top of the window and went to bed.
During the night Nev felt the Landy rock slightly and when he looked out the guard was nearby, so went back to sleep.
Disaster! The very nice "guard" last night, had disappeared this morning with his loot of our video and still cameras. Video had no backup, the still camera had been backed up in Egypt by Harry, thank goodness. We have to work though our feelings of disappointment.
If you thought the SAP are bad, they are brilliant compared with Tunisian police. It took us nearly two hours to get the police to take a statement. Only one in the station, and could only speak Arabic.
Only when I took out my Arabic dictionary did he suddenly start typing away on his computer. It wasn't worth the effort because he didn't even write down our contact details or the serial numbers until I insisted.
We tried to go west out of Tunis, but kept landing back in Carthage, not in a happy mood, but that riding round in circles just made us realize there are worse things in life than loosing stuff, and it made us start to laugh again.
We stopped in Biserte where Nev changed the oil and checked the Landy (in a forest) and camped in the campsite right near the beach, but it was too cold to swim. The beach was nice and sandy, but water was not as clear as in Libya. It was really cold and I used two sleeping bags to get to sleep.

Sunday 14th October 2007 harbour police camp, Tunis, Tunisia
We traveled north and the farms became more and more intensive, very neat with olive trees, peaches, apricot, pears, grapes, chillies, onions, and wheat just germinating.
We came through a few rain squalls and went straight to the port at Tunis to try to book the ferry to Palermo, Sicilly. The ferry was pulling out as we arrived, but there was another on Thursday. The people were very helpful, but the office only opened Monday because of the last holiday of Eid.
Tunis is the most beautiful city we have seen so far. Sparkling white buildings set against the blue of the gulf of Tunis, a natural harbour, with the buildings on the hills overlooking the whole bay.
We spent a lot of time looking for Carthage, and gone the "Douglas Green" directions until we decided to follow a tourist bus. So we zoomed along thinking we were going to an ancient Roman site and landed in a parking lot where Nev saw a little shuttle train about to leave.
He yelled at me to hurry and we jumped on, going where? There were little trains returning with tourists in the other direction, so we were re-assured that we were not on our way to the gallows. We chugged along and ended up in a flea market. Actually it was the Sidi Bou Said, the very old part of the city and all very prettily painted white with blue doors and windows overlooking the bay.
There are hundreds of tourists here, mostly Italian and French.
The northern part of Tunisia is more affluent than the southern area with bigger homes and newer cars, except for the farmers who are generally poor. We get a poor deal all over the world as farmers! The Muslem religion is not nearly as strictly upheld here, and most younger girls do not cover their heads, and wear modern clothing.

Saturday 13th October 2007 Farmers Kids Camp near Sousse, Tunisia
Luckily it didn't rain last night, because if it had we would have unable to cross the river bed and been stranded there for a while.
We headed north to Metlaoui where the hills were being mined for phosphates. There were conveyors for miles and miles and the mine dumps were higher than those in Johannesberg, and bigger than the existing colorful hills around the mines. The country was semi desert with only prickly pears being planted. As we drove north west the farming changed with the amount of rainfall received. At first the olives were planted 25mX20m spacing, and by the time we got to Sousse they were planted 5mX5m apart. There were also peach trees and wheat.
We went to a farmer and requested a spot to camp (they only speak French and Arabic so we are finding communication very difficult here. Especially the keyboard in the internet, where the letters are all in the wrong place and when some of them are erased with use it is impossible to type a legible sentence). One of the grandchildren could speak a bit of English and they willingly gave us a space and even took us down to the salt lake to have a look. It is so nice to hear birds calling again although there are only a few, and no wild animals except dogs.
Our clothes are starting to take a hammering, and Nev's shoes are now being tied up with baling twine since the pop-rivets have pulled out and Willy has taken his pop-rivet gun with him back south. Nev fixed my slops with super-glue. Now that Nev is out of Libya, he is into shorts again, but they are worn through and looking quite cool! Nev thinks my clothes are starting to look sexy as they are beginning to get transparent.
Soon after we had set up camp the sky turned an ugly black and a gale started to turn up the dust. We packed up the tent very fast and reorganized our Landy to sleep inside. The planes wanting to land at Sousse airport circled above us for nearly an hour waiting for the gusts to subside. Our Landy was rocked by the wind for most of the night, but we were snug and dry inside.

Into Tunisia

Friday 12th October 2007 Fly/railway track Camp near Tozeur, Tunisia
Right next to three mosques with the loudspeakers calling prayers for the last day of Ramadan, Nev took a whole sleeping tablet and didn't hear the mosques waking up the Muslem men (who had partied until 2am) early in the morning for prayers. Anyway, we left early before he blew a fuse and drove to Matmata.
At Matmata the terrain is very eroded and lends itself to the local Berbers making their houses underground. They call them "troglodytes" which sounds very prehistoric, but they live very in the 21st century with satellite dishes, cell phones and a BMW parked in the entrance.
The houses are built with an entrance tunnel into an open-air courtyard. Off the courtyard several rooms have been dug into the cliff made by the courtyard. It is neat and painted white inside with a little pit toilet, kitchen, water drainage out the tunnel, and a little room for everyone. As it doesn't rain much (no rain for 5 years) all the dongas have been dammed with meter high wall to catch the soil and moisture. The hard work involved in building these walls bears fruit in the way of dates but mainly olives.
We then traveled further inland across the Great salt sea (Chott de Djarid), which is 2m above sea level and at least 50Km long and nearly as wide. The road travels straight through the middle to Tozeur and Nefta where there are millions and millions of well-farmed, neat date palms groves.
We found a secluded campsite in the desert among the tilted, salty sandstone hills which had been under the sea at some stage as there we sea shells and mineral deposits near a railway line.

Thursday 11th October 2007 Gapes, Tunisia
Two things which we also noticed about Libya is that the seashore has virtually no marine life (crabs, sea snails, sea urchins etc) except sea weed, and there is very little fishing activity on or off the shore. There are fish for sale occasionally, but very meager compared with the activity in SA.
Saleem nearly ran out of copies of the itinerary papers which he had to hand in on a regular basis at police check points.
We arrived at the border and had no trouble exiting Libya because Saleem did everything. We got a transit visa for Tunisia at the border with no problems and it only cost R100 for both.
Of course, just over every border the nature of the country is different again. Tunisia is poorer nation than Libya and the main means of transport is "skadonk" old cars, mopeds and bicycles. Donkey carts are again in evidence (none in Libya). There is a huge industry of smuggling petrol from Libya into Tunisia. All along the road for the first 200Km there are no petrol stations, but hundreds of spagpags, 20l, 10l, and 5l full of petrol for sale along the road. We don't know the price of fuel here, but we believe it is R6/l compared to Libya's 75c/l. At the check points the police were confiscating tins of oil and searching for excess petrol in the Tunisian vehicles.
They ignored us totally and we proceeded unhindered in Tunisia for a change, although there are check points every 40Km or so.
The countryside was only suitable for camels, goats and sheep and there were thousands of Ha of well-farmed olive trees sparsely spaced about 25mX20m apart. Many stores on the side of the road sell brightly decorated ceramic containers and fresh produce invitingly displayed.
We passed Bedouins who live in grass huts and general population live in poorer housing than in Libya.
We kept looking in vain for a book shop for info and a map of Tunisia, but it is the last day of Ramadan today and the shops are closed early and will be until Monday for Eid. But we are camping in a campground with other people for the first time since Khartoum, and they have given us information about where to go and what to see.

Sabratha Ruins, Libya

10th October 2007 Sabratha ruins, Libya
We spent a peaceful night in the tour group's guest house, Dar Arkno.
Arkno Tours had efficiently managed everything through our now good friend and guide, Saleem. We walked through the Tripoli 'souk' (market) last night which opened at 9pm and didn’t close till 3am. We left the hotel at 9.30am, in very little traffic as most people surface from sleeping off the Ramadan nights at 10.30am, earliest. We proceeded west towards Sabratha through entirely populated areas and it rained for the first time since we were in Khartoum, Sudan, but only for a few minutes. One thing that "the Colonel" (Ghadaffi) has got right, is that the people here seem content, and although they may not agree with all his policies, they have a thriving economy going and he is looking after his own people in a socialist manner. 75% of the working population is employed by the government. Everyone get R20 each for basic food coupons (for sugar, oil, bread, milk, meat etc) from a government shop that sells produce at 25% cheaper than commercial shops. Local fruit and veges cost about the same as in SA. Fanta cost R5.00 for 2l. Alcohol is forbidden and crime is very minimal. The price of commodities seems to be fixed and they pride themselves that you don't have to bargain like one has to in Egypt. With fuel being cheap and cars 25% less than in SA, transport is very cheap and you can catch a taxi and go around the city for R20. We still cannot believe that we went right across Libya (2000Km) on R150 worth of fuel!!! There are many minibuses, but hardly any busses here. The population is very controlled by their strong religion claiming 100% are Muslim in this country. The houses are three-storied blocks of flats for the "middle class”. There are also many free standing houses. Everyone has a home, there are no squatters or 'houses' like Bruntville. No-one is on the street absolutely destitute and everyone has sufficient for their needs.
People earning R2500 to R5000 pay 1% tax and above that they pay a small bit more but our guide didn't think anyone paid anywhere near 10%, even in the top bracket. Government workers do not pay tax. There is no VAT.
There are no donkey carts in Libya like in all the other countries from Botswana north. Dogs are not kept as pets here but the many feral dogs go around in packs at night hunting and barking. Another strange thing we have found in the Libyan coastal route is that there are no wild animals and virtually no birds, not even seagulls. We have seen three herons, some egrets, a few mossies, crows and a few unidentified starling type birds and that's it!
The only problem we saw was the garbage disposal, or lack thereof. Plastic bags, bottles and everything that animals (dogs, cats, camels, sheep and goats) cannot eat gets blown around by the wind. The beaches are littered, the roadsides are littered, and the Libyans just don't see it. Their rich archeological sites are being spoilt by the lack of tourist control.
We walked around Sabratha, another ancient Roman settlement destroyed in 365AD earthquake, not as good as Leptis Magna but still fascinating with their drainage, water borne sewerage, toilets, magnificent temples, saunas, baths and general living. There were a surprisingly high number of tourists here, up to six bus loads.
We drove around the town, stocked up with lamb (R55/Kg), chicken (R25/Kg) and camel meat (R45), (beef is R50/Kg) fruit and veges for the next few days. We had stewed camel meat tonight which was quite delicious.
We are camping in a site again within sight of the lit-up ruins, and the deep blue Mediterranean Sea.

Tuesday 9th October 2007 Dar Arkno Guest house, Tripoli, Libya
We went to the museum next to the site this morning. A very well presented and well preserved place and we spent 2hours reading the way they found the various buildings. Archeologists were outside covered in white dust, restoring a huge column to its former glory.
Archeology is such an exacting, slow-moving, detailed science. Nev would have lost patience and gone in with a front-end loader to dig up what was there!!
We went to the amphitheatre about 1Km away overlooking the sea. It was designed then as Kings Park Stadium is designed today. It was huge, still in excellent condition and held 12000people who watched the lions eating the Christians, and gladiator slaves killing each other.
Most of the area between Al Khums and Tripoli is built up. The vehicles are mostly modern with some Chinese cars apparent, (called Gonow) with double cabs and look exactly like the Toyotas and Isuzus and sell for under R100,000. Single cabs are R60,000 but look better than the "Chana" in SA.
Libyan drivers are very aggressive and drive very fast. Saleem has learned how to use our hooter and leans over me and parps the hooter while swearing out the passenger window while waving his fist at the other car!!!

Monday 8th October 2007 Leptis Magna, Al Khums, Libya
We left early and went through boring country except at Sert. This is Gadaffi's city where he is trying to set up a model city. As a result there is irrigation on the approach and the small farmers each have a huge reservoir from the "Great Manmade River" GMR, which pipes water 1000Km from the desert through 4m pipes to the coast. There is a government farm at Sert with several small center pivots (3-6 towers) along the road and everything looks lovely and green.
We arrived at Leptis Magna and spent the rest of the day exploring the ruins caused by the 365AD earthquake. This Roman and Greek city is huge and, unlike the ruins in Rome, have not been built upon, so there is an amazing area still to excavate. We were fascinated by the Hadrian's Baths, where they had saunas, huge swimming pools and exercise areas with marbled walls, mosaic floors, granite pillars and marble statues in abundance. We marveled at how little has changed in 2000 years regarding water reticulation, sewerage (flush toilets) and piped water. The stadia held 10,000 people and looked like the ABSA stadium in Durbs. We could summon up the atmosphere of old so easily as we wondered among the buildings. They used to plant olives and export olive oil to Rome, more than 1mil litres per year.
We camped in the car park overlooking the ruins (free) and had a lovely shower in their shower rooms. It rained a few spots in the night and Nev had to jump out of the tent and bring in our washing.

Sunday 7th October 2007. Rubbish Dump at Djdabiya, Libya
Today we had a looooong boring drive after waiting for Saleem to come back from having our passports registered (a la Sudan) where we have to register within a week after arriving in the country. We traveled along Karroo type country often below sea level with shallow salt lakes and herds of camels grazing the short scrub. There was also a little bit of irrigation with lucerne, dates and olives, all K&P type irrigation but not more than 100Ha.
We drove far too long as Saleem needed to get to a mosque and a restaurant, and we found one near a garbage polluted area with a camel pen on the side. I couldn't believe we were going to stay there but there was nothing better, it was getting dark and we were all tired, but I stated that we were going to leave at sunrise the next morning!

Into Libya

Saturday 6th October 2007 New Restaurant Grounds.
We headed for Benghazi, the most westerly place Dad Karg had got to in the war. It is a huge city, second biggest in Libya.
We walked around the market and there are 100s of jewelry shops and clothing shops there. The women apparently wear lots and lots of jewelry hidden under their black outer clothing. 100% of Libyans are Muslem and if anyone breaks Ramadan by eating or drinking during the daytime, they are shunned, called liars, and not trusted thereafter, apart from it being a very bad sin.
It is well laid out with an extensive network of roads and modern flyovers.
It is also just west of the fertile, cultivated area of the "Green Mountain" where they grow wheat, apples (the sweetest we have ever eaten), peaches, grapes, and farm honey. The lands are beautiful and flat at an altitude of 600m, and looks a bit like the Freestate.
West of the town starts to look more and more like the Karroo with little shrubs and shorter trees. The whole area is short of rain. The towns have desalination plants for water. Libya has found a huge underground water supply 1000Km inland, the volume is equal to the whole of the Nile flowing into a hole for 200 years. They are busy making 2 X 1000Km long artificial rivers to bring this water towards the coast.
The roads in Libya are very good, not as good as in Egypt, and much more traffic which drives faster and more aggressively. Diesel costs 75c/l and 90c/l in Egypt. 1Dinar (Libyan) = R5.00, and the price of goods is about the same as in SA except bread which is much cheaper.
The most common car is the Merc Vito. The taxis are old Mazda 323 and we get recognised as foreign and greeted with a hoot as there are not many foreign cars in Libya.
Again we have been accommodated in a back yard free of charge. This time in the grounds of a new restaurant with a hot shower, kitchen and near an eating place for Saleem to do his Ramadan thing.

Friday 5th October 2007 Hotel Grounds Camp
During the night the wind got up, and as you know, sand dunes move!! We had these horrible thoughts of waking up under a sand dune. It wasn't that bad, but there was sand everywhere! We dusted off and headed for Cyrene, explored the ruins of Monepolis at the beach, the temple of Zeus and the Greek tombs and the old city. The Romans were here just before AD and the Greeks soon thereafter and left their marks of temples, acropolises and amphitheatres like those in Rome and Greece, (now without the tourists).
The Libyan’s are very friendly and hospitable people, offering tea, food and hospitality all the time. That evening we camped in the hotel grounds (free again)

Thursday 4th October 2007 Tobruk - sandy dune beach camp
Woke up anticipating a day of hell getting ourselves and the Landy out of Egypt and into Libya. We got to the border at 7am and had to wake up the first man as he had been awake all night due to Ramadan. The Muslems eat breakfast at about 6pm then dinner at 7pm then another meal at 3am. Then prayers and fall asleep at 4am expecting to sleep till 10 or 11am. The first man then sent us to the licensing department, a big empty building where we walked around shouting Hulooooo and Sallaaaaam for a few echoing minutes. We were wondering what to do next and I started to knock loudly on the counter window and nearly jumped out of my skin when a blanket on the counter came to life and out poked a sleepy head. He was so groggy with sleep that he could only grunt, snort and point. We got the message and handed over the number plates and license and were through the border having paid R7 in total and in only 30 minutes.
Our guide for Libya, Saleem was only expected at 9pm, and although it was slow, we got through the border and into Libya without incident and headed towards Tobruk where Dad Karg had escaped from the Germans in WWII.
We saw the excellently kept war memorial and drove around the nice town, then headed west to find a campsite for the night. Saleem was required to hand in an itinerary paper at each check point, but missed one. We were traveling along merrily when we were pulled over by security and we thought we had done something wrong. He requested the form, and was very friendly and offered Saleem Ramadan breakfast with his family and directed us to a sand dune next to a deserted beach to camp. Just what we were wanting to do.

Wednesday 3rd October 2007 Near Soluum Beach
We proceeded west to Soluum. More and more fig trees planted indicating how drought resistant this variety is as there are 100s of Ha of them. Nearly all the main roads in Egypt are double highways and are in excellent condition which makes for very easy driving. After reaching El Soluum we drove up to the border post to see when it opened the next morning – open 24 hours a day. We then found a camp spot near the beach with the approval of an official. We didn't set up camp in anticipation of being told to move and sure enough two army guys came along and told us, big problem, and politely told us to move to the other side of the road, which we did.

Tuesday 2nd October 2007 Noisy Quarry
Left Merza Mertruh and headed west along flat countryside next to the sea where the land had been cultivated for crops in preparation for the rainy two months Nov and Dec. Palm trees and olive trees had given way to the odd fig orchard. We found a campsite next to the road behind a quarry as we didn't want to camp on someone's cultivated land.

Siwa Oasis, Egypt

Monday 1st October 2007 Same Siwa desert camp
We spent an anxious day waiting for news of whether our visa into Libya would be ready in time as FNB in Mooi River had neglected to send the money transfer to the UK. We drove east to the salt lakes with the bubbling hot springs, very obviously the remains of an ancient, now desiccated sea bed.
Here in Siwa water is plentiful 40m below the surface, and either hot or cold brackish water, hence only dates and olives can grow as they can handle the salt.
Siwa has 25,000 inhabitants ruled by strict Muslem culture and strong traditions. Married women cover their whole bodies including wearing gloves and veils over their entire faces.
The Italians were in Siwa during WW2 and promised to build roads, electricity and houses for the inhabitants. But once they killed and ate one of the Siwa donkeys, the Siwa people were very sad. When the British bombed the town killing 5 locals and drove out the Italians, they realised there was a war on, and so the promises of the Italians were never met.
We spent the evening in the silence on our backs on shade-cloth in the sand studying the stars and looking for satellites. (Nev found a record 11, and I found the northern constellations which have been eluding me for many years).
One always associates oases with camels, but we did not see one, only badly treated donkeys - they beat them on their swollen rumps with planks or poles -poor things.

Sunday 30th September 2007 Siwa Desert camp
This morning we drove around Siwa town and saw the various sights. In the afternoon we went with Ahmed in his Landcruiser into the desert for which we had to get police permission. We had to go with a guide so we went with his vehicle as it was the same price. He took us to a hot spring 30Km away into the Great Sand Desert where in the 1960s the Russians were drilling for oil. They hit water at 950m instead of oil.
This water is 40deg and bubbles out from the pipe into the middle of a small pool. The water over flows, seeps into the sand and comes up, cool, 1Km away into a dam 100mX200m and 6m deep. We swam in both of these places where the water had algae and little fish.
We then were taken to the fossil sea beds where the dunes had been blown away and had exposed the hard bottom of an ancient sea bed, full of shells, snails, and mollusks. We went over a huge dune like in Namibia and up the other side to watch the sun setting over the light khaki coloured dunes. (In the Namib the dunes turned red.)

Saturday 29th September 2007 Siwa Oasis in Desert
A totally new experience this: It was breezy last night, 18deg but it was literally raining with dew this morning. No mist, no fog, but the dew was condensing on everything and running off the top of the tent.
There were small bushes around with big white snails. These supported the night life of small snakes, scorpions, lizards and mice, none of which we actually saw, but there was lots of evidence of their activities this morning.
We reluctantly left his lovely desert for the Siwa Oasis.
We saw some of the sights around Siwa. We wanted to swim, but in both pools where 'foreigners' could swim, men were bathing with soap or washing their galabiyas with Omo in the pools and no women were there at all.
There are springs all over here. Some hot, some salty and some fresh.
Because of irrigating salt water over the centuries the soil is very saline and most of the agriculture is date palm and olives. Fresh dates are as sweet and delicious as the dried ones we get in SA but the olives are HORRIBLE fresh, and have to be soaked in salt for two weeks.
Siwa Oasis is 18m below sea level and 300Km from the Med Sea.
We found a nice campsite on the edge of the town in the desert. The sand was very fine and we got stuck but after letting our tyres down to 1bar we sailed out.

Friday 28th September 2007 Snail desert
We read about Alexandria and found it had 5million people and we headed east for Al Alamein instead. We visited the WW2 war memorial and grave site. Very well kept, clean and tidy but reading the names and gravestones made me get goose-flesh and wanting to cry at the waste of life and sadness this caused.
We then went into a little village, found a secluded place between all the resorts on the Mediterranean Sea and had a lovely swim in the crystal clear, like swimming pool, water with white beaches stretching on either side, with no-one anywhere near. The whole area east of Alexandria is built up with resorts, the Egyptians' favourite holiday place. (Whereas the Russians and other tourists go to the Red Sea resorts.)
The muslems are very conservative and women cover up their whole heads, some even including their eyes. How we manage to find the unpopulated places is a mystery, but we do.
We then headed for Mersa Mertrouh where we drove around, as Dad Karg had mentioned it a lot from his war stories. It is now a resort town waiting for the influx of visitors, so is empty and full of litter, although the water in the bay is, again, like a swimming pool in clarity.
We then headed for Siwa Oasis and slept in the desert an hour from Mersa Mertrouh and enjoyed the silence of the desert.

Dahab to Cairo, Egypt

Thursday 27th September 2007 Desert Falcon Quarry
We cleaned out the car, left our good friends Harry and Joanne’s house (Words cannot express our gratitude to their kind hospitality) and proceeded towards Alexandria along a 4-lane double highway in both directions (8 lanes). Most of the area is built up canalled and cultivated, even though this was called the 'desert road'. Luckily we found an open place and we went into the desert and found a place to sleep in a sand quarry.

Wednesday 26th September 2007 Burema's house, Cairo
Today we went by taxi to the Agricultural Museum. Paid 10c entry each with 10c to take photos. How cheap is that!? We saw ancient implements, seeds found in tombs and pyramids, mummies and skeletons of animals all very well displayed. Also the history of animal husbandry, and agriculture very well done originally, but with much needed dusting and a bit of TLC.
Then we went to the Egyptian Museum which is a kind of warehouse for everything found in all the tombs and pyramids from all over Egypt. It was great, but the R100 each EXTRA to see the mummies was a bit overpriced for what we saw.
Then at the Citadel we met up with Corina and Daniel (Swiss cyclists) again and saw the Mohamed Ali mosque with magnificent views over the city.
We went by taxi today as parking is scarce and the driver knew his way around all the back roads and Nev wanted to look at the city instead of just the traffic.
Harry and Joanne have been absolutely wonderful to us, helping to fix the computer, giving us a replacement cell phone, plying us with 5-Star hospitality, and are such easy, friendly folk, helping us to feel quite at home.

Tuesday 25th September 2007 Burema's house, Cairo
Today we did the "Pyramid thing" (the Landy had to be parked outside as they considered the two gas cylinders on the back "too dangerous" - after going right through Africa with no incidents!) i.e. we rode camels around the pyramids at Giza. These are right on the edge of the city now. There are hundreds of unexplored tombs and smaller dilapidated pyramids around. All three pyramids and the Sphinx are very impressive. We stood in a long queue and paid R30 each to enter the pyramid through a long, low, claustrophobic, crowded tunnel to see a large, hewn out (of the sandstone rock) room with an empty, open sarcophagus. Some people were turning back when they couldn't take the humidity and musty, claustrophobic conditions. Nev talked me through it, or I would have turned back too. We spent more time there than the average tourist, and soaked up the atmosphere of being deep inside a 5000 year old tomb surrounded by tonnes and tonnes of man-built rocks.
The best part however was emerging into the fresh and relatively cool air outside.
There are several Arabs and security around who pretend they want to show you something special, take you out of the way to some opening in the ground, pretending that they are doing you a big favour by taking you where you are not allowed to go, and then want 'bakshish' (a huge tip), it really gets annoying.

Monday 24th September 2007 Burema's house Cairo
We went to the pyramids at Sakara and explored all around the tombs and pyramids avoiding the tourists. The step pyramid is one of the oldest in Egypt, but not that huge.

Sunday 23rd September 2007 “Harry and Joanne’s" house, Cairo
We left early in the morning intending to get to the Suez Canal. It was a long trip and we turned west at Ismailia and found ourselves at a ferry. We didn't see any locks on the canal, but the massive cargo vessels loaded with containers passed every 10 minutes within meters of us. After crossing the ferry (free) we realized we have been IN the Red Sea (swimming), UNDER the Red Sea (tunnel) and OVER the Red Sea (ferry).
We headed with dread for Cairo, (Dave had warned us how terrible the traffic was as he had been here previously). In actual fact it was fine, after having driven in Dar es Salaam, Addis Ababa and Nairobi.
It was busy, and Nev slotted quickly into the Cairo way of driving without hesitating and using his hooter to warn others of his position. With a vague map of Cairo out of the Lonely Planet Guide book and a GPS with some roads and no decent map, we found our way with "more ass than class" and sheer good luck through the middle of Cairo in rush hour traffic to the Burema's house in Ma'adi south of the city. Joanne is Rob Dunlop's sister and Harry his brother-in-law, whom we had met on our very first camping trip with Rick in 2000. We were welcomed with open arms.

Saturday 22nd September 2007 Safari Camp, St Katherine's Monestery, Mt Sinai
Left Dahab for St Katherine's monastery with the German, Michael, (who lives in Porto Rico and who is on a two year travel around the world - very philosophical, wise man). He sat on "Corina's box". We arrived at the monastery to find it closed and wouldn't open until Monday morning, but true to form, Nev found a narrow passage about 1m high with an unlocked door through with we snuck and managed to see most of what we wanted to see. Lots of long-haired bearded monks around. It is one of the few places where a mosque and a church are right next to each other with no evidence or history of antagonism. It is the oldest used monastery in the world and the Jews, Christians and Muslems treat it as a holy site. It is one mountain away from Mt Sinai (of the Ten Commandments fame).
Due to its elevation of 1400m and mount Sinai being over 2000m, the town is in the valley between high mountains and everything echoes (including Nev's favourite sound of the muezzin calling) and is a very touristy village. We didn't climb mount Sinai as we were too fat and unfit and lazy!!!

Friday 21st September 2007 Sunsplash Dahab
Snorkeling again, this time past the hundreds of tourists going to the Blue Hole on camels. There were more people in the water than fish! And this is the low season. Many were wallowing about awkwardly kicking the coral. Some went snorkeling with life jackets on. The clarity of the water allows for a visibility of at least 30m. Nev wasn't feeling well with a runny tummy but by the evening he had 'bottomed out' and was feeling a bit better. We had a lazy two days resting, reading, chatting and snorkeling.

Thursday 20th September 2007 Sunsplash Dahab
The mountains over the other side of the Gulf belong to Saudi Arabia, 18Km over the dark blue sea. The blueness of the sea is unbelievable. We went snorkeling at "lighthouse" in a protected bay.
The coral reef is a sheer wall, not like the flat corals at Sordwana, and we didn't see as much variety of animal life, mainly fish.

Sinai, Egypt

Wednesday 19th September 2007 Sunsplash Dive Center.
We traveled south, passing through many police check points having to produce passports and "where are you go" - always friendly, then turned East and traveled across the middle of Sinai through the spectacular geological formations of the mountains (more check points) along a dry river bed, reaching an altitude of 1500m before descending down to the coast and the diving village of Dehab(???).
Now the sea is the Gulf of Aqaba and does not have the beautiful colouring of the red sea. We planned to go diving, but after a quick snorkel in the crystal clear water off the beach, we could see nearly as much as the divers who were diving below us, so decided to snorkel instead. The snorkeling is good, but could be exaggerated, as there is not the variety as off Sordwana in SA. BUT they are accessible right near the shoreline so we just needed to wade in to see them and drift around with the current and not have to worry about waves. We reserve the right to change our minds tomorrow! This dive center is right next to the beach, clean, cheep and pleasant atmosphere.

Tuesday 18th September 2007 Paradise Resort and Hotel
We left early, having rearranged the Landy to accommodate an extra person more comfortably and traveled next to the Red Sea when Nev saw the dolphins right near the shore. We stopped on the side of the highway and all jumped into the water with our clothes on and swam near the dolphins. The sea isn't warm, about 24deg and crystal clear and very salty. From Hurghada to Port Suez it is double highway and there are lots of oil wells offshore. One can see why we only pay 80c/l for diesel.
Corina left us just south of Suez to cycle to Daniel in Cairo, while we carried on under the nearly 2Km tunnel under the Red Sea and into the Sinai peninsular. We traveled south and decided to try a resort for the night, expecting to be charged a fantastic rate in dollars. We were pleasantly surprised to be charged only EP300 for dinner bed and breakfast in a lovely clean room. Little did we know there we only 2 (as in Two) other guests in this enormous complex as it was in low season. (It must have been very low!) The resort has a gym, 3 restaurants, a swimming pool 35mX20m, an artificial lagoon fed from the Red Sea for swimming, two tennis courts two kiddies playgrounds, enormous water slides etc etc, we wondered how they could make ends meet.
Traveling through Egypt one realises how important rain and water is to life. Apart from around Luxor where the Nile Valley is around 10Km wide, (all under flood irrigation and the crops are outstanding) the valley is relatively narrow - down to 20m on either side of the river. Every little oasis supports either a few date palms and a family or a small village.
Things in Egypt cost less than in SA and there is: a very lot of desert !!!!!
Egypt, although very warm is not as furnacey hot as Sudan temps reach 40 deg but normally peak at 35. The nights go below 25deg.

Monday 17th September 2007 Desert spring camp
We are in Hurghada in an internet cafe and have just passed the Las Vegas of Egypt where there are hundreds of resorts and luxury hotels and hundreds more being built. The Red Sea here is covered in luxury cruise vessels and liners. The sea has spectacular colours of various shades of blue from light turquoise to dark aquamarine and virtually no waves. We went for a swim and snorkel with Corina whom we met up with again here. This place is far too touristy for us so we are heading north if there are no convoys to hamper us. Corina (Swiss cyclist) would like a lift, so we are planning to put here bicycle on the roof and take her inside with us. We will see how this works out. Nev suggested putting her up top with her bike, and she suggested being towed behind, but I think this is a better compromise.
We left Hurghada at 3.30pm with Corina and headed north, the hotels and resorts just carried on for 30km and more. They were all as big as Wild Coast Sun!
We found a track into a wadi (dry river bed) and drove up to explore for camping. We found a fantastic spot just below a spring oozing very saline brack water. This is still the Rift Valley, so it must have coming up from the depths of the earth. The rugged mountains rose steeply on either side and the silence and stars were again amazing - makes you feel close to God!

Sunday 16th September 2007 Desert mountain camp
We left Luxor fairly late as I had a runny tummy, the dreaded, but not bad "Gypo-guts" and were stopped 20Km from Luxor and told by the tourist police to wait for 2 hours for the convoy to get out of Luxor. We travelled north with the convoy until Qena where we had planned to go east to the Red Sea. But, having by now lost the convoy we were told it was "mish mumkin" not possible to go that route so we mozied on to the next town and turned east towards the Red Sea.
Nev was very glad to leave Luxor as our hotel had a mosque just outside the windsow and the calling through the loudspeakers started at 4am and lasted until 6am when the breakfast was over. This calling didn't really worry me at all, but Nev said it was like the wailing of a lot of cats.
We found a secluded quarry in the desolate mountains and set up camp.
In the deafening silence of the desert the glittering stars were the clearest we have ever seen. Spectaculr. Give me a "nothing there, just desert" any time rather than the touristy glitz and hype of Luxor.

Luxor, Egypt

Saturday 15th September 2007 same hotel in Luxor
Very nice hotel this, not like those in Ethiopia which are filthy, Egypt is first world like SA, with third world countries in between. Nev says he has worked out how Egyptians get their drivers licenses: On Mondays they get taught to drive on the right, Tuesday on the left and for the rest of the week they forget to tell them which side.Today we went to The Temple of Karnak complex. An enormous area filled with ancient civilization upon ancient civilization which they are still excavating and finding more treasures. It covers 6Ha and is awe inspiring in its enormity. Remnants of the 5000 year old colours are still in evidence and the place must have been spectacular in the extreme in its heyday.The Luxor museum contains treasures found in the tombs, but more interesting to us were the articles of everyday life. Baskets, beds, furniture, clothing etc just the same as the articles we use today. Again it emphasizes to me that people are people and nothing much changes over the eons. In the heat of the day we returned with blistered feet to recover.

Friday 14th September 2007 AlFayuoz Hotel Luxor
We woke up 5.30 and set off to see the sights on the west bank of Luxor. The Valley of the Kings. We could see three of the many tombs in the area and they were beautiful and all different. The last one of Tutmosis iii was up a long steep flight of stairs, then down 100m into the earth and as hot as a sauna and we came out absolutely saturated with sweat. The figures depicting his military exploits were in the shape of little stick figures. The first two were far more colourful and the tombs were covered in hieroglyphics and beautiful reliefs dedicated to the RamesesVII, and IV.Then the Temple of Hatshepsut built into and underneath the towering and imposing sandstone cliffs, then to the Tombs of the Nobles whose paintings were more of everyday life in ancient Egypt and far more interesting to us than the Pharaohs tombs which were more dedicated to worshipping the various gods, more touristy and crawling with tour groups. In fact we couldn't find some of the tombs of the nobles and had to pay a youngster to help us.Traveling around in our vehicle we get hooted at, waved at, and chatted to by the local drivers and shop owners who seldom see foreign vehicles in Egypt as it is so hard to get into Egypt with a vehicle. We feel the centre of attraction on many occasions. Also greeting them in Arabic and knowing a few words puts us in a different league from the hoards of tourists who come to see and then buy mementos and leave.Hot and sweaty we went back to the hotel to recover and in the evening we went to the west bank with Mark and Clive to the Luxor Temple. Gigantic sandstone carved columns and statues were amazing and we strolled around speculating, dodging the groups, and getting into the atmosphere of life 5000 years ago.At supper we couldn't eat the ordered soul fish as it was actually Barbel from the Nile, met up with cyclist Daniel (Corina had left for Hargada on the Red Sea) and had a lovely evening.

Thursday 13th September 2007 Luxor Al Fayuoz Hotel
After another three hours of being sent from pillar to post and back, we eventually received our number plates, which entitles us to remove the Landy from the harbour. It is really really difficult to enter Egypt this way! Aswan Ferry for passengers was terrible, and the ferry for the car was almost impossible. Luckily Mazar helped us to get through in two days, others take up to four days.We packed and left and missed the convoy but headed for Luxor anyway. We got stopped at a police road block 100Km away from Aswan but when they found out we were from South Africa we got waved on with lots of friendliness and good humour while the tourist bus behind us had to wait for the police. Egyptians regard South Africans as their cousins and greet us with 'Bafana bafana' or "Nelson Mandela". Arriving in Luxor as the sun was setting on the first day of Ramadan, the Muslim fast, we were stopped on a bridge and a man insisted we sit on a mat and partake of a 'break fast'. So we had supper on the bridge. It was amazing to get into the atmosphere of the celebrations.

Still in Aswan, Ethiopia

Wednesday 12th September 2007 Still Aswan
Yay, the Landy has arrived in the harbour six days after we got here! Now the process of getting the Landy out of the harbour can start.
Mazar arrived at the appointed time and Mark and we went to the harbour and offloaded the vehicles. Everything seemed to be in order, even our meat in the freezer was ok, but the freezer batteries are really flat.
We had to pay EP522 and fill in forms at different places. Everyone is so pleasant and friendly, but so so slow. Then back to Aswan to the traffic dept to get a stamp and more forms, then to the police to collect a man to check the chassis and engine numbers. Now have any of you looked for the engine number in the Landy engine, you will know how difficult it was. The man had to stand on his head and take a tracing of the number on the block of the hot engine. We were all dripping with sweat and full of dust, grease and oil in the 40deg heat, trying to find where all the stamps on the chassis and engine were. He managed to trace the P after the 7th attempt and then accepted that it was the right number. Mark was having similar trouble with the chassis number on his Landcruiser and we all laughed at each other's filthy states. Mark looked like a greased monkey and the taxi driver didn't want to let him inside his 1940 taxi.
Tomorrow we have to get Egyptian number plates, a licence and insurance. Then we will be “outta here!”

Tuesday 11th September 2007 Still Aswan
Nothing untoward happened politically here being the anniversary of 9-11, also it was the Ethiopian new-years day, new millennium, and they are at last in 2000.
We spent a very frustrating day waiting for the Landy to come. Mazar did not contact us and we could not get hold of him, so we eventually caught a taxi to the harbour via the Aswan Dam wall. These Egyptians still haven't worked out on which side of the road they are meant to be driving and we had some narrow shaves as the vehicles argued while speeding towards each other hooting. They certainly save on breaks here by using their hooters. Then we went over the High Dam wall (over 3Km long and 40m wide at the top, 1Km wide at the bottom). The authorities assured us that the Landys would be here tomorrow 8am.
Mark and we went on a felucca sail on the Nile but chose a windless evening and it turned out to be a felucca row. Very much cooler on the river and was really pleasant watching the sun go down over the hills.

Monday 10th September 2007. Still Aswan
We woke up at 3am to catch the bus at 3.30. Mark and Daniel came with us, Corina had sore legs and Clive had issues to deal with.
The trip took 2 1/2 hours through desert on either side of the road, so we slept, chatted and read much of the time. There was a huge convoy of tourist busses, but the number of people there didn't really worry us. High season could be stiflingly crowded though.
The temples had been rescued block by block (max 30tonne blocks) after the high dam had been constructed and the water level had started to rise. Building a coffer dam was a neck and neck race with the water, but when the protecting dam had been completed the rescue work could begin. The temples consist of not only a magnificent and enormous facade, but the inside of the temples too, which had been hewn directly into the sandstone cliffs. It was an enormous undertaking, and the results are spectacular. The statues are immense, and you have to actually stand next to them to realize just how big they are. The relief work inside and the carvings and paintings are a "must see" in Egypt. The engineers of the 1960s were nearly as clever as the Egyptians 4000years ago.
Nev is amazed that although the Egyptians were using chariots 4000 years ago, the Ethiopians are still not using the wheel.
On our return we discovered that the ferry will only be arriving tomorrow morning, or as the Egyptians put it "Bokra, Inshala", which can mean anything really, but literally, “tomorrow, god willing”. Nev is getting very irritated and frustrated with having to mark time here. At least there are things to do and see, but he is really disappointed in Midhat's organization. However, we have yet to see what happens tomorrow.

Sunday 9th September 2007 Still Aswan
The ferry was meant to come today and didn't, so we hope it will come tomorrow, as promised. This meant we didn't really do anything productive today, as we waited for the answer. When we heard it was coming tomorrow, we booked to go on the bus to Abu Simbil, 250Km south of Aswan. The bus has to travel in convoy and is costing us EP50 each, which is about 1/10th what it would cost to drive ourselves anyway.