The pictures above are of Kokerboom, or Quiver, trees. They are really unique and very specific to certain parts of Africa. It’s similar to the Joshua tree in that it only grows in a specific climate. This particular part of South Africa had a lot of them. We saw these on our way to Charlie’s Pass the morning of the third day as we were leaving Klein Pella. We left the caravan at the campground because it would have been a challenge taking it through the pass. The pass is the official start of the 4×4 trail and a bit of challenging offroad driving. One part of the pass follows the Orange River, so we had to stop and take a walk to get a good first look! The doggo was also ready for a break. We made it safely through the pass and went back to collect the caravan. We had lunch and then headed off for our campsite at Grootmelkboom. The campsites on the 4×4 trail are more of an area, not really a campsite so to speak. They are what’s called bush camping. It’s just open land with no facilities. You pick a spot you like and camp, then leave it just like you found it – if not better.

This was our first day of actually being on schedule. We left the camp after lunch at 1pm. It was only supposed to be a three hour drive. About half an hour into our drive, there was a particularly sharp rock in the road that took out both tires on the passenger side of the Land Rover. Interestingly, the caravan tire was fine. Sadly, the punctures were both sidewall punctures and were not patchable. The sand was pretty deep, which resulted in the jack breaking. Time to break out the tuff stuff. We always carry backups, and backups for the backups, and then there’s the heavy gear. No sense in breaking another jack, so we finally got to use our air jack. Instead of this being aggravating, the boys got to use new toys! It was kind of fun. Fortunately, we had two spare tires. Unfortunately, since we couldn’t patch either of the flats it left us with no spare.

An hour and a half later, we were back on the road – but the day wasn’t done with us yet!! We got to Grootmelkboom without further incident. However, while we were exploring the area to find a place to camp, we ended up getting stuck in some very deep sand with the caravan. The sand tracks were deployed and with the help of the Pajero, now dubbed the Sand Bandit, we were free after thirty minutes. During the process of getting unstuck, we discovered we had yet another sidewall puncture. Nope, not kidding – and I didn’t get to take any pictures. Fortunately, the new puncture was so small we were able to patch it. By this time, it was getting dark. We found a nice spot by the river and set up camp.

This was the first of many stunning places we camped. Lian was able to get pictures the next morning.

Given that we were in the negative on spare tires, we decided that the plan for the day would involve the guys going into the closest town (3 hours away) to replace the tires. We got up early and headed to the next stop in Ramansdrift. It was only an hour from where we were. Once we got there, the guys left and headed to town. Lian and I set up camp and enjoyed a quiet day relaxing by the river. It was my favorite stop of the entire trip and I was glad to spend the day there. We will definitely return. This was my first time playing around with the night photography function of the phone I got in February. It’s pretty awesome.

The guys got back around 5:30 in the afternoon. While I made dinner they replaced the tires and we now had three spares. Ramansdrift is just a gorgeous area. It’s right on the river with lots of grassy riverbank and protected by the “mountains” on three sides.

The next day was supposed to be another two hour drive, so we got up and had a nice breakfast and got on the road. It turned out to be much longer than two hours due to the terrain. Most of the road was slow going over very rocky terrain and through several dry riverbeds. We ended up getting into our next stop, Kamgab, at 2pm – well after lunch. The wind was back with a vengeance. The first area we stopped in was very sandy and we had a miserable lunch. We decided to explore the area and found a much nicer area down by the river, so we moved. It was a very good decision. By this time, we had setting up and breaking down to a science so things went fast. We enjoyed the afternoon by the river again. The wind was still crazy, but at least we weren’t being sandblasted. Cameron decided to take a shower, which was hilarious and great entertainment. You can see from the campfire how windy it was. After a delicious dinner and dessert, we went to bed very tired.

Part 3 coming right up!