Your insurance company cannot insure
in South Africa for foreign vehicles? Oh my goodness, that's like half a loaf of bread! Trudy's going to do the best
she can, and she's been great, she might need a bit of
TLC by the time we get back home! After setting off from the UK in an attempt
to drive our old Fiat Ducato camper van around the world, I can't help but think how
the heck did we end up here in South Africa? I mean it was never supposed to be part of
plan a, b or c! But one thing I've learned is that no matter how much planning you
do Expeditions like this never go to plan. I don't know what we're going to do, maybe we'll have to ship from Canada? Maybe we'll have to ship from Mexico? I don't know! So after finding out we didn't get our Chinese
visa, we adapted and headed across Northern India, but driving around the world is
not as simple as you may think! From India if we'd headed north we would again
hit China, to the West Iran which is Brits we can't drive across, and Saudi Arabia
doesn't allow right-and drive vehicles. So here we are in South Africa and
it's nearly time to collect Trudy our van from the shipping port, and get her ready for the next adventure! The gladdest moment in human life me thinks, is the departure into unknown lands....... Sir Richard Burton Look at that! Oh it's fantastic isn't it? Trudy is on a ship parked somewhere out there waiting to dock. But I think it's going to take another few days for her to come into Port, the sun is shining today...
Ah welcome to South Africa love! Okay so Trudy has been delayed a few days so
we've moved to the other side of the city, and we're staying in this lovely little flat here down in Bluff, and lunchtime today, Mark our host has offered to take us out for a South African food delicacy for lunch! We've got a lovely spot down by the sea here, the sun is shining, it is fantastic to wait here, honestly we can't wait to get into Trudy, but this has got to be the best introduction
to South Africa! Absolutely and the temperature are perfect, it's like 25c during the day and like 18c at night. So yeah the neighbourhood here has been really quiet and Lovely isn't it ? And this is our our little flat here, it's on bookings.com, we found it and we've chosen this location because Trudy's going to be coming into Jacob's yard, which is just down the road, it's only 3 miles away, and this one had great reviews. So this is Mark and Andrea our lovely
hosts here in Durban! Thank you so much! Who are taking us out for a little specialty lunch ! Hello mom! Hi Mom! Whcih I thought it was something to do with rabbits and it is, but it's not called rabbit food - it's Bunny Chow! I'm excited! Apparently a trip to Durban
isn't complete without trying Bunny Chow I'm excited to try some South African food! This small restaurant, popular with locals has won awards in the annual Bunny Chow contest! So it seems like the perfect place for our first taste! Oh my goodness! that's like half a loaf of bread! They call it a quarter, a quarter? Curry potato, oh that smells so good! I think you grew up eating this, right? I love it, you have got to have one at
least a week! I mean some times I will say every day! I don't think we're going to have to eat anything for the rest of the day! And there's carrot on the side that you sprinkled on top? yes on top, then the bread on top, Okay...... take a bit like that, yeah... and then you break it off, oh you just
eat the side, and you just work your way through, Delicious !! Chetties!! You just dunk it in, it's got Curry inside the bread. Oh my God look at this!!! That's good spicy mutton Curry, is it really spicy? it's medium spicy but it's good, it's really good! this might be my new naughty food! Oh my goodness, so there's lumps of meat and potato? yes, it's just so good! so good! I've gone for a mushroom cheese and Chip butty! Yeah, it's too hot for you! it's going to try! I'm a little bit scared, just take a bit of bread, and dunk it in, so I'm just going to dip it in the bread in there, Nice - yes - oh my God ! it's not funny Mark!! You're So mean! Check this out for a view! That's not a bad
view is it? What do you reckon Chloe! So we're back at our host house, and Marianne's trying to sort the insurance out, but it's proving to be a little bit more difficult than we thought, yeah from experience we've realised that obviously not all insurance companies will insure foreign vehicles in foreign lands, so the original broker has found a couple of people they haven't worked out, yeah we went through all the polava of doing all
the paperwork with an insurance company, and when it got down to the final call to pay the bill they said - oh your vehicle's not ready registered in South Africa? So yeah these things happen and, fingers crossed we can get another insurance company because if all goes according to plan, Trudy should clear Customs this weekend, I'm going to put on speaker hold on, I got some friends enquiring - Hi there my name is Marianne and I'm currently in a UK camper van in South Africa, and surrounding countries not that I'm asking for insurance in the other countries. We explained our situation to the insurance company that Mark uses and they thought it maybe possible, but they would need some time to look into it. They called back that afternoon to say that
they were unable to ensure a foreign vehicle, so it's back to the drawing board! And hopefully we can sort something out before we have to pick Trudy up. Okay we have come down to Mark and Andreas
for some lovely dinner with some of their friends, and Mark has been cooking, what have you cooked? A Potjiekos - what is that ? I don't actually know! I means food course, made in the pot! Thank you It's like a South African stew? yeah apparently it's not a Stew because you don't Stir It! If you stir it as a stew, if you don't stir it - yeah I'm not traditional, but this is what I read on Wikipedia Wikipedia?! Yes Wikipedia knows everything but I have to say it looks absolutely delicious! What' you reckon guys Kos - is actually the Africaans word for food. yeah, there you go! But what I can tell you is, and that you can't really smell it obviously, but there's a whole lot of love coming out of that right now! Yes, Mark cooks with love!! Haven't you Mark? Yes and a lot of old brand sherry!! This amazing dish was slowly cooked for hours over a wood fire, and not only did it look good but it smelt delicious and tasted absolutely wonderful! I think I may have to put all of the wonderful Foods we've had since we set off into a Tread the Globe cookbook, and this will definitely be included! Good morning, it's Monday morning Marianne's just popped into town to get her hair done before we hit the road. while I've been waiting we've had notification that Trudy has left the port, she is now in the yard currently
having her Customs inspection! So fingers crossed on that, we're just waiting to hear that that all goes well, and then we should be able to go and pick her up at 3:00 this afternoon. The only problem is we're still having trouble getting the insurance, apparently here in South Africa it's not legal to have vehicle insurance and all of the companies that we spoken to so far, actually say that they don't do foreign vehicles. So we have one more that we're going to try, so fingers crossed because we don't really want to drive without insurance ... just in case! Oh nice hair! Hello, thank you very much! yeah the girls were lovely .... any news on Trudy yet? We are picking her up it all goes according to plan at 3:00 today!! Are we? Yeah - oh my home on wheels!! But first we we have to sort the insurance
out first!! yeah we do, first job!! Yes hello, I wonder if you can help me I've seen online that there is a branch of your company that will insure foreign vehicles? ah no foreign vehicles..... is it legal to drive on the roads in South Africa without insurance? It is.. Yeah obviously, that's
why I'm trying to find it! He's saying that it is legal, but it's better to get it. So yeah we are trying to find it, but we're really struggling .... Okay let's try another one that we found from an Overlanding Forum... Your insurance company tuff stuff, cannot insure in South Africa for foreign vehicles? Okay okay thanks very much for your help thank you. Bonkers! It is Bonkers! Apparently the guy that helps overlanders go across borders into other countries, it's because they're South African overlanders. We still have one more company to call, fingers crossed! It's a UK registered van, camper van, a Fiat Ducato, and I'm just looking for the insurance for South Africa, and I'm looking for a company that will insure a foreign vehicle. Under my name, a British passport yeah, it's sounding hopeful .... That call was going well until our Skype credit just ran out..... bad planning! So we got to try and get the same guy again! Oh that's amazing he called back on Mark's phone number!! Hello, I am so sorry, my credit on my skype ran out! We'd given Mark's number as the contact number, because we don't have a South African number, and he called back, which is perfect! Okay we have success, but it wasn't as easy as we thought, was it? No so Emmanuel from Out insurance is the man! Basically not only are we covered in South Africa, but all of the countries that we're hoping to visit whilst we are here! and he's given me the direct landline number, which I call and he will give me a reference number to present at
the insurance company at each border, to show that we covered the whole of southern Africa! Yay! So basically we found out that you actually need a South African phone number, and bank account because they set up a direct debit. So Mark our host very kindly set that up, we've given him the cash, and when we leave Durban we're going to come back here, and settle up with him. He'll cancel the direct debit and it will be all good! So yeah if you come to South Africa you need a South African to help you! Okay the time is come, the shipping agent is on his way! We just managed to get the insurance in time, and apparently he's got the carnet signed and everything sorted! So we're all good to go! I'm going to come in the front, how you doing Shivan? do you want to move that seat forward? No it's perfect, I am sorry, how are you? So this is Shivan our shipping agent! We're all good yeah? yeah we're all signed, everything's done, yeah you want to just have this, sorry that one is mine, but that's Trudy ! Okay we've arrived at the depot! Trudy should be somewhere inside?! It is very exciting! Yeah, you got your carnet? yes you've given that to me. The most expensive carnet I think I've touch! oh look there she is! I love you! she's all good! Is she all good? and she's still clean after kind of clean
after the wash we gave her in in India... actually no, she's pretty dirty! she is pretty dirty! She started first time! Of course she did, Woo Hoo - I love my van, I love my van! Okay that's perfect, thank you very much, thank you, you're welcome you're welcome, and we'll see you when we come back, because we're shipping out from Durban - wonderful!! we'll see you guys soon! Yes, finally we're reunited with Trudy and excited to get her
ready for the next chapter of the adventure! There is a lot of dirt on window! Okay we're off! Yay - woo hoo! We've done it! Okay so the plan now is we're going to meet Mark at a a gas place, and see if we can get any fittings made so we can fill Trudy, and yeah we're in South Africa in Trudy!! We've still got a bit of diesel in her, we're here in South Africa! This is a little bit crazy right?! it's actually half past 4 now, we're not sure whether it's still going to be open? But we'll give it a go! you're driving in South
Africa.... yeah it's wild isn't in?! In 200 M turn right on to
Balfor Road, continue for 1 km In there - gas refill !! It is closed.... yeah it's closed.. and Mark's not here yet .... Okay we've come around the other side and it seems open? The guy just said do you sell ice cream?? That's great, oh he's there!! Mark's
there, we went to the other side, it looked closed .... this is Trudy!! Trudy is in Durban - she is indeed a globetrotter !! We explained our situation to the lady in
the office but it didn't sound hopeful, so we showed our adapters to the guy that does the filling, to see what he thought. Okay no joy at the moment but we are going to come back tomorrow and see if we can construct something when the boss is here. So yeah we're going to drive back to Marks, I don't think it's going to fit in the driveway, so that's going to the next challenge! If not we'll have to park it at his mom's house! We are so lucky to have met these guys ... 100% - they are incredible, in fact if you're coming to South Africa and you're shipping a vehicle I'm going to make sure that you've got all their details of all these lovely people that have helped us, because it's been a phenomenal support system here in Durban. We followed Mark back to the flat but I have a feeling that Trudy won't fit behind the gate. Well I think everyone's right, I don't think
I am going to be able to squeeze her in, so what I'll do, is I'll just pull forward, and just put her on there, for the moment and we'll have to put her in Secure parking for tonight, she was never going to fit in there, no never we're going to Mark's Mom's house now, because it won't fit in the drive, Andrea's coming for a road trip! come on down! join us! there you go, so funny
the guy just stopped to say Hi, thank you, take care ..... because he works in the shipping Port! Okay there's Mark there, okay wait.... wait for it ..... he's taking control of
the traffic... okay go, he is making sure we're okay!! Yeah, it's all good, I might have to do a little manoeuvre, Okay we're in, we may never get out, but we're in! Yep never getting out again!! We may never get out again!! Good morning welcome back to South Africa, yes we are in South Africa! Enjoy the moment I'm speechless!! And especially with that view look at that, that is a great view to wake up to, in fact Mark is somewhere down there surfing those massive waves that you can see .... So before we tell you our plans, I think we better get the map out and show you the plan for the time whilst we're here in Africa. Okay so we bought this map, it's a huge map of all of the countries that we're going to be visiting. So half of it on this side and then half of it on the other side. But we're starting off here in Durban and the plan is that we're going to be heading up the coastline here to Maputo in Mozambique. We're excited because we're going to be seeing a very very very good friends from Turkiye in Maputo, you would have seen them on a video before and we can't wait for you to meet them again! So yeah that's definitely going to be our first highlight here, and then we're going to be crossing back into Eswatini, doing a loop and then heading up through the Krueger National Park, because I've always wanted to see the big five, so we'll do our best to see them as we're driving around, and the great thing is I'm the driver so he has to get out to film! Marianne did say she wants a picture of
Trudy with a lion!! I said that means I got to get out of the van to film it, and take a photo! So that's not going to happen!! From the Krueger National Park we're going to come up cross into Zimbabwe, and then the plan is that we're going to drive diagonally and the all the way up to Victoria Falls, can you imagine that we're actually going to be driving our UK van to the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe?!??! and not just our UK van but our two wheel drive almost 20 year old ice cream looking van!! She is still going.... just, so hopefully she makes this because this is quite a long and keen route to be driving over the next couple of months.... from Victoria Falls we going across back into Botswana, and then there's an area here where you can see all of the countries together, it's like a little sort of Golden Triangle really here, which is going to be very cool and then we'll cross into Namibia ..... this part of Namibia is supposed to be lovely, we'll just drive back diagonally through Botswana
turn the map over again, come back down towards Durban, so we're planning to do this all over the next couple of months because we have a commitment to get back to the UK for a party! If you know you know! And if you haven't booked your tickets you better hurry up because half of them have gone already! It is a bit of a an adventurous exciting plan, I'm super excited I can't wait to hit the road. But before we do hit the road there's a few things we've got to do! We've got to go and try and sort out LPG because where we went yesterday to try and sort out the gas, there's no fittings that
fit Trudy, so Mark's going to help us try and make one, I'd also like to go and wash Trudy to get some of that salt water, 100%! And we need to go and fill up with fuel, fill up with food, we need to pack her because we haven't been in her for a while.... what else do we need to do? An oil change if we can do an oil change before we hit the road, it will be a good job done, she's not quite due but she's going to be due on this trip, so it's better to get her done now so we're free to head off into the wilderness. So the area we've been staying in for the
last week while we've been waiting for Trudy is called Bluff, and it's a very cool little area here in Durban. I'm loving that tree, look at the flowers! There you go, she's parked behind the trees there. oh Marks turned up! I love your truck !! You okay? Okay! I just had to drop off one of the guys, how was the surfing? that was good! We were watching you from the top, oh nice! They've been looking after our van, have you been guarding our van? You big beast! What a beautiful girl, you've done a great job. Yeah you're good Car Wash! Let's have a look, where is the car wash? wash bay, In that one back there? Thank you! So we're leaving it with these guys who are going to wash it, we're going to go and grab a quick coffee, perfect, that worked out well. There's no queues! First job of the day looks like it's going well! What did you just do? I just walked into the room, obviously they've got a function or an event today, and I just walked in and my brain didn't quite click in, so you walked into a classroom.... I walked into some kind of event and said 'morning'!! which is happening in there, and everyone just looked at me! But we managed to get a coffee outside, this looks very posh, it's the
it's the best coffee I've had next to a car wash. Trudy's looking shiny! Good job, look she's come up good! Oh yeah nice clean wind screen, I can see again, I can see!! okay so if we go and let's fill up with fuel, There you go BP Which pump is diesel please? oh that one,
that one at the end, okay thank you! This is a great service, so the guy directed me in with a flag, and then put his flag down to tell me to stop, Chris is out the front, I'm not sure whether it's self serve, or if the guy's going to do it for us? the guy with the flag he was
very very good, very very cool with his flag! Okay that was absolutely amazing, the guy was so nice, he said I'm so lucky, I'm your first petrol station filler in Africa, so yeah that was really nice, and we said, no we're lucky because you're so lovely! So it was £59 to fill up from pretty well empty, or just under a quarter of a tank, so I think it's about a pound a litre here? Mark offer to help us get sorted, we headed back to pick him up. Mark's coming in - All Aboard! Okay so we're going to go and try the the gas. Have you got oil? no, no, so we'll go get oil, okay, then we'll go gas, and then we'll stop by there. Durban's very hilly! It's good exercise yeah yeah yeah! We've been getting our exercise walking around. Good, okay, we've managed to get the oil it was £31 which is a bargain, and we managed to get 10 w40 here, oh did you? and not 5 w40 because all of the countries in the Far East only did 5w 40, 10w 40 is better here, up that way? Yep.
Where are we going now? gas place? okay! Thank you my friend. I felt so lucky to have met Mark and Andrea, who have made us feel so welcome and we've had
a fantastic first impression of South Africa. Okay here we go, LPG gas refill -
let's see if we can get creative! Hello! We came here to see Ronald the guy that that runs the place, and he said bring your van and we'll see what we can sort out, Around the world? Crazy right? So these are all our fittings, if you look under there, there's a proper tank and that is a proper professional, you know tank, and then we fill up here, and these are the adapters that we use, so this one is for the UK and Europe, this one was for North America, and this one we've never used yet. Okay, so I'm thinking ...... so it's the little bit screws into the van, that bit into the van. So they got some of their fittings to see
if any of them would fit Trudy, but the thread was different. Most people would have stopped here, but
everyone was determined to help us come up with a solution. Okay so fortunately not only are our hosts incredible hosts, but Mark is engineer so his brain is way bigger than ours, so he and Ronald are working a plan ..... there's Ronald! to get some kind of extension cable, brazing, they're using the word brazing, to get our adapters to fit to their adapters, to get it in our tank! So fingers crossed everybody, let's just hope for the best!! We're going to try and create something .... make something! We're going to make our own adaptors - we're going to make do and mend!! But what's interesting is when they fill the bottles up, they actually do it by weight, so then we've also got the complication of trying to calculate it, because a litre of water, is a kilo, but a litre
of gas is not a kilo! But they'll figure it out! Okay we have a plan, there is a plan in place!! So we're going to go to another place, where they're going to try and engineer something for us, and then we'll come back. Okay you're attracting attention now, everyone's watching your reversing skills! I think they're quite impressed! Cheers guys we'll be back - thank you, see you later! Okay which way are we going? We're going right.... Hydraulics at Jacobs. Engineering.... is it that side? Yeah, I'll just reverse in. Okay that van out there is from England is got a professionally fitted LPG tank underneath, so you are travelling around the world? Yes we are! So that's the one? Yeah this is the one
that goes in there, so if we can make something we can braze to that or cut it, and..... okay I definitely braze it or weld it, but I want to see what I've got standard before I start cutting and doing anything. So that's the result, so they're going to cut it and weld it, and create a thing, it's going to take about half an hour, so we're going to pop to a garage and see if we can do an oil change, I think is that the plan? yeah, we'll try! we'll try! We're getting it all done today, We headed to the garage who said they could fit us in in a couple of hours, so we headed back to Marks. Okay we've dropped Mark off and we're heading back to see if we can get the welded pipe. Absolutely amazing they've managed to weld one of our adapters, so we headed back to the gas centre to see if all that effort has paid off. Okay chuck us the pipe. I think you met the right people !! what do you reckon to this? I think you met the right people. Yeah that's good stuff, yes yes yes he cut it
and welded it. So I think you me the right people, I think so! right? Yeah - you know so!! Okay, so we're trying it, so that part all works perfectly in the van, Ronald's going to stick it in his pump.... is that clever or what? he's a good guy! Yeah he is good, he's good, it's good okay! We have got a green light! We have a green light - it's working, it's working ! It is a bigger tank than you think, yeah I
think it's bigger, it's bigger. So basically if you're overlanding here - it is that Mazansi Gas - there you go, that's where we are, and they'll sort you out. So yeah it is doable, even if you don't have the right connections! There you go these guys rocked, absolute legends, We managed to get it done, and - bye thank you very much! Thank you we ended up not paying for the gas, because the guys were so happy that we went to their shop, but they ended up saying you don't have to pay! So I can't even tell you how much it was.... but we put 30 litres in which is great, which means we don't have to use the plugin 12v fridge, and we can light the fridge, we can cook,
we've got heating if it gets cold in the desert in Namibia. Oh it's all good! So it seems like these two trucks have hit each other, they've kissed, they haven't hit each other they've kissed, so they're diverting over the side .... we're not going to get over there??? you're not going to get up there are you??? I think so, really? can we get out there? oh there's no lip? there's no lip, you just have to turn back, just go back around, I don't actually know, I'll have to try, I have to try, really ..... oh my goodness! Good girl, she's awesome, honestly! Any doubters out there, oh I don't know love!! We're on loose gravel now, speed up a little..... sorry, sorry, sorry.... sorry! There you go, he's got all the space in the world now right? All the space in the world now, I love this kind of Adventure, chaos! Okay, it is chaos! Quickly go, can you go? yeah. Yeah they are obviously both pulling out at the same time, he's jack knife that one, somehow... Yeah you want to go down this way? Yeah
go down here, and then carry on. Oh my goodness, he has Jack knife, I don't even know how he does that.... yeah I'm not sure how he did it!! Okay so we're getting the oil change now. We have come to see Thomas, Mark's friend here is doing the oil change for us. Good job, thank you! cheers! There you go, an oil change done as well! So that's another good job done! Uncle Tom thank you very much! Eastern Cape, Thank you, nice to meet you, nice to meet you! Okay, today is the day we are leaving Durban, and we're hitting the road, but before we do we need to go and pick Trudy
up from Mark's mom's house again, pack her up and then we're off! And Andrea's very kindly offered to give us a lift, Mark's coming along for the ride! Trudy's treading the Bluff! Trudy's - Trudy's treading the Bluff! What's the saying here in Bluff? You're in Bluff and you're tough? You're rough and you're tough! You're rough and you're tough from Bluff?! something like that!! There she is ..... we got the guard rotties! Good morning, Okay we got a we got Trudy back, what we're going to do is leave the 12v fridge here, just because then it gives us space to
lock our valuables in the back if we're out of the van, and because we've got the gas in Trudy now, and we should be able to top up if we need to, but we should be all good! So I think we're good, so we just got to get her loaded up, fill her up with water and then we're hitting the road. We're all packed up, Trudy's full of water, but before we hit the road, we're just going to get the map on the side of the van and just show you the plan for today. Okay we're currently in Durban in Bluff and the
plan today is we're going to start, we're going to go stock up with groceries, we're going to go to a body shop to get a quote and see if we can book ourselves into to get the damage that we did in Korea when we shipped, because we are back here at the end of our South Africa trip because we're shipping out from Durban so if we can get that done before we leave will'll be amazing, then we are going to head to the middle of Durban City, to go to an insurance company to
get them to Inspect our vehicle to validate our insurance, and then we are driving about 3 - 4 hours up to this region of South Africa where we're going to sleep tonight, and then later in the week we're going to cross over into Mozambique to Maputo! How exciting, I cannot wait to get started, but before we leave another thing we have to do, is say goodbye to Mark and he's given us
a Bluff sticker, so I think we should get him to stick it on the van!! Have you seen how tall men in South Africa are? Have you seen this? I know, I know there's a hill ..... but come on! I don't know what they feed you but?! yeah!! Okay okay let's go! Trudy - Trudy has been Bluffed!! Bhe's been bluffed, that's because she's rough and she's tough!! Thank you very much! Well cheers guys, bye! thank you very much! Bye!! They are definitely the host with the most, yeah I'm going to link the booking down below in the description, so that you come and stay with them if you're in this area. They are fantastic! it's a beautiful sunny day today, it really is, and oh the weather is perfect! It's only rained one day since we've been here, so yeah it's all good, and for those of you wondering the roof repair we did in India, is still holding up, it's still sealed at the moment, so fingers crossed it should make it until we get home. I saw a monkey! Did you? Yeah! We were planning to leave bright and early at like 8:00 this morning, but it's actually more like 9:00, but the good thing is hopefully we're at the tail end of rush hour. We have got nice aerial view of Durban there, and the shop we're going to is just at the bottom here Pick and Pay
that's the local grocery store here. I did noticed that these barriers look
like they recognise your number plate, so I'm not sure how this works, but they were
waving their hand at the sensor?! maybe? yeah, wave your hand at the sensor, and then maybe it just knows that you were here. Oh it worked! Oh thank goodness! I didn't think it was going to work then!! that's great. oh this is going to be an interesting experience isn't it? There you go pick and pay! I'm loving this we got fresh veg again, massive Supermarket! which we didn't really have for a while, what are you getting? that looks delicious, I think it's like some kind of foccacia bread with pesto, we could have for lunch, they got lovely bread here, we are doing lazy cooking today in the van buying pre-cooked chicken! We got some salad that need's eating up, Okay job number one done! Okay we're all stocked up and we better just check the tire pressures before we hit the road, that's always a good thing to do, so we're just going to go to the garage. Do you do PSI? No, kPa kPa oh it's not PSI? I don't know the equivalent, yeah we don't know what the the difference would be. I'll check one tyre, it's going to give me the reading and then I'll put some in, well we've got our own compressor, we'll just do it, we think it's the wrong pressure, Oh that's so helpful isn't it, yeah super helpful, they were going to estimate it, on what they think, but I think because we've got our own compressor we'll just quickly do it ourselves, just to make sure, we can just park
up there. Okay we got our own faithful 12v compressor here, which has lasted the whole trip, that we keep using so that's great. Yeah they're a little bit low, just a little bit low. Okay so we've got we've got good old Maps me working offline, because we haven't managed to get SIM cards here, and we're leaving South Africa in a couple of days, and we had internet at the Airbnb, so yeah Maps me seems to work pretty good. So we'll let you know how that goes, but it's
a good offline solution. So the next stop now is the body shop, which should be left in about a kilometre. Panel and Paint .... it's closed! Okay so now we're heading to the
insurance company which is 10 minutes driveway, 13 km! It might take more than 10 minutes through the city in center of Durban, but it does seem very quiet today? it
seems very quiet. Okay welcome to downtown Durban, our first drive actually through the heart of the City, it's very quiet this morning! It's funny because Mark was saying because the way Trudy looks, people might think she's actually a bus, and people might start trying to flag her down! In 200 me turn right then turn left, right at the traffic lights. It's looking very Grand isn't it? That's nice architecture, I've enjoyed South Africa so far and
Durban has been lovely. I know we've stayed on the outskirts but anywhere where you can see the sea! that nice. You can just see the water in the
distance of the shipping Port, that's where Trudy would have come in, and it's nice with the palm trees, I'm excited for South Africa actually the whole of southern Africa, I feel is like a taster a teaser to see whether this is something maybe we'd come back and do again? It's quite hard to find, because without the internet and they're all oneway roads, but I think we're nearly there, it just seems very quiet today and I think maybe it's a holiday today? I've got a feeling it's going to be closed! What day is it today? is it Wednesday? yes Wednesday ... okay strange... it's literally like a ghost town today it's strange,
very strange! Turn right, and it should be on the left, should be in that block there, so if you can't see it there, take the first left and you might be able to access it from behind, but it's in this block. Oh I can see a sign, can you? Yes, PG glass - I can see PG glass! Oh it looks closed, oh no there's somebody in a yellow jacket there. So there you go PG glass is the one that does the inspections for
the vehicle, let's just have a look. Is it open today? No it's closed, let me just ask this man. .... Marianne's just checking, makes it a problem with the insurance,
because we've done it online but they say you need to go for an inspection of your vehicle.... but of course we're leaving Duran today! So..... It's got to be a holiday because look how
quiet it is. It's like everywhere is closed? Is it a holiday or something? They have elections ... oh it's election day, it's election day, so everything is boarded up! Oh are they expecting trouble? Maybe! He said it's maybe, so if in doubt shut everything down is what he said. Okay so time to leave Durban, we're heading North, we'll get out of the city, and into the countryside, and let the South African Adventures begin! Thank you! It will be nice to get out of the city, oh absolutely! Even though it does feel like a ghost town... Oh and then turn right again. So maybe yeah if there's elections, maybe they're either closed so people can vote, or they're closed because they're expecting trouble.... one or the other? Either way we're not staying today, we're leaving! turn right So yeah we've been warned whilst we're
in Durban, well and South Africa, not to leave valuables on the dashboard, particularly when you go out, and that Smash and grabs are a real thing at traffic lights, where they'll smash the window just reach in and snatch your phone out of your hand or your iPad on the dashboard, or your camera in your hand, yeah, so we're being super aware of what's around us, but they did say it's a real thing, and just be aware. They've also told us that we shouldn't wild
camp in South Africa, it's dangerous even if we're out of the city we should definitely find a campsite, or a lodge just to park up in, we're going to be sleeping in Trudy, so we'll just ask people if we can park up for the night, and just work it like that, but we have pepper spray each, and we have a screwdriver in the door, and we're keeping the windows closed, so people can't reach in, and the doors are locked while we're driving, so those are the precautions that we're taking, but .....we're not scared, we feel really happy here, we're just aware of the situation, and we're not going to let all of these things ruin our time here. We are loving it so far everything has been fantastic, I mean very often you hear all these stories you know, and they are real, but you can't let it put you off your own adventure. Oh here's our first Tollgate - there's people on all of them, Tag only Tollgate, Okay... thank you very much, 14.50? it's 50p! That's amazing, that's a great toll! Thank you very much, thank you .... 14.50 rand and we're class one. We are going to drive north today is mainly
on the highway, we did ask Mark, is there a more scenic route we should be taking? And he said there's not that many roads that go north, so just stick to the highway, that's what, he said take the highways because you are going to have so many beautiful roads once you go up and through the national parks. It's lovely see the landscape is so green! It's a lot greener than I expected it to be, but then it is there Autumn, so they've obviously had rain. As we headed north, I just couldn't believe that we've ended up here in South Africa, what a life-changing Adventure this is! Do you believe we're in South Africa? No, I was just thinking that - Trudy is in South Africa...... I was just thinking that!! We're going to go and find some lions, elephants, giraffes .... it is absolutely mad, I can't believe we've ended up in South Africa! As we heading down the highway we've seen quite a few Shepherds with their herd of cows, grazing the sides of the motorway here, a great way to keep the grass down, but we haven't
seen any venturing onto the road yet, so that's good. Are they Shepherds or are they cowboys
without horses? I don't know Shepherds normally have sheep... Cattle wranglers? Cattle ranchers? Wranglers .... yeah what you call someone that looks after cows? Quick pit stop in our first South African rest stop. They've got Crispy creme Donuts, a wimpy!! There you go Pit Stop! What a Pit Stop, look at this they got tables and chairs and umbrellas! Okay Pit Stop done, a bottle of Coke bought and yeah we're going to hit the road, it was funny, it's definitely voting day, because we just came out and a police lady said ... have you voted? so they stood outside encouraging people to vote, so apparently I look South African, Yes, apparently Chris looks like he's South African, from Cape Town!! So there you go! That's the first little stand we have seen selling pineapples, if I wasn't crossing the border I'd stop and get one. We've been we've been driving north
for 2 - 3 hours now, and it's starting to feel different, oh look there's a goat by the side of the road! and yeah it just started to feel a little different we got a little towns, yeah it's nice I'm happy to be here. We have noticed that all the way down the highway, there's people selling stuff, this guy here selling some food, bottles of something, I'm not sure whether it's like a drink or whether it's .... looks like drink Okay we're coming off the main road now, we've got maybe 4 miles until our little park up for the night, There you go, this is more like the roads I was expecting to do here in Africa, so I think there's going to be lots of dirt roads, as we sort of progress around, with varying degrees and sand and everything, but it's exciting! And it is so windy today, it's lovely
though the breeze is really cool - I am loving it! That's our first game lodge that we've just seen, this is mad, tomorrow we're actually planning to drive through a reserve, to the Mozambican border and apparently you can see the big five there, so yeah we're super excited! It is like driving the Dempster Highway again love!? I know that's what I'm thinking, I'm being very gentle! I mean really if you coming to Africa a
4x4 is what you need, just because most of the roads aren't big highways and paved, but we'll just go slow and steady, and we're we're aware that there's some roads that we won't be
able to go down, but Trudy's going to do the best she can, and she's been great, she might need a bit of TLC by the time we get back home?! Yeah this is Baja - Baja relived !! It is, wash boards!! The thing about planning a trip, we've planned the route and we've planned the mileage and the timings roughly, but you just know that adding 20% to the
Google time isn't going to be enough on some days, and it's going to take so much longer, but that's the beauty of it, you just have to go with it. Okay we're coming to a T Junction, turn
right, maybe we're on a paved road now? turn right .... are we? No! maybe not! I saw that 4x4
hurtling along and I thought - Yay Road!! Wow this is so much fun! Although they give us a great feel of Adventure, dirt roads aren't the best for Trudy, we should know, we've done
more than our fair share of them! After a 1000 miles driving the Dempster highway to the
Arctic Ocean in Canada, we ended up parking at a garage for 6 weeks whilst we ordered and waited for parts to get her fixed. and being so close to the end of our around the world drive, we don't want to push her harder than we need to. There you go that's where we're heading, Bushbaby Camp! We're nearly there! Train? stop .... Oh there is a train track! that's a funny little train track. Yeah - clear! It's left, turn left, then go right, there is a bush baby! that's what a bush baby looks like, that's cool isn't it? look ....hopefully we get to
see some?! Can I borrow your selfie stick? oh to hit Hi we've come for camping! I don't know whether that worked?! Let's try and see.... there's not a receiver there I don't know how else to get
in, I don't think there's another entrance? any interet? No we don't have any internet signal so we can't call, just have to Horn again. maybe okay bush baby camping, we tried, but we can't get in!! We tried, we've waited for 10 - 15 minutes, and horning, so we're going to drive down to the one that we've just driven past, we drove past one a little while ago, so maybe that's the way forward? we'll give it a shot and see, if not maybe they'll call them for us? we don't have any signals so we can't call them there's another one here? BonNammanzi luxury camping .... oh I like the idea of luxury camping! well we'll give it a go, see what happens. Warning there are hippos!! okay - warning crocodiles or alligators, I wonder what it is? Rhinos !! please report to reception, there you go Hello, I'm good, how are you? I don't have a booking, do you have space for camping? like with the van? parking? yeah just to park to park for one night, to sleep, but did you call before? No I tried to call bush baby and they said yeah, yeah come, but we have driven there and I tried to ring the bell and I've tooted the horn and nobody .... so if you don't have room could you help me call, yeah. if they have, it's great, thank you, for how many days? just for tonight, one night, tomorrow we go! yeah, security was very helpful, did you see
that? The warning signs for hippos and and do they.... well that's probably why they've got electric fences all the way around. Is it crocodiles and alligators? I know there was a lot of funny looking animals on that, and we're going to go and pay to go and sleep in there? Interesting ... we're in South Africa!! he's taking the reg number, it's looking hopeful, looks like we're going in! I can't believe we're in South Africa, honestly... do you know sometimes when the route changed I was disappointed, but not now! My name is Marianne, do you want me to write it down? yes please, the number plate looks funny because it's from England, the van's from England! I was thinking that, where you came from?
United Kingdom. Okay that's it, we're going in! Honestly this is one of the wildest Things we've done! You see
everything happens for a reason, and now we've ended up in the game reserve!! oh - give Trudy a little bit of a push! Oh there you go, we're good, she's skidding! okay, so straight quite far he said, and then hang her left you should see reception. I'm just I'm looking out, I'm waiting to see a lion or something walk out! Our Korean tyres are hanging on in there! Wow we're really in the in the sticks now, we're in the bush baby! Yep the bush baby! we are like children at Christmas! I'm not going to lie, this might get us squealing... we're literally entering the park and there are some deer type animals that are crossing the road in front of us! I'm so excited! it's a very long drive to reception! I mean it's not like a normal Hotel, it's like I
think we'd be driving 2 or three miles?! Hopefully we're still going the right way?! yeah oh yeah look there's impala! Hello.. Okay we' come across the sign - Yeah,
reception straight on. I just can't believe how big this place is, ridiculously large, there's loads of like deer and other things walking around! there, oh look it's a baby! We can probably just park up in here for the moment, there we go, let's go and see if
we can park up for the night Okay it was a great idea but it's like 30 was
650 Rand, so that's probably like maybe £30 for the night, so yeah we we did manage to
borrow their phone and we called bush baby Lodge, and he said, yeah the gate just slides, so
we know for next time, we need to be more bold! I didn't realise the gate just slid! but yeah the gate was open and all you had to do is slide it, so yeah we're going back to bush baby
and we'll go and see some bush babies! but this place is fantastic, it is fantastic. Okay we're back! Let's try again! Don't touch the electric wires! I've seen Jurassic Park it could get messy! That made me really nervous! oh receptions there it says,
down there, let's go down there and just see. beautiful! That's nice, the pool, nice trees kitchen there I don't know where I'm going! no me neither, there toilet's there, but it said reception this way... Ah reception's closed, yeah we'll go
park up and they'll come and find us! Okay, we're all parked up, this will do, and then hopefully the owner comes and sees us, you can't really miss us! So yeah we're going to chill here, and our first Park up in South Africa worked out okay in the end! Looking at all the dust, I've got
flashbacks to when we drove the Dempster highway! Because we're crossing the border and we don't think you're going to be able to take Dairy and stuff, we got a lot of cheese to eat, and salad so we're going to make quesadillas possibly for lunch and dinner? I think so and breakfast and breakfast!! and we're going to then we'll spend the afternoon we'll just unpack and get Trudy ready for the mad road trip through Africa! I still can't believe it! Okay so we've come down to this tree,
because apparently they put some food out and the bush babies which are nocturnal
come down and have a little Munch, so we'll see if we can see them?! hello, hello are you feeding them? yes yes Oh I can see movement already, oh
yeah hey they're big huh? yeah this are the big ones! There you go, Oh my goodness they're so big! oh they're beautiful, hey guys We're back in Trudy, oh it's so lovely,
we got the little lights on! oh we're all comfy! Marianne's already in bed, but amazing, I
can't believe it we're back in Trudy in South Africa, we've just seen bush babies and I think
it's a good start to the trip, and we're ready, we're hitting the road we're going across borders in the next episode, we'll be heading into Mozambique and Beyond! So yeah we can't wait, and we'll see you next time! Yay
