While sitting at Toyota one morning waiting for his car (being serviced or repaired, I can't remember), Dave picked up a magazine and read an article about a group of people who followed the Molopo River from source to end, a trip of approximately 960km, and decided it was something he really wanted to do, and so the planning started.
Researching a little further, he discovered that the town of Mafikeng is situated along the route, which is an area rich in history (Anglo-Boer War) and thought it would be a good idea to incorporate a little cultural interest in the trip, apart from the normal wild- and birdlife we tend to explore when holidaying.
And so the planning continued, poring over maps for weeks, and reading up on different places on the route, or nearby, where we could camp and explore areas we've never been to before. For example Kgalagadi & Augrabies National Parks.
Of course, once Dave gets excited about something, he talks about it at every opportunity, and in December last year, while talking about it to Jean, she suggested that we turn the trip around, do the long drive at the beginning, and the short intervals slowly thereafter. What a good idea, tracing the River from the end, where it flows into the Orange River at Augrabies, to the source, at Molopo Oog.
Both of us working in the construction industry, where December break is almost all we are allowed as far as leave is concerned, we don't really have much choice as to when we can do this, so the next thing was to plan the dates and start booking.
SanParks bookings for December 2015 open on 22nd January, on a first come first served basis, with no preference being given to any agents or tour operators. I had a dentist appointment fisrt thing in the morning on the 22nd, in the same building at the SanParks Reservation Office, and was surprised to find out that people had been queuing since 5 o'clock the previous evening, to ensure their bookings for the coming Christmas holidays.
Thank goodness that wasn't necessary for us, I booked at 9am, and have reserved 2 sites at Augrabies and Kgalagadi. Other smaller stop-overs are not that well known, so we've left the booking of those for a little later.
The idea is that we will camp together at the chosen spots, but explore our own interests on the route. If we choose to do a game drive together, so be it. If someone want to sleep in while others go for a drive, that also works. If you don't want to see Boer war memorials, leave Dave to explore those by himself, and join him/us at the campsite later on. All we want is for everyone to enjoy themselves.
Now we just need to get buy in from a few selected family and friends to join us, if necessary book more sites, plan other stopovers, and look forward to a trip to remember.
As the planning progresses, I intend to keep all informed through this blog, and welcome comment and input from all interested parties.
