Stanley's Light

One of the reasons that we came to the town of Ladismith was to do a hike that we had read about. And, there's a kind of an oddball story that goes along with this hike.

So we were up at 5:30am yesterday morning. We had read that it was a difficult climb up and so we wanted to do that part early before it got too hot out.

February Expenses

Another pricey month, mostly because of our visit to Lesotho (which was totally worth it!) and our overnight and accommodation costs. Probably the most we've ever spent on accommodation for the month!

We spent a total of $2,284 for the month. Here's how it all broke down...

Just an update

On Thursday morning, we drove from Oudtshoorn to Ladismith. Once again, we had the highway pretty much to ourselves. We had no idea where we would end up for the night. Sometimes that strategy pays off, and sometimes it doesn't!

This time, things worked out pretty good!

Help. If you want to...

We thought long and hard about posting this here, but if we can't use our popularity for something worthwhile then what good is it anyhow.

Here's the story...

Here's something you won't find in your local grocery store!

We decided to stay one more day in Oudtshoorn. We pretty much had the Oasis Shanti Backpacker Lodge to ourselves, and we still wanted to wander around town some more.

Plus, I needed to do some shopping!

Cango Caves Adventure Tour

This was too funny.

Some of our regular readers might remember when we did the Wild Cave Tour at Kentucky's Mammoth Caves over three years ago. It was a pretty strenuous exercise, and we weren't sure if this would be the same. Turns out that this was a lot less "wild", but still fun nonetheless!

Had the highway to ourselves...

We were only planning a short driving day, maybe 175 kms (109 miles) or so from Graaff Reinet to Willowmore. But when we arrived at Willowmore, we didn't see much that was worth keeping us there!

So we carried on.

Great views, and animals too!

Busy day yesterday, and lots of photos to prove it!

We did the short drive from the town of Graaff Reinet to Camdeboo National Park at 8:30am or so before it got too hot out. They were calling for a high of 33C (92F), and we wanted to do a short hike and see some of the animals.

The town of Graaff Reinet

Our first priority yesterday morning was to get our internet working again. We have two SIM cards and we use one each for our internet access. Turns out that Ruth's expired on Thursday night, and mine expired on Friday night.

So we woke up on Saturday with no internet.

Keys Locked in Car

We left Bethulie at just after 9:00am, and had a loose plan to make it to Graaff Reinet, about 364 kms (226 miles) away.

We're actually slowly making our way back to Cape Town, just not really deciding what the next destination is until we get to it!

Yesterday. And a few other oddball things...

Just have to catch you up on a few different things. First of all, our plans for the summer of 2014. As our regular readers know, we managed a campground in the middle of Saskatchewan, Canada last summer.

This coming summer season, we are doing the same thing. But at a different campground.

January Expenses

It only just occurred to me that we never posted our January expenses. I think we just had so much going on at the beginning of February, and then we've had poor (or non-existant!) internet a few times during the month.

January was again a little higher than normal for us, but when we break it all down we actually did okay. We spent a total of $2,054 in January.

Back in South Africa

Hard to believe that it's only two weeks tomorrow and we will be heading back across the pond to New York City.

We left Lesotho (our 21st country visited!) on Tuesday morning. We didn't have a firm destination in mind, but we did know the general area we were heading for. We ended up in the town of Bethulie, South Africa.

Here's how it all happened...

40 kms (25 miles) in two days... (part 2)

Okay, in Part 1, we had told you that we were about to go to sleep in our fancy accommodation. Actually, it was not bad. We had sleeping bags that we had rented from the lodge, and they had foam mattresses for us to sleep on.

And because there is no electricity (although we did have a candle!), you pretty much go to sleep when the sun goes down.

The Happy Hippo

The best backpacker hostel in Durban? While we don't know for sure that it's the best, we can't figure why you would need anything better.

We recently spent two nights at The Happy Hippo in Durban. Great location, and comfortable surroundings. Oh, and two nights in Durban isn't long enough!