Friday, 26 March 2010 09:03
Date: 22/03/10
Location: Cape L’Argulhus, Southern most tip of Africa
Miles travelled: 114 miles Strand to Cape Argulhas
Weather: 32ºC, bright sunshine
Today we mostly listened to: Yazz, The Only Way is Up
So I mentioned in my last blog that we were somewhat disapointed by the lack of a significant end point. Having spent the last week hanging out in the ubber chic, and very European, areas of Clifton and Camps Bay we were getting the feeling that this was not the right ending - maybe if we’d been hanging out in one of the townships down the road it would have felt like a more approriate ending to our trip through Africa. Dont get me wrong, I’ve absolutely loved drinking champagne and dining out on lobster (courtesy of papa Muskett) for the last week, but the huge gap in wealth in South Africa is more apparent here than any other country we’ve travelled through…and it troubles me. So we made the decision, along with the Dutchies, that Cape L’Argulhus would be our end point. It’s the Southern most tip of mainland Africa - once you hit this point you cannot go further South otherwise you’d be in the Indian/Atlantic ocean. Before reaching Cape L’Argulhus we decided to visit the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point - just South of Cape Town and the most South Westerly tip of Africa. Had this not been so tourist filled we may have decided to make this our end point. However upon arriving we bumped in to an Italian contingent of five Iveco trucks who had driven from Italy down the West Coast of Africa. Due to the fact that they were much more organised than us - with sponsors present taking photos, champagne on tap and a film crew, they pissed on our fire somewhat. So this wasn’t to be our endpoint. The next day we made the 2 hour drive to the South. Given that we’d visited the Northern most tip of Africa in Tunisia, it seemed appropriate that we reach the Southern tip with Monty. He may have a broken fuel tank, a missing jerry can (which flew off as we passed through Chapmans Peak a couple of days earlier) and a few other bumps and bruises but he has served us well over the last few months. Reaching Argulhus was much more satisfying. There was hardly anyone there, it was a beautiful sunny day and to our relief there was no wind. We had the obligatory photo session next to the sign with Indian / Atlantic Ocean, but we couldn’t tell the difference between them - probably on account of the weather being so nice! So we have travelled over 19,000 miles since leaving London last October, through 16 countries, on two ferries and one pontoon, through desert, rainforest, savanna and coastal terrain. We’ve met amazing people - both African and European (esp. the Dutchies!), cried sometimes, laughed many times and all round had a jolly good adventure. If you are ever thinking of doing this trip (or any overland trip) I cannot recommend it highly enough. It is the best way to travel and see a country. There is always some excuse for not doing something like this - we should know as we delayed the trip twice! We dont have the money - rubbish, we’ve met people who’ve done it on half the amount we spent. We have kids - take them with you! It’s dangerous - we never felt in danger at all! Okay so it isn’t as simple as that, but with a little bit of organisation, once you have left you will forget these worries. Having said that, we did receive a lot of help from friends and family who have been willing to look after our flat and cats, store all our crap in their garages, come out and visit us, sponsor us and generally be very supportive about the trip. So thank you peeps! We’ll sign off from here as the trip is basically turning in to a jolly holiday now so we probably wont be posting anymore blogs. I’ll do a quick one at the end with tips on how we will ship Monty back and also get rid of all the crap in the back. But for now I will stop boring you. Tata, see you in the UK and hope you have enjoyed reading about our travels.