Arriving with Neels, he and son Hein were soon at work unpicking the burn damaged panels (which happened on inflation in Congo) and fitting 3 new ones supplied by Ultramagic. An excellent repair done and tanks topped up with real propane we returned to Skeerpoort Farm to park for the night next to the balloons. It was raining on Saturday morning so no flying. Instead, Bill and Mary came to meet us and entertained us with bubbly and coffee on the terrace of their magnificent Clubhouse. Then we relaxed for the day on the launch field and took a walk along the meandering river.
Sunday dawned dry and we were up at 3.45am to 'build' our basket. The 3 big patchwork balloons were already prepared for inflation at 5.30. It was so strange and exciting for us to see identical looking 'monsters' to those of the Dragon Balloon Company getting ready to launch beside us. Neels and his wife and Hein were along with their bakkie (pick-up) to follow and retrieve us. My neck pain was almost better but it was good to have help for inflation. We flew a box then continued south to land an hour later close to the balloon piloted by Mark. Neels and family were already in the field. Then it was back to the Clubhouse for a splendid breakfast with Mary and Bill, their guests and pilots before packing the balloon into the Enterprise and heading off in the sunshine for the Botswana border and Gabarone.
It had been a lovely 3 hour drive north west but with an increasingly stormy sky ahead. As we entered the Immigration office the storm broke: thunder, lightning and heavy rain and soon it was hailing with great chunks of ice bashing our roof and windscreen. We arrived at the Mokolodi Nature Reserve at 5pm where we had booked to stay to meet up with our contact, Kabelo. He had asked Chris to attend a meeting with him at the CAA on Monday to talk about balloon flying in Botswana.
Our campsite was deep in the reserve and secluded. We had hoped to see an abundance of wildlife on the drive in but it was all obviously hiding, apart from a few guineafowl. We believe there were giraffes wandering past us after dark. Chris was up early yesterday morning to light a fire under the water boiler so we could have hot showers open to the bush.
After a long, hot day in the capital we moved from the Nature Reserve to the nearby Mokolodi Backpackers which is more civilized. There is plenty of wildlife there including a hairy sleeping pig, many fantailed doves, ducks, a peacock, hens, chicks and a very fine rooster who roused us before the crack of dawn! Today we are at a bodywork shop having a side panel repaired on the Enterprise which was damaged on the way from Cape Town.
To back track a little: after the night at the holiday resort at Melkbosstrand we drove into Cape Town along the coast which was a pleasant approach to the city. In strong winds we climbed to an empty carpark at the foot of the Table Mountain cable car to have breakfast overlooking the bay. There were plenty of tour buses but the cable car was not working due to the wind and the tablecloth of cloud was covering the mountain. We were pleased that we had been to the top in good weather many years ago. We were contemplating whether to drive to Cape Agulhas then along the Garden Route towards Port Elizabeth, but worked out we did not have the time, allowing for a balloon flight in Johannesburg, repair of the balloon and to look for storage for the Enterprise in December. A message from our daughter suggested we drive down the Peninsula, but we did not get far as the road was closed over Chapman's Peak because of the strong winds. We set off from Cape Town through the Winelands to Paarl, through the long Huguenot Tunnel and up onto the plateau at the start of the Great Karoo. The remainder of the journey was uneventful stopping only for fuel (which was when we had a contretemps with a filling station barrier) and for sleeping. The first night we found the perfect place to wild camp in a dry riverbed far from anywhere, then in a small town named Kroonstadt, where we again arrived in a thunderstorm. It was good to escape the heavy traffic around Jo'burg in the rain to visit a possible campsite and vehicle storage place for December. They may have space for us in a few weeks but we have been offered the opportunity to leave the Enterprise with Bill and Mary, and the balloon with Neels. Everyone we met in South Africa has been wonderfully kind and welcoming.
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