With previous road trips, people have asked me to post details about our route with links, so here it is.
Click on links of Days to go to blog posts or on the other links for more information about the routes, accommodation, food etc.
Stayed at Vyfster The Old Jail, had excellent supper at Transkaroo Country Lodge Country Cafe who also do excellent take away coffee if you are just passing through.
Britstown to Kalahari Trails/Meerkat Sanctuary
Camping at the Eco Veld Camp at Kalahari Trails
Camping at Nossob
Nossob to Twee Rivieren : On this day we took a detours to 13th and 14 boreholes, not recognised by Google Maps and therefore not visible on the map. You will have to use a paper map of Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park to see those.
Camping at Twee Rivieren
Twee Rivieren to Khamkirri with detour to Augrabies Falls
Camping at Khamkirri
On the way there, we stopped at Upington Slaghuis, definitely the place to buy your meat if you are traveling in the vicinity and also a good source of local information from the friendly staff.
Another worthwhile stop, requiring a slight detour, was Kanoniki Padstal, where we had excellent coffee and pancakes, an informative and interesting chat with the owner and did some shopping.
Stay at Vanzylsrus Hotel , meander through their arty premises, have a cold one in the bar and supper in their restaurant, an enchanting experience.
Van Zylsrus to Witsand Kalahari reserve : because of heavy rain on the day we were traveling here, as well as damage to the roads by heavy rains some days earlier, we wanted to avoid the gravel roads and took quite a detour in order to stay on tar roads. In different circumstances, we would have chosen a very different route between Van Zyslrus and Olifantshoek.
Camping at Witsand Kalahari was quite tricky to arrange since they didn’t respond to email and we eventually got hold of them on Whatsapp, using the number in the link. Then, getting an invoice out of them was equally tricky. But eventually well worth the effort.
Stop along the way for excellent brunch at Proviand in Griekwastad
At Mokala, we stayed at Haak-en-Steek Camp
Mokala to Graaff Reinet : We drove the length of Mokala National Park, exiting at Lilydale. For some reason, Google Maps will simply not show this, so my map starts at Lilydale. Approaching Ironstone Cottage near Graaff Reinet, Google maps can once again not be trusted. Here we had clear instructions from the owners on which route to take.
Ironstone Cottage is a beautiful cottage in a stunning setting, an excellent weekend getaway from Gqeberha.
For breakfast the next morning, we had roosterkoek and coffee from Chargo Farm Stall in Graaff Reinet. Their roosterkoek are well worth it, but be sure to be very hungry when tackling one.
In summary: 12 days, roughly 4000 km, some criss-crossing of our route, necessitaded by available dates in National Parks, an awesome experience.
Etienne's Camera 