Into Europe

Friday 21st September

Last night was chaotic – still Africa at its best! Our ferry to Palermo was due to leave at 9pm and the one to Rome at midnight. We arrived at 5pm and joined the queue of vehicles in the orderly system of parking rows in place at the port. Well, 3 hours later we were all still waiting, but there was now a jumbled mass of cars crammed into every little space and corner – a tight knot of vehicles! We were then told to leave our cars and to go to the terminal to get boarding passes. The terminal was a seething mass of people, especially around the office, which did not open until 9.30pm! We think Ramadan had something to do with this, but could not be sure. By 11pm we had our boarding passes and were back in Garfield. Part of the chaos was that there were now 2 loads of vehicles and people trying to get through simultaneously – they separated Rome and Palermo into different lanes but 500m down the tarmac these joined again! Finally, by after midnight, Garfield was parked on deck and we were settled in a corner on the floor with our mattresses and crocheted blankets! We had not booked a cabin as it would have been another $100, so we joined the 100’s of other people on deck. We fell asleep around 1am but apparently the ferry only got going at 2am!
In the morning we were amused to see all the innovative ‘sleeping nooks’ – on window ledges, under tables in the restaurant – just huddles of bodies everywhere. We reached Palermo at about 11am (instead of 8am) and just sat and read our books until the crowds had cleared, then we disembarked. Our passports had to be stamped, but there was absolutely no paperwork for Garfield – we simply drove him off the ferry and into Sicily! What a pleasure.
We drove around the tip of Sicily to Isole d.Femnine to a campsite. After setting up we strolled into the little seaside resort to buy some sangria and beers. There was a local wedding in progress with all the guests very formal in black and white (I thought they looked like the Mafia) and on the sidewalks, tables of elderly men playing cards with plump ladies chatting in corners. We went to a little deli and made our purchases – everything is organized, labeled with the price and clean. Dave is delighted as he can’t stand the bargaining and haggling with prices – the best was in Tunis; we bought him a pair of sandals for 30 Dinars but the starting price had been 120 Dinars!
Even I felt a kind of ‘home coming’ feel when we heard the church bells tolling! After months of being in Islamic countries, it felt good to be back on Christian grounds. We bought a cone with delicious Italian ice-cream and wandered back to Garfield. Over a dinner of pasta we shared a bottle of sangria and became mellow and mushy!
N 38 11.790 E 13 14.705

Our costs in Tunisia were
Visas R 118
Accommodation R 644
Petrol R1 943 R6.79/l
Toll & parking R 35
Vehicle repairs R 92
Internet R 46
Food R 503
Purchases R 934
Tips R 38


Saturday 22nd September

After a leisurely start we drove back into Palermo where we went up a spiral staircase to a view point over the city and it gave us a good impression of the streets and buildings. Then we set off and got entangled in narrow little alleyways between tall buildings! Luckily, Garfield just fitted and eventually we were out in the open roads into the interior of Sicily.
We headed for Mussumeli – a quaint town with narrow paved streets and ancient churches dating from 1400. Just 2kms outside the town, perched on an imposing rock in absolute loneliness, is the Castle of Mussumeli, built in the 1400’s. In ancient times executions were carried out on a precipice just below the castle, and the castle has been the scene of many tragic events – legends of women buried alive and a daughter strangled by her father etc abound. Unfortunately, we could not enter the castle as it is under renovation, but it was still interesting to see it from the outside.
We then drove around in what appeared to be square circles to get out of the hilly interior and back onto the autostrade to the east coast of Sicily – actually we were a bit lost but it was very scenic all the same! We drove up the coast to a campsite at Acireale, perched on a granite cliff edge with a lift going down through the sheer rock to the seaside about 42 metres below us(according to Dave’s GPS). We befriended a German couple, Karl Wilke and his wife, and spent a very pleasant evening with them, drinking red wine and getting tips on our route through Europe. By the time we went to bed we needed to take a bottle of water with us(for the nadors) and I have to share with you, that even Dave has invested in a ‘bottle potty’ now – it is so much easier in the roof top tent!
N 37 37.209 E 15 10.456


Sunday 23rd September

Happy Birthday to our ‘Big Boy’ Donovan! We hope Rayanne spoilt you rotten and that you had a lovely day. Our thoughts were with you all day long.
We had a leisurely Sunday morning start and only left the camp at 10am. We set off to explore Mount Etna, which is the largest volcano in Europe and considered to be the most active volcano in the world. At its peak it is about 3 350m and unfortunately it was shrouded in cloud today, so although we drove around at about 1 800m and saw various stages of old lava flow, we did not spend the money to go up the cable car to a higher level as the visibility was too bad.
We then went back down onto the autostrada and drove up the coast and around the tip of Sicily to Milazzo Port. The scenery is spectacular and the Italians are great road engineers building quite some tunnels and bridges – we have taken some amazing photographs of their ‘autostrada’. The longest tunnel we went through was 1 624m and the longest bridge 2 250m.
We are now camped on the tip of a finger of land called Capo Milazzo in the Tyrrhenian Sea, in an avenue of olive trees with knarled and twisted trunks. Once again, we are at a height above the sea and you go down a whole lot of steps strewn with olives to reach the beach.
N 38 15.776 E 15 14.567


Monday 24th September

We woke up at 4.30am to go into town to catch the hydrofoil to Stromboli Island, some 65kms N of Sicily. Jeff, our overlander friend, had suggested that we go there to see an active volcano. The hydrofoil was fast(65kms/hour by our GPS) and within one hour we were at Stromboli. We booked to go on an official hike up to the top of the volcano in the evening and then found a room to stay in and just relaxed and enjoyed the day on Stromboli, having a delicious pizza for lunch.
At 4.30pm we started our hike. There were about 5 groups of 20 people separated by language, so we were the ‘yellow helmets’ that is English speaking! Stromboli is 2 400 metres in height but most of it is below sea level and the cone that protrudes is 946m high – this was what we had to climb! It took us 3 hours to do and the going was steep and rocky, but the views were magnificent. We had been instructed to take spare T-shirts and by the time we reached the summit we were soaking wet with perspiration so we changed and put on wind breakers as it was very fresh up there. The sun was just setting and we were completely awed to be up at a vantage point looking down 200m to the crater floor below us – this vast black heaving hole! There were 4 main points of activity – the first was like a huge black chimney and it kept puffing out high clouds of dust and gas, the smell of sulphur was very strong. The second was a small but potent blow hole that only shot up a jet stream of red flames twice during the 45 minutes we spent there. Between these two there was a bigger hole that every few minutes sent up a cascade of red hot stones into the air – much like a Roman candle fire cracker – and then there was a even bigger hole that seemed to be spewing out red molten lava like a bubbling pot of hot toffee – this only happened about 2 or 3 times. All this activity was accompanied by huffing, puffing and gurgling sounds at times interspersed with powerful explosive sounds! It was quite ominous but one of the most exciting nature shows that we have ever seen. Apparently a volcano is considered to be relatively safe when it is gurgling and erupting like this. It is when it goes quieter and lava begins to really flow out that the magna can get ‘blocked’ and then the volcano is considered dangerous. This happened to Stromboli in March this year and sure enough, a few days later she blew her top! We saw massive stones that had been thrown out during March, on our hike to the top. In fact she has only been open to tourists for the last 6 weeks again as she has now settled down again to her normal gurgling, puffing and blowing!
There was a storm brewing so we had to make a hasty descent – luckily it was not the rocky path but rather like walking down a massive black sand dune. It was pitch dark and we all had head lamps and helmets on as it is on this back slope that there is a danger of flying stones! We made it safely down although our legs were cramping and we just collapsed on our beds in exhaustion! Our lack of exercise over the past 6 months certainly shows at times like this.

Stromboli N 38 48.037 E 15 13.922


Tuesday 25th September

We went down to the port at 9am to catch the hydrofoil back to Sicily but the weather had turned foul and the sea was too rough – no hydrofoils today! Perhaps a ferry at 12.30pm? So we waited – books come in handy at times like this. The ferry arrived and managed to dock but only for a few minutes – it was quite chaotic as they were all stressed and shouting in Italian but we got the message that we had to run on board! Now it was a heaving sea we had to contend with and soon Dave and I were both ‘man down’ on the floor trying to fight off sea sickness. I am glad to say we succeeded and after a couple of hours the sea settled and we were able to enjoy the scenic route, as this ferry took 8 hours to get back to Milazzo, only doing 17kms/hour and stopping at 3 of the other Aeolian Isles.
We arrived back in Milazzo at 8pm, exhausted but elated with ourselves on our accomplishment of seeing an active volcano.



Wednesday 26th September

We made an early start and went to Messina to catch the ferry across to Italy mainland. It was a day of traveling (500kms) but all on amazing highways, once again one tunnel after the other interspersed with bridges and suspended roads around cliff faces. The roads themselves are entertainment for us. We passed fields of olive trees and fruit orchards before moving into more mountainous areas covered with pine plantations. We arrived at Pompei at about 3.30pm and tackled our mountain load of laundry!
Pompei N 40 44.789 E 14 29.057



Thursday 27th September

We spent the morning chatting to other campers and waiting for our laundry to dry. Then we visited the ancient city of Pompeii which was buried under 6 to 7 metres of ash and rock on the 24th August 79AD when the volcano Vesuvius suddenly erupted. Since 1748 excavations have been in progress and are still ongoing with only about ¾‘s of the city having been unearthed so far. Walking through Pompeii was like a journey into the past and you really capture the feeling of life in ancient times. The luxurious homes and the opulent way of life of the ancient people is quite amazing to see and imagine!
We spent a pleasant cocktail hour or two with some fellow American campers in a big campervan, chatting about their and our countries and then we hit the sack.



Friday 28th September

We caught a train to Sorrento, walked to the middle square of Sorrento and then down 130 steps (Dave counted!) to the harbour where we got a jet boat out to the Isle of Capri, one of the most famous islands on earth. Capri has enchanted writers, poets, musicians and painters over the centuries and it is not hard to see why. We caught a bus up the winding narrow road to the town of Capri which is centred around the Piazzetta or town square. No vehicles are allowed in Capri town itself – in fact they wouldn’t fit! The town is really quaint and so beautiful with all the flowering plants and cobbled alleys. We walked to the gardens of Augustus from where we had breathtaking views back down to the sea and the Faraglioni – three famous rock-cliffs protruding from the sea. Unfortunately the Blue Grotto was closed so we were unable to visit it.
By the time we had retraced our steps including the 130 steps up in Sorrento and got back to the campsite it was 4.30pm so it was a full day of activity. We paid another visit to the supermarket as we are leaving Pompeii tomorrow.

Tunisia

Saturday 15th September

We woke up and bade Jeff, Brendan and Han farewell – it will be strange to not have the ‘yellow truck’ with us anymore. They are heading straight for Tunis and we are exploring Tunisia a little bit. We have really enjoyed our time with the Oasis overlanders and their leaders and drivers all seem great as we heard from Ingrid and Will that they also met some Oasis guys in Kenya and they were also lovely people! Their address is www.oasisoverland.com
We traveled NW towards Medenine and then Toujene where we saw ‘ksour’ dwellings – mud and stone houses built around a courtyard used for grain storage. Then on to Matmata to see the ‘troglodyte’ houses that were featured in the opening sequence of the original Star Wars movie – these are 4th century cave dwellings with a storage room above and the living accommodation below.
We then headed W into the interior of Tunisia through flat desert until we reached the oasis area where we drove through 1 000’s of date palm groves. These oasis are scattered all around Chott El Jerid which is a large salt lake – we drove on the edge of Chott El Jerid through a massive salt pan until we reached Tozeur, an oasis town watered by 200 springs, in the north. Here we found a pleasant campsite and have stopped to catch up with laundry etc.
N 33 54.833 E 8 07.464


Sunday 16th September

After visiting the old town district of Tozeur where we saw the buildings with distinctive pale yellow geometric brickwork designs, we headed N towards Tunis. We drove through 100’s of kilometres of olive trees, prickly pears, chillis and fruit orchards – the cultivated land stretched as far as the eye could see. We stopped in Gafsa to draw money at the ATM and that was a unique experience as the only language options were French or Arabic! Luckily it is 6 months down the line with me drawing money at ATM’s and so I know the prompts! Here in Tunisia they speak French and the written word is French but written in Arabic letters – so that is backwards!
Petrol in Tunisia is R6.82 per litre so our money is once more going mainly on petrol. It also explains why we have seen so many petrol vendors on the side of the road selling petrol out of containers – they go to Libya and bring it over the border to sell here in Tunisia.
The last 100kms into Tunis was on a double highway – a luxury we had all but forgotten about. We drove into Tunis at about 5pm and headed straight for a hotel on the GPS and then tried to find something for dinner.
At home, although there are lots of Muslims, we are hardly aware of Ramadan, but here and in Libya, it is a different story. Basically, during the day when everyone is fasting, there is little to no activity and business going on, most shops are closed. If you manage to buy something to eat or drink (especially later in the day when everyone else is very hungry and thirsty), you have to be discreet when drinking it or else you get shouted at! Then at about 5pm there is a frenzy of activity when all the locals go out to buy fresh bread. As the sun sets at around 7pm, everything halts (even border posts close), for the locals to break their fast – literally ‘breakfast’ – they eat dates and milk and then go to mosque. Between 8 and 9pm all the shops, patisseries and restaurants open up and the general festivities begin – men visit the Sheesha Cafes where they smoke and drink tea and lots of people are out and about, shopping, playing soccer in parks, doing business etc. This carries on until midnight or after – we are in bed so are not sure what time but in Tripoli it was after 2am!
Also, since Sudan, we have had Muslim working days, that is, Sunday till Thursday, and then Friday and Saturday are the weekend. It is quite weird to have a Sunday as the first working day of the week.


Monday 17th September

We spent the morning in the city centre of Tunis looking around and booking out ferry ticket to Palermo in Sicily. Then we headed NW to enjoy our last few days in Tunisia. We drove as far as Bizerte and then set up a ‘bush camp’ just off a beach on the outskirts of town. It is amazing how relaxed we have become being in countries where crime is not a major problem. No one bothers you and it seems quite acceptable to just camp out wherever you want to.
N 37 19.894 E 9 50.763



Tuesday 18th September

We carried on our relaxed meandering of the NW corner of Tunisia. The people are all happy and wave at us as we go along our way. We kept to the coastal road and went all the way to Tabarka which is a town right on the Algerian border. This corner of Tunisia is very green with lots of pine forests and cork oak trees. We then turned S to go inland and from a view point, we could actually look into Algeria. We are now camped in a cork oak and pine forest near a picturesque red-roofed village called Ain Draham.
N 36 46.566 E 8 42.072



Wednesday 19th September

We headed back towards Tunis. Tunisia is definitely more Mediterranean than African – the people are olive skinned and live in flat roofed houses, the women wear colourful head scarves and the men wide brimmed straw hats. They are all very friendly and we have really enjoyed our stay. The only problem has been Ramadan! Tunisia is normally very liberal, but because it is Ramadan, there is no alcohol available and all the street cafes are closed during the day. I think the whole atmosphere would be really festive and social if it were not Ramadan.
We parked Garfield and then went to wander around the Medina of Tunis – a colourful labyrinth of narrow alleys and dead ends filled with stalls and shops ranging from perfumes, nut & fruit, jewelry, lingerie, silverware, curios, leather goods etc and of course heaps of sweet patisseries! None of the restaurants were open due to Ramadan, but we still had fun wandering around the souk and taking in all the sights and smells around us.
By evening we were exhausted and headed back to Garfield and drove out to near the hotel we had stayed in the first night in Tunis a few days ago. But this time we had decided to just camp out on the beach front.



Thursday 20th September

This morning we had a complete clean out of Garfield and did laundry and car maintenance. The rest of the day we relaxed on the beach and had our last swim off the top of Africa.
Tonight we bid Africa farewell after a journey of 6 ½ months along the eastern coastal regions and over the top of our fair continent. It was a dream of ours and we feel elated that we have managed to live out our dream. Triumphant and yet sad, that a big goal that we worked towards for 10 years, is now over. It has not always been easy, but for the most part we have really enjoyed our journey. We feel perhaps like a Comrades runner feels on completing the marathon – we had doubts about whether Garfield, and in fact us would manage the long journey - physically, emotionally and politically with visas etc – but we have done it! For Dave and me, it has been a very special 6 months – we have been together 24 / 7 – I don’t think we will ever have such an intense time together again in our lives. Luckily, working together as a team, we have come through it, and at the end of our journey we love each other more than ever before.
Tonight we catch the ferry to Palermo in Sicily, where we continue on the last leg of our journey through Europe and then back home to South Africa and our precious family.

Into Libya

Thursday 6th September

We drove up to Alexandria, a distance of 225kms, along the Desert Highway which was verdant and green most of the way! It’s amazing what water can achieve in a desert. There were fruit orchards, banana plantations, fields of vegetables and acres of olive trees to name but a few. Alexandria is a sprawling city over about 20kms of sea frontage. We headed for the Eastern Harbour and the Union Hotel which had been recommended to us. It was on the Corniche on the 5th floor, and had spectacular views over the harbour. A local man invited us for a juice at a café on the Corniche while we waited for the hotel staff to find us parking for Garfield in the side street next to the hotel. So we spent a pleasant hour chatting to him.
Once we were settled, we made our way to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina which was completed in 2002 at a cost of $355 million, and resembles a giant discus embedded in the ground at an angle like a second sun rising beside the Mediterranean. Pictograms, hieroglyphs and letters from every known alphabet are carved on its exterior to illustrate the diversity of knowledge embodied in this library. It is a new form of the Ancient Library which was founded by Ptolemy I – from ancient times; it was law that all ships docking in Alexandria were obliged to allow any scrolls on board to be copied, if they were of interest. It was a fascinating visit as there were several exhibitions to see and we saw one of two computers in the world, which can print and bind an entire book in 20 minutes!


Friday 7th September

After breakfast, we cleaned out Garfield and then waited for Jeff – he was catching the train up from Cairo. Jeff arrived at 10.30am and we left Alexandria to drive W along the North Beach road towards Libya. We stopped at El Alamein to look at the cemetery and museum. El Alamein means ‘Two Worlds’ and is an apt name for a place where the 2 sides in the Second World War met and fought fierce battles in the North African Campaign. From 1940 to 1943 more than 100 000 lives were claimed but in the 4 month battle at El Alamein alone, some 11 000 were killed and 70 000 wounded! The Allied War Cemetery was a tranquil place planted with trees and flowers in the middle of the desert, and had over 7 000 graves and almost 12 000 names in the memorial cloisters. Further along the road we passed the German and Italian cemeteries but we did not stop at these.
It is not safe to wander off the roads in this Western Desert area as a staggering 17 million landmines from the Second World War are estimated to still be in place.
We continued W along the Beach Road towards Mersa Matrouh which is a major ‘Summer holiday’ town for Egyptians and Libyans – their summer holidays are drawing to an end so there was a mass exodus in progress, and subsequently Brendan had managed to find a beach cottage right on the Mediterranean for us to stay in for 2 days. We met up with Brendan, Lisa, Han and the yellow truck at the cottage in the evening.

N 31 24.499 E 27 01.066


Saturday 8th September

We spent the morning relaxing and swimming in the crystal clear aquamarine and turquoise waters of the Mediterranean. There were actually quite big waves and I really enjoyed it. The sand is almost pure white and is a fine powdery texture, although there is not a shell in sight, just a lot of litter.
At 2pm we drove back into the town, a distance of about 25kms, to chat to our children on skype at an internet café. I am managing my homesickness now although I cannot explain how much I miss my children. I don’t know how I would feel if I was separated from Dave, but being separated from my children feels as if a chunk has been ripped out of me – there is a huge gaping hole inside of me and I think I am only coping now, as I can see the end in sight! We are having a wonderful time and I am still glad that we have done this trip, but I don’t think I ever want to be separated from all my children for such a long time ever again in my life. The thought of me lying in the bath with my kids sitting on the closed toilet, chatting to me for hours on end is one of the motivational thoughts that keep me heading north!


Sunday 9th September

A leisurely walk along the beach started our Sunday morning followed by a swim in the warm waves. The beach was not crowded so luckily I did not feel intimidated in my bikini – the local ladies swim fully clad here, head scarves and all. We then relaxed for the rest of the day and bade Lisa farewell as she was returning to Cairo to fly home to Canada. We left the beach cottage at 3.30pm and headed W towards the Libyan border, reaching Sollum just before sunset. We tried unsuccessfully to camp on the beach as the military kept chasing us, so eventually we ended up sleeping in the road outside the police station – they were very hospitable and gave us the use of a toilet inside. The local children were very intrigued with us and even after we all went to bed they were hanging around – they must have gone to bed at some point as they were all gone in the morning.

Our costs for Egypt were

Garfield customs and landing R1 261
Accommodation R1 305
Petrol R1 201
Sight seeing R1 706
Food R1 754
Drinks R 661
Transport/Taxi R 489
Internet R 79
Purchases R3 471



Monday 10th September

We were at the border before 8am but it took a full hour and a half to exit Egypt. As we crossed the border Zwam, our Libyan guide was waiting to meet us, which was a great relief for me as I had organized it for all 5 of us and I was stressed that there would be a hitch. With Zwam’s help we were through the border in about 1 ½ hours which even included Dave and him going off in a taxi to do the necessary paper work to register Garfield – once again with new number plates. The procedure was similar to Egypt (according to Dave) but just a lot quicker and easier to accomplish. But it still cost about R675 to get Garfield into Libya. The only way that travelers to Libya are granted visas is if it is done through a travel agency here in Libya, and it is mandatory to be accompanied by a Libyan escort all the time.
The countryside in Libya was much the same as Egypt – flat – but with a little more green growth around. Tobruk is a big city and we stopped to visit the Tobruk War Cemetery just 4kms S of Tobruk where there were 2 500 graves, and the Acroma War Cemetery which was 20kms W of Tobruk with 3 500 graves. A lot of the men killed were only boys and I am very glad that I have not had to send my son off to war – what a waste of life it is! The cemeteries are very well laid out and beautifully maintained – if only the human race could learn from these past wars and cease with greediness and fighting.

We traveled till after 8pm – everyone was tired and it was pitch dark! Dave seemed particularly grumpy and it is the wrong time of the month for me and I am one girl amongst 5 men so it is not easy – I had asked Dave to set up the shower as this will be the second night that we would not be able to shower. He was being otherwise and kept saying that we must just sleep in the truck with all the men as it was too windy for our tent – never giving a thought that I need the privacy of my tent to use my potty and to do my necessary ablutions! It was definitely not one of my easiest evenings in Africa.

N 32 36.270 E 23 07.608



Tuesday 11th September

We got going early at 7am and headed W along the coastal road. The roads in Libya are great and we have almost forgotten what potholes look like! The vehicles are really overloaded with the loads being taller than the height of the vehicle itself. There are lots of extremely old vehicles and we have taken a few photos of Peugeot trucks like Dad had years ago and Mazda like CJ’s old car, but these ones are really battered and bent – panel beaters don’t seem to exist in Libya and the cars just ‘nudge’ their way into spaces – Garfield has been bumped a few times by other cars trying to park behind or in front of us, but luckily we have strong bumpers and bull bars! The vehicles do not even look road worthy – sometimes all the back lights are missing! But we no longer see donkeys and bicycles; this is definitely a land of oil and petrol. Petrol is now only 87c a litre for us and in their money it is only 16c!!! It is really strange to watch the litre counter going faster than the money counter on the petrol bowser.
We drove past the Green Mountains alongside the Mediterranean until we reached Apollonia. N 32 54 054 E 21 57 914 Apollonia was a port city during Roman times in the 6th century AD. The Eastern Basilica was the most impressive with huge marble columns and fine mosaics on the floor.
After that we went to Cyrene which is the most important city of Greek origin in North Africa and is thought to have been founded in 631BC. It stands on a hill at 600m altitude with a magnificent view over the Mediterranean. The wealth of Cyrene is thought to have been due mainly to a native plant called silphium which had medicinal properties, in particular as an early form of birth control, and was exported all over the Greek Empire. Sadly it was harvested to extinction. We looked at the northern necropolis where the dead were entombed from the earliest times. There were 1 000’s of tombs cut into the rock and 100’s of carved stone sarcophagi spread across the hillside.
The third site we visited was Qasr Libya N 32 37 818 E 21 23 775 which is a 6th century Byzantine fort and church. In 1957 a floor of 50 stunning mosaic panels were discovered in almost perfect condition and are now housed in a museum. They are a unique collection showing the date the church was built (AD 539-40), Pharos lighthouse in Alexandria, Nile scenes, animals, birds and fish. They were similar to a tapestry – that is best viewed from a distance when their magnificence and detail came to life
Dave and I bought some lamb and couscous and once we found a beach camp for the evening, Zwam helped me to prepare a typical Libyan spicy lamb soup to be served with couscous. We are also eating a lot of local fruit – loads of melons and prickly pears.


Wednesday 12th September

We had a long day of traveling from 8 in the morning right through till 7pm when the sun set, covering a distance of 686kms. We only stopped once in the town of Banghazi to go to the Tunisia Consulate to check that we would be able to get our Tunisian visas at the border – luckily this info I had was correct and we can get them at the border.
Libya was granted independence from Italy in 1951 under King Idris but it was a poor country until oil was discovered in 1959. In September 1969 there was a coup in Banghazi and the charismatic 27 year old Gaddafi became the leader. He was deeply religious and wanted to establish a true Arab nation with Islam as the state religion so one of the things he did was ban alcohol. In 1976 Gaddafi shared his vision of equality of all people by publishing his ‘Green Book’. Because he supported radical armed groups around the world and Libya was implicated in the PanAm Lockerbie bombing in 1988, sanctions were imposed by the UN in 1992 and only lifted in 2003. This long period of isolation gave Gaddafi the opportunity to rethink the direction of Libya, and recently private enterprise has replaced state socialism with a new emphasis on Libya becoming the leading state in Africa. Libya has just celebrated National Day on the 1st Sept and everywhere we go there are green flags flying and billboards advertising the 38 years under Gaddafi’s dictatorship.
One of the largest civil engineering projects in the world today was started here in 1984, when water trapped deep under the Sahara (undisturbed for 15 000 years) was pumped up and piped thousands of kilometres to the N where it is most needed. The total amount of water in this reservoir under the Sahara is estimated to equal the discharge of the Nile for 200 years; however there are still some who criticize this project.
We once again just camped out on the beach and the first thing we all did after the long drive, was to dive into the refreshing waves. Then after a fresh water shower we sat and chatted while Zwam made us a Libyan spaghetti dish with camel meat in it! The meal was very tasty despite our initial reservations.



Thursday 13th September

We left at 7.15am and traveled till lunch time when we had to stop at a customs office to get our passports stamped, similar to the ‘registration’ in Sudan.
We then visited the Roman city of Leptis Magna N 32 38.102 E 14 17.204 Only about a third of this ancient city has been uncovered but what has been, is absolutely magnificent and our visit was a highlight in Libya – especially as it was so uncrowded. Phoenician traders from the eastern Mediterranean first developed Leptis Magna in the 6th century BC as a coastal trading post. It had fertile soil and the city increased in importance through grain and olive production and also because of the expanding trans-Saharan desert trade. During the 2nd century AD the city reached its peak of prosperity when the Libyan Septimius Severus became emperor and the city was home to 80 000 people. The first thing we saw was the recently restored Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus – it is massive with carved marble panels. Then we walked down the 20m wide streets towards the Hadrianic Baths which was a vast complex of linked bathing rooms – the natatio (cool swimming pool), frigidarium (cold chamber), tepidarium (warm chamber), caldarium (hot bath) and finally the laconia (sweat room). After that we went into the Severan Forum which is an open courtyard (100 x 60m) edged with arches and columns topped with charismatic Medusa heads – this was apparently the social centre of the city. We also saw the market, the 8 000 seat theatre and the 16 000 seat Amphitheatre which stands majestically overlooking the sea and was the site of mighty gladiatorial contests to the death between man and beast! These Romans certainly had everything they needed and also enjoyed life. The devastating earthquake in AD365 started the decline of Roman power and in the 5th century the Byzantines were attacked by local tribes so that when the Arabs arrived in 643 the city was already in ruins.
We left Leptis Magna at 5pm and made our way to Tripoli, the capital of Libya. What a lovely city – clean, well lit and friendly. The litter in Libya is a real problem and it seems that they do not have an effective system of garbage disposal in place – the towns are clean but it seems that all the collected litter is then just scattered out all over the countryside and beaches! We have been absolutely shocked to see litter lying everywhere and Libya is definitely the dirtiest country in Africa, although their toilets are spotless and they are clean and tidy in their daily living.
Libya is not set up for tourists at all and we have ‘bush camped’ each night – even here in Tripoli, Zwam took us to the park on the beachfront and said that we could just camp out! So here we are camped in a parking lot with 100’s of locals all around, playing soccer, walking and just generally enjoying the evening out. It is Ramadan now so all the people are fasting and basically resting in the day, and then they come out at night.
We went out to dinner and then walked around the souk stopping for a cappuccino and the boys smoked a sheesha. Before we knew it, it was midnight and we headed for bed.


Friday 14th September

Being a Friday and Ramadan there was basically nothing open or happening in Tripoli. Luckily, there was a Friday market (much like our Sunday markets) that we all went to. Tripoli is a beautiful city – well laid out and with a lovely beach front area.
We left at lunch time for the border to Tunisia, stopping on the way to see Sabratha, another ancient city dating back from Phoenician times. N 32 48.181 E 12 29.105 A lot of the city has not been restored and is still just ruins, but the theatre was restored by Italian archeologists in the 1930’s and has a towering 3 storey stage wall with 108 columns and gives the theatre a real presence.
We reached the border at 6.30pm and had left Libya and Zwam within the hour, but then it took another 2 hours to get the visas to enter Tunisia. So by 9.30pm – which is actually 8.30pm here in Tunisia – we were heading the 32kms towards the first town and a hotel with a shower!

Our costs in Libya were

Libyan visas R 557
Libyan guide R1 331
Garfield border fees R 675
Petrol R 328
Vehicle repairs R 55
Sight seeing R 219
Food R 342
Purchases R 71

Egypt 2nd week

Thursday 30th August

Dave and I woke up early and walked to visit the Temple complex of Karnak which was built over a period of 1 300 years and covers over 100 acres which is big enough to house 10 great Cathedrals! At the height of it’s supremacy Karnak’s wealth was staggering and a list of it’s assets during the reign of RamsesIII included 65 villages, 421 662 cattle, 83 ships and 81 322 workers and slaves to mention just a few of the assets! Ordinary folk were barred from entering Karnak and only priests, the pharaoh and his representatives were allowed entry. We only looked at the beginning part of the Precinct of Amun which is the grandest of 3 separate temple enclosures within Karnak, as it was hot and we are a bit ‘templed out’ as the overlanders say. However, you can’t help but marvel at the magnitude of these ancient monuments and we feel very privileged to be able to see these wonders for ourselves.
We then walked back through the back streets of Luxor towards our camp and were amused to see sheep and chickens right there in the city streets.

Luxor N 25 42.682 E 32 38.920

The overlanders were busy doing a major truck clean, so we joined them and cleaned out Garfield, even washing down our awning and tent. Then we all left at 1.30pm to join the convoy to Hurghada on the Red Sea. There were about 30 tourist vehicles in the convoy and it took us about 4 hours to reach Hurghada. As soon as we turned E and left the Nile, we were reminded that Egypt is actually not a green paradise, but rather a huge land of desert! Just inland from Hurghada, the barren desert plains erupted into the Red Sea Mountains which were stark and dramatic against the blue, blue sky. These are the highest mountains in Egypt, bar the ones in Sinai.
Hurghada itself stretches over about 20kms along the beach front which is just wall-to-wall hotels – a lot still under construction. We arrived at our hotel at 7pm and after booking in and making arrangements for tomorrow, we all went out to dinner. Jeff, has been a real help to us and has basically ‘adopted’ Dave and I – he books us in at their preferential rates and so we are only paying R25 each for bed & breakfast at a very decent hotel.

Johan has been the only ‘bad’ part of my day today as he notified me that he won’t be making it through Libya and so I have had to contact the agent and cancel his applications! And that is, after he asked me to add 2 extra people (passengers he had planned on picking up), only a few days ago. So I feel a real idiot and can’t imagine what the Libyan agent is thinking. The problem Johan has, is that he never had a carnet and now is unable to orgainise one, so Toyota (who sponsored his vehicle) have instructed him to make a U-turn and return to South Africa. Anybody planning to drive to Egypt must have a carnet for their vehicle and the carnet needs to be in the drivers name and not for example a company’s name.

Hurghada N 27 15.564 E 33 49.142



Friday 31st August


After breakfast all 10 of us went on a day snorkeling trip out to Giftun Island. I had vowed not to go on a sea cruise again, after my terrible sea-sickness in Shimoni Kenya, however the Red Sea looked so calm that I decided to chance it. The day was really enjoyable and the sea colours and clarity were amazing. We stopped at 2 different reefs to snorkel and we snorkeled off of Giftun Island itself. There was good coral on the one reef and at all the sites we saw plenty of colourful parrotfish, clownfish, etc. They served us a very tasty lunch of fish, rice and vegetable ratatouille, so all in all it was a very relaxing day and we all returned with better tans. Jeff is trying to compete with Dave – with no success! The tourist trade is certainly flourishing here in Egypt and we counted 50+ boats in the Red Sea on similar trips to ours, and our boat had between 30 and 40 people aboard.
We got back at 4pm and then our work began, as we had promised to cook for the crowd! We went and bought some beef – the butcher just hacks off a chunk from the carcass, selling from the top down, so we got meat from near the bottom of the carcass as it was near the end of the day! We cooked them a good ‘Durban’ curry with rice, a veggie casserole, sliced bananas and papadams. They were all very impressed and a pleasant evening was enjoyed by all, with some of them smoking the sheesha after dinner.

Things are quite cheap in Egypt, although nothing is marked with a price and they always try to ‘add it on’ for tourists. Teachers only earn LE 250 a month which is about R330! And one of our guides told us that her husband, after 35 years in the government was only earning LE 750 so the people are relatively poor.
We have suddenly become aware that the people are no longer ‘black’ but have lighter complexions. This change seems to happen around the Sudanese border with the Nubians being the last of the darker complexions.


Saturday 1st September

We had a leisurely start as the convoy for Suez only left at 11am. We had been told that the ‘tourist convoy system’ peters out N of Hurghada and sure enough, I don’t even think we would have been made to wait until 11, as we got to the check point at 10.30am and were just waved through with no register etc being written down. The overlanders are staying in Hurghada till Monday and we will meet them again in Cairo on Wednesday. We traveled N through flat desert with the Gulf of Suez on our right – at times it was lapping (no waves as such) within 10 metres of the road. There were fields of wind turbines along the way and the temperature was around 35 degrees which is manageable. Along the way there was loads of construction – 100’s of hotels and holiday apartment blocks – one wonders who is going to occupy all of them?
Since we left home we have now done a total of 25 800 kms.
We reached Suez Port at about 3pm and saw all the ships waiting to enter the Canal. Twelve kms further N we went through the Almed Handi Tunnel (for a toll fee of R3) under the Suez Canal and then we were in Sinai and traveling South! We traveled for a while and then stopped and set up camp on the beach, overlooking the Gulf of Suez and back towards Egypt. Soon we were seated with our sun-downers and there in front of us were a whole lot of dolphins! They say it is good luck to see dolphins in the Red Sea so we were very pleased. The sunset was beautiful over the sea with just Garfield, Dave and I all alone on the beach.

N 29 17.297 E 32 52.191



Sunday 2nd September

We didn’t have the best nights sleep as it was very windy and the tent flapped a lot. Anyway, we were on the road by 7am and carried on down the coast for a while before turning to travel E across Sinai. Inland there were stark, ragged mountains and it was quite beautiful. We stopped for breakfast at about 10am and within minutes 2 Bedouin men had joined us – we offered them tea and bread and then they took their leave. The Bedouin are the local people who live in the Sinai. We continued and reached Dahab on the Gulf of Aqaba at about noon. What a beautiful town – colourful streets lined with bougainvilleas and palms led down to the sea front, where on crystal clear turquoise water, there were 100’s of windsurfers, all at different levels of expertise. And all this is set against a backdrop of jagged, golden mountains. There are hotels with palm lined frontage on the water’s edge, but we can only take photographs of these – we have to then hike down the road until we find more affordable accommodation – like backpackers!! We actually found a very nice place also on the beachfront with a helpful manager and he pointed us to the first dive site, before we set up camp at Alaska Camp.

The site is called The Canyon Coral Garden and is honestly the most amazing snorkeling that Dave and I have ever done. The coral was spectacular and the fish amazing – we were both enthralled. We thought of Andrew & Dee and how much they would enjoy being here. Of course, I wished we could share this beauty with our kids, and I truly hope that they will all get here one day to see such underwater beauty. The coral ranges from bright iridescent green to pinks, purples, blues and then the more subtle creams and pale yellows. It comes in all shapes and sizes – big succulent looking ‘carpets’ that cover whole rocks, clam-like shaped ones, little upright bonsai type corals and then huge delicate lacey ones, to name but a few. The fish are a rainbow of colours and sizes – bright yellow anemone fish, blue and yellow angelfish, ornate brown and cream lion fish, turquoise and pink parrotfish and so on.
After we had set up camp, we took a stroll along the beach walkway which is paved and lined with cafes and restaurants. Right in the hub of things there is another dive site called Lighthouse. We thought it would be completely destroyed with all the 100’s of people diving and snorkeling, but we were wrong – it too was wonderful with sheer 20 metre drop offs, covered in every type of coral you can imagine with 1 000’s of fish. Dave and I are completely blown away with this snorkeling and can’t wait for tomorrow.
Back at our backpackers we have met several other travelers, a South African from Hilton, Pietermaritzburg and even a young Russian couple, who have invited us to contact them in Russia!
We made dinner at the campsite and then took a stroll along the beach walkway which had come alive at night! After a long walk we stopped at one restaurant and had ice-cream for dessert.

N 28 29.830 E 34 30.960


Monday 3rd September

We woke up and after early morning coffee, packed up as we were going to drive to ‘the Blue Hole’ to snorkel. This is a 80m deep hole in the reef and the sheer sides are covered in coral and of course fish. As Dave says, if you took every type of coral you could imagine, and then added 1000’s of tropical fish of every colour and shape and size; you could not create a wonder as good as we are seeing! The Red Sea basin was created by the same tectonic stresses that formed the Rift Valley and the Dead Sea. It is cut off from the Indian Ocean by an underwater ‘sill’ where it is only 100m deep. The Gulf of Aqaba is cut off from the Red Sea by the 200m deep Tiran Strait. Neither the Red Sea nor the Gulf of Aqaba are fed by rivers and the rate of evaporation exceeds the rainfall, so they are exceptionally warm and salty which makes them the ideal environment for tropical fish and coral reefs, the warmth in particular is responsible for the brilliance of colours of the coral.
We then drove back a bit to snorkel the Canyon again and then came back to camp for breakfast. After breakfast we went to snorkel Eel Garden. We really just can’t get enough – even Dave is loving it, as the water is warm and the sights so amazing – a kaleidoscope of colours and shapes. Eel Garden was as wonderful as the other sites but on the sandy sea bed there were 100’s of snake-like eels all waving in the water. All these sites are right on the shore and you just wade in ankle deep, before snorkeling over the coral reefs.

We relaxed at camp over lunch time and then went for another snorkel at Lighthouse just before sunset!


Tuesday 4th September

We woke up and went for one last snorkel before heading back into the interior of Sinai to visit Saint Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai. This is where Moses heard the Lord speaking from a burning bush and where Moses received the Ten Commandments. The St Catherine’s Church within the monastery was very ornate with lavish chandeliers and a superb mosaic depicting Jesus on the cross. Outside we saw a thorny evergreen bush which is said to be a transplanted descendant of the Burning Bush. All attempts to grow cuttings from this bush in other locations, have apparently failed. The monastery’s Bell Tower was impressive against the blue sky and the backdrop of Mount Sinai.
Mount Sinai is also venerated in the Islamic faith and the prophet Mohammed is said to have visited the monastery in 625AD and in the 11th century a mosque was added to the monastery. This Christian outpost has thus always been protected in an otherwise Muslim country throughout the ages.
There was a very well laid out and informative Visitor’s Centre which we spent a while at and then we were back on the road. We made quite good time and decided to push through to Cairo. We reached Cairo just as the sun was setting at 7pm and then started negotiating the traffic! Even if I say so myself – we did really well! Dave drove like an absolute star in the chaotic traffic and I managed to navigate and keep us on the right road – what a team! We went over the Nile to the West Bank of Cairo and a bit S towards Giza, where we knew there was a campsite. It took us 2 hours but we didn’t have to make one U-turn so we were pretty chuffed with ourselves!


Wednesday 5th September

We got going early and traveled 20kms S to see the pyramids at Dashur. There were 2 Old Kingdom pyramids we wanted to see – the Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid. These were both built by Snofru (2613-2588BC) who was the father of Cheops who built the Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza. The Red Pyramid is the second biggest pyramid and is open to the public. There were only a few tourists at this site and in fact Dave and I were alone in the burial chambers, which added to the eerie feeling down there in the middle of such a gigantic stone structure! You have to bend in half to creep down the tunnel right into the middle and it is really hot, so by the time we came out we were sweating profusely. We then visited the Bent Pyramid, a km away, where Snofru was buried. This pyramid is very well preserved and has most of its limestone cladding still intact, so you get a feel of how the pyramids used to look – all smooth and white. This pyramid is peculiar as it is steeper for ¾’s of its height and then tapers off to a gentler slope, thus giving its sides a ‘bent’ appearance.
Dashur Pyramids N 29 48.331 E 31 12.289
We then drove back up into Cairo to meet the overlanders at the Havana Hotel.