Three Weeks in the Wilds of Pretoria!

Those of you who have read our South African posts, particularly ´Reflections on Leaving South Africa´, will know that we have confused and entirely opposing feelings about this country. And those of you who have visited it yourselves will, no doubt, absolutely understand the conundrum. It is at once a stunningly beautiful, friendly, easy and very well developed country and a frightening, frustrating and deeply troubled one.

And so we left the peace and calm of Botswana to enter the wild, lawless but very convenient world of South Africa. And not just South Africa but the most crime-ridden area of all, Gauteng Province – affectionately known by its initials as Gangsters Paradise!

Here lies the sprawling metropolis of Johannesburg and its equally enormous and foreboding neighbour, Pretoria. The wealthy suburbs of Pretoria are where the highest proportion of murders, home invasions and car jackings occur with the difference between rich and poor being at its most extreme. As we crossed the border I text my sisters wondering whether we were tempting fate by returning having been so relieved to get out unscathed the first time.

But there were too many good reasons to come back and strangely, whilst we were initially on high alert as we drove the long roads from the border to the city, once we arrived things didn´t seem anywhere near as intense or threatening as they had when we were first there. In fact, I saw far more smiling, relaxed faces; black and white mixing more freely than I had previously noticed; the people selling junk at the traffic lights more humorous and light-hearted than scowling and angry. Perhaps it was a case of low expectations or perhaps having spent the last 6 months in relaxed, safe countries I was more primed to see the good in people rather than the bad.

We checked into Somabula campsite – the same place we had stayed after Henry was discharged from hospital all the way back in September last year. Whilst half an hour or so out of town, it was safe, friendly and beautiful being in a small nature reserve and we remembered enjoying our stay there.

This time was no different, once we had set up and sat down to admire the view I felt a welcome sense of calm settle over me, as though I could breath again. Very different from the last three weeks in Botswana where everything had seemed too hard, gloomy and noisy. It was very unexpected.

We were given the same pitch as we had before which was large, with a lovely view but with a shared ablutions block. It didn´t matter all as we were the only people there and we soon settled in and made the place our home.

We had only intended to spend a week or so in Pretoria but in the end we stayed for 3 weeks. In that time the lovely people at Somabula had various other guests booked in so over the time we were there they moved us from the site with shared ablutions to another, private site with our own ablutions and finally to the Ox Wagons – four Ox Wagons surrounding a large ablutions block with two toilets, showers, a large kitchen area, comfy seats and tables…we had definitely gone up in the world!

We made ourselves increasingly at home with each move, spreading our stuff around, utilising the comfy furniture, acting as though we had moved in permanently. I wondered how on earth we were going to cope when we had to go back to normal campsites again!

Early on in our stay we had also arranged to go back to visit our old guesthouse where we had lived for 6 weeks during Henry´s rebuild. The owners, Ingrid and Chris, had become good friends and one of the main upsides of returning to Pretoria was being able to see them again.

When we arrived at their gate it all felt so familiar. Memories from last September came flooding back but they turned out to feel good. Whilst the end of June and most of July last year had been devastating for us, by the time we had arrived back in Pretoria in September Henry was well on his way back to health and we were feeling optimistic and excited about having been given a second chance. I was very pleased to find that Pretoria had actually left many positive memories with us.

Ingrid and Chris treated us to a braai that evening and we chatted for hours about anything and everything.

Our room was lovely

And we decided to spend a second night there allowing another evening together before saying our final goodbyes and promising to always stay in touch wherever in the world we are

The following Friday the guys at Somabula had bigger problems, the whole campsite was booked up, but the lovely owner, Zoe, didn´t want to throw us out so suggested we could camp in the garden of one of their chalets and use the toilets inside. We decided it was a good excuse to have a week-end break away from the city and so drove 60km north to the Dinokeng Game Reserve to try and see some lions.

Dinokeng is a very new game reserve having been set up only 10 years ago by a large number of private landowners in partnership with the South African government who supplied the Big Five into the park. It covers just 2,000 hectares and there are 170 farm houses or lodges within it so it´s a very different experience to a national park. But it´s beautiful, well laid out and peaceful

We saw a few animals

Including a rhino sleeping under a tree

And travelling at this time of year means we got to see some very cute babies!

And I was also pleased to find a number of the lovely Kudu which have quietly been becoming my favourite antelope

On our second day we found a lovely artisan brewery where we had a great lunch and a sneaky pint

The whole park had the lush greenery we had become very accustomed to over the last few wet months

Although at one point we started to wonder where the road actually was!

The rains had filled the rivers

So everywhere we went we were treated to beautiful views

But still no lions! We got very, very close to two though – at 4:30am one morning we were woken up by roaring and panting so loud that they cannot have been more than 100-200m away. Of course I jumped out of Henry in my night dress and flip flops, prowling around the campsite looking for them but to no avail. It did cross my mind, just once, what I would do if I actually came face to face with them without even a torch for protection, but I figured they would be more scared of me than the other way around…..urm…..

The campsite itself was an oasis of calm

Even when the wet season came right to our door!

We spent our evenings watching the sunsets

Including one night where we had a very unexpected visitor

This jackal came right up to the edge of our pitch and stood watching us for a long time. He settled down in the bushes alongside us and just looked on quietly as I chatted to my Mum on the phone and we cooked dinner. It was very unusual behaviour for a wild animal but when we took the torch to see if we could get any closer he decided discretion was the better part of valour and headed off leaving us alone with just the smaller residents of the park.

As at Tuli, the whole place was covered in hundreds of very beautiful and impressively intricate spider webs

I have a phobia of spiders but have found that out here I am starting to lose the skin-crawling fear whenever I see an eight-legged creature. Many of them are absolutely stunning to look at with very delicate legs and colouring

Back at Somabula after the week-end, the owner Zoe popped round every so often to chat. She was lovely and we enjoyed her company but she said she had difficulty finding us home as we were kept so busy in the city most days – we were generally out by 7:30am and not back until after dark.

So what was it that was keeping us so busy and holding us in Pretoria for so long?

Where do I start??

We had ordered two new boxes to be made by Big Country, the guys who had repaired our awning after the accident and made us our new roof box. They had said it would take 10-12 workings days which was what informed the timing of our arrival in Pretoria. However one of South Africa´s more endearing issues is that of loadshedding and it is getting to the point now where the country is struggling to function – with no power for large parts of the day, companies and industry are grinding to a halt. Their 10-12 days became more like a month with the laser-cutters and powder-coaters having no power to do their work.

It wouldn´t have mattered in the end anyway as all three members of the Sidetracked team turned out to be in a worse condition than we had thought.

On our first day we toured Pretoria buying a whole host of things we hadn´t been able to get for a long time – breakfast bars, red bush cappuccino (if you haven´t tried it, you don´t know what you´re missing!), mosquito patches, chocolate cookies; we had a new loom made up to wire the compressor into the new box when it arrived. We went to a lovely restaurant for a fabulous lunch that had us wheeling our tummies back to Henry. And we sat in traffic for hours to get to a 4×4 place that sold wheel arch extensions and turned out to be a candy shop for overlanders.

Over the next two days we carried on taking full advantage of the conveniences of South Africa – we got our laundry done and had Henry washed (at last!)

We went back to the 4×4 place for more goodies and visited Quick Pitch who make the shower enclosure we have to see what other exciting things they might stock. We failed to find O-rings for our leaky shower point, bought data and had ice cream. I was also able to have a long chat with my Mum on good, strong mobile signal.

James replaced Henry´s front track rod ends at the campsite then we took him to get his tracking done. Next door was a windscreen place so we had the large chip fixed – the one caused by the eagle dropping a rock onto us back in Namibia which some of you may recall.

Yes, South Africa has its problems, but if they could just sort out the violent crime, racism and loadshedding it also has everything you could ever need to live a very comfortable life.

On our fourth day, we were booked in to see Andrew and gang, the amazing people who had rebuilt Henry for us. He was going to take a look at Henry´s side panels and see whether he could come up with a solution for the buckling. As soon as we arrived we were treated like family – hugs and welcomes, it was lovely but also quite surreal to be back

After a long discussion with James about causes and options, Andrew and Felix set about loosening the bolts on the side panels and pushing them with a hydraulic pump to straighten them up

Once straight the bolts were fully tightened. It was a huge improvement and James was happy with the result.

Long term problem number 1 – fixed!

After a Sunday lazing about on the campsite, we were up early on Monday and heading off to British 4×4 to see about the ongoing, infinitely frustrating and increasingly worrying diesel leak that had plagued us, and James in particular, for nearly a year now. It had gone from a small leak every so often to now a torrent of diesel covering the engine and underside of the bonnet and, more recently, dripping out from the sides. Henry was still running like clockwork but at this rate how much longer would that be the case? We had been to endless garages, consulted experts far and wide and even had Landrover UK themselves on the case – no-one could come up with a solution. We had spent well over a thousand pounds replacing parts that had turned out not to be the problem. James had been at his wits end for months. Walter and Org at British 4×4 had been an enormous help after the accident and had, in fact, been the ones who recommended Andrew for the rebuild. If anyone could sort this out we really hoped it was them.

They looked him over and agreed a plan of action – they would make up a new fuel return pipe that couldn´t leak and see what happened. We also asked them to blank off the EGR valve that had recently stuck causing thick black smoke to spew out of the exhaust. All this was booked in for the following morning.

So whilst we waited, we headed to one of the smartest shopping centres in town to try and find solution for our other, non-Henry related, issue.

Our wifi hotspot was on its way out after 2 years of hard service. Without it we would be dead in the water. We walked round shop after shop after shop trying to find a replacement but the only one we could find was the same make as ours but two models down. We bought it on the basis that it was numerous steps up from a broken one! We also bought it a case along with a case for our MP3 player and a magnetic charging cable to stop so much wear and tear on everything.

It had been a good day!

The next day – not so much! British 4×4 had blanked the EGR valve and installed the un-leakable fuel return pipe by about midday. I had spent the time in their waiting room posting a blog and sorting out loads of photos. So far so good. Org took Henry for a test drive. He was gone a long time. Then an even longer time…we were starting to get a bit annoyed – where was he? Eventually he came limping back – literally! Henry was in limp mode doing about 10mph at best.

We went to see what had happened. Org said he had been pulling away from some traffic lights when something went bang under the bonnet. I was furious – had I not suggested that making an un-leakable fuel pipe when the problem was a build-up of pressure in the system was just asking for trouble??? I bit my lip and said nothing as Org, with a look of panic on his face, searched under the bonnet with a torch trying to find what had gone bang.

Half an hour later, after I had left James and Org to it in order not to do or say something unladylike, James came back with the news – the Turbo had exploded. Not just broken, literally exploded – fins had flown off, bits everywhere. He estimated this was a £2,000 problem at least

After consultation with Landrover specialists we know and trust in the UK, as well as with Org and Walter themselves, the undeniable fact was that this had not been caused by anything they had done but was, albeit horribly uncomfortable for them, just a pure and simple coincidence. Indeed we were incredibly lucky that it happened here in Pretoria whilst Henry was already in the hands of reliable Landrover experts. It seems this was about to happen at any time and if we had been in the middle of the Kalahari, Nyae Pans or any of the other remote places we had been recently…..

They had a refurbished turbo in stock and set about replacing it there and then without even any discussion about price. We sat and waited and waited and waited. Finally, by 5pm Henry was back up and running and the final bill – including all the work he had originally been booked in for as well as the new turbo – came to less than a quarter of the cost we had feared for the turbo alone based on UK prices…welcome to South Africa!

But there was more to come. One of the technicians working on the turbo was lying across the engine shining his light down to assess the problem when he suddenly declared ´the inlet manifold is cracked!´ I wasn´t there but James and Org looked and saw he was right. A tiny hairline crack in the manifold….right below the T-junction of the fuel return pipe. A tiny hairline crack that was spewing, not diesel, but oil all over the bonnet…and had been for nearly a year. The crack was slowly but surely getting bigger and finally it had got to a size where eagle eyes and a torch could spot it.

I was called from the reception area – ´there´s your so-called diesel leak´ said Org! No wonder it had defied all logic and diagnosis for so long, everyone who looked at the leak had seen what looked like diesel coming out of the fuel return pipe whereas in fact it was oil coming out of a crack in the manifold right under the fuel return pipe and soaking the pipe before spurting up onto the bonnet.

Was it a good day or was it a terrible day? I will leave that to your own judgment!

The next day was James´ birthday. I had been worried it would pass by without much note and felt sad at the thought. But things started on a high – James had put engine putty across the manifold crack to seal it and therefore test the theory that this was the cause of the leak

When we opened the bonnet after a drive we saw something we hadn´t seen in over 10 months….

Nothing! Clean as a whistle!

Long-term problem number 2 – solved!

This was a milestone not only in Henry´s health but also in James´- his mental health if nothing else. The worry about this leak had been weighing on him increasingly heavily for as long as I could remember.

We were due back at Andrew and Naomi´s early that morning to have some work done to the driver´s door. It hadn´t been entirely right since the rebuild.

As ever, Andrew did a fabulous job

Long-term problem number 3 – fixed! I could visibly see James´ stress levels coming down.

And at 10am Naomi called us into the house for tea where James was presented with a lovely, squishy, chocolate birthday cake!

We spent most of the day with them, James enjoying chatting to them all about everything 4×4 related. He also took advantage of a flat, clean surface to change Henry´s engine and diff oil. That evening we cooked pork ribs on the braai and watched a very silly zombie movie. He received three e-birthday cards and had Happy Birthday sung to him.

I don´t think he could have had a better birthday!

We went to a very posh restaurant for a belated birthday meal the next afternoon to celebrate everything from his birthday to the diesel leak to just being alive

And everything was absolutely delicious – although we felt a bit out of place in our grubby overland clothes but enjoyed ourselves too much to really care.

The next few days were our trip to Dinokeng and on Tuesday morning we were back at British 4×4 to have the new manifold installed

They also adjusted the pre-load on the swivels which they promised would stop the steering wobble we´ve had since long before we even left the UK. And it did!

Long-term problem number 4 – fixed!

So Henry was starting to get put back together. What about the other members of the Sidetracked team….?

James thought his cellulitis was coming back yet again but an interesting visit to a natural health practitioner who took some of his blood and studied it under a microscope put our minds at rest. He merely had one of his regular bouts of gout and a blood parasite. We left laden down with potions and creams and a booklet of instructions!

It is unusual for me to need attention, it´s normally my boys causing all the worry but even I had to have some work done this time. First stop was the local hospital to see a skin specialist and get a mole removed. All perfectly benign apparently but it had been changing shape and colour so for good measure he gave me a local anaesthetic, sliced it off and cauterized it

I was delighted with my war wound!

Next stop was a chiropractor to help to help ease my poor, aged back. In fact I saw her twice in two days. During the sessions she cracked my joints, stuck pins in me, pushed me, pulled me, nearly twisted my head off and dug her thumbs into my neck harder than I care to remember. But I walked out of there feeling a millions dollars….especially when James decided I needed cheering up and treated me to another amazing meal at the same restaurant where we had celebrated his birthday.

Two and a half weeks after we had first arrived in Pretoria our new boxes were finally ready. We dashed off to Big Country to receive another warm welcome and were delighted with the work they had done. We chatted to them for ages and almost bought side panels for the awning but decided against it at the last minute – saving ourselves much needed cash as well as storage space.

James spent most of the next two days fitting the new boxes

And by the time he´d finished I had a shiny new box for my gym kit that cleverly hinged away from the ladder to allow easier access into the back door

And we had a much larger and better organised side box for all our recovery gear which could now also house the camp table freeing up much needed living space inside

So with all of Henry´s long-term issues now resolved, James´ health sorted out, my medical emergencies dealt with and a few good meals out enjoyed, we were finally starting to think about making plans to return to Botswana.

Before we could go, however, we had just a few more errands to run. We popped back to see Andrew and Naomi with bottles of whiskey and wine to thank them for their help and, most importantly, stocked up on lots of good South African wine, more red bush cappuccino, muesli and other treats before finally setting our sat nav for the Botswanan border.

Our feelings were no less mixed leaving this strangely seductive country than they were coming into it. With breath-taking scenery, great food, outstanding wine, friendly people and a 4×4 and overlanding industry unrivalled anywhere in the world – every time we come back here we feel in increasing pull to stay.

But on one of our last evenings before we left, Walter from British 4×4 took us to his favourite bar where we shared pizza and beer and he bought us a Jagermeister shot – just because that´s what they do round there! As we were chatting, he was telling us about the small farm he lives on just outside Pretoria. He has a high electric fence around the perimeter. He has a second fence inside that one in case someone gets through. He has a third fence around his house. And he has two large dogs, not to mention an array of guns. If he sees someone walking towards his property that he doesn´t recognise he stops his car, stares at them and points to let them know he´s seen them. He is on guard every minute of every day.

With this story in our minds we drove 4 hours to the Botswanan border and passed safely back into the land of peace and calm. We were sad to be leaving everything that South Africa could be but I can´t deny that we breathed a sigh of relief as we left the reality of what it actually is…..