rush hour

Gabs city is growing and so is traffic. There is a lot of road construction going on, which means that sometimes you will spend a lot of time in the car, waiting for traffic to move very slowly around one of the detours. These days, even the road along Old Naledi is jammed, and the other day I got a good view of life next to the road while on my way home.

monkey business

There are cheeky baboons living on Kgale Hill. They like to come to the office buildings and rummage through the bins or simply scaring people. Their favorite spot seems to be the car park, where they sit around or climb on the sunroofs, and jump over walls when someone comes close. It's quite a sight when you drive into an office car park that's full of monkeys...and a good reminder that this is, after all, Africa! :)

roadside scenes

Some pictures from the way home to Gabs, taken from the car. Vast grassland and wide, open skies. Next to the road, some cattle and spread-out villages. Rising hills in the distance, empty land. Just across the border, but a different country indeed.

a little video of our trip to Mozambique

I finally managed to upload this little fim from our roadtrip through Mozambique.
We drove through Maputo, took the ferry to Catembe and then made our way through the sand and dunes to Punta do Ouro on the coast. The town of Punta do Ouro is really built on sand - no roads there! The long stretches of sand pistes were extremely bumpy and we saw quite a few cars who got stuck in the sand but we were lucky and the landscape was still beautiful to look at.
Thanks to David for the car and to Björn for being a great offroad driver!

trip planning

I really want to go to the beach and so we decided it's time for another trip!
In March, we are planning to go for a week-long holiday to Mozambique and the Elephant Coast, where they say there are pretty beaches, fresh seafood and green landscapes....I'll find out if they are right and report back. But until then, there is some more work to be done...

Baby you can drive my car

Soon after arriving in Gabs it became clear that I will need a car in order to get around. And so my favorite man took me to his trusted Sri-Lankan car dealer in the dusty suburb of Mogoditshane where we inspected a number of 'freshly arrived' cars from Japan.

And even though the offer was rather limited I decided I definitely want a German car!
(After all, it's the first time I am buying a car)

After some back and forth, test-driving, negotiations between the men, getting lost on the way, trying every cash mashine in Gabs, and finally a rather lengthy cleaning session (just before the WC started), I am now the proud owner of this lovely green VW Golf:

Isn't it pretty? :)