Where the flowers bloom

We are in the final stretch everyone! The Northern Cape, and particularly Namaqualand and the Karoo, has been an unforgettable experience and we’re sad to be leaving it behind. The show must go on though, we left Kamieskroon in the early hours of the morning. The weather was very cold, temperatures were below zero so we had to be careful while driving on the road.

We took on the ǃKheis 4×4 route all the way passed the community of ǃKheis, which is an old settlement initially inhabited by the Khoisan people, who were also the first permanent inhabitants of South Africa. The ǃKheis 4×4 trail is quite washed out because of the heavy rainfall that the region has been experiencing so it took a while to get through. We then headed further South, towards the small agricultural town of Garies to refuel. The town was built in 1845 and is nearly halfway between Namibia and Cape Town.

After some refreshments, we got on the road again and hit the N7 South to get to Paarl; the third-oldest city in South Africa and the largest town in the Cape Winelands. We arrived at about 18:00 pm and because we were pressed for time we didn’t do much sightseeing. We had to get to our destination in time and rest up in time for the dealer event the next morning.

On Tuesday morning, we were invited to attend a media and dealership event at the Vrede & Lust Estate, nestled at the foothills of the Simonsberg in the Franschhoek valley. We spent the morning showcasing the bakkies, answering questions about their features and their performance on the expedition, as well as questions about our general experience on the journey so far. The CEO of Mahindra South Africa, Mr Rajesh Gupta, was there to greet us in person and showed great enthusiasm for our trip so far, which re-energized us for the road ahead.

We’re going to be sleeping over in Worcester tonight, there are adverse weather conditions expected for the next few days so we need to plan our next few stops accordingly. We’re leaving Worcester in the morning and heading towards Beaufort West. We’re going to be hitting some key landmarks in the area all day so make sure you join us in the next installment of our ongoing blog series as we explore all that Southern Africa has to offer as we Unleash The Explorer in You!