My final post from the African Continent. This trip seems to have gone very quickly, we have packed a huge amount into our time here and have now run out of battery like worn out wind up toys. William commented today that our images have not been as good this past 2 weeks. Creativity is hard when you are tired.
Umm so can driving be... I have to fess up that I ran a red light today. William was saying red light red light and I thought yes I know and I am stopping at it. But what I didn't see or realise was that this intersection only had traffic lights on the furthest corners. Every other intersection I have ever seen in my life has traffic lights on both the near and far corners; and you stop at the line beside the near one. Driving here is certainly a test of stamina; there is often just too much clamouring for attention; the beggars walking through the traffic, a myriad of signs (often adverts obscuring traffic signs), the pot holes (some easily big enough to break axles), speed signs, traffic signals, other cars (sometimes doing something crazy), huge truck & trailer units & random animals.
One of the roads today was like driving a dodgem car - literally weaving, all over the road to avoid potholes. Not moaning just explaining how it is!
For the most part today was a long boring drive from the Golden Gate Park back to Pretoria. We had to return the rental car by 2pm so it was all about getting here on time. Even so we still managed to stop a couple of times to very quickly shoot something that caught our eye. Landscape photogs would be horrified at how quickly we managed to "snap out" a photo when the need arose.
Our insurance plan of leaving spare drives with our Namibian photos at the hotel to be collected today, paid off. Sod's Law seems to dictate that if you plan for an eventuality then it will not arise.
Throughout this trip it has always created amusement, and sometimes frustration, that the speed limit is reduced as soon as a bend appears in the road. This pic shows why… hundreds of kilometres of dead straight roads. A completely foreign concept to Kiwi drivers!
Umm so can driving be... I have to fess up that I ran a red light today. William was saying red light red light and I thought yes I know and I am stopping at it. But what I didn't see or realise was that this intersection only had traffic lights on the furthest corners. Every other intersection I have ever seen in my life has traffic lights on both the near and far corners; and you stop at the line beside the near one. Driving here is certainly a test of stamina; there is often just too much clamouring for attention; the beggars walking through the traffic, a myriad of signs (often adverts obscuring traffic signs), the pot holes (some easily big enough to break axles), speed signs, traffic signals, other cars (sometimes doing something crazy), huge truck & trailer units & random animals.
One of the roads today was like driving a dodgem car - literally weaving, all over the road to avoid potholes. Not moaning just explaining how it is!
For the most part today was a long boring drive from the Golden Gate Park back to Pretoria. We had to return the rental car by 2pm so it was all about getting here on time. Even so we still managed to stop a couple of times to very quickly shoot something that caught our eye. Landscape photogs would be horrified at how quickly we managed to "snap out" a photo when the need arose.
Our insurance plan of leaving spare drives with our Namibian photos at the hotel to be collected today, paid off. Sod's Law seems to dictate that if you plan for an eventuality then it will not arise.
Throughout this trip it has always created amusement, and sometimes frustration, that the speed limit is reduced as soon as a bend appears in the road. This pic shows why… hundreds of kilometres of dead straight roads. A completely foreign concept to Kiwi drivers!
I will do a postscript when I get home because there is always something I have forgotten to say.
We have had a fantastic African adventure & are still speaking to each other.
I felt quite sad when we left Namibia but now, a further 2 weeks on I'm ready to get home. Next stop good old NZ, where the security people greet you with a smile and a "welcome home".
We have had a fantastic African adventure & are still speaking to each other.
I felt quite sad when we left Namibia but now, a further 2 weeks on I'm ready to get home. Next stop good old NZ, where the security people greet you with a smile and a "welcome home".
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