Cederberg Mountains

Our first night was spent camping in the Cederberg Mountain region. Although the beginning of August is the end of winter in South Africa, Nomad tours assured us that temperatures remained between a pleasant 50 and 70 F. It turns out that they are filthy liars. Despite the fact that I went to sleep wearing every item of clothing I brought with me, it was only when my body started involuntarily convulsing in a survival effort to keep warm at about 3 am that I was finally able to drift off into a frigid, palsy-like sleep.

Table Mountain

One of Cape Town's most popular tourist attractions, Table Mountain rises 1086 meters (or metres in South Africa) over the bay. Click here for more info.

Buddy

The sight of several renditions of La Bamba, multiple snack fests, and a few impromptu dance sessions (whose pictures will most likely resurface just in time for the Senate confirmation hearing for my Supreme Court nomination), Buddy was our faithful transport for the duration of our tour and a general nap haven.Everything that we needed for camping was housed in the truck: sleeping mats up top, tents and chairs in side compartments, and a kitchen and full-sized table in the back. I would have truly appreciated the simplicity of it all if I wasn't just sitting around (note the carefree soul lounging in her deck chair) most of the time hoping that lunch was ready soon.
I'm sitting in the front of the truck next to Rachel on one of the few occasions that I didn't suction myself into the far right back seat.

Although Buddy was a bit ornery early in the morning in some of the colder campsites, it was nothing that a little TLC and a few whispered sweet nothings from our trusty guides couldn't fix.

Camping is fun. Right.

Our first night, we got a brief tutorial on how to raise the tents provided for us. And by "brief," I meant short enough that it took me a good three nights to catch on and be able to raise my tent in under a half hour. By the end, I was a total pro though, I became good enough to convince other people to raise my tent for me.


Here is our campsite in the Cederburg Mountains with our trusty truck, Buddy, in the background.

Cape Town

Due to my late flight, I arrived in Cape Town at 11 pm only to start my tour at 8 am the next morning. I remember virtually nothing about the town other than thinking that had I just five more minutes in the Nomad offices, I could have totally figured out how to steal this giraffe. If only.

Who needs sleep when you can have honey roasted peanuts?

Once upon a time, Mary, faced with a bleak and weary summer of studying for the Massachusetts bar exam, thought that the perfect way to celebrate the end of the test would be to spend a month overlanding through southern Africa. Thoughts of cheery cheetahs and elephants and giraffes waiting to befriend me overshadowed any preoccupations about time, money, or danger concerning the trip and I gladly made plans to meet friends overseas and embark on the adventures ahead. Neither the red-eye flight I had to take from Montana to make my Boston-Cape Town flight on time nor my mother's constant pleading with me not to die has dimmed my excitement and the last minute planning has all been worth it. Three sleepless nights, four advils, and eight immunizations later, I'm ready to go to Africa.

Here is my brother and Mike and I preparing to leave Montana after having a blast at our friends' wedding--(Congrats Kelly and Greg!). Little did I know I was about to spend the next eight hours in the Salt Lake City airport only to take a red eye flight back to Boston and arrive in time to take a cab to my apartment, pick up my suitcase, and take a cab back to the airport. I can always sleep later.

Check back here for more posts of pictures and updates from our tour. Because we will be overlanding in trucks, internet access will be sparse, but I will do my best to keep you all updated! If you'd like to follow along with our travel, check out our itinerary here.