Motorhoming in Africa

As the first part of our African adventure is nearing its end, we reflect on how brilliant this has been so far...

...and how much we have still to learn about this amazing country.

Looking forward to the rest

africabymotorhome.blogspot.com

Caravan Decision Made

Well, after our adventure in Iceland and the Faroes we have decided what to do about our travelling vehicles;

1. We loved the freedom to roam that the the 4x4 Touareg gave us
2. We managed to put the single axle caravan in most places a motorhome could go
3. The new Swift Elegance we tested in Iceland is a tough van, has no wood in its construction

So we won't go down the motorhome route, at least for a few years yet, and the decision is:

1. Keep the Touareg
2. Trade in our Searcher for a new Sterling Continental 580 (sister van to the Swift Elegance 580)

So there we have it - we're still caravanners. 

Where to next?

Preparing for Africa

As I sit here watching Chambao on You Tube while I type this, I realise how much we are missing Nerja and our Spanish life...and we won't manage to be there until January. Having said that, after recovering from our Iceland adventure, we've had a great summer reuniting with our three daughters and also managed to get a lot of work done on our house here in the UK.

It's quite dreadful watching Scotland pulling itself apart over the referendum and contemplating the ramifications of either outcome for all of us in the current UK. It's also quite fascinating seeing the power of bluster and passion over reason being played out on TV. How did we get here? (best not share my thoughts on that...) Let's hope that this is not repeated in Spain anytime soon, for Espana has achieved too much in recent years to turn it upside down.

Anyway, preparations for Africa are almost done and we are pumped full of boosters for all kinds of evil diseases so if you want to see what we're up to, it's HERE

Nerja - Semana Santa

Well, we're back here again for the Easter Parades...
We start this year with our local Nerja parades...and they're breathtaking. Surprisingly it's our first Easter out here but it certainly won't be our last.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Week_in_Spain

We'll stay until May 20th, catching up with friends, the walking group and taking in the San Isidro fiesta before leaving....

...then it's sorting out the final details for our Iceland trip before collecting the new Elegance 570 from Swift....more of that later.

2014 Adventures

OK, we have the main adventures for 2014 sorted now...

All being well, this is it:

• Return to the UK March 7th
• 15 June > 18 July: Tour of Faroe Islands and Iceland with the Searcher & Toureg.
• 06 September > 14 December: Back to back guided motorhome tours of South and Southern Africa, hiring motorhomes via the Camping & Caravan Club.

We may spend Easter in Nerja and at times in between we will do some more of our intermittent  tour of the entire UK coast in the Searcher. Perhaps we should do Scotland now...

...and, while we're on the Scottish question, thinking of our African tour, here's an interesting proverb:

   from 'wallquotes.com' 2014

Oh, happened across this  packet of sugar in a local restaurant. I used to collect quotes and Gandhi was top of the list then....I like this one..

If you need to, get onto Google Translate

Meanwhile, here's an image of Sadella, one of the many beautiful Andalusian villiages in our locality. It''s said to be one of the last Moorish villages to resist the forces of the Christian Queen Isabella.

http://www.andalucia.com/province/malaga/sedella/home.htm

Caravan to Turkey: Home GB

Made it.

Some stats will go up HERE

What have we got out of this adventure...

...well, yet more varied cultures experienced and friends made... lots of priceless memories that will stay with us..and what about our faithful outfit...

Just one very small dent on the Searcher where a strong Turkish gust of wind picked up a chair and hurled it at the side. Otherwise that's around 14,000 miles of adventures ... it still looks pretty damn good..and still gets lots of interest and admiration. Wish I could say the same.

What can we say about the Touareg? What a car....it hasn't put a foot wrong...bags of power..totally stable with around 1.9 tonnes on the hook..and I have yet to top up the oil while on one of these taxing 6000m+ jaunts.  Comfort & luxury, too...does love a drink of diesel though...prefer red myself.

So that's about it for this adventure; it's that time for reflection, memories....and a return to home chores.

...Off to Coventry on Friday for talks on overseas motorhome adventures from the C&CC....Southern Africa looks good.

Watch this space....

Caravan to Turkey: Nearly home F

Thursday, 11 July 2013 at 2:52pm

 Nearly home... Back at Saverne yesterday..5 hour trip...another 5 hours later we're here near St Quentin, where this blog started, so it's all a bit sad really. 

 Tunnel tomorrow, then back to reality...hang on, what's that these days?

 Will publish the stats for the trip soonish...

 Shared with Memoires for Android http://market.android.com/details?id=net.nakvic.dromoris http://sites.google.com/site/drodiary/