Along with watching all the animals we’re seeing, we’re also watching all the ‘wildlife’ in the campsites – the regular oldies who have this camping stuff down to a T – and it seems that we have a great deal to learn. Some essentials that we are apparently missing:
- A leopard-print tablecloth – essential in the bush!
- An apron to wear while cooking breakfast in the picnic sites. (Our muesli is just not going to stand up against the sizzling bacon, eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes being cooked by the more experienced folk.)
- A pair of snazzy pyjamas to wear around the campsite in the early morning.
- A full-on pop-up clothes line, and an all-in-one wash stand with double wash basin and drying rack, plus the essential washing-up gloves.
Good grief! No wonder some of the caravans and vans we see are so big. Our Wandering Warthog is starting to look quite small amongst the regular crowd.
Our Warthog is proving to be big enough to be comfortable, and small enough to take on even the tightest little bush roads. We do have to watch for low trees and overhanging branches, because we are quite high. We have also learned that elephants consider our van more of a threat than smaller vehicles, so we need to give them a bit more space than usual – and we also do so because our acceleration is not great … 0 – 60 in four days! (No, not quite as bad as that, but not fast enough to flee a charging elephant.)
In truth, most of the camping crowd are really friendly and welcoming. Especially to such obvious amateurs as ourselves!
