Orange/Gariep River, South Africa

Today's drive will be a short one, as we cross the natural and border between Namibia and South Africa.

We make a quick stop at a small town for supplies and use the second most unsavoury toilet of the trip. The locals wave at the truck. And wave. And wave!

We make it through immigration and customs shortly after and enter South Africa.

Our campsite isn't far from the border and is situated on the South African bank of the Gariep River. We set up and have lunch and play with one of the 4 dogs at the campsite, a staffy named Shadow. Shadow likes to use rocks as balls and carries them around the campsite. Jeff finds a tennis ball on a shed roof and tries to convince shadow this would be a better choice for his teeth. Sam, an old lab / golden retriever / mongrel also makes us feel welcome. Sam lives across the river in Namibia, but swims across to come hang out with his mates.

We spend the afternoon on a canoe ride down the river. Very little rowing happens, we spend most the time drifting down the river, talking to our guide Arry about sport, beer and wine. He recommends some 'exceptional' places to check out when we get to Cape Town, which is where he is from. We see some darter birds and also experience some minor rapids. Courts has flashbacks of her time on the Zambezi. All in all, a chill afternoon.

We head back to camp, Jeff takes another nap, his sore arm still giving him some grief. It's pretty swollen, but there don't appear to be any obvious bite marks, so Jeff thinks it may be a chipped bone. We plan to get it cut off, I mean checked out in Cape Town.

Tonight's dinner is Springbok cooked over an open fire. Best.BBQ.Meat.ever. Cooked to perfection, we can't stop raving about it.

After dinner we head to the bar and play Beer Pong and Chace the Ace with our crew and the camp locals.