With Just a few days left before take off on our first leg to Cape Town , I think I should get the ball rolling on the blog. I have been here in Marbella on the ‘ Costa del sol ’ enjoying some welcome warmth after two weeks of ‘fresh’ conditions in the UK .
I had to visit a small out of the way hamlet in Suffolk to collect the truck, Shipdham to be exact, and to say it resembled a one horse town is not overstating the point at all.
The journey here took just on a week; taking in some sights along the way.
Suffolk, Norfolk : – lovely little roads to drive along.
Calais: – look out; we’re now driving on the wrong side!
Villers-Bretonneux: – paid my respects to the fallen diggers.
Paris: – took a wrong turn somewhere and saw both the palace of Versailles and the Eiffel tower! (a sign of times ahead?)
La Rochelle: – beautiful old port. Couldn’t see the u-boat pens as they are in the commercial port.
Bayonne: – fantastic crepes and no traffic (public holiday)
Pamplona: – followed the trail of the running of the bulls to the ‘plaza del torros’, ummm, on foot not in truck!
Zaragoza: – site of Expo 2008, no parking anywhere!
Madrid: – managed to get around in one go.
Sierra Nevada Mountains: – beautiful scenery and all down hill.
Motril to Malaga coast: – the Mediterranean at its best.
Marbella: – met loads of great folk, even let me use a car to go shopping!
Final preparations are almost complete, the adventurous folk will be arriving in the next few days, and then we are off on an expedition through an amazing continent.
To you who are following our travels, wish us luck and watch this space. And who knows, you may want to join us!
Since life is short and the world is wide, the sooner you start exploring it, the better.
– Simon Raven from an article in The Spectator, 1968