I arrived at Johannesburg on the 31st May 2024. I had -as usual- things to fix. However the big problem was my broken solar panel on the roof. About a week before I had left Australia, I put in an order to Takealot, the big online retailer in South Africa. One of those items was a replacement solar panel of the correct size to replace the one on the roof. Takealot was the only place I could see a solar panel of the same size. Unfortunately Takealot wasn’t going to deliver until later in the week.
So I installed an inverter I had brought from Australia. This was my second attempt at installing an inverter. My previous attempt brought only smoke. I went shopping gathering up food that would be difficult to get in Botswana and Zimbabwe (like Barley).
One day I drove out to a bike shop to get a couple of inner tubes for my bike. I got pulled over by the police for ten minutes or so. The cop was OK, but my previous experiences with police in Joberg make me wary.
It was warm the first couple of days in Joberg, but then it got cold. Several days there was ice outside in the morning. Some days it was only 14C with a biting wind. Eventually on Friday I got my delivery from Takealot, however missing the solar panel. On Saturday I finally got the solar panel, but it was not the size panel as per the description, and would not fit. So I decided it was time to give up on the solar panel and head off. I left Sunday morning at 7:30am. It was another icy morning, with me trying to get the ice of the windscreen, so I could see.
The 410km drive to Kaleem, was uneventful. I left on Sunday morning to minimise the number of Police roadblocks I might go through. I did drive through two, but they were both engaged with other vehicles.
Arriving at Kemeel is so relaxing. Its rural. Patrick is such a great host, and Kemeel is a friendly rural town.
