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Camping - "The South African Way"If I mention the word "camping", what picture comes to your mind? In my mind, the first thing I see is a neat little campsite and tents, pitched in a circle around a fireplace in the shade of large trees. In South Africa many people love camping because of our nice weather. Therefore if you drive through our towns you'll see many "trailer homes" that we call "caravans" and the majority of South Africans loves fishing. Many people though, including myself prefer to use a tent when camping. When using a tent you could be just as comfortable and well equipped. My family and I are using a "8-man" tent with a nice verandah. We have a fridge and all the gas equipment required, as well as handy little gadgets to make every trip a joyful occasion. When you decide to go camping with me, keep in mind that you will have to do without things like TV and radio because when I go camping, I want to get in tune with nature and do not want to be bothered by things like politics and noise. Exercise, fresh air and plenty of good laughs and conversation is all you really need when you go camping. Planning your trip Like everything else in life the success of a camping trip depends on how well you've planned your trip. You need to take everything required along if you know that there is not going to be a shop. Normally there is always a shop at the caravan parks that sells the basic stuff you would require. We have a standard equipment checklist of the equipment that we always take along. Part of the planning and preparation includes the care of your vehicle. Your vehicle needs to be trustworthy and well maintained. So before a long trip, have your vehicle serviced and check the tires and shock absorbers for wear. The Trip If you are going to be the driver, rest well before the trip. Plan your route to include rests after every 2 hours of driving. We enjoy making coffee next to the road during rests, boiling the water in our kettle and eating a sandwich or cold salads and cold meats. For us, a camping trip starts the moment we leave home. Therefore, we are never in a hurry to reach our destination. There are many beautiful scenes next to the road and we "drive to arrive alive". The preparation of the campsite. Upon arrival, we all help to clear the campsite of twigs and stones and to pitch the tent in such a manner that we can sleep as level as possible. The canvass water bags get filled with water and hung onto a tree so that there is always nice cool water available. Decide who is going to sleep where and get your campsite organized. Decide on a duty roster for everyone regarding things like "the washing of dishes" and the "fetching of water". Luckily the majority of caravan parks nowadays have neat ablution facilities with nice warm water and electricity. Once the campsite has been prepared you can all start exploring the camp and enjoy a nice cold beer or cold drink. The kids normally run off for a swim while I go and fetch some wood or charcoal for the campfire that night and decide with my wife what we are going to have for supper. Oh yes, don't find it strange if some of the neighbours in the camp come and help to pitch your tent and to help you organize your site because that is the way the "camping South Africans" are... Around the Campfire. After you have enjoyed a wonderful day out doing things like swimming, game viewing, hiking, fishing or just relaxing with a good book in the shade it would be time to start preparing supper. That, to me is one of the best times of the day. You would see and smell the smoke of all the campfires around the camp starting to go up in the air and you would see the people going off to the bathrooms with their towels. Upon their return they look all cleaned up with a satisfied look on their faces. By that time you would have met one or two of your neighbours and you would be enjoying each others company around a campfire. Normally we would have a "Braai" and "pap and sauce" but I have many good recipes that we use while camping. After supper we would sit around the campfire and exchange stories or recollect what we have done during the day. Sometimes we would just sit and listen quietly to the sounds of the night when all the nocturnal creatures come out to feed or look at the stars. |
