And the final letter ...

Dear Coco
This is the last of my letters as we are now on our way home. We left the Orange River and made our way up a fairly steep and slippery hill and came upon some trees called Halfmens (Pachypodium namaquanum) because they look like people standing up straight but with a slight lean towards the north. Legend has it that the gods turned some members of an ancient tribe that had been hounded (oops sorry Coco, I mean chased) out of Namibia into half plant/half human beings because they were pining for their old country so much and now they gaze northwards towards Namibia. Here is a photo of one of them with the road far below. We also saw lots of these prickly plants called Bushman's Candles (Sarcocaulon crassicaule), which are related to pelargoniums. The area is also full of mines as there are lots of minerals like mica and zinc. Every now and then you come across caravans and a smart car or two in the middle of nowhere - and it is usually a small mining operation or prospectors.
At last we come out on the N7 - the main road to Namibia - quite close to the border and effectively that was the end of the tour as we had decided that the weather on the coast was too windy and cold for camping. So we parted company with Robert and Angela and the Beast (their Mercedes) at this strange, glittering place which was all closed up and headed back to Springbok.
We stopped for a breather on the side of the N7 (we didn't want to be caught loitering in Springbok) and were joined by this strange Land Rover that was driven by a friendly guy in camouflage outfit, and his dog that apparently was a champion jackal-catcher. The jackal-catching dog. Then it was on to the Cederberg and Riversong - with beautiful flowers all along the road. This is the Gifberg. We had a lovely evening at Riversong, with a fire, good food and red wine, a hot shower and an early night. The next morning I had a few minutes to photograph these little babianas coming up all around the cottage before we were packing up once again,
and bouncing along the road all the way home
to Cape Town and YOU.
Lots of love
The Food Lady