I’ve got a stack of DVDs with this and a few other unseen clips as well, if you’d like one let me know.

On Sunday, we took a jaunt down to Cape Augilhas, the southern most point of Africa, and the symbolic end-point of our trip.

Ben and Finn are to be sold to a couple in Zambia to start new lives as rental vehicles. We’re spending a few days relaxing with Adrian and Leanne, and Dave and Vicky, and sorting out 101 logistical things to end a trip like this (buying suitcases, shipping home 100kg of tools and equipment, buying new tyres, valeting the trucks…).

All the images from this diary are available to view in a Picasa web album, and all the videos are on my youtube page – feel free to browse. We will post a couple more videos and, once we’ve had time to settle in back home, we will post some concluding comments and thoughts about the trip.

For now, it’s enough to say that it has been probably the most rewarding experience of our lives, that we are delighted and chuffed to bits to have made it. For those reading this who are thinking of or planning similar trips, go for it. It’s easier than you think once you’re on the road.

We spent three nights around the canyon. There was only enough to see or do for one, but as our last stop before Cape Town, we wanted to relax, unwind and fix 2 of the 3 punctures we’d received in the last 4 days (the first of the entire trip, not counting the knifing in Harare). The Third? It was beyond repair:

The canyon was spectacular, being one of the deepest anywhere. There’s a 5 day hike along its length, which is reputed to be one of the best hikes of its kind in the world. Perhaps we should have left a couple more days and attempted it?

As an interesting ps – ten points to anyone who can correctly identify what is going on here.

One exception is the old diamond mining town of Kolmanskop, first inhabited around 100 years ago and fully abandoned, when the current larger town further into the region was completed, about 50 years ago.

The town has been preserved by the dry weather and lack of footsteps, but is steadily being taken over by the desert.

On the way home, we took a quick detour to Halifax Island. Which is famous for one thing and one thing only: penguins. Although they were a long way away, the sight of small waddling animals, like a huddle of railway controllers shuffling around in the gale, was unmistakable.

If ever you try to hold a picture of a desert oasis in your mind, Sossusvlei would pretty much match it.

Once in 10 years, the Tsauchab River flows this deep into the Namib desert, and fills the “vleis” (pans) with water. 500 years ago, dunes drifted across the entrance to the old pan, blocking the water from accessing it regularly enough to sustain the trees that live on the deep ground-water. The result is Deadvlei.

This year has seen a freak heavy rainfall in Southern Africa – far more even than the regular 10 year cycle. Although now several months after the rains, several of the pans still hold water. Ducks swim happily in the desert, with abundant large mammal life of jackals, oryx, springbok and various cats (identified only by prints). Even Deadvlei had seen water again for the first time in a generation, although it was dry again by the time of our visit.

There are walks of up to 120km, and a self-guided 2 day 4×4 trail, but we opted for a circular 10km hike up to the plateau, then down into a gorge that cuts through the middle of it. With park fees paid, the sightings of the day included oryx (large desert antelope), mountain zebra, springbok and ostrich.

The flora was no less dramatic, with cacti dropping feelers down to semi-permanent water pools in a mostly dried up river bed.

The day became more interesting at bed time when, as I stepped out of the shower, a small yellow scorpion stung the sole of my foot. Ow. Now three days later, it’s mostly better, but I still can’t feel my two middle toes particularly well…