Nelspruit (Nel’s Spring) was our base camp for a long week of taking care of business. It is a booming town not far from the southern gate of Kruger National Park. Farming is big here, citrus and macadamia nuts. There is a vibrant downtown and some cute little neighborhood centers with restaurants and small shops as well as the usual malls. All our chores can be accomplished here – thankfully, no need to go into the capital city of Pretoria.

What we’ve come here for is the VFS office, the visa extension service of the SA government. Our 90-day visas will expire soon and we need more time in SA. The process is somewhat complicated, there is an online application, a ream of paperwork that needs printing and a letter to compose saying why we want to stay longer. That part was easy, we have much more of South Africa to visit. It will be at least four weeks before we know if our application is accepted; meanwhile we received a little piece of paper allowing us to stay beyond our current visa, in case anyone asks.

Sixteen kilometers from town and right on the Crocodile River, the Hippo became home. It is a gem, with beautiful landscaping, a resident cat and an easy-going staff. The Hippo is busy all the time with the business flourishing in Nelspruit. If you want to stay there, you’d better call ahead or as one guest said, be friends with the manager Antone, he can work miracles.  Indeed, when it looked grim for finding housing for a week, he fixed us up with one of the bigger cabins. Our good fortune, as we are going to empty everything out of the vehicle to have it detailed. About time, right? All our goods fit nicely in the cabin, the hippos and birds kept us company and within a week we were clean and shiny inside and out. Now it’s time to find somewhere to go while we await the visa decision. Well, what about Botswana? Yes, why not. The Tuli Block is just up the road (ok, a two-day drive) and the Limpopo River is calling us. Off we go to get the truck dirty again.