What a day! We raced into town early this morning to do some last minute shopping for the expedition and then drove round to the shipping agent at 10.00am. He said we had to return at 1045 as the customs slot for clearing the vehicles was at 11.00. When we returned he told us to wait on the main road where he would meet us with the customs man. At 1130 he still had not appeared so we telephoned him to see what was happening. He said the customs man was having his morning tea break. Finally, at 1145, a very large and rotund customs man appeared and we set off for the dockyard.
On arrival at the dockyard, there was mayhem.
Lorries and containers were everywhere.
At last, we found the container with the Landrovers in it and with due ceremony the seal on the container was cut-off.
After a detailed inspection of the vehicles and contents we were told all was well.
The customs man then departed to his office in the centre of town to stamp the documents and a minion came back an hour later with the signed documents.
We sighed with relief and got ready to go, only to realise we did not have the shipping company’s clearance certificate!
Another hour went by and eventually another scruffy individual appeared with yet another signed document and at last we were free!
We drove off into the Capetown traffic with a great sense of relief and went off to fill up with diesel which is half the price of English fuel.
Tomorrow we set off for Namibia!
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