Knowing there would be no early start - we decided to have a late sleep in. Best made plans of man and mouse as the saying goes - we were awake bright and early and had nothing much to do until the town woke up. We had to get the tire off the wrong rim put on the rim that fitted - we were not going to take any chances with no spare - so we had no choice but to wait until a civilized hour.
Driving into "town" we soon had help to get the tires and wheels sorted. The "pap wiel" was a write off - at least our load was a tad lighter.
We wandered the streets playing silly buggers then went into the shop to do some browsing. What amazed us was the amount and variety of stock they carried and the prices were on a par or cheaper than JHB. We were both in agreement that on our next trip we would do our shopping at VanZylsRus rather than lug everything all the way from Jozie. We did stock up on some wood but we did come to regret that we had not carried more with us!
One thing we did decide on - we did not trust the road signs one little bit..............



+ more. Good sense of humor in this little dorpie.
It had been many years since I had been to VanZylsrus and it was an eye opener of how much it had grown. Last time I was there the fuel was hand pumped into my vehicle - but they had moved with the times and I could pay with a petro card using the old slide reader.
Now they had a bank
and a refurbished bottle store

Even with all the modern development we knew we had a long wait as the tire was still going to be done manually - no fancy gadget just good old fashioned man power.
Then again all the towns on route have grown at an alarming rate. the sad thing - crime has grown with them.
Our tire was finally ready so it was time to stop faffing around and to hit the road
Before we knew it it was time to have a lunch break. Someone had told us we had to stop for fish and chips at Molopo Kalahari Lodge - best fish and chips this side of the equator. I will let you people go and decide for yourselves - my opinion may differ - but lunch was good and service was excellent. So far so good - short one spare but with plenty of fuel and no other issues we could sit back and enjoy our lunch.
As a matter of interest I have included this pic of a cabinet that is in the reception area of where we stopped for lunch with an explanation of how and when it was made.

With a short hop we were finally at the entrance gates. One thing about going to Bots via the Kgalagadi there is no need for passports, no hefty road taxes to pay , no car inspection and no food confiscated. Just as well as Jax did not have her passport or the car documentation with her. We had had them e-mailed to our phones in case we were given any problems.
I seem to remember saying it would not be a day by day account - but looks like I may have fabricated. So I will take a step back and review my story.