There were two main routes to head back from Cape Town to our base in Pretoria ..
  we chose to drive through the Karoo Desert.   Click this picture for a larger panorama.

Not long out of Cape Town the unusual sight of this truck and trailer came into view

After gaining permission from the farmer who was waiting for assistance to arrive and fix his broken truck .. I just had to climb up and introduce myself to these remarkable birds.
Juvenile Ostriches on their way to market .. for their meat and skins .. but nothing was to be done with their feathers .. Ostrich feather boas having long since gone out of fashion.

By a strange coincidence, when we stopped in the next town for lunch, Ostrich steaks were on the menu. Although feeling somewhat guilty, I did enjoy my first ever taste of them ..
a dark red meat very similar to Venison.

The beautiful Dutch Reformed Church at the end of Church street in Graaff-Reinet.

Following the information in our Backpackers guide .. we turned off the road through hilly countryside towards the town of Nieu Bethesda. It looked like stormy weather ahead !