Total Eclipse of the Sun - December 2002

After all the planning and calculating we decided to take a party of friends and camp somewhere in the Northern Province, now called Limpopo province.  Our initial booking was for Nwanedi dam Nature Reserve, but after the booking was confirmed, it was cancelled by someone in the Limpopo provincial hierarchy.... Disaster!  Our booking agent worked hard and made sure that we were given a replacement booking in the Musina Nature Reserve, also known as the Musina Baobab Reserve.  In the event we were sited near to an old farmhouse, which had some rooms which could be used.  But we elected to camp next to the river and had a great time, using the farmhouse only for water supplies and showers.

Our party consisted of:

  • Jocelyn & Peter Hers
  • Sandy & Keith Roberts
  • Lynn Barnes and Scott Barnes
  • Stephanie & Stewart Walker
  • Stephanie Olivier
  • Garth McEwan
  • Neville Goldin
  • Jean Wilson

This page gives a quick view of the camp and a few photos taken during the eclipse. 

NB: The pictures that follow may take some time to download!  Please be patient...

 
    Our campsite just above a (very dry) riverbed. Temperatures during the day were around 38-40 C, and it only cooled off around midnight.  On the first night we slept outside until it became more reasonable to move inside the tent.

Note our camp shower (green plastic) hanging from the tree!
    Keith and Sandy brought a trailer containing just about everything necessary for comfort in the veld.
    Another view of the campsite, this time from the river bed. 
    Here is a panoramic view of the Sand River taken from the bank.  We watched the eclipse from this location.  Click on the picture for a larger view!

 
    On the evening before the eclipse we drove down to the river bank and had champagne and crisps on the warm rocks. You can see we were getting into the right mood!
    Here are some of the crew eating watermelon and waiting for the eclipse to start. You can see from the shadows on the ground that we had a cloudy sky and it was fairly chilly -- compared to the previous day.
    Unfortunately we had cloud cover for most of the eclipse.  This picture was taken before totality, without any solar filter...
    This was taken during a brief gap in the clouds, using the solar filter.
    Just before totality, no filter.
    Baily's Beads during totality.  With the cloud cover it was extremely difficult to guess at the correct exposure...
    During totality, showing some corona as well as glow in the cloud cover.
    End of totality.  That's as good as it gets folks!
    Wild 4 x 4 x 4 on the rocks!
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