Friday 14 September

We set off about 8:30 this morning, we are less than 9 hours from home so Ian would like to keep going. We went through Cincinnati just after 9 am and the traffic wasn’t too bad, guess we missed the worst of the rush hour. 

We stopped for lunch and gas just after Detroit, as the border crossing will be soon. It was a quick process getting back into Canada, no delays. We got on the 401 and moved along nicely until St. Thomas and we ground to a halt. We were held up to a crawl or a stop most of the way to Cambridge - we lost an hour and ended up getting off and taking smaller roads the rest of the way. Imagine, driving all the way from Savannah to Detroit with barely a stop and the put up with construction delays within a few hours of home. Must admit, it was nice to get home😀.

Thursday 13 September

Our first stop this morning was the visitor centre for the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. This was the site of the bloodiest three days of the civil war. We watched an interesting movie and looked at the exhibits before continuing our journey. The site has a drive around the monuments to different regiments, and there was also a drive up lookout mountain, which we decided not to do as it would add another half day. We continued through Tennessee and into Kentucky, where we stayed the night at Georgetown, about 10 minutes north of Lexington. We’ve visited this area before so haven’t been doing much sightseeing, Ian is getting itchy to get home. Bet we’ll be in our own bed Friday night!

Wednesday 12 September

We left the hotel around 7:30 this morning and headed for Augusta, Georgia. We got there in about two and a half hours and stopped at the Discovery Canal centre where they have a good museum for the oldest operating canal in America. We looked around and then went on a one hour boat ride on the canal. Only eight passengers so pretty quiet, hot and sunny again. There were three old mills along the river bank. The buildings were being used for other things now. We had lunch before we continued on, passing through Atlanta and arriving at Dalton, Georgia shortly after 5. We found a hotel and a restaurant within walking distance so we were happy enough. We are  not far from the Tennessee/Georgia state line.

Tuesday 11 September

We spent the day sightseeing in the historic part of Savannah today. It was (again) very hot and humid so we decided to take the Old Savannah Tour which was an open sided trolley bus, fully narrated, and get on/off whenever you want. This way we learned about the place and history, plus my feet didn’t ache as much! We had a coffee break mid morning, at the old market, but far too hot for coffee. We had lunch in a tavern so we could have a long cold drink. We did a bit more on the bus in the afternoon until we succumbed to the heat about 4:30. We went .out Moon River, a craft brewery for dinner, but neither of us were very hungry, I think it’s the heat.

We will start heading north/west in the morning, a change of plan to avoid a major hurricane heading for the Carolinas - we don’t want to get caught up in bad weather or traffic due to people evacuating further up the coast from us.

Too bad, we were looking forward to Virginia.

Monday 10 September

We had a leisurely start this morning, Jon had already left for work when we got up. We left about 9:45 and after about two hours we stopped at a rest stop alongside the interstate. Everyone was coming back to their cars with a case of water. A lady shouted to offer me some so I walked over and asked her what was going on. They were free due to the hurricane that was coming! I said we’re going to Savannah for a couple of nights and would that be ok? The young lady pulled a face and said “I dunno”. I said we’re leaving Wednesday morning and the guy said “you’ll be fine”. It isn’t supposed to reach the US coast until Thursday so we aren’t going to worry about it, we’ll keep up with news reports at the hotel.

Next stop was the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, about 20 minutes before Savannah. We watched a film at the visitor centre which explains about the canals and dykes that were dug by slaves and Irish migrants about 200 years ago. This area was used for rice plantations but was turned into a wildlife refuge in the early 1900’s. We drove the four mile trail and we saw herons, egrets, ducks, moorhens but no alligators or bob cats today!

We continued on to Savannah but we were getting thunder, lightening and some rain so we decided to check into the hotel instead of going to a Fort and getting wet.

We went out for dinner and had a walk alongside the river. We chose a restaurant and both had a really good fish dinner.

Sunday 9 September

We had a slow start this morning, we took the dogs out for a walk about 10, before it got any hotter.

We lazed around, chatting and sitting in the shade. A very quick afternoon thunderstorm went through but there wasn’t much rain.

Jon cooked some ribs and sausage on the bbq for dinner. He was using a rub and a sauce later so Ian was watching for tips for bbq’ing southern style. It was all very good.

Saturday 8 September

We went out this morning to Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. It was not far from the Blueridge Parkway, about a two hour drive to get to the top. There was a park at the top where they’ve built a steel suspension bridge, and the drop from the middle to the bottom is one mile. There were some rescued animals including bald eagles, bears, cougars, otters.

We then went on to Blowing Rock for lunch. Jon and Michele knew the pubs with a patio so it wasn’t hard to find  one and we enjoyed a few drinks and a late lunch/early dinner. We then drove back for a lazy evening.

Friday 7 Sept

We were on the road by 7:30 after a good breakfast at the hotel, even the coffee was good so no complaints. We drove almost two hours through the mountains, which were often concealed by the low lying clouds, until we reached the New River bridge visitor centre. We remembered stopping here on our last visit, because the washrooms were handy! We walked down the 178 steps to the viewing platform for a better look at the bridge, then of course back up. It was good to walk off the numb bum from the drive, only four more hours to go.

And still we drove through more never ending mountains and trees, as far as the eye could see. The sun came out and with the blue skies the mountains look lovely. Apparently they are the West Virginia range and then the Appalachian range.

We arrived at Jon’s at almost 4pm and he arrived home from work just after so it was perfect timing. We sat outside, with cold beers for a while, we needed to cool off as it was pretty hot. Jon bbq’d some burgers for a quick dinner and we went indoors in the A/C to cool down. 

Thurs. 6 September

We set off on another road trip this morning, destination - a visit to my brother Jon’s at South Carolina.

We were about 20 minutes crossing the border at Fort Erie then it was plain sailing to our first stop at the Premium Outlet mall at Grove City, Pennsylvania. Five hours driving so we deserved a break. We had some lunch and wandered around for about 90 minutes, both bought a few things and then got back on the road for what was to be two more hours. Unfortunately we were held up for about an hour with slowly crawling traffic due to a multi-vehicle accident on the other side of the interstate. We ended up getting to The Hampton Inn at Bridgeport, West Virginia after seven. Luckily there was a restaurant within walking distance, unluckily they didn’t serve beer - not sure if this is a West Virginia thing or the restaurant we were in. We decided to get a beer at the gas station shop on the walk back, we both ended up laughing because Ian was asked for his ID. The lady who served us didn’t know why we were laughing so we had to explain, him being 68, it was a very long time since he was last asked. Feet up for a while and then an early night I think.

Tuesday 13 March

We had today on our own, killing time before our late night flight home. We didn’t go down for breakfast until well after nine and headed out for some sightseeing about 10:30. We visited the District Six Museum which explains what happened when people in a large neighbourhood were told to leave and everything was flattened and not rebuilt, it was just to get them to leave. We then went to the Castle of Good Hope and watched the noon gun demo and then had a tour around. The Dutch built the fortress in 1666-79 as a stop for fresh water and supplies before headed around the Cape for trading in the Spice Route. That was enough for the day, we headed back to the hotel to put our feet up for a while before going for a final fish dinner. We leave for the airport about 9:15 for a 00:40 flight. We will be going home on Air France via Paris, so two long flights to go.

Monday 12 March

Today was our last day with the group and we spent the morning having a visit to Robben Island. The prison is now a museum and larger than I thought. We saw the cells, courtyard and quarry where the prisoners lived and worked. Nelson Mandela spent eighteen years here. We took a 45 minute catamaran over to the island and then a guided tour by bus, then a tour of the prison by an ex-political prisoner. It was a stark, severe place with different clothing, bedding, food and rules for the Black political prisoners. It was an interesting place, lots of stories were told by our two guides. We then had a fast (20 min.) ride back to the mainland. We had a coffee and quick lunch and spent some time wandering around the V&A waterfront. Tonight we went to a nice fish restaurant for our last meal with the group. Some folks were leaving tonight and the rest at different times tomorrow. We’ll be leaving the hotel about 9:15 pm tomorrow so still have another day to look around. No alarm clock in the morning though!

Sunday 11 March

Today was our tour of the Cape Winelands and we set off for Stellenbosch at 8:30. We had less than an hour’s drive as most of the vineyards are not far outside of Cape Town. The first winery we went to was Hidden Valley and we tasted 5 wines, with 5 different chocolates to cleanse the palette. Can you imagine drinking wine at 9:30 in the morning? Well, we managed it. This winery was more commercial than the second one and had an art studio too. After the tour we went into town and had an hour free to have a coffee and look in the shops. It was a nice quaint town, Dutch architecture and some thatch roofs. We then continued on to Franschhoek for another tasting at Eikehof Winery, which was a small family run place that’s been in the same family for over 100 years. We tasted 4 wines here and my favourite at both wineries was the Sauvignon Blanc. After the tasting we went inside and had a lovely lunch, and just filled our glasses with whatever wines we wanted. We then went into town for an hour of wandering, shopping, etc. We bought a couple of award winning craft beers for later this evening. We returned to Cape Town about 4:30 for a night off, a simple quiet dinner and feet up is on the agenda I think.

Saturday 10 March

Today we had our tour of The Cape Peninsula. We headed out at 8:30 to try and miss some weekend traffic, there were runners and cyclists everywhere. There is a big cycling race here tomorrow - 110km and 35,000 competitors, supposed to be biggest race in the world. We drove down the Atlantic side first and stopped at Camp’s Bay for photos. Lots of nice homes, very scenic. We continued on through Hout Bay and Chapman’s Peak Drive, then stopped again at the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve and Cape Point. More wildlife here, a wild coast with both rocky and sandy areas. Cape Point is often thought of as the most southern spot in Africa but that is actually further east. Next up we went to Seaforth for lunch at a restaurant overlooking the beach, then we walked to a penguin colony at Boulders Beach. Lots of them there, and they were quite comical walking and falling on the sand and dunes. Some birds had youngsters and some were sitting on eggs. After that we had ice cream then moved on to the National Botanical Gardens of Kirstenbosch, where the plants and trees were in better shape than I expected - they water from underground wells. We were on our own for dinner tonight so we went with another couple to a nice Italian place a few blocks away.

Friday 9 March

This morning we left Outdshoorn for the final push into Cape Town, where we will spend our last four nights. We drove through the Huis River pass of the Black Mountains. Some areas were very dry and others didn’t look too bad. We’ve been in water shortage areas for a few days now. We passed by many vineyards, the huge size of them put Niagara’s to shame. Also lots of fruit orchards and olives. We could see Table Mountain before we got into Cape Town and we headed there as the weather and visibility were good. We took a cable car to the top and spent about an hour walking around and taking our photos. Next was the hotel check-in and the requests and signs to use as little water as possible. Suggestions were only 2 minute showers, flush toilets only when necessary! We decided that drinking more beer and less water would help the situation. We went out to an African restaurant tonight, the set menu was 12 different dishes and just ask for more whenever we liked. There was a Springbok curry but no other game meats.

Thursday 8 March

I think our tour manager was feeling bad about the early mornings, he gave us a break today - we didn’t have to leave the hotel until 9:30 - we are all too well trained and were ready at 9:15. Our first stop was in Mossel Bay to visit the Bartolomeu Dias Museum where they had a replica of the ship that first landed here in 1487. After that we continued inland over the Outeniqua Mountains to Outdshoorn, it is very dry and we could see more signs of fires but regrowth was happening. Outdshoorn is a quiet little town where we will overnight and we had a lovely lunch at a bakery cafe on the Main Street and a little look in the shops. Next up was a visit to the Ostrich Farm, this area is famous for them and 65% of Ostrich meat around the world comes from here. We started with an intro. and a look at eggs, feathers and leather. In its heyday feathers sold for $920 a kilo and were more precious than gold, but no longer the case. We then boarded a wagon for a ride around part of the farm, I think it was so we didn’t get too close, apparently they can reach over the fence and peck your ear rings off - they like bling and will just swallow it. After that we walked around, anyone under 245 kilos could stand on an egg without breaking it, as they are 2 cm thick. Ian hand fed them some pellets without loosing a finger. The shop had lots of Ostrich leather items for sale but a bit pricey! The hotel was only 15 minutes away, we are staying in thatched cottages and have a short walk for dinner tonight, I bet Ostrich will be on the menu again.

Wednesday 7 March

Another early morning, we left the hotel at 6 for our flight, everyone was blurry eyed. The hotel gave us all breakfast bags, we didn’t finish them until lunchtime as we had a sandwich on the flight too. We flew from Durban to Port Elizabeth, which only took 1:20. I’ve never seen luggage arrive as quick, I went to the loo and when I got back Ian was waiting for me with both cases already. Port Elizabeth is the start of the famous Garden Route and we travelled parallel to the ocean for two hours before stopping at Tsitsikamma National Park for a visit. We walked for about an hour on a boardwalk along the coast until we reached Storm’s River Mouth where there were several suspension bridges then headed back for a cold drink. The scenery along the coast is really nice, water was turquoise and the sea pounded the rocks causing a high spray. After that we had a one hour drive to Knysna and took another break by the waterside. Then it was only a short distance to George where we spend the night. We walked over the road to an Italian restaurant for dinner, and I had a lamb shank and Ian had the Ostrich, both were excellent.

Tuesday 6 March

Another early morning, breakfast at 6:15 and leave on a game drive at 7. Today we did Mkuze Game Reserve in Zulu land. Not as many animals here as they lost a lot during drought conditions over the last few years. Apparently it hasn’t been as green as now for a few months. We had a 3 hour game drive then back to the hotel for showers before leaving at 12:15. On to Durban, 3 hours away on good highway. Our first stop on the Indian Ocean, and the nearer we got the more overcast it became. Our hotel room is facing the sea, lots of people out surfing and body boarding. Ian went for walk in it - he said it was cool. Just getting ready for dinner, it is supposed to be the best buffet we’ll have, loads of seafood, meat and curries, can’t wait! 

Monday 5 March

We reluctantly left the Swaziland hotel this morning, the meals were awesome. We had a stop at a candle factory (good toilets), then continued through the south which was drier and poorer than the north. We crossed the border back into South Africa and entered the province of KwaZulu-Natal. It was 33C by the time we reached the hotel, which is a really nice one. We had lunch before heading out in safari vehicles to visit a home up on Ghost Mountain. We had a visit for about an hour and the Zulu guy (named Justice) explained their way of life and customs, it was very interesting. We then had sundowners on top of the mountain before returning to the hotel.

(No photos today - internet access really slow)

Sunday 4 March

We set off this morning for our excursion into the Kingdom of Swaziland. It was about four and a half hours drive. Our first stop was at the border crossing, we were stamped out of South Africa then walked over to Swaziland and were stamped again, the guy was so busy reading his newspaper he barely glanced at us. We had a few stops along the way, the first at a Spar supermarket for toilets, coffee and anything else we wanted. Next was at a glass making place at Ngwenya where everything was made from recycled glass. Nice stuff here but delicate. There was a cafe to get lunch and all the toasties, wraps, etc. were made from scratch as they were ordered, very tasty. It was only about 45 minutes after that when we arrived at The Forresters Arms for the night. It is rustic, in the middle of the woods and employs only women. Swaziland is very green, hilly, lush, and some say it reminds them of Switzerland. It’s a small country, smaller than Kruger National Park, we will leave it again in the morning.

Saturday 3 March

We had a very early start this morning, animals are more active early on so we left the lodge at 5:30. Coffee and biscotti had to do, and we were all given brown bag breakfasts to take with us. We started seeing animals soon after we entered Kruger Park and it continued until early afternoon when it got hot and the animals seemed to rest then. We saw giraffes, black rhino, lots of elephants and impalas, wildebeest, zebras, monkeys, baboons, hippos, warthogs, lion, crocodile, maybe even more but after a while it becomes a bit of a blur. We made a few stops so we could eat our breakfast and get a lunch and beer later on. We were trying to see a leopard but they are very elusive. We got back to the lodge and showered before going for a well deserved beer before dinner.

Friday 2 March

We left Jo’burg at 8 this morning as we had 600 km to go to reach Hazyview, our stop for tonight. It was slow getting out of the city, with the morning traffic but once we did it was plain sailing. The roads are good, we stopped at a service station at 10:30, numerous restaurants and shops and clean toilets. At the back were different animals in the countryside - buffalo, rhino (in the distance), ostrich. We continued on and stopped for lunch at Dullstroom, a pleasant little place. We sat outside at an old inn and browsed the shops until it was time to go. Very nice weather today, not too hot but lovely and sunny. All agricultural on the drive, loads of crops and citrus and bananas. Very green. We drove through the Drakensberg mountains this afternoon, great views. We also had a walk at Bourkes Luck potholes, where the river of joy and the river of sadness join. 

Thursday 2 March

We spent the day in Jo’burg, first at the Apartheid Museum for a couple of hours. It was both interesting and sad, seeing more details of past events. People here are mostly moving on from the past and the young people were born afterwards so didn’t live through it.

After lunch we went to Soweto (South West Townships) where the trouble and violence had occurred. We visited what had been Nelson Mandela’s house, a busy place, very small, three rooms, and full of mementos.

We saw the big soccer stadium, built for the World Cup in 2010. It is under-used now, just for local leagues and almost never filled to capacity.

We had another lovely dinner out at Coriander’s, I had Scottish salmon cooked in an Asian way - I didn’t want another big meat dinner. Ian had a prawn curry and no room for starters or dessert.

Wednesday 28 February

We have had a quiet day - no sightseeing. We slept until 8 this morning, right through, no tossing and turning! Bonus for me, I haven’t slept properly since the first night. We went for breakfast at 9:45 and had a lazy morning. We left the hotel at 11:30 to begin our journey back to South Africa. Our flight was with British Airways and actually left early to avoid some weather. Only about an hour and twenty mins. We are staying at the same Jo’burg hotel as last time so we know our way around. Dinner tonight was at a steakhouse, food was awesome. I had a Ladies steak (only 200grams), it was the smallest on the menu, the biggest was 500 grams but that would have killed me! Ian had something from the Impala family - he is really getting into game meat - said it was the best steak he’s ever had. Meat is really cheap here. Two more people joined our tour tonight, they are from Canada too so we are 100% Canadian group of 14, even our tour manager, who is from Vancouver but married a South African and now lives here. No photos today.

Tuesday 27 February

It has been a long day today. We had a day trip to Chobe National Park in Botswana, about 2 hours away.

We had a bit of a confrontation with a lone male elephant on the way out - he was walking on the road, we slowed down to pass him and he became aggressive with the mini bus, our driver stood firm and the elephant backed down and went back into the bush. Not long after that we got a flat tire only 10km from the border but another company’s mini bus stopped and gave us a ride. We had to change vehicles and companies when we crossed the border anyway, so no time delay.

We first took a game drive through the bush in open sided vehicles, then had lunch at a lodge, and then took a boat trip on the lake. 

We saw loads of animals - impala, water buck, hippos, birds, elephants, lions, hyenas, water buffalo, water monitor, Nile crocodiles.

When we headed back into Zimbabwe we saw elephants, giraffes and water buffaloes at the side if the road but they were peaceful this time.

After a quick wash and brush up we went out to the Victoria Falls hotel for dinner. This was the old colonial hotel we’d visited the day before. We had a nice meal in opulent surroundings.

Monday 26 February

Today was our visit to Victoria Falls. First stop was the Big Tree, a Baobab between 1000-1500 yrs old, 18 metres wide. We continued to the Falls which are a series of falls. They made Niagara look pretty insignificant - they call them the Smoke that Thunders and we could see why. We are here during the rainy season, to see them at their fullest, and the water rages over them. The mist from them was from light to a downpour depending on which section we were at. We all got totally drenched despite rain jackets and trousers. My underwear was wet and my shoes were squelching. We took photos as best we could, trying to keep the cameras dry. We were there more than 2 hrs before going into the Victoria Hotel, a beautiful old colonial building that looks out over the bridge between Zimbabwe and Zambia. We then headed back to the lodge to change into dry clothes before lunch. We thought we’d have a walk around after lunch but it started raining heavy so four of us stayed at the Three Monkeys restaurant  until it stopped. 

Tonight’s dinner was at the Carnivore restaurant. Ian had wildebeest and I had the zebra, then we shared. Both nice lean meats. No room for dessert again. Back to the lodge for an early night, early start in the morning.

Sunday 25 February

We left the hotel around 9 this morning for our 11:30 flight to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. It was a easy flight, about 90 minutes, not too much waiting around. We didn’t need a visa to enter but we did have to fill-in a form for visitors and pay a $50 US fee. We probably waited about an hour or more until everyone was processed - everything was written down, twice, by hand, and a sticker put in our passport. Hope it is easier when we leave!

From there it was a twenty minute drive to our lodge, which is on the banks of the Zambezi River. We’ve been warned about the monkeys, who will come into the rooms if left open. Also, hippos who come to the vegetation via the river banks. And I thought I only had to watch out for Ian🤣

We left at 4:30 to go on a two hour cruise on The Zambezi - the local guide said it was a booze cruise - all drinksincluded. It was a slow ride, keeping our eyes open for 

birds, we saw kingfisher, egrets, plover, stork. We also saw quite a lot of hippos, they keep putting their heads above and below water. The crew brought us some hordeurves to help soak up the beer. After that we had a buffet dinner at the hotel. On the menu was crocodile, warthog and koodo (antelope), all were either nice or ok. Ian also tried worms and said they were fried and chewy, I gave them a miss! There was also some music and dancers for entertainment. When we got back to the room the bed was turned down and the mosquito net was in place.

Saturday 24 February

We had a very relaxing day, it was 10:15 by the time we finished breakfast. We are staying at Sandton, a good area in the suburbs. We went for a walk to the mall and wandered around for a few hours. Everything in there from top end designers to a drug store and a grocery store. We walked back to the hotel and sat in the sun by the pool for a while. We were getting tired so we had lunch in the bar at the hotel - a huge bowl of butternut soup and a beer. The lunches and drinks are all cheaper here so Ian is impressed. 

We met up with the rest of the group before dinner. There will be 14 altogether plus our tour manager Peter. All Canadians except one American. We walked to dinner at The Butcher Shop and Grill. I had slow cooked lamb that was awesome, I struggled to finish it. Ian had Ostrich which was very lean and cholesterol free. Apparently they are big meat eaters here so we will be eating very well I think. 

Nobody had room for desert.

Friday 23 February

We have arrived at the hotel in Jo’burg after a long journey. The KLM flights were both on time, as comfy as expected, and they fed and watered us often. First flight was 7 hours and the second 10 and a half so glad they are over. Lots of movies to watch. Our luggage arrived and the hotel shuttle driver was waiting for us, he showed us where the ATM was at the airport so we have lunch money for tomorrow😀 

It was about a 20 minute ride to the hotel, dark so we couldn’t see much. Clean and comfy, fingers crossed we manage to sleep tonight.