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.