k I have now put my photo's on a disc, I don't know what order they will come out in, but you will be able to see a rhino, elephants and giraffes and whatever I think you will fancy! We had a fabulous stay in the Kruger and saw so much, but not one cat!! They must all have been hiding from us, because everybody else we spoke to had seen either lions, leopards or cheeta or all of them. Never mind, we saw lots in the serengeti. We are now just outside of Johannesburg Airport, and this is on our dash back through the middle to Cape Town.I want you to look at the size of the giraffe compared to the 4 wheel drive on the road next to him....he was huge, and we were just behind the other car. Hope you like pics xxxxxx
I forgot to tell you children that there was a wet 'n wild at Ushaka (where the aquarium was) and Granddad went down three slides!! I went around Duzi (just like Lazy) river in a rubber tyre twice. We won't say any more about Durban, it was very disappointing. From Durban we drove to the St Lucia Wetlands, very famous for it's eco system and the huge diversity of trees and wildlife. We went on an evening boat trip to see the Hippo"s and crocs. We also saw lots of lovely birds, particularly Kingfishers. From St Lucia we drove into Swaziland. A separate country ruled by a King.It was incredibly beautiful. Very heavily wooded, largest man made forest in the world! And their biggest industry is timber. We stayed at the Foresters Arms, right in the middle of the forest. When we went back across the border into S.A. we passed loads of sugar cane fields on one side and banana plantations on the other. Then we went through an industrial area, and there was a sugar factory and fruit canning plants. Just after the border crossing we drove into the Kruger Nat Park. We hadn't gone 100 yds before we saw elephant at the river. Then we didn't see much else for an hour or so, but when we went out in the afternoon we saw Rhino, elephants,lots of impala's one lonely giraffe and loads of beautiful birds. The Rhino were on the side of a tarmac road about 5 metres away.....and we were in our hire car. It was very exciting. Elephants kept crossing the road in front of us. It was magical. March 10th Second day in Kruger and we got up at 5.30 (it was still dark) and were on the road by 6, when the sun came up. Immediately outside the camp gate we saw our first elephant. About 10 minutes after that we saw a pack of wild dogs on the road. We have never seen these before. They were getting ready to hunt. After that we saw 2 water buffalo, and all of this is from the main road in our car. Sorry can't send you any more photo;s just yet, they are still in my camera. Lots of love Talk soon xxxxxx
Thursday, 4 March 2010
I have just put some more photo's on, so I don't know where they will come out! The bird is a weaver bird and it is sat on top of a lotus seed head, there were about twenty of them flying around, it must be a favourite food. I did post a picture of the weaver birds nest, they build them dangling from branches of trees. The last one is the new football stadium in Durban, built especially for the World Cup......wait til you see the building work outside of our apartment...again for the World Cup.
The weather has not been brilliant in Durban, in fact tonight we could almost be blown away, it is sooooo windy. We have been walking quite a lot, because the temp is OK for that, just not beachy. Today we went to Ushaka, a very large water park and aquarium. The aquarium was really well done and very large, we also went to the dolphin show and it was just as good as Florida, (and not as hot!)
The photographs have all come out in different orders but I think they are self explanatory
Lots of love to you all P xxxxxx
Hope you enjoy the rest of the photo's....the first two are from our window on the 12th floor, of the building site....they start work at 6.30 each morning aand at 8 the building work starts on the 5th floor of our building where they are ripping out the swimming pools and restaurant. So all in all very restful!
It was abruptly ended last night when my money ran out at the internet cafe! Sorry. For the children, I should tell you that Rouke's Drift was the scene of a very famous battle between the British and the Zulu's. Maybe your mum's & Dad's can tell you about the film Zulu. More V,C's (Victoria Cross) were awarded by Queen Victoria for this battle than any other in history!
The first photo is our Zulu guide whose great grandfather fought at the battle of Rouke's Drift, then there is a lovely big beetle for Theo. The next photo is the lodge at Iswandlana, then it is the actual drift at Rourke's Drift (it means a ford or crossing) and then do you recognise Grandads bag on this ladies head?? She just lifted it out of the car onto her head and then took it to our room.
Just to let you know......the previous photo's were of Cape Dassies,performing on the grass in front of our log cabin, our beautiful log cabin Tsikamma Nat Park and the waves in front of it!! The bridge was where bunjy jumping took place.........can you see a jumper, I tried to take one!
Well....our next stop was the battlefields and Iswandlwana Lodge. You have never seen anything so beautiful. The lodge is set into a hillside and is made of all sorts of organic materials, really gorgeous, with amazing views all across the valley. We went to Rourke's Drift first, and walked all around the site with a guide recounting the whole story, very moving and we all felt as if we had been there, we could hear the chanting and the Zulu's stamping their feet and banging their shields! The food at thye lodge is wonderful....so we are eating far too much. Lovely people in our group.
Saturday
We did the battle tour of Iswandlana today, with the Zulu chief"s great grandson......He got the chanting even more scarey! Really wonderful experience, very moving.
Sunday
Driving to Durban today. It was actually a very nice 4 hour drive through the hills and then onto the N3 into Durban. We did a timeshare swap for a week and are really disappointed! The whole seafront and promenade are building sites for about one and a half klms...all supposedly for the world cup Talk later
We were reluctant to leave the park because it was so beautiful. We have now driven to Port Alfred. We stopped first at Jefferys Bay for Haydn. Apparently it has a most famous surf break (right hand??) but there was no surf running for us....sorry Haydn, but I did take some phot's anyway. As we were driving past Port Elizabeth we noticed salt pans on the left of the road....(I expect you children to find out what salt pans are!!!), and about 200 yards farther on we saw a Cerebos salt factory. So Ella, Max & Angus, have a look in the supermarket and see if Cerebos salt says it comes from S. Africa!! We stopped at Bluewater Bay to watch the kitesurfers...lovely. We are staying at the Halyards Inn, on the Marina. It reminds me of Witta Circle girls.. it has canals branching off with lovely houses!! We arrived the right night, cos Sat night is seafood buffet night!! Not quite as good as Rio , but acceptable. John had at least a doz oysters! All for 120 rand (about 10 pound) Sunday 21st A 480 kls drive today! We went to Bathurst first and bought ginger beer and rose geranium oil at a craft market.Then a long hot drive. Spectacular views, up and down mountains. Everything is so much greener than we expected. There are little communities way up mountainsides and miles from anywhere....the children walk miles and miles to school, and Mums have to walk miles for water and shopping. If the Dads have work they also have to walk. Little mini buses stop all over the place when flagged, but only on the mail roads!! We don't appreciate how lucky we are. We arrived at Port St John at about 4.30 and jumped straight into the swimming pool. We are in a thatched rondavel on the banks of the river (very brown) Mon 22nd Had a lovely drive around on the other side of the river, but it was a dirt road and quite difficult, so we then went to another Nat Park and to what is called 3rd beach. It was very lovely, and we were just about to go in the water when a lady came out from under the trees (we were the only people on the beach) and asked us if we were going to swim. We said yes and she said NO. A great white shark had been spotted just off the beach that morning!!! We didn't swim. We went back to our swimming pool....no sharks there just geese!! John had more oysters...this time in the swimming pool, how decadent is that! Tuesday 23rd Today we are off to Underberg (not Bunderberg!!) in the Drakensberg mountains. Again spectacular scenery, we both agree, the main South African roads are really well maintained and driving is easy. We are staying at the Pile Inn in Underberg and our host Ian Pile is from Lynmouth and he knows Trevor Prideaux, a colleague of mine from Nat Trust days. We always say what a small world. Wed 24th Today is the Sani Pass day!! Four wheel drive up a mountain into Lesotho. It was Awwwsum!! Hair raising, scarey but also fantastic. I hope my photo's do it justice....coming down was probably even worse.I am disappointed because this computer won't let me download the photo's so folks until next time lots of love & stuff xxxxx
Saturday, 20 February 2010
Hi again I haven't had access to a computer for a few days.
Mon 15th Feb The locals are thrilled, it has been raining! This is a severe drought area, so we can't begrudge them a little water. It is pretty grey today. We had a drive around the lakes and then went to George to Garden Route Mall....well it did stay grey all day! Tuesday Still overcast and grey. We are on our way to Knysna today. Because it was still overcast, we decided to drive past Knysna and go to Monkeyland. The monkeys are zoo rejects, unwanted pets or just abused. They are rehabilitated in a wonderful natural forest setting along with three species of lemur. It was wonderful. Next door was Birds of Eden , so we went there as well. It was fabulous and I think I used a whole memory card on the two. We met Chinky, our travel agent, when we arrived in Knysna.She's very nice. Knysna is famous for it's oyster beds, so John had to have some. We went to 34o South on the waterfront. It poured down. Again, the locals are pleased. Wed 17th Still overcast but we had a nice walk around Knysna. Thursday The sun came out as we were leaving.We drove to Knysna Heads and had coffee The tide roars through these rocks twice a day. A really dangerous harbour entrance but stunning. We are on our way to Tsitsikamma National Park today and we go past the worlds highest bungy jump! at Bloekrans River. It is 216 mtrs high...eat your heart out Mr Grey!!!. We watched two mad people do it and then left.Into Storms river cap....Wow. We are in a log cabin right at the waters edge...It is very rocky so spectacular wave crashes. We walked to the suspension bridge through the forest and then sat on the beach for half an hour to recover. We are self catering here so we sat on the deck and had chilli watching the waves crashing and at dusk the Dassies came out to play. They are like giant hampsters, or maybe rabbits without ears, but they were running all over the place once the day visitors had gone. Friday What a fabulous place this is!!There are walks and trails through the forest and around the coast, but today was our R & R day and we went to the beach....John got sunburnt! The sea was pretty cold for the Indian Ocean, but we enjoyed it. We sat on the deck and had supper again and when we were clearing the dishes we saw a baboon in the dustbin, so I went out to have a look and there was a large male on our deck pinching John's beer!!! Can you imagine...John's beer...Needless to say he was quickly chased off. I am out of time so I will say goodnight...Hugs and kisses xxxx
On our way to Agulhas we passed through plains, plains and more plains.All of the crops had just been gathered in and we presume it is all cereals. When we got to Bredasdorpwe saw huge grain silo's, never seen any so huge. About 30 in a cluster and in the area we saw about 5 lots of these.We think this must be the bread basket of S.A. Friday On our way to Calitzdorp we had to travel through the Tradouw Pass. Built by Thomas Bain between 1869-1873. You can't help wondering how????It follows the river for parts and then through sheer mountains. When we got to Calitzdorp we turned off the main road onto dirt roads for 19 klmsto our next destination....the Retreat at Groenfontein. We stopped to take photo's of weaver bird nests, tortoises crossing the road (yes you read that correctly....tortoises!!)We went over lots of fords that are dry at this time of the year and the into the Retreat. What a wonderful place.We first had a swim to cool off. Set in a beautiful garden. They had a devastating fire last month, all the mountains around them are black! It must have been terrifying. It only stopped when the wind changed, and that was just behind their two bungalows in the grounds....a matter of yards from the house. We had drinks on the lawn with all the other guests and then we all had dinner together on the stoep (veranda). 4 S.A. 8 English,2 Dutch,2 Germans and our hosts, Grant, Marie & Millicent, all at one big table. We had Ostrich liver pate topped with smoked ostrich, we both liked it. We have passed lots of Ostrich farms on our travels, but this is the first time we have tried it. Theo....we had the most enormous spider on our bathroom door!!! It was the size of my outstretched hand and they said her name was Henrietta!! and that she was harmless. She was gone in the morning ( I hope I slept with my mouth closed!!) After a lovely walk around the gardens we set of on the dirt road again, this time for 37klms, on route to the Swatberg Pass. We have been through some spectacular passes so far, but nothing prepared us for this one!! 27 Klms of dirt road windin up and around the mountain to 1583 mtrs! Amazimgly spectacular. John was kn....(tired) when he got down the other side. Hurray..we are on tarmac roads, through some more scenic low passes to Oudshoorn, There is a Harley rally this week-end...500 + bikes.6/7 couples are staying at the Gum Tree Lodge with us. We have baby owls in the tree outside our room!I have never seen baby owls in the wild. They are beautiful. Hettie, our host, raised them from chicks when their mother was killed by a car. I had Springbok loin for dinner, it was fabulous. Sunday Feb 14th Our biker friends had decorated all the tables with hearts and flowers for Valentines day. They looked beautiful.We had a drive around Coudshoor and then headed to the coast to Mossel Bay.This is a big milk producing area and Nestle have a big processing plant here. Had a wonderful walk along the beach and then set of for our next destination Wilderness. The Wilderness Lodge is set high amonst the trees with fab views of the sea below. We had a lovely walk & paddle, then sat on the beach for half an hour before going looking for some dinner. I am up to date now!! Love and kisses to all xxxxx
Thursday, 11 February 2010
On Sunday evening we went back into Kalk Bay for a curry, and we had a drink at the Brass Bell (that one is for Kristie...she recommended it!)
Monday
We drove through the spectacular Chapmans Peak to Hout Bay. This road has been hewn out of solid rock on sheer cliffs, with overhangs you wouldn't believe. We went on a boat trip at Houts Bay to Duiker Island to see hundreds of seals....really, hundreds of them. Apparently they are immature males waiting until they are mature enough to mate!!!! Are they ever?? We drove bacl all along the coast road through Camps Bay, Clifton (very smart & posh) to the V & A waterfront.
Tuesday
At last a lear day to go to Table Mountain. We left early and arrived about 10 and only had to queue for about half an hour for the cable car. The floor rotated so that everyone got a good view of Cape Town as we went up. It was a terrifically hot day and we had been told to take jackets because it gets so cold! We met some people from St Austell in the cable car. It is certainly magnificent at the top, we saw Dassies, they look like little fat rabbits and lots of birds.
Wed
We went to Scarborough , again that is for Kristie, cos that is where Fred used to live!We just had a quiet day because we had to pack to leave on our road trip!
Thursday evening
Cape Aguillas
We left Simons Town at about 10 and drove through beautiful countryside, vineyards, fruit trees etc to Franchoek. Very quaint little town, again lots of antique shops & galleries.We drove over a pass that I can't remember the name of!! that again was spectacular, maybe Liz & Danvers drove this way? and now we are in the Southern most point of Africa! This is really where the two oceons meet. We walked to the light house this evening and I am sure we will walk around it again tomorrow. Good night & God Bless P xx
11 February 2010 11:26
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Well Hi everybody
We arrived in Capetown on Thursday 4thFeb, after a very long flight, via Qatar, but the airline was very good & efficient....just long. We arrived in daylight and were met at the airport by Tom, who brought us the scenic route into Simons Town. Beautiful drive. The flat is lovely with the most fantastic view straight out to sea! I don't think I could have chosen better if I lived here! Friday 5th We went in Fish Hoek to pick up our car. John is very impressed with the Toyota Corollo, loads of room and huge boot space, (but I don't think those are the things that John admires!) Also bought a sim for my phone....oh what fun & joy....you have to register your details...it took 2 days!!Just for info or emergencies the number is 0768143622. After lunch we had a walk to Boulders Beach from the flat.There is a large colony of Jackass Penguins living there. We passed the local golf club on the walk....Danvers, the trees were horizontal!! We bought some fish for supper called Yellow tail, we tink it may have been tuna, it was gorgeous. Saturday 6th We went to Kalk Bay. It is a lovely 'arty' place. Lots of galleries, bakeries, antiques etc. Really lovely atmosphere. Saw a quartet of black singers in a coffee shop, they were absolutely brilliant. In the afternoon we went to Cape Point. It is part of the National Park that leads down to the Cape of Good Hope. Saw the meeting of the two oceans, Atlantic & Indian. It was a glorious day but with quite a wind down there, but fabulous for all the kite surfers, wind surfers and just surfers! When we got back to the carpark, a baboon was sitting in the driver's seat of someone's car!! He was eating all their food and drinking their lemonade!! He got extremely aggressive when someone tried to shoo him away!! And he was BIG! We had dinner at a local seafood restaurant in Seaforth, right above the beach. I had more fish, this one was called Kingklip and it was fantastic. Sunday 7th We spent the whole day at Kirstenbosch botanical gardens. It rained for the first 45 mins, so we did the green houses and conservatory, but after that it was glorious. They are really spectacular gardens, there are sculpture gardens,herbal,a concert stage (Cliff Richard is playing in March) just a fab day out The weather has been lovely, but not clear enough to do Table Mountain until today....but I will have to save that until my next blog, I have run out of time.
Lots of love to you all, especially Max,Ella, Angus,Theo and Dylan xxxx
