Durban : Segway, Stadium tour and Ushaka marine park...Day 9

After a huge electrical storm during the night we woke to a bright, humid day. We made our way over to the beautiful Moses  Mabhida stadium where we decided to go on a Segway tour. 

We started off with a short training session with our guide, Shaun. We the set off on our tour along the seafront  promenade passing sand sculptures and weaving in and out of the walkers and cyclists. We drove the Segways onto one of the piers where we took a break and saw some great views of the City skyline and also the passing surfers. This was the first time either of us had used a Segway and we had a blast. 

We the sat down for a coffee before doing the guided tour of the stadium, we were even allowed on the grass pitch before visiting the dressing rooms and the Presidential suite. 











After lunch we made our way over to the Ushaka marine World, where they have a superb aquarium  with a variety  of fish, Ray’s, turtles and a huge tank full of sharks. We finished our visit off at the dolphin show, although not a fan of captive animal shows, you cannot be impressed at their agility. 

Flying to Durban...Day 8

Leaving Stellenbosch we took the 30 minute drive to Cape Town international  airport where we boarded a “ Mango” flight to Durban. The 737 flight took 1 hour 30 minutes to King Shaka airport.

The first thing we noticed when driving from the airport was how lush and green the surrounding countryside was.  It took an easy 30 minute drive to reach the center of Durban. 

In the evening we used our new friend "Uber" and popped over to the Florida road area and enjoyed a very good meal at Lupa Italian restaurant .

A visit to kayamandi township..Day 7

After yesterday's splendour of the wine farms, today we experienced the polar opposite today when we visited the Kayamandi township on the outskirts  of Stellenbosch.  We met our guide, Tamby in town and we were a little surprised  to find out that we were the only two on the tour.

We boarded a local taxi bus that takes the locals to the township which was a little  crowded. We disembarked in the township and made our way through the narrow streets, the conditions of these tin shacks that the 70,000 inhabitants live in is quite astonishing in these modern days.

We then entered one of the “ houses" and welcomed by the kind hosts and were shown the living  and sleeping conditions of the family, which to say the least were cramped. We continued our tour visiting a school and local shops. 

The people of the township were so welcoming and friendly. Our standout  memory  will be the kids of the township who were simply gorgeous and just loved interacting with us with their beautiful smiles. This was an experience we both discussed for the rest of the day. 

In the afternoon we drove out to the Blaauklippen wine estate and spent a couple of hours enjoying a bottle of wine in the beautiful grounds and visiting the old manor house. 

We returned to Stellenbosch and visited one of the 3 oldest pubs in South Africa,  De Akker, which looks like  an old traditional British pub.  Finally we rounded off our stay in Stellenbosch with a lovely meal in the old town. 

Visiting Stellenbosch Wine country....Day 6

We woke up this morning to mist over the mountains and a temp of 20 degrees, that's a drop of 14 degrees overnight,  quite astonishing.  After breakfast we were collected for our Wine tour, along with two young German girls, we made our way to our first wine farm.

The Lanzerac  wine farm is set in a stunning position surrounded by huge mountain range. We started off by sampling 5 wines that were paired with 5 different types of chocolate. After our wine  tasting we wandered around the grounds and came upon a wedding taking place in a stunning  location. 












We then moved onto our second wine farm  named, Neil Ellis,  this was smallish  farm but the 5 wines we shared with our German friends tasted were very good.












At the third wine farm, Camberley,  we decided that it would be a good spot to have a light lunch, sitting under the dappled light beneath the trees. The Camberley is a boutique wine farm with owner living next door.

Moving on, were reached our fourth wine farm, Boschendal, this was huge place with a high class restaurant,  a farm shop selling local bread,  cheeses,  meats and of course  a large selection of wine.














Our final stop was a Zorgvliet wine farm and this was the one with the most spectacular views of all. From the old Dutch colonial house, to the the huge pond with herons feeding and a horse paddock where Mandy made friends with a small pony.

All in all a superb day out with good wines, good food and some incredible  scenery, highly recommended. 

Stellenbosch..Day 5

Leaving Cape town , we drove East towards our next destination, the town of Stellenbosch.  On the way we passed the huge township that stretched  for miles along the highway. 

We arrived in Stellenbosch and were met by Amanda, the property manager.  Our first task was to sign in at security by having our fingerprints  read and saved by a biometric scanner. This gave us entry to all doors.....eat your heart out Star Trek.












The view from our apartment looks out onto vast vineyards with a backdrop of a dramatic mountain range. One slight problem  was that the temps were hitting 40 degrees, so after a late brunch at the Open door cafe it was time to unpack , grab a shower and settle in.











In the early evening we took the chance to explore the old town, because of the heat  it was only wise to make regular  pitstops  to take on liquid refreshment, these included...Bootleggers,  The  happy Oak (where they sprayed mist over the punters ) and The Bohemia. 

V & A Waterfront, Capetown....Day 4

 On a warm morning we made a slight error of walking down to the V&A waterfront,  we were pretty knackered when we got there, even at 9 in the morning it was still very hot. We headed for an air conditioned shopping mall to rehydrate and cool down. 

We decided to stay cool by visiting the Two oceans aquarium,  we managed to see the penguins being  feed as well as watching 2 divers feeding the rays. 

 We the stopped  for lunch at Vovo Telo, where the food was divine but the helpings were huge. With temps  hitting 30 degrees we thought it wise to return to the Anchor bay for a siesta. 











In the  evening we returned to the waterfront, our first port of  call was a German berhaus where we watched 2 talented guys on guitars singing some great tunes. After a bite to eat we made our way over to the Ferrymans tavern where there was some more superb  live music, a great finish to our time in Cape Town.

Table mountain and Kirstenbosch..Day 3

We made an early start and caught an Uber taxi up to the cable car station at Table mountain. We arrived early enough to have breakfast on the mountain  before exploring this iconic mountain with its dramatic  views over Capetown  and the surrounding area. 











We the made our way over to Kirstenbosch  botanical gardens,  our first stop  was at the Mayo  restaurant  for lunch. After we had eaten, Mandy “let it slip" that Rob had a landmark  birthday approaching. The staff then brought out several sets of drums and a energetic dancer  who dragged Rob onto the dance floor, luckily Rob has natural  rhythm  ????.......so he did not let the side down ! Sadly, Mandy filmed the whole  sorry incident.











We then spent some time exploring  this  wonderful area  of outstanding  natural beauty of the gardens and its bird life.












We the headed back to the V&A waterfront in  Capetown,  our first port of call was the Alfredo restaurant,  which is  an old favourite of ours where traditional  groups of musicians  put on a great display. 

 We returned to our guest house and sat on the balcony and  watched the sunset over the Atlantic ocean with 2 new friends, Germans , Rob and Gabrielle 

Doha to Capetown...Day 2

At 02.00 at Doha airport we boarded a Qatar  A350 Airbus and flew to Capetown, South  africa which took 10 hours.

We met by our driver at arrivals and took the 20 minute drive into the city, it was a treat to be met with blue skies,  warm sunshine and temps in the high 20's. 

 We were dropped off at our accommodation,  the Anchor bay guest house and shown around by the owner, Bert. The veranda has superb views across the City to the waterfront. 











We unpacked  and then strolled down to the sea front and had cold drinks  with fish and chips  at a Sotano tapas bar at the  lighthouse followed by a walk along the seaboard.

Time to Travel. Day 1.

On a fine, Sunny day here in Cyprus, it was time to get on  our travels again. Our friends,  Sheena and Bryan kindly  dropped us off at Larnaca airport. We then boarded a Qatar airways flight for the four hour journey to Doha Hamad international airport in Qatar.