We boarded an Emirates B777-300 aircraft for a 9 hour flight to Cape Town, South Africa, we landed in the Mother City to be greeted by 30 degree temperatures, we were also greeted by the most friendliest immigration office we'd ever met, with her beaming smile and genuine interest in our plans it was a lovely introduction to the Country.
We dropped off our bags and explored the Seapoint area that we are staying in. We stopped off at “The Corner bar” for a cooling drink, the view over the “Lion’s head” and the setting sun made for a special end to our first day in South Africa.
Day 2.
On a gorgeous Summer's morning we went for a stroll along the seafront, first thing we noticed was the lovely, strong smell of sea air coming in from the Atlantic. We saw numerous paragliders flying down from Lions Head.
We continued our walk through Green point park passing Cape Town National stadium on onto the V &R waterfront, the place was full of restaurants, activities and Live music. There was a demonstration of the VR operating system and Rob had a go and felt a bit wobbly when he finished. We walked around the water front and the had lunch while the “Ikamva Marimba band” played some great African tunes right by our table.
Day 3.
we started the day by waiting to be picked up for an excursion, the problem was that there was the Cape town triathlon taking place and a lot of the roads were closed so the travel company could not get to us, we rang them and said we would get to them ASAP. Thankfully, our host, Earl, said “Jump in my car, I'll get you there” and as good as his word he drove “hell for leather” to get us there.
I forgot to mention that the excursion was a helicopter flight over Cape town and the surrounding area. Well, we arrived at the helipad ( that sounds posh ) and the company apologized so much that they upgraded us to a private flight with a full DVD and photo package, that was a lovely gesture.
After the helicopter experience we took time out to have a coffee and relive the flight and come back to Earth, so to speak. I forgot to mention that the excursion was a helicopter flight over Cape town and the surrounding area. Well, we arrived at the helipad ( that sounds posh ) and the company apologized so much that they upgraded us to a private flight with a full DVD and photo package, that was a lovely gesture.
We had our pre flight briefing and then met our pilot, a young, blonde, South African girl named Sammie who I would estimate was about 14 years of age, well she looked it to us. Sammie could not have been friendlier or more professional, she put us at ease and had a easy going attitude and sense of humour. We lifted off at the V&A waterfront and slowly climbed to 2000 feet giving us truly spectacular views of the City and a back drop of Table mountain.
We then flew South towards the Cape of Good hope, I cannot stress enough how dramatic we found the views of the coastline. We then turned back toward the City via Long beach and headed towards the Port. A truly memorable experience. South Africa continues to surprise us with its diversity of people and landscape.
We then boarded the Hop on Hop off bus that took us through the City and out into the hinterland, as we drove through a quite densley wooded area, then we suddenly and quite surprisingly came to the white sands of Hout’s bay. This again, was a beautiful bay surrounded by high mountains.
The resident seal was in the harbour and enjoying being fed by a local as the kids splashed around next to it. We decided that this would be the ideal place to have lunch, so we chose “The Wharf” restaurant and had a superb fish lunch washed down with a nice bottle of white wine. We continued our trip visiting Camp's Bay for a stop off for a well deserved ice cream before heading back to Sea Point.
The resident seal was in the harbour and enjoying being fed by a local as the kids splashed around next to it. We decided that this would be the ideal place to have lunch, so we chose “The Wharf” restaurant and had a superb fish lunch washed down with a nice bottle of white wine. We continued our trip visiting Camp's Bay for a stop off for a well deserved ice cream before heading back to Sea Point.
That evening we walked up to Jerry's bar to watch the Rugby, the less said the better, but the did serve really good home made burgers and a very nice pint of ale.
Day 4.
Sunday we had planned to go up Table mountain but the weather on top was so bad that they cancelled the cable cars. We made our way to the V and A waterfront, just after lunch a German tourist fell and badly cut his foot, It was quite nasty with a fair bit of blood, Mandy jumped into action stemming the blood flow, bandaging the would and calming the wife down, they were very grateful for Nurse Mandy's assistance.
We then went for a smashing walk alone Seapoint's prom and walked as far as Bantry Bay, it’s a beautiful walk alongside the Atlantic Coastline. In the evening we made our way to “The Winchester Mansion's” restaurant, a Very nice place overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Rob tried Ostrich for the first time and really enjoyed it.
We then went for a smashing walk alone Seapoint's prom and walked as far as Bantry Bay, it’s a beautiful walk alongside the Atlantic Coastline. In the evening we made our way to “The Winchester Mansion's” restaurant, a Very nice place overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Rob tried Ostrich for the first time and really enjoyed it.
Day 5.
Up bright and early in the morning we joined the “Baz bus” tour of The Cape of Good Hope, our first stop was Houts bay where we joined a boat to visit Seal Island, it was a bit choppy but worth it to all those Cape seals on their rocky outpost.
We moved on up to Chapman’s point with Spectacular views over the bay. Next stop was Boulders beach to visit the Cape penguins, there were hundreds of these little fellas on the beach and the boardwalks allowed you get up close and to the new born chicks as well as the adult penguins who marching around the beach with their funny little walk.
We then entered the Cape of Good hope National Park, we unloaded bicycles and rode for about 7k to our lunch spot. We then moved on to the Tip of the Cape, took the funicular up to the light house to see the dramatic views over False harbour. Then it was a 4k walk along the cliff's edge to the very end of the Cape, along the way we encountered several large Cape baboons doing the same trip and a couple of wild Ostrich. There was just time to take a few photos at the famous sign before returning to Cape Town.
Day 6.
On our final day in Cape Town we woke up to an overcast day, which was a real bummer because we had planned to go up Table mountain, so we made our way downtown to the local outdoor Friday markets.
After an hour’s browsing we decided to do the Hop on-Hop off bus tour, the tour was passing the Table Mountain cable station at the foot of the mountain so we hoped the cloud would clear.
As we approached the iconic mountain we could still see cloud on top, we were indecisive about whether to go up or wait. At the last moment we said “lets go for it”, after a smooth cable car ride up to the top we found out that our luck was in and we had those dramatic views from Table mountain overlooking the City of Cape Town. On the Eastern side of the mountain the 12 Apostles were shrouded in cloud giving them a ghostly look.
As we approached the iconic mountain we could still see cloud on top, we were indecisive about whether to go up or wait. At the last moment we said “lets go for it”, after a smooth cable car ride up to the top we found out that our luck was in and we had those dramatic views from Table mountain overlooking the City of Cape Town. On the Eastern side of the mountain the 12 Apostles were shrouded in cloud giving them a ghostly look.
We continued the bus tour until we reached the V&A waterfront, amongst all the tourist development there still stands a working dry dock, I was fascinated by this, as they say, “You can take the boy out of the shipyard, but”.....Well you know the rest.
We had a very good lunch in the shadow of Table mountain and then did the harbour cruise which was very informative about the history of Cape Town's port and we got to see plenty of seals.
We finished of our day with a tour around the infamous “District 6” and the the civic center, where the old town hall overlooks the Grand parade, this is where Nelson Mandela gave a speech to over 200,000 people setting out his vision for a new South Africa.
Day 7.
The next morning we joined the “Wine Flies” wine tour, we headed out of the City and headed towards the town of Stellenbosch, we visited 5 wine farms that were at in some wonderful country side and tasted over 25 wines. We stopped off at one of the farms for a lovely lunch cooked on the open fire. Our guide for the day was "Legend" pronouced Lejohn and he proved to be very knowledgable and entertaining.
Our final stop was at a farm that specialises in sparkling wines, our guide then split us into teams for a quiz about our tour, with the help of two Dutch guys we managed to win and our prize was a nice bottle of wine.
Day 8.
On a beautiful Summer's morning we took a stroll around Company gardens in Cape Town, it has a lovely cafe in the heart of the gardens and we enjoyed coffee and cake before watching a local couple get married.
We h0pped in a cab and took the twenty minute drive to the airport in light traffic. At the airport we were surprised how quiet it was, no other passengers at check in or security, so it was a breeze to go through. We decided on one last treat before our Emirates flight so we checked into the Bidvest Premier Lounge.
Johannesburg.
We finished of our day with a tour around the infamous “District 6” and the the civic center, where the old town hall overlooks the Grand parade, this is where Nelson Mandela gave a speech to over 200,000 people setting out his vision for a new South Africa.
Kruger National Park.
On bright and sunny morning we returned to Johannesburg Airport and boarded a small jet for the 40 minute flight to Kruger National Park Airport.
The airport at Skukuza is quite unique, it small with a thatched room and open outside walls. Baggage reclaim is small stage where your cases are personally handed to you.
Our first game drive in Kruger national park was a sunset drive with our guide Douglas, we set off at around 4.30pm and within 5 minutes we encountered a big bull elephant feeding in the bush, then we saw a couple of giraffe feeding from the high bushes. After a quiet 20 minute drive the sightings exploded, we encountered hyenas, Kudu, antelope, hippos, monkey’s and Impala.
We returned to our camp, sat outside on the decking which was some 30 meters from the river Sabie and while drinking a coffee we saw 3 Hippopotamus swim by. As night fell we turned on the spotlights and saw a crocodile in the Sabie river
Day 2.
Our second game drive was an early morning game drive with our guide “Lucky”, after a slow start in light drizzle our luck changed when we came upon Lion tracks at the side of the trail, Lucky thought they were fresh so we followed them slowly until we spotted a male Lion in the bush some 300 meters away. This was a big cat sitting proudly and surveying his area.
We were now driving in wet and windy conditions, but the fleece lined poncho’s provided by the lodge kept us dry and warm. The next big sighting was a Leopard moving in the short bush grasses, only a short lived sighting but worth the wait. The sighting of game just came coming, including a superb pair of Rhinos and a large troupe of elephants. A Buffalo completed our list of the “Big Five” and we returned to camp with some wonderfulmemories.
Day 3.
A heavy storm blew in last night from Mozambique and the rain thundered onto our tent all night long, around mid morning the rain eased and gave us a chance to sit on the deck and watch the lazy Sabie river flow by.
In the afternoon we went on another Safari in Kruger park with our guide Bernard and the only other guests to accompany us were two vets from London, so they seemed well informed about the wildlife. Once again there was plenty of game at close quarters to view including Rhino, Giraffe, Waterbuck, impala, Hyena and a host of colourful birds.
By far the best thing we saw was a small group of elephants that moved towards us and stopped at around 10 meters from our jeep and were feeding on maroula. They stood around us flapping their great ears and swaying their trunk, what a sight it was.
Then a baby elephant walked out of the troupe, stood right in front of us and proceeded to do a kind of two minute dance for us, luckily we caught him on film so we can relive that special moment.
On the drive back to camp we once again view the most splendid sunset over the Kruger National Park.
Day 7.
The next morning we joined the “Wine Flies” wine tour, we headed out of the City and headed towards the town of Stellenbosch, we visited 5 wine farms that were at in some wonderful country side and tasted over 25 wines. We stopped off at one of the farms for a lovely lunch cooked on the open fire. Our guide for the day was "Legend" pronouced Lejohn and he proved to be very knowledgable and entertaining.
Our final stop was at a farm that specialises in sparkling wines, our guide then split us into teams for a quiz about our tour, with the help of two Dutch guys we managed to win and our prize was a nice bottle of wine.
Day 8.
On a beautiful Summer's morning we took a stroll around Company gardens in Cape Town, it has a lovely cafe in the heart of the gardens and we enjoyed coffee and cake before watching a local couple get married.
We h0pped in a cab and took the twenty minute drive to the airport in light traffic. At the airport we were surprised how quiet it was, no other passengers at check in or security, so it was a breeze to go through. We decided on one last treat before our Emirates flight so we checked into the Bidvest Premier Lounge.
Johannesburg.
We finished of our day with a tour around the infamous “District 6” and the the civic center, where the old town hall overlooks the Grand parade, this is where Nelson Mandela gave a speech to over 200,000 people setting out his vision for a new South Africa.
Kruger National Park.
On bright and sunny morning we returned to Johannesburg Airport and boarded a small jet for the 40 minute flight to Kruger National Park Airport.
The airport at Skukuza is quite unique, it small with a thatched room and open outside walls. Baggage reclaim is small stage where your cases are personally handed to you.
Our first game drive in Kruger national park was a sunset drive with our guide Douglas, we set off at around 4.30pm and within 5 minutes we encountered a big bull elephant feeding in the bush, then we saw a couple of giraffe feeding from the high bushes. After a quiet 20 minute drive the sightings exploded, we encountered hyenas, Kudu, antelope, hippos, monkey’s and Impala.
We returned to our camp, sat outside on the decking which was some 30 meters from the river Sabie and while drinking a coffee we saw 3 Hippopotamus swim by. As night fell we turned on the spotlights and saw a crocodile in the Sabie river
Day 2.
Our second game drive was an early morning game drive with our guide “Lucky”, after a slow start in light drizzle our luck changed when we came upon Lion tracks at the side of the trail, Lucky thought they were fresh so we followed them slowly until we spotted a male Lion in the bush some 300 meters away. This was a big cat sitting proudly and surveying his area.
We were now driving in wet and windy conditions, but the fleece lined poncho’s provided by the lodge kept us dry and warm. The next big sighting was a Leopard moving in the short bush grasses, only a short lived sighting but worth the wait. The sighting of game just came coming, including a superb pair of Rhinos and a large troupe of elephants. A Buffalo completed our list of the “Big Five” and we returned to camp with some wonderfulmemories.
Day 3.
A heavy storm blew in last night from Mozambique and the rain thundered onto our tent all night long, around mid morning the rain eased and gave us a chance to sit on the deck and watch the lazy Sabie river flow by.
In the afternoon we went on another Safari in Kruger park with our guide Bernard and the only other guests to accompany us were two vets from London, so they seemed well informed about the wildlife. Once again there was plenty of game at close quarters to view including Rhino, Giraffe, Waterbuck, impala, Hyena and a host of colourful birds.
By far the best thing we saw was a small group of elephants that moved towards us and stopped at around 10 meters from our jeep and were feeding on maroula. They stood around us flapping their great ears and swaying their trunk, what a sight it was.
Then a baby elephant walked out of the troupe, stood right in front of us and proceeded to do a kind of two minute dance for us, luckily we caught him on film so we can relive that special moment.
On the drive back to camp we once again view the most splendid sunset over the Kruger National Park.
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