Today was a
rest day with nothing planned except for exploring the resort area. We slept
until 7:00am & then had a lazy breakfast about 8:30. At 10:00am we caught
the shuttle bus for a bit of a look around. The temperature was in the mid 30C’s.
There were lots of school kids at the wave pool for their end of term break-up.
Lunch was at the Mug & Bean in the complex. We had a quiet afternoon &
caught up on some sleep. Just had a light dinner at the Mug & Bean also.
Friday 30 September 2016
Final day on Rovos Rail
September 28
The last day on
the train. Our journey was to end at 12:00noon. During the night we were to
stop at 1:00am for our overnight stop until 5:00am. Due to a very large thunder
storm the train came to an unscheduled stop when a tree came down and took out
the electric wires and damaged the track. We were stuck there until 9:15am when
we started to move with our ETA now 4:30pm. However more power problems had us
waiting another 2 hours when the signal system went down. We finally arrived at
the Rovos station at 7:15pm – 71/2 hours late with a 2 hour drive ahead of us
to Sun City our accommodation for the next 3 days. We arrived extremely tired
& my asthma had flared up for the first time this trip.
Kimberley
It was a bit of
a rough ride over night & I didn’t sleep very well. We made a stop around
11:00pm to refill the water tanks on the train and then again about 3:30am for
the driver to have a break until 6:30am. We continued on for an hour before we
stopped once again to change drivers.
Breakfast was
from 7:00 – 10:00am. We went down about 7:30. There was cereal, fresh fruit,
fruit salad as well as hot meals from the menu. Very nice indeed.
We continued
having another 4 course lunch before we slighted the train at Kimberley where
we viewed the Big Hole from the Kimberley Diamond mine. This hole was entirely
hand dug by the workers with no machinery involved. We had a 2 hour guided tour
which was really too long. I didn’t go down the mine as I thought it would be a
bit claustrophobic.
We were back on
the bus at 4:15pm to return to the train to continue our journey. We passed the
wetlands where there are usually thousands of Flamingo but because it is dry
there were none there. During the wet season the water reaches the rail tracks.
The skies came
over very cloudy which made for a beautiful sunset.
Dinner was at
7:30pm – yet another 4 course meal. I was extremely tired so went to bed early.
Thursday 29 September 2016
Rovos Rail
A bit later
start today as we were being collected at 9:30 to be taken to the Rovos Rail
Train Station for our trip on the Pride of Africa up to Pretoria. We were taken
to a meet & greet where we had drinks and nibbles before being boarded onto
the train to start our journey at 11:00am. Once we were settled into our suite
8041 Beaufort Room we sat in the lounge & watched the view. The lunch gong
was sounded at 1:00pm and we had our first five star dining experience on board
– a 4 course meal which ended at 3:00pm.
We went back to
the cabin for a bit of R’n’R before sitting in the lounge until 5:00pm when we
arrived in Matjiesfontein. We disembarked and had an hour or so to explore the
Victorian village. There was a transport museum as well as another little museum.
Once we started
off again it was time to shower & dress formally for dinner at 7:30pm. Once
again a huge 4 course meal. I decided not to have the dessert as I was still
full from lunch.
Cape Town Tour
We awoke to a
beautiful blue sky today after yesterday’s miserable weather. We were up early
for breakfast as we were leaving at 7:45 for our trip up Table Mountain. We purchased
our tickets at the hotel before venturing out to cut the waiting time at the
mountain. We caught the cable car to the top. The views were absolutely
spectacular. We spent an hour at the top before descending on the cable car
again.
Our next stop
was Signal Hill where a cannon is fired every day at Noon except Sunday &
Public Holidays. We had more spectacular views.
Next we headed
into Cape Town to the Boo-Kaap area where the Dutch housed their Malay slaves.
Many of the families still live in this area. The houses are painted in
beautiful bright colours.
Our last stop
for this part of our tour was to Green Square markets. We were still unable to
find our wooden hippo to complete our set.
At 1:15 Belle & Henry came to pick us up. They took us to Blouberg
Bay for fish & chips for lunch. We had a spectacular view of Table Mountain
across the beach area. After lunch we had an ice cream & a walk along the
beach. They took us back to the hotel about 4:30.
We jumped on
the 5:00pm shuttle and went down to V&A for a look around in the hope of
getting the hippo. We caught the 6:15 shuttle back. We had pizza from the local
corner pizza shop Debonairs, for diner. A lovely day all up.
Stellenbosch
Today was our
wine tasting tour. We visited 3 different wineries where we got to taste some
red & white wines. The first was KVW which started out as a co-op to let
the farmers get rid of excess grapes & wines they produced. It is now a
private concern.
The second
place we visited was in Franshoek where we paired chocolates with wines. Once
again we tried 3 whites and 3 reds. We had lunch and visited the markets in
Franshoek.The third place was a disappointment as the bottle of white was just plonked on the bar and then if you wanted a red you had to ask. Following this we went into Stellenbosch for a look around and a coffee break before heading back to the hotel.
We stopped off at the Prison where Nelson Mandela spent the last 14 months of his incarceration.
All 8 of us in
the group went to a local Italian Restaurant for dinner as it was Pauline’s
last night with us before flying home. It wasn’t as nice a meal as the night
before but at least the company was good.
South Cape Tour
Today we did a
South Cape tour. We drove along the coastline. It is very picturesque. We went
down to the wharves where all the trawlers come in and caught a boat out to
Seal Island where there were literally hundreds of African Fur Seals lying
around on the rocks while some frolicked in the water. It was amazing to see so
many.
We continued
our journey around the coastline and came to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape
Point. We had our photos taken behind the sign. The view was amazing from up
there.
Our next stop
was at Boulder where we visited the African Penguins which are quite different
looking from our fairy penguins but not much taller. There were quite a few
young amongst them starting to lose their downy fur. Once again some were
relaxing in the sun while others were swimming or standing sentry over the sea.
We continued on
to the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens where we spent some time. We
walked across the tree top bridge and then headed to the Protea gardens to view
the beautiful assortment of Proteas.
After quite a long day we headed back to the hotel. Seven of our group gathered at 6:45pm and we headed out on the shuttle bus to V&A for dinner together. We ate at Karibu a traditional South African Restaurant. I had 2 lovely traditional dishes – Bobotie (a sweet curry type of dish with a baked egg topping) and Souskutjes (maize dumplings with a cinnamon custard over the top). We caught the shuttle back to the hotel after a very good day and a lovely evening together.
Cape Town
We had a very long day today as we were heading into Cape Town. Our first stop along the way though was to the Cango Caves. I was a bit worried about going into them but they were open and airy enough so I managed quite well. I also had a puffer before going in. I got some lovely photos so it was worth the chance.
We made a
couple more stops along the way for lunch & a driver break so just admired
the beautiful mountainous scenery along the way. We passed through the stone
fruit orchards & the town where they were dried, made into jams, etc &
were readied for export. Some of the housing we past was interesting.
We arrived in
Cape Town at 5:30pm, very tired after our long drive. We checked into the
Radisson Blu Le Vendome. Dinner was at
7:00pm then it was an early night.
Oudtshoorn
We left the
hotel at 8:30 for a short drive to the Kuersboom River for a scenic ferry ride.
There were some lovely camping areas along the waterside as well as a number of
natural beaches only accessible by water. It was very peaceful as we travelled
a short distance up the river. There were some amazing reflections in the
water. If you turn the photo sideways it is like inkblot prints. We saw a few
cormorants, yellow wood trees & Oudtenikwa (or false) yellow woods.
We arrived back
at the bus and drove a short distance to Kaaimans River Pass where we could see
the railway line passing over the Estuary and the tunnel in the hillside that
it passed through.
We continued on to Oudtshoorn where we had lunch and visited an Ostrich farm. We went into the incubation room before boarding a tractor for a tour around the farm. We saw many ostriches and also some emus. We got to stand on 3 ostrich eggs to show the amount of weight they can hold. It actually takes 120kg to break the shell of an ostrich egg. We saw some white ostriches as well as the usual black & white males & brown females. There was a weight limit for a person to sit on or ride an ostrich so most of us just had to have a cuddle. Saki was a lovely young emu and brought his head right across in front of me and gave me a huge hug. His neck feathers were so soft.
Wednesday 21 September 2016
Hunters Hotel
We had a late
start today. Some of our group wanted to go whale watching so they left the
hotel at 11:00am while the rest of us were picked up at 12:00 an driven in to
Plettenberg Bay to spend some time exploring & getting some lunch. We
regathered at 2:10pm before collecting the whale watcher.
Our next port of call was the Tenikwa Wildlife Awareness Centre where we had an awesome time with the wild cats. We saw Caracals, Servals, Lions, Wild Cats, Cheetahs & the Leopard. Once we had visited each of the enclosures - entering them all except the Caracals & the Lions were viewed from a raised walkway.
We got to walk with the Cheetahs on their afternoon walk around the park. We got to hold the leash and walk beside them. The female Cheetah was purring the whole time. We got to pat them. The fur is so soft. After their long walk they were rewarded with a feed and the male had to have his insulin injection as he is a diabetic. What a fabulous experience!
Tsitsikamma Nature Park & Storm River
We have had a
very busy day today. We were collected from the hotel by our new guide &
driver. Our first stop was at the Tsitsikamma Nature Park & the Storm River
where we had a kilometre walk to the suspension bridge to view the Gorge.
Next we
continued further to Birds of Eden where we had lunch then saw some beautiful
birds in a very large enclosed aviary.
Following this
it was a visit to the Elephant Sanctuary where we got to walk with the
elephants, pat them & feed them. Totally amazing day.
Our room tonight
& tomorrow is actually a thatched cottage set in a beautiful sprawling
garden outside of Plettenberg Bay.
Saturday 17 September 2016
Durban
We
left the hotel at 8:00am and drove to the iSimangaliso Wetlands. We went to the
Estuary to view the beach and the largest sand dune covered in vegetation. We
headed back to Lake St Lucia in readiness for our boat ride to view the Hippos.
We saw heaps of hippos of all sizes during our 2 hours. There was even on big
bull marking his territory then opening his mouth really wide. Just amazing to
see!
We
had lunch altogether at a restaurant before continuing the 3 hour drive to
Durban in the pouring rain. A cold front was moving in. We arrived at the hotel
at 4:15pm and were left to our own devices for the evening.
Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve
We
had a lazy morning as we had no activities this morning. We wandered around the
grounds, down to the lake trying to spot the resident Hippo. All we got to see
were his ears as they broke the surface as he came up for air while feeding.
There were a few small crocs but we could only see the eyes. Looked around the
garden at some of the interesting flowers.
After
lunch we gathered at 1:00pm for our excursion to the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game
Reserve. We were treated to a variety of animals, some quite different from
Kruger. We saw three of the Big Five today – Buffalo, Rhinos & Elephants.
Other animals included Egyptian Geese, Impala, iNyala, Water Buck & Wart
Hogs. Our guide, Megan was very good allowing us to see rhinos frolicking in
the mud and a breeding herd of elephants when we were supposed to be back at
the gate. Instead of just 3 hours we had closer to 4.
We
had a BBQ dinner tonight followed by some entertainment by the Zulu dancers.
KwaZulu-Natal
We
left the hotel at 8:30 and drove 20 minutes to Swazi Candles where we saw
candles being made by hand in the traditional way. There was also a craft
market set up outside with lots of local products.
Our
next stop 2 hours later was at the Swaziland/South Africa border where we had
to go through the process of exiting the Kingdom and entering KwaZulu-Natal –
another 2 stamps on our passports. We continued for another hour reaching our
hotel at Ghost Mountain for lunch. Once there we had lunch before heading out
in open jeeps to visit a traditional Zulu Village set high up in the mountains.
One of the Zulu families took us for a tour through the family home/set-up.
Following
this interesting tour we drove further up the mountain to have drinks and view
the sunset while overlooking Lake Jozine. We headed back to the hotel where we
freshened up before dinner.
Swaziland
We
had breakfast at 6:30 before leaving the hotel at 8:45am. We travelled a couple
of hours before having a break. It is amazing to see the different country
side. Lots of tall blue gums, pine plantations, orange orchards, banana
plantations as well as mango, macadamia & avocado trees. The housing is also a sight to see.
When
we reached the border we had to go through immigration to exit South Africa and
then to arrivals to enter Swaziland. In the ‘no-man’s’ land we were treated to
a Cultural Experience. We were entertained by a local Matsamo singing &
dancing group, a tour of the village and entered the grandmother’s hut followed
by lunch.
Continuing
on for the next 2 hours we passed through some very mountainous country with
winding roads until we reached Ngwenya Glass. It was certainly not what I
expected. We walked into an area overlooking the floor below where there were
many workers involved in various steps of the production of the glass products.
It
had turned very cool by the time we left there at 4:30 and headed to the Royal
Swazi Spa, our hotel for the night.
Kruger National Park
Another very early start today as we had to meet the bus at 5:30am or our half day safari through Kruger National Park. We had high expectations of seeing some of the Big Five animals. We were put into covered jeeps that seated 9 for our trip around the park. We saw lots of fabulous & interesting animals including 4 of the Big Five. We were taken back to the hotel at 12:30pm for a restful afternoon.
Monday 12 September 2016
Hazyview
We were met at
the hotel at 7:00am by our tour director Nelson & driver Mele. We had to go
to another hotel to collect the rest of our group. There was quite a mix up as
to who was on which mini bus as there were two going. We finished up with 12 in
our group. We made a couple of comfort stops along the way. At the second one
there were some animals to give us a taste of what was to come.
We finally
reached Blyde Canyon where we were to have lunch at 2:00pm. We had a toasted
bacon, egg & cheese sandwich. From here we continued on to the Three
Rondavels – mountains that look very much like the native round huts.
Our next stop
was at Bourke's Luck Potholes which are the result of
decades of swirling eddies of water where the Treur River meets the Blyde
River. They are a truly amazing sight to see. We had to walk quite a way and
cross a couple of suspension bridges for the view.
Our last stop along the Panorama Route was at God’s Window.
Unfortunately, due to the heat & fire haze the view was not very good.
We continued on to Hazyview (very aptly named) to Perry’s Hollow
Hotel where we were staying as it is close to Kruger National Park.
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