South Africa Adventure
We arrived in Cape Town and checked into our guest house. They were so friendly and welcoming. We then set off up Table Mountain …as they say if you can see Table Mountain then you should climb it. We took the gondola up which rotated so everyone had a good view. It was amazing views from the top. Lots of Dassie’s running about which are apparently part of the elephant family. In Cape Town we also took a tour of the beautiful Botanical Gardens.
Next our car hire (Avis of course) arrived and off we set on our driving adventure. Luckily, they drive on the same side of the road as us Brits so it was nice and easy.
Our first stop was at Betty’s Bay to check out the penguins. So many of them and so cute! I have recommended the penguins at Betty’s Bay to a client of mine but when they visited there weren’t many so be careful when you visit.
We then set off for Hermanus where we were staying for a couple of nights. Beautiful guest house with ocean views and a cute sausage dog. Had a lovely weestop watching the ocean then we actually left our drinks to check out the whales, absolutely amazing! And luckily our drinks were safe! Phew!
This morning in Hermanus my husband was quite snappy with me. I’d booked the shark cage diving and he was a bit nervous. We drove to the port and were welcomed by a one-legged man in a road called ‘Shark Alley’. Not a good start!! We then got kitted-up and boarded our boat. This was when I remembered I get very seasick. It was quite choppy! My husband was loving it though watching the sharks swimming around the boat. We were in the water 2nd and with masks on pulled ourselves under to see the many sharks. It was amazing. Might have helped that my breakfast decided to revisit and feed the sharks! Back on dry land and seasickness subsided we headed back to Hermanus to tell the bar man about the massive sharks we had seen … his comment was ‘Oh babies then!’
Off we set to Franschhoek, the wine region! Yummy! Again we stayed in a guest house just of the main road and had some amazing meals and a few weestops of course! We did the wine tram tour. It was fantastic! You select a tram route and then the tram leaves you for 1 hour at each winery. Some wineries include tasting or you can buy tastings (all pretty cheap) or you can have lunch. Great fun! You can’t go to South Africa without visiting the wine region!
From here we went to Sabona Wildlife reserve. It was a long drive and then even further inside the reserve to get to civilisation. We then boarded a jeep, and our guide Donny took us to our camp for the night. Again, a bit of a grumpy husband today as I’d booked the ‘Walking Safari Tour’. Some of his comments were ‘Who books a walking tour in the safari? And I thought it would be a posh tent with an ensuite bathroom? Errrrrrrrr no it will be fun I tried to convince him!
Well we arrived at camp and were shown our basic tent with camp beds and a portapotty for night time! The Loo was across the camp in the open air but shielded from the view of other campers. And the shower was a hose from a tree again sheltered from other camper’s views. We set off that afternoon in the jeep then on foot to see some action. Donny our guide had a gun to protect us … much to my husband’s annoyance as to where his gun was! The walking safari was amazing we got to see Cheetahs, Giraffes, Buffalo, Zebras etc. The camp was great, only us and another Swedish couple. Dinner was cooked on an open fire and tasty. And there was a makeshift bar so plenty of weestops! Really recommend this to get back to nature and see some action. The Swedish couple were keen to see Zebra’s so on our final day at breakfast Donny announced he keen where a zebra was … but unfortunately the white lion had found it first. We headed out in the jeep to watch the lions eating their prey, pretty gory for a squeamish person like me but amazing to see the lions up close.
So onward from the Safari with a stop over in Oudtshoorn. We visited the caves and the ostrich farm. We did some fun ostrich activities such as riding one, standing on a egg and my lucky husband got to have a massage from a couple of them. He loved it!!
And then for some rest and relaxation and we arrived in Plettenburg Bay or Plett as the locals call it. We stayed in a lovely apartment near the sea. Had some lovely walks along the beach but after knowing their were sharks in the water decided against swimming in the water! Had some amazing meals and just took some time to reflect on the amazing adventures we’d had over the last few days.
Fabulous trip, lots to see and do and great food.
