Mar 15, 2020 - Stop 1: The West Coast Fossil Park - Langebaan

After about a two hour drive, we arrived at the West Coast Fossil Park and met our guide Pippa Haarhoff who gave us the run down of the site. The West Coast Fossil Park opened in 1998 due to the growing awareness and interest in paleontology by the general public. The main aim of the park is to communicate science to the public, and it attracts visitors of all ages as well as tourists. The West Coast Fossil Park is now a National Heritage site and it is one of the richest fossil sites in the world. Pippa explained to us that approximately 5...

Mar 4, 2020 - Farewell Africa....you have been amazing.

It is with a heavy heart that I write the final update for this truly amazing trip. From the cricket to the wildlife, from the coast to the Bush it has been a wonderful experience and I feel very lucky and privileged to have had the opportunity to spend 10 weeks in such a diverse and beautiful country. But not without its problems. As you can imagine, we have taken thousands of photos and loads of video on this trip. I have tried to include a wide and varied selection of the photos, no video unfortunately as I don't have the facility to...

Mar 3, 2020 - At Sea from Dubai, UAE to Cape Town, South Africa

SEVENTEEN days at sea. No countries will let us dock even though we do NOT have any virus effected folks on board. So we were forced to skip all the stops and excursions we had been planning to do for almost two years and go directly to South Africa, without passing “GO”. What to do? Julieann keeps busy with the various craft “stuff” they do on board, plus her exercise/dance classes. She even attends various language classes. What can I say? She’s getting the most out of the cruise and I enjoy watching her enjoy herself. I would prefer to...

Feb 25, 2020 - Last leg of our trip - 25th Feb - 6th March

The last 10 days of our trip we spent in Central Kruger in a small province called Hazyview. We stayed in a beautiful golf resort just 15mins from Phabeni Gate in central Kruger. We managed a couple of rounds of 9 holes on the Gary player designed course, very beautiful but extremely challenging. The pictures show some of the course and its wildlife. Hazyview is also the gate way to the Panoramic route which include Graskop Gorge, blyde river canyon and the Drakensberg mountains. We spent a day doing some of the route but not all of it as...

Feb 19, 2020 - A week in the north of the Kruger. 19 - 25 Feb.

When we came to SA in 2018, we visited an area in Kruger called Phalaborwa which is a less commercialised part of the Kruger. We booked an air bnb cottage and whilst it looked great, nothing could prepare us for the hospitality we received from the family that owned the property. Since our stay in 2018, we have kept in touch with the family and nothing could keep us for visiting them on this trip. It was great to see and stay with them again and whilst we didn't see a great deal this time, this week was all about catching up with some very...

Feb 1, 2020 - And the safari begins........

So we have arrived at Marloth Park, our home for the next 14 days. Marloth Park is a wildlife sanctuary situated on the southern boundary of the Kruger National Park. Marloth Park is almost a small suburb of the Kruger National Park with 5,000 houses sympathetically built into the Bush, you would hardly know they were there. Marloth has its own wildlife and boasts four of the big five with the exception of elephant , however as the crocodile river forms the boundary between Marloth Park and the Kruger National Park you are likely to spot...

Jan 30, 2020 - Nelspruit Botanical Gardens

The Lowveld National Botanical Garden in Nelspruit, ‘grows’ magically out of the confluence of the Crocodile and Nels Rivers and offers up a magnificent array of nature’s treasures. The two rivers create spectacular waterfalls which give this Garden its visually spectacular character.

Jan 23, 2020 - The sun sets on our time in Port Elizabeth.

Well....its been a real mix of weather here, in 3 weeks we have had a couple of hot sunny days but mostly cool, cloudy and lots of rain......think we brought it with us from the UK! The locals were very grateful, in some parts of Port Elizabeth it hadn't rained for five years.....until we arrived! Nevertheless, it's been fab, seen loads, done loads and England won. Lifes good! Off to Johannesberg tomorrow for the last test match. Hoping for a bit more sun!

Jan 21, 2020 - St Croix Island & Dolphin Watching

Today we went on a boat trip to St Croix, an inhabited island off the coast of port Elizabeth. Home to thousands of African penguins and many seabirds. En route we saw a pod of about 100 dolphins....brilliant! Unfortunately it was a crap day weather wise and sea was a bit rough...consequently photos are not great as fighting back the sea sickness took precedent! But you get the gist.....!

Jan 15, 2020 - In search of the elusive Knysna Loerie

Today was dedicated to finding the Knysna Loerie, a beautiful and distinctive bird found only in specific parts of South Africa. It is a large green bird with a short hooked bill and brilliant red wings. The bill is short, deep and sharply curved and is orange-red. The eye is brown and the eye-ring deep red. There is a white line just under the eye, which extends behind the eye. It has a long and heavy tail, which is mostly green - the wing coverts are a darker metallic blue. The Knysna Loerie has a tall, elegant, rounded crest, which is...

Jan 12, 2020 - Canoe trip up the sundays river and sushi for Sunday lunch

Let's do a canoe trip up the Sundays River Gerry says, it will be relaxing and fun. Mmm, I've never paddled a canoe in my life...when you want to go left you paddle right and when you want to go right you paddle left!!! OMG...trying to get my golf ball to go in the right direction is a challenge so I stood no chance!! That's ok, I'll do the paddling Gerry says and you just tell me which direction....well my only regret is that I didn't get any video or pictures of what happened next but we spent more time head first in the banks and reeds...

Jan 10, 2020 - Was going to be a walk in the mountains.....but

Today we planned to do a hiking trail in the Zuurberg mountains but when we got to the trail starting point, we were told that due to the rain the trails were too dangerous! Plan B...went back into Addo! Just like another day on our busy roads.......not!