From the sublime to the bloody stupid

So it's back to reality and I'm not sure I quite like it. I thought I'd share with you for this one and only time my diary entry for today, just so you can see how we have landed with a bump. It might make some of you feel better and think we have our just desserts after all our luck!

"The art of queuing

What a daft day! We were collected from the very pleasant and helpful hotel Faircity Quatermain at 6.30 and whisked to the airport in half the time it took the other day, arriving just before 7. We queued hardly at all it must be said to check in and went to get our VAT receipts validated so we could get a refund after boarder control. We queued there for several minutes and then decided we would get some Mauritius rupees so we queued at the ABSA bank to be told that they don't do foreign exchange. So we queued at one of the foreign exchange places to be told we had to get Rand in cash to exchange. That was logical, I confess, so we went back to the ABSA and, to avoid queuing we used the ATM. We went back and queued to get our remaining Rand, and the extra we'd withdrawn, exchanged for rupees. That took time, requiring passport to be copied, boarding pass checked, various pieces of paper signed, etc. Eventually we got the million million rupees and went to queue to get thorough security. 

That was a long queue, occasionally and irritatingly queue jumped by random people who seemed not to have to queue. But never fear, that long queue served to shorten the queue to go through immigration. But queue we did and, once through, we went to queue to get the tax refund on our purchases in South Africa. This also required my passport to be copied, boarding pass validated, various papers signed.... you get the pattern. But I also had my finger print taken this time, all for far less than we anticipated because several of our purchases were made in Swaziland and didn't qualify for refund of tax. We're now claiming back about £15 but it's better than a slap in the belly with a wet kipper.

Cheque finally in hand, with a vague instruction to get it cashed "downstairs", we searched for a NEDBANK because that's what it had on the cheque but there isn't one in the airport we discovered. Now seething we headed back to the refund desk for me to get something off my chest. No queuing this time! Oh no. "What am I supposed to do with this, pray," I enquired of the woman who served us. "There's no NEDBANK in the airport," I helpfully informed her. She explained that she had never said it had to be NEDBANK but the bank just underneath the very place in which she worked would cash it.

That turned out to be a foreign exchange place I think so we queued to collect our fortune. Passport copied again, boarding pass checked. Is this becoming repetitive? We have been in the airport now for an hour and forty five minutes and all we have done is queue, had my passport photocopied five times, my boarding pass checked six times, signed something six times and had my finger print taken, all to collect fifteen quid and get on a plane. 

"It will be 185 Rand after deduction of the fee." That is just what I needed. An anger-inducing farce now became genuinely funny. Our reward for almost two hours queuing amounted to about £8 which we now had no time to spend! We grabbed bars of chocolate and rushed off to the boarding gate just in time to ...... queue to board.

Funnily enough after we'd taxied a while the pilot came on to tell us we'd be a little delayed because we were in a queue for take off!

The plane was great, the food excellent and the flight only marred a little by my inflight entertainment failing and it taking ten minutes for anyone to respond to my call. I shared my discontent with the cabin manager expressing concern that, whilst the failure of my screen was not an emergency it could have been one - I might have been having a heart attack. He helpfully, and I have to say, apologetically, explained that they answer calls in order. Seems I was held in f*+¥< g queue!"

PS What an eye opener Soweto was yesterday. Nothing like we expected.

Safari over

Our last drive this morning before saying farewell to Sabi Sands. Having been out five times already and seeing so many amazing things I feared I might feel I'd done enough but, instead, I couldn't wait to get back in the saddle. When I say saddle, you know what I mean and the number of horses under us was impressive. This baby took us on some hairy rides, 

none more so than this morning's. Heather almost went overboard at one point! Tracker Ronald at the front and our ranger Brogan at the wheel were a star turn and our Swiss and German safari companions for the last three days were just terrific. What great people we've met on our travels.

And talking of meeting, this magnificant herd of elephants was our first sighting of the day and they were just unbelievable.

One huge beast was within touching distance of me, a wee one took us on, facing the jeep and trumpeting before backing off to its mum, another just lay in the road for a nap. It was as if they were there to perform just for us. Even the ranger laughed aloud at the antics and I'd have happily turned back and called it a day after such a joyous start.

But we hurtled on quite some distance, the ranger keeping his cards close to his chest. There's method in this: first it builds up a feeling of anticipation and avoids disappointment if the planned target has moved on.

This time it hadn't and we tracked this beautiful leopard for some minutes.

This little pussy cat actually sniffed our tracker's foot before moving on. Doesn't look like he would kill you in an instant if you got down from the jeep does he?

And that, if anyone is reading this, is the end of the most extraordinary three days we've ever had. This romantic, exotic dream of being on safari has been realised and it exceeded all our expectations. We saw the Big Five, and a whole lot more, and nearly all our sightings were close up and personal. 

I asked the ranger what's the best thing he's EVER seen and he said the wild dog kills on our first morning: he said that was such a rare thing to actually witness. And we were there. It has been a real privilege to see these simply beautiful animals in their territory, on their terms. No pictures or words can quite convey what it feels like to be there and see them for real and this has to rank as one of the very best experiences of our trips so far.

I may blog again but it will probably be to say, "We sat on the beach, ate, sat on the beach, ate, sat on the beach...." You get the idea!

Our last evening safari

We spent ages seeing nothing this evening. I'd managed to get the iconic yawning hippo this morning 

But we were so desperate, it seemed, that we were looking at tortoises, caterpillars and chewing on leaves to identify tannin. Oh dear what a come down. But heyho, that's how it goes and we just drove on and on.

In fact, it turned out, it was all delaying tactics to take our turn with the other few jeeps in the reserve to see THE most cute and gorgeous leopard cubs.

And then he climbed off his log and went and found mum.

We have one drive left in the morning but that is surely going to be a boring drive round the park.

The other critters get more interesting

Now that we're way beyond the Five and only black rhino short of the 'full house' all the other animals take on even greater appeal. It's hard to believe that this hyena is more closely related to the cute little mongoose below than it is to the dogs. The reason is far too intimate to go into but suffice to say you need to be a bit anal to be interested. (Look it up and don't blame me if it's wrong: I'm only saying what our ranger said.)

Ain't he cute?

Though we've seen a fair few elephants, having one close enough to touch - literally - was wonderful. This picture is with no zoom at all. In fact I didn't have a wide enough lens.

After our drive this morning we walked for an hour back to the lodge, escorted by our guide with loaded rifle. 

We have two more drives to go and surely it can only be 'top ups'.

This is just daft

If you've been following me you'll know we've clocked off the Five. We added wild dogs with the bonus of a kill this morning and then this evening guess what. "What?" I hear you ask. "Surely not another of the rare Super Eight."

First we saw a couple of elephants having a disagreement:

And the.... but yes. The most beautiful creature imagineable: this utterly stunning cheetah, just three metres from us:

As we headed back towards the lodge we stopped for sundowners but I confess, after our 5am start, I rather envied this beaut:

Aww. Pwitty, pwitty puddy tat.

Well my good Ranger, you have only the black rhino to find. Not a chance. We did see loads of rhino, elephant, zebra, a jackal, a puff adder as well as these by the way. But they don't quite match up to the wondrous beauty of the big cats. We cannot believe that our luck continues: and how lucky we are.

Lady Luck holds

You know I said in the last blog that we'd seen the Big Five, now we were getting greedy, but with our luck ..... Well, guess what!

We were woken at 5am, still without power from last night's storm. A couple of adolescent antelope were outside our lodge having a play fight:

Coffee and on the 'road' - not a touch of tarmac in sight by the way. The sky was perfect, the temperature ideal: cool but by no means cold. And this guy, our tracker

indicates that we should leave the track and we push our way into the bush, taking out trees and shrubs as we go, to sit and watch a splendid male lion resting up, too hidden for good pictures but handsome none the less. We move on some more and then suddenly all hell breaks loose: wild dog. 

Lady Luck is with us. You just don't get to see wild dog. And it's a pack. There's a squeal. Our ranger hurls the jeep into the bush and we see an impala taken down by the pack and devoured in about forty seconds. Literally. A second squeal and another kill, just a couple of jeep turns away from us. In two or three minutes we had seen something so far out of the ordinary the ranger reckoned he would not be believed when he told his colleagues: he had never seen a wild dog kill before and the tracker, who has been here ten years, has never seen two. They both seemed as thrilled as we were. 

Yum, yum. Attractive chap isn't he, especially after a Big Mac. Actually it was a little one.

So that leaves just black rhino - there's only two in the entire park! - and cheetah. 

We remain without power so these two blogs are not going to work quite as I intended because they'll both be published once we're back on line but I wanted to write them now while my heart beat is still racing and the specialness of what we've witnessed is still fresh in my mind.

Sabi Sands Safari

Having driven eight hours from Kruger to Johannesburg yesterday we had a good night in a very nice hotel before being picked up and taken to the airport to fly back again. Doh Trailfinders! When we landed at the delightful Nelspruit airport we were picked up again, just the two of us, and driven by Clint to the Idube Lodge in the Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve. It was a two hour drive, the first hour of which on the road we travelled yesterday.

We reached the lodge which is just too wonderful to describe, so I won't now but I have to share what happened next. 

We had some lunch and went for our first drive with Roland (I think) our spotter - he sits perched over the bonnet of the jeep - and our ranger Brogan. We saw kudu, buffalo, Impala - they actually have three stripes on the rear forming an M so no longer are they the KFC of the jungle but the McDonalds - but they are just ten a penny when you've seen the Big Five like what we have. 

And then our spotter had, well, spotted, and Brogan proceeded to drive the jeep through, and I mean through, the brush. A hundred meters from where we were (so how in heaven's name did he see it) we got this:

This magnificent beast was just three metres from us, lying on a termite hill. We just cannot describe how amazing this was. And we just sat there for maybe fifteen minutes admiring this beautiful, beautiful creature.

On we went and word come across the radio that there was something else worth seeing and we sat, again, just three metres from this young male taking his evening meal - not a McDonalds, apparently, but a Wimpy Wilde-beast. We saw herds of those too and that was another first.

There was a massive thunder storm going on and the rain was torrential as we sat in our uncovered jeep, trying to huddle under ponchos. We got soaked and couldn't give a damn.

We learnt from Clint that in addition to the Big Five there's the Magnificant Seven for which you add black rhino and cheetah, and for the full house you add wild dog. Well, Lady Luck is stil with us it seems and if she sticks around I'll blog again tomorrow.

Yoyo

Not Trailfinders finest hour. 

We have had a terrific week with a smashing group of people but have spent the entire day driving from Kruger to Jo'burg only to get on a plane and fly back there tomorrow morning for our stay in Sabi Sands. We had gleaned that we were in a similar area but did not know that we were going back a very few miles from where we've just come. This has meant a wasted day today, a wasted day tomorrow, a return flight and an unnecessary hotel night. Hey ho.

We had real reservations about doing a party tour like this, even for just one week of our six week trip, but the guide was extraordinarily knowledgeable and insightful, the group was a pleasure to be with and share the experiences we had, especially the great luck we had on the game drive. In short I would do it again. Cruising no, guided tour yes!

And that's the end of this part of the trip: the next three days will mean I can just look more at the animals, and add better pictures, rather then be determined to capture everything in the lens. Of course this time we might see nothing but on a private game reserve that's unlikely. 

Safari

At risk of teaching grandmother to suck eggs, the Big Five are the five animals which were considered to be the most dangerous and difficult to hunt. Guides in Kruger and other private reserves try to encourage visitors to be interested in the many other animals in the reserves and not just the Big Five. This may stem from an enormous knowledge and a genuine concern for the wellbeing and beauty of the other animals and, forgive my whiff of synicism here, in case you don't see the Big Five, having spent vast amounts of Wonga to see them. 

Many visit Kruger and see all five, probably in the course of several days; more come and see some of them; perhaps as many come and see only buffalo and rhino. Apparently, however, few come and see all five, close up and, for goodness sake, in their first drive. Keep in mind that at the end of this eight day Wildlife and Warriors trip, which has included one game drive this morning, we come back, after Jo'burg for three nights in the Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve. This will give us at least five more drives, so we've got all bases covered and a good chance of seeing some or most of the Five. 

I shall return to the story but let me interject by saying that, in the hour before we went for dinner last night, we were exchanging contracts on the house sale, then it all collapsed, then it was to happen on Monday and then it happened before close of business. So the move is happening three days after we get back - December 9th. So we went to bed for our 5am start today a bit all over the place.

Back to my main story. Keep in mind the odds, if you will. You're not guaranteed to see all five, unlikely to see all five on one drive and very, very unlikely to get close views of all of them.

Well ain't we just the lucky ones.

We saw more buffalo, one of the Five and easiest and commonest to see.

More rhino - pah! Seen loads of them now!

Then we saw a pair of honeymooning lions, just ten metres from us:

And what a beautiful lady she is. This was breathtaking and I got a ridiculous kick out of being the one who spotted them. The shot I got of the male was less good but I'm hoping to get better when we come back.

Then, and even our guide was thrilled, we saw a leopard. The hardest and least likely to see.

We watched him just lying in the tree for ages until he decided to come down and saunter off. So that made four of the five in one drive. Add to that some squabbling zebra:

Some beautiful giraffe,

hundreds of Impala, (the McDonalds of the jungle), kudu, eagles, owls, and on and on. And then, would you believe it, number five. Just five metres from the jeep, this extraordinary beast, eating part of his 300 kilo a day diet.

Almost six hours, our first game drive and we did the Five. And there is no way to tell you how wonderful it was. This is no Woburn Safari Park: these creatures have free roam of millions of hectares of land and all we can say is this: it was a privilege to see these beautiful, wonderful, endangered animals in THEIR space. And we can't quite believe our luck.

I hope you think the pictures are reasonable enough to give an idea of what it was like. Heather has got some stunners too but it's a bit easier to upload mine.

Thanks for looking and I'll blog again after Sabi Sands - you never know we might get to see a kill, with our luck!

Wildlife and Warriors

The weather in Ballito was not entirely what we hoped for and the idea of two days lazing in the sun on the beach didn't quite work out but, hey ho. The Zimabli Lodge was great and the food there almost, I said almost, as good as Hog Hollow. We did meet up again with Brian and Ann and had a really great evening with them. What lovely people: I think we laughed most of the evening. 

We made the short journey into Durban, got rid of the car and, after a little angst because of all the changes to the pick up time and place there have been, we successfully met up with our group for the next eight days. They seem a nice bunch - several of them have already been together for a week - and the guide is really excellent. He gave us a largely walking tour of Durban before taking us out to our very colonial-style hotel. 

Today, Tuesday, we had to be ready to leave at 6.45am so breakfast was at 6! We took a two and a half drive to an estuarine boat trip of two hours. A flat bottomed boat took us about six kilometres up stream where we saw loads of ....

and several.....

Amazing! I managed also to catch a Goliath Heron take flight. This thing stands almost as tall as Heather from feet to extended necked head.

We hadn't got a detailed itinerary really from Trailfinders for this tour and only just before we left home did we realise that we were going to make a game reserve drive not far from Sabi Sands where we go to after this tour. When we got the detailed itinerary yesterday, however, we discovered that there was to be one this afternoon, too. And the chances were apparently better on this of seeing rhino than in Kruger. And see them we did, by the score.

And loads of these, too...

Isn't he beautiful? It's quite hard to describe what it's like seeing all these stunning creatures in their genuinely natural habitat. It is simply amazing. What a day and we're pretty tired tonight and have decided to have a lazy morning here at Ghost Mountain Lodge before seeing a Zulu homestead tomorrow afternoon. I just had to share these pictures, though, and point out to the uninitiated that, given that we also saw loads of these .....

..... two of the Big Five are ticked already! 

Rural South Africa

Whilst we were at the truly wonderful Hog Hollow Lodge - most definitely our favourite hotel of anywhere, in any of our travels so far - we scrambled over the crag a) to burn off a dozen of the excess calories we've been taking on and b) to visit the monkey sanctuary. It sounded a bit Disneyish but not a bit of it and we saw eleven species of their rescued monkeys. Some very cute:

We visited Plettenberg and Knysna which had been recommended to us by several people. It was a nice enough town, for sure, and we ambled about for a while before driving to The Heads. From there we got magnificent views inland, across the lagoon, to the town and to the ocean where we saw dolphins way below us in the bay.

Sadly it was time to move on and we drove to Port Elizabeth, in the rain, and took the flight to Durban in the smallest plane we've ever travelled in. Next car picked up we headed to Isandlwana, stopping over night at the Granny Mouse Country House. The rain was torrential, the trucks on the motorway were sometimes three abreast and I was at the wheel of a Polo Sedan fitted with a lawn mower engine. It wasn't an easy drive but we arrived (in the dark) to be shown to our pretty thatched cottage. 

When we left the next day for Isandlwana we paused at the Nelson Mandela Capture Site. I won't put a picture of the memorial on here: I'm saving it. It was terrific.

We had a long, long drive to Isandlwana but it was through deepest rural South Africa and we loved it. We were really off the beaten track.

The Lodge at Isandlwana was stunning. And the view from our room is across the battlefield and Isandlwana Mountain.

We have spent the whole day today being guided round the battlefields of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift by the resident and, apparently, leading scholar on these Anglo-Zulu wars. Not normally my cup of tea and my attempt to watch 'Zulu' had resulted in my desolving into fits of giggles at the haminess. 'Carry on up the Rift' sprang to mind. But today was fascinating. 

Tomorrow we tour the village and visit a school.

Two passing and general observations: first the number of people we see walking. Just walking. To and from work or school, going shopping, foraging, hitching lifts. Walking across fields, along the hard shoulders and the central reservations of the motorways. Just walking. And always slowly.

Second the children everywhere. Playing, going to and from school, hanging about. Lots of them, from tiny tots playing on the hard shoulder or the railway or in the fields, to teens loitering, just like the world over. But so many. Where will they find work when they finish school?

The tour of the village was fascinating and we did indeed visit the school. The Principal sat behind his desk, looking important and doing nothing - how much I related to that, before any of you say - whilst apparent chaos rained in the classrooms. Dozens of smiling children sang The Wheels On the Bus and If You're Happy And You Know It to us, while their teacher ate her lunch at a desk to the side, seemingly, and disappointingly, totally without interest. The children had just come in from play so we assumed they were about to restart lessons at about 10.45, but no. They all went back outside, lined up and were dismissed for home. Even our guide didn't seem to know why. 

And off we went to the Fortune Teller's (Witch Doctor to you and me) house, while some of the kids began their hour and a half walk home, just three hours after they'd arrived after their hour and half trek to get there.

The Fortune Teller (a trainee we understood) did his dance but I really didn't fancy having an intern tell me how long I have to live. Our guide just explained the process.

What a strange mix of modern and traditional, religious and 'pagan', if that's the right word. Mud brick houses with satellite dish and cell phone. Strangely, of course, they've skipped one generation of technology and missed out landlines and gone straight for mobiles. But you feel somehow that a mother and baby have walked about these lands in exactly the same way for millennia. 

The weather has been ideal for what we've have been doing here but cloudy and windy. The sun is out now and we will spend a lazy afternoon at the lodge before heading for Ballito tomorrow. We plan to meet up with Brian and Ann there, a really delightful couple we met here and spent the afternoon touring Rorke's Drift with. 

Footnote: our guide here was one Rob Gerrard, by all accounts a leading scholar in the Anglo-Zulu wars. I didn't sleep well last night and, rather than count sheep, I scripted in my head a spoof Gerrard presentation, delivered in his plumby, army officer, Paul Whitehouse voice. Well it made me laugh but I guess you had to be there.

And another: Colonel General Sir Lord Gerrard instructed us to spray up to the knees and between the toes with the bug spray provided in our rooms before our tour of the battlefields. Following some rain there may be grass ticks. We knew we were going to a malaria area, now we learn we're in a grass tick district! 

Cape Town to Plettenberg

We were sorry to leave Cape Town. It's a really nice city. 

We headed east, via a two night stop in Stellnebosch to savour some of the wines. We took a half-day wine tour and tasted twenty wery nishe wines, thaank yoooo. Really, really lovely. In fact I love you. You're my bestest friend.

Right, sobered up now. We did indeed eat in Ernie Els's place and it was excellent. In fact eating out is both very good and ridiculously cheap. From Stellenbosh on to various places, seeing a good deal of wildlife on our way, including a giraffe, zebra, baboons, Impala (perhaps). A breathtaking drive over some passes got us to Oudtshoorn in need of recovery. I think had we really assessed what we had taken on in our reasonably priced family car we might not have done it! Unmade roads for up to 20 miles with sheer drops, usually to our left meant Heather all but sitting on my lap and taking occasional sharp intakes of breath. But the views were utterly stunning. We did five passes, three of them of the death-defying type.

And then to the Garden Route. We started the day riding ostriches. 

Well it has to be done. And then made for Mossel Bay and worked our way, in an afternoon, to Plettenberg. The route offered pleasant scenery in lovely sunshine but yesterday's experience had, perhaps, spoilt us a bit.

When we finally got to our hotel, Hog Hollow Lodge in The Crags, just outside Plettenberg, well it defied belief. As I was typing this Heather walked in off the veranda and said this is heaven on earth. It is simply astonishing. We have four nights here and intend to do things and do nothing in about equal measure. 

The view from the balcony is onto a valley of lush forest and a mountain range in the distance. Our room is totally separate, like our own little house, service like nothing we've experienced and dinner last night, round a big table with most of the other guests in the 16 rooms, was possibly one of the best I've ever had. 

Today we took a tortuous and frankly, at times, scary walk/scramble/climb in a nature reserve. Elf and safety gov just don't translate into Africaans it seems. But, oh my word, what views. 

The afternoon has turned a bit windy so we're spending the latter part of it in our 'room' looking out on the view which is still under a cloudless, blue sky. We have to keep the door shut, though, to stop the grey monkeys coming in to nick our homemade biscuits. God life is tough at times!

Cape Town

Just a few thoughts about Cape Town now that we have moved onto Stellenbosch and the next stage of our journey.

We liked Cape Town a lot and we have both said we would very readily come back. What a great seaside holiday destination - plus! It's unique for sure. A bit like Sydney but not really, nothing like any of the few US cities we visited. But perhaps it's more like the East of the US: John and Coral can tell us. It's certainly a city of great contrasts. The haves and the have nots writ large. The poverty in Langa township was startling but what big smiles most seemed to have with, perhaps, a sadness deep down.

Compare these people with those at the Waterfront, yachting, eating, conferencing and painting the clock tower yellow to celebrate Cape Town's designation as International Design City of the Year.

Already we have encountered more wildlife than on our two previous trips combined.

A rather blurry picture of these baboons was grabbed from the car window on our way down to the Cape of Good Hope. Just saying the name of this place, one heard throughout school years and since, sends shivers down the spine. The corny shot just has to be taken:

Apart from this it's a very beautiful and unspoilt place. Cape Point was more commercialised but still very tastefully done - look and learn Lands End!

Two other ports of call were on the recommendation of Mike and Harriet Kendrick, (son and daughter in law of very old friends of Keith's mum and dad, who live in Cape Town and with whom we spent a really delightful evening). We had already planned to go to Hermanus to whale watch but they gave us some other tips for that which were perfect. And see whales we most certainly did.

Extraordinarily mesmerising creatures. Vast grey hulks looking for all the world like submarines trying to decide whether to submerge or surface. There were adults with calves and we spent hours watching them roll and wallow in the shallows mere metres away from us. Stunning.

And one place we might not have gone to had they not assured us it was worth it was Kirstenbosch Gardens which were absolutely wonderful. It was here we saw this eagle owl:

And now we're off to Ernie Els restaurant, The Big Easy, in Stellenbosch.

The blog to end all blogs

I won't blog everyday. In fact if I never blog again I won't care. Indeed if we have to come home tomorrow the holiday will have been worthwhile. If I die tomorrow...... no that's overstating it a bit I think. What, I hear you ask, must have happened? Well, read on and ye shall learn.

We wandered Cape Town today. The weather looked poor to start the day but by the time we sat on some steps to eat the food we had bought from the street market for lunch, the sun was shining and the day was another goodun. But things took a turn as I sat myself down and swung my bag off my back, just catching the big, besuited black guy sitting next to me on said step. Of course I apologised and he assured me it was no bother. As we ate a guy passed and, amongst the clearly good natured banter between him and my neighbour, I gleaned that this fellow was to be seen on TV. Once the exchange was over I turned and asked if, by chance, I found myself sitting next to someone famous. Not at all, he assured me. He was an MP (the national parliament is in Cape Town and not the capital, as if you didn't know). Needless to say I engaged this charming man in a conversation about the workings of parliament, the rules of the democracy, etc, and then we finished our lunch before he moved off, thanking me for our conversation.

The man sitting next to Heather asked if we knew who I had been speaking to and informed me that it was none other than Nelson Mandela's grandson. I confess to feeling star struck in a big way.

But to cap it all he came back with an ice cream and sat beside me again. I'm not proud! and asked if he was indeed the grandson of the great man himself. I failed miserably to hide or contain my absolute joy at meeting him, shook him by the hand and told him I was genuinely honoured to meet the grandson of one of the greatest, most humble men to have walked this planet. Heather took a picture 

and his identity has been confirmed by the waitress in the cafe where we had a drink to calm me!!!  Your comments on this are a requirement but please be assured I will not be charging for autographs on my return. 

What a start

Could there have been a better start to our trip. Thańks to John and Coral we arrived at Heathrow in good time but took off a little late. We slept fitfully through the night but Virgin came up trumps with both the food and the bottle of very nice champagne as compensation for Heather's seat disintegrating before her eyes and both our seat-back screens being pretty ropey. Did we really care? Not a lot. And a lot less after they sent us off with the bottle of bubbly!

We were greeted by our Avis chauffeur to be driven to our amazing apartment in Camps Bay, just outside Cape Town, where the delightful receptionist with whom I'd exchanged emails last week had indeed upgraded us to a larger apartment in recognition of Heather's birthday on Friday.

Taking the advice we had had from several people we sussed the weather and decided to head for Table Mountain, about a five minute cab ride from the apartment. The sky was brilliant blue, the cloud nonexistent, the temperature in the twenties and the cable car bloody scary!

This was taken through the window of the car going up. Not quite sharp because of the knees shaking, the car rotating (I kid you not) and Heather squeezing any available part of my anatomy in her heroic determination to keep her eyes open.

But it's worth it. Some apparently come to Cape Town and miss the mountain because of the weather but we were blessed - much like our luck in Hong Kong - and the views of Cape Town below are fabulous.

It was the perfect end to a day which could easily have been nothing but travel and could not have got the trip off to a better start.