Spent 4 years pretending it's all OK

NoOneAround

Thanks you jvr, cherryfudge and Mrs PG
The week has flown by in a flurry of work, full time at part time job and desperate catching up with SE projects in the evenings. At home now today and tomorrow, then 2 days at school job.
Have been for phsyio apt and have family dentist trip later this am so having second breakfast and sneaking on here for a bit while kids are still in bed. they are not kids really are they though, 21 and 16!
None of us have managed to catch up on sleep yet.

SA was fantastic (if you don't like hearing about other people's holidays switch off now!). We packed a lot in, it wasn't really restful but we made the most of the time we had, and a change is as good as a rest they say
Flights and connecting flights all fine, and all hotel arrangements car hire went smoothly. I'm so glad I let the agent organise it all, as locations were all easy to find and near wherever we need to be.
Spent 3 nights in Cape Town, hotel near Waterfront, with regular shuttle bus to V&A shopping centre/restaurants etc Woke to torrential rain first thing in the morning, and all trips to Robben Island were cancelled, we weren't staying long enough to be able to fit it in another day this was the only disappointment of the trip). Wandered around the exhibition at the ferry terminal and visited the Aquarium instead, to keep dry. By late morning it brightened up so we drove to Boulders Beach to see the penguins, and onto Cape Point and Cape of Hope for a lovely walk (sea, mountains, bracing wind, exhilarating). Would have been nice to spend a full day here. Cable car to Table Mountain was closed for maintenance so we spent the next day at the Kirstenbosch Botanical gardens - whole day wandering around, it was idyllic and around 19 degrees so very respectable winter temp. Also wondered around the lovely Watershed local design and craft centre (pricey - DD paid £15 for a tiny knitted penguin:eek:). Food was great wherever we ate:):)
Spent a day in Hermaus, walked the cliff path, this is supposed to great for whale watching - we didn't spot any - but it was a lovely day nevertheless, again would have been great to stay longer - the apartment we stayed in was beautiful, didn't really have time to enjoy it! Then onto Knysna for a couple of days. Visited an ostrich farm in Ooutdsthorn, stopped for a bit at Wilderness, and walked elephants at the Elephant Sanctuary:T:T that was just amazing. Garden route has been hit by wild fires in recent months, That must have been terrifying, huge expanse of forest area lost. Beautiful country to drive through. Then flew from George (didn't have much time to spend there) to Umhlangha for 2 days. Watched DS play rugby at a school in Durban, but didn't spend any time in Durban (pretty tired by this point!), stayed in Umhlanga and spent time walking along the beach (sun sea sand wind, huge waves - very relaxing but sea too cold to do anything other than dip toes in - despite what they say!Last two day on safari and that was just amazing. We saw 4 of the big 5 (no leopards ) Lions, rhinos, buffalo, elephants, zebra, giraffe, hippos, vultures, various antelope etc etc. The open vehicles were meant for 10 people, the first game drive we had it was full, the second it was down to 7, and the last 2 we had to ourselves! Couldn't have planned it any better if we had tried. (one party of 4 was just there for one day , the other 2 guests spent the whole time in a drunken stupor - Why bother going on a safari?? but it worked in our favour:D One of the evenings there was a braai (BBQ) - the food/service was amazing throughout.
People were so friendly. I am also fully aware that we mainly saw one aspect of life in SA - far removed from the way life is for millions. Drove past a few townships/shanty towns on our travels and the contrast was stark. Also driving through some of the back streets of Durban en route to the school to see DS play revealed a totally different atmosphere and vibe to the beachfront tourist areas. If only life was fair to all.

Anyway enough for now, if you have read through I salute you for your perseverance :rotfl: it probably reads like a list I did this we visited this then we did this and then we did that.:rotfl:
Have a lovely day
NOA
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NoOneAround

PS apologies for rambling and typing erros and spelling mistakes, not proof read before posting !:D
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Cherryfudge

That really sounds like an amazing holiday! Shame a couple of things were unavailable but maybe that's an excuse to plan a return trip sometime?

There are quite a few South Africans near where I live: people move here to escape the violence. I remember my Mum didn't really believe the news stories of apartheid because her friend in SA said she didn't see those things - I guess different areas present very differently.

Walking elephants would have been the absolute highlight for me!

Narola1976

Great account of your holiday...being a South African myself I am glad to see that you enjoyed yourself. I come from Port Elizabeth also on the coast. I haven't been home for a few years as the flights are so expensive. Glad it all went well.

System

Throughly enjoyed your account of your holiday. Cape Town is my first holiday after I am debt free.

brizzledfw

So so glad you had such a great time. Well done on taking the holiday in the first place as know you were wavering at one point. Very pleased you saw all those...remember leopards are pretty elusive and don't come out much in the day. Trees are their thing then I think..they haul their kills up there don't they? OH has spent time with them...not me unfortunately

Have a good rest of the week, catching up on sleep and laundry I'll be bound :rotfl:

NoOneAround

Cherryfudge wrote: »

That really sounds like an amazing holiday! Shame a couple of things were unavailable but maybe that's an excuse to plan a return trip sometime?

There are quite a few South Africans near where I live: people move here to escape the violence. I remember my Mum didn't really believe the news stories of apartheid because her friend in SA said she didn't see those things - I guess different areas present very differently.

Walking elephants would have been the absolute highlight for me!

You never know Cherryfudge although short of winning the lottery, can't see it happening any time soon! Although having gone the travel bug which has been in forced dormancy for many years has resurfaced.
There were some places where life seemed very integrated and others where it didn't. We did chat to a family who were revisiting after 17 years, and they said there was huge progress for the better in terms of who was employed where.
The elephant walking was surreal - DD and I couldn't believe we were actually there doing it


NOA
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NoOneAround

Narola1976 wrote: »

Great account of your holiday...being a South African myself I am glad to see that you enjoyed yourself. I come from Port Elizabeth also on the coast. I haven't been home for a few years as the flights are so expensive. Glad it all went well.

Thank you for popping in and posting Narola:) We didn''t have time to go as far as Port Elizabeth on our whistle stop tour but the parts of SA we did see are very beautiful - lots of contrast in landscape in the different areas. The flights/ holiday has cost a small fortune (or a big fortune relative to our means!) but it was worth every penny - am grateful to my son for being interested in rugby and wanting to go on the school tour - otherwise I would not have considered such a holiday at the moment
I assume you still have family back in SA?

NOA
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NoOneAround

Cumbria_lass wrote: »

Throughly enjoyed your account of your holiday. Cape Town is my first holiday after I am debt free.

Thank you for popping by and reading Cumbria lass Cape town was great though we barely scratched the surface - plenty to do and see (and great eats!) Could easily have spent a week in that area. Wish you speed in becoming debt free!
NOA
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NoOneAround

brizzledfw wrote: »

So so glad you had such a great time. Well done on taking the holiday in the first place as know you were wavering at one point. Very pleased you saw all those...remember leopards are pretty elusive and don't come out much in the day. Trees are their thing then I think..they haul their kills up there don't they? OH has spent time with them...not me unfortunately

Have a good rest of the week, catching up on sleep and laundry I'll be bound :rotfl:

Thanks Brizzle, I'm so glad we did it - as I said the timing was good for the family with end of BA for DD and GCSEs for DS(results next week...). The last sighting of leopard in the game reserve we went to was a few weeks ago - lounging in a tree - we saw the tree it was spotted on and the photo taken by the ranger :rotfl: What does OH do /did he do - to have " spent time "with them ?

Was meant to have been at home today but just had a call from school to ask if I can go in this afternoon too - have said yes as have lots of saving to do for tax in January every penny will count, it's going to take some catching up. Am too nervous to update accounts:o

Have a great day everyone

NOA
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