The animals of Shamwari

Shamwari Game Reserve

Finally, here's the last post of our trip to South Africa ....

We left St James of Knysna and headed back on the N2 towards Port Elizabeth. Three hours of driving was ahead of us so we started out just after breakfast. This part of the route was really breathtaking because we were closer to the coast. It seems after each bend we took there was another beach with waves crashing to the shore and mountains to our left. Along the way, we had to slow down for a family of baboons crossing the road!

We also saw a lot of shanty towns. I guess the shacks are maybe refugees, but they're all self-contained with washing hanging on lines and TV aerials up.

We didn't feel threatened at all, unlike in the past whilst driving in some parts of America or even in the UK. A lot of locals were hitching a lift, even holding out money.

There is no local transport heading down this route so it's the only way they can get about. Having said that ... we did follow a red double decker bus, which was a bit strange to say the least.

We arrived at Port Elizabeth airport, handed over our Avis car and went to find our driver to take us the hour and a half drive to Shamwari Game Reserve. We stayed at Bayethe Lodge, a tent, but a tent like no other. We were in number 12 and had just about the best view. Antelope roamed around outside as we unpacked for the next two days. We had a huge bed, plunge pool on the decking outside with hammocks surrounding it, an outside shower, brrrrrr, and a really nice open plan bathroom.

Because we arrived in the afternoon, we were able to make the first of four drives into the park. Our jeep had six seats, apart from the driver's who was called Headman. We shared our first two drives with four Germans from Frankfurt or as Phil called them, Franfurters. The last two drives, we shared with two Austrians. We noticed other Lodges had jeeps for nine, so we were really lucky. In the evening we had dinner with our driving mates, including the driver. The food was not as good as Cape Town but was plentiful. All meals, drink and game drives were included in the price.

The drives were absolutely freezing because of the wind chill factor.

So if you ever want to go, November, December or January is just about the best time because it's warm in the day, just take appropriate warm clothes for the drive. You get an early morning wake up call from your driver at 05.30am ready to set off at 06.00am. In the evening you go out at 16.00. The drives last about four hours and there's generally a pit stop for coffee in the morning and wine at sunset. In the Game Reserve, we saw just about everything we needed to see, it was a fantastic experience.

We also went to the Born Free Foundation which rescues big cats from zoos and circuses. There was a mix of lions and leopards with very sad stories but can now roam around in huge spaces, unfortunately, they can never be released into the wild as they just wouldn't survive.

So, although we feel we don't need to do another Safari, we definitely will return to South Africa. From what we saw in our very short time there, it's beautiful.

I'm going to put the Safari photos on separately, because uploading photos onto Blogspot is a nightmare! If anyone out there knows how to do it differently please tell me. They don't appear where the cursor is, all photos jump to the top of the page and you have to drag them into place!

Hope you've enjoyed our trip to South Africa.

Patience please!

Sorry I haven't completed the safari part of our South African trip. I will do soon, just had other things to do!

Here's a teaser for you ...

Cape Town

We arrived in Cape Town two days later than scheduled all because we were minus a clear page in Phil's passport. South Africa insist you to have two clear pages before they let you into their country. So we had two days in London instead. So obviously we've had to pack a lot into the two nights we had in Cape Town.

We had a loft room in the Victoria & Alfred hotel overlooking the new wharf area full of shops and restaurants. The hotel is in an excellent spot and has a great restaurant called Oyo which served fabulous food. You could have Oysters, champagne, all types of fruit juice, smoothies, yoghurts, cereals, full English, South African breakfast Steak and eggs, cold meats, the list goes on. We had dinner the first night and breakfast twice. The second night we had dinner in an award winning restaurant, again on the Waterfront, called Balthazar, apparently Rod Stewart and his wife were there the previous evening. It seems Lewis Hamilton was also in Cape Town whilst we're here, but we haven't bumped into him.

The first day we arrived (after an 11 hour flight) we went to see my brother's house and apartment in Camps Bay. It's so beautiful with stunning views out over the ocean. We had a drink in the Bay Hotel afterwards which is just across from the beautiful beach.

We tried to go up Table Mountain in the famous cable car, but it was too windy and they weren't running. So that was that!

The second day we picked up our hire car which is a black manual Honda CRV, very nice but not what we ordered. There was no Sat Nav, so we had to go to the airport, Phil can't cope without and I can't read a map, but I like to look at one to see where we are! We then drove down to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. It was a beautiful drive and the weather was now just perfect. We stopped at Simon's Town for lunch where we were serenaded by local SA singers. We drove on a little way to the Penguin sanctuary but found you don't actually have to pay to see them, just walk a little way along the boardwalk and there they are!

Then a little further on and we were in the National Park where Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope is. This is where the two oceans meet (the Atlantic and the Indian). We took the funicular up to the top of the Point where there's an old lighthouse and a spectacular drop to the ocean below!

On our third day, we packed up and left the hustle and bustle of Cape Town and headed east to Knysna. It took us six hours of endless beautiful scenery. We're staying at the St James of Knysna hotel on the lake and again it's great, right down to every member of staff. They all just fall over themselves to be so friendly and helpful but not in a false way.

Well, that's it for tonight. Another gastronomic delight has been eaten, I even had dessert wine and off tomorrow for another 3 hour drive to Port Elizabeth where we drop off the hire car at the airport and we're being picked up to go to the Shamwari Game Reserve to see the big Five (I hope!)

Don't you just hate cloudy days!

Cape Town - finally

Very long story, which I'll tell you about when I'm not totally shattered. I just want to put on one photo for now which is my first glimpse from my seat on the plane

Enjoy ....

Cape Town is calling us!

Just to let you know, we're off to South Africa very soon. So expect photos etc from Cape Town and the Shamwari Game Reserve. Cape Town has been on my wish list for many years and finally I can tick it off! We'll be there on 16 November.

It's Friday and we are now back at home. Helen and Charlie picked us up from the ship and brought us back to Berryland.

Today is the first of two sea days on our way north to the UK. Although we are currently sailing past Lisbon on the West Coast of Portugal the weather has got considerably cooler. The outside temperature is now only 16 degrees c. Shipboard activities continue of course although mostly inside. Some passengers decided they didn’t fancy sailing through the Bay of Biscay again due to the rough seas encountered on the way out from the UK. Several of them got off the ship in Malaga in order to fly home. Bloody wimps – the Bay of Biscay is half the fun of these cruises and there are plenty of sick bags stationed in all of the public and crew areas. This is picture of Aileen whom we have met before on another cruise. Aileen comes from the Philippines and her mother looks after her 10 month old son called Joshua. Her husband works on another ship. Aileen’s current contract runs until November when she will return home to the Philippines to see her son for the first time in 6 months. And below is a picture of Melissa who some of you will know from various ships and cruises. We first met Melissa almost two years ago when she was a bar steward on the Aurora. Melissa is now a wine steward in the Cinnamon Restaurant and is still the same bubbly and cheeky girl with a fantastic memory for faces, names and your favourite drinks orders. This picture was taken in Marco Pierre White’s speciality restaurant on board last night. (It’s called The White Room). Melissa was there with two of her colleagues as part of the prize for winning her part in the P&O C.R.U.IS.E programme. C.R.U.I.S.E stands for Courtesy Respect Unfailing In Service Excellence. Last night Melissa and her two friends were dressed in their finest clothes and this time, they were waited on hand and foot by the restaurant staff. We were delighted to see Melissa there and enjoy our own meal on a nearby table. Well done Melissa.

Today is Tuesday and we arrived at the port of Malaga in Southern Spain. This is the gateway to the Costa del Sol resort area. Malaga is also the birthplace of Picasso the very famous Andalucian artist.

It was a warm day and with no excursions booked we decided to take the city tour on the top deck of an open top bus. This is a really good way to see all of the sights and you can hop on and hop off whenever you see something of interest. If you do get off you can normally get on the next bus which should arrive about 20 minutes later.

You are given ear phones and a commentary is relayed in the language of your choice. For some reason Julie chose to listen in German and couldn’t understand a word! Amongst other things we saw The Bishops Palace, The Cathedral, The Roman Theatre and of course the house where Picasso was born on the second floor.

We also visited the Malaga Bull Ring where fights are held on most Sunday afternoons. Matadors, (bull fighters) in Spain are held in very high regard and in their prime are paid as much as footballers and pop stars.

After a few hours touring the city we had a cold beer and returned to the ship for some late lunch and a spot of sun baking. No sooner had we laid out than the clouds started to gather and within 10 minutes it had gone from a beautiful afternoon to a full blown hail storm.

Malaga was our last port of call and we now have two sea days before returning to Southampton on Friday 18 September.

A welcome day at sea. A day when we can do exactly as we please. We can get up whenever we feel like it; we can eat whenever we feel like it; but we can’t watch the Formula One Grand Prix from Monza in Italy because the ship is in dispute with the broadcasting company! Never mind with some help, via mobile telephone from my friends John in Lyndhurst and Nick somewhere “up north”, we were able to enjoy the race from the comfort of our mini suite. Actually I was able to get on the Internet from time to time and download a live text feed direct from the track. Although there were no photographic images I was fully able to imagine the action and I will see the recorded race when I get back to Blighty.

We arrived on the Greek island of Cephalonia exactly at 8am on Saturday morning with a very pleasant surprise. We had been warned that the ship would have to anchor in the bay and we would have to go ashore on the ship’s lifeboats which are actually called “tenders” for this type of work. The good news was that the new quay had been completed since our itinerary was written and we actually docked alongside. This saved a great amount of time because with 3500 passengers on board it takes a while to disembark through the lifeboat system.

Cephalonia is the largest of the Greek (Ionian) islands but is defiantly untouristy which is nice. There are many pretty harbour front tavernas in the port of Argostoli but we decided to take the 30 minute ride on the mini car ferry to Lixouri on the other side of the Gulf of Argostoli.

These ferries operate every half hour and carry about 10 cars and maybe a couple of trucks. They are clean, tidy and a very efficient way of getting around. The day was another warm one of 34c and the trip provided an excellent means of staying cool.

We stopped at one of the seaside bars for a cool refreshing beer and Phil caught up with the week’s business on the phone. We then walked through the main streets until 2pm when the entire town closed down for the afternoon siesta. This always amazes us! They close the shops when they have a cruise ship in town with 3500 tourists on board with money to spend. (They obviously don’t need the money!).

This photo shows an old Ford car with no other identification. It looks like a Cortina but isn’t. Phil thought it might be an Edson but can any reader identify it? Click on the picture to make it larger.

On the way back to the ship we were joined by a wild turtle that was pleased to meet us.

Now it’s just two sea days to Malaga in Spain which will be our last port on this mini voyage.

Today is Friday so it must be Corfu.

The classic holiday combination of endless sun, sea and sand make Corfu one of the most popular as well as one of the largest Greek Islands.

The capital, Corfu Town, is Greece’s largest ”living” medieval town home to cobblestone streets and alleyways, historic buildings, statues and fountains. We decided not to take an organised tour today so we went exploring on our own. The mid-morning temperatures were very pleasant so we were able to walk through most of the old town comfortably.

We found an almost deserted local bar and ordered some late morning coffee. No sooner than we had been served than a whole group of Brits from the ship arrived. For some reason they all started using their mobile phones to call home in loud cockney voices. We drank up and left them to it.

The highest point is the Venetian–built, Old Fortress. To get there you cross the bridge over the moat and then climb steadily to the top where there are panoramic views over Corfu Town. Whilst on the Fort we also visited the Greek chapel of St George where Prince Philip was christened.

Tonight we have been invited to have drinks with the captain and some senior engineers so “cheers” for now.