A&A_S_Africa_UK

We returned by train to Windsor and did the castle tour. initially, because of massive queues and security checks I was a bit suspicious that it was going to be a bad experience. However this was not so and even a staunch republican like myself  was most impressed with the State Apartments. No photos allowed of these areas.

Left Cape Town for London Heathrow via Johannesburg. Our flight from Cape Town was delayed and we had to run to make the connection. Our suitcases didn’t make it on to the overnight flight to London and we had to wait till Monday evening to greet them at our accommodation in Maidenhead. So as not to delay start of  our walk along the Thames Path from Staines (where we left off last year). I opted to walk in my shiny new Florsheims. It was ok, the walking is easy and flat. We got as far as Windsor by lunchtime intending to do a tour of the castle. No jet lag after the long flight as only 1 hr time difference. We passed through Runnymede. A castle tour was not possible because of some fancy Knights of the Garter ceremony. We then continued to our abode at Maidenhead pleased to see Alison’s suitcase had arrive. Mine was about to be driven off by delivery guy who had dropped off wrong case, but we managed to get it sorted out before he shot off. On Tuesday we walked to Marlow wearing t...

We had 3 days to wander around Cape Town. Trip up Table Mountain, ferry to Robben Island prison, Red Bus tour,and sightseeing around our waterfront area. Thèse little creatures (Dassies) are related to the elephant. Mandela’s cell, Robben Island. Former inmate acts as guide. The Lions Head is a popular spot for fit Capetonians to partake of a sundowner after work, just a short jog to the top.

Our driver arrived after breakfast to take us to the Blue Train at Pretoria Station. A group of baboons on the road delayed our exit from the National Park. It was a long journey and should have taken less than 6 hours. Things started looking tight when we were in central Pretoria with heavy traffic and driver did not seem to know where to go. We finally arrived at reception area just as the greeting lady was packing up, just 10 mins before 4:00 pm departure. We were too late for our pre-departure briefing and champagne. No problem checking in as they knew who we were, everyone else was on the train. We were introduced to our butler and found our way to the bar to calm our nerves. We wallowed in luxury for the next two nights, even sampling the post dinner cognac in the Club Lounge, but declining the cigars. We had a brief stopover at Kimberley and learnt a bit of the history of the diamond industry and the price-fixing near monopoly. It is a long way from our cabin near the back of t...

View from our breakfast place. Despite its northerly latitude (similar to Brisbane) it gets cold here. A big fire pit made sitting outside quite pleasant. We had to be escorted to and from our room when it was dark for fear that a leopard may be lurking. We ate in style, varied menu. The carpaccio of warthog followed by roast ostrich went down well. Baboon by our room. Another sundowner. Hundreds of these impala, basically at bottom of food chain. We followed this pack of wild dogs for about an hour. Guide was very excited as they are considered rare.

After a long drive from Johannesburg we arrived at dusk near our accommodation- the Rhino Post. We were spotted by the evening safari from the Rhino Post. We were able to switch from our car to the safari vehicle, bid adieu to our driver who proceeded to deliver our suitcases to Rhino Post. The regime here as with most other places is to do a predawn and a sundowner safari every day (about 3 hours each) and mooch about the rest of the time. On entering the park, before joining the safari we had already seen a leopard in a tree tucking into its prey. We thought this was going to be a commonplace event, not so. We did see plenty of giraffes and as we were partaking of our sundowners treated to a sight of a Wild Dog (aka painted wolf) chasing an impala within metres of us into the river where we had been watching the hippos. The dog kept out of the water, the impala was then immediately snaffled up by a crocodile assisted by smaller crocodile. Plenty to see on our 1st night. Plenty to see...

Arrived 4:30 am after flight from Sydney via Perth. Met & taken to African Rock Hotel. Amazingly our room was available and we were able to shower and nap before going on a 4 hr tour of Soweto. Some familiar brand names from way back in time: Smiling faces greeted us at Freedom Square where the post apartheid era was celebrated. The Soweto Hotel doesn’t appear to be used as a hotel any more. View over shanty town. Preferred roof fixing is by brick. About 1.3 M people live in Soweto but our guide suggested it was a lot more. Novel repurposing of cooling towers as a bungee jumping facility.