Yesterday was amazing, how can we beat that. Easy.... Up at 0530, yes, before the sun rises and the birds start chirping. quick coffee/tea for some and a cookie and OJ for others. Not the truck to be first away, yes, Barnie (our driver) loves to be first, and when he is carrying that bloody big gun, he is boss... Our requests for today’s drive were elephants, water buffalo, leopards and whatever comes after that. We had been out for about 15 minutes, spotting the usual Impala, zebra and giraffe (ho hum) with a few pics of the sunrise when we started to go faster. All of a sudden, Barnie says we are now going to see a leopard that others have spotted. No complaints from us. Arrive and one other truck is there. The leopard ... read more

Another leisurely start to the day. Bags out and on the bus by 0930. Heading to Port Elizabeth via a few other stops on the way. First stop is at a beach resort called Plettenburg Bay. Steep drive down to the beach where they have a hotel on the waters edge that is in th shape if a ship - sort of. As the tour guide said, it looks like it should be in a James Bond movie. As we watch a whale watching boat is coming into the shore. Big catamaran with lots on board. Flying to the beach, we all say the same thing. He must be going to beach it. Sure enough, straight up into the sand. A guy wheels a stairway out, like a plane and the people climb down. A tractor ... read more

Standard start, up at 0600 - wait, I should be sleeping in today, it’s Chris who has the early start. Bugger me, never mind, awake now so up as well. Today Chris is doing a meerkat adventure and I am doing an elephant encounter. Whatever that means. Time will tell. Breakfast was very nice as we had the pace to ourselves. And better still, I could double up as the meerkat group left at 0745 and the elephants left at 0945. As if I need extra buffet breakfast.............. Wandered the grounds taking pics. Really nice establishment - main building was an old farm house with exposed beams and old style floor tiles that they polish with candle and bees wax every 6 months. Look magnificent. Then the sun turned grey. Our driver appeared looking very glum, ... read more

Another early start as we are trying to beat the other tourist buses to our places this morning. We are off the the Cape of Good Hope. Along the way we stop at Chapman’s Peak. The road is windy but the views are great. We see all the rich beach suburbs, and some not so rich. At one point we pass a beautiful beach, then just up the road is a shanty town. Finally into the Cape Reserve where we see some Elands and Babboons. Then turn the corner and our guide is elated. We are the first bus to the car park. He ushers us to Cape of Good Hope sign boards for photos just before other buses turn up. Lucky as they swarm to the spot. The water is flat so he says we ... read more

We get a sort of sleep in this morning as we don’t have a safari drive as we are leaving. We shower, then the phone rings. Reception calls to advise there is a cheetah at the waterhole. Too hard to get organised quickly so decide to give it a miss. Call for our cart a bit later. They come and take our bags and us to the lodge. One of the group is still looking at the waterhole. The cheetah and 4 cubs are still in the area, although out from the waterhole a bit. Look through the telescope and spot them. Cubs still playing, mum watching, us watching. The couple on the deck having an intimate breakfast are being consumed by all of us. They don’t seem to mind and are actually giving running commentary ... read more