There was the tap on the unit window at 5.15 am just as happened yesterday and we arose and quickly dressed warmly not to be caught out like yesterday morning when we really felt the cold. What would today bring? Would the elusive big cat be found for us to view before we finished out stay at Gomo Gomo Lodge? Only time will tell. We were to continue our game drive with Gert and Dominic along with the American family and we nabbed the front row of the three tiers on the back of the land rover again. Heading out it wasn’t long before we came across a group of zebras preparing to roam and graze for the day. It is amazing how every zebra in the world has its own distinctive coat and no two ... read more

t was with great anticipation of the next stage of the BBA V4 South African adventure this morning that I awoke at 3.15am well in advance of the 5am alarm we have set. It is funny how you think that there is no point going back to sleep when you know full well that the alarm will wake you soon anyway. 5am came around fairly quickly, I think, between snatches of sleep or more likely dozing. Then it was a matter of a shower and preparation for a ride to the bus terminal at the airport about 15 minutes away where our connection to Gomo Gomo Lodge in Klaserie Game Park in Kruger National Park would leave from at 6.45am. The Safari Club chef had put together sandwiches, fruit and orange juice for us to take ... read more

We had both had a good night’s sleep even though the bed was almost as firm as each of the preceding nights we have had since arriving in South Africa just over a week ago. At around 6am all of a sudden the mobile started ringing and at that hour you think the worse from home. Well it didn’t turn out to be anything bad, well at least for us. Rather it was a woman phoning to say she had found our dog wandering past her property and were we aware the dog was missing. After Gretchen took a moment or two to take in what the caller had said she realised that her mobile number is still on the collar of the dog that belongs to our daughter. Gretchen explained we were in South Africa ... read more

I was just about to think about getting up to finish off the blog from yesterdays travel and the power went out. How could I tell that the power had gone out? Well, our lodge is out in the countryside and there are few other lights outside providing any indication of what time of the day it is. So when my world went completely black there could be only one reason. So this was our first experience of ‘load shedding’ which we had read was common in South Africa due to a shortage of generation in the country. The authorities are trying to overcome this but two new power stations being built are over budget and construction has slowed. Anyway an hour later the lights came back on and life returned to normal. After another bountiful ... read more

Yesterday’s problem with our original accommodation being over booked and our ‘railroading’ to Battenburgs Guest House needed to be resolved this morning but we decided to leave it until we were asked for payment to see what might happen. We met a couple at breakfast from near Port Elizabeth who were going to Cape Town to fly and meet up with their family in Croatia. Their family have lived in Auckland for 20 years and the couple had visited NZ for the Rugby World Cup. They had retired to very small seaside place where they were 2 of 3 permanent residents and the closest town for shopping was 10km away. They said they enjoyed the isolation and freedom after living all their working lives in Johannesburg. A worker at the B&B had washed and cleaned our ... read more