Blogs from Western Cape, South Africa, Africa - page 8

The day has started our brilliantly fine and in fact we should have got up to the breakfast lounge at sunrise as the woman running breakfast showed us photos she took of the most magnificent sunrise you could expect to see with sun rising out of the ocean in the east. A check of the expected temperature today at our destination inland from Mossel Bay was to be 29C and a decision had to be made as to whether shorts would become the order of the day. In the end opted for light hiking trousers which are still cool enough to wear even in the high 20’s. Breakfast was again delicious and would provide enough to keep us going through the day We had plenty of time on our side to make the relatively short journey ... read more

The rain of yesterday had passed by and there was a good amount of sun warming the breakfast room at our B&B as we got ourselves ready for the day ahead. Being the only guests we thought that breakfast might not take too long and we would be on our way. Not so ! ‘Arvey’(this was how we understood his name to be when we arrived last night)had our places set up and we ordered from the small menu thinking that although the menu said it could take up to 20 minutes for the meal to be prepared that because we were the only guests he would get it prepared quicker. Not so,again ! Keeping starvation at bay with a slice or two of toast while we waited for our cooked breakfasts was just enough to ... read more

As we had hoped, the day has dawned fine and sunny again and as we have pre booked a coach trip to the Cape of Good Hope we have our day planned for us and Table Mountain will have to wait until tomorrow. We could make our own breakfast but with meals out in a café half the price or less to what we would pay back home in NZ why bother buying in. This morning we chose Bootlegger which has several cafes around town but two in close proximity to us at Green Point and the closest to us opened at 7.30am which suited us with a 9.30am start on the bus to the Cape. Coffee was rich and hot to start with after I had decided against a red Cappuchino made from a local ... read more

Why oh why did we buy that damn duty free gin and vodka ?!We are now starting to realise what a millstone it is around our neck getting on and off aeroplanes and hauling it around airport lounges, resting up between flights and then getting back on again.OK.so it was mainly the 5 hours wait in damn uncomfortable seats at Singapore airport that is bringing this nightmare to the surface. And all for a saving of a couple of bucks on each bottle. And now we have to drink it before we get to the safari stage of the BBA V4 as you are not supposed to take your own booze. Secretly though we are stockpiling, well 2 any way, 1 litre tonic bottles for whatever we have left of the gin and vodka by then. ... read more

Like the ears of a horse, a true traveller is always alert to new places to visit. My South African colleague excitedly spoke of Capetown and even suggested the fantastic business class experience of Eithiopian Airways with a welcome drink of Champagne. I was sold on the spot. Nearer to my date of departure, Eskom, the sole electricity provider of Capetown went bust and needed to be rescued through government funding. Capetown was also facing long term water shortage from relatively dry summers. There had been massive fires and biomes had been destroyed. ( The wind direction was funny as some houses got fully burnt while the others next to it stood as good as new). The omens were not entirely good but can anything stop a determined traveler? I booked a 4 star hotel only ... read more