Day 3 This morning we had our last game drive. After sighting the usual suspects, we went in search of lion but instead landed in the middle of a herd of elephant. There were at least fifteen adults and numerous babies from a couple of years down to a couple of months. We skipped our morning coffee stop to spend more time with them as they grazed next to the truck. Imagine, being eye to eye with a teenage elephant. After breakfast we boarded the bus for our next stop,Knysna ( K is silent). We meet our driver Alfred and our guide Donovan. They will shepherd us to Cape town and drop us at the airport on our last morning in the country. We will be moving west along the "garden route". The landscape changes from ... read more

Not going bore you with the four am wake up or the 7:30 arrival at JFK. Not going to detail the 14 1/2 hour fight to Johannesburg or passport control and customs or the 1.2 hour flight to Port Elizabeth or the bus ride to Kareiga Game Reserve mainly because I cat napped all the way. We arrived in time for lunch, checked in , ate a bite and were off on our first game drive. A note about Kareiga. It is privately owned and has been in operation for about twenty years. Formerly the area, about 22,000 acres was farm and ranch land. The perimeter has been enclosed with an electric fence and the animals are free to roam. There is plenty of grassland for the gnu, waterbuck, bushbuck, eland, wildebeest, ostrich, giraffe and rhino ... read more

The days are filled with good conversation and trips to local sights. Mick took us to the Locke Distillery. This is the oldest distillery in the world dating from 1509 and parts of the old factory are still operating. The waterwheel that powered the grinding wheels is still turning and the gears that turn the drive shaft are still doing their job. The display was very well done, providing enough information to understand the process and history but not so much that you get bored or feel overwhelmed. The "new" distillery is much the same except the power is electric and the stills are new, shiny copper. A woman was there to check the temperature of the still. Upstairs the were four huge mash vats. These are two stories tall and contain the milled grains and ... read more

Sunday morning was bright as we went downstairs for breakfast. Actually we were not so hungry after our feast last night. We packed up and headed back to Tullamore stopping along the road for photo ops of the Wicklow Gap. From forested hillsides to rocky plains it was a beautiful sight. The glacial valley has steep sides and a river tumbling over the boulders and down to the sea. There were ruins along the river edge that I would have loved to explore if we had a bit more time. We tried another route home and except for a bit of confusion around Kildare it was much shorter. Mick and Mary were waiting for us with the news that we had been invited to dinner with Liam and Miriam. Before that we drove out to the ... read more

Well the Irish liquid sunshine is still with us but not dampening our spirits. The plants and the farmers are happy. After a quiet morning Mick took us to the Offaly Historic Society located on a newly revamped canal side walkway. There were lots of books and pamphlets for sale and a research center attached for those who wished to trace their ancestry. We tiptoed through the raindrops to the Bond Store for a lovely roasted red pepper soup and brown bread with Miriam and Liam. This complex has been renovated as well and pays homage things that made Tullamore special. One of these is Tullamore Dew Irish Whisky. My father-in-law used to bring me back a bottle when he traveled here in the 60's. The current owner is building a huge distillery complex and bond ... read more