In Reflection

We caught our plane from Cape Town to Johannesburg and then transferred to our plane from Johannesburg to Heathrow and everything was going well until the Pilot told us he was unable to land the plane at Heathrow because of the severity of the wind and that we had to go to Birmingham to land. After sitting in the plane, at Birmingham Airport, for two and a half hours, we were transferred to the terminal, put onto coaches and driven back to Heathrow. This sounds all well and good but the problem was that our luggage was stuck in Birmingham because they would/could not take the luggage off the plane. When we got back to Heathrow we had to fill out forms with all our details so that they could deliver our suitcases to our home address when they had been flown back to Heathrow and processed. Needless to say, we are still waiting for our suitcases to turn up. I'd never heard of the airlines delivering suitcases to home addresses before but by all account it is quite common.

After more than thirty hours of travelling we arrived home all safe and sound but with no suitcase to unpack. I managed a really good nights sleep and I now feel back to normal.

Sue and I loved our experience in Africa and had so many special moments. Our tour company, Riviera Travel, were excellent from start to finish and our tour guide, Karen, who stayed with us throughout the trip, was fantastic. We travelled as a group of thirty but the nice thing about the group was that there was a variety of ages and everyone got on really well. We highly recommend this company as this is our second very successful holiday we have had with them.

My favourite photo of us by yet another wonderful waterfall in Zambia.

My favourite photo of us 'snapping' by the Chobe River in Botswana.

Favourite photo of us being naughty in Cape Town.

Best photo of us having fun!

Once again, I have loved Blogging and I want to say a very big thank you to everyone who read it and who contributed to it - it has been fun to have had you with me. I'm sure that when I look back in a couple of years at 'Lynn and Sue in Africa' it will bring back many fond and happy memories. I have been a very lucky girl to have travelled with such a fun loving friend. Bye for now, L xx

Cape Town, Day 3

Our last day in South Africa - how sad. We will miss the wonderful people of Africa, who have been warm, friendly and so polite.

Today we travelled to the Wine producing area of South Africa and we saw mile upon mile of grape vines growing in the fields and we passed many famous Wine Houses and Wine Estates. We made a stop at Stellenbosch which is a University town with 29,000 students but, because we were there at Easter, the students weren't around. Stellenbosch also has a museum that shows the development of housing architecture in the town since the early 18th Century.

The first house was built in 1709 and it was a single story building with cow dung on the floor and an open fire for cooking and keeping warm.

The guide in the house.

The second house was built in 1789 and again it was a single story house but it was quite interesting because it had a very small room in it where the slaves would live.

The Guide.

The Slave Room.

The third house was built in 1803 and this house had an upstairs and was very Georgian in appearance. The walls were covered in wallpaper and paint.

The fourth, and last house, was built in 1850 and it also had two floor, a child's bedroom and an inside bathroom.

The Guide.

The Children's Room.

The Inside Bathroom.

After we viewed the houses in the Museum we did some shopping in a very upmarket looking town centre.

After our visit to Stellenbosch we made our way to the Neethlingshof Wine Estate for lunch and some Wine tasting. We got to taste three whites and three reds and then slept it off on the way back to the Hotel.

Tour of cellar.

Some members of our group.

Just one more evening left as tomorrow morning we shall be leaving for Johannesburg Airport at lunchtime and then we shall be catching an onward flight to Heathrow to arrive home during the early hours of Monday morning.

I will leave you with a photo of South Africa's national flower, the Protea, but I will do one final Blog when I get home. Bye for now. L xx

Cape Town, Day 2

Today was another free day but Sue opted for an extra trip to a Township and then to Roben Island. I decided to chill out at the pool as my brain, now, is at saturation point and I know my limitations. I had extra time in bed and then a leisurely breakfast. 

Nails still looking good! Tip - don't spray Deet (it's in mosquito spray) any where near nail varnish as it destroys it. Quite a few ladies have found this out on the trip. Sue's tip is to put a rubber glove on before you spray but she forgot to pack one and we couldn't find one in the Bush!

So, I have had the Concierge and his side kick looking for a Salsa Club for us to visit either tonight, Friday, or tomorrow, Saturday, for the past two days. They ring me in our room to say that they can't find any Salsa clubs in Cape Town. Not one for giving up easily, I search Google myself and come up with a club in an area not far from the Hotel. At 9.30, after we had had a lovely buffet at the hotel and I sampled Ostrich for main course, we get in a taxi in search of this Salsa club. Unfortunately, we couldn't find it but we found a club called Cubana, Havanna Lounge and Latino Cafe, instead so we told the Taxi driver to drop us off at this club because it looked interesting. When we got there they asked us if we had a reservation and we said that we didn't but we told them we were from London and that we were into Cuban music so they sat us in the VIP area!

We then hooked up with a group of girls, one who's name was Lattie, who were smoking a Happy pipe and dancing. Needless to say we joined in and had such a brilliant time. Sue and I took it in turns to dance in the middle of a big crowd of men and women who clapped us after we had finished - it was totally hilarious. Needless to say we were half cut on Mohijos and Caipirinha and when we left we laughed all the way home in the taxi and greeted, like long lost friends, all the bar men in the hotel bar when we got back. Sozzleificus! 

The Waiters.

The Club.

The D.J.

Me and the girls with Lattie on the right and the pipe on the table.

What a brilliant night!

The Penguins

The Penguine Colony we visited in Simons Town was so fantastic that I decided to put a small selection of photographs in a separate Blog.

Penguins, penguins everywhere. We were told that these were Jackass Penguines because of the noise they make.

One single little Penguine on his own.

A close up shot of beautiful little Penguine.

Lots of lovely Penguines.

A small group of pretty little Penguines.

Penguines playing in the sea.

Penguine nests.

Penguine going into nest.

Mummy Penguine with her babies.

A rescued Penguine.

Lynn and Sue with the Penguines.

I think you have all got the picture!  Sorry! But it was lovely. And now I think we are all podded out!

Cape Town, Day 1

Last night we settled into our new hotel in Cape Town called the Southern Sun, Waterfront, which is a modern, high rise building, situated about a five minute walk from the Waterfront where all the bars and restaurants are situated and then we spent the evening at the bar being naughty!

This morning we set off at 7.45 am to do Table Mountain and the Garden Route from Cape Town, down the west coast of the Cape of Good Hope, to Cape Point and back.

When we got to Table Mountain it was extremely windy so the cable car to the top of the Mountain was closed - apparently it is closed for about 40% of the year because of bad weather - so we took some photographs of the views and went on our way.

View of Lions Head Mountain.

View of Robin Island where Nelson Mandela was in Prison for 18 years.

View of Table Bay and Cape Town.

Travelling from Cape Town to Cape Point we saw some amazing beaches and our guide explained everything there was to know about the plants and trees that were indigenous to South Africa and all those that had been imported from other countries and the impact that the imported plants and trees had had on the landscape.

View of Sandy Bay.

View of Hout Bay.

View of Chapmans Bay.

A balletic pose at Cape Point.

Going up to see the view at Cape Point in a vehicular called the Flying Dutchman.

The Cape Point lighthouse.

View from the lighthouse being blown off our feet!

Simons Town Bay.

After we visited Cape Point we had a lovely sea food lunch and then went to visit the Penguins in Simons Town. (See next Blog)

Table Mountain covered in mist and cloud, viewed on our way back to Cape Town.