Jeanette and I left Victoria on a flight leaving at 7:30 in the evening of the 25th, for Halifax. We were both thinking that this is a much more civilized hour to have to be at the airport. The next morning I think we both changed our minds. Neither of us had slept much on the plane so were kind of like zombies all day. We had arrived at about 7 am Halifax time….actually 3 am Victoria time. Maybe that was why we were out of it. Not my usual time for rising.

First leg…..to Calgary. I haven’t flown West Jet for quite some time. I don’t know if this time was any different than any other WJ flight but man, the pilot was just a gum-booting it down the runway, almost squealing his tires on the turn before immediately taking off. You’d think he was anxious to get home to a hot date….lol! That plane left right on time….amazing….doesn’t happen often! Second leg….to Halifax. We had a half hour delay in taking off….they had to I think, fix a relay or some such thing, so we sat in a totally quiet cabin with only emergency lights on….for a very short while. Not a big deal….just different.

Arrival in Halifax…..brrrr….only 7 C. Okay, I hope the weather smartens up. We picked up a rental car at the airport. Does anyone know that when you pick up a car at the airport, that there is a $236 concession recovery fee? One thing or another, the price doubled from what we were quoted as being the total. Not happy about that! Although we both wanted to get to our hotel, which wasn’t a hotel but a hostel ……the dorms at University of Kings College, we couldn’t get into the room until noon, so we hiked up to the Citadel and around the rim…..didn’t go in……we’ll do that another day. Too pooped! Didn’t really do much of anything that day, Tuesday the 26th.

Wednesday the 27th, we went for our first breakfast …..as provided. We met a mother and son from Manitoba, a young woman from Finland and a woman (she forgot to blend the heavy dark eyeshadow) my age, from Texas…..travelling on her own. At first, the Texas drawl was annoying….for lack of a better word, but what a gutsy lady! She told us about driving a few years ago ….on her own….in September, to Lake Louise, using her gps, getting stuck in the mud when it got her lost and having to spend the night in her car. She had to keep starting the car throughout the night because she kept getting cold. That day we drove down to Lunenburg. The last time I was there was 3 days after Floyd died. We had come all of this way to join in the celebrations that marked the 250 anniversary of the landing of immigrants from Europe. My mothers family was amongst them. Needless to say it was not a very happy time in my life for that visit. This time it was beautifully warm….as high as 30 C, blue skies, etc. We walked along the waterfront, up the hills and along the old town’s streets with it’s beautiful old homes, so lovingly crafted. Many were getting a fresh paint job. I wouldn’t imagine that with the extremes in temperatures, the humidity and nasty storms, that a paint job lasts for very many years. We saw the “Bluenose” come into port and leave with a full boatload of passengers that wanted to experience being on the lovely sailing ship. We……were not fast enough to get to go. From there we drove along the windy country roads to Mahone Bay. There isn’t much to the town but the harbour is beautiful. From there we headed to Peggy’s Cove, stopping at the memorial for the crash of Swiss Air that went down on Sept 2/98 with all 229 on board. What a marked difference when we got out of the car to see it! Suddenly it 18C and blowing a gale. Brrrrr! From that vantage point one could see the little hamlet of Peggy’s Cove with its signature lighthouse. The humongous smooth rocks that jut out into the sea, were being lambasted with waves. There are signs all over warning about the possibility of being sucked into the ocean by unpredictable wave action. One had to be careful not to get blown over by the wind, into the sea.

Thursday June the 28th. Today was cool…..had to put on longer pants. We drove over to Windsor so that Jeanette could visit an old friend of her family’s…….a lady named Veronica and then to Wolfville where Pam’s mom lives…when she isn’t out west visiting Pam. We will be back to see Shirley on our way back from PEI ….when heading home. In Wolfville you can see the tidal bore where water lowers and rises as much as 16 metres (52 feet) at the head of the bay. The current is equal to all the rivers and streams on Earth …..combined. Again our timing was off. It was very low when we arrived and an hour and half later when we were leaving, it was full. See pictures on Facebook!

Namaste means welcome.
25,000 doctors in Britain were trained in India

38% of US doctors are Indian, 34% of Microsoft employees are Indian 

Victoria station has a new name that I didn’t catch…..is UNESCO building. She said to see it if possible.

Also should see the Gate of India,

India is largest importer of arms after Saudi Arabia and UAE.

Why….Pakistani and Chinese borders are a threat. 

Mangalore is the tech capital 

Dahlits are the untouchables,

33 million children are employed as child labour

At Dhobi ghat they do all hotel laundry plus personal laundry ….by hand

India is the largest computer exporter in world

500,000 abortion’s per year because of sex’s election

128$ / month income is the average or 1557$/ year

38% of jobs are from offshore employers 

Goa: Lovely place

Cochin….Chinese fishing nets

Guess what came last night…  MY IPAD’!!  So….I’m sending the stuff that I had on it that was not sent out using my phone.  There maybe some repeats so pls fogrgive me that.
Security is very stringent…pain in the butt actually, since an attack by Pakistanis about 10 years ago. 
140 steps up to caves

1 hour on boat to get there.

Oh yes….forgot that they drive on the “wrong” side like in England

There are to be no pictures of military installations, for example aircraft carriers on way to Caves. We rode on a boat that travels about 7 miles an hour……questionable safety …would never pass inspection in Canada.

In the 1500’s, a 7 by 13 ft rock elephant was found by Portuguese so they named the island Elephanta.

Temple is “monolith rock cut cave” as opposed to a natural cave. It was first excavation by Hindus. It is “Shiva” god temple.
Day number 2 Mumbai
 Mumbai…name means mother + bay

There are 7 islands 650 sq miles & 20 million people

Honking is one of the languages……lol!

There is a lunch program where 500 delivery people deliver 200,000 lunches daily from home….on bicycles….done with no computers with almost zero mistakes……some ridiculous number like 1 in 2-3 million.

Kolaba causeway…shopping area

Tata built Taj Mahal Hotel in 1903 after British had another that didn’t allow “Indians and dogs”. Banyan tree symbol if India. You see trees, particularly Banyan trees, painted couple of different colours. One reason is it has pesticides in the paint to prevent against insects, to indicate local govt is responsible for it and is that it is protected and the white to reflect vehicle lights at night.

Cricket is also a religion..lol!

After waking up early but not to an alarm clock, we had a leisurely breakfast, we took lots of time to pack up…. stressing whether we could get all our stuff in without going overweight. After, we just hung around the lodge until our ride came to take us to the airport. Priority boarding is awesome. Walking poles work wonders. We take off at 6:35pm …. from the runway, only ten minutes after posted departures time…. that must be German time cuz it sure as heck is not South African time…. lol.

Between the time we left the ground in Cape Town until touchdown in Victoria, it was supposed to have been over 38 hours but turned into 42. That’s not including the hours that we were up and the time to collect our bags on arrival and get home. Do you think it was any wonder we wanted to do as much as we could while there??? But…. I would love to see more of the wild animals ….and the beautiful country that South Africa is and share it all with my grandkids …. at some time when they can appreciate it.

Some last thoughts I’d like to share…. this country has so many natural resources, so many natural wonders, breathtaking beauty, incredible animals that the country is trying desperately to protect and are way ahead of most other countries when it comes to protecting and conserving their water supply (they have been in a severe drought for a number of years already. They only seem to have low flush toilets, taps that automatically shut off and they expect people to save the cold water when taking a shower before it gets warm for example & and many other initiatives. By the way, I only ever saw one non-western style toilet). All this yet there is so much money spent on security in the form of guards and razor wire or electrically charged wiring atop solid fences. Entries are locked at all times. You have to have a key or get buzzed in. People will walk on the street during daylight hours but never, never walk at night even if there are several people. It’s a pity to not be able to take a stroll in the cool of the evening after being out for dinner. Taxis have a very lucrative business let me tell you. What shame! What a shame! Will it ever change? I do hope so.

That’s the end of my story for this trip. I hope you enjoyed reading it.

After breaky at this “sweet” guesthouse, we head to the cable car to top of Table Mountain. We all had the option to hike up and/both directions. Peter the oldest of our group was the only one that did it…. and in both directions. Amazing!

The views are spectacular and the plants are different then any other place on earth.

The program was to shop after…. at old market but everyone wanted to go to V&A Waterfront. The Watershed market where we wanted to go…. was closed. So disappointed. Thousand of people in there….. all eating.

By the way we have travelled 4300 kms on our trip around South African. Our guides Brian and Shandle were absolutely fabulous the whole time. I would totally recommend taking a trip with them and Sunway. Excellent value for the money. I think they they were anxious to get the hell away from all of us though. From there we got a taxi over to our other lodge where we stayed before….Blackheath! They welcomed us back with open arms…. such a fab place! I’d recommend it too.

Off to the point…. Cape of Good Hope. Beautiful, beautiful drive along Clifton(rich, rich area), Green Point & Hout Bay… which means “wood” bay. The Dutch cut down all the Outeniqua trees at Hout Bay. It is now a big fishing port, Nice beach too.

Chapman’s Point road (road to Cape Point)started to be built by Italian prisoners during WW2 … finished in 2004.

Oh, my, oh my!!!! What a drive….. and you may think Amalfi coast is scary???? You should see this one!!! Spectacular!!! The road is literally cut into the mountainside.

Simon’s Town is protected from winds so first British now ZA navy here. Second harbour built after Cape Town.

At Boulders ….part of Simon’s Town, we stop to see African Penguins…. oh so cute….. little about 40-45 cms. 2 breeding pairs left in 1982… now over 3000.

Now moulting and some laying on eggs. March-April…back in water after growing back their fur/feathers. Their cycle of breeding has changed seasons.

Cape Point …. extreme line-up to get into it. Zebras, if we see them are different than others we’ve seen. The ones her their stripes do not go all the way under the belly. We see fynbos…. white shrubs and king protea…. different as well.

Posts at the point erected by Vasco de Gama and another by Bartholomew Diaz… both Portuguese…. before the Dutch got here.

Everyone except J and I walked up to the lighthouse at the Cape…. and everyone except Martina, Katrin and the two of us walked down to the Cape. Glad we didn’t. Very treaturous steep hike down.

It is not the southern most point on the African continent but the southwestern most ….where the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic meet.

Past Fishoek on our return to Cape Town…… West Town Lake at Strand… fresh water lake…. upper class community….. very nice!

Passed by the prison where Mandela spent the last 7 of years in prison…. not much to see other than razor wired fences….not much different than a lot of the places in this country, particularly this city.

Dinner Marco’s African Restaurant for Christmas Eve dinner some ordered carpaccio of springbok, Crocodile,& ostrich. Others had springbok as a main, Serengeti plate with Crocodile & ostrich and/or kudu. I had roasted lamb and munucho(they click their tongues when saying it)….. African dish made with beans and maize. Lots of wine being drunk.

Leave 8:40 from Beeeea….utiful Hermanus. I could certainly come back here. Very very well cared for, not too much barbed razor wire. Funny though….on the cliff path, there was “security” sitting on benches ever so often.

The residents of Betty’s Bay have to have very good insurance because the rocks on the side of the mountain keep falling down onto their homes.

Strand …name of city with skyscrapers across False Bay.

Into our very “Sweetest Orange Guesthouse” (in Cape Town)… eclectic then to dinner at Karibu in V & A Waterfront

Very busy little town… Nice!

Leave 8:40 but had to stop at pharmacy for drugs for Anne’s bite on her lip. Looks like a bad Botox job…. lol!

Beautiful drive along water except the hillsides are covered with miles of burnt trees.

Sedgefield… fresh water lake for fishing, cabins in woods, golfing… playground

So many highways throughout the country, have very wide paved shoulders. Slower vehicles drive on them so faster vehicles can pass. They could just make them another foot wider and call it another lane.

Place called Wilderness… lovely…. water activities like canoeing on right in fresh water. Left side is beautiful beaches on ocean. Garden route ends. At George…. pointed out a windy road in Outenigua Mountain Route 66…. great for motorcyclists.

No hitchhiking allowed on highway ….. fences to prevent it but it doesn’t stop people. Reason it’s not allowed cuz been cases of people being abducted, robbed and killed. So…. suggested if you do take a ride, take picture of licence and send msg. by WhatsApp at the time, to friend as a precaution.

Around Mossel Bay they start farming wheat, canola and maize (corn) …. ostrich farms….. also an oil refinery.

Olives grown.

Beautiful beautiful town of Hermanus. Went for very long walk along the cliffs into town….. a distance of maybe 7 kms. Later went into town to an upstairs restaurant overlooking the waterfront. Very nice! Ended it with Amarula toasts with everyone….. from Jeanette ….. in celebration for her birthday the day before.

Beautiful view looking out over our balcony at Lagoona Inn, to the Lagoon of Knysna.

Here for the day so touring around here.

Unbelievable number if KFC’s everywhere in ZA.

The forest fires they had here caused swathe of devastation through the forests plus over 1000 homes were destroyed. It happened in June of this year, their winter ….they think arson but they have been in a drought for a couple of year so didn’t have their normal rains.

9 + Brian went hiking along the rugged shoreline at Storms River Mouth and to a beautiful waterfall. Shandle, Jeanette and myself went for canopy tour..,.. zip lining. We had so much fun. Zip line …91 metres longest, 20 metres above forest floor &.10 lines. (650 Rand…65CAD… incl. light lunch after. How does that compare to home?).

Blue gum trees at tsitsigamma village…… huge.

We then went back to pick the others up. It is so gorgeous but I am glad we didn’t do the hike. Apparently it was extremely rocky, rugged and slippery. We got our work out though with a 600 metre uphill climb from the end of the zip line. We were under the understand that the others had got lunch before we finished zip lining but no.. their food wasn’t here yet. Same outfit as at Addo…… “Cattle Baron”. Never such slow service…, wouldn’t recommend.

Stopped at the worlds highest bungy jump. We watched as about 3 took the plunge. No thank you!!! Before going for dinner at “Dockside” at the Waterfront everyone got to check out the stores. I got tired of the shopping thing (no room for anything anyways) so I saw a bench and sat down…… thought I would wait for everyone else. Brian and Shandle came by and started to laugh…. pointed at the sign (that I hadn’t notice) that said “For tired husbands”…. asked if I was the husband….. not….. lol!!!! Apparently inside that same store was another sign that said “No

grumpy husbands allowed”. Too funny!

Leaving our log cabins in the forest in Addo at 6:15 am. ….for our last game drive….. in the sunshine.

Rabbits,Kudus… when fully grown their horns are about 1 metre, family with offspring …..Red Hartebeests, Zebras…. lots and lots and lots…. some babies. Heard a lion roar. White tailed Mongooses……Stand erect like Meerkats. Comment ….. warthogs are most religious because they get down on their knees before eating & when running they are “Radio Africa” cuz they run with tails straight up…. lol! Egypian Geese, Hadedah Ibis

Herd of water buffaloes but too far.

Red Hartebeests….. young ones their horns shape like a heart hence the name. As they get older they curl out and back.

Huge herd of elephants at a waterhole…. a couple playing… then another, in the water trying to drown each other…. quite the performance. They were having fun. Quite a number of the female with no tusks causes by interbreeding. Bringing some males in from Kruger to mate and fix the problem. There was a big male secreting from its male organ looking for a female to breed with. Then the zebras came, an African Spoonbill, plus, plus…

Haven’t seen any Black Rhinos, Leopards or Cheetahs. I’d really like to seen another lion but ….. that’s nature. You cannot magically make the animals appear.

Spekboom….Drought resistant (succulent) plant… elephant food (leaves) esp. in Addo can live up to 200 years

Leave park after pit stop, fuel etc at 10:15 ish. Growing oranges.

Wind turbines on way to Port Elizabeth.

On outskirts of Port Elizabeth….Huge, huge cemetery that goes on and on. Sign on side of road…“Hijack Hot Spot”… then tin shacks then RDP…. homes built for poor people… have solar panels on roofs.

Big factories, ships in ocean, sand dunes and seashore, break water to protect the shore from waves and Oceania sitting at the dock. They also assemble vehicles here. One of major ports for distribution to rest of country. Freeways….oleander in the centre medians. Like on I5 in California.

Stopped at Tsitsikamma NP to see Big tree…Yellow Outeniqua 36.6 metres high….approx 1000 yrs old.

This on the great migration of elephants from centuries ago.

Staying at beautiful Lagoona Inn in Knysna. Across from Lagoon. We went to a lovely restaurant for dinner in the “Waterfront”. A little more pricey than usual for here but not compared to home.