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.

Leaving Benmore Lodge chalets for Addo at 6:50. Before 50 metres someone wants to stop to take pictures of giant snail so of course so did I. The weather is starting out to be sunny…. yeah!

When Kwa is preceeding a name as on a billboard along highway,it means that it is “belonging to” as in KwaZulu means belonging to the Zulu.

Change of vegetation.. now lots of cacti, aloes the size to trees, prickly pear and some kind of cactus maybe 20 feet tall and look mine that has a nasty attitude.

Different kind of “Traffic Calming”…. so said the signs….double sets of plastic seed bumps, maybe a foot apart…. on the highway. Never in my life have I seen more speed bumps than in this country. They are everywhere but this was the worst. It’s enough to make a person crazy never mind screw with your back.

Near Port Elizabeth Brian said as we turned off the highway that we will have about an 8km African massage then we will be back on paved road … lol! Oh my it was f..n rough.

190 elephants were killed in one year til only 11 were left. Now 600+

11 zebras, blue herons,Egyptian geese at watering plus other birds.

Warthogs….all males.

Lots more zebras. …. baby and mothers can recognize each other by definite stripe markings.

Kudus, Ibis

Oval spider webs can catch small birds.

At the bird hide, Katrin and I saw male mating Southern Red Bishops. They colour up more than usual when trying attract female.

This morning we awoke to no rain but it didn’t take long before it started again. Looking out from the balcony of the guys place after breaky, there was 2 wildebeests also known as brindle gnus.

In the late 1920’s a hippo named Hubert (named that after a year of people watching it on the move) walked from Mkuse to Kei Mouth and beyond, a distance of over 1600 kms. It was renamed Euberta when discovered it was female.

We were dropped off at the beach town of Kei Mouth at about 9:45…. to be pIcked up at 2. Coming down the hill ….what a view of the ocean(Indian) with white caps & white sandy beaches. As we got out of the truck we see a very rocky shore with pounding waves. It kind of reminded me of Tofino storm watching. It’s blowing but only misting….. later quite pouring. Our bright yellow ponchos got use today….. finally.

Dec. 17/17

Leave Lotheni in Drakensburg Mountains at 6:35am. Within 5 minutes Brian spotted a jackal. Would you believe along the side of the high mountain road growing wild, yellow calla lilies.

It must be laundry day at the Zulu villages we passed…. ladies walking along with baskets of clothes piled on their heads…. down to the river scrubbing on the rocks. It seems to me that instead of house numbers, each family unit paints all of their houses one colour so if you wast to invite someone to you’re home, you tell them the colour not the house number.

Big cattle and dairy businesses. We had the most severe “African massage” coming out of the mountains. Everyone clapped when we got back on paved road…. better but still with big holes inter-disbursed with speed bumps again.

Shortly after a bushy,bushy stop & coffee on the go, we leave KwaZulu province and enter East Cape province. Almost immediately there is another checkpoint with oodles and oodles of police. Make work project??? But they are checking for papers for carrying many passengers as well as checking for poachers….. especially during summer/Christmas holidays. Also so many radar traps everywhere you go.

Leif was saying that in Sweden they have a solar hot water …. don’t have to have sun cuz radiation goes through clouds. …cost about 350 Euros plus exchanger.

Went through Mt. Frere….. so extremely busy…. Sunday…… Everyone dressed in their Sunday going to meeting/church best! But….. the town was disgustingly filthy with garbage dumped everywhere.

Stopped at Mthatha for groceries and of course the pit stop. University here that Nelson Mandela. Rough neighbourhood…. guard warned us about taking money from cash machine!

Stopped for lunch at 2:05… finally at a memorial marker for Mandela.

This morning we awoke to brilliant sunshine in this incredible mountainous landscape. Most of us set out on a hike into the mountains including me. Unfortunately after about 3 kms I needed to take a break. I told the others to go on,that I would make my own way back. What a relief it was to come back to the cool interior of our cabin.

Everyone seemed to be exhausted when they got back… pooped out from their hike that many had naps. Brian made an awesome dinner a beef stew of some sort but on top of white corn (the yellow husk had been removed…. then boiled). It’s Martina’s 52nd birthday so she had provided cake/pie. To bed early…. up at 5:15….breaky at 5:45.

It’s so nice to having the breeze blow on you as you lay in bed…from the open window…. no malaria mosquitos. Up early tomorrow.

Leave this lovely Zululand Resort in Mhkuzi owned by Sunway at about 7:15. I’d certainly consider coming and stay here again if I ever was to come back. I loved sleeping in a permanent tent with the breeze blowing through.

It’s cloudy today so cooler for a long 500+/- kms 7 plus hour journey to Drakensburg Mountains. Hopefully no crappy weather though cuz otherwise we’ll have to take a longer route on more bumpy road.

Big pulp and paper mill near Richards Bay. Everywhere pineapple fields.

At the toll stops at this time of school…..summer holidays, lots of young people selling produce…. lychees, to make some money to buy Christmas presents.

Durban has the largest Indian population in the world outside of India. They comprise 24.5% of the population of 8 million. Durban has huge container shipping harbour.

Past Pietermaritzburg to Howick for groceries, liquor and water. Back on road finally at almost 2pm.

“Ianda”…guide at Mandela capture site. In 1962… spent 27 yrs in prison. “The Long Road to Freedom” where we stopped for lunch.

What an incredible “sculpture” made in his image. It so moved me. Amazing too, how the artist made it.

4:10 back on road.

OMG is this area gorgeous…. in a way like Unalaska in the Aleutians or maybe some places in NFLD. Bumpy roads…. terrible…, hurt my back….. tomorrow just hiking that may just kill me.

We had a braai (bbq) with impala squers and sausages, corn on cob and cooked veggies. Yum! Our guides are amazing. It may not be gourmet but for the most we are well fed.

Anna suggested “borrowmy doggie.com” if you want to have a dog and still be able to travel.

Shandle told about whites and blacks. The middle aged and older say they forgive what they endured under apartheid but truthfully have resentment and lack of trust. ….. not surprising cuz they remember. The young people though are different because they mix at school and socialize, hang out with each other. It will take another generation to get past the past.

Also talked to Helena about volunteering in the townships. She said the children are not well cared for at home, they get all their behaviour training at kindergarten. School gives them 2 meals a day so they get some food in their bellies. She never felt safe at anytime. They could never go anywhere without being in numbers. Taxis between townships (mixed breed is worse than black townships for crime and violence), is called catching a cockroach. At first when she was talking about them, we couldn’t figure out what she was talking about. Cockroach to me/us…. means a disgusting bug not a taxi!

Last night we had a terrific thunder (directly overhead) & lightning storm with the rain on the thatched roof sounding about the same as roofs at home. Again who would imagine!!!!

Eric’s 19th birthday today and this morning he was in a panic cuz he couldn’t find his passport. What a way to start his year.

In Capital of Swaziland…Mbabane 250,000 pop. …modern buildings ….. seems to be quite industrialized….huge tract industrial park.

Manzini administrative city of Swaziland. Actually the country seems to be quite prosperous.

The king has 12 wives and 4 girlfriends.

Sign advertising condoms for inner peace!!!

Pineapple fields

Very busy in the streets of Manzini with everyone buying for Xmas. .. most are Christians so celebrate starting on 24th, 25th (big bbq of goat or cow)…. and Boxing Day (“the day when people get drunk”). Sounds like home, eh?

After leaving the city there was a checkpoint/road block. Brian says they wanted to know if anyone had rhino horns….. not on this bus!

Apparently there is hunting in the area just across the border back into ZA but not for elephants or rhinos. 3 rhino were killed in Plattensburg NR but that isn’t nearly as bad as it was 3 yrs. ago.

Soy beans farming.

Just past where we stopped for lunch there was a water reservoir used for irrigation. It is a river that has been dammed. At its fullest, it covers over 70,000 hectares.

Mkuzi NP

Fever tree with green skin …. where lots of water …..where mosquitos live hence Europeans thought it caused fever of malaria

At watering hole Turpins…. one with baby on back, giraffe and lion prints in concrete walk.

Last night there was a big thunder and lightning storm that scared the animals deep into the forest. Yea… I’m not surprised. Hardly any to be found. .., ngali antelopes…..(shy ones), a few giraffes, wildebeests, impalas, warthogs and guinea hen.