Longest Day

18 hours of daylight here today although it will always be a dark day for the family - Alex passed away 11 years ago. 

Day One

Before we board the Ocean Endeavour, we have a couple of hours 'free time' in Ushuaia. Managed to get a Christmas tree for our cabin, the obligatory tee-shirts and then retired to a local hostelry for a craft beer or two

Walking tours

Always a great way to explore a new city, we joined a couple of guided walks  on our first two days. The first took us from Teatro Colon through Retiro and finished up at the Recoleta Cemetery. Our guide - Martin - probably best described as a left wing Peronist- shared his knowledge of the City and his views on the recent political and economic history as we walked through the streets - avoiding the traffic.

On day two we headed for La Boca and another guide - Luke - who was an American Phd student with an impressive grasp of Argentine and South American History. La Boca was crammed with visitors - felt like an August Saturday on Princes Street although substantially warmer.

Almost impossible to get a picture of any of the sights but Linda managed to find a quiet spot for a minute or two

The houses (Conventillos) which were built by the original immigrants were fascinating structures built of a timber frame with corrugated iron walls and roof but we didn't manage to get a picture until we visited the Benito Quinquela Martin Gallery and found a beautiful model of one of the buildings;

Celebrity Chefs

I was reminded recently - sadly on the news of Gary Rhodes death following an accident - of a Christmas meal that Chris Jackson and I had at Rhodes in the City - probably about 2001. An excellent Steak and Kidney pudding washed down with more than a couple of bottles of a very drinkable Ribera del Duero.  However we were mildly disappointed to discover that 'Chef' was not in the kitchen that day 'due to other responsibilities'.

Had a similar disappointment this evening at Cafe San Juan when we were told as we sat down that unfortunately the local celebrity chef - Leandro Cristobal - was cooking at his other restaurant - Cantina San Juan. The food and the service were still excellent but none of the 'signature ' dishes were available. Given the trip that we are about to start, it seemed appropriate that their wine was served in jugs called 'pinguino'

I've had the good fortune - thanks mainly to clients with good taste and deep pockets - to meet a number of Chefs over the years  and I understand that there will always be 'other responsibilities' which take them away from the kitchen but it doesn't detract from the disappointment. I remember Marco Pierre White explaining to us - over a glass or two - that he was no longer a chef but had become a restuarateur.

Of course there was Tango

When we had lunch in Plaza Dorrego - which is home to the Feria on Sunday mornings -  we were entertained by two or three pairs of dancers - in Clare there was always someone playing the fiddle, here it seems to be Tango. It really seems to be everywhere.

Since I'd need to have both legs transplanted to be able to start learning the dance, we settled for dinner and a Tango show at Cafe Los Angelitos. An impressive place with a mediocre meal, but the dancing was quite good and we enjoyed the music. However, over the years we have experienced a number of similar 'cultural' experiences and it seems that this might be a good time to stop.

Fellow Visitors

Having unpacked and settled in to our room -and flooded the bathroom trying to shower - we headed out to get some lunch. As we wandered the streets we noticed quite a few people with direction signs and welcome messages and even more in large groups - all with the similar badges on different coloured ribbons. Assumed they were a tour group and thought little more of it - except that there appeared to be hordes of them wherever we went.

All became clear on our second morning. when we learned that the city is hosting a worldwide convention of Jehovah's Witnesses and that there are more than 45,000 delegates - so much so that they have hired the Boca Junior's La Bombonera stadium for the gathering - must need a huge supply of The Watch Tower.

I'm sure Jimmy C will regret not being here!

Travelling

While our British Airways flight to Buenos Aires was free of delays and any technical problems, the cabin service was extremely poor.  They had reassigned our seats - and many others - so that they could close off one cabin and reduce the number of cabin crew. As a result, the remaining crew seemed unable to cope with providing their normal service - nothing close to the level of service on our recent Qatar flight sectors.

Linda found herself next to an expatriate Scot who had left Ibrox 40 years ago and worked in a winery in Mendoza. I think their conversation began with complaints about the cabin service but by the time we landed she had heard his life history.

Arriving 30 minutes ahead of schedule should have been a bonus but meant that we reached the immigration hall at the same time as all the other overnight european flights and spent 90 minutes queueing to get our passports stamped - at least the baggage was sitting on the carousel when we got through.

We're staying in San Telmo which is one of the older parts of the city in a boutique hotel where design appears to have won the battle with function. It all looks very smart but doesn't work as you might expect. Still, the staff are very friendly and helpful and it is in a great location. 

Post-Election Post!

While the battle of wills between BoJo and the wee sweetie wife may provide plenty of soundbites and press coverage, we've decided that we've heard enough during the election campaign. Did the decent thing and stayed around to vote but winter has arrived in Edinburgh and I'm sure the battle will continue for at least 4 or 5 years so we'll be able to catch up when we get back in January.

This year, in a change from our usual routine, we are setting out on an expedition to Antarctica where it will definitely be colder than Edinburgh. We're off to BA tomorrow - sunshine, lots of red meat and Malbec, and a bit of culture. Then at the end of the week we fly to Ushuaia and join an expedition ship for three weeks across the Southern Ocean. We're going to the Falklands, South Georgia, and South Shetland before crossing over to the Antarctic peninsula.

While Linda has settled on the hi-tec thermals and polar top layers, I've decided to follow the example of Scott and Shackleton - Oiled wool rollneck, sheepskin jacket and a large hip flash - I'm sure it'll be fine.

I'll definitely be writing the blog as we travel but I'm not sure how often there will be access to the WWW. The story may have to be published after the event but as usual........

Watch this space

What's my problem

Just noticed that Mississauga is expecting -14C this week so not really fair to complain that it's a little cool here. Hope Mr Page and family and our friends there are all keeping warm!!

Anyway, Ahmed - our Egyptian heating engineer - has promised to come on Sunday evening to try to sort a temporary repair.

While Jimmy C's suggestion that we find a local hostelry with a warm fire and spend the weekend there was attractive, we settled for a warm yoga studio for a workshop this morning and we're off to the Lyceum this evening for 'The Barbershop Chronicles'  which should continue our African connection - and hopefully be warm as well - and it's rumoured that they also have drink!

Home Sweet Home

Six weeks in our new holiday home at Pearl Valley seemed to pass by very quickly - It hardly seems a day or two since we were collecting the keys and dealing the bureaucracy which surround every SA transaction.

We had a great time, caught up with old friends, made a few new friends, did a bit of exercise, yoga, wine tasting and quite a lot of enjoying ourselves. 

However, as we packed up yesterday and headed back to Cape Town airport, we were both looking forward to getting back to the new Edinburgh home which we had only lived in for 3 weeks before we left for SA.

The journey was fairly routine - no hiccups - we even negotiated the 55min connection at Doha with very little stress. However the journey seemed to go on longer than the last time. We were greeted by freezing temperatures as we landed in  Edinburgh, and an Indian minicab driver who may have been finishing a 12 hour shift but still drove poorly and tried to access each of three different phones during the 20 minute trip. Despite all this - and the aftermath of 22 hrs travelling - we were both excited about being back in Gardner's Crescent.

Before we left we had decided to turn off everything while we were away and just in case of cold weather, we had even turned off the water at the stopcock. So as Linda commented on the great job Ali T had done looking after the plants, I turned the water back on and fired up the central heating boiler.

Before I had time to adjust the thermostat I could hear the sound of running water and then noticed the stream of water coming from the void above the boiler. Managed to shut off the supply again before the puddle became a lake and got on the phone to find an emergency plumber.

Call number three connected me to a real person rather than an answering machine and we were promised someone would be here within three hours. Unfortunately. this proved to be untrue and by the time I chased them again they had to admit that the man assigned the job had called in sick and nobody had thought to let me know.

Luckily we found another plumber who was with us an hour later, found the leak, replaced the pipe joint and took a bit of time to check that everything else was OK. As we waited for the boiler to start heating the flat, we heard the sound of water dripping again. This time the leak was coming from the boiler which had to be shut off and may require major surgery or perhaps replacement. Neither of which are possible at 4.00pm on a Friday afternoon.

So while we now have a fully functioning cold water system it is not much use when the outside temperature is heading back to freezing, and it looks like staying there for the weekend.

Despite all this it is good to be home 

Right time, right place

While I can sympathise with my English friends who rightly thought that this was their chance to win the World Cup for the second time, it has been tremendous to be here as South Africa won in such style.

 

The excitement and fervour which preceded the game has been matched by the joyful celebrations which followed the win.

We watched the game in a local restaurant with Sue, Ally, Cam and a crowd of our neighbours. Amazing atmosphere. 

Another birthday

As we sit on our deck surrounded by the remains of our Braai, listening to the toads in the lake, we can hear Ronan Keating singing up at the clubhouse - a charity event celebrating Gary Player's 84th Birthday. 

Birthday celebrations

After a leisurely birthday breakfast on the terrace watching whales in the bay, we made it back to the Wine Glass in time for the England / All Blacks game with a few South Africans who were supporting the Kiwis. I think the most excited spectator was the lady who had brought our coffee who was shouting with joy every time England scored - someone suggested that she had a bet on the outcome!

After the game, we managed a walk along the cliff path watching a Southern Right whale with her calf. We could also see across Walker Bay to De Kelders - our next destination - on the horizon

There is a whale and calf - honest!

After lunch at a tapas bar, we were back in the car on our way to Benguela lodge in De Kelders where we had enjoyed such a great dinner on our last trip. This time we are staying there as well.

Jonathan greeted us like long lost family and we were hardly in the door before he handed us a champagne cocktail - to help us recover from the journey. They've been busy over the past few months - extending the building and adding rooms but it still  retains its eclectic feel with an amazing collection of art and furniture. 

 

There were 17 of us for dinner - German, Austrian, Swiss, English and us - with excellent food and good wines in copious supply. With all the chat and Jonathan catering for some of the pickier eaters, we didn't get up from the table until after midnight - thankfully we only had to stagger a few yards across the sitting room to our room.

We woke to a beautiful sunny morning - with a very strong wind whipping up the waves in the bay. Although we were offered breakfast in bed, we had already managed to drag ourselves up to the dining table where we had another great meal - enough to keep us going for the drive home.

I'm sure we'll be back again - although we may have to decline Jonathan's invitation to his birthday  party - 'where we can all get properly pissed'!

 

Seaside towns in the rain

Whether its Skegness, Largs or Hermanus, they're all the same in the rain. However, instead of bingo and fish and chips, Hermanus has the Wine Glass with 96 wines to choose from and a 'Wine Down' from 4-6 on Friday where its two for one on the wine. Very pleasant place to shelter from the rain and even better when Linda found a table next to the log burner. So good that we went back for dinner. 

Spoke too soon

A bit of a change in the weather this week - great weather for hiking to Uitkyk on Tuesday

but then the rain came and the temperature dropped. Wednesday was cool and wet - jackets on for the first time - and is forecast to stay like this for a few days.

We are off to Hermanus and De Kelders for the weekend to celebrate Linda's birthday and it looks like we will be driving through torrential rain storms on the way. Might have to stay in the hotel room on both Saturday and Sunday morning to watch the rugby if its too wet to get out.

Feels like home

Three weeks into our trip and we have settled into a comfortable routine with a couple of fitness classes, a couple of yoga classes and a bit of cycling - it all helps to counteract the food and the wine consumption. We have also fitted in a few wine tastings and lunches at local wineries.

On top of that, the warm weather has arrived - still a little cool for breakfast outside but otherwise definitely feels like summer. Some of the locals may still be dressed for the cool weather -  wearing scarves and jackets - but its warm enough for us.

Sunday morning started with a 40 mile ride with Sue and the cycling group - including our favourite big hill - but back in time for the end of the Wales / France game - not an impressive win but a win none the less.

With both Scotland and Ireland out of the contest, our allegiance has switched to the Springboks so lots of interest in their quarter-final against Japan.  Good result for SA in the face of a determined Japanese team. Hopefully the success of the Brave Blossoms will encourage continuing rugby investment in the country.

Rugby was followed by our first braai of this trip. We have a built in gas braai which needs a little bit of care and attention - and also has starlings or doves nesting in the chimney - so we had to default to the Weber and some charcoal but managed to cook enough meat for 6 people without burning anything. The Painted Wolf Pinotage made all the difference. Definitely need more practice!

Argus next year???

Linda on her new bike, a bit of training over the winter the Argus should be a schoosh next March!!!

Confused

16th October, we dropped into the local mall after yoga to find that they have erected their first Christmas decorations and there are Christmas songs on the sound system. 

Eureka!!!

After an email over the weekend and a couple of phone calls this morning, they finally managed to get us online by about midday - tech guys blaming admin, admin blaming someone else etc., etc. However at least it was done - only 13 days after the initial contract and 11 days later than promised.

Then - as a bonus - the TV guys showed up just after lunch and got that working as well. With no rugby until next weekend there's not much to watch but it has been a little galling to have a 56inch screen hanging on the wall but still having to go to the club to watch the games.

Not sure what to do now - no one to chase - unless you include the electrician who promised to be here first thing and has not yet been in touch, or the plumber who responded to my request for some help by texting me the manufacturers details so I could order the parts myself - guess he thought I had nothing better to do!

Must be time to get stuck into the Telegraph crossword and pour another glass of wine.

First World frustrations

After three days work by the cable engineers and a visit from the network supplier on Friday afternoon to activate our router, we still finished the week without any internet service. Waiting for Monday morning to find out what happens next.

On top of that our cable TV went down on Thursday and despite numerous calls to the help desk and a trip into town to re-programme the decoder we are still without a signal. Normally not a problem but with important RWC 2019 matches it was not ideal – at least we could drop into the clubhouse for cold beer and a big screen TV for the Scotland / Japan game this afternoon.

I know that Sunday used to be a day of rest but we started this morning with a 40km group road ride followed by coffee at the Yard, and then on to brunch at Vrede & Lust before returning to the clubhouse for the Rugby.

After some changeable weather, it is now beginning to get warm – 29C this afternoon and 30+ forecast for the week ahead. Meanwhile we had an excellent lunch on Friday at a nearby winery – Avondale – and dinner in Bloubergstrand on Saturday with Sue and Ally and friends.

Hopefully we will resolve the Internet and TV cable problems tomorrow and move on.

The end of our first week

Time flies.....

Having sorted the utilities and the bank, the only let-down has been the cable company who haven't shown up yet. We were promised a visit from the installers on Monday morning, but it was only the surveyor who arrived - 90 mins late. However, they have now promised that they'll be here on Wednesday to install the cable and router - fingers crossed!

In the absence of a broadband connection we have both managed to get through our monthly mobile data in less than a week - but its easier than going to the clubhouse to log in.

We've been on a couple of shopping expeditions but still looking for some major pieces of furniture.

On the fun side, we were invited to eat with two lots of friends we met on our last trip and also made it to Delheim for lunch and some essential wine shopping -  the 20% wine club membership discount brought some of the wines into Jimmy C's price range.

We've also signed up for the 55+ fitness class at the club gym and had our first session yesterday - John, the trainer from Waterford, gave us a serious workout. Not sure we'll make three sessions a week but at least we have started.

Photos will follow once the cable is in.

Bike race No 2

Having missed last week's race. I managed to get up on Sunday morning for a 54km bike race at Wellington, but Cam was still asleep when I arrived to collect him.

We still made it to the start with time to spare. It was a great morning - only 8C and misty when I left the house but 14C and bright sunshine at the start and around 23C by the time we finished.

Just over 2 hours to complete the course so pretty happy with that.

Linda had brunch ready by the time we got home followed by a shower and a glass or two of Delheim Rose to help with rehydration sitting on the deck in the sun.

Settling in

The agent called at 9.00 on Saturday to confirm that she had the keys and we spent the rest of the weekend clearing out the crap that the sellers had left behind and getting unpacked.

I was supposed to be taking part in a bike race on Sunday morning but overslept and missed the start. Looking at the driving rain which started just after the race time, I felt sorry for Ally, Sue and Cam who all made it the start and completed the 51km course in very unpleasant conditions. The day continued grey and damp so it didn’t feel too bad to be stuck inside getting the new place sorted.

By Monday morning we were pretty well done and all ready for the cleaners to give the place the once over. After a brief stop at the estate office to sort out our security clearances etc, we headed into town for some essential shopping and to pick up the cards for our new SA bank account. All went smoothly and Linda was able to start making a hole in the bank balance.

Also managed to apply for our fibre broadband connection and just waiting to hear from the installers. They promised it would be no more than 48 hours so hope they are accurate as it’s a bit of a pain to have to go up to the clubhouse for any serious internet access.

Decided to have a day off today –  a relaxed morning, a very pleasant walk around the estate and an invitation to supper with some friends we met on our last trip here. Wednesday is set aside for some serious retail activities - not my favourite pastime but needs must!!

Property handovers are the same wherever you go

Friday 27th September

The flight went well, good service and food, managed a decent sleep on the second leg and arrived in Cape Town ahead of schedule and no queues at immigration. Baggage was waiting as we came through and Hertz gave me a brand new RAV 4 ( only 11 km on the clock) to get around in for the next 6 weeks – only problem is the colour – with so many other white cars around it’ll be hard to find in the car parks!

By the time we arrived at Pearl Valley (Friday lunchtime), there was still no news about the transfer of title but had a brief chat with the agent, who was still optimistic. We dropped in to the clubhouse for lunch and before we had finished, we had a call from the solicitor to confirm that the transfer was done. 

Unfortunately, the Sellers had been banking on a delay, had not completed their packing and asked if we would wait until Saturday morning for the keys. Given that the closing date had been agreed in May, it was hard to understand how they still needed more time but we had little choice, so we headed to Ally’s for a much-needed shower and snooze.

By the time the wine was poured we were feeling much better and ready for dinner at Le Petit Paris.

Another airport Lounge

Thursday 26th September

Edinburgh airport with the obligatory glass of fizz before we board our Qatar flight to Cape Town via Doha. New route and although slightly longer, the times work well. Think the idea of travelling light has gone out the window – no kitchen sink, but pretty much everything else.

We were due to collect keys to our new home when we arrived on Friday but have had a message from the lawyers to say there may be a delay. We’ll find out when we get there but thankfully Ally and Sue have offered us a bed for a night or two if we need it.

That was easy!

Probably one of the easiest long haul journeys I can remember - maybe because my memory is limited now - but everything went according to plan. The flights were on time, the connections went smoothly and I even watched a couple of movies.

I enjoyed Christian Bale's performance as Dick Cheney in 'Vice' - having met a few of Cheney's classmates in my time it was interesting to watch the story unfold. I also watched  'Green Book' and while it helped pass a couple of hours I'm not sure why it won the Best Picture Oscar.

It is still hard to get used to arriving in the Shopping Mall that used to be Heathrow Airport - although I have now figured out that the boarding gates are always at the far end of the Mall. I guess there are lots of people who cannot survive without that constant retail buzz but I still cannot understand who on earth would be buying suitcases and other luggage items in the departures hall of an airport.

London was cool, damp and very misty when we arrived - a complete contrast to Edinburgh where the sun shone and the sky was a crystal blue. To cap it all, our baggage arrived promptly, the taxi driver was waiting at the pick up point and we were home less than hour after landing which must be close to a record.

It's good to be home - as Linda said, it hardly feels like we have been away. Our neighbours had very kindly stocked the fridge for us with all the essentials - pity we didn't ask them to help with the unpacking.

I'm back to the airport tomorrow morning on my way to visit my mother for a couple of days - hope that journey goes as well. 

Heading Home

So, eleven weeks after we left Edinburgh, we are almost finished packing and ready to head to Cape Town for our flight home via Heathrow.

It seems like the right time, we have had a great time during our stay here at Pearl Valley and I'm sure we'll be back here, but Edinburgh beckons and hopefully Spring will have arrived by the time we get there.

It has been interesting to see how the weather has changed here as Summer has turned to Autumn and although today was a bright sunny day with the temperature pushing 30C, it was a cool 12C in the morning and last week I heard a Cape Town radio station forecast a 'chilly 20C'.

For the first time, we have been here to see the leaves changing on the trees and on the vines. When we arrived in January, the vines were bright green and laden with grapes waiting to be harvested. Now, the leaves are a pale yellow, a deep red, or brown and we passed one plot today where they had already been pruned for the winter.

We've had quite a busy social life with Sue and Ally and Cam and their friends from the UK who have visited, and also with the people we have met here at Pearl Valley. With one or two exceptions, we even got on well with the people we met on our trips away.

Although we have visited a good number of wineries, there are still many, many more to investigate - enough for a few years of future visits. We stuck to our self-imposed rule to only buy wine from the cellar door and have found a number of very drinkable wines - from a variety of grape cultivars and in many different styles.

Another memorable trip to SA with a variety of different experiences which only serve to make us more determined to keep returning.
 
All that remains is to load up the car, hand back the keys of the house and see what champagne BA are serving in the Lounge this year.

There is a good chance that my blog entries will not survive our return home - as usual - but Linda is keen that I keep it going because it is such a useful record of where we have been and what we have done. This appears to be increasingly important as memory becomes more fallible.

Watch this space - I'll definitely have to report on the Buchu Gin experiment......

Wellington Wine Walk

For our last Friday in SA, we had booked places for a day walk - joining a group of 7 who were on the 3 day programme.  Immediately bumped into a couple who we had met on our trip to Mont Rochelle with the Pearl Valley hiking group. We had such a good time that we signed up for a second day with them as well.

We started with an introduction to Buchu from Elsabie Du Plessis. We have seen Buchu in the Fynbos and drunk it as a tea on its own or mixed with Rooibos. However our first tasting was a Buchu Brandy - KWV three year old brandy, which is probably better as a fire-lighter than a digestif, infused with fresh buchu stalks. Quite a pleasant herbal drink - the Buchu had rounded all the harsh edges in the brandy.

Buchu is claimed  to be a good treatment for a variety of ailments including prostate issues but probably more effective as an infusion with water rather than brandy. Linda bought dried leaves for tea and fresh leaves to infuse in Gin - watch this space for the review.

Before we hiked through the Buchu and olive farm and the vine nursery, we also tasted a variety of other products which Elsabie makes with the farm produce - the Pinotage jam and chutneys were probably my favourites.

For lunch we stopped at Klein Rhebokskloof where Renee Hildenbrand served us an excellent lunch and treated us to an amusing and informative tasting of the 6 wines that shes produces on the farm along with a very good olive oil. Lunch seemed to last slightly longer than the morning hike, but we eventually set off again, passing a variety of wineries and restaurants along the way until we reached the overnight stop at the Dunstone Country Estate. We left the group there and headed home - surprised to note that we had hiked something close to 16 Km.

Day two started with a bus ride to the top of the Bains Kloof Pass and a hike down hill to Doolhof Wine estate, passing Andrew Bain's house - where he lived while building the pass - along the way.

We started our first tasting at 10.00 am and following  a 10-11Km hike we managed tastings at two more wineries and a very pleasant lunch at Welvanpas. We really enjoyed visiting the wineries which were well off the beaten track - we'll have to try to remember how to find them again for our next visit.

Our final stop at Lelienfontein was a good way to finish the day although probably the least favourite tasting of the bunch. Although Linda did find one bottle that she quite liked.

A great way to spend our last couple of days in good company - before we start packing and head home.

Hiking at Jonkershoek

Early start on Saturday morning for the short drive to Jonkershoek reserve, near Stellenbosch, for a hike on the waterfall trail with Sue, Ally and Cam. A decent 7km hike to a waterfall which had little more than a trickle of water but some stunning views.

It had warmed up by the time we were returning and some of the groups we met on the path may have wished they had started a little earlier.

Bushman Rock Art

The Cederberg is one of the best places to see the rock art left by the Bushmen who roamed through the area more than 2000 years ago and at Oudrif, we saw some great examples - just a short hike from the camp.  

We've seen some of this rock art in other places but these examples were so clear and crisp - even though some of them are at least 1500 years old.

Busy Doing Nothing...

To help us cope with the stress of 3 months on holiday in SA, we decided we needed a little time to relax so last week we headed north to the Cederberg - 230km to Clanwilliam and another 65km including about 45km of dirt road to Oudrif .

Completely off grid here - the only power is solar, the water is pumped up from the river and the nearest cellphone signal is about 7km away. A great place to leave the world and its worries - including Brexit - behind us.

There are only 5 cabins - just ourselves and a German couple while we were there. Despite the heat the cabins - which are built from straw bales coated in mud and cement - stayed pleasantly cool. We were advised to keep the cabin closed up during the day and then open all the doors and windows at night. While there was evidence of  Leopards in the area, we were told that if a Leopard came into the cabin at night the most important thing was to make sure we got a good photo!

The food was excellent - our hosts were both vegetarian and served us with an impressive variety of veggie dishes but gave us steak, chops and boerewors sausage from the braai at dinner time. They also provided a selection of local wines. All in all, it was a lovely place to spend a few days - I can only imagine how restful it would be for someone who was working in a stressful job since this is now beyond my memory.

Our German friends had used a travel agent to book their entire trip and it was clear that the agents had not considered the seasonal changes when they had recommended Oudrif as an ideal white-water rafting venue. While this is true during the winter months, there was not much rafting to be done on the Doring River when we were there.

Doring River bed

There were some deep pools - ideal for swimming and water extraction, but not much more.

We managed a hike for a couple of hours one morning to see the local rock art and took a trip the following day to investigate the Rooibos tea-making process - along with a little birdwatching. Other than that we did little more than sit in the shade and relax - with one of the dogs as our constant companion. As we loaded the car to head off, we were instructed to shut him inside the cabin so he wouldn't follow us home!

My sort of hiking?

Through our yoga classes, we met another Pearl Valley resident who introduced us the PV hiking group who had a hike planned for Thursday – a public holiday here for Human Rights Day.  Eighteen of us met in the carpark at 8.15 and headed off to the Mont Rochelle reserve at the top of the Franschhoek Pass.

Theewaterskloof Dam

We hiked to Dutoitskloof and then on the lookout point – only about 9km but a bit of a climb – and back again – about 3 ¹/₂ hours in total. This was only one of the trail options so definitely a place to remember for future visits. From the lookout point you could see the Theewaterskloof Dam to the south and the Wemmershoek Dam to the north.

Wemmershoek Dam

Once we got back to the car park, someone suggested a drink on the way home and we headed for Hey Joe - a new micro-brewery at Franschoek. Impressive place with some excellent beers and wine for those that preferred. Spent almost as long sitting in the sun drinking as we had hiklng – glad that I didn’t have to drive home.

We’re now signed up to the Whatsapp group so there may be another hike before we leave.

We also saw...

Waterbuck - with their toilet seat bums:

Wildebeest, trying to look agressive:

Elephants showing off their parenting skills,

and Vervet Monkeys, which were everywhere in the camp

There were a few birds as well

We added about 8 new bird species while we were at Umlani although not all of them waited around to be photographed. 

European Roller

Orange-breasted Bush Shrike

Lilac-breasted Roller

However we did see a number of Orange-breasted Bush Shrikes and Woodland Kingfishers along with thousands of Red-billed Quilleas and their nests, European and Lilac Breasted Rollers, Wahlberg, Martial, Bateleur and Tawny Eagles and of course lots of White-backed Vultures.

Red-billed Queleas in their nests

White-backed Vultures waiting for a meal

For Maggie and Rohit

On the last morning game drive before Maggie and Rohit left, we chased across the reserve to catch up with the other truck which had found a young female leopard with a new kill and had followed her to a sheltered spot where she ate her fill. Unfortunately we had a puncture and by the time we got there she had finished eating and was sloping off into deep cover to sleep it off. We got a good view of her before she disappeared without posing long enough for a photo.

Maggie was very disappointed that she hadn't seen lions and reckoned that we would see them as soon as she had left and she was right.

As we started on the afternoon drive, heading for the spot where we had left the young Leopard sleeping, Shaddy picked up the tracks of a couple of Lionesses with cubs. Leaving us in the truck with Ephraim, he headed off on foot with a tracker from another camp to see if he could find them.

Within a short time they came face to face with one of the lionesses and then the second and then two 9-month old cubs, luckily, they were more interested in finding somewhere to snooze than in a meal of a guide or a tracker. Although Shaddy explained that he felt quite safe because the tracker was older and slower than him!

By the time we caught up with them in a dry riverbed, one Lioness was sleeping in the long grass while the mother and her cubs were trying to sleep out in the open and not really interested in us.

While the mother appeared to be sleeping, she was still alert to any new noise around her:

We spent a bit of time in their company until it was time to give up our spot to the other truck and we headed off for our sundowners.

Sunsets and sunrises

Being out on game drives  at dawn and dusk meant that we saw a few spectactular sunrises:

 and sunsets - particularly with the cloudy weather on the second day:

The night sky was also impressive but the moon was almost full, so very bright in the sky.

On Safari - More Animals

Before we started our third drive, we found this Nyala with half a dozen others relaxing in the shade by our hut.

As we left the camp, Shaddy found fresh Rhino tracks and after a short drive through the bush we came upon a family group of three who were happy to pose for the camera for a short while - until they were disturbed by another truck approaching from the other side.

As they disappeared from view and we headed back to the track, we came upon another group and followed them for a little while. 

Of course not all the creatures we saw were as large as the Rhinos. We came upon this Leopard tortoise sitting on the road and stood guard over him until he got up and continued his journey to safety