South Africa 2025

I was delighted when Mary agreed for me to do a guest blog. It’s been quite some time since I wrote a blog, and for those who use to read it you will know to expect lots of inappropriate stories. Whilst at dinner on our last night for our South Africa trip Mary and I sat reminiscing over all the funny things that have happened on our trip. That’s when I decided what better blog for me to write than the truth of our funny adventures according to EJ. 😊 I will give each secti

For the last few days of our holiday I left the camera at home and really tried to be present when we were out on our game drives - I could not resist taking a few snaps with my phone though! Lioness ( we saw two of them) Crazy bird 🤣 Warthogs - they are actually called Pumba! Giraffe (a whole tower of them, but they were playing hide and seek between the trees!) White Rhino A close encounter of the Rhino kind… Up close to the male lions Leopard Tortoise - one of the ‘small

I stopped yesterday’s blog after the morning safari, mainly because it was too long, but let me pick up the story there. Half way around the game drive we stopped of for chocolate and biscuits, then back at the main lodge we had breakfast- we loaded up on fruit yoghurt and granola then croissant and cheese before they came to ask what we wanted cooked! We opted for eggs Benedict, but we learned our lesson because at this rate we will not be able to climb into the jeep! On the

I did not write a blog yesterday – think I was too traumatised – at the very least I was too exhausted. What should have been a 5.5hr drive from Knysna to Addo turned into an 11-hour marathon of a journey and I can honestly say I have never been in such fear of my life – and when you consider that I have been Wing Walking, Parachuting, Shark Cage Diving etc., that is saying a lot. We set off at 6.30 am following the sat nav – I mean, what other option do you have, and picked

I am not sure if I have mentioned the difference in landscape on this side of the continent - yes, we had a backdrop of mountains on the 'other side' but they were mainly rocky and had lots of shrubs - completely different to the lush mountainside on this side of the Garden Route - huge trees, lots of forests as well as enormous mountains. There is a difference in the architecture too - when we first got to South Africa we often commented on the fact that every house was dif

We woke repeatedly through the night to the sound of torrential rain, but thought it would be all done and dusted by this morning- nope! Absolutely cats and dogs, so what else to do but go and feed elephants in the rain :) We went to the Knysna Elephant Sanctuary (what3words Cruising.worth.whisked) It was the most magical experience, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to get so close to these magnificent beasts. They are so gentle creatures, even though they are so hug

Before I start on today, here are some additional pics of the whales from yesterday. Today was a travel day as we said farewell to our luxury penthouse in the guesthouse and made our way to Knysna for our next adventures. It was already going to be a 4.5 hour drive, but we added an extra 2 hours by making a detour to the most southerly tip of the African continent at a place called la’Agulas. We know this is the true most southerly point as there is a monument :) As we stand

Chilled start to the day , with the most sumptuous breakfast. This is what our table looked like before the cooked elements arrived Not sure if you can see them, but there are little individual jars of home made granola as well as a massive bowl of fresh fruit and yoghurt. Coffee, pancakes with honey and then poached eggs on toast - what a start to the day. We went to Klipgat Caves this morning, I did have a bit of a struggle clambering over the rocks (why do South Africans s

It is a universal fact that the WIFI signal is going to be rubbish at whatever accommodation you stay at – regardless of where you are in the world. Emma gave me a row this morning because she said I never report on the scrapes I get into, only the ones she gets into - I say ‘she who writes the blog controls what goes into it’ 😊 However. I will confess that in trying to get a better signal yesterday in our beautiful Franschhoek guest house, I went to sit down by the office

With a sub heading, Glasses not Thimbles and 30 degree heat – what do you expect? OK, as you know – no blog yesterday due to me being drunk! But I will cover yesterday’s antics here and you will understand , Firstly, I should talk about where we are staying – Ashbourne Guest house in Franschhoek – What3words Mouthed.limitations.sparrows Absolutely delightful! This place is so subtlety 5* from the initials in the railings which circle the property, to the name printed on

I had already decided not to do a blog today – we weren’t planning to do much – but here we are 😊 Today was a beach day – we made it to breakfast for the second day in a row, and made the mistake of having brekkie on the terrace – it was only 9 am and already boiling hot! It was so hot that my coffee would not cool down enough to drink, lol. We packed our stuff, set google maps to take us to Clifton Beach 4 and off we drove – well, I say we, actually Emma drove. She had ne

Today was the day for the Cape Town Marathon, so we thought it would be a write off – we had not realised that the start time was 6 am, so we had thought we were having an enforced rest day as the roads would be closed off – wrong on two counts! We could not understand why there were not runners everywhere – it turned out (we discovered at 2pm) that the marathon was cancelled at 5am due to the very high winds, structures were being blown down and it was just not safe to have

What can I say - Happy birthday to me! It is all about sharks today (and dolphins and seals, and also a couple of penguins!) We were determined to have breakfast today after our early start yesterday, but, once again, as we were just about to go down, our driver messaged to say he was here and to go down when we were ready...so another coffee on the go - just as well though as the sea was a little rough and it could have been messy....We met a lovely Canadian couple today, M

WOW What a day! I don’t want to go too hard on the superlatives as it is only day 2, but WOW! Things I learned today: · South Africa has 12 official languages including sign language · Cape Town was founded in 1652, making it 373 years old · Baboons are vicious · Penguins are cute and do not smell in the wild! We did a tour today and ticked so many things off our to do list. We booked the tour through ‘Get your guide’ and the company was Beyond Afric

Thanks for checking out my blog – the first one is always a little boring – it is the day we travel, but there is the expectation of so much excitement ex…… This is a bit of a break with tradition – my normal blogs are ‘Moscrop Girls on Tour’ Mum and Daughter travelling the world together, but as Emily is living her best life in the Antipodes, she is having her own adventures. On this trip I am with my lovely friend Emma Jane – also sometimes shortened to Em, so I wonder how