Friday 22nd April

Back home now in England. Weather is extremely hot so I can sunbathe and relax. It's been a journey that I will cherish forever. My boys and mum loved every moment. It was worth every penny.

Back to normality now :(

Wednesday 20th April

Well, our last proper day in this wonderful country. Off early yet again to Pilansberg, another wildlife park and then onto Sun City, a spectacular shopping, casino, golf and waterpark complex. Out in the evening for our last meal with my cousin, his new wife and my uncle.

On the way home we saw a lot of the shanti towns. It's such a stark contrast to the luxurious complexes that the rich and mainly Whites live in... Very young school children, starting at age 3, have to walk to school 3 or 4 miles in the morning and then home again... Women carry heavy luggage on their heads...

Thursday 21st.
Packed the last of our belongings and tried to drink in the beautiful panoramic scenery so that we would never forget.

Tuesday 19th April

Up early for our cheetah experience at Cheetah De Wilot.

I was lucky to capture these photos at all! These cheetahs move so fast that most of my images had no cheetahs in them at all... The above cheetah is different than the normal cheetah as its marks are more solid and bigger. He is called a King Cheetah. The female cheetahs run much faster than the males.

Notice how the cheetahs front legs cross between the back legs as he races forward.

This Ambassador cheetah, Byron purred so loudly it sounded like a tractor! The fur was like a tabby cats, a bit rough not silky like a black cats. He really purred when we stroked him. Before he came in, he prowled the enclosure just outside the conference centre. He kept looking in and waiting by the window. He obviously knew what was about to happen and couldn't wait!!! That was quite reassuring...

This game warden was nuts... He risked getting attacked when he fed these cheetahs. That cheetah was not happy at all!!! This was a lot closer than you realise. He and they were right next to our vehicle...

Monday 18th April

After quite a late night at the wedding we were up early and departing for our canopy tour. I didn't know what to expect but what I didn't envisage were 10 zip wires that got higher, longer and faster as they went along!!! What an exhilarating ride of a lifetime. No one told me about the climb back up the mountain though!

Sunday 17th April

The day of my cousins wedding. Thankfully it was a beautiful day with the sun shining and the ground dry.

The wedding venue was out of this world. Mostly open air with views that were breathtaking. The 'chapel' was a beautiful decked verandah that overlooked the mountains. It jutted right out over the rocks.

Rest Day on Friday

We arrived home today after spending the last day in Kruger up till lunch time. We had the long drive home to my uncles but made it in good time.

Friday was rest day for us. We stayed at my uncles and larked around in the pool for most of the day as it was nice and hot.

Saturday it rained quite a bit and so we went shopping for souvenirs. We did find that the price of the souvenirs was rather high but that is where most of the sellers wages come from. I bought a lovely bronze mask, beaded lizard and other nik naks.

Wednesday

After the previous days excitement, we had a more sedate day in Kruger. My son drove again but this time he said he would not stop if we saw an elephant!

We saw mongoose...

a purple breasted roller...

rhino...

crocodile...

vervet monkeys...

 kudu...

warthogs...

We finished off by staying in a round house type lodge in Pretoriuskop. My sons and uncle went straight into the swimming pool to cool off. They were surrounded by vervet monkeys watching them swim. I tried to take some close up photos of young vervets playing when an older male decided to grab my foot with his claw. It took me by surprise but luckily didn't hurt me.

Tuesday

So we stayed in a lodge house for the first two nights. It was huge with a thatched roof. We had a braai with baboons running around hoping for a scrap or two of food.
First thing in the morning another coffee and a rusk to start the day off. Spotted loads of wildlife and my eldest son got to drive my uncles 4 wheel drive. As he is hoping to pass his driving test soon, it was good practice. However, he didn't realise what lay ahead of him and then things got really exciting!

This was the bull elephant that decided to take an instant dislike to us! My uncle had told us that if we came across an elephant on the side of the road, to always make sure that we were slightly ahead of it. Never let the elephant take control by being ahead of it and ready to pull away fast. My son forgot this information and let the elephant take control. It started flapping its ears, sniffing the air with its trunk and before we knew what was happening, he charged us from behind. My mum and I were screaming at my son to go but he was hesitating. My uncle put both hands on my sons shoulders and said firmly but quietly, 'go Taylor'. Off Taylor wheel spun away, leaving a cloud of dust behind us. The elephant had clipped the side of my uncles car with his tusk! A frightening but exhilarating experience.

Monday

We had an early night last night and packed our bags ready for our trip to the Kruger National Park. We were up early this morning, coffee and rusk and then off we drove. The drive took roughly half a day. We arrived at Kruger around lunchtime with plenty of time to go sighting wildlife. We were in luck, we saw a rhino, buffalo, impala, baboons, zebra, elephant and all sorts of exotic birds.

Sunday

Up early as my uncle rises at just after 5am every day!!! We start off by having a coffee and an Omars rusk. It's a bit like a very hard Farleys rusk that babies are given to chew on. You dip it into your coffee to stave off hunger and it means you can get going early for an adventurous day.

We started off by playing a game of tennis. Well, I haven't played tennis in years. Needless to say, I sweated buckets but it was a great laugh.

To round off the morning we had breakfast at my uncles friends cheese farm. Yummy!

Back home for a quick scrub up and rest and then onto Leopards Lodge for lunch.

Leaving there we sighted giraffe roaming the fields. At home we sight cows and sheep, maybe if we're lucky we get to see a horse!

Saturday

After the baboons, we went to see vultures at my uncles friends farm. They had put a horse carcus out and we just had to wait and watch the vultures circling until they felt it safe to swoop down and feed.

We then went to Montecasino near Johannesburg where we went to a bird of prey show and for lunch. 

Not long after this, we went to my cousins house for a braai which is the equivalent of a barbeque to celebrate my birthday. All in all a good end to the day.

travel to S.Africa

Well, we had to get two planes from Heathrow Airport. First one stopped at Doha after 6 hours and the second one at Johannesburg after 7 hours. My uncle collected us from there and we had an hour and a half drive to Hartbeesport, Pretoria. We arrived at my uncles house which is set high up on Magaliesberg mountain. Wow, the view was magnificent. It looks right out across Crocodile river and the dam. The first morning we awoke to the sound of baboons fighting on the mountain directly behind us. We caught sight of them chasing each other down the rock face. It was quite scary as they were pretty big and loud! My uncle says that they often come into his garden to steal food from the kitchen if the windows or door are open! Stuff that!