Week 7 – Holiday with the family

My family came out to join me for the half-term holiday. It really was not long  enough, but at least my wife and two daughters got an idea of what it is like out here. I met them at Cape Town International after their eleven hour flight from Amsterdam to start our whistle-stop tour of the country.

As the flight got in rather late we stayed overnight in Cape Town before flying to Port Elizabeth. There we picked up a car, dialled up Addo National Elephant Park on the GPS and headed off. Unfortunately the “Main Gate” that the GPS knew about wasn’t the Main Gate that we should have been aiming for. As a result we took a loooong detour. I was getting a bit concerned about the hire car on the unmade road that we were driving along but we were compensated by our view of wildlife along that stretch.

Meerkats in Addo

We finally made it to Addo before the gate closed and once settled in to our forest hut we had time for a quick tour of the park before the gates were shut for the night. The hut was basic but comfortable with everything required for self catering but we chose the restaurant as were were only staying one night.

Zebra Crossing

The next day we took a dawn game drive and saw an fantastic selection of wildlife, eland, kudu, buffalo, meerkats, yellow mongoose, black backed jackal, zebra, spotted hyena and a wide range of birds. After breakfast we took our car and headed to the elephants’ favourite waterhole where we counted at least fifty of the magnificent beasts.

Addo Elephants

Our next stop was Grahamstown so that I could introduce the family to my friends there and show them where I go to take part in Scifest Africa. After staying the night we were off again. This time to Storms River Mouth. Before reaching our accommodation, which was directly on the rocky shore, we had a forest canopy tour in the Tsitsikamma forest. Some such tours are on walkways – this was on zipwires. For my daughter who doesn’t like heights it was quite an experience (and she coped very well). That evening we were lulled to sleep by the sounds of the sea pounding on the rocky shore.

Penguins at Boulders Beach

Onwards to Cape Town where we took in Table Mountain and the Two Oceans Aquarium as part of the open topped bus tour. Further afield we visited the penguins at Boulders Beach and the lighthouse at Cape Point. We didn’t manage the full circuit though as the traffic was terrible.

On the Friday evening I delivered the family to the airport and picked up the van again. Holiday over it was back on the road on Saturday.