Knysna, South Africa to Ghana, West Africa

In the Knysna district we were lucky enough to visit an Elephant Sanctuary and a Wild Cat Rehabilitation farm where we were even allowed inside some of the enclosures (thankfully after their lunch). We were fortunate enough to see leopards, cheetahs and other wild cats of Africa - up close and personal!

We boarded our Drifters Overland truck for our final leg of the journey with our Trusty Krusty behind the wheel and we travelled south from Knysna through the Lake District and then on through the magnificent Hottentots Holland Mountains, bound for the beautiful city of Cape Town. We stopped off in the scenic coastal town of Hermanus for a couple of hours - Pat and Darrell braved the winds - cut up a pineapple and made fresh bread, butter and pineapple sandwiches for their lunch.

As we travelled on the freeway into the City past Capetown Airport we could see the thousands upon thousands of ramshackle homes in yet another Shanty Town - bricks and tyres holding down tarps and tin roofing - washing out to dry - children playing - people walking everywhere - walking many kilometres to and from work each day in order to save on bus fares. The day was bleak and cloudy so we were unable to see Table Mountain as we followed the coast around to the Drifters Inn at Sea Point.

Over the next few days we were able to do some wonderful sightseeing in and around Cape Town - I think Krusty really enjoyed showcasing his home town for us. We headed out to Stellenbosch and visited Fairview Winery and enjoyed the tasting of the wines and exotic cheeses - we then sat down to a great lunch. In the evening we visited The Waterfront and were surprised to see the Ocean Princess had arrived early and was moored alongside the wharf. Pat had to forego this trip to the Waterfront as he had become ill and needed to rest - thankfully he had fully recovered by mid morning the following day.

We travelled down to the southernmost point which consists of the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Maclear and Cape Point - this area is the junction of earth's most contrasting water masses - the cold Benguela current on the West Coast and the warm Agulhas current on the East Coast - Cape of Good Hope is popularly perceived as the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

Our time had come to say goodbye to Cape Town, our fellow travellers and our special driver and guide, Krusty. Marie-Lynn will spend a couple more days in Cape Town and will then fly to Namibia for 3 days; Bruno and Michel will spend 2 more days in Cape Town and will then set off on a 24 day Overland Camping Trip from Cape Town to Johannesburg via the West Coast and Victoria Falls; Amy will fly to London for a couple of days, then to Rome and onto Venice for a Mediterranean Cruise; Krusty will have some days off before taking a bus back to Johannesburg and then will prepare for another 18 day Overland tour the same as the one we have just completed. Thanks crew, for a magnificent trip and for all the great times we shared. Wot you say???????

South Africa - what a magnificent place - our overland trip of 4,666 klms of scenery and experiences beyond expectation. I have to admit that Africa was at the bottom of my list of places I personally wanted to visit - something has changed - we are already putting thoughts and plans in place for yet another visit in the near future. Our Drifters tour was a fantastic and safe way to see this magnificent country.

Our taxi arrived at the Cape Town Drifters Inn, our bags were loaded so we headed off to the Waterfront to board the Ocean Princess for a 31 day cruise from Cape Town to Dover. Brenda and Darrell will then head into London from Dover - Pat and I will disembark in Le Havre, France. Ocean Princess is a small ship with only 617 passengers and 370 crew, so we should be well looked after.

As we sailed out of Cape Town harbour, the view of Table Mountain, the coastline and surrounding mountains was nothing short of spectacular. Our first 24 hours at sea were quite rough as we cruised north in the area where the two great oceans, the Atlantic and the Indian meet. We had expected to shed some kilos on our overland trip in readiness for the fine dining on the ship - somehow that didn't happen! Oh well - here goes - 31 days of eating out!

Luderitz, Namibia - Our first port of call was founded in 1883 on behalf of Adolf Luderitz from Germany. The Port of Luderitz was initially set up as a trading post, however in 1909 diamonds were discovered nearby so this township enjoyed a sudden surge of prosperity. Today, however, diamonds are mostly found in other areas of Namibia and offshore so the population of 20,000 has a much quieter existence.

Walvis Bay, Namibia - Walvis Bay has the best harbour on the Namibia coast - thus the British added it to their enclave in Southern Africa in 1878. It was not until 1994 that the now-Republic of South Africa returned Walvis Bay to Namibia. The port is the gateway to the vast Namib Desert, one of the oldest and harshest deserts on Earth.

We left the port area and organised a taxi into town, then took another taxi to the very nice township of Swakopmund, which was also originally a German settlement. The 33 kilometre journey from Walvis Bay to Swakopmund follows the coastline and is fringed by the orange coloured sand dunes of Namibia. Swakopmund is a very modern town with a big emphasis on Safari Tours and Tourism and the town's roadways are dotted with huge date palms. In this area of Namibia, the world's largest uranium mine can be found - there are actually three mines here. The town looks very prosperous, although our taxi driver told us that many men work a nine hour day and receive about $3.00 pay - he is fortunate that his Mother bought the taxi and he is able to make a good living for himself and his family.

We now have four days at sea before our next port of call. Days at sea are very relaxing to say the least - there is as much to do or as little to do as one wishes. Brenda and I have been enjoying games of Scrabble while Pat and Darrell have been enjoying the swimming pool, the spa and the sun. The further north we travel the warmer it becomes so card games are a great way to pass the time on deck whilst enjoying the outdoors.

There is a library on board, a card room and an internet room, not to mention the theatres, restaurants, lounges, bars, gymnasium, fitness centre, swimming pools and the casino. The entertainers, musicians and dancers on board put on great shows every evening and there are countless choices of lectures, classes and get-togethers to attend during the day. Yesterday we crossed the Equator, so several people agreed to take part in the Crossing the Equator Ceremony whereby participants faced punishments such as being washed with oil and flour before having eggs broken and poured into their clothing - I'm glad I was a spectator!

Last night we attended a concert by an amazing (and easy on the eyes) Italian Violinist, Vincenzo Gentile from Anacona in Italy. The violin he was playing was made in the 1700's and is currently insured for $200,000 - the collector/owner asked Vincenzo to take it on tour so that people around the world could see the violin and enjoy the sound of this most amazing instrument - and we did hear the most beautiful music imaginable eminate from that violin.

Cotonou, Benin - we headed ashore at Cotonou, unsure of what to expect - the Lonely Planet describes it as follows: "Benin's commercial capital is an unlovable example of urban Africa, and spending a day here is like being locked in a car with a chain-smoking speed freak. The zemi-johns (scooter taxis) swarm down the boulevards like kamikaze pilots, filling the air with fumes that only clear at night."

With our inside information as described above, we set out to explore some parts of Benin. A shuttle bus took us to the Cotonou city centre where we saw badly littered streets - streets lined with food and clothing markets manned by both Benin and Nigerian people. We made a deal with a taxi driver to take us out to visit the village of Ganvie which is a little further out in Southern Benin.

Ganvie is sometimes nicknamed The Venice of Africa. It is a village of 30,000 people built out over the shallow waters of Lake Nokoue, accessible by pirogue (flat bottomed boat) which is designed for navigating shallow waters. Ganvie's bamboo homes and huts are built on stilts three feet above the water and all these buildings are linked by canals. We pulled into the local Hotel, also built over the water, and enjoyed a cool beer and bottle of water on the deck. When I walked down the hallway across floorboards with views down to the waters below, I was lucky enough to see a Ganvie style Hotel Ensuite room .... hmmmmm very interesting ... just outside of the open back door the vision I saw of huts on stilts, children fishing and people paddling along in their dug out canoes gave me an image of the real Africa, Africa in it's very own natural environment - it was a wonderful view and one which I shall never forget.

Lome, Togo - The nation of Togo is a narrow strip of country which features a full range of landscapes and cultures. Togo boasts over 40 different ethnic groups with their own traditions and rituals - interestingly this region is the home of voodoo, which migrated to Haiti as a result of the slave trade.

We were ready to explore the capital of Togo, unfortunately just before we disembarked the heavens opened and it then rained for most of the day. We took the shuttle bus into the city centre and set off into the market place. The people here dress in very bright and vibrant colours and material is available to purchase in about 10 and 12 yard lengths for approximately $10 to $20 US, which is very cheap - unfortunately these lengths of material are quite substantial in weight, thus making a purchase costly in terms of excess baggage on the journey back home. The women take their clothing down to the sea to wash as they say the salt water ensures the colour lasts in the fabric for many years - I guess that would also eliminate the need for spray starch!

Tema & Accra, Ghana - Europeans, mainly the Portuguese descended on Ghana in the 15th century in search of gold - with the wealth of the slave trade many of these early settlers decided to stay on and the region was named "The Gold Coast". Ghana is one of the most densely populated countries in West Africa and has a total population of about 20 million.

A group of us on board ship hired an eight seater wagon and set off for the day. Tema was originally a fishing village but today it is the largest and the main port for Ghana. One hour's drive north in the capital city of Accra we visited the Botanical Gardens and smelt many plants and trees growing there, some of which we use in our homes and in our cooking - eg cinnamon, bay leaf, allspice and camphor. We saw real extremes in Ghana - very wealthy people in beautiful large homes and very poor people living in shanties. The people have lovely big wide smiles and white teeth - the kids love to wave and say hello. Goats roam about the fields and streets and it was rare to catch sight of a dog.

We had a most unusual visit to a "Coffin Maker" - he makes coffins in whatever style the customer so chooses - he told me he has visitors who come from Europe - they bring their drawing/plan with them - place their particular order for a coffin and then the builder constructs it, paints it and ships it to them in Europe - virtually a door to door service! What more could one want? Completed coffins we saw today included - a chocolate topped ice cream sundae, a camera, a jet plane, a pineapple, a car, a truck, a magpie, an eagle, a bottle of beer and a lion - how bizarre!

The next three days will be at sea so there'll be some relaxation on the cards.

Dingo Beach to Knysna, South Africa

Today we set off for our next adventure - 3 months of travelling, mostly in Africa. Our good friends, Brenda and Darryl from Dingo Beach have joined us for a couple of months, so we're sure we'll have many adventures ahead.

Col & Eileen arrived in two cars and organised our transportation to Proserpine Airport. In Brisbane we headed for the Emirates counters, organised our seating and headed to our the departure gate in readiness for our 14 hour flight to Dubai.

While on the flight my breakfast was delayed and then forgotten about. When the hostess realised I had no breakfast, she was so apologetic for the oversight. Within minutes my breakfast was delivered. I was not concerned - things happen! After breakfast was over the hostess returned with a gift for me - a bottle of NZ Sauvignon Blanc, a box of Belgian chocolates and two large bags of mixed nuts! I must always remember it pays to be patient and understanding!
We arrived in Dubai - picked up our hire car and headed to our hotel which we booked online before we left home. We stayed at the Grand Flora Hotel and paid $100 for B&B in a 4 star hotel - it was excellent. Dubai lacks one major item in my opinion - a good street map. We certainly managed to get around and were able to see all the major sites, but a decent map would have been a bonus. Dubai is quite a place - lots of concrete and lots of roadways. We visited Bur Al Arab, the Palms and checked out the beaches of Jumeriah. We visited the old Spice souq and the old Gold souq, where Brenda and I both scored some beautiful jewellery.

In the evening, we visited a roof top bar and ordered some beer - at $6.50 each we decided to give the rooftop a miss, head back to our Hotel and partake of my lovely Emirates' gift. We had a great sleep that night, but very sadly I awoke to the news that my Uncle Bob had passed away in Greenville, upstate New York. Pat and I visited Auntie Bertha and Uncle Bob just last July in 2009, so I am so happy we had the opportunity to spend quality time with them both while we were there. Uncle Bob was an amazing man - at 81 years of age he embraced the latest technology and recently set up Broadband and Skype on his home computer.

In the afternoon of day two in Dubai, we set out for the desert in a Toyota Landcruiser. We had a great day - driving around the sand hills of the desert - dune bashing! It was a crazy drive and at the same time, very exciting - there were 100's of Toyotas dune bashing - all very organised of course. Following our driving extravaganza we arrived at a Bedoin camp and experienced a fantastic evening of belly dancing, twirling Dervishes, Arabian music and dancing. Our buffet dinner was out of this world - the spices and flavourings were truly amazing. Brenda and Darrell set off on a camel ride for a new experience - the look on Brenda's face told the story - they had a ball.

The eruption of the volcano in Iceland has sent airlines and airports into chaos in the northern parts of Europe. To date, approximately 16,000 flights thave been cancelled with travellers being stranded in all parts of the world. Fortunately, Dubai flights south were unaffected so we headed off to Johannesburg the capital of South Africa. We organised an 18 day overland trip in South Africa from Johannesberg to Cape Town with a travel specialist company called Drifters - this is a new way of travel for us, so we're interested to see how it will all work out. They provide the transport and a guide so then off we will go.

There is much to be said about Africa - but where do we begin to understand it? The following quotes give us food for thought.

Apartheid is exactly where it belongs - in a museum.

To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. (Nelson Mandela)

Johannesburg is a huge city with a population of 10 million. We checked into the Drifters Inn and had a great night's sleep - changing international time zones plays a bit of havoc with the body so it takes a few days to settle back into a good pattern. We decided to book onto an organised tour of Johannesburg and Soweto, in order to gain a better insight into the political situations in Africa, the abolishment of Apartheid and the lifestyles of its peoples. Our tour of 6 hours certainly opened our eyes and explained many things to us, we previously we unaware of. We visited a street in Soweto where both Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu had lived - both of these amazing visionaries were also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

We lashed out at dinner and thoroughly enjoyed our meals of South African Kudu, crocodile, ostrich and fish. After dinner we headed out onto the back patio, where we commenced our briefing for our next day's early morning start on Drifters 18 Day Tour of South Africa. We met our fellow passengers: from Canada - Bruno and Michel from Montreal and Marie-Lynn from Ottawa; from New Zealand - Amy from Christchurch and our crew from Dingo Beach - ourselves, Brenda and Darrell.

After a delicious brekky of bacon and scrambled eggs we boarded our purpose built truck, met our character of a guide, Krusty and headed out to explore parts of South Africa. The truck is extremely comfortable with bucket seats, loads of leg room and floor to ceiling windows for great viewing. Highlights on today's trip included Dullstroom, Robbers' Pass and the historic town of Pilgrim's Rest. We also visited Bourke's Luck Potholes and the Blyde River Canyon, where we saw some spectacular scenery.

We wound our way down the escarpment to the Lowveld camp of Bushveld where we pulled up stumps for two nights. We were all guided to our bush cabins by our native tracker, Vusi - who coincidentally was born on 6th September 1976, the same day as our daughter Kelli. Our tent style cabins come complete with an ensuite so we have no need to venture outside during the night - Vusi told us not leave our tents during the night as lions and leopards roam freely. The evening sky lit up, the thunder clapped and the rain came down - we were to experience a Bushveld thunderstorm.

After a great night's sleep our day commenced with traditional buttermilk rusks and coffee. We then headed out for a game walk with Krusty and Vusi - where we also learned a lot about native plants and bush medicine. Vusi also identified various animal droppings and footprints including elephant, lion, antelope, white rhinocerous and giraffe. In the late afternoon we will be going out in open vehicles to look for animals - I think there is a refreshing element of safety being in a vehicle as opposed to being on foot. Today we learnt a valuable lesson – every piece of shit tells a story! We even had a competition to see who could spit a piece of Impala dung (dried) the furtherest! We called this our SOS competition - spit or swallow! Vusi spit the furtherest and then Pat came second - that must be the bushy in him!

While at Bushveld Camp we set off on our first open-vehicle game drive in the afternoon, had sundowner drinks alongside a waterhole and then continued on our evening game drive. We had an amazing night drive and saw many animals in their natural wild state - I especially love the giraffes. At one stage we came across a herd of elephants – all was okay until we drove close to some baby elephants – that’s when the Mums and Dads started getting a bit edgy and were indicating for us to get going! One young buck walked up behind our “open” vehicle and began flapping his ears at us! Krusty and Vusi decided it was time for us to head on out – we felt they made a great decision! Our guides have never seen so many elephants in one place, so it was a great night for all!

As we were driving out of our Bushveld Camp we looked out the right hand side of our truck and we were all lucky enough to see a Lioness. The day was spent travelling through the rural Bushbuck ridge area to the sleepy settlement of Hazyview and then on to the Drifters Hazyview Inn, which is built from logs and is perched up high on stilts in the subtropical forest on the banks of the Sabie River. When we arrived, we were greeted by the resident Ostrich and Warthogs which roam freely around the property! After dinner and a few drinks we all sat around the table and spent a fabulous night playing cards. I can't remember when we laughed so much - Bruno taught us all to play "Whatever" and "Salad".

A short distance away from Hazyview is the world famous Kruger National Park, which will be our home for this night. We spent the entire day viewing animals from the high vantage point of our purpose built truck. What an amazing experience to be able to drive through this wonderful park and see the wild animals of Africa roaming around. We saw many animals including, zebras, giraffes, rhinocerous, hippopotamus, wildebeest, buffalo, elephants, monkeys, baboons, steenbok, klipspringer, impala, mongoose and many birds of the African bush. As we were driving out of the park we were lucky enough to see a Lion and Lioness sitting in the grasses close by to the road.

It certainly is a small world - unbelievably while we were in Kruger Park we ran into Vic and Leanne Barnett, and Col & Elizabeth MacBean, friends from our Middlemount days.
After our big day out viewing the animals, Pat volunteered to cook, so we all enjoyed our Spagetti Bolognaise for dinner - I know Krusty enjoyed the night off from cooking!

We travelled south from Kruger Park through Swaziland through spectacular scenery and saw many traditional homesteads built in the round shape - many are built from mud and straw. We entered an area once ruled by the famed Shaka Zulu - this area is a centre for many Game Reserves. Our first stop was the local supermarket where we stocked up for our next few days. While I was walking around the supermarket I noticed some older women smiling broadly - I stopped to say "hello" and the next minute I was dancing in the aisles with one of the Zulu women - what a hoot! After shopping, we headed onto our "rustic" campsite in a sand forest where we stayed for the next two nights.

Our cabins were small A frames which just fitted two single beds and we shared the camp amenities with the rest of our group. In the morning we set off on a game walk through some amazing vegetation and scrub. At one stage we were walking beside a little stream when Krusty jumped back and told us all to get back - he came upon a large cream and brown coloured South African Python which was in the strike position in the water beside our walking track. What a big snake! It moved slowly in the water away from us and headed toward the opposite side of the stream - they estimate it was about 3 to 4 metres in length.

In the afternoon, we headed off in our "open" game vehicle for Hluhluwe (pronounced Sha-slew-ee) National Park which ended up being a spectacular trip - we also came across a group of 7 giraffes, one of which walked right up alongside our vehicle and walked down the road in front of us. The giraffe is a very elegant animal - they look spectacular in the bush picking their leaves from the treetops. We also saw a herd of buffalos, several rhinos and even a rhino with a baby - possibly only a couple of days old.

When we stay in the camping areas we all take turns and share in the washing up and cleaning up after meals. Our group of eight (plus Krusty) gets along very well - we are blessed to have such a well balanced group of people travelling together - our ages are from 26 to 61 and our average age group is 51.

We left our Zululand campsite in the morning and visited a nearby rural Zulu school. Just beside the school, we visited the local witchdoctor and her apprentice who had a meeting with us - various questions were asked of her and she seemed to take the answers out of a pile of shells, bones and coin - Krusty told us not to believe anything she said! The Principal then took us in to meet some students and explained that this school exists and operates due to the generosity of support by Drifters and tourists. There are 900 students and 30 teachers in the school and they certainly offer many subjects. We were then taken in to meet a large group of grade 12 students who began to sing for us. Well it took our breath away - they sang so beautifully and then they started to sway and began dancing as well. To say this display was spectacular would be an understatment - it was truly amazing. The boys and the girls gave it their all and we were treated to a fantastic display of singing and dancing by these young African students.

As we headed toward the magnificent coastline of eastern Africa we could see the waves of the Indian Ocean crashing onto the shoreline of deserted beaches. About 20 klms north of Durban we wound our way down the hills to the Drifters Dolphin Coast Inn, which is amazingly located right on the beach. All the rooms come complete with white sheets on the beds and spectacular ocean views, so it was wonderful to hear the waves crashing and look out to sea after our amazing inland Safari.

Our evening meal was a traditional fish braai, which is a delicious local smoked fish called Snook. This evening was the first opportunity we had had in a while to check emails, although the internet was painfully slow, after which we had an early night.

We spent three hours in Durban the following morning before once again heading west, this time towards the Drakensberg Ranges. When we reached the foothills we all transferred into a 4WD vehicle for a 6 klm trip up to the Drifters Drakensberg Inn where we will spend the next two nights in cosy log cabins.

Our log cabins are great - each cabin has two bedrooms complete with a log fireplace and a shared bathroom. Brenda, Darrell, Pat and I were allocated Cabin #1 so we headed off to unpack. The weather had become very cold and the rain clouds were low - before long it was raining, so we bundled ourselves up and headed up to the main building for dinner. We had a beautiful dinner cooked by the inn keepers and enjoyed a few drinks before braving the outside cold and heading off to our cabins for a good night's sleep.

The following morning we awoke in our log cabin to the sun shining on the mountainside surrounding our mountain retreat. Straight after breakfast we set off on a mountain walk to see some rock paintings done by the African San people, the earlier inhabitants of this region of Africa. We stopped along the way to rest and enjoyed the crisp mountain air and the magnificent scenery. Later, back at the campsite, I took the opportunity to write up my blog. Ponies were available for anyone wishing to go riding, so in the afternoon Pat, Darrell, Amy and Marie-Lynn set off for an afternoon ride.

Once again, Bruno brought out the playing cards and taught us how to play two more card games "952" and "The Clock". Bruno has an amazing memory and I can't believe how he can play and recall the rules for all the different card games he can play - he's a marvellous teacher and we have great times playing cards with him.

We once again boarded our 4WD vehicle for the 6 klm trip back down the mountain where we loaded our gear back into our tour vehicle which Krusty affectionately calls "Sophie" and set off on a 350 klm trip. We crossed the Oliviershoek Pass and stopped to see the clear turquoise waters of Sterkfontein Dam. During our day's travel we stop along the way and pick up drinks and snacks, South Africa is very well set up for the traveller. The amenities are always very clean and well maintained - yesterday one of the rest areas even had about 20 vases of white roses in the washrooms. Our trip took us through the Golden Gate National Park which is well known for its towering sandstone cliffs and unique wildlife.

Clarens is a small village well known for its art work. We explored the streets and shops and enjoyed a lovely lunch in an outdoor restaurant. Pat and Darrell sussed out a Brewery and spent some time enjoying the samples of beer. Last night at dinner we found out that Brad Pitt was in town but none of us were lucky enough to see him. In the afternoon we travelled on past the township of Ladybrand to Oldenburg property where we had a farm stay for the evening. Our group managed to fill the whole homestead and we enjoyed a lovely lamb stew for dinner in front of the fireplace.

We set off from Oldenburg and headed into the dry Karoo interior. Our journey took us through dry flat lands, much like what I had expected to see in Africa. I must admit I have been blown away by the spectacular scenery we have seen so far - it truly has been amazing. Before arriving at our destination we visited a little township Nieu Bethesda which was established in the late 1800's and checked out the one man band brewery. The samples of the three different types of beer went down very well with the locally made cheeses, breads, olives and kudu salami - a nice little snack before dinner.

After driving along rough dirt roads we finally arrived at Drifters Karoo Inn out in the middle of nowhere! Peter and Christine welcomed us with the most amazing dinner of Springbok in Red Wine, vegetable medley and maize followed by a baked milk pudding and custard - yummo! Peter has worked for Drifters for eight years and Christine came from Switzerland just eight months ago to join him - they originally met a couple of years ago when Peter was a guide on a tour in Kenya and Christine was a passenger.

After a hearty breakfast we set off on a walk to explore the plants and animals of the Karoo. We saw ostriches, tortoise, zebras, springboks, elands, oryx, wilderbeest, boltebok and other smaller animals. Relaxation is the name of the game in the afternoon following the walk so it was great to kick back for a few hours. In the evening Brenda volunteered to cook dinner, so we all enjoyed a beautiful chicken pie, mashed potato, mashed pumpkin and peas. After a few drinks in the bar, we joined in for some card games of "Whatever". By 10:30pm our eyes were getting pretty tired so we set off for our cabin for our last night in the Karoo.

The following morning after an early start we headed out for the coast once again to follow the famous Garden Route of South Africa. The historical town of Graaf-Reinet was our first port of call where we explored the town's famous buildings. Unfortunately there was a power outage, so we were a little restricted in what we were able to see. Our journey took us through the mighty Outeniqua Mountains and through the Outeniqua Pass, the barrier between the dry interior and the lush coastal area. We travelled to the town of Knysna (pronounced Nei-sna) and headed off into the forest to our accommodation at the Drifters Knysna Inn, where we will spend the next three nights in a cosy log cabin hidden deep in the heart of the forest.

Our first day in Knysna began with a visit to the world's highest Bungy Jump - a height of 216 metres. Amy from NZ has previously done 2 bungy jumps and was anxious to notch up a third jump. She was cool, calm and collected as she was strapped up in her safety harness and headed off to the highest bridge in Africa which spans the Groot River. We as spectators had butterflies in our stomachs as she jumped off this perfectly good bridge! She came back very exhilarated and would have even gone for a second jump! We then headed up the coast where we walked along the seashore and crossed over three suspension bridges - visited a Wildlife Rehabilitation centre which specialises in the treatment of wild cats eg leopard, cheetahs etc and then on our way home visited the Elephant Sanctuary. Once back home at our log cabins, Bruno and Michel organised a sumptuous dinner - entree of Mediterannean salad with feta and French stick with goat's cheese, followed by a main of pork fillets with Mediterranean style vegetables. All in all, yet another great day in Africa.