The final stop of the grand tour was South Africa, where we had just three short days to explore before going our separate ways. 3 days here was never going to be long enough, but then it's always good to have an excuse to come back to this amazing continent!
The first night was spent camping on the banks of the Orange River and hanging out with a very lazy labrador, who (despite his laziness) still managed to steal and destroy the rugby ball that we'd been using for our marathon adrenaline sessions since leaving Victoria Falls. For the uninitiated, adrenaline is possibly the best game invented... ever. At least it seems that way when you're stuck in a truck for large parts of each day and only get to play it when some other group is rostered on as chef's help! It's a bit like hot potato with a rugby ball - with extra points gained for creativeness (and use of props) when getting rid of and/or catching the ball. It's named after the rush of adrenaline that you get when you're playing it. Come to think about it, you might have had to be there to appreciate its true genius..!
The next day we moved on to the wine growing region of Cederberg. What a campsite! This was our last night in tents (woo hoo!!!) and we all agreed that it was a good job we hadn't started off here - far better to finish on a high than to start with luxury and know/discover that it's all downhill from there! This place had soft grass to pitch our tents on; large, spacious bathrooms where each shower had a window at head height that looked out over the vines; and a lovely pool that was right next to the bar where we spent a delightful couple of hours engaged in some delicious wine tasting. Hard afternoon to beat really.
Last up on my African adventure was Cape Town. I knew we were getting to Cape Town sometime in the morning on our last day and was hoping to squeeze in a visit to Robben Island and maybe a quick trip up Table Mountain before heading off to Mauritius the following afternoon. Unfortunately I should have done a bit more research (or planned on spending a bit more time in town) - it turns out that trips to Robben Island book out at least a couple of days in advance, so there was no chance of me being able to head out there on short (i.e. no) notice. Plus, there's no point in heading up Table Mountain when it's covered in cloud... which it was for the whole time that I was around. Option B wasn't too shabby an alternative though - I headed down to the Waterfront area, which was completely renovated and rejuvenated for the football World Cup in 2010, and spent a lovely afternoon hanging out with Anzac, Caroline and Maureen, checking out markets and shops and enjoying a couple of quiets while looking out over the iconic mountain, before heading in to Mama Africa for our final group dinner. A very nice way to wind down at the end of a trip of a lifetime.
I haven't got around to posting any photos from Africa on the blog yet, but if you want to check out a few of my faves (150 counts as a few when I took thousands!), you should be able to see them here: http://photobucket.com/neena-africa. Enjoy!
The next day we moved on to the wine growing region of Cederberg. What a campsite! This was our last night in tents (woo hoo!!!) and we all agreed that it was a good job we hadn't started off here - far better to finish on a high than to start with luxury and know/discover that it's all downhill from there! This place had soft grass to pitch our tents on; large, spacious bathrooms where each shower had a window at head height that looked out over the vines; and a lovely pool that was right next to the bar where we spent a delightful couple of hours engaged in some delicious wine tasting. Hard afternoon to beat really.
Last up on my African adventure was Cape Town. I knew we were getting to Cape Town sometime in the morning on our last day and was hoping to squeeze in a visit to Robben Island and maybe a quick trip up Table Mountain before heading off to Mauritius the following afternoon. Unfortunately I should have done a bit more research (or planned on spending a bit more time in town) - it turns out that trips to Robben Island book out at least a couple of days in advance, so there was no chance of me being able to head out there on short (i.e. no) notice. Plus, there's no point in heading up Table Mountain when it's covered in cloud... which it was for the whole time that I was around. Option B wasn't too shabby an alternative though - I headed down to the Waterfront area, which was completely renovated and rejuvenated for the football World Cup in 2010, and spent a lovely afternoon hanging out with Anzac, Caroline and Maureen, checking out markets and shops and enjoying a couple of quiets while looking out over the iconic mountain, before heading in to Mama Africa for our final group dinner. A very nice way to wind down at the end of a trip of a lifetime.
I haven't got around to posting any photos from Africa on the blog yet, but if you want to check out a few of my faves (150 counts as a few when I took thousands!), you should be able to see them here: http://photobucket.com/neena-africa. Enjoy!
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