A Chilly May in SA, but June in London was colder!

Whoever thinks being retired means you have loads of free time on your hands, has obviously not seen our schedule. Five weeks in Joburg and surrounds sounds like ages but we did not have one free night.We arrived back from Zim on 7th May, went to the farm to unpack the caravan, then spent a long weekend at Bakubung at Pilansberg Game Reserve with Mom and Tony. The next weekend Neil went biking with the Achar Boys in Mpumalanga, which we followed up with more Joburg jolling, fishing at TFFC near Dullstroom, a midweek break at Sabi Sun near Hazyview with Carol and Jane and a long weekend at Zebula with Rob and Gill and Hanli and Andrew.We squeezed in a few more days in Joburg before returning to Dullstroom for another fishing weekend with Paulet and Gavin. Dullies in June is very cold, but the house has a great log fire that keeps burning day and night. Watching rugby ( SA vs England ) at the Duck and Trout was a real blast from the past. Partners in crime from the old days, you know who you are! We spent a night at the farm to drop off the bakkie, pack and take ourselves off to the airport on Monday 11th June, and so to London for a week. London's daytime temperatures were a lot lower than Joburg's and it is supposed to be summer in London! We went to the Queens tennis with Antoinette, which was only briefly rained out that day and did a bit of theatre and some dining out (as one does in London, you know.) It was nice to spend time with friends and family, even though it was a bit of a rush, flying off to Munich on Tuesday 19th June.

Mana Pools

We drove from Kariba to Mana Pools; setting up camp at one of the private Muncheni sites along the Zambezi river.You have to be fully self sufficient here - even collecting your own water from the river with a bucket on a rope once the caravan tanks run empty! And you don't stand too near the edge when you do this - the river is crocodile and hippo infested! There are no fences, so you do need to be alert and on the look out for animals all the time. We parked the caravan and pitched the tents in a laager formation and once sunset approaches you do need to build a big fire. Showering behind the caravan at night with a spouse or friend scanning the bush with a powerful flashlight is a good idea and so is never venturing too far into the dark for a pee.One night the lions were a few hundred metres away and we had hyenas through the camp some nights after we were all in bed. Some ellies also passed by pretty closely on occasions. It was so great to relax, watch the game go by and cook all sorts of gourmet meals outdoors.We had good bird and game watching opportunities and the highlight was a pack of wild dogs which Neil and I watched until sunset. We headed back to SA via Gweru, Bulawayo and the Matopos. All in all Zimbabweans are better off than two years ago when we were last here. At least dollarization (as "Lovemore" Meshach the game ranger we gave a lift to terms it ) means that the shops are stocked, fuel is available and businesses can operate. It's expensive though, with most things having to be imported, so most people are still struggling.

Lake Kariba

We crossed the border from Moz to Zim near Mutare and stocked up on supplies, including beef fillets from a local butcher at US$ 7 per kilo! We drove through to Harare, which looked a bit like downtown Durban but  wilder and rougher around the edges. To camp safely in Zim, you need to know where to go and the recommendation for camping around Harare is at the Jacana Yacht Club. Of course, driving directions and signboards are limited, so once we found the place it was way after dark! The next day we headed off to Kariba to meet up with Tommy, Mandy and Colette.Roads can be hazardous at times; national highways are single lane with no hard shoulder and crowded with trucks bringing almost everything up from SA for Zim, Zam and Moz. Our houseboat, the Royal Game and 2 crew, were waiting for us at Marineland marina. It had been 14 years since our last lake Kariba adventure and once again it turned out to be one of our best African experiences. Four nights is a good length of stay for a houseboat; you can't help but relax - no matter how stressed you are when you climb on board.We started each day with sunrise coffee and biscuits, followed by a fishing or game viewing trip on the tender boat; returning to a full English breakfast and later tea and home baked biscuits, lunch,another fishing trip, sunset snacks and drinks, dinner and bed. Neil and I chose to sleep on deck and we had a wonderful bed under a mozzie net made up for us each evening.It's great to watch the stars while lying in bed! We caught a lot of Bream ( very tasty )but only a small Tigerfish, as it was the wrong season. The weather in Northern Zimbabwe is just fantastic in late April and early May, with wonderful, warm, dry days but it's cool enough at night for just a thin jacket and a good night's sleep.

Mozambique Meander

We crossed the border into Moz from Kruger Park; an easier option over the Easter Weekend. We drove through the Moz side of the Limpopo Transfrontier Park to Fish Eagle Camp at Massingir Dam. Campsite number 6 overlooking the dam is very pretty and Elizabeth and Randolf stayed in one of the chalets,which also has a good view.Apart from us, the camp was empty and things were pretty run down. The Transfrontier project is not very successful at this stage. The Moz Government still has not been able to relocate local villagers and poaching is rife. There are no animals to be seen anywhere and so it seems most tourists are just traversing the park as quickly as possible.It's a full day of driving to Tofo Beach and we arrived after dark. Flavio was waiting for us at Casa Lou and looked after us well. Every morning a parade of fruit,veggie, bread and fish sellers came past the house to bring us everything we needed. Ah, Tofo Beach is just one of my favourite beaches in the whole world and we had such a good time.The relaxed atmosphere just gets under your skin - like life in slow motion. Diving with Diversity Scuba was magical as usual, and Jamie was a really enthusiastic dive master. A highlight was swimming with the whale shark again! From Tofo we headed up to Villankoulos for more diving. We met up with Denis and Sabrina again from Oddysea Diving and it was good to see their new lodge and dive operation up and running.We stayed at Baobab,probably the best option at the moment but very, very noisy! We had a great trip to Bazruto with good divng but a LOT of wind!! Next time we will have to be sailing. Continuing north,on ever increasingly potholed roads, we headed to Gorongoza for 3 nights; the first visitors in on opening day after the closure for the wet season. What a treat to have a whole National Park virtually to ourselves. Then we returned to Msika Dam for a few nights on the way to Zim.

Kruger Park

As usual we only had a few days in Joburg before we set off again,in a fully laden bakkie with caravan in tow.We collected Elizabeth and Randolf at the airport and headed off to Mpumalanga.We met up with Paulet and Gavin, stayed at the Royal Hotel Pilgrims Rest and had a day of sightseeing in the Blyde River Canyon. We found a fabulous outdoor Boerkos Restaurant near Bourkes Luck, serving pap and wors and beer out of tin mugs. The monkeys and baboons at the Blyde Forever Resort are really cheeky and eating breakfast outside was impossible. Our toast was stolen through the kitchen window and a big baboon grabbed a croissant out of Clarissa's hand.
We stayed in Letaba camp in Kruger Park for 4 nights. We saw evidence of damage to bridges caused by the January floods and had to make a detour via Olifants camp every day to get to Satara and Roodevaal because of road closures. Game viewing and bird watching filled the days and we had some great braais at night. 

Getting a tattoo is like buying a Persian rug!

Years ago, when living in Singapore, Neil and I were invited to a charity carpet auction. Until that evening we had never even considered buying one, but we got caught up in the swing of things and started bidding for rugs! At one point we realised we were bidding against each other for the same carpet! Early next morning about six carpets of different sizes were delivered to our house. We spent the morning rolling them out in all the different rooms and deciding where to put them! A pretty expensive “spur of the moment” thing to do.

On the last night of our stay in Phuket this year, I crossed the threshold of a tattoo parlour for the first time in my life. I was in there to hold Robyn’s hand while she got her first tattoo. I casually flipped through the design books while waiting and when Robyn’s was done, she said, “Ok Gail, it’s your turn now!” and that’s how I got a tattoo on my ankle. A pretty permanent “ spur of the moment” thing to do.