Time flies when you make a long story short

Combined idioms, the thing I associated most with South African people before this trip, and I haven't heard one.  Maybe it was just those that worked in Flight Centre :)

(Lloyd)

Well the story is drawing to a close, this the penultimate blog, before we do our final 'best of' votes tomorrow when we get home and wrap up another journey to savour.  For those who haven't seen our previous musings I'll share some links tomorrow, and have also uploaded loads of random videos onto my you tube channel which may be worth a look.

Writing from the airport after a bit of a holding day.  Preference is to always leave later in the day than sooner, but equally, you are somewhat constrained as to what you can do.  We took a stroll around Cape Town after breakfast soaking up the sights on the ground, some of which we had seen from the top deck of the bus.  These included Company's Gardens, Bo Kaap (the muslim quarter), and lots of closed museums, including District 6 and the Slavery memorial.  Sun was out so took a few breaks in the parks, and at the market, supping our milkshakes and not getting drawn into buying tat or souvenirs (sometimes they are the same thing)  One of the main reasons for writing this blog is this is our souvenir, along with the guidebooks we use and abuse during the course of the trip.

See if this link gives an overview of our day

And now we are in Cape Town airport, grabbing a bite to eat and feeling pretty satisfied with what we have achieved, and watching Premier League football where we need Arsenal to do us more of a favour than they are actually managing so far (edit - thanks Arsenal).  It's been nice to have  so many of you along with us on this journey, please leave any final thoughts or comments below.

(Carys) 

So, our last day; not as exciting as some, but a nice, quite relaxed end to our adventure. We packed all our clothes - 2 cases and a big bag for the dirty ones and one small suitcase with the clean ones. After we'd (almost) finished we popped downstairs for our final breakfast in the tasty breakfast-buffet. I ate all continental again, though the others enjoyed some hot food as well as continental.

We said goodbye to our room after getting ready, and dropped off our bags at the front desk and left to begin our spontaneous walk around the city. Mum had 'planned' a route, though somehow, we almost got lost.

We saw Bo Kaap, a street of vividly coloured houses, a variety of beautifully designed cathedrals and chapels, as well as the gorgeous city park. It contained many statues, lakes, flowers and wildlife, which were lovely to see as we strolled through it's depths with the sun on our backs.

After leaving the Bo Kaap area, we sort of went the wrong way, but managed to put ourselves back on the right track. We drank some  delightful milkshakes in a cafe, and walked through some nice markets. I bought a small hand-made keyring of the South African flag as a little souvenir.

We reconvened at the hotel, collected our bags, and got a taxi to Cape Town International Airport. Our flight isn't until 7:30, so we've still got plenty of time. I've just eaten my last meal of the holiday in Cape Town, a chicken pizza - not exactly a South African meal.

I just want to thank you all for following us through our adventures, and we'll finish this blog tomorrow with an overview of our trip from the whole family.