wherever I lay my hat

(Lloyd)

So, that's a wrap, nice flight back, all got a bit of sleep, and one decent film Molly's Game appealed to the poker aficionado in me.  Felt the eyes drooping as we took on the M4, Chrissi picking up the driving at Leigh Delamare where I ran out of gas and saw us home safely.  Rain all the way, what drought affected Cape Town would give for that.

Seem to have picked up a few new readers on this trip, nice to have you come along, this is the third blog we have done (wish we'd started earlier on this back on some of our European road trips) but for any interested parties take a look at https://williamstowilliams.blogspot.co.uk/ or https://southwalestonewsouthwales.blogspot.co.uk/
We may be back sooner than you think, but in the mean time I have uploaded a random collection of our videos to My You Tube channel, which never had any purpose before this trip.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoPVNxB-mdg1poFGH5YPyQw?view_as=subscriber

I think then, we did run with the cheetahs metaphorically, but from South Africa Usale/Goodbye/Totsiens


(Carys)

So, a much better flight than last time. I managed to get lots of sleep, watched some good movies and I even ate some food. Not much to say about it really, just that it wasn't a terrible experience.

I want to thank everyone who's stuck with us since the beginning, and thank you even more if you've been reading since our first blogs. As we do every year, the whole family give an overview of the holiday, and say our best bits. So here's that:



Best meal -

Bryn: Cape Town curry

Carys: My favourite meal was the street food, not because it was extremely tasty - although it was - but because the whole atnmosphere was lovely. I liked how it was quite  dark, and there was music and chatter about, as well as the variety to choose from.

Lloyd: Addo Bush Palace tucker out in the wilds, good meat and accompaniments and interesting post dinner entertainment

Chrissi: Addo Bush Palace for me too - steak and boerwoers cooked on the braai in true SA style was delicious.

Best accommodation -

Bryn: Stellenbosch

Carys: Even though Stellenbosch was a beautiful place, I hardly slept because of the mosquitos. So for me, it has to be Jeffrey's Bay. Gorgeous view, nice hostess, cute room and tasty breakfast. What more could you want!

Lloyd: Singa Lodge, quirky, spacious, interesting grounds and first day excitement, quite unique. Special mention to Fynbos in Stellenboch but mosquitos, oh the mosquitos.

Chrissi: We were very lucky with all of accomodation, exceeded expectations.  I loved the Singa Lodge in Port Elizabeth too, as it was palatial and a little cool oasis in the heat.  Also loved our apartment in Mossel Bay too with the lovely pool and ocean view.


Best activity - 
Bryn: i really enjoyed the double parkrun

Carys: I especially loved monkey world. I adored the game drive in the elephant park too, but I loved how you could walk around the monkeys freely, but safely. I also love monkeys in general.

Lloyd: Climbing Table Mountain - sense of achievement and great views

Chrissi: game drive around Addo Elephant Park.  Seeing all the animals in their own environment was just breathtaking.

Best plane movie - 

Bryn: Jumanji

Carys: I'd seen it before, but The Greatest Showman is a lovely, feel-good musical that just made me happy whilst watching.

Lloyd: Molly's Game, true story about poker, right up my street

Chrissi: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.  Dark, funny, moving.

Best day - 
Bryn: Animal tour in Addo

Carys - The days I enjoyed most were the days where we climbed the mountain,and the day we took an audio tour around Cape Town. I found the history of Cape Town so interesting, and climbing the mountain was just so much fun.

Lloyd: Parkrun PB, Swans and a curry, yes could have been at home, bit all done in different locations across Cape Town made pretty tasty

Chrissi: it's very difficult to choose because each day was genuinely brilliant, each for a different reason.  If i had to choose, probably the day we drove from Stellenbosch to Capetown as we packed so much in....leisurely breakfast after a stroll around the botanical gardens, drive into the city and seeing Table Mountain towering over it.  Then city bus tour, learning a lot of local history and hopping off at various points, just soaking up the views and sights of Capetown.

Best location - 
Bryn: Jeffreys bay


Carys: My favourite location was Cape Town. It had everything - rural, grassy parks, bustling cities, tall, dry mountains. The whole lot. It was magical, in a way.

Lloyd: Jeffrey's Bay, wish we could have stayed longer, the oasis of calm came at the right time

Chrissi: I'd have to pick Cape Town as it really does have everything you could ever want from a holiday destination and a city break all rolled into one.  But everywhere else we went was wonderful too.  Beautiful beach resorts of Jeffreys Bay and Mossel Bay, peaceful Stellenbosch (and all that wine), Port Elizabeth beachfront on bustling Easter weekend were we spotted dolphins, out in the bush at Addo, in the African wilderness, spotting giraffes and zebras in the distance from our car and monkeys and baboons on the roadside.  And not forgetting our chance encounter with the Kaizer Chiefs football team on our flight from Jo'burg to Port Elizabeth!

Our overall song of the holiday  was Waca Waca (hop on/off bus tour version)