Due to the night drive and a very late night, we were allowed a lie-in this morning and Michael’s wake-up call didn’t happen until 7.15am. As it was our final morning in the reserve, he took us on a bush walk. After a short drive down the hill, we got out and walked single file behind Michael for about 90 minutes. It was fascinating to see that the animals (with the exception of the giraffes who were curious of us) were far more scared of us on foot than they were when we were in the truck. Most of them ran away once they spotted us in the distance, whereas in the truck they would just stare at us and let us get incredibly close. We saw lots of animals but mainly from a long way away and thankfully, we didn’t bump into any rhino, elephants or cheetahs and the lions all live on the other side of the river!

We returned to the truck and headed back for one last breakfast feeling sad it was nearly all over.

It was then time to check-out. Michael brought our car up and loaded our cases for us and we said our farewells to everyone, including our game drive partners, Joigen and Jeanne, who had been fantastic company and who strangely were on the same flight from Port Elizabeth.

It took us 30 minutes to drive the 9km to exit the reserve and we savoured every minute looking out at the animals before joining the R72 and then R2 for the 1hr30m drive to Port Elizabeth. It’s been a pleasure driving on the South African roads. The surfaces are good, the roads are wide and there are very few cars once you leave the big towns/cities. Everything is very clearly signposted and it was a real experience with the incredible landscapes and scenery. We dropped the car off at Avis rentals which was right next to the Arrivals lounge, to complete just over 1200km of driving throughout the trip.

Our flight with South African AirLink was excellent and it took only 1hr40 to Johannesburg where we had a 4 hour wait for our connection home. We passed the time shopping and had dinner before boarding For Heathrow at 9.15pm. The flight home was nearly 12 hours and we were all exhausted so managed some reasonable sleep before landing home at 8am the next day.

Words fail me now as I’m not sure I can do this incredible country justice in summing it up. We have been awestruck by its scale and beauty, everyone has been so friendly and helpful and we have met some incredible people, had some incredible experiences and have made memories that will stay with us forever. Thank you South Africa and see you again soon!!

Our last full day dawned and we were up and about early again. We headed for the far side of the reserve to try and find the hippos to start with. A beautiful drive took us down to the Kariega River as the sun rose. We saw an amazing variety of animals on route and were lucky to find a hippo wallowing alone in the water. We then stopped for coffee (with a dash of Amurula!) and hot chocolates before heading back to the lodge for breakfast.

On the way back in, we really hit the jackpot by finding the 2 male lions! They were fast asleep up against a bush with big fat tummies so had clearly got lucky hunting last night. The 2 four year old brothers were quite something and we were all in absolutely awe of them. They were complete unfazed by us and we got scarily close!

We watched them for as long as we could before we had to return to Settlers Drift, very late for breakfast!

After breakfast, we relaxed in the hot sun by the pool. I had a massage and Issy had a facial and we enjoyed the tranquility that the lodge and our lovely rooms offer before a light lunch.

After lunch we headed out to see if we could get a better look at the cheetahs. Working on a hunch, Michael took us to the far boundary of the reserve and to our amazement they were just sat in the sun on the track round the fenceline! We got as close as we dared and sat and watched them. Unbelievably, they then walked towards us and right past our truck. They were so close we could have touched them. They are incredibly graceful creatures and absolutely beautiful to look at.

We then headed back across the reserve to check up on the Male Lions. In the 8 hours since we saw them previously, they had managed to move about 20 feet to another sleeping spot! It’s amazing how relaxed they were and happy to sleep all day, safe in the knowledge that no one is going to bother them. We also saw a Caracle, a smaller feline predator that only comes out at night usually. It really was a day of spotting the ‘cats’ in the reserve.

As the sun set, we headed back to Settlers for an early dinner as we were heading out again later on a night drive. However, Michael had yet another surprise for us on our last evening. As we neared home, we saw some lights in a little opening in the trees. Quite amazingly, a table with drinks and chairs around a blazing fire had been set up for us. Michael produced a bottle of champagne and we all sat around the fire for half an hour or so, not quite believing how lucky we were!

When the darkness fell, we got back into the truck and headed home for dinner, then togged back up into our safari gear for our 9pm night drive. We were all shattered but keen to go out into the night. We headed back to the far side of the reserve to see if we could see the hippos out of the water. As it was dark, we had to go a lot slower and it really was a challenge to stay awake! In fact, Issy & Tessa had a proper sleep through most of it and the rest of us had a few minutes of shuteye as well!

It was much more peaceful than I expected and lots of the animals were lying down which really surprised me, particularly the prey animals who I thought would be on the move. We saw numerous hippos out of the water and a few km from the river grazing and then we went back to see if the Male Lions were out on the hunt. Incredibly they were still asleep in exactly the same place! They had slept there for at least 12 hours and probably more! Unbelievably lazy!!

We eventually got back to the Lodge, all utterly exhausted, at 1.15am and went straight to bed!!

Happy 50^th birthday Becky!! Again we were up with the dawn at 5.30am and headed out into the bush with our target this morning being the lioness with her 3 cubs. It was a much warmer morning which was a relief as yesterday had been really cold. No one had seen the cubs for nearly a week and we spent a good 2 hours scanning a wide ranging area but had no luck. We did however see another herd of elephants close up and the real highlight was a Black Rhino who came right up to the truck and wished Becky a very happy birthday!!

On such a special day, it was only right that Michael sprang another surprise on us. We were heading back when he announced we would walk the remaining distance. We met a porter at a set of gates who would take the truck back and we set off into the bush on foot. Within minutes we stumbled upon a jetty with a speedboat moored up. We all got on board, Michael served us drinks and then we set off for home. It was beautiful with several varieties of kingfishers out looking for their breakfast and diving into the water which was just lovely.

We breakfasted in the main lodge before returning to our rooms to open some birthday cards and speak to family back in the UK. Becky then had a massage, Tessa a manicure and Eliza a facial, whilst Issy and I sunbathed by the pool and we rested up ahead of another exciting afternoon. Michael wanted to leave earlier to have another go at finding the Lion cubs.

After a light buffet lunch we set off into the bush again. It had clouded over and was actually quite chilly. We again spent a couple of hours looking for lions but sadly had no luck. We did see 4 white rhinos, including a baby who came right up to the truck and sniffed my knee! We also saw a Buffalo which brings us up to 4 of the ‘Big Five’!

We headed home to a beautiful sunset. We were greeted by the lodge staff in full African regalia. The lodge was now almost full with new arrivals so to celebrate they threw us a Braai (BBQ). After an incredible meal they brought out a beautiful cake for Becky’s birthday and everybody sang to her. We were then treated to some traditional African singing and dancing which was wonderful before retiring to bed ahead of another early start tomorrow!

We woken at 5.30am on the dot with a call from Michael. The morning was chilly so we togged up and met him in the foyer where we had hot drinks and a muffin, before boarding the safari truck with a hot water bottle and a thick blanket each. We had been joined late on last nights safari by a Danish couple – Joergen and Shana, who were great company and who would be with us on all of our drives.

The sun was just starting to rise as we headed out into the bush. We headed to the opposite side of the river to yesterday looking for lions and elephants. In almost no time at all we stumbled across 2 lionesses looking longingly at a field full of Gazelles. Sadly they were the wrong side of the river so completely safe but it was fascinating to see how focused the lions were on potential breakfast! We got petrifyingly close to them but thankfully they just ignored us and settled down for a little rest before moving on to pastures new.

We moved on and it is really impossible to document everything we saw but it wasn’t long before we found our favourites, the elephants!

We pulled up and had coffee and hot chocolates over a fabulous viewpoint from the truck about halfway through. Michael then heard over the radio about the position of the elusive cheetahs so we set off to find them. We pulled up at the bottom of a steep slope lined with electricity pylons which we couldn’t navigate in the truck. To our amazement, Michael hopped out of the truck, and said we were walking. Luckily he was armed with a big….stick!?! Slightly nervous we headed up the hill to the last sighting of the cheetahs. We found a fresh kill, a young male ostrich, but sadly(or maybe luckily) the cheetahs were not there so we walked back down to our truck.

As we headed back for breakfast, Michael diverted away from the lodge saying he just wanted to check on something. After a few minutes we rounded a corner into an open pasture and saw that all of the staff had set up the breakfast in the bush for us! It was such a surprise and apparently only possible as it was us staying at the lodge currently. We had full choice of the continental breakfast table and they had also cooked the hot breakfast items over the fire. It really was incredible.

When we eventually returned to the lodge the girls spent several hours basking in the sun by the pool whilst I watched the Women’s World Cup final in the library with a couple of beers! Well done Spain, deserved 1-0 victors over England.

At 3.30pm we headed out again for our afternoon game drive. Michael decided to return to the cheetahs kill sight hoping they may have returned to eat. Again we nervously walked up the hill and sure enough, Michael was right! 2 Cheetahs were at the kill sight and we watched on for 10 minutes from a safe distance. They are very well camouflaged so were difficult to see at times but it was exhilarating being on foot so close to them.

We moved on and again had an amazing drive, seeing so many amazing animals. The other real highlight was a herd of 19 elephants including babies which was absolutely lovely.

We had sundowners safari style then as we drove home in the dark, we came across 4 white rhinos blocking our path just outside the lodge. We followed them along the road and thankfully they turned off before reaching the lodge otherwise things might have got quite interesting!

We had a lovely evening meal back at Settlers Drift, this time by the patio, before another early night ahead of tomorrows 5.30am alarm call!

We awoke early this morning, aware that we had a 3 and a half hour drive to Kariega and also wanting to get there in time for the afternoon game drive. We left Plettenberg Bay just before 9am and had a fairly seamless journey down Route 2 toward Port Elizabeth (now known as Gqeberha). PE is a very industrial city and frankly not pleasant to look at as you drive through, although apparently they have made great strides in recent years to improve things.

Shortly after PE we took the R72 towards Kenton-on-Sea and 40 minutes later arrived at Kariega Game Reserve, a journey just touching 4 hours in total. After passing through several sets of serious looking gates, we drove down another 4km of dirt track. On route we saw springboks, impalas and giraffes in the distance before we were met by a lovely porter who informed us we would be arriving at Settlers Drift by river boat!! He showed us down to the jetty where we said goodbye to the car for 4 days, he then packed all of our luggage into his jeep and served us drinks while we waited for the boat to arrive.

When it arrived, we met Michael, who will also be our safari guide for the duration of our stay, and off we set for Settlers Drift. With incredible scenery all around, we made our way up the Bushman’s river for about 20 minutes before getting onto a safari jeep for the last few minutes up to Settlers Drift. We were greeted with warm towels and a welcome drink and shown around our accommodation which is just beautiful. We are currently the only ones here but are expecting another couple later today.

After a light lunch we then headed straight out for our first game drive which was quite something. We saw a whole host of animals but the highlights were the many giraffes and a white rhino. We also saw a herd of over 30 elephants the other side of the river, which hopefully we will see more closely tomorrow.

Michael drove to a lovely viewpoint as the sun went down and served us drinks and snacks from the Truck which was quite amazing.

We were again greeted back into Settlers Drift on our return at 7pm with hot towels and another drink and after we freshened up we ate a fabulous meal in the wine cellar before returning to our tents for an early night ahead of the 5.30am wake up call for our dawn game drive tomorrow!

Today was our last day here in Plett before moving on and we were keen to see a bit more of Knysna as we had only driven past it earlier in our trip. After a light breakfast in our little cottage, we headed up the R2 and parked at the waterfront in Knysna central. We spent a lovely couple of hours wandering about and checking out the shops and even found the hotel my parents had stayed at when they had visited – Knysna Log Inn.

We ate Pizza’s for lunch at 34 Degrees South which was a great little place overlooking the water before heading back east for the hours drive to Plettenberg Bay Elephant Sanctuary. Our trip back coincided with the scheduled Load Shedding and it was interesting navigating some busy junctions without the ‘Robots’ (SA for traffic lights!!) working. Thankfully once we got back on the main route we had traffic officers directing the traffic which made things a little more orderly!

The Elephant Sanctuary was an amazing place and currently has 5 elephants (4 females and a male) in residence, all rescued as orphaned babies. 2 were rescued in Kruger National park and the other 3 were intercepted whilst travelling en-route from Botswana to somewhere in the Far East illegally. None of them would have survived in the wild so thankfully they have found a good home!

We were able to walk hand in trunk with them, interact with them and feed them and it was a real privilege to share an hour with these magnificent creatures. We walked with Tandi, Marula (the matriarch) and Jabul and they were so gentle and responsive. It really was a highlight of our trip so far. As well, as interacting with them, Patrick our guide was an amazing authority on the elephants and we all learned so much from him.

After saying goodbye to the elephants, we headed back to the cottage for a couple of hours before our final excursion back into Plett for a meal at `The Fat Fish’ which had come highly recommended and didn’t disappoint. We had a lovely meal before returning home shattered after another busy day.

Tomorrow we set off on our final leg of this journey with a 4 hour drive East on Route 2 to Kariega Game Reserve.

After another lazy morning and breakfast at home we set off on the hours drive to the Mouth of Storms River (which signifies the end of the Garden Route) in the Tsitsikamma National Park only to quickly turn back as Eliza was wearing sliders, not the best footwear for a days hike! This led to the first drama of the day as when we eventually got back and collected her trainers, one had a scorpion in it!! Needless to say, we will all be checking our shoes a bit more carefully in the future!

We were soon back on the road though and enjoyed the ride out from Plettenberg Bay. It was a stunning day with barely a cloud in the sky and very sunny. Along the way we crossed the boundary between the West Cape and East Cape which is a large bridge spanning a deep valley and pretty cool!

We eventually reached the car park, right on the coast, deep inside the Tsitsikamma National Park which covers 650km2 between Plett and Humansdorp as well as spanning over 80km of coastline. The route into the park took us through numerous sites of deforestation as well as lots of evidence of the replanting of trees. It is a beautiful place and well worth a visit.

We hiked the Mouth trail which took us down to the coastline and across 3 magnificent suspensions bridges which spanned the valley formed by the mouth of Storms River. Crossing these was great fun as they swung and bounced as we walked across.

Once across the bridges we then began a very steep ascent to the lookout point, right on top of the ridge line of the hills framing the valley. It was very hard work, particularly on such a hot day, but the views were stunning and well worth the exertion. After lots of pit-stops to catch our breath we eventually reached ‘Lookout Point’ and we weren’t disappointed with the views.

We made our way back down considerably quicker and rewarded ourselves with an ice-cream from the shop before returning home for a shower.

We spent the evening at Nguni, a lovely restaurant in the heart of Plett and had a great meal. Load shedding tonight was during the antisocial hours of 8.00pm-10.00pm so the power cut out during our meal but the restaurant are obviously used to it and carried on regardless. It just meant we couldn’t have a coffee at the end.

We then made our way back to Fynbos Cottages which was quite surreal, driving at night in a blackout. It also means this blog is slightly later as I have had to wait for everything to come back on before I can post it!!

After a hectic few days and with nothing to get up particularly early for, we enjoyed the luxury of a well earned lie-in this morning. It was quite a chilly start to the day and after some breakfast in our cottage, we set out for Robberg Nature Reserve which is a small peninsular just off the end of Plettenberg Bay where the weather took a turn for the better and we were blessed with clear skies and bright sunshine.

The reserve has several hiking trails and we took the 5.5km option which it turns out was quite breathtaking in both scenery and fitness requirements! The hike took us around the peninsular and included quite a lot of scrambling, climbing steps and navigating large dunes and big boulders but for each and every exertion we were rewarded with incredible views and even saw whales in the bay as we walked.

At one point we came to the aptly named Seal point where you could see (and smell) literally hundreds of seals, both in the water and on the rocks sunning themselves. It was quite a sight!

The halfway point of the hike saw us reach some incredible sand dunes that led down to the beautiful Indian Ocean which the girls enjoyed running down but the sand was so deep in places it was quite tough going.

A boardwalk lifted us out of the sand and around another little peninsular before we set off across the beach around the far side of the reserve. More scrambling and climbing eventually saw us back in the car park nearly 4 hours after we started but it was well worth the exertions.

Sweaty and sandy we headed home for showers all round and a delicious home cooked meal. The girls watched ‘The little mermaid’ while they had the chance before the electricity goes off again at 10pm tonight!

We checked out of the lovely Bird’s Cottage after another excellent breakfast ready for the next leg of our journey and set off for Mossel Bay on the R328 (88km). The route was another stunning drive up and over the mountains with incredible views around every corner and we even got held up by a troop of Baboons in the road at one point!

Our initial thoughts on arriving in Mossel Bay were ones of disappointment as we were expecting a surfers paradise but found it to be incredibly built up and industrial. It was also the first time this trip that we were stuck in traffic for a bit. However once we got through the industrial sector to the centre it did turn into a charming seaside town.

We then joined the R2 which signalled the start of the Garden Route and which would take us all the way to Plettenberg Bay (another 140km) past the towns of George, Wilderness and Knysna.

We quickly passed George and chose to stop in Wilderness for a light lunch at the Ilali restaurant. Becky’s mum had stayed in Wilderness when she was 17 having taken a boat from England all the way for 3 weeks to Cape Town so it was nice to follow her footsteps nearly 70 years later! We picked up some groceries from the local spa and got back on R2.

The scenery was lovely and you can see why it is called the Garden Route. I imagine its even more spectacular in the spring/summer when everything is in full bloom. We made swift progress and passed through Knysna which was a favourite place of my parents when they came a few years ago. Shortly afterwards we arrived in Plettenberg Bay and found the Fynbos Ridge Country House and Clivia Cottage, our accommodation for the next 4 nights. The views are stunning over the valley from our patio and we feel like we are in the middle of nowhere.

After settling in, we headed into the centre of Plettenberg Bay and had a walk along the beach. There were lots of warnings about sharks and there was also a Shark Bite First Aid kit available which was interesting!

After a brief stroll in the sand, we headed into town and had a lovely meal at Nineteen 89 which the girls loved as it is the name of a Taylor Swift album (and it had incredible milkshakes!).

Load shedding was due to start at 10pm so we returned to our cottage promptly to get ourselves sorted for bed and write this blog before the electricity cuts out!

The alarm went off at 6.30am and we got up before the sun this morning to make the short drive to Buffelsdrift Game Lodge. It was a quite beautiful setting to watch the sun rise, although a bit chilly. We mounted the large safari truck with blankets in hand and headed out into the bush. Along the way we saw our first Springbok, quickly followed by several more and could also see elephants in the distance but our target was the Meerkats and we soon stopped beside their large burrow system.

After a short wait, they started to emerge into the morning sunlight, one by one, with the scouts coming out first to check it was safe! They really are amazing little creatures and have quite the morning routine. Once the whole ‘Mob’ were out in the open (18 in total in this family group) they all stand alert looking out for danger. Then slowly they relax and settle in to groom each other. This is followed by some play fighting and then some burrow maintenance where they clear the entrance holes of any obstructions. Finally they head off at quite a pace into the bush hunting. They were absolutely not worried about our truck being so close as they have learned that it no threat to them.

They have a clear hierarchy of power with an Alpha female bossing the group who is the only one allowed to have any babies and they also ingeniously have other ‘pit-stop’ burrows every 50m or so that they can use as shelter from predators if they need to. These pit-stops can be spread over up to 5km away from their main burrow so they are never far from safety. They also have front and rear scouts who don’t move at the same time to keep an eye on the rest of the ‘Mob’ and ensure they move safely as a group.

After they disappeared into the bush on their hunt, the safari was over and we headed back to our cottage for breakfast.

After a little rest back in our cottage, we then headed out to Cango Caves, a large and extensive cave network. We had two tour options, the heritage tour and the adventure tour. We had to laugh because the adventure tour was labelled as only suitable for ‘lean people’!! Needless to say we choose the heritage tour. The caves were quite enormous with incredible stalagtites and stalagmites, some as old as 1.5 million years and we spent an enjoyable hour wandering around the 6 main cave chambers.

On our way home we stopped off at the Cango Ostrich Farm for a tour and to meet some ostriches. Our guide explained all about the ostriches and walked us through the incubator room (incredibly they can get up to 120 eggs per female every breeding season which last 9 months!) and then out to meet and feed some of the ostriches. It was great fun to interact with them and a must-do if you come to Oudtshoorn, Ostrich capital of the World!

We had another lovely supper in the hotel restaurant (Issy had Wild Boar!) before returning to our cottage very weary after a brilliant day in Oudshoorn. Tomorrow we start the Garden Route at Mossel Bay and drive to Plettenberg Bay!