Tag: adventure

South Africa Safari 2025 Day 7- The day of the Giraffe

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We were sad to say goodbye to the so much improved Berg-en-dal…..not only did all the facilities work and the restaurant served good food but more importantly the staff were helpful and charming …so different from the last 2/3 times we visited….this will and can only help to attract the visitors, particularly those who bring large amounts of foreign exchange into the country.

After another breakfast of fruit and yogurt we packed up, left R50 under the kettle for the housekeeper and headed out on our safari drive through to our next camp.

Unlike yesterday we saw absolutely no impala from camp to the main road. We did however see several majestic, skyscrapers, more commonly known as giraffes. So neither of us won the first spot of the morning as I had guessed warthog and John had guessed zebra.

We turned up onto the tar and headed up to the S114 which starts off running parallel to the Crocodile River. When the road branches north we stayed on the Crocodile Bridge Gate Road. We began to see a few impala…infact it was mid afternoon before we counted 99+….the previous day we had seen this number within 10 minutes of leaving the camp…..what a difference a day makes…

It was another grey moody sky, slightly cooler and the drizzle pixelated the windscreen. We were pleased to see the same White-Back Vultures …John now calls them WBV’s….They were once again in a social gathering roosting in tree tops, known as a “committee” of vultures. When there are a lot of them in flight they are often called a “kettle” of vultures….I have no idea why. You often find them in large groups, you can usually tell if they are near a kill because there would be different species of raptures and not all the same. When it’s all the same bird it tends to be a social committee.

We continued along to Crocodile Bridge camp…passing quite a few giraffes. At one point we stayed watching a very young one for ages. It seemed to be all alone and was stood still looking around. Some time later its mother reappeared, much to its and our delight. It galloped across the road obviously delighted to be reunited with its mum.

At Crocodile Bridge camp we used the toilets and stretched our legs in the shop. Unfortunately Crocodile Bridge isn’t in as good order, I couldn’t find a toilet with a lock on the door which actually worked…oh well if someone got an eyeful so be it 🤣🤣. I bought John the obligatory t-shirt…he nearly didn’t get it as I was about to walk out….the shop assistant on the till decided he would serve another person in-front of me even though I had been waiting sometime…I was defiantly made to feel that my skin was the wrong colour. What a shame when Berg-en-dal had really turned a corner and progressed since our last visit.

We didn’t linger at Crocodile Bridge camp and headed up the tar to Lower Sabi. Our animal count was 99+impala, 26 Giraffe, 14 warthog, 68 Elephants, 1 rhino, 2 waterbuck, 29 WBV, 1 African Fish Eagle, 1 Martial Eagle, 5 Kudu, 22 Zebra, 2 Steenbok, 1 wildebeest, 8 vervet monkeys, 3 bushbuck, 27 hippo, 4 terrapins, 1 grey heron, 1 cormorant, 1 crocodile and 2 Quail…..a great variety of wildlife spotting.

On arrival at Lower Sabi we quickly booked in. Our Chalet is No 7 perimeter. It is described as having a kitchenette. The car port is next to the front door and you enter into the bedroom with two singles next to each other, large bathroom with a large shower, a wardroom, two bedside plinths, great air conditioner and a stand for your case. The sliding glass doors open into a room with a table for 4, a fridge, hot plates, microwave , cupboards containing all the required crockery and the third bed. This room has another set of glass sliding doors on to the patio which has a table and seating, a braii stand and it all overlooks the Sabi River. We spent several hours enjoying watching the elephants walk from the far side of the river to graze on the grasses close to our chalets fence.

We lit the braii and this time successfully cooked two sirloin steaks which we ate with salad and rice with an oyster and spring onion sauce. The steak was a little over done but a vast improvement from the cremated sausages 2 nights previously…I gave myself 6/10 although John said he scored it higher….i am determined to have cracked this barbecue malarkey by the time we get home 🤣🤣

South Africa Safari 2025 Day 6 – The Day of The Rhino!

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What can I say ….Berg- en- dal certainly goes against the normal South African trend…in that people perceive things are gradually going down hill….not here in Berg-en-dal…..great chalet …woke up and had a superb shower lovely powerful hot water, my dearest husband made me coffee, then we sat outside eating fresh fruit salad and black cherry yogurt….the bird song and the vervet monkeys thumping on the thatched roof of the chalet along with the squirrels racing up and down near by trees kept us entertained.

As we wanted to head out into the bush we left the dishes from last night and breakfast in the sink. Our wonderful housekeeper had washed them all up and cleaned, made our beds and cleared out the ashes from yesterday’s braii, by the time we got back at midday…what great service.

For our morning drive we decided to head along the tar road and take the gravel road along where we had seen the leopard two nights previously. John got the first spot of the day ..a family of warthogs, digging in the mud for their breakfast…these really are lovely creatures many just call them pigs but their majestic gingery manes and fantastic curled up tusks makes them far more than “just pigs”. They always make me smile…I love the way they kneel down with their front lower legs tucked under them when they forage, very practical and a lesson for short people to follow🤣🤣

We had seen 99+ impalas before reaching the main road. Our drive consisted of seeing the usual array of wildlife. As we traversed the gravel road there was no sign of the leopard or its kill up the tree…however the bush decided to grace us with another spectacular sight. On the far banks of the river were 4 adult rhino and one youngster…WOW!!!! …we so rarely see rhino in the park because poaching has virtually eradicated them. The rangers have worked so hard to try and protect them, they are of course one of the species which is critically endangered . We were so excited, a couple of other cars pulled up and quickly moved on…obviously they didn’t understand the significance of seeing so many of these beautiful creatures all together…we sat along time in awe of these giants.

We continued our circular route around to Afsaal rest area and used the toilets and stretched our legs in the shop. We then drove back to Berg-en-Dal via the tar…suddenly we saw movement in the bushes and low and behold we viewed another large female rhino with her elder calf. This time these had been dehorned so they must have been part of the Parks breeding and protection project….what a great job the rangers are doing.

We got back to our chalet by 12,30 and John made us cheese rolls for lunch. We then had a couple of frustrating hours trying to get on the Internet…..we were not successful for long.

By 3 pm we were frustrated and decided to go for another drive. We stopped at the top of the hill outside the camp and “ping” we had internet…so we loaded some photos and uploaded yesterday’s blog…it was so speedy it took us all of 5 minutes. We drove along the Crocodile River for several kms before cutting up on a different track…again we saw some lovely sights…in particular a couple of giraffe who stood, in the middle of this quiet dirt track, looking at us as if to say “ what right do you have to drive on my track” …..eventually they moved and let us pass. We saw numerous elephants and some very cute youngsters. Our wildlife spotting count for the day was 99+ impala, 39 Elephant, 16 warthog, 4 vervet monkeys , 1 squirrel, 10 guinea fowl, 7 rhino, 6 kudu, 21 zebra, 3 wildebeest, 8 giraffe, 2 common duiker, 27 Chacma baboons, 1 dwarf mongoose, 1 ibis, 1 white backed vulture, 2 red-billed horn bill.

It was a cloudy cool, day with a moody sky which looked like rain clouds, so on returning to camp at 6.00 pm we decided to “ chicken out” of the braii and headed for the restaurant. John had venison pot pie with chips and I had half a grilled chicken and chips. We shared a piece of cake and a portion of ice cream for dessert…naughty but nice… This cost us £22 including our drinks …what a great place Berg- en -dal is.

Tomorrow we head to Lower Sabi Camp.

Portugal & Southern Spain trip – Day 15-18, May 24th-28th….The Algarve & Home

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We woke up to gnats/fleas everywhere…horrible…we sprayed again, choked on the poisonous fumes and realised the apartment was infested. After a quick breakfast we drove to Santa Eulalia Beach. With a carpark and hotel on the edge of the sand, it looked lovely. We pitched our beach chairs on the edge of the soft sand and the firmer wet sand. Here we took up residency, on the narrow strip. A few people were in the sea, which according to their squeals was very cold and it was also a steep drop so we decided to enjoy the sun in the dry…….That is until a big wave came and we both jumped up rescuing handbag and camera bag from the surf!!!! What a pair of muppets we are as we made a hasty retreat a yard or two higher up the beach.

As it looked as if we were going to be sat in the water again, we returned to the car and headed to the apartments hotel swimming pool. It was wonderfully empty with some good shaded sun-loungers…a lovely afternoon.

In the evening we headed back to the Golf resort across the road again. This time I had Grilled Veal…..or so it said on the menu, actually it was a really nice sirloin steak, with sweet potato fries and roasted vegetables, all for €18 . John had grilled tuna with sweet roasted potatoes and a tomato relish for €13.

Over the next couple of days we did much the same, sleep, sunbathe, eat and repeat. We had a drive into Albufeira and we found a nice ice cream place on the beach. We ate at the same place each night….alternating between sea bass, tuna and steak, we shared a different salad as a starter each night ….it was a really pleasant restaurant….even though I managed to trip up an unnoticed step and skid seal like along the mosaic floor on my boobs !!!!!! Ouch !!!! But it didn’t deter us from going, the service was good, the food was excellent and the price was reasonable….we couldn’t have asked for more.

Our apartment continued to cause anxiety. The window which had given us a nice view was now violated by the apartment opposite having major building work which started at 8.00 am each morning. The tip for the builders rubble was directly below our window so the noise and the dust was a constant intrusion to our peace and quiet. The gnats/ fleas never stopped being present and it took 3 days for the company it was booked through to get back to us…by which time we only had one full day and two nights left …so it was all too little too late ..

On our final morning we were packed and ready to leave by 10.00 am the time we had agreed to meet the owner/ ground agent to give her the keys and to get our €100 deposit back…..the time came and went….at 11.30 I tried to phone her no reply, I WhatsApp her no reply. At 12.00 I tried phoning on WhatsApp and got a reply. As she spoke no English the conversation was difficult but I think she understood “ now, now” At 12.30 she arrived and gave us our €100 back. We showed her all the gnats and the builders skip etc, she just shrugged and couldn’t have cared less….after all she had, had our money. A little later she WhatsApp me and said please don’t say anything bad about the apartment….wow! Was she joking or not……we certainly wouldn’t want any other tourist to spend their hard earnt money or holiday time in such a noisy infested place….all we can say is steer clear of Sun & Serenity at Balaia Da Mar holiday resort…the rest of the resort is fine.
We headed off to the airport in Faro. Dropped the car off. We only had £40 to pay for the cross border fee and all was good. We found where the EasyJet baggage drop was and although our flight drop-off desk number wasn’t displayed yet we stood in the queue. When we got to the front, an hour later, we were told we were 15 minutes too early and stood aside to wait. Sure enough in 15 minutes time we were allowed to drop our cases off. We went through to departures and the security scanning was very fast. However when we got to immigration there was only one desk open for non-EU and as the majority of tourists were from the UK we queued for an hour and three quarters…..we had to let some people go ahead as their gate was closing…it was mayhem, eventually another desk opened and everyone cheered. Phew at last in the departure lounge only to find out out 8.50 pm take off was delayed until 10.30 pm….oh well…time for a Burger King as it was that or a sandwich.
Our flight took off about 10.40pm and was uneventful landing at 1.20 am. It took forever for the baggage to come through…the carousel started turning at 2.00am and our bags were fairly quickly retrieved……one of our brand new cases has once again got a huge dented corner…..what a nuisance… We had been going to get the train home but we were both exhausted and it was so late that we grabbed a taxi….at that time in the morning it cost us £81.00….hey Ho, we were home and ready for a great sleep in our own bed.
What a great holiday we had had….superb apartment, beach and restaurants in Luz……a wild experience in El Rocío, a great time in Seville and good sunbathing and nice food back in the Algarve…a lovely 18 days spent relaxing and exploring.

Thank you for once again following us…we hope you enjoyed our trip as much as we did.

Portugal & Southern Spain – Day 10 Monday 19th May – The beach & Donana National Park ( again!)

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As we were only 10 miles from the coast we decided not to leave the area without at least taking a look. So we headed out of town, not by saddling up our horses!!, but in our 4 wheeled chariot, named Nissan!!!! We headed for Matalascanas. This is a purposed built seaside town, very popular with the Spanish. It is built in a compartmentalised fashion. This reminded us a little of Milton Keynes in layout. We found a non-paying parking space and walked to the sea front… a strangely angled concrete structure seemed to be a focal point of some interest….a bus load of Spaniards seemed intent on having their photo taken in front of it….so we did the same….!!!

It was very blowy so we decided not to frequent the beach and instead decided to investigate the town. Every compartment had a roundabout with a left turn into the area. These areas were named hotel, commercial, residential. Each roundabout had a great sculpture on it…

We retraced our steps back to El Rocio. After a little debate on how and which petrol to put in our chariot we succeeded in filling up for €71 ….petrols about the same price as in UK…but we are hybrid so using less. On returning to the hotel we were flabbergasted at what a difference a day makes….we had seen the town as bustling but on a Monday lunch time all the shops were shut. Walking down on to the square there were no horses or carts at all and only 2 of the street restaurants/cafes were open. We selected the one we had, had the rubber frisbee in rather than the one we had, had ham biltong in !!!!! We both went for paella because it would be soft and my gums are suffering from the hard inedible food. I’d stuck to yogurt and a banana for breakfast, so by now I was hungry. The paella arrived with two tiny shell on shrimps, a small strip of calamari, and quite a lot of chunks of meat which could have been goat, horse, cat!!! Who knows….but it was soft and that and the rice were very tasty.

Siesta time, the internet was down so we snoozed. At 4.00 pm we decided to take the car to the Parks Board office…there was no problem with parking as it really was a ghost town. The shops opposite the hotel had finally opened…

Having got to the Parks board office an hour early we had hoped our tickets would be number 1 giving us the first choice of seats on the bus…but alas they were No.7…. Never mind…. We waited out the hour before boarding the bus. We got a good window seat so we were happy. The bus was much bigger than yesterday’s , it was a 30 seater. Lucia gave us a warm welcome and off we went again. This time we saw far more cows grazing, prior to seeing a big herd of deer. We looked around the eucalyptus tree stumps for both rabbits, who evidently have their burrows there, and Linx, who evidently hunt the rabbits there…..but neither wanted to show them selves to us.

We disembarked at the same spot as yesterday. There was a marked difference in the bird species, in that we didn’t see any flamingo, but large flocks of spoonbills. They always make me laugh. We also saw some grebe, a pair of shovelers, a coot with their young and a lot of black/ glossy ibis.

The next stop was the visitors centre. Here we did see more flamingos, even more glossy Ibis and an array of waterfowl.

Before leaving the carpark we viewed the storks nest and thought we could see 3 chicks and the adult.

Our return trip to El Rocio was punctuated with lots of beautiful bird life…but alas the much desired viewing of a Linx eluded us. We thanked both the driver and Lucia for another great drive which concluded back at the Parks boards office at 9.00 pm. We then headed for a restaurant . The receptionist from the hotel had recommended an eatery near where we were and so we decided to give it a go. Wow…they were so helpful and tried with their English and Google translator. They brought us 5 different fish to choose from….the biggest was a sole so we went for that. The owner brought the scales to the table and weighed it and told us it would be €40 ….we gave him the thumbs up sign and off he went to cook it. Some 20 minutes later he returned with it cooked and proceeded to fillet it at the table. It may not have been very aesthetic but it tasted divine. They served it with frites and an onion and cold potato salad…. Wow it was good to finally eat something soft, tasty, delicious and we recognised what it was…. This was the best restaurant in town and really nice people who wanted to be helpful.

After supper we drove back to our hotel, with comfortably full tummies. Another lovely day…tomorrow we move on to Seville

Portugal & Southern Spain Adventure – Day 5 – Wednesday 14th May – A Day on the Beach- Luz.

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We didn’t rush this morning as the sky was very blue and the sun was hot. We made some nice brioche rolls up with ham, cheese and salami and took some crisps for our lunch…I wonder are you “A crisps in, or a crisps out” person…..John is definitely a crisps out where as I am very much a crisps in……We drove down to the beach, found a parking place straight away and hey presto we had quickly taken up residency….the wind was fairly brisk but the sun was very hot.
We both decided to take a dip so we strode out with determination and confidence to the edge of the sea…”ouch” cold or what…..but we persisted John up to his calves and me up to my bottom…after a mere few seconds we looked at each other and both said “nah”. It was a very hasty retreat back to the ever faithful warm comfort of the chairs. We sat for an hour or so watching a few extremely brave soles stride in dip their shoulders under and run out.
Just before lunch I decided to give it another go . This time I got as deep as my chest before once again beating a hasty retreat…..time for lunch …..

Whilst eating lunch a hopeful beggar arrived but we refrained from giving him anything.

By 2.00 pm John decided I was getting too lobster pink and we left the beach and returned to the apartments pool, where there was plenty of shade. I finally got a much yearned for swim…in the pool!,

Then time for a siesta back at the apartment. For those of you who know John, you will know he always denies having 40 winks……..the proof is in the picture ……

We decided to have a drive around Luz before supper. We had hoped to find another nice restaurant. Every eatery seemed to be pizza or tapas or 2 Indian restaurants. So we saw the church and returned to A Concha for a nice meal. We were peckish so we both had shrimp pate followed by grilled sea bass and then I had apple tart and John had chocolate cake and ice cream, washed down with a Coke Zero each…..all for the sum of €64.40. This really is a great place with superb friendly service and very reasonably priced for the quality of the food……our seafood diet continues.

Another wonderful day in the Algrave.