Monday 26 January to Thursday 11 February 2009
Left Heathrow and headed for South Africa and some fun in the sun - sadly accompanied all the way by a screaming baby in the seat in front!! 11 hours later (with frayed nerves from no sleep) we were met at Cape Town airport by Jenny and Ian and whisked off to Reibeek Wes to lie by the pool and recuperate!
Next day temp. is 23c and rising! Up early and on the road to Cederburgh where friends of J&I have offered us all a couple of days in their timeshare cabin at the Kamma Kagga Reserve somewhere in the middle of the Cederburgh National Park. Drove through stunning scenery, stopping often to photograph amazing red rock formations, turning off the main road onto sand and dirt track for miles until we reached the reserve and our cabin. Just a few cabins set in the middle of absolutely nowhere - all around is wild, rocky scenery for as far as the eye can see - generator off at 10.00pm - my kind of place. The silence is very eerie, nothing.....and no lights anywhere. There is a swimming pool here (extremely cold) which no-one is interested in except us - or maybe there is no-one else around as it is mid-week. BBQ (or brai as they call it in SA and bed are the only things to do at night, no problem with that either.
Early morning ,and whilst it is cool, decided to go for a walk - there are so many trails, but sadly we didn’t have much of a map and the scrubland around the paths is hard to walk through. Needless to say we got lost, legs scratched to bits but after climbing the highest rock we could find, saw the cabin in the distance and headed back towards it through the aforementioned scrubland. Not easy going. So after a longer than planned walk (and a short run for me) we had a great breakfast in the sunshine. So lovely to be able to eat outdoors after such a long winter in the UK. For the rest of the morning we spent 100r on a guided trek to see some Bushman rock art reputedly over 4,000 years old, cameras clicking away, then back to the coldest Windhoek beer I have had since we left Namibia-yum..... Temperatures now hitting 30c, so we spent the afternoon in the water and exploring the rocks and crevices around our cabin. At 6.00pm Sheila, Jenny and Ian went on a Sundowner trip but I decided to opt out and spent 2 hours in complete silence - there is just no sound here at all except the wind through the scrub and the occasional bird. Watched the sun go down from the top of the rock behind our cabin and then it was pitch black outside. BBQ and bed again.....
Our pool in the middle of nowhere
Up around 6.00am again, (this would be killing me in the UK you know) and then back on the road towards Reibeek West via Tulbach, where we stopped and did a bit of shopping. Not done much of that so far, but I am sure that will change in the not too distant future - Sheila is a girl who loves to shop!!! I bought a warthog for the garden - what more can I say!!!! Back in Reibeek we lounged around J&I's pool, drank wine, chatted and generally this is all making you pretty fed up with me I guess....
It is now the 30th January - Can't sleep here for some reason. Up at 5.00AM yes 5.00AM (I didn't know such a time existed) and decided to get some exercise so donned the running kit and headed out for some crippling stuff. Reibeek is built on hills, but it was great to slowly crawl up the hills and run down the other side watching the sun come up over the town. No-one around at all, but probably p... everyone off as every house has a dog in the yard, and every dog likes to bark at me when I pass!
J&I are having friends over for a curry supper so we needed provisions. The town is really just one main street with basic shops down one side and with bank, post office, petrol station and restaurant on the other. As it’s a Saturday everyone is in town, not many white people to be seen but plenty of people shopping, chatting and the whole place feels alive. After yesterday morning's run down the main street with not a soul in sight, it was quite weird seeing so many people hanging around. Still hot, it never seems to rain when I am here and I am not complaining. Spoke to Doug on the phone and all well at home I'm told although extremely cold with snow forecast. The evening went well and everyone had a good time, drank far too much (as usual) and met some interesting people. Hospitable lot the South Africans!
Early morning view from my bedroom in Reibeek
A whole week has gone by and haven't done very much. Been watching the weather forecasts in the UK and everything seems to have come to a halt due to large quantities of snow (well, large for that UK that is...) Am extremely miffed that I am missing it as its been a long dull winter in the UK and the first hint of something exciting and I happen to be away in the sunshine. Oh well, I guess I should not complain but then I usually do! Sheila and I tend to spend whole days just lazing around, reading, writing and just generally doing nothing much. Drinking fab SA wine of course, it is our duty to try as many as possible whilst here to enable us to purchase a select few to take home to our menfolk (well, thats what we tell ourselves anyway....)
Jenny & Ian went into Cape Town for a Burns Night , dressed to kill - Ian in a kilt - temps hitting 38c, wonder whether a kilt is cool to wear or not??? Depends whats under it I suppose. When they returned we decided to go on a road trip to Stellenbosch (and a little more wine tasting) and ended up purchasing some very nice Simonweg Shiraz to take home. On the way back we stopped at a friend's farm where they are hoping to attract visitors to stay over for a few days - took a trip up the Paarlaburgh mountains in the family 4x4 and the views from the top were stunning of course. The family also run a vineyard (Two Oceans Sav. Blanc very very nice) - lovely bunch of people and very hospitable.
This trip was followed by more shopping and not doing a lot other than swimming and running in a feeble attempt to keep fit whilst doing very little for the rest of the days spent in Reibeek - pathetic I know but very enjoyable. Returning home much refreshed and looking forward to seeing Doug... A big thanks to Jenny and Ian for putting us up (or putting up with us whichever...)
Next trip is to Maderia - walking every single day for a week - so feel quite justified in not doing much on this trip.
Annie x
No comments:
Post a Comment