Cape Town: Arrival

And so we decide to go to Cape Town for the Africa Aerospace and Defence Expo at Ysterplaat Air Force Base. I booked a great little guesthouse come backpackers in Table View called Elements. Our Mango flight would depart at 18:40 on Thursday. Thank goodness we did an online check in so we had great seats! Due to very bad weather in Cape Town we could only arrive at 23:30!!!!

On arrival we accepted all the car rental terms and conditions and tried to find our way to Table View. Tired and cold we just passed out!

http://ww6.flymango.com/
http://www.elements-capetown.com/
http://cybercapetown.com/AroundAboutCars/

Watch this space for Day 1!!

Conferencing and Events

Have a look at this company. They render a great service and are not expensive at all. They will keep to YOUR budget and they can organise basically anything you require. Their website is not functional yet, but will hopefully be online soon!

Tswaing Crater

After sleeping very late on Sunday, we decided to get some good ol' O2 by visiting the Tswaing Crater. I must say, directions to this site is not good at all. Once we found the visitor centre it was empty - due to the fact that they had just moved in :) we were directed to the crater trail.

http://www.hartrao.ac.za/other/tswaing/tswaing.html

First of all, TAKE WATER! We thought that we might find a tuck shop at the venue - to our disapointment we had to take on the 7.2 km walk without a drop to drink. None the less, it was an enjoyable 3 hours. The path is safe and not difficult at all. It is not marked off very well, but this made our 7.2 km journey about 8km :)

http://www.footprint.co.za/tswaing.htm

I would definitely make a whole day of it next time. The fees are very much affordable and one can easily take the whole family - between 7 years and 60 years. There is ample space for picknicking and you could take a mountain bike on a certain stage of the trail.

Sterkfontein Caves - Cradle of Humankind

We recently went to The Cradle of Humankind, the former Sterkfontein Caves. Apart from the fact that I wasnt dressed warmly it was very insightful! I suggest you take a warm jacket - the cave stays around 12 degrees Celsius year round. Oh and It might be a good idea to take a torch. The guide has one but you may see something in a dark corner. Also, try to get there early, before the bigger groups arrive. When the groups are too big you cant really see very well.

Do yourself a favour and also visit the Wonder Caves, which are a short drive away. These caves are worth the cold damp darkness. Amazing Stalagmites make their appearance around every corner. The guides are well informed and engage with visitors.

Gaboon Adder

So our weekend at the Maphelane nature reserve was great. We took a hike along a very beautiful trail through the forest. I would suggest to weare ankle high hiking boots. WHY? We saw - and nearly stepped on - a Gaboon Adder/Gaboon Viper.

This is a deadly snake but thank goodness we saw it in time. It was not aggresive at all, in fact, it was just lying there. We could moce it out of the way and carefully proceeded with our hike.

The trail is very dense and there are many insects including large spiders. Take water along, and maybe something to nibble on.

This pic I grabbed from Google.

Pilanesberg

GOING ON SAFARI! well; with our sedan and with normal camreas - no fancy lenses! To be honest; I expected more animals. The park is really not that big and we saw elephant and one giraffe. What happened to the days were South Africa looked like the Serengeti? Animals used to roam the whole country! Now your chances of seeing the big five is limited to the curtains in you accommodation!

YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO HANG OUT OF THE CAR!!!

Hillcrest Shopping Centre

I went for a quick shopping hour to this place and I havnt been so irritated in a long time.  Firstly to get parking was a nightmare.  Fine I got a spot and went to the shop I needed to go to, got what I wanted and the - the nightmare began.  


I wanted an icecream but the shop only had frozen yogurt.  I then went to the superette next door and the lady at the till were I was standing just got up and left.  So did I!  I then went to Woolworths to get a chocolate - when I got to the front it cost R24!!!!!! I could by 10 icecreams!!!!!  so I went to Clicks and got a coke instead.  So when I got into my car the traffic was terrible just getting out of the parking area!!!!!!

Thank goodness for aircon in my office!!!!!