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| Off to a good start, Business Class on Turkish Airlines, via the .. | ..Business Lounge in Istanbul where there was an interesting .. | ..selection of food. Somerville got there first. | On the flight we had this nice man to look after our meals |
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| Off to a good start, Business Class on Turkish Airlines, via the .. | ..Business Lounge in Istanbul where there was an interesting .. | ..selection of food. Somerville got there first. | On the flight we had this nice man to look after our meals |
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| Once in South Africa we went straight to Pretoria for a few days. | A really poncey hotel, just as we like them, with lots of flunkies | Unfortunately there was no room for us in Mr Mandela's car. But | .we did find someone having a birthday party (with cake!) |
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| Then on to Rovos Rail. Before boarding the train there was time .. | ..to have a drink, then climb round their museum. | Then we met Rohan Vos (Rovos Rail, get it) for a publicity photo |
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| They had a special bear to look after us, before we boarded the. | .train. The cabin was a bit small, even for us. | .but the food was jolly good |
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| After a night rattling along on the train, they let us off to play here. | All very dramatic scenery, but small bears have to be very ... | .. careful not to fall into the water. You never know, as this is.. |
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| .. Africa, as there might be crocodiles here. We never saw them, .. | .. but there was lots of water falls and a really interesting bungee .. | ..jump, that the Madre would not let us do |
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| Back at the train, there was a big hold up because somebody .. | ..had stolen a couple of miles of overhead power cable. Some .. | thought it might have been us, but we could never carry that much. |
On Safari
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| Ready to hit Africa now, in the back of this safari truck. | The first animal we saw looked a bit like Pembroke | Then some Rhinos with their horns sawn off | And a Jackal |
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| Whew, after that lot, time for a bun and a cup of coffee | . Then we were off again | Effelump .. | ..very scary |
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| Zebras, not so scary | Another effalump | Then a break for lunch, and new friends. | And a bit of food |
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| "Zebra Crossing" get it !! | And a Water Buffalo .. | ..mean and vicious looking | Back at the train, they had our drinks ready |
Maputo, Mozambique
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| A day in Maputo, to sample the sights and more importantly to | have lunch. The railway station was quite grand, and we had a .. | ..photo with Samora Machel who is a big name round here. |
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| Unfortunately the helicopter was only a rusty statue | And lunch was at this really poncey hotel overlooking the sea. | Nothing quite like a bit of food after a heavy morning |
And the eSwatini - Somerville says it still is Swaziland to him
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| Wax effalumps, what will they think of next | Not quite sure what this is | But we know that these are Swazi dancers | |
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| Sitting on a kraal can be a bit painful | They would not let us play the drums | I don't think one is meant to sit on the roof |
Cheetah Sanctuary
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| Back onto our new safari wagon ... | ..complete with a new guide, Daniel, to look after us | .Apart from the "usual stuff" like zebras, there were.... | ..rhinos - three more for our ispy books |
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Then Pembroke spotted these really interesting Dung Beetles |
They get any available poo, roll into a ball and take it back home | Next we spotted some Cheetahs , before retiring to the lodge for | a snack...and while the Madre was at the loo, we bought Leo |
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| Back at the train, Leo jumped out, and she decided he could stay | The train had acquired a broken window. Suspicion, quite unfairly | fell on us boys. We showed Leo round the train . | At dinner we met a real African lady |
Great Zimbabwe - another one crossed off the Bucket List by the Boyzz
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| Looks like another of those piles of old stones that the padres .. | ..seem to like seeing. We have no idea why. | As we feared, another pile of fallen down old stones | It was quite a climb to get up here |
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| ..only to find even more heaps of old stones | Still the Padres like it .. | .. and this bit was quite impressive, even to us | Just time for a final photo before departing |
Antelope Park - A sad zoo, pretending to be a rescue centre
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| A nice traditional farmhouse, that now claimed to rescue lions. | But the lords of the jungle were far from proud lions. They were .. | mangy specimens held in captivity |
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| We did have a pleasant walk round the estate ... | ..and lapped up the hot African sun.. | ..before enjoying lunch |
Rhode's Grave - old stones on a massive scale
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| Now this fellow was really scary, and he had 2 friends as well. | We got up close on our paws, and it really was scary But then .. | ..the padres arrived, and it all seemed safer |
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| They then took us to see bushman paintings, but quite honestly .. | ..we thought that we could have done better. | We supervised the madre having a swim at lunchtime |
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| Then we got to the purpose of the day, to visit Rhodes grave. | Now we have no idea who this chap Rhodes was, but he did ... | ..choose himself a really nice spot here for his grave |
Hwange Park - we frighten ourselves with lions
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| A family of lions eating a baby elephant carcass. Did not seem .. | ..pleased to see us. Mummy lion looked particularly fierce, but as | ..in our family , daddy Lion is just an old pussycat |
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| . He just lay there and let Somerville have a photo with him. | Somerville then had his photo with elephants - always seems to .. | ..be Somerville who has his photo taken |
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| The lunch break was on safari chairs, so we grabbed a couple and | ..waited for the lunch boxes to arrive. | Back on the tren, Lawrence gave a farewell speech |
Victoria Falls - we leave the tren
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| We get to Vic Falls soon after breakfast, and quickly move to see | .the Victoria Falls. To well travelled bears like us, the Iguassu in | South America are more spectacular, but many of our less .. | travelled fellow passengers were duly impressed |
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| See what I mean Pembroke, not much water here. | But there was a nice railway bridge | Then best of all we got an ice cream, before going to Vic Falls | ..Airport and flying to Johannesburg |
Joburg - a night in this cute little hotel near the airport
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Fugitives Drift
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| Now this is the sort of hotel we really like, excellent room, good | food, but not too poncey. | Outdoor dining. But the reason they come here is to see battle | .sites from Zulu wars. First stop was Isandlwana, which .. |
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| seems to be very quiet today, with just a few grave markers. On.. | ..reflection, we are probably safer here today, than we would have | ..been during the battle | All that battling makes us hungry, so we were glad to get |
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| ..afternoon tea, and a rest back in the room. Before tackling .. | ..Rorke's Drift. Peaceful place today, but back then, Mayhem. | You would have thought that against 5000 Zulu, the 130 British .. | would not have stood a chance. But they were British .. |
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| made of sterner stuff and they did have rifles, so they survived | Just a memorial to the 17 British who died. 500 to 800 Zulu died | We were ready for afternoon tea again - they did a good one here | ..the padre put on an prodigious amount of weight |
Three Tree Hill - on to Boer Wars now
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| We had a nice pad overlooking Spion Kop. | Comfortable bed with views over a game park with rhino | Seemed to have the right number of meals | ..with plenty to drink to wash it down |
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| First off was site of Battle of Colenso. A complete mess up by the | British who failed to grasp they were fighting men with guns and | not spears. They even lost their artillery, and this chap was | captured. Called Winston Churchill, apparently famous |
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| We were kept going with regular supplies of buns | We never saw very much through the telescope | A turn at supervising the madre on her swim | And we had lots of new friends in our bungalow |
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| And another battle site - Spion Kop. The British got pasted on the | ..top of Spion Kop. Leaving a lot of dead behind | We visited their memorial .. | ..and saw where they climbed the hill |
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| We had a battle explanation on the site of the battle. | Luckily the guide remembered to bring a jar of Biscuits | All in all, the food just kept coming | ..and coming |
Cathedral Peak, our final stop high in the Drakensberg Mountains
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| A spectacular setting with the mountains silhouetted | a fine terrace for drinks, which happily were very cheap | Food was not as good as our other stops, apart from the carvery |
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| We found Father Xmas, it confused us as it was well before Xmas | There were lots of Impala wandering in the grounds | and drinks to enjoy on the terrace |
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| Happily padres were too idle to carry us on their walks, so we | .. were saved the rigours of climbing the distant peaks that they did | And here is the madre waving from the dining room window |
And so to Moraira
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| Back home via Business Lounges, and | Business Lounge food | and more Business Lounge food | ..before getting back to Valencia and serious dieting |