After we got off the Silver Cloud in Cape Town, it was straight into a rental car, and look out South Africa, here we come
First stop was Birkenhead House Hotel at Hermanus
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| If you want a poncy hotel, and we do, this is the one | A decent glass of Gin & Watermelon on arrival | Some great views | Free cakes in the afternoon |
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| And Good OJ for breakfast | We were visited by the madre's cousin John Lyons | We had a family photo overlooking the sea | We could sit here all day |
Then on to Swellendam and a Swell Hotel
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| the call Schoone Oordt Hotel, which we cannot pronounce | Nice restaurant and they gave the madre an after birthday drink | The padres wanted to join us for breakfast. | But we can eat more if we are by ourselves |
Then further east to Plettenberg Bay, and Emily Moon Hotel (we can pronounce that)
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| Not a bad view over the winding river | A period sort of feel to the bedroom | With a view over the river | Here we are supervising breakfast |
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| We went to this enormous aviary .. | ..which was chock a block full of birds .. | ..of every colour | shape and size |
Next stop was the Rosenhof Hotel in Oudtshoorn - another name we cannot remember nor can we pronounce
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| This was poncy in the sort of way we do not like | We had to make our own afternoon tea | Madre wanted this photo included, we will leave you to say why |
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| A family visit to these impressive caves | We explained to the madre how the rock formations were formed | Quite like fairyland |
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| The ostrich farm was a bit scary, this one had a go .. | ..at Pembroke | You would not want to meet him on a dark night |
The Montagu Vines Hotel - another one we can pronounce
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| We drove over some scenic mountains to get to Montagu | A posh wall | The lady owner brought us a flask of wine, but only on day one | Not a vine in sight, our view wasa large olive grove |
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| We enjoyed their breakfast | The madre just managed to enjoy their (small, cold) pool | Happily we found a good bun outlet in town | Baked everything themselves, fresh daily. Bliss |
On to Bushman's Kloff. Our longest stay of this trip, at four nights, the fourth being a free night
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| We got settled in at Bushman's Kloff | Checked out the food | .. bagged a table for breakfast | ..and found a leopard to give us a ride |
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| ..a bit undignified | Then we found the nice man to take us out for a drive | He had an instant food kit that he put on the back of the jeep | The madre enjoyed coffee with a shot of Amarulla |
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| Same each morning at a different location .. | he sets up our pre breakfast, breakfast | After that it was "all aboard" | ..and off we go |
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| You would not believe this, the padres get up at 7am to see .. | ..this | ..we could have knocked out better paintings | ..and they could have stayed in bed |
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| We saw this chap every day. The padre thought it was plastic | A cute little hare | and lots and lots of other animals | This is a rock hydrax |
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| Zebras were everywhere. They stopped us on the road | ..and stared at us out of the bush | A fine Oryx | We tend to stay clear of ostriches these days |
Strandloper Hotel at Paternoster.
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| We were right on the sea here | They had one of the best welcome trays we have seen | The breakfast was nor bad either |
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| An enormous bedroom | And a terrace overlooking the sea | We enjoyed it here |
Our final stop was at Franschhoek, in South Africa's wine country
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| A nice enough bedroom. | But the breakfast was terrible. Packeted OJ, stale buns | ..but a free bar | We are not big on monuments |
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| ..but we like trams. This was a real old tram | ..which took us to the vineyards | One of the places we stopped had this helpful sommelier | ..she plied u with lots of wines |
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| Then back on the tram to other vineyards | It was a bit spoilt by the free glass of wine, which was terrible | A tractor took us from one tram stop to a vineyard | And the nice lady owner here was very enthusiastic |
After Franschhoek it was straight to Capetown Airport and back to Alicante via Istanbul
