“September ’77 Port Elizabeth weather fine, It was business as usual in police room 619” This song was running through my head the entire time i was in Port Elizabeth. My family got tired of hearing me sing these words over and over. However this song was incredible -for many it was the first time their eyes we opened to what was going on in South Africa! Released in 1980, it made me look up what apartheid meant and it was then that i learned about South Africa, Mandela and apartheid. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biko_(song) Port Elizabeth was a required stop on the …
Category: General
Horseback Riding at Buccaneers
Horseback Riding was offered at Buccaneers and we were keen but we had tried riding in Mongolia and Skye had a bad experience! The horse she was on got spooked and fell over on its side! Somehow Skye managed to get off and just walk away – it was truly quite an athletic achievement! However it seemed that her horseback days were over before they started. M.C. and i were keen to literally get her back in the saddle! After a lot of support and gentle coercion, Skye agreed to give it another try! So it was me and the …
African Beading at Buccaneers
One afternoon all four girls joined Buccaneers Owner Lynne for an afternoon of African beadwork! They all bonded with Lynne and I bonded with beer and read my book! It was an afternoon of beads, learning, laughs and creativity. All five of them seemed to have a blast and I got a lovely bracelet from Kaia! As we are a wee bit older than the average backpacker and our girls are a wee bit younger than the average backpacker, the adults s to connect with the hostel owners, and the kids often connect with the owners kids/grandkids… As mentioned in …
Road to Chintsa
With our amazing scuba time in the warm parts of the Indian Ocean now over, it was back to catch up with the Baz Bus for a long day on the road to Chintsa, just east of Port Elizabeth. I had heard of a great hostel called Buccaneers so we thought we would check it out. We got our transfer through our friends at ScubaXcursion again – however our driver was so excited to tell us about his work, his family etc that we blew by where we were supposed to meet the Baz Bus and had to scramble to …
Aliwal Shoal
While diving in Sodwana, we found out that the info we had on diving Aliwal Shoal was incorrect. Aliwal is famous for lots and lots of Ragged-Tooth Sharks. We contacted the only accommodation recommended by the Baz Bus that was in the area of Aliwal Shoal. The fellow there said it was too rough and too dangerous for kids to dive….not building any confidence with the parents for sure! However Neville and the gang at Sodwana were very confident our young divers could cope. We were always told that both were excellent divers and several other instructors who came diving …
Durban Again
After 2 amazing weeks in Sodwana Bay, we were all sad to leave but excited to be back in Durban again to check out the ‘marine’ part of Ushaka Marine Park. Needless to say, we stayed at the Happy Hippo Hostel so we could walk to the Park. We had planned to do a day of admin and a day at the Ushaka water slides and aquarium. The admin consisted of trying to mail a parcel home (couldn’t do it), check out amazing made-to-measure wet suits by Rob Allen http://roballen.co.za/product-category/wetsuits/ at The Dive Factory in Durban http://divefactory.co.za/. We decided not …
Fantastic Sodwana Bay
We continued up the coast to fantastic Sodwana Bay from St. Lucia. After some goodbyes with Mariska and the gang at Bibs Hostel, we were off! A few hours drive found us up near the Mozambique border and the border to Swaziland (now known as Eswatini). We had several recommendations to use a Dive Shop in Sodwana called Reefteach – http://www.reefteach.co.za/?mode=desktop. One recommendation was from the fellow from whom M.C. and I bought our new Mares dive computers – http://scubascene.co.za/ The other recommendation came through friends back in Canada who had met a South African fellow in Peru (talk about …
St. Lucia Part 1 – Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park
We rented another Toyota Avanza in Durban and stuffed our packs inside and it was off to St. Lucia with Captain Marie-Christine at the wheel. Personally I hate driving and she likes it so the choice is clear. I am also a poor passenger so whether I drive or sit in the co-pilot seat it is not much fun for anyone. Downside of all cars here is the stick shift combined with driving on the left side of the road. M.C. however had minimal issues. Bib’s Hostel was recommended by the Baz Bus and was in our price …
Lesotho and Adrian the Alien
While at Amphitheatre we chose to do a hike in the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho. Most people have never heard of Lesotho and my kids were in that tally. I had spent 10 days in Lesotho before – 6 of which were on horseback and it is a beautiful place with lovely people. It is often ranked as one of the 30 poorest countries. The moment we arrived in Lesotho, the lovely paved South African roads were gone and it was crazy, rutted mud/dirt paths. You knew you were in a very different place. The people are famous for conical …
Amphitheatre Backpackers， North Drakensberg
Now it was time to head south of Johannesburg and our first stop was the northern Drakensberg and stayed at a backpackers hostel called Amphitheatre. We had a great view of the Amphitheatre area of the Drakensberg and the area was famous for hiking. This was the girls first exposure to a Backpackers Hostel – rooms were small but great common areas. they learned the idea was not t o be in the room but to be mingling in the common area. This place was really great- hot tub, sauna, small climbing wall and a little plunge pool! Willow …