This year’s summer holiday is a trip to bonnie Scotland. We have quite a road trip planned just hope we haven’t over scheduled things. We will try to keep a bit of a blog going but as we are camping we may struggle for internet access.

Just a quick post while I am in this shopping mall with free Internet.

The weather down here in banana beach is amazing. We are having a blast playing at the beach.

Yesterday we drove up to Durban to visit ushaka marine park. It’s a huge water park with plenty of slides, shoots and pools combined with a seaworld. We watched a dolphin show set to Zulu drums (this is Zulu land here). We watched sharks, played for hours in the pools but best of all we snorkelled in an enormous open tank crammed with thousands of beautiful fish. The snorkelling is one of the highlights of the trip for me.

We visited the Bowens great granny last night. (granny to don , great to jess and claudia)

Today we chilled at the beach, played in the waves and swam with the fish in the rock pool.

A visit to milky lane now for another icecream and then a braii again tonight. What stress!!!

There are two different police forces in SA. One for traffic only and the other for beating up bad guys. The traffic guys are pretty mean when it comes to their job and as we drove to Durban on Monday they were out on the hunt in force. We had been warned that they were having a zero tolerance Easter weekend and so we drove bang on the speed limits. We also prepared for them by emptying our wallets of cash but leaving just a 50 rand note. You see these guys have zero tolerance on breaking traffic laws but it seems they have plenty of tolerance for breaking one other law.

About 6 hours into our 8 hour drive, with me at the wheel, the dreaded moment came. A cop suddenly appeared under a bridge on the motorway and motioned me over to the side. It was a cheetah moment all over again. My heart was racing but I knew my car had not been. He checked my driving licence, checked out the tax and insurance and………..and just sent us on our way! No grief, no bribe, no local jail. Perhaps he had seen in my wallet and saw a meesley 50 or perhaps the stories just aren’t true. I couldn’t get away quick enough but I was so flustered I indicated with my wind screen wipers before moving back into a 120kph motorway. We reckon he pulled us over expecting us to be a taxi as they mostly use the big toyota bus we have on hire and the taxis could certainly do with being pulled over.

There are taxis everwhere and they stop where ever some one sticks their finger out. They are used like the black taxis are used in Belfast: like a bus. However unlike a black taxi which seats 5 and so carries 5, the taxis here seat 10 but carry 20!!! As we drive along the roads many people mistake us for a taxi and waggle their finger at us expecting us to stop. But we leave them to catch a ride on the next available death trap.

It seems many vehicles here are in bad condition. Every mile or so there is a broken down car or someone with a puncture. And all along every road are people walking; just walking. I have never seen so many people walking and it’s not the white guys it’s the poor black folk, the white folk drive.

And driving is what we did for nearly 8 hours leaving centurion early so we could still have some of the daylight to enjoy at our destination.

We arrived at banana beach just before 2pm and were quickly in our togs and into the sea. Not just any old sea… no …. the Indian Ocean.

Our villa is in a camp site adjoining the stunning beach. We spent most of Tuesday soaking up the rays and playing in the giant breaking waves. Swimming was called off early when some kids were stung by a nasty little jelly fish called a blue bottle.

We took a drive out to a curio market to buy sovieners. The ladies who ran each stall were very poor and it pained the heart to not buy from each of their stalls. It was nice to help some of them, and I guess that is the way life goes, you can’t help everyone but you can make a difference for a few.

The first week of our holiday is over and we thought we would tell you what things we liked best and one thing we didn’t.

Emily

Liked
Stroking lion cubs
Seeing giraffes
Swimming almost everyday
Easter egg hunt
Amusements at sun city

Disliked
Long drives

Holly

Liked
Swimming for hours at the valley of waves
Seeing all the animals
Swimming almost everyday
Easter egg hunt
Milky Lane – the amazing icecream shop

Disliked
Being on the plane for 11 hours

Megan

Liked
Floating down lazy river in valley of waves with dad
African tribal dancing
Stroking baby lions
Claudia telling stories in van
Love playing with yalana – claudia and jessicas wee cousin

Disliked
Big massive waves at sun city

Nathan

Liked
Stroking lion cubs
Flying in the airplanes
Watching crocs get fed chickens
Playing the ds
Squirting people with his water gun

Disliked
Rain

Dad

Liked
Game drives
Watching crocs getting fed
The casino at sun city
Dodging cheetah
Watching the kids enjoying the pool

Disliked
Sun stroke

Heather

Liked
Watching megan jump into the deep end of the pool from the platform
Milky lane
Game drive
The water slides at sun city
African tribal dancing

Disliked
Insect bites

Sorry no blog for the past few days as we had no Internet access. We travelled up to Sun City a beautiful resort about 2 hours north of Centurion.

We stayed in a b&b a few miles from the gates to the resort. The main hotel in the resort, The Palace, would have cost us £600 a night so we had to economise! Don’s brother stayed in the palace we got to check out his room, nice! Heather and the kids got a ride to the hotel in it’s limo.

The weather was not very kind to us for the first 2 days. The resort is famous for it’s huge swimming complex with an artifical beach complete with waves. For the girls 2 days of waiting to go swimming was hard to endure. But when the weather improved on Saturday we were able to enjoy the place to it’s maximum. Heather took the plunge on the mighty water shoot – check it out below

We had an early morning game drive in the Pilansberg national park on Friday morning (5.30am!) Donovan’s sisters Stella and Sarah and her husband and daughter came with us also. We had a big open truck driven by a guide. We were able to see quite a few animals but unfortunately no elephants or lions. There had been a lot of rain and so the animals were not very active.

In the resort Nathan and I visited a crocodile farm. We watched the crocs get fed dead chickens. Nathan absolutely loved it.

We also a had a visit to the cultural centre to learn more about the tribes of south Africa. It was a tad touristy but hey we are tourists. We got entertained by various tribal dancers and the kids got to join in.

Sun city is famous as a casino resort and so Don had to pay a visit to the casino. Of course I couldn’t let Don go unaccompanied, what if he got in too deep? So I sacrificed a few of my precious hours to watch out for him! You will be glad to know no money was lost!

I got a bit too much sun on Saturday and got mild sun stroke. The photo of me crouched over is when I couldn’t hold things down any longer. But I can hear you ask what heartless person would take photos of a man in his hour of need!

We arrived back late last night at our guest house in centurion.

Today Donovan’s brother’s baby was being blessed at church. Afterwards all the extended family came to our place for a picnic. Unfortunately a thunder storm forced us to relocate to the house.

We leave early tomorrow morning for an 8 hour drive to banana beach. Hopefully we will have Internet access there.

The kids are out playing in the pool again!

Today was a complete chill out day.

None of the kids were interested in breakfast they just wanted into the pool. And when they got in they didn’t want to leave. The sunshine was incredible and the pool was the only antidote for the heat.

The girls just love the water and their swimming is great. Megan is amazing, she gets inside her wee ring goes up the steps and jumps from a little platform at the deep end. Nathan takes a bit more encouragement but today spent most of the day attacking Don with his water gun.

The ladies went shopping in the morning to get lunch and the men went in the afternoon to get dinner. Don and I went to an awesome butchers. “eat meat sparingly” not in this place you don’t! I have never seen so much meat in my life. I bought the second biggest steak I have ever seen 1.2kg (the biggest was a monster and I wasn’t that hungry but I think I can work upto it!)

Following an afternoon swim we prepared for the braii. Don performed his traditional role as master of cooking operations. Then we simply sat out eating and chatting in the beautiful evening.

In belfast they use the word beezer or weeker. The Afrikaans use the word lakka. And today was quite simply a lakka day!

Sunday night was a warm, stuffy and restless night. The ceiling fan did nothing to keep us cool infact I reckon it is just there for show! It does give a certain atmosphere to the place.

Monday morning we went to Centurion Mall to spend a few Rand. It doesn’t have the familar brands but it has plenty of quality stores. In fact every where we have been is very well developed not at all like the other African countries we have visited.

There is plenty of money about but perhaps it is not ‘about’ very much. Today we drove past an immense sprawling township which resembled a city of allotments with little sheds. It is hard to comprehend that an entire family is most likely living in each of those sheds. At most road junctions sit men waiting to be offered a days work. Some sit with a sign displaying what they can do, others display their tools of the trade such as the painters who hang their rollers from poles but most point one finger indicating one man ready for work. The struggle for millions of poor is very visible and feels quite uncomfortable to see.

After preparing lunch we drove away from civilisation to a Rhino and Lion reserve near Krugersdorp about an hour from our guest house. Our expert game spotter, Holly, was the first to find some animals. In the general reserve we were able to see large antelop ( we werent sure what type), wildebest, ostrich, zebra, wart hog and enormous rhino with their young. After a while of searching we finally found some lion. The area was huge but there were only 6 lion and when you consider they are expert at camoflage and silently stalking prey the odds were stacked against us. It was a great treat for all of us to watch the lion as they lay lazily in the tail grass.

The reserve had an enclosure with just cheetah and after our lion find we were most confident we would find them. This confidence caused us to think we were some sort of Steve Irwin predator hunter maniacs. Don drove while I stood out on the window ledge looking out over the top of the van. For a while we could spot nothing and we were loosing hope. Suddenly Don shouts as a cheetah comes jogging up the road towards us. My heart explodes as everyone screams at me and I try as fast as I can to get back inside the van. I manage to get back in whilst recking my groin before the cheetah gets to us. He could of had me if he wanted and I probably would have fed his entire family for a week. After this episode there were no more limbs out of the vehicle.

We spent a short while at the animal crèche to see young lions, cheetahs, leopards and even a tiger (now this causes me some issues because for the past month I have been arguing with Nathan that tigers do not live in Africa but now I am no longer his all knowing dad).

We got to play with young lion cubs and all the kids were able to stroke a baby lion. Poor wee Megan was tortured by the cubs who either thought she was the right size of prey or simply took a fancy to her new pink shoes!

In the evening we went to eat at Montecasino a huge indoor casino, mall, food hall complex made to look like a traditional Italian village. No big time gambling tonight so sorry Simon no winnings to share with you.

On the way home in the dark we had to drive through our local hijacking hotspot but after our near death by cheetah episode earlier in the day we weren’t taking any chances and sped through without stopping.

Well we have arrived in South Africa. The flight went well, 11 hours was long but the kids did great. Sleeping was a lot easier for the little guys as they have so much room on a seat. Nathan was able to sit with his legs crossed up on the chair. Wee megan struggled all night to sleep but come the morning she was out for the count. Emily and Holly had seats on the window aisle by themselves and behaved so well.

The only stress in the travelling was our anxiety as we stood watching the cases trundle by on the lugage carousel. The Bowen’s lost cases on their last holiday and the look of relief on their faces as their bags finally came round would have made a great photo.

We were met by Donovans parents at the airport who looked so pleased to see their grandchildren. I thought of my own parents and how much more difficult it would be for them if they were thousands of miles away rather than the few hundred that they currently are. We had lunch and a swim at their house on Saturday.

Our accomodation is great we a have a wee villa in a guest house complex. Today we had a brai (local lingo for a BBQ) on the Don and Eva’s patio followed by a refreshing swim in one if the 3 pools.

Church was good today, the building was beautiful and big enough to house 2 good size wards at the same time.

The weather today was hot and the swim was for medicinal purposes rather than leisure.

But the sunshine isn’t the only thing creating hot spots! Check out the photo!

Tomorrow we will start being tourists as we head off to see lions.

Well the bags are packed and we are ready to go…. Well almost. A bit of running around tomorrow and then we are off. Well hopefully, one of the tasks tomorrow is a trip to the doctors with nathan as he is quite poorly.

The weather forecast for south Africa isn’t looking great….rain!

But aren’t we glad we didn’t book with British airways!

I have found two common responses from people when you tell them you are going to south Africa :

First, they ask are we going to watch the world cup!?

Or second, ohh careful you don’t get killed!?

Hmmm 90 minutes of football or being shot… Hmmm… Can’t really decide what’s worse!

We have 18 days to go until we head off on our big trip to South Africa. Having just got an new iPhone I am seeing how easy it will be to write the blog on the phone.