Oldies On Tour

5th December 2025

Early start this morning as we have to be at the ferry terminal with Passports no later than 0830hrs, so birthday girl has to forgo her lay-in today🥵🥵.   When we were planning this trip Christine specifically chose this activity for her birthday; she wanted something very memorable.

With cards and breakfast out of the way we headed out and arrived to join the queue before the 0830 deadline, though judging by what we observed, I don’t think it would have mattered.  When we had finished the “admin” and got onto the pier, there were two ferries; just as well because we were on the second one to leave!!!  The crossing to the island took approximately 45-minutes and it was a bit choppy at times but nothing too onerous!!!!!

Once we were off the boat we were loaded onto coaches and started the first part of the tour.  We were driven along the “prescribed” route and the first point of interest we stopped at was a cemetery.  Our first impression was this was for “inmates” who had died but we were wrong, the graves are for people who died of leprosy during the mid 1800’s that had been banished to the island as a designated leprosy colony.

Robben Island has a long history as a prison, hospital and military base, but most famous for its use as a political prison during apartheid.   Initially used for banishment and imprisonment in the 1600’s under Dutch rule, it later served as a leper and mental hospital before becoming a military outpost in the 20th century. After that it was converted into the notorious maximum security prison for anti-apartheid activists, the most famous being Nelson Mandela.   The island is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and museum symbolising the triumph of “freedom over oppression”.

During the 30-year period of Apartheid, this island only handled political prisoners, the vast majority of which were educated so the “powers that be” decided they needed something both menial and exhausting to keep them Occupied, so they opened a quarry.   They forced these inmates to quarry stone or lime for 8-hours a day, five days a week with no machinery or protection.  We passed the stone quarry en route to our next stop.

The next point of interest was Sobukwe House.  History tells the world about Nelson Mandela but he wasn’t alone, a little known man named “Robert Sobukwe” was equally troublesome and outspoken to the regime and in the main forgotten. but his deeds got him incarcerated initially for 5-years but extended, for years he was kept in “solitary confinement” on Robben Island; to find out about him and his involuntary journey, this link is well worth a read.   https://southafrica-info.com/history/robert-sobukwe-one-race-human-race/

Next we passed the parish church, though it was not used for prisoners, just the island’s “free” population.    Our guide was very informative but was also on a strict timetable and at our final stop, mainly for a comfort break and to view the penguins that live on and around the island, we were given 5-minutes, starting as the last person left the bus!!!!

Our last stop was the end of part one of the tour and now, with a new guide we would start part 2, the prison building.   The guide we had was in fact one of the political prisoners and was incarcerated here for 5-years.   With his first hand knowledge he was in the perfect place to speak authoritatively about life in this “hell hole”, he showed us the mats they slept on in the early days though the “powers that be” realised it was counter productive as sleeping on cold concrete floors with just a thin mat caused sickness so eventually brought in bunk beds.  These dormitories held around 56 prisoners and off to the side was the wash house, showers and toilet etc.   Our guide was 20-years old and still studying when he was arrested, for what he never really told us other than sabotage.  Though he had only spent 5-years inside, he was kept in detention for more than six months before and when released, he was constantly checked by the authorities to ensure he was behaving; he never really thought he was free.  We think that he became institutionalised and that’s why he is back conducting tours.  We think he was approximately 75years old now and lives on the island full time in a sort of grace and favour house.

The other interesting fact was the block built to hold political prisoners from Namiba.  Namibia has its own interesting history but the reason for this building, was when South Africa ruled the country they applied “apartheid”, which then created the movement for independence hence this block was built.  For more info here’s a link. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Namibia)

After this fascinating talk by our guide, we were led into the next block, all small isolated cells one of which was Nelson Mandela’s “home” for much of his 27-years on Robben Island.  This cell consisted of a mat to sleep on a very small low level table and a bucket and yet he managed to write and conceal much of his work on his book, “The Long Road to Freedom”; the resilience of that man was extraordinary to endure all that hardship yet still retain everything to become the president and successfully lead his people to independence.

Back to the ferry only to find there was a continua’s stream of ferries, as soon as one was loaded, they filled the next; thinking back  to the “8.30 am latest” wasn’t quit right!!!!

Birthday-girl now wanted some beach and sea to go with the sun we were enjoying but I did remind her what Wayne had said, “the sea around here is far to cold to swim in” but I think she did take her “swimmers” anyway.  I called up an “Uber” and off we headed to Camp Bay, but being a Friday early afternoon we were stuck in very heavy traffic; everybody going home for the weekend no doubt.

We had been in Camp Bay on Wednesday but on arrival went straight into the bar and when we left it was dark, so saw “nothing!!”; today was going to be different.  We walked straight onto the sandy beach then shoes off and into the sea for a paddle, my goodness Wayne was right, it was so cold; I remember pointing out to Christine that this looked a magnificent beach but there were zero people in the water, that told us something!!!!!

After walking the beach, mostly paddling in the cold water, and by which time the wind had got up, Christine called it a day and we headed to the only bar we knew here in Camp Bay. The Chin Chilla Bar, the place we went several nights ago.  The table we were given was at the top of the stairs, not very nice so we explained it was Christine’s birthday and could we be put on the balcony overlooking the sea.   They were very obliging and moved the lady already there and set us up at her table!!!!  We now ordered a second bottle of wine and some nibbles to go with it.

It was still late afternoon when we’d had sufficient but decided to head back and grab a bite back on the waterfront, so phoned for a trusty “Uber”, and by now the wind was quite strong and cold.   Though we had been advised to always have a jumper or something warm with us as one never knows when this cold wind will strike; I hadn’t listened though Christine had, but was still cold!!!   

“Better the devil you know” was the motto so headed into a place called “Harry’s”, where we went in our first night.   Back in our hotel after a 10-minute walk to find the hotel had kindly left 1/2 bottle of bubbly, a cake and the bed covered in rose petals; very thoughtful for birthday girl.   Tomorrow we have the start of the HSBC rugby sevens, I’m really looking forward to that!!!!!

Thursday 4th December 2025

As required we were waiting in the lobby at 0800hrs and met up with Wayne, our driver and guide for the day.  It was a beautiful sunny, and more importantly a clear day for our adventure up the mountain.

The debate we had in the car was about the queues; do we just join it, or do we pay for a “fast-track” upgrade🤔🤔. The decision was classic, “wait and see”🤭🤭.   When we arrived at the bottom of the cable car building, parking was relatively easy, suggesting not too many people, so we joined the end of the relatively short queue.

It wasn’t very long before we were over the road and into the building; good decision to “wait and see”!!!!   In no time we were herded, albeit nicely, into the cable car, about 60 of us all trying to be  by the window.   The surprising feature of this rather large cable car is the moving floor.   In the time it takes to head to the top, about 1,000 meters above Cape Town, the floor rotates 360degrees allowing everyone to get a complete panoramic view from all angles.   

Table Mountain is advertised as one of the 7-wonders of the natural world, it has over 8,000 unique species of plants, apparently that’s more than there are in the U.K.!!!, it is also home to a unique furry mammal, a “Dassie” or “Rock Hyrax”, and today we saw one curled up on a rock just below us; lucky or what!!  Wayne told us he normally has to show his clients a picture of one as they are not very forthcoming to show themselves off!!  The flat top is about 3km long and the mountain is flanked by two smaller mountains “Lions Head & Signal Hill”.  The latest version of the cable car was designed and built by the Swiss in 1997 but the original one first Opened in 1929

After a good circular walk around and taking in the breathtaking views, we headed back down, again the floor did a 360degree panoramic view; breathtaking.  When leaving the cable car we were amazed, there was no queue!!!!  Mind you it was very hot by now, maybe too hot for some!!!   There are many trails to use and the foolhardy use them to climb to the top!!!

Back in the car we headed into town, parked and visited “St. George’s”, the Cape Town Cathedral.   This is a relatively modern Victorian structure that superseded the original church opened in 1834 and converted to a cathedral in 1847.  The first Anglican Bishop Robert Gray didn’t like it, he wanted something much more “grandiose” and his successor, William West agreed with him, so the current cathedral was built though neither of the two bishops lived to see it completed.   The  foundation stone was laid in 1901 by the future King, George V and completed in 1936!   Certainly not a spectacular cathedral though it did have lots of interesting stain glass windows.  The main point of interest; it is here where the ashes of Bishop Desmond Tuto have been laid to rest.

Wayne took us to a very old Methodist church where we had a coffee inside at a small cafe named “heaven”, unusual I suppose, but as he said it gets people into the building and raises funds!!!  From there we wandered around a local market situated in the original fruit and vegetable area. The stalls here were all selling artistic wares; everything made locally in “cottage industries” and all out of re-cycled cans, vinyl records, old telephone cables; the list is endless.   These people are real craftsmen.

We also had a quick stop in the district of Bo-Kaap where all the houses are painted in very bright colours, quite different from any house colours we’ve seen before!!! We also visited a Spice shop there, we’ve never seen so many spices in one place, and the aroma they produced was quite pungent.

Another very interesting stop was the old Methodist church, now a museum ( https://www.districtsix.co.za/about-the-district-six-museum/) in the 6th district of Cape Town.  This old building was left standing after the demolition of this area in 1967 following the savage introduction of “Apartheid”. This area was inhabited solely by black and coloured people who were all “turfed out”, but by some curious “by-law”, religious establishments were exempt from demolition so the building stood empty in a “sea of rubble”.   When Nelson Mandela was released, this building became a sort of shrine to commemorate the 30 odd years of Apartheid, and anybody who had historical connections with this area and if they had ‘photos or anything to donate to create the memory, they were asked to bring them.  The internal walls around this building are covered with ‘photos, letters and newspapers from the time before; fascinating.  We all know a bit about Apartheid, but visiting this museum really brought it home to me about the brutality of those laws and how it affects society in general.  Tomorrow we head to Robben Island where I have no doubt we will learn even more.

Our tour ended at the botanical gardens, not my cup-of-tea, but Christine certainly enjoyed wandering around “part” of this 1,000 acre area, some of the plants here were quite unusual and unique to South Africa.   Being at the foot of Table Mountain, this area is on a hill and the botanical designers have very cleverly fabricated a “treetop walk”;  the actual walkway was fairly level but it went out from the mountain and as the ground fell away, it created this treetop walk; well thought out.

Between  the stops we fitted in a quick snack for lunch adjacent to an old water mill and across the road from Newlands Brewery where the “Castle” brand of beer is brewed.

Wayne did us proud, all the while we were driving from one place to another he was giving us a running commentary about the city, the architecture, the history and the general way of life in a country of many “haves” but lots more “have nots”; we both learned a lot today about South Africa  and the Cape Town area in Particular; thank you Wayne Milne for an excellent day and if I’m asked, I will certainly put your name forward and recommend you. 

Wednesday 3rd December 202A good nights catch-up sleep and we’re ready to go, so after a hearty breakfast, we set out.   We had two missions; one to get a couple of South African “sim” cards for our ‘phones, far cheaper than paying roaming charges and secondly get our bearings of the surrounding area, especially finding the pier where the boat trip to Robben Island leaves from.

We passed through the waterfront into the Victoria & Alfred shopping Mall, an enormous place where all the well known international brands, as well as local South African ones; just like any mall around the world!!!   After asking, we soon found the local Vodacom (Vodafone to us!!), and five minutes later we were on our way with two new SA tel., nos.    Woolworths is still out here so popped in for a “gander” and whilst there enjoyed the view from their cafe, especially the seals, perched on the end of a finger pontoon.   Unfortunately for them there was a chap, probably a caretaker or something who kept chasing them back into the sea ; perhaps they made the place untidy!!!; anyway we were pleased to see the seals and enjoyed the seals getting back on as soon as the man with the big stick turned his back.  The outcome was satisfying; man gave up and seals now took over two finger pontoons!!!!!   I also Contacted Margaret Gibbons, a South African lady I first met on the 2011 Rugby tour of New Zealand as well as subsequent tours and she always said to make contact if I found myself in SA, so I did!! 

We continued to “mooch” around; found the pier where the ferry for Robben  Island leaves, “sharp” at 0900hrs but we have to be at the terminal at 0830hrs with Passports.

Returning to the Hotel, we received a note from Margaret saying “yes” to a meet-up so agreed 5pm in our foyer, then killed a hour or so by the pool; rather cold I have to say as the pool itself is shaded by the hotel building though the “laying-out” area is very hot!!!

We met up with Margaret at the appointed hour and after some discussion and telling her we were “in her hands” being a “local”!!; she ordered an “Uber” and we headed to our “first” stop, the “Mount Nelson Hotel” ( https://www.belmond.com/stories/belmond-mount-nelson-hotel-history); a magnificent Colonial building in a very lush tropical garden where we sat and enjoyed some local bubbly; very nice.   After a stroll around the gardens we jumped in another “Uber” and headed to “Camp Bay”, a lively beach surrounded by high-end properties.

All my life I have believed, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” and tonight proved this is right.   We headed to a bar on the first floor overlooking the “sea-n-sand” for a sun-downer (or two/three!), but by now it was too late to get in, as the best place on the sea front we were told by “she-who-knows” is the bar called the “Chin Chilla Bar” ( https://www.kovecollection.co.za/chinchilla).  We were momentarily stopped at the bottom of the stairs and told it was full, however Margaret said something and up the stairs we went only to be stopped again and we could see why; the place was heaving, everywhere full, but again Margaret said something and we were in and taken to a table with only two people on and after a few words, the three of us sat down; nice one Margaret.

We got chatting as you do and discovered they were from the USA, Rhode Island to be precise, over here for their daughter’s wedding.   By the end of our sundowners we were now new best buddies with Terry and Keven, we also met their son and daughter-in-law who they had been waiting for; they were a lovely couple and who knows, hopefully we will met up with them again somewhere, sometime.

By now it was dark and as we had a table booked at the local fish restaurant; “The Codfather” ( https://www.codfather.co.za/) for 2030hrs, so after ‘photos were taken we reluctantly had to leave the party.

Again we had to head to the first floor overlooking the beach, but being dark didn’t see anything!!!   At the top of the stairs we hit a wall of people waiting to get in, but to be fair to the staff, they cleared the queue very quickly though we were “😂forced🤣” to order a drink at the bar first!!!  We were also “amazed” by the fish counter, the contents and variety of fish available blew us away; again superb venue Margaret.    When we were settled our waiter marched to the counter where we chose a variety of shellfish and normal fish to share; they weighed it “I think” and off it went to be cooked.   We were back at our table in time to see this “feast” of cooked fish arrive and we tucked in; very fresh and perfectly cooked and we were pleasantly full.

Another “Uber” was summoned, this time to take us to the “Winchester Hotel” (https://newmarkhotels.com/accommodation/the-winchester-hotel#) another building from a by-gone century where we were having nightcaps!!!   By now we had our bubbly to start, and several bottles of excellent South African wines along the way and now night caps!!!!!  Why not??    Christine played it safe and by now she had had sufficient so went non alcoholic whilst Margaret introduced me to a local liquor called “Amurla”; very nice.   She then went on to say they also have another drink, delivered in a “shot” glass called a “Spring Bok”, so we had a couple of those to finish the night off😂😂.  

Time to call it a night, so this time ordered two ‘Ubers” to take us back to our respective bases.  The three of us had a super evening, good wine, good company, new friends and excellent fish to eat.   Saturday and Sunday we are heading to the Rugby Sevens and we are meeting up with Margaret at the stadium again on the Sunday.

Sunday 30th November 2025

Our long awaited trip to South Africa starts today.  The first leg is train to London for an overnight stop at Andrew’s in Marylebone.

After collecting Hayley, our dog sitter for the first three weeks and detouring back via Clevedon to drop her son off, we loaded our cases into the car and headed off to Jane’s where we are leaving the car and “cadging” a lift to the station.   Fortunately this straight-through train starts at Weston Station so getting our seat with a table was easy but noticed  lots of the seats were reserved from Bath onwards.  When we got to Bath, the platform was heaving, all waiting for train.  What we failed to know was that the Christmas fair is an extremely well supported Xmas Market and folk come and visit from all corners of the U.K., needless to say as the train pulled out of Bath station, all the coaches were completely full; end to end of each coach people were standing; good job we had booked our seats!!!

We arrived at Andrew’s at a respectable time and later headed out to dinner.  Andrew took us for our Xmas treat to “The Royal China Club” a superb Chinese restaurant where we  probably had the best Chinese food I have ever eaten!!!!   Thank you again Andrew. Back home and certainly well satisfied we hit the sack.  No rush tomorrow as our flight is in the evening.

Monday 1st December. 2025u

No rush to get going as Elton was away, so no school run and the only plan we had was for me to head back to the Wallace Collection to complete my tour of the museum.

The day passed without incident, we all did what we had to and met up around 5pm for a roast dinner.   So glad we had travelled up on Sunday as there was mayhem Sunday night/Monday morning due to a nasty, unfortunate accident on the M5 closing both carriageways and causing mayhem throughout Somerset and surrounding districts and not helped by it being rush-our.

We caught the Elizabeth line from Bond Street straight into Terminal 5, up in the lifts and exit straight onto the check-In desks, couldn’t have been easier; we won’t take the car again!!!  Minimal queue to get checked in and no waiting for security; never had it so easy.    I had booked the lounge but needn’t have as the terminal wasn’t that busy, still we had our moneys worth, including some more food!!!

At the appointed hour we headed to the gate, boarded and settled down, it was pouring with rain outside, can’t wait to see sunshine again😎😎.  By using the train and the Elizabeth line, getting to the airport couldn’t have been easier, this has to always be the way now.

After take off, yes you guessed it, we had more food, this time it was a Christmas dinner!!! We eventually settled down but sleep evaded me, too noisy and even though we had up-graded, the seats weren’t that comfortable, I feel BA has lowered its standards; back to Virgin next time.

Tuesday 2nd December 2025

We dropped down from a clear blue sky into Cape Town airport with Table Mountain standing out in the clear morning sun, taxied to a remote stand, and as the doors of the plane opened, was hit by nice warm air; just the ticket.

As we diss-embarked the transfer coach into the terminal, there was a friendly lady holding a board with our names on it.  She was part of our service and walked us through immigration then collected our luggage and walked us through customs where there was another chap holding a board with our names on, he was taking over and delivering us to our hotel.   Everything went like clockwork and if this level of organisation continues, we will be over the moon with our Tour Operator, “Personal Africa”.

This afternoon was spent relaxing by the pool before heading down to the waterfront for a quick “shufftee” before eating (again!!!) and heading for an early night; it’s been a long time since we got up Monday Morning.