Oldies On Tour

Sunday 14th December 2025

Today we head to Shamwari Game Reserve for our first Safari.  We are booked in for 3- nights so hopefully we will get to see the “big five” plus many more, but first the drive to get there.   Up ‘till now we have been disappointed with what we’ve seen, especially when in the Cape Reserve Park!!!

We checked out after breakfast at a reasonable time and elected to head along the coastal road as it looked like it was going to be a “hot-un”, not a cloud in the sky.  Once clear of Knysna the road opened up and the speed limit went first to 80KPH then to 100KPH and after a few miles the surface changed, and the road got wider and the speed limit went up to 120KPH, wow!!!   We soon realised why, it was a toll road and soon came up to a toll booth in the middle of nowhere!!  Card to the ready, we stopped to pay the R70 fee only to be told to just drive through, no charge; pardon??  We didn’t get an answer just told “drive on”; ok, and we did!!

This N2 seemed to go on forever with zero service stations, good job I filled up before we left, Incidentally petrol costs 92-pence a litre here😂😂😂.   The miles rolled by at a steady 120KPH and we got to the stage we needed a coffee/tea and comfort break, also our fuel gauge was slowly going down so decided at the next turn off that points to a town, we’d stop.  

Eventually we came across a signpost Pointing to “somewhere”  so came off the N2 and after a couple of miles came into “Somewhere” and the first thing we came across was a bid service station so filled up with fuel.     All the places we have filled up have had two guys dropping onto the car; one does the fuel and the second clean “all” the car windows!!!   Naturally they expect a tip and we have been advised R10 each should do the trick, and it does, they seem very grateful, it is the Equivalent to 44-pence each!!!   Car filled, now our turn to get a drink and a snack.  There was a restaurant, but we chose the “food take-out” counter and for  minute, thought we had stumbled onto a “Greggs”. There was a counter piled with sausage rolls, meat pies, muffins and doughnuts, “a la Greggs” style, though we had to press the button on their coffee machine!!!!  Snacks and drinks paid for headed to some outside tables to eat.  Firstly I have to say the sausage roll was nowhere near as good as Greggs one, but it did the job before we headed back to the N2. 

The N2 is a national route in South Africa that runs from Cape Town through to Ermelo, north of Durban. It is the main highway along the Indian Ocean coast of the country and Its current length of 2,255 km (1400-miles) makes it the longest numbered route in South Africa.   From our point of view it just kept going through very lush vegetation following the coast.

Eventually we arrived at the outskirts of Port Elizabeth, nearly there we thought but no, we had another 40 km or so to go, still on the N2.   After what seemed like an eternity we WAZE told us to turn off onto an “R” road, which we did, though we were back on a dirt road for circa 10 km; perhaps the “R” stands for Rubbish!!!   Anyway after creating a 10 km dust cloud we turned into the “Shamwari Game Reserve” and reported to reception.  Here we “cleared” formalities, parked the car for the duration of our stay and after emptying the car of everything we needed, we were whisked in a rugged 4×4 the 5/6 kms to the “Long Lee Manor” lodge (https://www.shamwari.com/)   As we drove up to the big gate we noticed all the electric fencing around the place, now we realised why we left our car, we drove through the animal area!!!

As we walked in they were waiting for us, cold drink and hot towel handed to us, and who they call “the Butler”  had our key and started to tell us about the place as he walked us to our lodge, a bespoke building set amongst the trees.   When one comes here it is all inclusive and we were told lunch was still available; we declined as we’d had our usual big breakfast and a not-so-nice sausage roll!!!   We were also informed that our first Safari will be this afternoon and we muster in the poolside bar at 1600hrs.   They do two Safaris  a day, a 0500hrs and 1600hrs starts but the rest of the day is up to us to enjoy and relax.

Our room is quite magnificent, overlooking a well kept area of lawn and overlooking the game reserve.  Our walk-in Bathroom is huge and then off that, is the walk-in shower with a door into an outside shower!!!, and another door into the “privy”.   Our Butler informed us that monkeys are about and they have developed a method to open sliding doors and turn door handles, so please keep everything locked!!!

As requested, we “mustered” and met our “Ranger”, a chap called “Able”, though pronounced as “Ahhhbull!!!!   Anyway he is our Ranger for the duration of our time here and the “go-to” person if we need help.

After a brief “getting-to-know-you” chat, we headed off to our Ranger vehicle but fortunately for us, the lodges aren’t full so we will have Able all to ourselves😄.

We set off into the game reserve, an area of circa 25,000 hectares approx 97 sq miles looking for the big five; (lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants, buffaloes). To our surprise the “big five” refer to the five beasts that can and will, if provoked, kill a human, not their physical size!!!   Anyway Abel explained that he has no control of what animals he can find as they are wild, no interference from humans, they behave just as nature intended.   Our hearts sank, bearing in mind our experience back at the nature reserve at the cape.  

After our 3-hour drive around the reserve, we can announce we actually saw 4 out of the five; we saw a lion, an elephant, a rhino and a buffalo, wonderful.   Naturally we also saw an assortment of others such as zebra, giraffes, wort hogs, spring bocks etc to name a few.  Well what in introduction to the game reserve, and we have another 4-safaris planned over the next two days, who knows what we may see.

Back to the lodges and then in for dinner, a 5* restaurant with staff tripping over themselves to please, and the food and wine were excellent.  

Back to our cabin and bed, our early morning call is at 0500hrs ready to leave at 0530hrs; what have we let ourselves in for???

Saturday 13th December 2025

After a very good night’s sleep and a leisurely breakfast, we were both raring to go so “consulted” the “copious” suggestions Margaret gave us and decided to head to Plettenberg Bay.   Firstly we headed to the Knysna shopping area for a pharmacy and whilst out, get a decent coffee; most of the hotel’s breakfast coffee is not of a good standard; one notch up from instant!!!!!

Knysna is a bustling coastal town first established by Europeans in 1760’s on the eastern shore of the Knysna lagoon. Today the town is a popular destination for both tourists and senior citizens entering retirement, especially among the British and former expatriates due to the year-round warm climate; maybe we should join them!!   To get a better appreciation of the lagoon and surrounding area we had to head up to “The Heads” later in the day; again recommended by Margaret.  

We arrived at Plettenberg Bay beach, parked up and went down for a paddle and yes the sea was just as cold!!   Being a Saturday, there were more people about than usual I guess but not many in the sea; I wonder why??  Most of those were surfers waiting for that elusive big wave that never came.   We walked right to the end and on the way back went into the “Plettenberg Bay Ski Boat Club” for a drink and some calamari, and very nice they were to.   The weather today is much better, blue skies with occasional wisps of high cloud but fairly windy at times, hence the surfers were out.

On the return journey we did a detour to “Theson Island”, (another recommendation) situated in the lagoon accessed by a narrow road with big speed bumps, and over a humpback bridge.  Our Sat Nov told us to turn left once there, led straight up to a security post with a barrier.   We explained we just wanted to look around but “nicely” informed this would not happen; this is an exclusive and private estate!!!   We turned around and went up another road where we saw shops and bars etc., with spectacular views across the lagoon.

It was now we headed up to the “The Heads” lookout point but too early, as Margaret’s suggestion was to watch the sun going down but we didn’t fancy coming back later, so used our imagination!!!  Then back to the hotel where we had a meal and went to bed.   Tomorrow we have a six hour drive to our first Safari if we take the scenic route through the mountains, but eventually decided to go the more direct route, this is two hours quicker.  Though all the roads are good, the speed limits on these “wide” roads are painfully slow at times and frustration sets in.  I have already been “zapped” by a speed camera and a couple of times I’ve had a text message telling me to keep within the speed limits; we are wondering if the car is being tracked or it is bugged ‘cos how the hell did the rental co., (see SMS screen shot ) know what speed limit was broken and when???  The text was timed 17- minutes after the speed limit was broken!!!  Oh well just do better😂😂😂😂

Friday 12th December 2025

0415hrs urgh!!!  The alarm went off, 30-minutes to get out and into the car then a 15-minute drive to the start of our Meerkat tour.  We were given a piece of paper with instructions on how to drive to the start but it was dark, the map gave no idea as to distances and being a dirt road, the dust.   As we pulled out of the lodge someone followed us and the way he drove suggested he knew how to get there, so let him overtake us.  Good in a way “if” he was going to the tour, but bad as the dust he kicked up meant we had to stay well back and double guess; all rather concerning but once we hit a Mettled road we could catch him up and follow easily;   Good call as he knew exactly where to go.   When we arrived we asked him if he had been there before as he was so confident about the route, that’s when we knew we had been somewhat stupid, he’d used Sat Nav, why hadn’t we?????

After a talk and by now it was getting light we were split into two groups and given a fold up chair and our group was asked to follow our guide.   The other group drove of somewhere!!   After walking 200/300 meters the guide spread our chairs in an arc watching a few mounds of soil with burrows in; the meerkats underground housing complex and we waited.   Our guide was very informative and kept talking and promising that they will appear when they are ready; we still waited.   By now it was daylight but very overcast, no clear sky or sun and this meant the Meerkats weren’t in any hurry to come out, so we waited.   Having sat down in the early morning with no activity we were getting cold, as we waited.   The guide kept talking all things related to Meerkats and said many times they “will” appear when they are ready, so we waited.   Apparently though their burrows are very deep they still get cold at night, and the first thing they have to do is get their muscles working and on a sunny morning they are eager to get going, this morning it was overcast no sun so no hurry to come out; we still waited.   Amongst all the Meerkat information the guide gave us is they only have two missions in life; the first is to keep eating, from dawn to dust and the second to re-produce from dust to dawn!!!!!    We still waited and by now many of us were fidgeting and shivering whilst we still waited.

At the lodge we were told the tour lasted no more than two hours and then we return for breakfast.  By now our two hours was nearly up when out of the blue one popped its head up to survey the situation.   According to our Meerkat Expert, they are extremely nervous animals and at the slightest shuffling sound they disappear, but talking, shouting or laughing is no problem and he proved this.   He shouted loudly, nothing happened, he shuffled his shoe on the ground and the Meerkat quickly disappeared, but re-emerged once he/she realised there was no danger.

We stayed and observed them cleaning out their burrows and standing tall trying to get some heat into their bodies to get them moving.   Eventually they slowly started to move away but by now we were both cold and hungry, so a number of us started the trek back to the lodge.  

After breakfast we headed out; our destination was Knysna for two nights but our target is to get to “George”, stopping at several “lookout” points along the way to take in some stunning views.   Arriving in George was a bit disappointing, it is a big town with the usual traffic etc., so finding somewhere to get a coffee wasn’t going to work so continued onto “Wilderness” along the “Garden Route”.   Our first priority was to find a beach, Christine was feeling “hard done by” as not had “sea therapy” for so long!!!   We found a beach; (tick-in-the-box), parked and went for a paddle, but B….y H..l it was cold👹👹.  We had hoped that as we arrived into the Indian Ocean the sea would have been a little warmer, but no!!   Now we discovered there were no bars or anything for a drink or coffee so left in disgust.

Driving along the N2 we came across a big service area so out of desperation pulled in.   Though it was busy etc., we were asked to sit at a table when a waitress would come and take our order; “what at a service station???”; it was very good service too.  

Back on the road we continued on the Garden Route until we reached our hotel, this time for two nights.

Our hotel: “Hotel Knysna Log Inn” is an all-wood construction made mainly out of the trunks of “Yellowwood”  and other indigenous trees from the forests that were about this area.

Once settled we headed down to the waterfront, an area similar to the Cape Town waterfront, but about 25% of that area.   There were a number of restaurants  predominantly fish and sushi so we were very happy and chose one where we could get a seat overlooking the sea.

After another excellent meal we headed back to the hotel, a 10 minute walk, but unfortunately it was drizzling and neither of us had our raincoats; well. it is what it is!!!   We are having an early night as we were up at 0415hrs!!!!

Thursday 11th December 2025

We’ve probably had our best nights sleep this holiday, the cool room, very quiet, a very comfortable bed, large enough for 4-adults!!!, and of course an excellent meal last night that satisfied us without being too heavy to go to bed on.

To describe the “Schoone Oordt Country House” would take up too much time but this link will take anybody interested to there site (https://www.schooneoordt.co.za/pages/our-story) well worth a view, and should we ever be back here again, we will certainly stay here at this family run boutique hotel.   Our breakfast, like last night’s dinner was food with a difference.  To start we had freshly squeezed orange to drink then a 4-course breakfast, quite different to anything we’ve experienced before.

The big party in the hotel which made the owners up-grade our room, were all travel agents from around Germany on a fact-finding trip, (or more likely an all expenses paid jolly to South Africa!!!!).  Still they were very friendly and enjoying them selves.

Last night when talking about the old Austin Devon car with Allison (the owners wife), she said it was her husbands first car and he looked “cool” driving it, I did query that statement at the time, but this morning she told me it was his other car he had at that time, (and still owns), this is when he looked “cool”, an AC Cobra: that’s better!!!!

Reluctantly we said our goodbyes and headed about 100-meters down the road to look inside a Methodist Church Margaret had suggested we visit.   We circumnavigated this lovely crisp white building, admiring the immaculate gardens with assorted gravestone’s, beautifully tended before finding the entrance door.  Once inside we noticed the pews were like an amphitheater over looking the alter instead of the stage.  The other point of difference was the shape of the seating position, it was comfortable, the backs had a rake not like normal wooden pews, straight up!!   Thank you again Margaret for this gem of a visit, we would have completely passed it by.

Now we headed for a small village called “Barrydale”, a suggested place for a coffee stop, but when we got there and left the main road and headed into the village, we couldn’t find a coffee shop also we thought there were too many unsavoury looking characters about, so headed on our way eventually stopping in a small town called “Ladysmith”.   Naturally I thought of the “seize of Ladysmith”, a 4-month un-savoury incident that took place in between 1899 x 1900 during the Boer War; I got quite excited to have a look around only to have my, hopes dashed, in was not this Ladysmith, it is another further north😡😡.   Hopefully we will find out more about it during our “battlefield” tours later in the trip.   Anyway we did find a nice old place to enjoy a break.

Our day wouldn’t have been complete without a visit to a winery and again, Margaret had marked the specific vineyard to visit, the “De Krans Wine Cellar” in Calitzdorp, and like all obedient children, did as we were told!!!   It was a lovely hot day and sitting under the canopy of vines was quite refreshing, it was one of those moments that nearly caught us out and got “stuck-in”, we ordered two glasses of the wine Margaret recommended and it went down a treat, but had to prize ourselves away just in case!!

We now headed to today’s final destination, the “De Zeekoe Guest Farm River Cabin”, a Meerkats destination, but that’s for tomorrow.   Again another beautiful place with a superb bedroom, en-suite and balcony over looking “nature” but completely out in the sticks, even the road to it is a dirt track!!!  So with nowhere to go they had a captive audience for their restaurant, so were forced to eat in.(https://www.dezeekoe.co.za)

We had to pre order our food, no problem as they had “Ostrich Fillet steak” on the menu, decision made.  Again the restaurant was overlooking their very green gardens, no water shortage around here!!!   Apart from Meerkats, there is also an Ostrich Safari further up the road, we are in Ostrich territory.

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and then headed off for an early night as we have to get up at 0415hrs, and drive 15-mins to the Meerkat tour starting at 0500hrs, I hope it’s worth it!!!

Wednesday 10th December 2025

After 8-days in CPT it was time to move on, we have had a really good time here and visited many sights, not all, so may have to return!!, but enough to get a good appreciation of the city and surrounding area.

Once checked out and Margaret had arrived we got going but we were still unhappy with the car’s locking mechanism so our first stop was the Europcar rental office.   Once they explained the idiosyncrasies of the Japanese car, we were on our way, this time fairly confident we could lock it🤞🤞.

Margaret very kindly volunteered to take us part of the way to our night stop in Swellendam to show us some places of interest, and also take us the longer way, but more scenic through the mountains; Waze would have taken us the boring, direct route on the N2.

Our first ”proper” stop was the second oldest town in SA, Stellenbosch; a very big university town, and today just happened to be the day their degrees were handed out.  All around the Campus were the proud parents with their off-spring, dressed in their gowns clutching their scrolls, and all “scrubbed up”; no wonder parking was difficult!!!

Eventually we managed to park then had a good stroll around.   Stellenbosch is in South Africa’s Western Cape province and is surrounded by the vineyards of the Cape Winelands and the mountainous nature reserves of Jonkershoek and Simonsberg. The town’s oak-shaded streets are lined with cafes, boutiques and art galleries. The architecture gives a sense of South Africa’s Dutch colonial history, as do the Museum’s in period houses, and gardens.   All the oak trees lining the streets are protected and cannot be removed apparently.

After enjoying a coffee stop in a pavement cafe we head out, our next stop is a winery, the Delaire Graf Estate owned by a diamond dealer, naturally!!   

Upon arrival we were very impressed by the gardens leading up to, and the building in particular, very swanky.    Time was not on our side so bypassed the diamond shop 😁and headed straight to the tasting area and just ordered 3-of their Chardonnays.   Naturally that wasn’t quite what the winery wanted so sent a very nice, intelligent and knowledgeable young lady to “soft sell” us 6-bottles that can be sent to U.K. for only €12 or if we ordered now, a special introductory deal at €2!!!   To be fair, the wine we tasted wasn’t worth the money they were charging, but hey, it was a super place to visit.

Our next stop was in the town of Franschhoek.   Franschhoek is a town also in South Africa’s Western Cape with centuries-old vineyards and Cape Dutch architecture.   Here there is the Huguenot Memorial Museum and neighbouring monument to honour the area’s French settlers, (https://huguenotsociety.org.za/history-of-the-huguenots/)   who arrived in the 17th and 18th century, escaping persecution for being Protestants in a Catholic country, ie France.  We had already parked the car, but in this town there are many “Tuk-Tuks” so naturally Margaret “spontaneously” booked one to take us up to the monument.   I asked the driver if they are built in SA, no they’re imported straight from India he said.

Whilst in this area, Margaret suggested we “popped” into a local winery, the “Haut Cabriere Cellar”, for a quick one!!!   Well the quick one took a little longer as we shared a platter of cheese and hams, delicious.    Another superb estate sporting good “Quaffable” wines; but I was driving!!!!  Because this area was predominantly French a century or more ago, its roots still linger and food here is more French than other parts of SA,

Back on route, following the twisty but wide road through the Franschouek Pass until we reached “Houw Hoek Farm”, another winery of course where Margaret had arranged to meet her sister for a lift back to “hers”.  We left her clutching a glass whilst we headed to the car but just then her sister and husband arrived with their dog.   We chatted for a bit before being ushered away by Margaret as we still had a couple of hours to drive.   Again another big “thank you” to Margaret for her expert knowledge of this and the surrounding area.

We now hot-footed to our overnight stop, Swellendam, a boutique hotel, formerly someone’s home set in magnificent gardens.   Upon arrival we were told that there was a big party staying and that we had been up-graded, well wow, we had the suite or family room which included a second bedroom with 4-bunk beds in and our bed was massive!!!    What was nice, upon arrival we were taken straight into the bar for a drink and then we did the checking in procedure, very civilised.

Originally we were going to head to town for dinner but changed our minds and ate in.   I have to say the food was very tasty but a rather unusual menu, still we didn’t need anything else that evening and had our best nights sleep so far.

In their parking lot there was a garage and I spotted a “project” car so naturally had to see what it was and it turned out to be an old Austin A40 Devon.  These were built between 1947 – 1952 and according to the hotel, it was the owners first car!!! 

Not the actual car but same model.

Tuesday 9th December 2025

Our car arrived nearly at the appointed hour, the driver had been sent to the wrong hotel, Margaret on the other hand arrived as planned!!!   Yes Margaret very kindly offered to join us and “guide” us around the peninsula ‘cos without her we would have missed things.  

We headed out of town making for Muizenberg, on the Eastern side of the peninsula, a surfers paradise, one of the main surfing beaches and all along the sea front, surf shops of one kind or another.   Parking was difficult and just as we were about to give up we spotted a car coming out and we didn’t hesitate, we were in his space!!!  We had a Quick Look around the beach and waves but didn’t hang around as the sky looked full of rain, yes rain!!! So back in the car and headed to Simon’s Town, a place I remember hearing a lot of when I was in my early Teens; the “Simon’s Town Agreement” in particular, but had no idea what it was about back then, so today I was going to find out!!!!!

Simon’s Town, situated in the Western Cape province is a town and more importantly a naval base, It is located on the eastern side of the Cape Peninsula, on False Bay*, 25 miles south of Cape Town, Named after the  Dutch Governor “Simon van der Stel”, and was a Dutch naval anchorage from 1741, and Its sheltered harbour served as a refuge for merchant ships and whalers.   Things changed in 1814 when it became the Royal Navy’s headquarters for the “British South Atlantic Naval Squadron”, but in 1957 the jurisdiction of the naval facilities was transferred to South Africa but the Royal Navy still used them, hence the “Agreement” I remember .The port’s operations were considerably expanded in the 1970s, after the RN had left. This is now South Africa’s principal naval base. An adjacent surveillance and communications centre (opened in 1973) tracks much of the South Atlantic and South Indian oceans.

Simon’s Town is compressed between mountains and the sea. Its historical landmarks include the original naval cemetery, the Admiral’s Residency, Admiralty House built in 1776, and St. Francis of Assisi’s Church, built in 1814 and rebuilt in 1834 is the first English church in South Africa.

When we parked the car, the rain came down so “hid” in a cafe ‘till it passed.   The  other issue we had was locking the car, it just didn’t want to lock.  When you walk away with the key it should lock and as you return, unlock, but no this car’s system had a mind of its own; each time we left the car we had no idea if it was locked or not; sometimes it did, sometimes it didn’t, how frustrating👹👹👹

Once the rain had stopped we had a walk around but insufficient time to do the historical museums unfortunately and of course the naval base was securely guarded.

Back on the road, we headed to Boulders Beach to see all the penguins.  Once parked we had to walk along a road before reaching the a turnstile to pay the admittance fee and once in the enclosure, we followed a specially constructed wooden walkway that wove itself through the trees and up-n-down until we reached the beach.  My-my, the size of this colony of African Penguins, seeing so many makes you wonder why they are critically endangered!!!  Still it was a magnificent sight, well worth the walk and fee.

Our next stop was the cape itself, this is also a national reserve that attracts an admittance fee.   This Park is about 30-sq miles of rugged terrain but home to indigenous flora and fauna and numerous animals such as Ostrich, Baboons, Zebra, Buck and Springboks etc., and that there is a very good chance of seeing some, so we kept our eyes open!  We did the cape, naturally had a ‘photo shoot then went round to the Old Cape Point Lighthouse, caught the funicular railway to nearly the top where at this point it is a hike up lots of steps, I declined but Christine and Margaret did the climb; full marks to them.   I must add, at this point we hadn’t seen any animals, so back in the car and headed towards the exit but en-route headed down some of the “other” roads heading in all directions to look for some wildlife, oh yes we did spot two “buck” in the far distance but not a herd!!!    Poor Margaret took some stick as she had built our hopes up, now only to be dashed🥵.

Leaving the “game reserve” ha ha, we headed north up the western side of the peninsula for a rather late lunch.   

After leaving the reserve, would you believe it, we came across a family of Baboons strolling across the road, not a care in the world, it looked like Mum & Dad and a few young ones; a family outing!!!

Once we had passed the Baboons, Margaret recommended we went to an old resort called “Monkey Valley Resort”, a wooden building set high above a beach and nestled amongst the trees with superb views.   We couldn’t decide if we were having a late lunch or an early dinner but certainly enjoyed what we ate and two bottles of local South African wine later, set off again and headed back to Cape Town but not on the usual main road, no along a 9-km 114-corner toll road, “Chapmans Peak Drive”, (https://www.chapmanspeakdrive.co.za/the-drive/history.html) that clings to the side of the mountain following all the contours.   This iconic winding coastal road connects Hout Bay to Noordhoek on the west side of the peninsula.   It is known as one of the world’s most spectacular marine drives as it offers breathtaking views of the Atlantic, rugged cliffs and ‘I was told” opportunities to see wild life such as Baboons!!!

By now it was getting late so we had time for a sundowner at the Winchester hotel before our last bit of the journey back to our hotel after a thoroughly enjoyable day thanks to our good friend and guide, Margaret.    Back at our hotel we gave the keys to the valet, said our goodbyes and headed off to pack, we leave tomorrow on the next leg of our adventure.

• False Bay, called this due to ships heading westwards towards the Atlantic, and seeing the land and rocks protruding into the sea though they had reached the actual Cape and turned northwards, only to head into this big bay, hence its