A South African trip of a lifetime
Flying from London Heathrow with Virgin out to Cape Town, we were met on arrival and driven out to the lovely resort of Franshhoek where we checked into the La Residence hotel for the night, being treated to a night’s stay in a two bedroom villa which were added in 2011. The property is set in stunning surroundings and you can't help but sit and gaze at the views from each location within the hotel. Sadly we were only able to stay for one night but were able to sample the house rose wine, sundowners on the hotel patio, dinner al fresco and a wonderful array of breakfast goodies before our sad departure.
On leaving Franschhoek we headed along to Babylonstoren for a tour of the organic gardens, then onto a winery and hotel inspection at Steenberg (just outside Cape Town). It would be rude to visit South Africa and not partake in a wine tasting session!
After our wine tasting we drove back down into Cape Town and checked in for two nights at the wonderfully located Queen Victoria hotel with sister hotels the boutique Dock House just in front and the Victoria and Albert hotel down on the waterfront. From the hotel it’s a two minute walk down some steps and you are in the Waterfront area with its vast array of bars, shops, restaurants. The Waterfront is open throughout the day and evening and a great place to sit and people watch if you want to relax with a lovely glass of South African wine.
We were up and off the next morning to visit some of the townships in the Cape Town area, we met the wonderful James who runs Uthando (meaning Love); a local charity that helps South Africans families to help themselves. We were honoured to have the teenage choir come and sing for us at the opening of an animal sanctuary before going to meet some school children who have set up an organic garden in their school grounds. We finished the morning by going to a dance studio which brings children into the world of dance from the townships and then goes back out to teach locally, an amazing time was spent with the locals and confirming what friendly people they are.
From Cape Town we headed back to the airport and said farewell to city life before flying onto Nelsprutt Airport for our trip into the Kruger National Park. Three nights were to be spent out on safari with two nights where we knew where we were staying and the third night a surprise!
Read my next journal to see what happened whilst we were on safari, where we stayed and what animals we were lucky to see whilst we were there.