St Lucia to Kruger

Well we woke up to very overcast and drizzle and we set of to the boat trip on the St Lucia estuary,
we got the 3 pods of hippos and a crock and two Fish eagles but sadly due to the wind and rain not much bird life.
The group had a game drive booked to Hlehluwe and some went on drive, I was asked to stay behind to be there if anyone would need attention, I was more than happy to looking at the weather,
when they returned they were frozen and had only seen few animals, but the ones they saw were very close.

During the course of the day I happened to go and check on the bus as there was some activity happening there, there was a mechanic and with this some very bad news the engine of the bus was being held together by 1 last nut the other 15 had snapped of.
this was the beginning of a log night, I then contacted the bus company and the owner told me to wait for there call, i told her well we have to leave the hotel the next morning at 08:00. At 10pm she called me to say they are still looking for a bus. At 1am she called me to say they have found a bus in Stanger, An Indian Village outside Durban, But they cant get hold of driver. 7am the next day<Thursday> I get a call saying the driver has just left and should be there by 10am.
Now the tour leader drops a bomb on my head, so I returned the favour by informing him that he arranged the bad buses not me.

So finally 9am the bus arrived and by 9:15 we were on the road and finally the day went well, we stayed at the Royal Villas, wow what a place, this is where President Zuma Stays when he visits Swaziland.

The boarder went with ease the drive to Kruger was ok just very hot.

Kruger well we saw a load of good things, and a awesome Lion lying in the road, i put a photo on Face book yesterday.

Kruger park game drive, wow we had just entered the park at 05:30 not even 1 minuet we got a leopard with a kill, great shots, we drove about 10 minuets further and another leopard walking in the road, then we got some giraffe and all the other odds just one lion far away but no Buffalo, 15 minuets later bam two more Leopards in a tree.
Then we drove to Skakuza for breakfast, after we left we drove over the Sabi river well 3 more lions but also too far for photos, then we got another leopard under a tree, an hour later another to far for photos but could make out with binos, then on rote to lunch another leopard under a tree hiding in long grass, after lunch another female under a tree, so the guests say this is easy whats the fuss about leopards???? I could only laugh

Tomorrow is another big day we leave the hotel at 6am do the Blyde canyon and have to get to OR Tambo for 5:30pm ouch.

Coffee bay to Durban

Wow what a drive, we left the hotel in Coffee bay at 8am and headed to Mtata, this took 2hrs,
I told the tour leader that there are really bad road works if we go via Kockstad, so thankfully we chose to go via Port St Johns, well to say the least he was pissed as we only got to Port Edward at 4pm and still had not had any lunch.
We still had to go to Oribi Gorge, so I phoned them and they said the restaurant will be closed but the access to Leopard rock will be open, not ever been there we left at 4:40pm and got there just after 5pm well it was closed and locked up. OOPS was he mad with me. Now we still have a 2hr drive to Durban.

The next morning we left the hotel at 8 am and did a short city tour with a visit to the spice market at the Victoria market, he then pulled me one side and blasted me for not stopping at the city hall, so I urned around and said if you would tell me what your plans are and speak to me before tour starts as we agreed before we started this would not have happened. So i took him back and said we have a 2 and a half hour trip to get to Shakaland the longer you take hear the less chance we have to make the time. His response was last year we did it, my answer to him was sure but you used a bus company with good buses not a cheap hand me down bus company. with in 8 minuets they were all back on the bus. (the fact that the driver has never been out of Cape Town and i have to tell him his every move)
We made it with 15 minuets to spare and all busting for toilet.
the rest of the day he was as sweet as candy, all guests are upset with him and keep coming to me and thanking me for all i have done for them, even asking me to join them for a drink and not him.

Well tomorrow we all go on the boat cruise and then I offered to stay behind as 12 guests are not going to Hlehluwe, when others heard i was staying they also cancelled.

Such a different trip but what a learning curve  ITS STILL GOOD FUN

Coffee Bay

Well we have been on the road now 1 week
and i have finally got to chat to some of the guests

We are having very long bus days and the peeps are not happy but this is the itinerary they have used from Estonia.
the trip from Cape town via Oudsthoorn to Knysna was long we only arrived at hotel after 6pm
then a hell of a day from PE to Coffee Bay arrived at 8:30 pm then the hotel told us they don't have enough rooms for all of us, and I had called two weeks earlier to confirm all was in order

On our way we stopped in East London for lunch and I was able to see Family witch was great.
Here at Coffee Bay we Had a Xhosa village visit, lead by a local guy and was struggling to find things to talk about, all he could say was "this is were Nelson Mandela once walked"
Then we all had a swim in the sea witch was great, (I really wish I had Brought my Diving Gear)
Then some of the guests went to the Hole in the Wall, witch the hotel charged R200 per person!!!!!
Any way so they went and had fun, then the guy who was driving the guests to the hole said it has started to rain the road is to slippery i cant fetch them, I said excuse me you charge them R200  for a 12km Drive and you are scared to drive a land rover to fetch them , let me drive, after a load of uming and areing he gave me the keys and i fetched them all with no hassles.

Tomorrow we head of to Durban via Kockstad also a long day a head
I will do another post from there to let you know how drive was

New Tour

Well hi there
I was blessed and received a last minuet trip with 35 Estonia's.
Very different as the tour leader does all the talking, not what I am used to.
So far its been good we did Table Mountain on the day of arrival and yesterday we did Cape point,
today we go to a town called Hermanus were the whale watching is very good, (usually) lets hold thumbs.

the day i flew out an Saturday i was able to go for a quick Dive and shot a 8.5kg Mussel Cracker
so the trip started of well.

Grand Circle done for 2012

Well we drove from Knysna to cape town, and on arrival we had great weather and had time to get to the top of Table Mountain. We got to the top and the wind started to pick up and with in 30 min we had to get of due to strong winds, but all enjoyed the views.

There was no one on the post trip so Cape Town was the last touring, we flew to Johannesburg and said are farewells there and all went home.
A few a little worried to what they were going home to with the massive storm that hit the East coast of the US, from hearing from some all was fine with a few trees up rooted and no Electricity.
It was a Great group with a lot of very different walks of life but all seemed to get on.
I feel a great trip all in all
Thanks to all on the trip