South Africa

Again great photos. Really appreciate you posting them

Jealous of that blue sky, heavy snow is forecast here for tomorrow morning

Beautiful views, M, and great weather. At least you won’t be using more than your fair share of lekky in those temperatures😯. 

Hope you get up that mountain tomorrow.

We had a trip into history today - a tour of Robben Island where Nelson Mandela spent18 years imprisoned. The tours are conducted by former prisoners who speak eloquently of their struggle against the apartheid system, imprisonment and the barbaric conditions they had to endure.  There is still clearly a lot of anger in them. It is almost impossible to imagine how it must have been, confined to a cell barely 8ft by 8ft for all but 30 minutes a day. The punishments sounded horrific - some were set to work in this limestone quarry under the scorching sun for 6 hours a day, other had dogs set upon them overnight. There is little indication of Mandela's cell, other than a folded blanket in one corner and a table and tin cup against one wall.

The country has come so far over the past 30 years or so, but there is still much to be achieved - outside nearly every town we've visited there have been "informal settlements" with hundreds upon hundreds of corrugated iron shacks, such poor conditions compared to the wealth in the cities.

On a happier note, we spent our last afternoon and evening down on the Victoria and Alfred waterfront which is always  lively and bustling. Despite all,  the stories of crime and violence in the city we have felt totally safe and unthreatened during our stay. 

Tomorrow morning we are determined to get up Table Mountain if it's the last thing we do (not literally - there was a 20 hour search and rescue operation for 3 tourists who'd tried to climb up on Saturday when it was shrouded in cloud! )

Great excitement amongst 50% of the moulesy group this morning when we realised we were sharing the hotel with the Australian cricket team. I was "advised" (by Mrs M, obviously) not to try to sit with them at breakfast - "they don't want a little fat English bloke on their table". How rude - I'm not that little! 

Sounds like a truly marvellous trip M. SA as you say still has huge problems, but the sheer beauty of the landscape, and the wildlife are breathtaking. Thanks for sharing, been very interesting. Leave those Aussies alone though. And you might need wellies or snow boots when you get back to Blighty😱

I am looking at West Coast of America and Canada. OH might just get the shock of his life when he asks me where would I like to go for my next big birthday........🤣

is that going to be the highlight of your trip?

Well if not, the icing on the cake

It reminds me of who I once shared a hotel with...............Yasser Arafat and the PLO. Other than security gunboats off the beach we’ed Never have known. The Palestinians were less hassle than the Greeks!

Not the absolute highlight, but one has to take one's chances when they come - one of these is a world class Australian international cricketer and the other is a "little fat English bloke! "

It is the last morning and we did actually make it up Table Mountain in the cable car. And how it was worth it - crystal clear skies, hot, hot, hot and those views! 

We're now at Cape Town airport waiting for our flight back to Johannesburg and then back to Heathrow. It's been an unforgettable two weeks, and although we have missed the weather back home (no, really! ) we've got our very own "storm Ralph" to look forward to at the weekend when Lady's new companion finally arrives!