South Africa - Hilton - Northern Drakensburg - Lesotho - Cape Town

Paul, Plum, Speedy & Flash

Our first port of call on arriving at Paul & Zoe's was a grand tour of the Wedgewood Nougat factory which is Paul's family business. It was interesting to see the nougat making process and the work involved in producing each bar or biscuit.

Laden with a few boxes of treats to take with us, we headed back to the house for a wash and a snooze. Four loads of washing, play time with Paul and Zoe's gorgeous kids (Tom Tom, Flash, Speedy & Plum) and a spritzer in hand later we were feeling right at home.

Saturday involved a trip to the local farmers market, followed by a visit to 'Piggly Wiggly' where the boys played crazy golf and we browsed the many local craft shops & galleries (one of which shows some of Zoe's wonderful portraits). 

Kloof Canopy Tours

After being spoilt rotten all weekend with plenty of healthy food (which we had been craving) and some tasty wine we bid farewell on the Sunday & headed in our little car to the 'Kloof Canopy Tours'. We somehow made it up the steep muddy track (a 4x4 might have been more suitable) to join a South African family in our safety briefing. Harnessed up we zipped through the high trees passed beautiful scenery and stunning waterfalls (Helena might have missed some of the views with her eyes closed!). What a great way to start a Sunday morning before jumping back into the car to head up to the Northern Drakensburg. We arrived safely (and rather speedily - Izzy was driving) at 'Amphitheatre Backpackers' with the car tyres still intact (just). We were overwhelmed by the surroundings - the Drakensburg mountains as a backdrop cannot be beaten.

Amphitheatre Backpackers

Tugela Falls

We opted for an early night in preparation for our 6.15am rise the following day for our trek to the 'Tugela Falls'. It is impossible to explain just how beautiful this trek was - we tried to capture at least some of the beauty with our cameras but the photos just don't do it justice. We arrived back at the lodge exhausted at 7pm and were delighted to find Andy at the bar. After a delicious Moussaka we hit the jacuzzi to rest our muscles as we still had one more trek to do. 

Another early start and with our passports in hand we headed this second day into 'Lesotho'. Lesotho is the highest country in the world, third poorest and remains very unspoilt with round thatched huts, cave paintings from hundreds of years ago and real community spirit.  We visited a local school, a medicine doctor (whose story was fascinating) and a local pub where the punters clearly enjoy the beer brewed on-site a lot more than us (one sip was enough!).

On our return to the hostel, seeing as it was Valentine's Day and our final evening together, Andy was insistent on cooking for us.  What a treat!

The next day after a walk and a swim we headed back to the Walters' for our final night of civilisation. Several bed-time stories later it was then grown-up time and after a few glasses of bubbly and a delicious steak and Guinness pie we headed to Paul and Zoe's local where Paul regaled us with his many outrageous antics from his younger days as a hostel owner.

Tom, James, Helena, Polls and Sammy

The following day we touched down for the second time on Cape Town soil and were very excited to join Sammy, Tom, Polls and James for a yummy Mexican dinner.  What a great way to spend our penultimate night in Cape Town before leaving South Africa on our overland tour up to Kenya. We leave tomorrow morning aboard our Acacia truck, destination Nairobi and tonight we will meet our fellow travellers with whom we will be spending the next 41 days. Fingers crossed!

Where we have been - Cape Town - Stellenbosch - Oudtshoorn - Wilderness - Knysna - Plett Bay - Storms River - Jeffreys Bay - Port Elizabeth - Hogsback - Chintsa - Coffee Bay - Umzumbe - Hilton - Northern Drakensburg - Lesotho

To see our proposed trip through Africa, follow this link:

http://www.acacia-africa.com/acacia_overland/cape_town_to_kenya_2012.php