Well guys if the “African edition” was a rather poor hint at my future plans I now have an itinerary so I can actually tell you lot exactly what I’ll be doing on my upcoming holiday (I have realised that I actually head off next week!!). Being a fan of good food, wine, drinking, nature and animals (NOT in a physical sense) I reckon that South Africa is going to be a pretty damn awesome holiday destination and will hopefully make up for me missing the Oktoberfest (which I had previously been to for three years straight!). I am going cross country from Port Elizabeth (or as they call it PE) to Cape Town (where my good good friend and former work colleague at LSBU Linda now lives) so should be able to see a good load of stuff.
While I have no idea what I will be doing in most of these places but its good that I do at least know where I will be, in order to wet your appetite for some classic photos and pictures when I return please check out my itinerary (and read about my holiday sweepstakes!)
The trip
4 October (Wednesday)
Gatwick Airport
Would be a pretty crap holiday if I didn’t leave the country! Am flying out from Gatwick to Madrid then Johannesburg before heading out to PE. I have a 7 hour stop over in Johannesburg and I am going to try very very hard NOT to get bummed!
5 October (Thursday)
PE
I arrive at around 7pm their time and Linda has set it up for a friend of hers called Elna (a girl) to pick me up and take me to this hotel called the Africa Beach House where I’ll be setting up my base camp when in PE. The owner is German (so I hope he may have brought some Oktoberfest spirit to the place and Linda says I “will enjoy Elna a lot” - that sounds dubious but also fun!!!
6 October (Friday)
Safari!
After what I hope is nice first evening in Africa I am booked into a safari game lodge - the Shamwari Game Lodge at that! Now unfortunately this will cost me £400 for the night but I do get a safari trek, food, shelter and I would hope booze - I hope a nasty tropical disease is also not thrown in!
7 October (Saturday)
PE
After my safari adventure I’ll be going back to my base for one more night - am going to chill out and go to a kick ass hotel to sample some good quality cooking I am hoping (I may also drink - I say may I think we all know I mean I WILL be having a drink or two!)
8 October (Sunday)
Garden Route, Natures Valley
I now start my journey along the coast to Cape Town! I am going on this backpacker bus type thing called the Bazbus. It’s a hop-on, hop-off affair so I get to stay were looks cool and photograph and film all the scary looking stuff through the window! I plan to stay the night at a place called Natures Valley - its unspoilt countryside and there are baboons!
9 October (Monday)
Garden Route, Plettenberg Bay
After staying in a backpackers lodge for the night I wake up, find my stuff hasn’t been stolen and jump back on the bazbus - next stop is said to be like the French-Rivera and full of posh folk. I can posh it up with the best of them - is also the opportunity to go on a dolphin and whale watching boat so I get to test my sea legs!
10 October (Tuesday)
Garden Route, Knysna
A town on the brink of forest full of rastas who smoke weed and see fairies and goblins. I don’t think I can make that any funnier!
11 October (Wednesday)
Cape Town
I finally get to Cape Town - Linda is to pick me up and I’m staying at her place with her bf. I’ll see if I can take them out for dinner to say thanks as well as giving her the stuff she wants me to bring from England (currently some jeans from Top Shop - you supposedly can’t get good jeans in South Africa!)
12 October (Thursday) to 15 October (Sunday)
Cape Town - exploring
Seems like I am not going to be bored - which places like Table Mountain, Robben Island, the beach, the wine farms and restaurants. As you will know if you are a regular reader I love me maps - here is a map of all the things there are to do in Cape Town!
16 October (Monday)
Going home
Getting back on the bus I head back to PE for one more night in the beach house, Elna is picking me up and taking me there!
17 October (Tuesday)
Going home
I fly from PE airport in the morning (again via Johannesburg and Madrid) and again I am going their with the same hopes as when I first got there!
18 October (Wednesday)
London
I get back into Heathrow (which means I can’t get a cheap return ticket for Gatwick!) at 10am. I am hoping I’m not feeling too shitty as I am back to work the day after!! Holiday finished!!
As I go through the country I’ll be posting pictures that I take - I may finally find a use for Flickr - so check back during my trip to see the classic pics that I take!!
The sweepstakes
I know this holiday is going to kick ass! I also know that I am likely to burn bright red at some stage as my skin is whiter than a bag of flour! But to make light of this I am opening up a sweepstakes for you guys to pick on what day I go red. Its first come first served, there will likely be a prize (and I’d say a liquid one at that) so get your name and guess down in my comments! If there are double entries the winner is the person who said first (its only fair!)
Tags sweepstakes, south africa, jungle adventure, safari
8 Comments
September 28th, 2006 at 6:44 am
You’ll go bright red at some point during the 6th. Oh yes, yes you will.
Have a good holiday, mate
September 28th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
I’ll say 7th as the effects of the safari might not be evident until the day after. Plus Neil’s already said 6th, damn!
September 28th, 2006 at 10:16 pm
I’m going for the 9th October - my guess is that you’ll be travelling in a bus most of the 8th. Have a fantastic trip
September 29th, 2006 at 6:59 pm
I’ll have to plump for the 10th….you’ll be so busy with your new Rasta friends you’ll forget the suncream (but hopefully not the sunglasses…so you’ll get an even greater look!).
October 2nd, 2006 at 12:17 pm
Hi Ross,
I think u’ll definitely get tanned not sunburnt mmm yes let me think about the 11th… Haha , have a good time!!!
Angie…
October 3rd, 2006 at 12:27 pm
Dammit all the good days are taken - so i’ll go for the 12th - may as well stay in sequence and i’m not picking the 8th cos you’re on a bus all day!! so 12th it is.
October 4th, 2006 at 1:19 am
Ok, I’ll take the 5th.
November 3rd, 2006 at 3:53 pm
Am really keen to hear about your trip. What was the Baz Bus like? I get people asking me about it all the time but don’t have first hand experience.
And Shamwari? Was it worth it?