Day 0 - "The 9 efes"

Leading up to the Safari, I had already been in Africa for 3 weeks - two of them with " The 9 Efes" who composed of ( in alphabetical order) .... Al, Archie, Dan, Heather, Joan, Kate, Kerry, Kim and Rachel. We spent two hectic weeks moving from the Mosques, bazaars and bars of Istanbul to a 3 day stay at a Game Park near Port Elisabeth. In between was the elegance of Cape Town and the waterfront, the drunkenness of the Wine region and a bit of chilling in Pletenburg Bay.

Table Mountain, the Cape of Good Hope various random stops also figured in this pretty intensive tour.

The group neme was born in Istanbul, where the local beer was called efes .... When Archie ordered one and the barman said " how many efes."....... Archie in typical style replied " there are 7 efes " and a name was born. On the plane Al & Rachel joined us and 7 became 9 and South Africa to be conquered.

After two weeks. 9 became 2 and it was just Heather and I in a 5 star hotel, enjoying Capetown and the surrounding area. Finally 2 became 1 and Dan is alone in Africa.

The following day I met Annette, who was a friend we had met in Bolivia - she was joining me on the Safari and would be my "roomy" for the nest 41 days.