A very special day today.

We saw Elephant yesterday but we were guaranteed to see them today.

We were collected from the hotel to be taken on a hair-raising drive to reach the African Elephant Back Safari by Wim - who we later found out was an ex-rally driver!

He took us over the Jeerburg Pass - a gravel road that was built to link Port Elizabeth with Jo'burg. It took 5 years to build and was finished in 1850.

Well the condition of the road surface was such that I'd probably have restricted my speed to about 15kph - but not Wim - I'd say we didn't drop below 40kph all the way - and that's along a road with sheer drops on either side AND he was pointing out things of interest as we sped along - and then he took a short cut - almost straight down - then turned to us and, in a very thick Afrikaans accent, said "...and I'm not using any brakes" - I think Kate paleface little at this.

Then we got to the AEBS and were given a brief introduction to what was about to take place, then we climbed to high decking and two magnificent African Elephants came into the clearing.

They moved in front of us and we were invited to climb on. I have to say we did this with some trepidation - they were enormous and a once you were on board it was a helluva long way down - and then we were on the move.

This has to be one of the most exhilarating and marvellous experiences we've ever had, but boy was it uncomfortable. There backs have no padding of muscle and you sitting directly on their spine - and the hairs all over their bodies are razor sharp - and we had shorts on!

By the time we returned to the decking we were glad to get off. Then we walked with them and finished the experience by feeding them their lunch - awesome.

We had lunch by the water-hole and met two coppers from Leicestershire who know several fire officers that I'm mates with - talk about coincidence.

Then another hair-raising journey back and we spent the rest of the day in our pool sipping wine.