Sunday 25th

After having rain and overcast weather for the past 2 days, we woke up on Christmas morning to clear blue skies and sunshine! After having breakfast, we all gathered in front of our lodge to open all the presents. For me it was very bizarre sitting in shorts opening presents - I'm used to being sat in my PJ's with the heating up full blast! I got a few traditional South African presents, including a South African cookbook which I can't wait to try! As is tradition, we set up the camera on its tripod to take a big group family photo. After taking 2, we then realised that cousins Paul & Mark were missing so we had to set it up all over again! By 11am we had just about finished and with the weather being very hot so we decided to move inside! We threw on our swimwear and spent all day by the pool sunbathing, playing cricket, bowls, tennis and having a dip in the pool. It was the weirdest Christmas Day I've ever had! After a quick call to the folks back home, we went and got changed for our Christmas dinner which was a braii (BBQ) outside! We sat out until it got dark and played with some glow-stick balls that Helen had bought over from the UK for the small kids to play with - but it ended up with all the adults playing catch with them!

Overall it was a great family day and the hottest Christmas Day I've ever had. I've got to admit though, I prefer the cold English Christmas!!!

Monday 26th

Today was the last morning at The Everglades. We packed up our bags and headed for breakfast. We said goodbye to all the family, which in itself took half an hour, then set off for the Tala Game Reserve. When I was originally asked what I wanted to do in South Africa, a safari drive was at the top of my list! After having a meal in the restaurant, we were told to meet at reception for our driver. We climbed into our open topped land-rover for our game drive and set off into the bush. There are no elephants on this reserve as the foliage isn't suitable for them, and there are no lions as they'd eat the other animals! However, there are giraffes, hippos, rhinos, buck, wildebeest, zebra and other South African animals. As we drove through the bush we came across a 2 giraffes. We got quite close to them and I couldn't believe how beautiful these creatures are. The driver then took us further into a bush where there were 5-6 giraffes!! They are so amazing up close. We thought we were about to witness two giraffes mating as one started to mount the other but the driver then informed us that they were both boys so he wasn't quite sure what they were up to!!!! There was also a baby giraffe who we were told was about 4 months old. Even at a young age he was still pretty tall! Further on our drive we saw zebras, including a two-day old zebra! We also witnessed a wildebeest which had just given birth about 2 hours before. The baby one looked like bambi - small, fluffy and not quite able to stand up without falling over! So cute!!! We drove by a lake and witnessed the hippos - jeez they are scary! We only really saw their heads but when they came above water and 'yawned', their mouths and teeth are huge! They also make such a noise!

We drove down to see the rhinos. At first there were two of them and one decided to sit in the road so we couldn't pass. I thought the driver would reverse and go back the other way, but no! He moved the land-rover forward - a little too close to the rhino for my liking! However, he moved off and let us through. We then moved into a field with 4-5 rhinos - a little further away which was much more comfortable!!

After 2 hours our driver took us back to base. The game-drive was fantastic and I've got some brilliant photos of these animals in the wild. However I'm sure we'll have some bruised bums after the shaky ride!!! We headed back to Botha's Hill to Granny & Grandad's. Granny had made a babotie (a South African dish abit like a mousaka which I have previously made!) and a lovely coconut tart for pudding (so lovely that I had two portions). It had been such a long day that we had an early night and once again listened to the chimes of the grandfather clock……!!