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We are writing this from the comforts of our home in Edinburgh, having returned yesterday from our brilliant six week jaunt around the beautiful South Africa.
We loved the country and it's people and really enjoyed the freedom of being able to drive around where ever we wanted. We covered over 7000km in total and felt we got a good perspective on the variety of the countryside. It is said that South Africa is 'the world in one country' as it has such a range of landscapes and topography. We would certainly agree with that.
Since we last wrote, we made our way along the Garden Route, a great mixture of ocean and forest. Spent a great two days in Ostrich country - Oudtshoorn where Nat rode one and Mal ate some! Stopped at the southern tip of Africa where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet, saw amazing whale action off Hermanus (really incredible how close to shore they come 200-300m) and endulged ourselves in the beautiful wine country of the Western Cape before heading to Cape Town.
We loved the Cape Town, not too big, but a stunningly beautiful city around the Table Mountain National Park. Here we explored the city, climbed the Lion's Head and Table Mountain (what a view!) and visited Robben Island (where Mandela was imprisioned). We also took a day trip down the beautiful Atlantic coast south of Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope. We experienced one of Cape Town's 'typical' winter days....fog so thick, you wouldn't even know a mountain or city existed - good day to go to the movies!
We really enjoyed the experience of driving through the Great Karoo (desert), stopping in Kimberley, the diamond capital of the world. The fairly unremarkable North West Province was made memorable or infamous due to Mal's accidental brush with the law! Thinking it was just another local wanting to hitch a lift, Mal ignored the guy waving to him on the side of the road. Unfortunately this person turned out to be a policeman who was hailing him to pull over due to his excess speed! Minutes later, we saw flashing lights in our rear vision mirrow and found ourselves paying a fine in the local police station.....lucky not to be charged for failing to stop!!
Our last few days were spent seeing the sights of Pretoria and Jo'Burg with special mention going to the SAB World of Beer Tour (very entertaining and great value with free beer!).
We would encourage everyone to put SA on their 'to do' list as the people could not been more friendly and welcoming everywhere.
Until next time,
Mal and Nat
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