South Africa Day 3 & 4 - Breakfasts, Beaches and Back to nature

We have a more leisurely start today, enjoying another tasty breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast with fresh tomatoes and basil, washed down with home made lemonade and some glorious morning sunshine at the guest house. We pack up, hand in the keys and hit the road in the late morning. We're heading to Jeffrey's Bay today, where Craig and his sister went to junior school. On the way to Addo, we discovered that the car radio in our car needed a code to activate it, which we didn't have. We called the car hire place and they didn't have it either, so we let Erica and Steve set off towards Jeffrey's whilst we take a quick detour back to Port Elizabeth airport to swap cars. Trading in the white Ford Ikon we collect an ice blue Hyundai Accent, which has a working radio and is infinitely more comfortable than the Ikon. Craig takes me on a quick driving tour of his and Erica's old high schools - they're impressive buildings with striking architecture, expansive sports grounds and even a shooting range. After seeing the sights, we head back out of town to catch up with Erica and Steve in Jeffrey's, about an hour's drive round the coast.

We meet up at Steers and grab a quick burger for lunch, then we drive up through the streets where Craig and Erica used to live, and stop off to have a look at the various world class surf spots along the coastline. In the early evening we drop off our stuff with one of their friends, with whom we're staying for the night, and head out for a quick drink and then dinner to enjoy the local seafood. The calamari is delicious, my fish is rather overcooked which is a shame, but it's all washed down nicely with a tasty glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Later we head to a local bar, where I enjoy a couple of Savannas, play a quick game of pool and everyone has a chance to catch up. It's a real locals' bar, where the barman plays songs from his iPod (he's a Tool fan, much to my delight) and one group bring in some bedding for their dog to get comfy under one of the tables.

In the morning, we have another relaxed start with a home cooked breakfast, before we say our goodbyes to the family and head back to Jeffrey's to do a bit of shopping. We buy a few souvenirs from a local shop, including a child's T shirt I'm surprised and delighted that I manage to fit into! We drive up to the supertubes and wander down onto the sandy beach, stopping for a few selfies on the way. The waves aren't huge today, and I can't resist going for a quick paddle in the sea. It's pretty cold, not unlike a sunny summer's day on the British coast, but I'm glad I've at least dipped my feet in at such an iconic location. I retreat from the water's edge quickly though, as Craig points out the bluebottles washing up along the break of the waves on the shore. They're small and easy enough to avoid, but for my peace of mind I move further up the beach and continue looking for interesting shells and sea urchin tests whilst soaking in the atmosphere. I wash the sand off my feet and we head back to the car to continue our journey. 

After a quick drive past another house in Aston Bay where Erica and Craig grew up, we head out to the Craggs in the mountains and book into Antlers guest house for the night. The grounds here are stunning, with a pond full of wildlife and a pen with zebra and antelope to greet guests as they drive up the path to the collection of buildings that make up the lodgings. We are in a studio chalet, with a comfy bed, kitchenette, sofas and sliding doors which look out over the lush green grass and peaceful surroundings. Off the beaten track, it's so serene here, and when darkness falls the view of the night sky is amazing, nothing but stars twinkling in the blackness. We have nothing to prepare in our more than adequate cooking facilities however, so we head to the bay for some dinner. Sadly there's a long wait for a table at Fat Fish, the restaurant at which we'd hope to dine, so we head next door to Spur. It's an assortment of meat and fish all round, and I try a beer called Flying Fish, which is flavoured with orange, and very drinkable. They also do a lemon and an apple flavour, I'll be sure to keep an eye out for them in future. We head back to the lodge for an early night and marvel once again at the beauty of the night sky. Our early night is postponed ever so slightly whilst we catch and remove a stray toad which hops across the floor by our bed. We really are living amongst the wildlife here, but I'm quite relieved that the only animal that's made it this close is a friendly toad! Toad relocated outside, we turn in for the night, ready for another day of adventures tomorrow. 

South Africa Day 2 - Safari, Stroking a cheetah and South African Hospitality

All four of us are up for an early start today, grabbing a quick breakfast of eggs on toast and coffee at the guesthouse and heading to Addo Elephant National Park for a guided tour. We arrive at the Crisscross Adventure centre and sign a waiver absolving the company of any liability should we get mauled by wild animals. We bundle into the jeep, and head out to Africanos resort (where we had dinner last night) to pick up some other guests, so there are 9 of us altogether, in a comfortable van with open windows all around. Our tour guide Michael tells us that we're not guaranteed to see any particular animals, as the park is huge and it all depends where the wildlife is roaming today. We strike lucky immediately though, with a Buffalo chomping on some grass just inside the entrance gates. Our guide tells us about the habits of these animals, when they stay in groups and when the males become more solitary as they reach a certain age. It's all very educational, like watching the nature channel but a million times better in real life.

As we drive along the winding road through the reserve, we see a small group of elephants on the corner of a road. Cue lots of picture taking and some more information about these magnificent creatures. We discover you can tell if an elephant is left or right 'handed' by looking at their tusks, where  one side will be more worn than the other. We spot a couple of warthogs too, these come to be a very common sighting, small groups travelling, feeding and resting all over the reserve.

Some more driving looking for animals leads us to a group of red hartebeest, and further up we see a herd of zebra crossing the plain. We learn some more about these beautiful creatures and continue on our way.

After a little more driving, spotting more warthogs, herons, and even a tortoise, we come to a spot on the road where lots of jeeps are stopped. There are 3 lions resting in the shade of the small bushes next to the road; 2 male and one female. We're lucky to catch a glimpse of these big cats, as there are only 11 of them in the park. The males in this group are brothers, and they travel as a group with the female. As we wait and watch, one of the males wakes up and casually strolls right behind our jeep to cross the road. It's so amazing to see these magnificent mammals right up close.

We leave the lions and continue on to a high point of the reserve, spotting some eland on the way. The biggest of the antelope on the reserve, they are slower and easier to catch than some of their smaller, nippier cousins. The view is breathtaking, and our guide tells us how the land has been gradually bought from farmers to extend the park, so the old partitions are still visible across the expansive open space. We're allowed to stretch our legs here, it's high up so presumably the animals don't tend to venture this far. After a quick photo opportunity we bundle back into the van to continue our adventure.

We head down to the watering hole, where there are herds of elephants drinking and cooling themselves with the precious water supply. It's fascinating to watch them fling the water over themselves with their trunks, with a baby circling around their feet for protection.

We head off towards the park exit, where our guide spots the horns of a kudu amongst the undergrowth. We leave the reserve and head back to our car, just as it starts to rain, marvelling at how lucky we are to have had great weather for the morning excursion and seen so many wonderful animals.

There's more! After a quick stop to pick up some lunch, we head out to the Daniell Cheetah Sanctuary near Kirkwood. We've bought bread and filling to make our own sandwiches, and as we sit in the car eating them and watching the rain pummel down outside the windows we could well be on a British summer holiday. Only we're waiting to go into a cheetah sanctuary and we spent the morning hanging out with elephants. Lunch eaten and rain subsided, we join a tour of the sanctuary after disinfecting our shoes and hands stop any nasty bugs getting into the enclosures. First up we meet some meerkats, who we learn can dig through virtually anything and can easily bite through flesh. Not quite the cuddly creatures they seem.

Next up we cross a wooden walkway over a cheetah enclosure where one of the females is relaxing. She doesn't seem phased by us and rolls on her back at one point, something that seems common to all cats, great and small.

Talking of smaller cats, we come to some smaller pens containing serval and caracal. I've never heard of either of these animals before, the serval with a stunning coat not unlike the cheetah, and the caracal a glossy reddish brown with long pointed ears. The serval are potentially becoming endangered but the caracal aren't, they're actually seen as a pest by farmers, since they're opportunistic hunters who will kill a farmer's entire stock when they only need one animal to feed and survive. We also learnt that they're the strongest of the big cat family pound for pound, with the strength to hunt prey 3 times their own bodyweight.

Moving on, the next enclosure has leopard adults and cubs. It's clear to see how the leopard uses strength in comparison to the cheetah's speed. They're considerably bigger and stockier, and they watch us with their beautiful faces as we walk past. One of the cubs is on his hind legs looking at us through the fence. He looks so adorable, and the cat lover in me just wants to give him a cuddle! This wouldn't be wise though, as we can see that one of the adults has a shortened tail; this is where he tried to steal his sister's food as a cub and she took part of his tail clean off. They might look pretty but they're fierce predators, even the cute cubs could do some serious damage to humans.

The last enclosure we reach houses 2 male rescue lions, who were bought by the sanctuary to prevent them being sold for canned hunting. It baffles me that it's legal to hunt lions with the correct permits, I can't imagine wanting to kill one of these magnificent beasts for a trophy, it saddens me that others don't feel the same and it's not safe for these animals to be released to the wild. It's illegal in South Africa to release animals that have been hand reared. They're too used to human contact and wouldn't be able to fend for themselves, so these 2 lions will live out the rest of their lives in captivity. They're pacing up and down which concerns me slightly, but our guide tells us this is just because they can see some pigs in a nearby enclosure that have been brought in as part of a petting zoo for the younger visitors. I hope this is true and the lions are happy, but part of me doubts this. They look healthy, and at least they'll be cared for here rather than being drugged and tracked for hunters to kill elsewhere.

That's just about it for the tour, but before we leave we get a chance to stroke a cheetah! His name is Khaki, he's a young male and seems quite happy to have lots of strangers come into his enclosure and gawp at him. The cats aren't forced to interact with the visitors, so they only get stroked if they're in the mood for it. His fur is coarse and wiry, and he's purring an enormous purr as he reclines comfortably and we approach him slowly, one by one, to give his head a good scratch and tickle his chin. Whilst it's a special experience, ethically I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the Daniell Cheetah Project as a sanctuary rather than a profit making endeavour. I believe that the staff here truly care about the big cats housed in the centre, and want to successfully breed the animals to help conserve the species, but whether it's actually right to keep these animals in relatively small enclosures and encourage contact with humans is questionable. We say goodbye to the cheetahs, and the other animals in the sanctuary, and head into nearby Kirkwood to meet one of Erica's old school friends who runs a citrus farm here. 

We meet up for a quick drink in a nearby bar and discuss our plans for the evening (we don't really have any!) We're quickly invited back to the farm for dinner, where we are served tasty bobotie, a traditional South African dish made with mince, spices and fruit. I've never met these people before but I've been welcomed into their home, fed a delicious dinner with wine and made to feel at home. It's a wonderful example of true hospitality and we have a lovely relaxing evening with great company in a beautiful setting.

South Africa Day 1 - Airports, African roads and Addo

Day 1 of my trip to South Africa begins when our plane lands in Johannesburg in the early hours of Sunday morning. Through some bizarre organisational bad luck, my partner Craig and I end up having to queue for 2 hours with hundreds of other people to get through passport control before we can get to our connecting flight to Port Elizabeth. Luckily we make it just in time, and after a brief snooze and the delights of an aeroplane breakfast, we land in Port Elizabeth airport and head outside to find our hire car. We'd booked a VW Polo Sedan but end up with a Ford Ikon Sedan, which feels a little clunky but will do the job. Setting up the Sat Nav, we head towards Addo Elephant National park, which will be our home for the next 2 nights. Not long into the journey we get a bit lost and end up taking the "scenic" route. I soon learn that "scenic" is synonymous with "potholed". We traverse the uneven surface carefully and manage to navigate back to the main road as we head further away from the suburbs and into the beautiful rolling hills in the Addo area.

We arrive safely at the Avoca guest houses, where we are greeted and given a wealth of information about our chalet, breakfast arrangements and nearby places to eat. Craig's sister Erica and her husband Steve arrived the previous day, but they're out on a safari trip on the Scotia reserve and won't be back until later. Our chalet is a wonderful thatched building set just up from a small river.

There are a family of rock rabbits, or dassies, living around the braai area outside our bedroom window. When we arrive they are sunning themselves on the tree branches and playing around the bushes.

After a brief walk around the grounds, discovering the prickly pear plant and meeting some feral but friendly cats, we head out for dinner to the recommended local restaurant Africanos.

I enjoy some delicious game carpaccio to start, followed by kudu schnitzel which is unfortunately a little blander than I was expecting. We have a tasty bottle of Beyerskloof Pinotage with the meal and I have my first experience of a Don Pedro, a wonderful Amarula ice cream drink to finish. Heading back to the chalet, we marvel at how clearly we can see the milky way and stars in the sky without city light pollution, have a quick catch up with Craig's sister and her husband to hear about their trip to the Scotia reserve, then head to bed for my first night under African sky.

Black, White and Leopard

I'm going to have a go at writing shorter blog posts. This is the fist, focusing on just one outfit. Nearly a year ago I wrote my first post on fashion and style, briefly musing about how some people seem to have developed a style that encapsulates their personality and makes even the simplest of outfits look unique and polished.

I'm still forever in search of this elusive style of my own, and until recently I didn't think there was anything definable about the clothes I wear, since I'm a fan of so many different eras and styles in general. I am learning a few things along the way, however, so hopefully I'll be able to build on what I'm discovering to create new looks for every day. One thing I've learnt is that I seem to be a big fan of black, white and leopard print, shown in this outfit I actually managed to snap on my lunch break.

There's quite a bit of retro inspired clothing here, with a pencil dress from Lindy Bop, and a shrug and coat from Collectif. I've worn them with my absolute favourite leopard print Bronx shoes to complete the leopard accents.

How did you work out your individual style? Are their certain items you always stick to or do you like to experiment? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Coat - Collectif
Shrug - Collectif
Dress - Lindy Bop
Shoes - Bronx (from ASOS)