Cape Town

Cape Town; The World’s number one holiday destination...for good reason.

We arrived into Hout Bay, which is just a 20 minute drive from Cape Town itself. We had arranged to stay in a penthouse apartment for this part and on arrival we were blown away. 'When can we move in' was our first thought whilst Roman simultaneously declared he wanted to live here. Our balcony offered stunning views, overlooking the beach and the mountains that surround the bay. It really is a beautiful place and we could not have wished for a better base to explore from.

We decided to take a trip round Chapman's Peak which is a road carved out of a mountain; I thought it looked the perfect place for one of those posh car manufacturers to road test and show off handling ability. John thought it all a little close to the edge and being scared of heights, he found it a little unnerving. We headed along the coast to a place called Simon's Town; yes brother dearest, you have a whole place named just after you. It is a working naval base, so not sure that he would fit in, but it has interesting things to visit including museums. There's a naval submarine that offers guided tours for 40 zar, a toy museum and much to our delight a lighthouse called Roman's Rock. You can certainly spend a few hours here, meandering round the shops and sights but we were heading this way for a date with the penguins so pressed on to Boulders beach.

Boulders beach is a lovely little beach with a wooden walkway where you are inches away from my favourite animal, and we certainly spent a few hours laughing at them and their silly little ways. They are not bothered by humans and are happy to come and have a nosey at us strange people. We then headed on to Cape Point, but as it had a walk that involved heights and large drops we decided John's nerves just could not take it. Instead we found an amazing cafe for lunch, very child friendly with an amazing play area and so we sat in the lovely sunshine eating yummy food and watching Roman take over the play area.

We woke the next day to the most horrific rain. It literally rained all day and we really couldn't do much so instead we attempted to plan some of our future trip. Thankfully the sunshine returned the following day so we decided to head up Table Mountain in the cable car...when I say we I mean me and Roman as john bottled it (for a change). It was a four minute ride up to the top and when you arrived you were greeted with the most amazing views out over the area. We were so high you could see the clouds on the horizon. Roman and I had lots of fun and made a pact to get daddy up there before we left.

We had an afternoon tour of Robben Island booked so headed down to the waterfront to catch our boat. Robben Island is where the prison was that held Nelson Mandela for 18 years of his life. Conditions for the inmates were horrific and our tour guide was a former inmate who had spent 7 years locked up just because he marched for rights for the blacks and Asians. It was only when the world boycotted South Africa that things had finally started to change. The Olympics banned their athletes and no country would do trade with them. Thankfully things are changing and the prison is now a protected site and will not see any more of the horrors of the past. The people who live on the island are the people who work there, most of them people who were unfairly imprisoned. We really enjoyed this tour and we are so glad we did it. Roman however continued with his sea sickness theme - it seems that unlike the rest of my family he is yet to find his sea legs.

We stayed on the waterfront for dinner and had food at one of the many world class restaurants on the front; this is the place where anyone who is anyone hangs out and it is so very different from other parts of Africa we had seen. It’s amazing that a place such as Cape Town is so close to some of the poverty we have seen, for this place is money and then some.

The next day, true to our word, we managed to get John in the cable car and up to the top of the mountain. I was convinced that if he stood in the middle he would be fine...how wrong could I be. When we got to the top he refused to go anywhere near the sides or look down and freaked out at some of mine and Romans adventures and photo ops. It did seem at one point that he would be walking down, although that thought freaked him out as well. Thankfully sense prevailed and we got him back down in the cable car, but I have to confess I felt a little bad for making him go up, yet at the same time very, very proud. Daddy went up in both mine and Romans estimations, next stop sky dive......As if!

We spent the remainder of our time visiting the beach in Hout Bay, it is so beautiful and has a little harbour that the seals come into and you can feed them fish. Roman got really good at it, so it cost us a fortune.

So our time in Africa has come to an end. If you had asked us 2 weeks in whether we would return to Africa, I think we would have said maybe, but ask us now and its a 100% yes. It really does have something for everyone and would make a great family holiday. I think next time we will do Kruger again then fly down to Cape Town and explore the Garden route more. It won’t be for a few years yet though as Roman needs to be 12 to dive with the sharks and hopefully by then he will find his sea legs. He has Tibbett blood in him so the boy should be a natural on the water.

Something you hear time and again whilst here is “This is Africa”: it applies to the crazy antics on the roads and pathways, whenever something mad occurs, like the renaming of traffic lights as robots, much to our amusement. The first time someone said when you get to the robot you turn left we spent ages looking for an actual robot. The buses here are crazy, they may be allowed to carry 20 but it’s the norm to see double that and when you question the response is “this is Africa” We didn’t take any bus trips for obvious reasons! The countryside is very mountainous, something I didn’t expect and very beautiful. The people are friendly, the food is divine and the cost of things is very good value.

So it is with a sad heart that we leave for the next part of our adventure. We have had to cut Australia out apart from one night due to accommodation issues and because of this we find ourselves facing 4 flights totalling 20 hours.

So its Thailand for Christmas, where we hope to laze on the beach, do a little snorkelling and get a visit from a certain man with a white beard and red suit. We will then spend New year’s here before heading to Kuala Lumpur on January 1^st 2012. From there we have no idea where we will end up; it’s very much work in progress and I have to say thanks to all who have helped with advice for us.

Hope that you have all had a wonderful Christmas and that the New Year brings health and happiness to all. We look forward to updating you next year.

Lisa, John and Roman

Merry Christmas

O.K guys, it's been a while since our last post, but we promise their is another one just around the corner...but you'll have to wait just a little longer.

In the meantime, we just just wanted to wish you all a very Happy Christmas. We'll be half way through our day before most of you are even unwrapping your presents, so we just wanted to let you all know how much we'll miss you on this special day, and how much our love goes out to you all.

Big Love from the Cooper Clan xxx

Kynsna 8th Dec-11th Dec 2011

We arrived in Knysna after a long drive that saw us take in some of the amazing views on offer along the garden route. Port Elizabeth where we set off from was nothing special; a port and an airport...sorry if that offends but that really is a pretty accurate description. The place where we stayed was lovely and had the best breakfast of the trip so far. It was called Sir Roys By The Sea and if you need to spend any time there, you would be hard pushed to find better. On our way to Knysna we passed through many pretty places, and none more so than Storms River.

There was a huge bridge over 100 metres across and 216 metres down that traversed deathly jagged cliffs and fast running torrents below. I struggled to walk out to take the photos, but i surpassed John's meagre 2 metres, although my venture out was peppered with a few swear words and tantrums that thankfully only i was witness to. I made it to a middle spot to take the pictures, hope that you enjoy.

We arrived in Knysna at a stunning little fishing town with a delighful boardwalk and marina, complete with tourist shops and yummy eateires. Our hotel was the Protea Hotel Knysna Quays which, from our room, had a view to die for of the Marina and Kynsna Heads. We spent the first day exploring the beaches and huge houses located in the area, before heading to the rock pools and indulging in a spot of fishing and crab hunting. Roman ended up totally wet through but had lots of fun; dad even managed to catch a couple of fish before having to be reminded that it was the childrens net and needed to be given back!

We took a cruise out to Knysna heads on the evening aboard 'John Ben' and learnt that the heads are the most dangerous in the world, being responsible for over 130 shipwrecks; upon discovering this we decided to stay safely inside and not venture out just to become a statistic...for today at least.

Our final day was spent on a tour of a Township located on the outskirts of Knysna. The tour was given by Penny and her business partner Ella who is a member of the township community. We travelled through the township with them, handing out sweets to children and feeding the local animals.

We went with them and visited a hairdressers that was located inside a shipping container, folowed by shops, and then on to Ellas home. Ella has taken it upon herself to help the young people of the Township and provides a soup kitchen daily, catering for over 30 children as well as providing a home for approximately 16. The children took Roman into their group quite happily and he spent a couple of hours charging around in the 30 degree heat.

We also took part in a drumming lesson where the children sang songs and stole our hearts.

When it came to leaving we found it upsetting that in the run up to Christmas the children were only going to be looking forward to opening one present each so we went out to top up their Christmas hoard, wrapping up a few extra presents from us, for we could never do enough to help the boys and girls we met, some of whom had experienced the most traumatic events in their short lives. Despite all of this, they welcomed us with open hearts, teaching us a lesson in resilience. We will be back to visit and have provided a link to their site so if anyone feels they can help or just wants to learn more you can do.

You can see in our pictures the huge divide in the wealth of South Africa, you have huge mansions with a large staff being overlooked by the small shacks of the areas that are home to over 25,000 people. South Africa has come along way in recent years but it is clear to see, it has still a long way to go.

We have left Kynsna now and driven the 400km to a small place called Gansbaai which is a place here in South Africa that the big two of the ocean hang out: The whales during the whaling season between July and December and the Great White Shark, known locally as the man in the grey wetsuit who we have an early morning date with tomorrrow. We are away to take the first of our sea sickness tablets, though im not sure they help with fear sickness and then hopefully we will all be back tomorrow to update you on what we then know is an amazing experience with one of natures true greats.

Camp Nibble

Hi guys,

just a quick post inbetween blogs to tell you a little bit about Camp Nibble.

This isn't as you might expect another place on our tour, but a wonderful sanctuary back in Britain that cares for critters of the pet variety.

As we were coming on this trip. we were unfortunately unable to care for our two wonderful guinea pigs Trigger and Dave.

They were becoming fully fledged teenage guinea pigs and hormones were flying about everywhere, so they were getting a little bit scrappy. Thankfully, the wonderful people at Camp Nibble helped us out by agreeing to look after the boys re-home them if possible with a family that could take great care of them.

They do such a thankless job at Camp Nibble, so I thought I would ask you to take a wee look at their site to see the great work they do, and if it tickles your compassionate bone, dig deep and donate to help them keep the mission going. They rely on donations to run as they are not funded by any other organisation.

http://www.campnibble.co.uk/

Thankyou folks

*Next post imminent

Swaziland, St. Lucia & The Battlefields

We left Kruger National Park and headed for Swaziland. This was only ever going to be a stop off to break the journey up so we don’t have too much to tell. We crossed the border at Jeppes Reef which took about an hour and involved 6 stamps and around £30, they also wanted you to list every piece of electric or valuable equipment you had and what your address would be in Swaziland... now call me paranoid but I figured that was info they did not need. One piece of advice, we did have to have written permission to take our hire car out of South Africa and this was checked so if taking this route it is important to make sure you have it sorted prior to venturing out this way.

We drove down to Mbabane which is the capital of Swaziland and stayed the night in an great place with the most amazing views out over the countryside.

The people of Swaziland were super friendly, and they walk everywhere (an alien notion to us)...even in the very hot weather,without breaking a sweat . School children walked up to 15km a day to school in 35° temperatures smiling and laughing all the way. Can't imagine I'd have a smile on my face! We stopped and shared sweets and colouring pens with them and were met with warmth and huge smiles every time.

We left Swaziland behind and headed to the World Heritage Site area of St. Lucia. Wow! What a beautiful place! There was such a great, laid back atmosphere here; we loved it. It reminded us very much of some of the lovely little coastal towns you find in Australia. We stayed in a Bed and Breakfast called Parkers Cottage and felt like we had been taken in to the family home itself. It is something we have felt time and again on this trip; the South Africans invite you into their homes and then wrap you in warmth. Whilst in St. Lucia we visited the local beaches and took a cruise up the estuary to view Hippos and Crocodiles up close - sometimes a little too close, as one hippo took particular offence to our boat and charged us, mouth wide open...not for the faint hearted. The days were finished sampling some amazing local food whilst talking with some great locals. Human contact was important to us at this point, as Roman had started referring to people crossing the roads as herds; I think maybe we have spent a little too much time around animals!

We stayed in St Lucia for 3 nights and then headed up to Dundee to visit the Battlefields and take in a whole load of historical learning. Zulu was my younger brother's most played film growing up, so I was very much looking forward to visiting the actual sites.

I have to put a special mention here for the The Royal Country Inn where we stayed. Now this place looks and feels like it was last renovated around the battle times, but is however immaculately clean and the family that run it are amazing. They were absolutely fantastic and upon hearing how much Roman was missing the company of other children they arranged for him to attend school one afternoon with Liam, the owner’s grandson. Needless to say he loved it! I would not hesitate to suggest the place and would say give it an hour and the history, charming features and general feel will become the memories and quirks that make it hard to leave behind.

The Battlefields we chose to visit were Talana, Rorkes Drift, Isandlwana and Blood River. First off, Talana, which also hosts a great museum that teaches all about the history of the town and how it was built on the back of the mining industry by a couple from Scotland. It comes complete with its own steam train and original house that has been restored. it is located a just shy of 2km outside of Dundee itself. Talana is Zulu for ‘the shelf where precious items are stored’ which is a fitting name and is a great way to start the Battlefields tour as it gives you plenty of historical and contextual information about the places which follow.

From Talana we headed to Rorkes Drift, the site of the battle behind the 1964 Michael Cain movie Zulu. It is here that approx 139 men, the majority of which were British Army men, held off an attack by 4000 Zulu’s. The battle was a bloody one and it was humbling to stand in the very place it occurred. The most Victoria Crosses ever given during battle was here and totaled 11, with another being refused in favour of a commission. There is a simple cemetery and a memorial stone for the British losses and a newer Zulu memorial. The Battle for Rorkes Drift took place on January 22^nd 1839 and left 17 British dead, the true number of Zulu’s lost is not known but it is no less than 500.

Isandlwana was the next site we visited,situated just 20km up the road and actually where the battle above had started out. The Zulu’s had tricked the British army into dividing their camp and because of this they found themselves confronted by 20,000+ Zulus. The battle was fierce and resulted in the loss of 1300+ British and 1000+ Zulu’s, the white Cairns show the burial spots and points where soldiers died; these go on as far as the eye can see in varying cluster sizes. It was a very hot day when we visited and we could not be out of the car for long due to the need for the air-con, but the time we spent there gave you goosebumps and you could almost, if you listened hard enough, hear the swishing of the grass as the enemy crept closer to you. I would not like to spend a night up there that’s for sure.

We spent our final day in the Dundee area visiting the site that is the most famous battle and most important in the shaping of South Africa. Blood River as it I now known, was reached after driving 30km on roads that leave you wondering if you are on an outback 4x4 course.

The battle itself took place between the Zulu’s and the Voortrekkers andit was a huge battle involving around 10-15,000 Zulus against 470 Voortrekkers on 16^th December 1838. The Vortrekkers had prayed to the gods that if they were spared in this battle after suffering terribly at the hands of the Zulus they would declare the day a national holiday and build a church. The battle took place around a circle of wagons, the Vortkrekkers being inside and the Zulu’s surrounding them in their famous bull formation which resulted in a total surround of the enemy. Against all odds the Vortrekkers won the battle and suffered only 3 minor injuries; the Zulus lost 3000+ and the carnage turned the river blood red, hence the name of the battle Blood River. It is commemorated today by a true life scale replica of the 64 wagons from the battle set in bronze. A plate in the middle and a few rocks piled on top of each other show where 28 years after the battle the Vortrekkers and Zulu’s came together as friends to remember and to move forward as neighbours in peace.

We enjoyed our time amongst the battlefields and all it had to offer. We chose to concentrate on just a few, but we discovered that the total loss of life was much greater as many more battles were fought in the surrounding area. Notable people who were involved in the conflict include Ghandi and Winston Churchill and also the Prince Imperial of France and heir to the Napoleon Empire who was killed whilst serving alongside the British army, bringing to an end the Napoleon family and a great relationship with the British.

From here we traveled to Durban with yet another 350km drive and a 1 hour flight to Port Elizabeth. We had some serious problems en route with road works and made our flight with minutes to spare. We venture on now along the garden route; first stop Knysna and 3 nights to relax and see the sights. We look forward to telling you about it in our next chapter.

The Big 5, Critters & All Things Inbetween

So we came to Kruger, as so many others do, with the intention of seeing the "Big 5".

• Rhino
• Leopard
• Buffalo
• Lion
  
• Elephant

We added to this list Cheetahs and Wild Dogs as our other dream sightings.

The animal sightings continued during our time in Berg-En-Dal camp although this was to be the only Black Rhino sighting we would be lucky enough to find in Kruger.

We then set off to Talamti bush camp which is pretty remote to say the least. It is a place where bugs and critters surround you, and when I say critters I mean giant moths,mosquitoes and cockroaches...basically the things found in people’s mouths on I’m a Celeb. I just need to add here John finally discovered, despite me telling him previously that cockroaches do in fact fly, one day he will believe me when I tell him that I know everything! Basically, if you put a light on you became the the ultimate hang out spot for anything that buzzes, flies or bites. So now, not only am I scared of spiders, I am now scared of putting lights on...

The upside to this camp is that when you find game, (and you do...in abundance) you are generally by yourself; no line of people queued up like you're waiting for a ride at Disney World. We have sat and watched Elephants, Rhinoceros and Giraffe stroll down the road or stand stripping the tree’s roadside without them caring at all that we are sat, window down, mouths open, staring at them. Roman has fallen in love with a little animal called the Impala, more commonly known, or so I have been told as The MacDonald’s burger of Kruger. It is a skittish little thing and when I look at it I think of Bambi. The park has around 130,000 of them and so our son shouts Impala about 300 times a day on average and insists on stopping for another photo of them.

Whilst at Talamati we took our first guided sunset game drive, complete with guide Chester and his rifle! In the park the camps have a cut off point where you have to be inside your camp: in November it is 6.30pm, and after that the gates close to stop the animals coming in. If you want to experience night time outside of the gates it is done at sunset or later at night. The cost per adult is 250 ZAR (£20) and for a child who must be over 6, (Roman was close enough we were advised) was 120 ZAR (£10). This was the best money spent so far in Kruger; Firstly, Chester had eyes like a Hawk and could spot things we would have missed a million times over, and secondly, on our return to camp when it was dark we stumbled across a group of four male Lions walking in front of us down the middle of the road. We followed them for a few minutes and then they posed for filming and photos for about 15 minutes, seriously only a few feet from our open vehicle. Nothing can describe the feeling that all three of us felt - I personally could have cried, as it was such a high point in my life. I hope that the pictures help you understand why we felt so amazing.

We spent three nights at Talamati and saw some amazing things and I will never forget our time here. It was strange to be out of contact with the outside world, but sometimes I think you need to be cut off to realise how much our lives depend upon the things we're plugged in to, and here we really got to enjoy just being a family without the distractions (well apart from the critters). It might surprise some of you to find out that John coped much better without the mobiles and internet than I did...hmm or maybe it won't.

We headed to the more family friendly camp Satara to seek out the elusive Leopard and any other cats. We sure found them! We came across five female Lions lounging under a roadside tree one lunch time and sat with many other vehicles watching them in all of their lazy glory (But hey! At 35 degrees with no air-con who can blame those lovely lions). We did our own day drives both on the main tar roads and the gravel B roads. We saw more on the main roads but shared these viewings with more people so off road ones sometimes felt more special. It was on these drives that we found such animals as the Warthogs, Buffalo, Chacma baboon and most of the Antelope family including Bushbuck, Nyala, Blue wildebeest and Sable.

We hadn't however found the Leopard that we craved for our “Big 5” experience, so we decided to do another Sunset guided tour, as being a nocturnal animal we would have more chance of sighting a Leopard after dark. The sunset tours are 3 hours and start at 5pm, Roman slept for the first hour and a half as only he could, bless him. We found a huge herd of Buffalo numbering 100+, such an awesome sight and also found out that they are one of the most dangerous animals as they will attack you quite happily (not us fortunately!); the biggest killer in Africa though is of course the Mosquito, followed then by the Hippo. We saw birds that are called various names with European at the start as the crazy little things come to us for summer - do they not realise we do not have one?!

We came across large herds of elephants and found out that you tell the age by length of tusk and also that the way to tell if it is left or right footed is by tusk length: the shorter tusk indicates that is the foot and side it predominantly uses...you learn something new every day. We also learnt that the female rules, but females of all species know that already. We then came across a clan (or a cackle) of Spotted hyenas, including cubs aged around 8 months. Now these are ugly when older but I thought the cubs to be quite cute...our guide thought me quite crazy!

It was time to head back to camp and still no Leopard, we were all feeling quite sad but soon cheered up after spotting some Porcupines,and then even more elated to find a Leopard stalking them! We were so excited and happy to see such an amazing, beautiful animal in its natural environment, although we thought it rather crazy to be choosing Porcupines as its choice of dinner as those things have lethal spikes. We again headed back to camp and saw on the way the African Wild Cat, Large-Spotted genet and a rare sighting of a Serval all in all a fantastic night’s game viewing and well worth the money.

Our last day saw us finding more Hippos and crocs but unfortunately not the Wild dog or Cheetah, I guess we will just have to come back for them another time.

I have to put a special mention to some Vervet monkeys that decided to ransack our bungalow outside at Satara, you really do have to lock the fridge or put dry food inside, these guys mean business. Roman lost his Weetabix but I got some great video footage and photos I hope you enjoy, Roman was less impressed about no breakfast.

So that is our time in Kruger, sorry it has been such a long post but we covered a lot of miles...over 700 in total, although thankfully fuel here is less that a pound a litre.

Our footsteps will slow now for a while and I promise the next blog won’t be so long.

Kruger National Park Camps

It took time to work out time frames and camps for the park and in true Cooper style we have ended up changing our itinerary whilst here; Week one I hear my dad saying and already she is changing her plans! It's just one of those things - you have to adapt to get the best experience. I'll tell you a little about the camps we stayed in, why we chose them and then eventually I'll get to the real reason we came...the wildlife!

Our first camp was called Berg-En-Dal and is located in the south of Kruger. It is set amongst rocky terrain and was, if i'm honest, not quite what I had pictured Kruger to be like - the plains of the Lion King it is not! The camp itself has all you need and would expect and also has all of the things included in our bungalow that I had previously been convinced by others that I would need. We leave the park tomorrow and to this day I have not used any utensils, plates, cutlery or loo roll among the million other things I was convinced to purchase in Hazy View. Family wise it had a pool and laundry which cost 50p for a full wash and dry.

The second camp was Talamati. Talamati is special in that it is a bush camp and therefore much more remote with just 15 bungalows, no shop, no phone signal...in fact not much of anything. Well apart from the score of amazing animals that we encountered which made it a great choice. It was hard to get to but that was mainly due to the weather and conditions on our day of travel; torrential rain, back roads with no phone reception and wild animals do not make for a pleasant 7 hour journey. We spent three nights at Talamati, which for us with a child of five was maybe one night too many (Roman still likes to be able to go swimming and the 8 hour daily drives started to grind him down.)

We were then due to head north to Olifants, but upon doing a little further reading and also desperate for our Leopard sighting we managed to change to two nights at Satara Camp. Satara was a fantastic camp for us as a family. The staff were amazing, Faith on reception was wonderful even after we had monkeys trash our place of rest. There is a children’s play park and an amazing pool perfect for cooling down or tiring out children. It is a camp known for its cat sightings and it did not disappoint...more about that later.

The final Camp was Lower Sabie, dream camp and very hard to get into, we struck lucky for one night. It has a pool, laundry and an amazing viewing deck overlooking the dam where you can watch the Hippos, Crocs and huge array of birdlife 24/7. It had an amazing waterhole 500 metres down the road where we got our best Hippo views. It was just a little sad that we only found the place on the last stretch of out time in Kruger.

So that's the camps, next update the WILDLIFE.