Breakfast. I’ve legit been the first at buffet brekkie (my fave!) every single morning.

We met the Maasai and had a little tour of one of their villages. These guys recycle tyres for shoes.

They greeted us with a dance and song.

Maasai kids.

Baboon trying to get in our car.

Street cat in the shade.

Volcano crater.

Our lodgings for tonight.

Animals grazing outside my window at Sopa Lodge.

Sadly we had to say goodbye to our amazing lodging (I would have loved to see the sun go down one more time with that amazing view), and after a huge trek we reached our next lodging, which was also amazing, and again only a one night stay.

I’m starting to get that this is going to be an ongoing thing, but it’s understandable as these guys have organised a huge 3 week trip with the intention of seeing absolutely everything so we never ever have to come back. We’re only 1/3rd the way in and I’m already quite exhausted at the pace of the tour, and the amount of travel!

PS: Really bad Wi-Fi around these parts, not a bad thing though, right?!

Our chariots for the day.

Cheeky monkeys at the first pit stop.

Elephant skull.

Caged up! We had a picnic in a cage so the monkeys couldn’t steal our food.

Loved these beautiful blue birds.

Getting friendly as they were after our scraps.

Termite mound.

We saw lions, but everything we had spotted was pretty far away until a couple of elephants decided to cross right in front of us.

I got a little concerned, won’t lie! Amazing stuff.

Zebras.

Our trusty steeds.

Selfie.

Photo stop.

Arrival at our accomodation after a very long off-road safari.

No it’s not dirty water! We were greeted with tamarind juice.

I heard we were staying in huts, but this is about as luxurious as a hut gets!

Way wider than widescreen view.

Beer o’clock till the sun goes down.

We lost a day in transit, and it was a nightmare as our flight was cancelled which threw us into chaos as we had an interconnecting flight to catch in order to make it all the way to Tanzania. Our tour manager Benjamin is a christian man, he prayed his ass off, and somehow, with the help of an amazing airline hostess, we made it by the narrowest of margins.

We got to our hotel at midnight, had a quick meal and we were all in bed by 1-2AM, the next morning we were straight into these mighty Toyota Land Cruisers, and off on a Safari, which started out pretty damn slow as many of the animals were so far away (a zoom lens would really have been good…), but the pace picked up when we found a pack of lions, with one young female attempting to sneak up on some wild boar, but with no success, then, whilst watching a large group of elephants, the largest of the group decided to head straight for us and cross right in front of us, day made, that was quite an experience for sure.

Memories of Vegas.

ZEN found.

Lani on the red.

Casino, so… might as well roulette!

Transit day today. We had a flight in the morning to Johannesburg, then a late lunch/early dinner at the casino (where I had the best grain fed steak I’ve had in AGES!). Bet on 8’s and lost!

View of Cape Town from Robben Island.

Nelson Mandela’s courtyard at Robben Island.

Rust Bucket #1.

Rust Bucket #2.

Crocodile, Kudu, and Springbok! 3 animals I’ve never eaten before. Crocodile tasted like Chicken, the Kudu was a bit tough, the Springbok tasted like veal.

Cableway up to Table Mountain.

Early start to the tour today with a ferry ride out to Robben Island, an island which was a high-security prison where Nelson Mandela was held captive for 18 years. The first half of the tour was a bit meh, as we never got off the bus, but the 2nd involved a tour guide who was an inmate once, he added a personal touch to what would have been a pretty dry history class.

We then hit Marco’s African Place for some real African food (loved it!), and then we caught a Cableway up to Table Mountain where we spent the rest of the evening. At some stage the sun was really starting to burn me so I found the only stretch of shade up at the bar, there I ended up making friends with someone who was also hunting down shade, she ended up being from Bondi, Sydney. SO RANDOM!

Local Art by Daniel 2019.

Boss taking a shot of the ladies.

Mum & Jen, her drinking buddy!

Eternal Paper Flowers. Flowers that feel exactly like paper. Leave them on and they die, pick them off and they last forever.

Low clouds enroute to Cape Point.

Group shot!

Mum & Son.

This couple from Germany shipped their bikes (BMW of-course) in for a ride around South Africa.

Cape Point.

So far from home.

Boss on top.

Simontown’s Town.

Enso spotted.

KO’d.

Zebra skin.

Beachside.

Old school change rooms by the beach.

Andre and his M3. Met up with this guy who I recently met on Facebook. He was once head of search at Saatchi. We had a few beers and talked about as much shit as we could before the bartender called last drinks!

First stop, the lounge! Travelling with Mum is always the best!

Mum in Business Class.

Business Class to South Africa like a boss.

Landed in Cape Town. The Singapore airline hostesses were so damn cute. I had a little chat with one when the plane landed, she was wondering why I’d want to visit South Africa, suggesting that it’s a violent place! Geez, way to make me feel comfortable lol!

You could see this housing from the plane as it’s right next to the runway, leaving the airport you see a whole lot of it too. Apparently 1 million people or so live in these tin sheds.

We were too early to check in to our hotel so we headed down to the waterfront for lunch.

Mum getting in on the local music!

Ran into this guy Zenn Viljoen and instantly recognised him from a few YouTube videos I’ve seen of him, so trippy! Check out a video of him here (I didn’t record this).

Perfect weather.

Group Shot!