Hometime.. :(

So today was our last day, with a long journey ahead of us and the busyness of the previous month catching up with us we were quite chilled out. We had to check out of our room at 10am and our flight wasnt til 6.10pm. We had breakfast at the hostel and enjoyed a few cups of tea before the taxi arrived to take us to the airport.

It took about an hour to get to the airport. Our plan was to get some food once we'd checked in and gone through security... not knowing that all the restaurants are before you go through security and airport workers telling us there was.. we were left with one crappy restaurant to choose from...

we spent most of the time in the shops looking to see if there was anything else we wanted to buy before we leave which ended in being more food, vodka and random african memorabilia.

Our flight was a little delayed but eventually we were flying high, landing in Dubai about 10hours later. By the time we got through security in Dubai, we had 1hour to waste before our next and final flight. we got some drinks and headed straight to the gate to stretch out. The plane was pretty empty which left us with 3 seats between the 2 of us, admittedly I (slou) did spread out over 2 seats for the whole flight only moving for the toilet or for meal times, as most of you who know us can imagine, Charlie wasnt impressed. :D

12.30pm we landed into Gatwick airport. happy to be home, on the ground and not stuck in a plane but also sad that no more SA adventures.. for now anyway..

thanks to those who have read the blog, sorry it took a little longer to finish than expected!

til next time.. xxxxxx

Cape Town - Day 4 - V&A Waterfront and Robben Island

We were pretty lucky to be heading to Robben Island today... our original plan would have been to turn up at the V&A waterfront, buy a ticket etc etc... luckily whilst we were in Plett we got chatting to a couple who said they did exactly that and didnt have much luck apparently you're supposed to book weeks in advance.. aaaaah sh*t!!! well long story short, we got tickets by calling up the ticket place.. the only available date was today, our last day so definitely lucky for us!

we had to be at the V&A waterfront clocktower at 10.30am and as we had no idea where this was.. we got a taxi! we were pretty early so we collected the tickets, got a cuppa tea and sat watching the boats coming in and out of the harbour. before getting onto the ferry we had to go through security checks and scanners, once through we got our picture taken infront of the ferry and soon after we were away.. you could make out robben island in the distance, and there were some awesome views looking back at cape town with table mountain, devils peak and lions head!

the ferry ride took between 45mins and 1 hour! when we got off the otherside we had to get onto buses which would give us a tour of the island. once the bus was moving it was clear we'd got on the wrong one. other than us and a few other people the rest of the bus was full of boys on a school rugby tour! they were pretty well behaved and were asking some quite interesting questions to the tour guide but it felt like we'd gone back a few years and were on a school trip. whilst on the tour around the island we saw churches, the local school etc.. we were also shown a small isolated house which was where a man was banished to and not allowed to talk to anyone for 6years! he could do whatever he wanted in the house and garden but was forbidden to talk to anyone! apparently he later died with mental health issues which is not surprising! we were also shown the limestone quarry at which the prisoners had to work each day, within the quarry there was a cave which is where the prisoners used to shelter and also teach each other, some prisoners were put into prison being unable to read and write, when they left they went on to university.. crazy!!

we then stopped for a break at a little shop so we decided to get on another bus and leave the school kids to their trip. before the bus left an ex-prison guard, Chris du Brandt, got on board and told us a a story on how he helped Nelson Mandela see his grandchild when Winnie bought them over on a visit. According to him, after this event him and Mandela got on really well, both having a more in depth understanding of the actions and personality of the other. He said that in Mandela's stories he is referred to as 'the man behind the uniform'.

Next stop: the prison. we were ushered through one of the prison gates by the bus tour guide and then greeted by an ex-prisoner. He took us into his old cell which held 40+ other people! he told us what it was like etc & answered all the qs people had. we tried to escape and move on as we were worried about the time and missing the ferry back. we didnt get very far before the rest of the group caught up.. was slightly embarassing but oh well... we then got to see Mandela's cell, it was so small and had nothing but a bucket, table and sleeping mat in it! it was insane to think he'd spent so long in such a small space.

Mandela's Cell

after the whistlestop tour of the prison we headed back to the waterfront on the ferry. It was a good trip out to the island and to see something that holds so much history, but it was definitely rushed! when we got back the photographers had printed out the photos they had taken earlier on this morning we both got one as they were pretty decent quality and worked out to about £2.50.

LUNCHTIME!! most important part of the day! we walked round the whole waterfront trying to decide what we wanted to have, eventually ending up in a place called Mitchells which was apparently a scottish brewery. pretty good food and nice to chill out :) after lunch we wandered around watching a few of the acts that were performing and buying stuff in the gift shops! we then got a taxi back to the hostel and sat outside watching the sunset over table mountain chatting away to Daniel. we then did most of the packing so we could stay in bed a little longer in the morning. cheese toasties for dinner & a night out on Long Street ahead of us...

We first went to Abantu Bar which was empty so we finished our drink pretty quick before heading to stones. where we could drink and also choose from 1 of many pool tables for a few games. between 10 & 11pm drinks were buy one get one free so we were loving life especially when drinks were so cheap already!! we tried the Springbok shot for the first time which was so good! made of a mixture of peppermint liquor and Amarula, both to try and represent the national colours of green and gold. was a really good night, eventually we headed home and conked straight out in bed...

Day Three of Cape Town- Day Peninsula Tour

Today was quite an early start and quite hard to get up after our mini night out lol luckily the tour bus pick us up right outside our hostel. After the trouble with  the STA cash card, Charlie went to get monies out before we departed. We went around collecting all the others that are on the tour with us, while listening to the amazing facts our tour guide roger is telling us....

Seal Island

Us on the boat..

Once everyone haas been picked up we make our way to the first stop, Hout bay. We had the opportunity to look around the bay or go to seal island.... we voted go to seal island! only a 40min round trip. But it was awesome! We got up really close to the seals and the water was unbelively clear!! although the smell was definallty presesnt...... the seals were just lazy about or playing in the sea, we couldnt get over how many there were!! was crazy. After our trip we headed to a view point overlooking the bay, it was beautiful! pictures just dont do it justice. We had some lovely biscuits n juice then we hit the road again. We drove up 'Chapman's Peak Drive' which is a road cut into the mountain!

Baz Bus tour group!

Our next stop was boulders beach, we didnt have very long here but it was amazing!! you could walk 2 ways on wooden walkways to the main beach where the majority of the penguins were. you did see quite a lot underneath the walkways, we spent a lot of the time penguin spotting among the trees. some were in little plastic houses guarding their eggs or sleeping with their fluffy babies. there was a huge group on the beach with a lot swimming in the sea, was just so amazing to watch! there was even a sign on the main road "beware penguins crossing" little bit surreal. We were both a bit late back to the bus as we got go carried away watching the penguins, but luckily it waited!

we then drove further on down the peninsula towards cape point and the cape of good hope. we stopped on the side of the road and were given helmets and bikes. we cycled 5km through the nature reserve. there were a few tough hills but after that it was all downhill so we were left "flying" through amazing views. the end point of the cycle was the visitors centre where we stopped to have lunch that was all prepared for us and supplied by bazbus.

after lunch we drove further down to Cape Point, we got dropped at the bottom and took a walk up, the views were absolutely amazing!! from here we then hiked across to the Cape of Good Hope. along the walk we saw some osterich and wild dassies. once we got to the top, we walked down the other side, was a pretty steep descent but we managed it. at the bottom we were picked up by the baz bus and began to head back. on the drive back we ran into a troop of baboons in the road, there were so many babies! pretty cute!

we got back to the hostel, absolutely shattered after an amazing day! we fell asleep for 2 hours! woke up with no energy to cook so went and picked up a nandos takeaway then went back to sleep!

It's hard to go into detail of just how truly amazing today was! the tour guide was friendly, helpful and very good with knowledge, facts and making the day enjoyable. The driver was good, which from what we'd previously seen very rare in SA.