Friday 26 April we checked out of Zimbabwe and flew back to Cape Town.

We landed at 4.20 pm and was picked up by Francois to take us to our next, and final, destination, Hout Bay. We arrived at our accommodation, Hout Bay Manor Hotel, around an hour later. Not a particularly impressive building from the street but our Xhosa room was fabulous and we were very happy! In respect of the name of the room, Xhosa are the second largest ethnic group in South Africa after the Zulus and live traditionally in the Eastern Cape province. By now we were pretty tired so chilled for a little while before trying out the bar and then heading into the restaurant for dinner. This was getting quite late in the season so we found ourselves to be pretty much the only guests apart from some hotel executives who had come in from Johannesburg to train the local staff. The dinner was absolutely fantastic! And so to bed.

Saturday we had a leisurely start and then headed down to breakfast – again, was excellent. We then decided to walk to the wharf as we were booked on a seal watching tour at noon. It was so hot and there were not many people around on foot so we did get a few strange looks from locals as we marched on past LOL.

At the wharf we found our tour operator and checked in to find that there was an earlier boat going which had space so we swapped our tickets and went on board. Was an interesting motor out to the seals – quite choppy seas and very windy – but, of course, we enjoyed it. We were happy to find shelter at the stern of the boat while everyone was squished into the bow for the best views LOL. But it meant we were able to chill a little and enjoy the sights of leaving the harbour behind including some seals inside the harbour. This is a stop on many circumnavigator’s route so we were looking around for international boats and one of the reasons why we had chosen this as our final stop because we had been told that it was stunningly beautiful. Anyway, will let the photos do the talking.

We arrived at the offshore seal colony and enjoyed their antics in and out of the water. The water was not very clear because of strong winds but, even so, we thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

Upsettingly this seal colony is currently at risk because a number of dead seals have recently tested positive for rabies and they have been attacking surfers and other tourists along the coast. The only known case of a seal contracting rabies dates back to 1980 and was in Norway, so this is a terrifying incidence as they are believed to have become the first marine mammals in the world to experience an outbreak of rabies. There are an estimated two million Cape fur seals which live along the cost of southern Africa across dozens of countries. Very disturbing news indeed…

Back at the dock we were met by the wandering minstrels and enjoyed watching these old guys playing up to the audience. Then Richard decided to make friends with a local seal who had been found, trapped in fishing gear, by a local who now makes a living by feeding him fish and letting tourists get up close and personal for photos. Then we came across an old lady who had adopted one as a pup – so it was my turn to get up close! Was a lot of fun…. Afterwards we had a little meander around the market stalls set up throughout the harbour.

We then walked along the beach back towards town – rather than the hot and dusty road – to a ‘beach bar’ for a few hours to chill expecting feet in the sand sort of place. But it actually was a rather smart bistro just off the sand spit. Very busy (it was a Saturday after all) and we were allocated a table outside but in the shade (thankfully). We thoroughly enjoyed fish and chips and a few cold beers while we watched the world go by…..

As we were running low on drinking vouchers (or tipping vouchers LOL) we headed to the modern shopping mall and found an ATM (heavily guarded by armed security) and picked up supplies in Woolworths. We then started to walk back to the hotel with our goodies when the heavens opened….and then the thunderstorm started. Locals were going crazy and running around clearly quite threatened by this. We didn’t think much of it, to be honest, and carried on our way. Arriving back at the hotel we were surprised to see the staff hanging out the doors watching the lightning display. We just assumed that this was normal weather well, it turns out, that in this particular area thunderstorms are quite rare hence the reaction. Anyway, back to our room, and that is where we stayed chilling out with a glass of wine and watching movies.

Sunday morning we had another great breakfast and then headed out to explore the local market. We liked a few items but the only thing that really took our eye was a painting that was not going to travel well and was too expensive too….clearly the market holders here are used to tourists and priced accordingly. But it was fun to see all the different artisan creations on offer. Afterwards we headed out in a different direction (having previously checked with Francois which areas were safe as Hout Bay has two huge townships one on either side of town). The first picture is a very small part of one of the townships but the second picture is the more affluent part of town. Interestingly people that are born in the townships often remain there for life – even if they become relatively wealthy and successful – so within these areas you can find some relatively decent housing alongside shops. We were offered a township tour but decided that this was definitely not something that we were interested in.

We went back to the Mall to explore a bit more then ended up in the Coffee Collective enjoying their gardens and marvelling at the pieces of art made up of recycled coffee pods.

Then we headed to the English pub masquerading as a sports bar – and it had started drizzling again – so, as the football was on we thought we’d go and spend a few hours here. But, after having a single drink – we weren’t particularly comfortable. So returned and enjoyed drinks in our hotels gardens as the sun had come out again. Very nice.

Then we headed upstairs to our room to watch the football (COYS and, of course, we lost!). Never mind we then cleaned up and had another fantastic dinner in the restaurant. So a bit about the property – the Hout Bay Manor is a luxury boutique hotel, developed around a gorgeous restored manor house, originally built on Kronendal Estate in 1871. With its Colonial architecture, the exterior facade and courtyard gives you the feeling of stepping into a bygone era– and then as you walk through the front door you are transported into a delightful fusion of African, European and Asian cultures. The sometimes quirky, Afro-European interior decor makes you feel like you are in a contemporary art gallery, and features lots of extra-personal treats like help-yourself liquorice allsorts and marshmallows found in big glass jars in all the hallways. Absolutely stunning…so here are some photos for you to enjoy…..and yes even the public toilets were fancy LOL!

Monday was very sadly our last day in South Africa so we packed and enjoyed a leisurely late breakfast before then sitting in the hotel gardens – we had hoped for some pool time but it was a little ‘public’ as it was overlooked by the restaurant patio and was completely in the shade. Although boiling hot in the sun it was actually quite chilly out of it…. So we just sat in the gardens reading books and enjoyed our last few hours.

We had a late checkout at 2pm so got ourselves ready and went downstairs to pay our bill – and were surprised by little gifts. Such a great place and such lovely people…. We then took ourselves outside and waited for Francois who, as always, arrived punctually at 2.30 pm to take us to the airport for our 6.40 pm flight to London where we said our sad farewells – Francois and his family had looked after us so well throughout our trip. Anyone interested in following in our shoes we highly recommend this company – they operate as Jarat Tours (www.jarattours.co.za).

Check in was very efficient and quick – although immigration and security was pretty slow and unfriendly again sigh…. We then walked towards our gate – doing a bit of shopping on the way LOL – to wait for our flight. We had a toastie whilst waiting and then, suddenly, it was time to depart. It was completely chaotic as they kept moving the mobile airport barrier lines around so everybody sort of hung around in the middle near the gate entrance waiting for their group to be called as they were not sure whether to take the left or right-handed lines. Luckily we were travelling premium economy so ours were obvious but the economy people were being moved all over the place so felt quite sorry for them, especially the ones with small tired toddlers…..

And finally, we were boarded, we took our seats and settled in for the long flight home. This had been a holiday of a lifetime and it completely blew us away at every turn – it was so much better than we had expected – just fantastic. Again kudos to Hayes and Jarvis who had helped put together our personalised private itinerary.

So that brings us to the end of the blogs for now. I’m not advised to fly post-operatively until middle of November so we are planning a return to Australia at the end of the year and are hoping to be in Sydney for New Year’s Eve and to see both family and friends across the country. So another big adventure to come and looking forward to that… I’m in full ideas mode right now LOL.

So bye for now and see you all again later in the year.

Jan