Part One of our trip to South Africa.

We have been back home for the last 10 days, but neither of us feels perfectly well and do forgive me if blogs are slow for a while, as I'm short of the energy needed to go through the many hundreds of photos that I took! HOWEVER, this malaise takes nothing away and did not detract at all from the fabulous welcomes, entertainment and trips organised by our generous hosts, Steve and Cathy, Patrick and Christelle and Gordon and Julie! We really enjoyed seeing them again and joining in with the arrangements. It was to be a truly memorable and varied holiday!

We arrived in Johannesburg on Friday 11 October. Our health problems emerged a few days later in the most unusually cold weather in RSA, which was generally the pattern for all but a couple of days in the Kruger Park, when the temperature rose to 46C; talk about extremes!  Airconditioning is always a concern for us both, and the long flights can be draining on the system.  Three flights going there and three coming home, plus a 9-hour wait in Gatwick to board the final leg between Gatwick and Bordeaux. This was perhaps a "too ambitious" schedule and age is not on our side!

  I didn't take a lot of photos in Johannesburg, as my telephoto lens was playing up! Thanks to an internet search and to Cathy for ferrying us, we managed to get an identical second-hand replacement in a nearby mall. It later proved not to be in perfect shape, but I think I have some reasonable photos to show you over the next few weeks!

Flying from Bordeaux to Gatwick on 10 October.  We then had to bus to Heathrow with all our suitcases!! No luggage transfers by the airline!

Arrival in Johannesburg on 11 October - wonderful Jacaranda trees!

In our friends' garden; some strelitzia flowers.

A distant shot of what I know as a Grey lourie - it seems now that the common name is simply the Go-Away bird due to its call. (Corythaixoides concolor).

Laughing dove (Spilopelia senegalensis).

 Common bulbul or Black-eyed bulbul (Pycnonotus barbatus).

Hadeda ibis (Bostrychia hagedash), They are very noisy and had a liking for the friends' cottage where we were sleeping.  Not only with their call, but they seemed to enjoy jumping up and down on the tin roof (not this one!) as well!!

Our friends, Cathy and Steve's cat Leo.  He is a Main Coon, apparently the largest of the domestic cat breeds.  At just 5 months, he already weighs in at 9 kg!  So beautiful and with a fabulous temperament.

We took a trip to Steve's workshop to see what he was working on.  This is his race car, a Porsche 910, and.....

and he painstakingly restores other sports cars.  This looks like an interesting project with plenty of work to do!

Finally, more jacaranda trees! We caught them almost in full flower and before the heavy summer showers could drive the petals to the ground!

On Monday 14th, we flew to Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, where Nigel was the first one to feel unwell and he spent the first two days there in bed!

This is a copy from my post on My photodiary. I will be posting the rest of this holiday on that blog as it really has nothing to do with my Life in the Charente.  Please make a note of the above link if you want to see my other photos which are mostly African Wildlife.  Thanks for following. Diane

,