And so begins the ‘African Adventure’! 10 - 12 August 2025

 

The three of us, myself, Lance and my sister Sandi boarded our flight in Auckland with more than a little excitement.

We were about to embark on an adventure that will take us to the continent of Africa via Perth Australia.

In Africa we will visit 6 countries for the first time. South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and Mauritius.

And… South African Airlines had a great deal which means that we are travelling Business class for most of our adventure. 

After a very relaxing flight of seven and a half hours we arrived in Perth where we caught up with our old friends Penny and Martin. And the following day we hired a car and spent the day in Fremantle. Our flight left at midnight that evening so we had an extra night booked at the Airport Apartments By Vetroblu so we could freshen up before heading off to Africa.

We were embarking on an 11 hour 41 minute flight , with a 3 hour transit in Johannesburg and on to Cape town (another 2 hours). Johannesburg International Airport (Terminal A) where we landed is joined to the Domestic (Terminal B) and was an easy stroll without having to leave the building.  

Passing through the security check I forgot to take my jacket off, and the officer called out to me “Mumma’ and motioned to take my jacket off. Mumma! I loved it! 

The flight was easy and we enjoyed our second ‘in the air’ breakfast. The terrain below moved from dry scorched farmland to rugged and rocky mountains, and as we approached Cape town everything became green.

I had arranged a shuttle through Wolf Shuttles, and there is nothing better when arriving somewhere new and unfamiliar than seeing someone holding a sign up with your name on it. And so became our temporary friendship with Faghmeda. She seemed so happy to see us and shook our hands with vigour and grabbed some of our cases and whipped us off to the van.  We loved her instantly and booked her to take us out for a look around the next day.

By then we were pretty shattered after overnighting mid air. Business class or not, there is nothing like a shower and a proper bed. It was now 11am and we couldn’t check in until 2pm, so dropping our cases at the Aha Harbour Bridge Hotel we wandered alongside the canal to the V & A Waterfront. I do need to digress here and return to our check in. Taking our passports the young woman at reception checked the computer for our bookings. Turning to us with a puzzled look she asked were we sure we were at this hotel? And perhaps we were booked into their other hotel in town. After limited sleep, you could imagine how we felt. I was confident that we were at the right place, but that little worm inside started to wriggle. “Ha, just joking,” she said. And we all roared laughing, phew!

Aha Harbour Bridge Hotel

Back to the waterfront, we are only a ten minute stroll away from this buzzy place. It has been beautifully set out with restaurants, bars and retail all sitting in a marina type of place. It is almost like they have trained a dozen or so seals to glide and flip around the boats moored at the docks.

Lance honed in on a great looking place alongside the water, Harry’s Oyster Bar. I am not sure if it was the comfy seats, the gorgeous waitress with a big smile or the blackboard advertising a seafood, crayfish platter that drew him in.

Lounging back we devoured the platter, supped a drink and licked our fingers. What a great start!

We had spotted some cyclo type vehicles as we approached V & A (Victoria and Alfred, not Albert). So Lance had a chat to a driver who told him that she could fit our three satisfied and full bodies into her cyclo, and that the ride was free! She was delightful, and showed us around the Waterfront, but could not take us as far as our hotel. Setting us down as close as possible, she pointed us in right direction.

Our rooms are okay, and have everything we need. Sandi is right next door to us which makes it easy. And we have a view of the majestic Table Top Mountain. However, the room opposite us has the same problem that we encountered a year or so ago when we were in Houston. Someone is smoking or vaping large amounts of weed and it is seeping through into our rooms and is thick in the corridor!  Hopefully they don’t set the smoke alarm off like they did in Houston at 4am!

Lance needed a nap as soon as we got into our room. And we decided that after 2 breakfasts, copious snacks and a large lunch that we would just pop down to the hotel restaurant. 

Our waiter was just lovely and began by informing us of all the items that were not available on the menu, and there were heaps. Anything that included beef was missing for the night. Sandi ordered a pina colada but alas, the cocktail mixer was not working tonight so that was off the menu also. She settled for a ‘Canal sunset which was delicious. I ordered a Louisiana chicken burger, and he warned me that it was hot. “How hot?” I asked.

“Well, it won’t blow your ears off, but it is hot,” he replied. When I finished he said “I’m proud of you.”

Lance of course ordered a Heineken, and fortunately they had one, but when he asked for another, you guessed it, they had run out! I enjoyed a nice South African Merlot!

Full to the brim we all toddled off to bed and were sound asleep before 9pm.