Well we are back from our trip. What a trip it was. Travelling together with the in-laws was not the nightmare we thought it might be (kidding). I'll try to give a day by day account. We had a Ford Ikon rented for the duration since we could not all fit into the Ballade. R+C have taken the Ballade with them to Botswana since we could not take a rental car out of the country.

Day 1- Easter Sunday - After a very nice service at church, ate a quick lunch and in the words of Canadian rockers Kick Axe, we were "On the road to rock". The route to Somerset West was known to us, but after 45 minutes of travel we are on uncharted territory. We had snacks packed (thanks Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Al – the zoats kept me awake). We passed over the Sir John Lowry pass and over the Hottentots affording us a wonderful view of the valley behind and ahead of us. We drove rather uneventfully most of the time through Caledon, Swellendam and Heidelberg stopping at Riversdale for a coffee break. The kids had been in the Ikon with R+C so it was quiet in our car for a change. The scenery was quite grand with mountains on one side and fields in the lowlands. It reminded me of southern Saskatchewan and northern Montana, very majestic in its' own way. Most of the crops were all finished for the year so we didn't see much action on the field except for grazing cattle, sheep and ostrich. We pulled into Mossell Bay for supper and visited the "point" for some good eats on the edge of the Indian Ocean. After supper we drove another 45 minutes to find our overnight destination of George. This was our base for the next day and a half. It was a nice three bedroom cottage with a TV! We finally got to watch some World Cup cricket. Not the same as hockey playoffs, but this will have to suffice this time around.

Day 2- Monday – Carla's appointment was postponed in the morning so that gave us time to drive up to Outdshoorn to visit the Cango Caves. These are similar to the Carlsbad Caverns (I would imagine) in the USA. We took a one hour tour which took us deep into the mountain and gave us some interesting experiences climbing through tight tunnels. Apparently people get stuck in these caves from time to time, so I made sure our group had no "big" people before we continued on. The formations we learned were approximately 500 to 800 thousand years old. On the way back to town we stopped at a farm stall which had a zipline and camel rides for the kids. When we got back to George we found vervet monkeys climbing in a tree near our cottage eating fruit. One of them took a liking to Harry and grabbed his arm at one point. Otherwise they were curious but cautious.

Day 3 – Tuesday – We drove early to Knysna to get Carla to her interview at 9:00am. This allowed us some time to go the waterfront to watch some yachts and have some coffee. The area in and around Knysna is very picturesque. It's lush and green and for me was the real beginning of the garden route. After a quick lunch on the bay, we drove a little further to Tsitsikamma National park about an hour further east. We found our guest house overlooking the Ocean to be an outstanding location and almost plush accommodation. We decided we would "braii" on our porch instead of eating out. This was a good decision as the skies lit up with stars and it was breathtaking.

Day 4 – Wednesday – After a nice breakfast outside we drove about two hours further through Port Elizabeth, SA's fifth largest city, to the town of Addo. Here we found a bed and breakfast on a citrus farm about fifteen minutes drive from the Addo Elephant National park. Carla, the kids and I took a late afternoon drive to the park and were amazed at the elephants walking in formation. Harrison couldn't get over the amount of dung beetles on the road rolling elephant dung. I did my best to avoid crushing these flightless beetles, but could not help it since there was so much elephant dung and beetles to accompany it. We saw a few buffalo here as well as warthogs, various antelope, beests and birds.

Day 5 – Thursday – Another trip into the park was almost disappointing due to the lack of sightings in the morning, but the afternoon and evening drives proved to make up for the amazing wildlife we viewed. We couldn't get much closer to the elephants today as they strode right by our cars. Grandpa Ron could've touched one had he put his arm out the window. We were in amazement at the numbers that came to the watering hole and the smaller ones that would play together. These are truly amazing creatures.

Day 6 – Friday – A relaxing morning at the bed and breakfast and then a trip on a safari ride was really an amazing way to end our vacation. Henry and Katy had a swim in the pool, Harry enjoyed playing with Waffles, the cat and Ron and I went for a walk in the citrus fields. On the afternoon and evening safari, we saw four lions, a rhino, hippos, crocodiles, endless smaller antelopes, giraffes and zebra. This was a memorable experience. We went as a small group in an open air Land Rover, other vehicles wouldn't have managed the terrain. Our ranger was an experienced guide and together with the other guides we were always kept aware to where the sightings were.

Day 7 – Saturday – Left the B+B at 9:00am and returned home to Cape Town at 8:00pm. Long drive. Kids did great. Baboons were seen on the road near the toll station between Knysna and Tsitsikamma.