20 Jul 2014

Final thoughts now I am home

Its now a few days since I finally got home, the washing is all done, clothes put away, photos and video downloaded and at least the photos are sorted and listed, still need to work out how to sort out video, I have already found some of my deliberate mistakes with the times I forgot to switch off camera whilst travelling.
At the time I felt I had coped quite well with it all and particular the trip home which was getting on for 24 hours in total, but not sure now whether it is the heat and humidity here at present or at long last my body has had enough.
I am trying to catch up with programes I recorded whilst away, bad sign of my life when I think I did not miss TV whilst away.
People have said would I go again, well maybe not to the same place, as it would be trying to recreate what has gone and it will never be the same as those first viewings of the animals in their native situations and environment, it would be a mixture of different staff and other travellers. I would pack differently whatever time of the year it was, I would also pay extra for the better seats on the plane.
Some thoughts about the trip, I enjoyed meeting some of the people particularily Frank and Dot, who truly welcomed me and made the whole experience pleasanter, as well as Andy and Terrie, Andy if you ever read this you were the highlight of my trip, always willing to have a go at new experiances and what a spotter you were, as well as a great travelling companion, almost as good as Given, along the way there were others who I enjoyed the conversation with, Eve, thanks for the relationship advice I received from you, sadly not everyone was as kind pleasant or willing to chat in the way some were, but each to their own holiday I suppose.
Visiting the other lodgers gave a better idea of what sort of place I would like to visit in the future, something similar I feel. The animals, well I do feel for them having to put up with mus humans, they showed incredible patience at times whilst we were photographing them, wonder how we would feel if someone photographing me whilst I was eating our food or becoming friendly with our partner.
I have e mailed the foundation to see if there is anything that can be done that is more constructive to help the local children, when I get a response I intend to contact Saga for their comments, it was quite worrying about what the local landowner was putting the people through, a reminder that not everyone has a decent like, at times I was embarrassed at how much we had to spend and the waste of food, I do hope whatever we left went to people locally rather than in the bin. I must whilst I think thank Saffy for her advice and Maris for her encouragement, as well as Vicki for her support, and all of you who have taken the time to read my blogs, even more those of you who have taken the time to comment

18 Jul 2014

The trip home 15 July 2014



I could not sleep, so got up early and finished most my packing, had a bath then went taking some photos before breakfast, it was unusual to have nothing to do, apart from sit around and chat, breakfast was, as usual, a pleasant experience, our ranger Evan I’d offered to let us have copies of his photos, whilst waiting for him to do mine. We chatted about photography, I had not realised that it was Evan the Rangers last day, but he was moving on to a new job after this day, some of these photos were quite stunning, after we had something to eat, then off we went after saying our goodbyes for the trip to Johannesburg, we had a short drive until we reached the transport to take us there. Interestingly, the ride in the vehicle was worse than the four-wheel drives, we were travelling around in during the Safari, it seemed a long trip with only a short break for the toilet and a snack, it took nearly 4 hours, part of which I slept through.

When we arrived at the airport it seem much more disorganised than Heathrow, with poor signage, eventually I found my way to the desk, but this time it seemed to take a long time in the queue, on the seem to be some problem with the conveyor. For reasons I do not understand I was told I could no longer have the seat I wanted, so was offered another one, on that particular row, it seemed that none of the three seats had been booked, so I could choose which was most convenient for me. I mentioned that I could cope without assistance at this airport but would need help at Heathrow, so this was logged, I then went through security and passport control, then up to the lounge to relax. There were problems with my card, but I was surprised at the lack of efficiency at this particular desk, I mentioned wanting a shower so was given three packets wrapped in polythene and pointed in the general direction, quite different to that at Heathrow. I had my shower, then relaxed in the lounge with a drink and snack, then went to board the plane.
There seemed to be a long disorganized queue waiting to board, eventually it was my turn, and I was directed to my seat, I now understood why the people did not want to see it in the seats, this was because they were immediately next to the toilets, I decided I would sit in the middle seat, which seemed to be the most spacious, when a flight attendant came along, he said he could move me to a better seat, which also would have more legroom, so I took advantage of this. Yet again I struggled with the sound system and then gave it up as a bad job and had a read of the paper. The evening meal was pleasant and afterwards I settled down to go to sleep, I slept for a while, but then found for the rest the flight I had brief periods of sleep and wakefulness.

Finally we arrived at Heathrow the rest of the passengers disembarked apart from those of those who needed assistance. They seem to have a crazy system to get us to the exit, it consisted of a wheelchair for part of the trip, then an electric vehicle to take me on the next leg of the trip, finally and another wheelchair through to the baggage hall, unfortunately at passport control, there was some sort of problem, at the two passport desks, there seemed to be some sort of difficulty. So we waited for nearly quarter of an hour before finally passing through, my case was ready for collection. So I set off to find the vehicle to take me home, it was a different driver and vehicle to on the way out, not quite so luxurious this time, but the driver was pleasant enough, it took about four hours to get back home, so in total. I’ve been travelling for over 20 hours, first task was empty the case and do some washing, then check my mail, yes the holiday was finally over.







Our Last Day 15 July 2014



Another early start, just for a change, we received no wake-up call, it seemed warmer this morning, I went for a walk round the grounds and took a few more photos whilst it was peaceful and quiet. Eventually other people arrived, and we went in for a drink, and cake before setting off, a few decided not to come on this last trip out. It was much pleasanter on the drive because it was so much warmer, as usual, there was a range of animals, in some ways it had reached a point where it was normal to see, wildebeest, zebra and certain other animals on a regular basis, we had never seen a more baboon since the first day when we arrived, nor did we see leopard.

Return for breakfast, then afterwards because the weather was much improved, we sat outside in the sun chatting, I explained to one of the others about Wi-Fi and how to connect to the Internet without using their own allowance, it was a relaxing morning. We had lunch at 1 o’clock, then later went for another Bush walk, we ended up high overlooking the valley. The scenery was absolutely stunning, the only amusing point, was that I and another person got into discussion about our hearing difficulties, not realizing everybody else could hear us, but waiting to move onto the next point of interest. On that subject, I suddenly realized that there is little hope for people who have hearing difficulties on the Safari’s maybe it’s worth a letter to saga about this.

Then it was back to the lodge for high tea, again it was a chance to chat to the other people on the holiday and to wind down, for our evening meal, we were served in style at the Lakeside Boma, after the first course, we were entertained by the staff by singing and dancing in a native style, we then finished the meal and spent the rest of the evening at the bar chatting, that night the weather seemed much milder, on my return to the room. I started all of my packing to make it easier for the following day.


Warm at last 14 july 2014

I woke up early and it seemed not so cold, checked outside and already it was warm at 8am to put a lighter shirt and shorts for the first time before venturing out for a wander before breakfast, then spent a little time catching up with e mails, how did I manage before free Wi Fi.

Then chatted to some of the other guests for a while. One of the things we had been warned about was to keep doors closed to avoid the monkeys getting into the rooms, well the nice couple next door to me had forgotten to lock their back door so a monkey had got into their room and stolen a packet containing insect repellent, before they got rid of it, just as well it was not needed.  We had breakfast then I went back to my room and there was a monkey outside the window, so got my camera and found a group of them around the rear of the properties, they seemed to be oblivious to mine and others presence as we took photos, later it appeared they had no problem opening doors if not locked, as another couple had fallen victim to their theft that morning.
It as a free morning so we sat chatting outside which made a refreshing change, after lunch off out to the wildlife centre,  by now on the holiday we seemed to of got into the habit of sticking with drivers, in my case it was Given and usually we tended to sit in certain seats, today our vehicle was full, obviously some had wanted a change so I ended up with Even as driver so i sat in the back row which unfortunately did not help my spine but also restricted what i could see due to my height. first we saw the rare white lions, they had been rescued when young and brought up in the reserve, they would be encouraged to mate but, it would be unsafe for them to be released back into the wild,  but that hopefully any young would be, they were beautiful beasts,  such a shame that people had hunted them, that now there are so few left alive and needed protection to survive.
We then visited the replica Pedi village and had an informative talk about the people explaing their background the strict rules how the village was run and oddly that the women of the village had been masters of poisin making, to use as punishment, we were offered a range of traditionsl dishes to drink and eat, I only tried a couple one was catapiller which was quite nutty. We then went to see the buffalo but they also now are very rare, but also we were warned that they were dangerous, well it may of bern the wrong day but they seemed quite laid back and oblivious to us taking their photos, we finished off by having high tea and looking at a range of birds including peacocks and parrots.
Then on with the drive,  a sighting of rhino was made so off we sped, it was a family of 4, it seemed that it was the day that the male was going to procreate with the female well I thought this is going to be exciting, but sadly not it seemed to go on and on with little real activity, he mounted the female a couple of times whilst we watched,  maybe it was us watching and recording with our cameras was what put him off.
Then a further drive it was now getting dark, eventually we reached Ranenside Lodge and our latest meal, then after we went into the Astro boma for a talk from Giiven on how to find south and some of the star formations,  before returning to our lodge, for a chat and a drink then off to bed, as we had a long day the next day, I forgot to say earlier the weather was much warmer so the room was not as cold as it had been previous nights.

13 Jul 2014

A slow start but what trip later 13 july 2014

Good morning readers I am sat here all on my own in some stunning scenary with only the sound of the birds, the water pump and the occasional hippo.
As you can tell it was a slow relaxing morning, as usual a chat with others when they arrive, wonder why they only appear just before breakfast, then the full meal to prepare me for what was going to turn out to be a long busy day.
After spent time with other guests, its surprising the lives some have lead and how well they have coped with adversity but also seem to still have lots of plans for the future. Also discussed tablet computers and photography, before it was time for lunch,  oops forgot to say weather is getting milder and I should of been putting on sunscreen so not really sure why aftersun was used instead.
We set off for lunch at Boekenhout, no idea where it was, unfortunately my usual seat was taken so I ended up sat at the back corner seat in the other vehicle, which led to a much bumpier ride and more restrictive view. I forgot to say we all seemed better at dressing for the trips, it was a beautiful setting and there was a good choice of food, plus there was a river which was ideal for photos, then off on our drive. I found the people in this vehicle much quieter and they seemed to concentrate more on the photography.
As usual we saw a whole range of animals, by now wildebeest were plentiful so of no interest, in the distance I spotted  firstly an ostrich then a  girafffe, but it seemed we were after other animals, firstly we came across a crocodile sunbathing in the middle of the road the prescence of our selves and others did not seem to encourage it to move, so we had to reverse along the road for the next photo opportunity, this was a couple of small well maybe large lizards, but until they went past our vehicle due to the angle I was unable to see them.
Next that we saw, we were told was a very rare situation, firstly we came across what turned out to be 4 hippos, in the water, we stayed a while just taking photos as they raised their heads then suddenly one decided to venture out in front of us onto the grassed area, we had to move our vehicle because it seems getting in the way of a hippo  heading for the water is not the thing to do.GsDWqjE/U8v5JCy_zvI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/DvMiMctmGHg/s320/afternoon+evening+safari+saturday+(17)+(Small).JPG" />
Even better another came to join this one, that we were told is a once in a life time sight, they seemed happy to just graze, other vehicles had been alerted by radio,  so now there were a group of us also. I wonder what the hippos made of these strange creatures disturbing their meal. Well surprise surprise another hippo decided it was hungry or wanted to know what was missing, so it lumbered out of the water, to be quickly followed  by the last much smaller hippo. They seemed totally oblivious of all our cameras clicking, later we realized we had been there over half an hour. Eventually I think it was the younger one, became bored so had a little play with one of the others, then set off back into the water quickly followed by the others and our magic experience was over.
It was now getting late but ovet the radio came a message thay something else was going on so we decided to go and have a look delaying our trip back. It turned out to initially be a female lion, it was now very dark but the spotlight illuminated it in the fields, we spent a few minutes spoiling its peace and quiet before going searching elsewhere for what I did not know,  until we came across a huge male lion eating a huge piece of red meat. It was very inconsiderate in that it was in the middle of a field with poor lighting, I tried various settings and one could only obtain black and white which at the time seemed rather odd, but later I rembered I had not re set the camera after a previous session.

Finally we set off back to the lodge it got much colder and was a very bumpy ride, it also seemed to take for ever, we were very late back for the evening meal so I feel appreciated it much more than usual, then tried to catch up a little with FB and e mail before retiring to bed, luckily the next day was to be a relaxing slow start

What an exciting but long day 11 july 2014

Could not settle after waking about 2am kept nodding off then waking again after a brief sleep, finally I got up at 4 45 and started to get ready for our early start. Yet again no alarm call, we had been told to bring our spare blanket to help keep warm when out on safari, mine was enormous,  I joined some of the others and we had a coffee and a cake before starting out, by now on the trips out people had got used to which driver they preferred,  Dot the elderly lady who had sat in the front of our vehicle said she would prefer to sit further back with a better view so I suggested they use my blanket instead. Given, our ranger got her to go in the front so we wrapped her up in my blanket to keep warm and off we set, I had put extra clothes on but it was still very cold and dark when we started out, but soon brightened,  we saw again a range of animals as we travelled to the Legend Centre for breakfast,  it was far removed from where we were staying and had a world famous golf course, it was very luxurious, must check the costs of a stay there. Again a range of photo opportunities with the animals we saw along the way.
Next we went to visit the Cyclad centre where a young woman explained about the work that is being done to preserve these rare endangered species of plant from poachers.  It seems they are prized as giving good luck and power to those who possess them in the country, so by their rarity are worth much more to people. Until recently there was no law in force to protect the plants and even now the police are reluctant to take action to prosecute offenders,  it seems when disturbed the plants struggle to survive so are brought  to the project to revive them.
Back to Legend Centre for lunch, not sure why but it seemed a short time before we were off again, this time to the shop for sweets for the children at the community centre, when we reached the exit there was a barrier and the young woman would not let the vehicle through, our group decided to leave it behind and walk there, I said I would stay with it. A little later everyone came back with treats and off we set.
We arrived at a place where there were some local teenagers playing cricket but no sign of the rest of the children.  The leader explained that the other children were away as it was school holidays, this upset some of our group as they were looking forward to seeing the effect on the children when given gifts, my thoughts were that surely it was known in advance, the man also took the gifts of pens pencils notebooks etc, but said that they had shelves of them, so would sell them to the high school so they could purchase items on their own proper wish list.
He went on to say that they had written to Saga with this list but could not understand why we were still being given old information. He also explained that,  they are having problems with the present landowner where the school is, he srems to want to get rid of them so has cut off the electricity supply. Luckily Legend has donated a new plot of land and are supplying water and electricity to the site,  but obvioudly they now need more, money and resources.
I asked who was best to obtain the list of items needed, he said would get e mail address sent to me, so we could discuss and I could contact Saga about the matter,  Terrie one of the other people in our group also wanted to write in and discuss what would be helpful to the community centre,  layer rebievef do will gollow up on return from holiday.
Later when out again Given mentioned that there were 2 eagles, I said I could not see them, as the helicopter was distracting me, he kindly explained there was no helicopter it was the eagle's I could see soaring about, it has now become a standing joke with the others on that vehicle, jeffs credibility has gone again sob sob. As usual a range of interesting views of animals, and some beautiful scenary as we travelled back to the lodge, the temperature dropped quite rapidly.
Evening meal then a chance to relax and catch up with some of my e mails  as well as other sites and FB,  later back to the room and to write up this blog.

What a day its been 10 july 2014

The title says it all, maybe I should commence by saying it is 9 45pm its minus 2 outside and I am typing this in bed as its the most comfortable and warm place to be.
Maybe not, lets go back to the beginning of the day, I had one of the best nights sleep I have had for a long time, when I woke I looked at my watch thinking it must be early because I had not had my wake up call at 5am to prepare me for the trip, err umm, my watch said 5 30am so I had overslept.
I quickly sorted myself out and dressed, got all the important things together and rushed to the dining room. Its the fastest I have ever done it was 15 minutes, I met a couple others who informed me luckily they set their alarms for 5 but there were no staff about, we went inside and just then Even arrived, we explained so he went off to sort it all out after finding some rock cakes, for us to eat, which were,  plus we made ourselves a drink as slowly in drips and drabs people appeared,  finally everyone that was going was ready to depart.
It was dark and freezing cold as we set off,  I tried to take a couple of photos with no success, plus I struggled to keep warm despite all the extra layers of clothes.
Soon it brightened up and we could concentrate on looking for game. One of the things that confuses me is that we are told not to make a noise,  in case we frighten the animals, well the noise of the diesel engines must warn them plus the sound of the various walkie talkie that they use to communicate. But back to the story, we saw a range of animals as we moved about, the most interesting was a group of elephants on the mountain side, we saw them first by the branches of trees they were disturbing as they wandered along,  we only saw brief glimpses because they were across the valley, Given our ranger Givern said he had never seen this sight before with them.
Eventually we moved on and saw a range of animals, there was still a chill wind despite the sun shining, then back to the lodge for breakfast, never have I been so ready to eat and get into the warmth, we had a rest before setting off for our lunch at Figtrees, on the way seeing more animals in their native setting, including giraffe, rhino,  wildebeast, to mame just a few.
Figtrees was pleasant with tables and chairs and a pleasant selection of good food in a beautiful setting, also people seemed to join in the chat, more surprising was that there were toilets for us to use out there in the middle of nowhere. We had an unusual visitor namely an ostrich, it did not come to close but maybe ut was just checking us out.
After our meal we continued on in the the vehicle finding a range of more animals to take photos of and some beautiful scenery,  I must admit I was getting quite tired out and nodding off only to be awoken at the next rut in the road, in fact it seemed to get rougher and rougher until we reached a peak where we stopped to admire the view and had a chat with our ranger Given.
After this we made our way back to the lodge, to freshen up then have our evening meal, which was pleasant enough, then just before I was going to leave we heard the sound of drums and singing,  it was the staff putting on a display for us, it was pleasant enough,   after I went to the bar area to do some work on the Internet, but others wanted to chat about Tablets etc, after a while most had gone to bed so I made my apologies and left also, so here I am its now 10 30 so I think I will finish and hopefully have a good nights sleep ready for a very long day tomorrow.
I do hope I can solve the issue to do with photos on here

10 Jul 2014

Our first proper day 9 July 2014

Well what a comfortable bed, but how cold it was in the room, there is only a small panel heater, luckily there is an electric blanket on the bed,  so I slept reasonably well.
I decided to have a bath the water  was a nice light brown but hot, thought mudt be ok just dont drink it, plenty of goodies for the bath, when came to use wash basin,  there was no hot water but managed.
Breakfast was 9am and plenty to eat both hot and cold, then talk by our ranger on the use of cameras and taking wildlife photos, we then had time to relax and chat, it seems one of the couples Frank and Dot decided I was their new electronic expert,  proved by the fact I sorted their alarm clock out, it has been nice to chat to most of the group they are a mixture of single and couples, some more chatty than others.
In the afternoon we went for a bush walk, one of our rangers Given led the group and gave us some information about plants animals and the environment.  A little later we went on a boat trip round the lake and came across a family of hippos which was quite exciting,  unfortunately the temperature dropped so was glad to gey back to the room to warm up and wash and change before our evening meal served in the boma.
it was quite warm due to the large fire in the centre, afterwards we moved to the bar for a drink before retiring for an early night as we were up at 5 30 in the morning for a game drive, we were told we would get a wake up call at 5am, I read for a while before going to sleep.

An Apology

Dear readers, it seems that there is a problem with the Wi Fi here so I am struggling to post my Blog on a regular basis, plus we seem to be so busy its hard to fit it in with everything else thats going on very definately not a relaxing break, but most of the group seem good company.

8 Jul 2014

Lakeside Lodge Entabeni 8 July 2014

Finally got off the plane, young mand took case and escorted me, not sure what point was, luckily it helped with queue for passport control, collected case and found Saga group, there seemef a distinct lack of organisation,  as we waited and waited for the rest of the group to join us. Finally we moved to the area for the coach, but where had our guide gone it was now gone 10 am, finally he arrived, not quite the coach I was waiting for, rather a hgv with seats in, seems previous driver had not filled up with fuel so this had to be done before we departed.
Luckily seats were better than they looked, so I fell asleep for a while. As we travelled the countryside looked much as other places in the world. We stopped for a while at what suppose was a service area, there was no McDonalds but there was a Wimpy, better still toilets and somewhere to buy a drink, we set off and the roads slowly started to become more rutted and niw understood that a conventional coach would not of coped.
At long last we seemed to of reached our destination, err no in fact we changed to 4 wheel drive vehicles for the last leg, problem was they were high off the ground, so quite a climb into but not such a bad ride given the state of the roads. Along the way we saw a few zebra and a young giraffe, a good sign for the days to come, only problem was I had left camera in case. 
Finally we were there at Lakeside Lodge, I was pleasantly surprised on entering we were offered a drink and a snack before going to our rooms. These were individual thatched units by the side of the lake with stunning views, rooms spacious but not very warm and quite dark. I unpacked, oh forgot to day outside was not that warm made worse by the cold wind, so now glad had packed extra warm clothes, only had a limited amount of time before welcome meeting, had a shower,  for some reason there was no curtain so water went everywhere, and no hot water to the sink, but at least I was clean and refreshed.
At meeting our Ranger explained he would be with our group for the duration of our trip, he explained how we would be spending our time, seemed very busy,  some days with a 5 30am start, luckily not tomorrow LOL, this evening we were going out for our meal but to remember to wrap up well, went back finishef dorting out then to the bar gor a drink and a chat with a couple of people, then off for the meal, was only a short drive but in the dark, in a traditional structure( cant remember name) had meal and chat, then back here,sitting by fire in lounge to keep warm, others were here to watch football on tv but  problem do all gone, think when finished this will go to room also,  hope you are enjoying the read.

The trip to South Africa 8 July 2014

Well I left you readers at the lounge, things from there did not go quite to plan, I duly went to the desk at 7 45pm but no assistance, the nice ladies offered to contact the service that would take me to the plane,  unfortunately someone had disconnected the phone, so it took a little while for her to find out I was not registered for assistance, but that this would now be resolved.
Whilst waiting  I was sat by the desk so it was interesting to watch the people arriving,  they came as you would expect in all types, but it was the ones who wanted to bring  families in without paying the extra money per person that seemed involve the most debate, it was only at that point I realised to use the lounge on a casual basis was £35 each, a room was £120 per night or £20 per hour with a minumum of 3 hours to pay.
After 3/4 hour someone came yo collect me it was just as well because I would never of made it otherwise  to the plane in time.
The staff on the plane were pleasant, I found my seat but an elderly man who obviously had the window seat was blocking my access therefore nobody could move past me, he seemed oblivious to the chaos, I moved a little further down the passage to enable others to reach their seats until he finally was settled. 
He fid not engage in conversation so I decided I would explore how the sound and audio system worked,  it was quite complex with little in the way of instructions as far as I could see,  but worse was that either their headphones or my hearing were not up to the task,  so I gave up and had a read instead. 
It did not seem that long before my evening arrived it was fruit juice, then a cucumber salad with dressing, followed by a chicken pasta dish which was quite pleasant and finally a mousse desert and to finish off cheese and biscuits, I was offered  tea or coffee but felt they would keep me awake not sure really that the Pepsi was any better.
The elderly man had finished his meal before me donned his eye mask ear plugs and blanket and was fast asleep,  when I looked at the clock it was past 12 so decided to follow suit. I must of slept for a couple hours, as everywhere was dark and quiet. I had a further go with the music but  quality of sound put me off. I slept on and off for a number of hours.
At some point the staff came round with breakfast,  I had a full english, this also came with fruit juice, a danish pastry and a yogurt so according to , my friend Brian thay constituted a full 4 courses LOL they were stingy with the coffe so only got one cup. There wad an announcement I did not quite catch so enquired it seemed someone had taken ill and the staff were seeking someone with the skill to assist, obviously not me.
The elderly man woke so I mentioned he had missed breakfast, this was brought and finally we got chatting he was telling me he does a lot of travel round the world and has bought a property in New Zealand. I mentioned to a member of staff that I would need assistance when we arrived,  she said she would sort out but for me to wait until others had disembarked,  which I was happy to do. On landing it was explained that we would all have to wait until the medics had dealt withe the sick person.

7 Jul 2014

The Adventure Begins 7 july 2014

Well the driver arrived early in a Mercedes saloon, very posh, loaded case, then even opened the door for me, off we set, just for a change I chatted to him, maybe if he knew would of preferred I had fallen asleep.
Time passed quickly very comfortable drive, very few delays, only took just over 4 hours in total.

Had case wrapped in cling film but forgot to lock it so lets hope nobody is that desperate for my clothes, security swift, oh forgot to say had mentioned at check in about help, but also was going to lounge first, it was agreed I would ask for help there to get to the plane.

Lounge again posh but quickly sorted, mentioned help needed they said if any delay that they could resolve. Next nice shower and change of clothes, so diffetent to normal hanging about at airports connection with Wi Fi ok just had portion vegetable ragu, plus camomile tea, quite different to my usual Boots meal deal, seats comfortable man opposite asleep at first then onto his mobile, luckily now gone, hear now and then loud young child but otherwise not noisy, could get used to this, think I have about another hour before I have to leave so will relax and check my e mails gosh its a hard life

6 Jul 2014

One more Day to Go On My Adventure 6 July 2014

Good evening to all you readers, well its here at long last, another tick on my bucket list being achieved, case is finally packed, I have never had such a long list of things that I need to take, from swimming cossie to scarf and winter woollies, Bright clothes to drab green, hope the animals appreciate my efforts. Hope that South Africa is worth it all
I start the trip hopefully at 1.30pm with a kind Saga driver taking me to Heathrow, don't know yet if there will be others in the vehicle, hopefully we will stop somewhere along the way for a break. I have found an app that is called Evernote and have listed things I need to do when I get to the airport, just have to remember to use, maybe will do a couple of Post It notes in case, firstly have to to get the case wrapped in what seems to be cling film in the hope it discourages theft, then to check in or drop case off, I have tried to check in today but it seems Virgin will only let me do 24 hours before and already I cannot have a window seat, even if I try.

Then I want to use the airports support service to get me to the lounge where I hopefully can have a shower then relax, having something to drink and eat whilst waiting to board, I believe they have free Wi Fi so I may take the opportunity to let you know how the trip down went. Then its onto the plane, unfortunately I will have to refuse the champagne and settle for something else. I have plenty of reading matter as well as a supply of music, hopefully I will need neither and be able to use what the plane provides to keep me occupied until I fall asleep. It seems by the time I eventually get to my destination I will of been travelling for over 20 hours, for most people not a problem but the trapped nerve in my right shoulder is still causing issues and possibly sitting for all these hours will set off my bad back. Gail my physio has told me to keep doing the exercises she has given me, just hope other passengers and crew do not find it an issue. hopefully my flight socks will help cope with preventing DVTs. Hope there are no screaming children or drunken adults to cope with, not sure if will prefer someone sat next to me who is chatty or quiet