Paul & Irene’s Travels

Author: Butty

  • Thursday 29th October 2026

    Shopping for provisions for the journey at Woolworth and Checkers. Went to butchers for biltong. Nice day , sunny and 27 degrees.

    Biltong Butchers

  • Wednesday 28th October 2026

    Sunny and warm. J&C took us to Hartbeesport Dam for the day. North West of Joburg near the Magaliseberg Mountains about an hours drive.

  • Tuesday 27th October 2026

    Nice smooth flight to Joburg

    Arrived on time after a very smooth 11 hour flight. Customs quick but bag pickup slow. J&C at airport to greet.
    Warm and sunny. Light lunch and snooze pm. Great to catch up with J&C.

    J’s house and garden

  • Monday 26th October 2026

    We’re off

    L took us to the Exeter bus station for our 12.00 o’clock coach to Heathrow. 

    Quite a long time to chill before our 9.15 flight to Joburg 

    Left on time

  • Wednesday 23rd September 2026

    All posts below are before the above date.

    All posts following are after the above date.

  • Wednesday 20th March 2024 (Last of this Trip)

    Overnight flight from Joburg bang on time, arrived 10 mins early at 4.50 am. Coach to Exeter not until 9.30. Hung about in Cafe Nero in terminal 2 until 9.00. Coach on time and arrived Exeter at 13.10. Nick waiting to pick us up and arrived home at 14.00.

    THE END

    (Until next time)

  • Tuesday 19th March 2024

    Last day in SA. Irene and Cheryl did a little more shopping. I chilled with Jeff. Light lunch. Left for airport at 4pm. Over an hour to check in including security and passport control. Aspire Lounge to wait for 19.45 flight. Bye bye Africa.

  • Monday 18th March

    Irene and Cheryl went shopping to Eastgate Mall. Bought some Wonkiware. I went off with Jeff to buy biltong and collect some timber for a bench he is making. Had a bourie roll on way back. 

    Ate out at Papachinos, nice tempura prawn sushi. It rained a bit. 

  • Sunday 17th March

    Packed up camper for return to Joburg and to drop off the camper at Bushlore. Long drive of about five hours. Went the wrong route to begin with, lots of local housing so low speed limit and speed bumps. Then the National road had lots of coal trucks going back and forth to Mozambique. Arrived Bushlore at 3pm. Jeff and Cheryl waiting for us. 30 mins to check over camper and we were on our way back to Boksburg. Still warm. 4918Km’s

  • Saturday 16th March

    5* rooms at Blue Jay Lodge which is great after all our camping. Lovely egg and bacon breakfast etc. Went to the Saturday craft market in Hazyview on the suggestion of Phil and Margie the lodge owners. Bought a few pressies and a little something special for us in a very nice gallery. Decided to go to Graskop and Gods Window. Forgot what a climb it was to the lookout spot. Back to the lodge and chilled for the afternoon. On recommendations we went to a restaurant called G’s not far from the lodge. As it should be this was a multicultural establishment with a nice atmosphere outside under the atmospheric lights. Got chatting to our waitress with whom we gained some first hand knowledge of stuff. Irene had Kingclip and prawns and I had a very very tasty beef stroganoff. Beyerskloof Pinotage to wash it down. £10.00 a bottle. Crazy when I buy the same wine from CPW for about £9.00 a bottle. Whole bill including service was £30.00.
    Now sitting on our terrace under the stars listening to the numerous sounds of the night in the warm evening air, this is why we are here and enjoy Africa so much. Back to Joburg tomorrow.

  • Friday 15th March

    Up really early due to constitutional reasons. Our tums not too good at the moment. Skipped showers and breakfast and decided to get going in our last day in the park and game viewing. Not disappointed at all. On the road by 6.00. At last saw a pride of lion after about 30 mins. Great. Then we saw a male lion all alone about 15 mins later. To cap it all we stumbled across 3 cheetah walking along the gravel road. We stayed behind them for about 15 mins as they walked on ,not bothering about us at all. Eventually they went into the bush and that was that. A great day game viewing. Hippo, spotted hyenas, elephant, storks, vultures, eagles etc etc. Left the park about 14.00 and arrived Blue Jay Lodge at 14.30 Just as we remembered it 14 years ago and the same owners. Decanted all our clothes and “stuff”from the camper best we could. Went to Ocean Basket in Hazeyview for a very nice Sushi and fish dinner. Lacked in atmosphere but tasty food and made a change from meat.

  • Thursday 13th March

    Up at 5.30 am, so breakfasted, de camped and off by 7.30am. Travelling from Letaba Camp to Lower Sabie, 165km, took us 8 hours! We saw a variety of game, followed rivers, drove through savanna, but still no cats! We met a couple who had seen lions on each of the last three days. The luck of the draw, it’s not a zoo! Arrived in camp at 4pm and selected our site. A very crowded site by the standards we’ve been used to! Ate in the restaurant, so cooking over for the holiday! Fridge on the blink, so good job we’re not eating in anymore.

  • Wednesday 13th March

    Hot sunny day 37degs. What a change from yesterday. Took the gravel road from Shingwedzi camp to Letaba camp. Kept to the Shingwedzi river. Mainly dry but some good pools. Saw hippo, crocs, elephants, Wilderbeest, buffalo, zebra, waterbuck, woodland kingfisher. Good days sightings. Arrived Letaba at 13.00 and chilled before our sunset drive at 16.15. Fridge not working on batteries so hooked it up to mains. Nice sunset drive.  Much the same game but guide explained a lot about the the individual species and their habits etc. Ate in the restaurant on our return. Irene schnitzel and me a chicken pot pie washed down with Beyerskloof Pinotage. 

  • Tuesday 12 March

    Got packed up early and ready to go  to the Shack for breakfast, went to start the car and the battery was flat. Shit. Owners of the site had gone off early for the day so no help. Apart from us there was a German group and we managed to jump start from one of their cars. A life saver. No idea how we drained the battery. Left the car running whilst we had a delicious full  English cooked by two delightful ladies from the village. R240.00(£10 for two) Entered Kruger Park by the most northerly Parfuri gate. It started to drizzle which seemed to attract tortoise’s on to the road. Saw a good selection of game on the trip to our next camp at Shingwedzi. Arrived at about 14.00 and it was still drizzling non stop and also a cold 23 degs. What a change. Re organised our  game drive to tomorrow at Letaba camp. I think it may still be raining. It’s 21.30 and it’s still drizzling. Fillet steak and rice salad under the awning. 

  • Monday 11th March

    Very hot night last night. Chilled all day with a couple of swims and short walks. Bought a few items from the craft shop, all made by the villagers. Also had all our washing done by someone in-the village for which we paid her R100(£5). We had to supply her with soap powder and pegs. Bought logs for campfire. BBQ marinated chicken, rice salad and fruit. Reserved breakfast for tomorrow in the “Shack” a cute open sided restaurant,  again run by the villagers and paid direct to them.