Peter Giddy Guided Tours -- We offer Transfers -- Airport; Hotel and Wildlife Reserve Transfers; Guided Safaris; Ocean Safaris; City and Township Tours; Shore excursions; Adventure activities such as Canoe Trails; walking trails; horse riding trails and beach. We specialise in the Addo Elephant Wildlife Reserve. The Garden Route offers a wide variety of activities to add to those in and around Port Elizabeth.
Peter Giddy Guided tours -- In association with SA Guided Tours -- contact Peter
peter.giddy@gmail.com
Shore Excursions -- Meet you at the Port Elizabeth Dockside.
Take you and your friends for a day Safari in the Addo Elephant Wildlife Reserve
OR arrange for a Tour of the City and Township areas
OR hiking on one of the wonderful trails of Port Elizabeth
A variety of Safaris; Tours and Transfers on Offer.
September 2017 -- Family and Tourist activities
Friday 1st -- Spring Day.
I am back from a 10 days Garden Route Assignment
Barbara leaves for Canada. I take her to the PE Airport, we have a breakfast and then Barbara moves through security to wait for her flight to Jhb. She has her suitcase booked all the way to Calgary. A couple of hours wait in Jhb and then 8 hours wait in Frankfurt before the final leg to Canada.
I do buy some supplies for the house. And then on my way to fetch the boys from School, I am behind a small Chevy Spark which is probably going a bit too fast for 8th avenue. The speed limit is 60kph in town but people tend to think that it is okay to do anything from 65 to 69 as you are not "fined" before 70kph. The problem is the reaction time needed in town allows for the 60 speed limit.
In this case I am sure that the person hit by the Spark is a lady of the street and she "lunged" onto the street allowing no reaction time for the driver.
Personally I think that a careful driver may have seen her close to the verge and slowed down in anticipation of such an incident.
The car hit the woman with the Side Mirror and the front of the car I think. It caused her to go flying on a saumersalt journey through the air and landing back on the tarmac.
Everyone around stopped. An Atlas man stopped traffic as did I. I called the police who were there shortly. When they arrived I left.
This afternoon the boys had a school match -- stayers vs leavers and then later a Dads vs Teachers touch rugby. And a Braai thereafter.
Saturday morning. I pick up Viv and we run from Hobie Beach for about an hour. When I get back into the Nissan I find I have no clutch. So have to drive home in Second Gear no stopping, even for a red light in Cape Road.... Scary stuff.
Believe it or not -- When I drive the Landrover it has the same problem. Fortunately the clutch is not completely gone so I am able to collect Marco from the airport to take him to Jeffreys Bay where he is spending a week on Surfing Lessons .
My Saturday is spent trying to find someone who can repair the cars. And doing some University Moderation of papers.
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| Ally chatting to Adrienne |
Saturday evening Ally and I attend the MPRG annual get together. A good evening socialising with running friends. Ally, as always, is a bit of a "hit" with my friends and is so easy and relaxed with everyone. An early evening and we are home by 8.30
Sunday I am using Peter Josephs Fortuner and I pick up Linda and Elske (Netherlands) for an Addo Tour. Quite successful with highlights of -- Seeing an Jackal Buzzard with a mouse kill; Elephants bathing and wallowing in a water hole as well as a family of Elephant close to the car. A lovely afternoon with these two fun girls.
After the Safari I fill up and, seeing a woman looking distressed, I offer a lift and then hear a story similar to the one Barbara responded to last week. I end up giving her taxi fare and some extra for a meal. But wonder to myself if this is not the same person. Barbara is also not sure.
We have a man doing some structural maintenance -- Repairing the roof and ceiling of the flat. It has been raining recently and the roof was leaking and overdue for a complete overhaul. So we have had new Zink Sheeting fitted, new ceiling boards where required and painting to make the place look liveable.
Charlotte and her son David live in the flat. We plan to do a few minor alterations to make the flat even more acceptable with an additional room and another bathroom.
Monday 4th. I have a Township / City tour with four Italians. Great people who appreciate the outing and the information I am able to provide. We visit the Creche in Airport Valley, the New Brighton to Kwa Magxaki areas and then a city tour with the Fort, Lighthouse, Museum and beach front.
I spend the rest of the afternoon working on my University Moderation assignment.
John, the Mechanic, has been able to repair the Landrover so now I have a car again. The Nissan is more serious and will need to be towed.
Tuesday. The Nissan is Towed to John's workshop.
I complete the Accounting papers I have been working on.
I am making Rusks at Patricks house -- assisted by Thomas
Later Ally goes out with friends Jason and Kelsey and ends up at 2am in a complex. Phones me and I fetch her. Terrible experience as she was lost, tired, abandoned, cold
Thursday -- Dole stuff early this morning. Then I hike with the group the Sacramento and then later I have a Kragga Kamma tour with Allesandro from Greece. He is here to work on the oil bunker that is moored out in the bay. Electronic Guidance systems. Calvin has worked on all of our Mountain Bikes and everything is looking and working well now.
Friday -- I have a Kragga Kamma and African Dawn Safari with Ken from Australia.
He has a couple of wishes today -- One is to see the Nyala. This is an antelope that is family of the Kudu and likes to hide in the bushes. We are really fortunate to see all the animals in the reserve as well as the Nyala after quite a search -- we see both the female and the male Nyala.
Then we go across to African Dawn where he is particularly keen to see the Knysna Loerie. We see plenty of them but I am unable to photograph one. I am not sure if Ken was successful.
Zara -- Looking amazing as always.
Saturday 9th. I start my morning with a short run with Viv; Also in the group are Chris; Liesl; Lindi; and Stefany. Ally leaves for Cape Town for the last term of her first year at Stellenbosch University. She will overnight at Nicky where Werner makes a Snoek Braai for supper and Chris makes Waffles for desert. Nicky is just back from a Transkei visit where she had an event assignment.
I drive to Jeffreys Bay where I pick up Marco. I had dropped him off here last Saturday for a week of Surfing Lessons. He loved his time here despite being hit on the face with a board. Marco is Austrian and studying for a few months in Stellenbosch.
We then drive back towards PE and on the way we pick up Lorina for an Addo Safari. A good day which included a really close encounter with an Elephant Family as well as a special viewing of two Kudu bulls literally clashing horns.
Meanwhile Barbara is in Canada visiting Tracey and Mark with Dawn. Lene goes out with some friends for supper and leaves her children with her sister for the night.
Sunday. I have Britta and Katherena for an Addo Safari. Most successful Safari -- with two enthusiastic people. Addo is looking particularly good at present with green fields and flowers of yellow; mauve and whites adding to the colour.
Monday 11th. I have a short early morning run. Not up to much more than a few kays. I think that I am going to have the full day off but receive a call for a Township / City Tour with Lena and Laura from Germany.
Tuesday and Wednesday I begin the day with a slow jog. I am not able to walk at the pace set by Gaye; Sjani and Adrienne so I jog next to them as they stride it out.
Later I have a Kragga Kamma Safari with Seamen from Poland and Russia
Thursday 14th
I have a group for Addo. I use Franks Condor to allow for everyone to have a window. We are so lucky as we come across this huge bull Elephant walking past the car early in the morning and then two male lions have killed a buffalo in the night and we are able to get up close to the scene. From there the Safari just gets better with some close up sightings of a variety of animals.
Vanessa is an MBA student on holiday from Germany. Celine and Nina are Swiss (Confederation of Helvetia is the female personification of Switzerland) medical assistants who work together. Nina will be volunteering at a school in Jeffreys Bay before joining Celine on the second half of her holiday in Dar Es Saalam. Zanzibar. Tanzania; Maritius. Port Louis and the beaches. Celine is on her second visit to RSA. Last year she volunteered at schools in Plett and Jeffreys.
Also with us are two Germans. Edward and Ralph are engineers and project managers setting up new systems and machinery at Aspen Pharmacuticals.
Friday 15th.
I have a busy morning -- Mosaic to pay off a tour debt; Save a tyre to get some advice on tyre replacement; Coimbra to purchase a Tazer; Water for the October hike; visit the bike rack shop to decide on a rack for taking people on a bike safari; Kobus to find out about the 2016 Tax submissions.
Deon and Jackie, won a City Tour at a Getaway show that they attended. So we start off at the Campanile where we are treated to a first class tour with Leigh an MBDA Engineer
Saturday I pick up Mona; Emelia and Leoni for an Addo Safari. We have a particularly successful day despite the pouring rain that leaks in to the car and the hooter that I cannot stop on the way there.
We see Lion on a kill with Jackal hanging around for scraps as well as the Elephant, Buffalo and Zebra that we expect to see. But to really top the day we see a Hyena right next to the car.
Sunday -- Addo Safari with Maike; Sebastian; Peter; Nathan and Leah
Monday. A real busy day.
I clean Franks car so that he can use it for his Addo Tour today. Then I have some Dole Documents to handle. I take the car to Supaquick for tyres and Shocks. Walk around -- Pharmacy and Vodacom... My phone internet has been giving me trouble so they send it off to be repaired. So I shop around for a cheap phone to last me until mine is returned. Back to Supaquick and I receive a call for a City Tour. But the car will not be ready for another couple of hours. So I ask the clients to fetch me in their car. I meet them on the Corner of Cape Road and we do a city tour including the Campanile, Fort, Lighthouse, Township and Castle hill museum. Patrick and Franziska from Switzerland drop me off and Supaquick fetches me to collect the Landrover. This evening Bobby fetches me for Cell.
Tuesday... Another day for some Dole Admin. And have keys cut. And visit the Landrover people to book my car in for service. Later I take Joshua and Daniel to the Campanile which they love. Then I have to get a document certified so they come with me and ask to see a prison Cell. Horrific! Dirty and cold and miserable.... Please never put yourself in a South African Prison.
Wednesday 20th. I am back into running regularly now. What I do is to meet up with Adrienne and Gaye's walking group. But I am not able to walk at the pace that they do so I jog with them. We do around 6 - 7 kay in the morning at 5am. This morning we start from Westview Drive so I jog there to add a bit of distance. People in this group -- Gaye.... it is really her group. Adrienne who was off running for a while and is now almost permanently in this group. Sjani who suffers from injury and so is able to walk but struggles to run. Angela Parker and Almarie -- I think that they join on a Friday when the MPRG don't run.
Later I pick up Massimo. He is an Italian Journalist for the National TV in Italy. Lives in Rome. And specialises in natural disasters such as a huge earthquake that shook the central part of Italy. He also commentates on Soccer in Italy. We do an Addo Tour which is more of a friendship chatting session between the two of us than a wildlife safari as we are not that successful with Animal Viewing but still have a great day together.
Thursday. Run in the morning. Then back into bed for a bit of a sleep and woken with a request for a City Tour. I am also meeting Allan who is doing his Guiding Course and needs a bit of direction. So he joins me for the City Tour with Celeste and Lerato who work for SA Tourism and are in PE to do an Audit on the local offices of NMBT.
I then pick up Francesco -- An Italian Journalist in PE to cover the Zebre (Zebra stripes on their kit) team. They are a part of the European Pro 14 Rugby Tournament which our local Southern Kings have recently joined and are here to play the Kings. Both teams have not done well and both need a win to boost their morale and fan ratings.
We climb the Ladys Slipper mountain. It is the first time that I do this walk since the fires of June 2017 and I lose the trail a couple of times. And am quite out of breath not being as fit as I should be. Francesco is completely at home climbing as he is a cyclist at home doing hill training. We drive to Jeffreys bay for a coffee and sandwich before returning home.
This evening Aunty Mary comes to stay for a few days as she visits her son Robert and his family.
Barbara is in Canada and today packs up and leaves for a long trip back home.
Saturday 23rd morning. I am supposed to run with Adrienne at the Sardinia Bay parkrun but after a bad sleep I cannot drag myself out of bed. This morning I have a City Tour with Elizabeth and Jean-Michelle from France. They have a son who is doing a Physio Internship in Cape Town and so spent some time here after their visit with him. We visit the New Brighton Township and then the Campanile where Stewart Brown has a team of men working in the Clock area.
I then fetch Barbara from the Airport. She has been on the go for over 24 hours having left Canada on Thursday their time and flying back into time she is exhausted. Spending long hours at airports. Frankfurt airport is simply too big and she was wandering around trying to find her terminal B. Then after the flight to JHB she had a four hour wait there before the final leg to PE. So she sleeps through the afternoon and the night.
I have an afternoon City Tour with Victor, Anne, Jim and Mary from Ireland. We do a township and City tour. For the second time today I climb the Campanile. We also climb the Lighthouse.
Barbara and I are both exhausted so are in bed and asleep early.
Sunday 24th. Heritage day in South Africa. Also known as Braai Day. Lene is with her family in Jeffreys bay. Its a bit overcast and chilly.
I have a City Tour with David (Cape Flame) from the UK. Not easy to conduct city and Township tours on Holidays as everything is closed.
At the end of the day Barbara and I walk around Grey to test her new Pedometer which does not record her steps. The two of us go out to the Valley for a drink before settling in for an early nights sleep.
Monday 25th. Also Heritage day. As the 24th is a Sunday the holiday is carried over to the Monday making it a long weekend. Lene and her family are in Jeffreys bay. Barbara is house bound as our Nissan is in the workshop and the Opel is in Stellenbosch.
I start the day forcing myself to get out of bed. I had purposely arranged to fetch Viv and Adrienne so that I could not lay in. We meet Chris, Elmarie and Pat at the beach and run towards the "lollipop" beacon and up Admiralty Way. There is a chilly west wind blowing so that once we turn we tend to warm up. Back towards 2nd Avenue Viv and I are at the back while the rest of the group went on ahead. A good hour of running and we have a positive start to the day.
Later today I have a family of four who want to do Sandboarding. It is a bit of a windy day but we continue anyway. Meet Marius who takes us across on the ferry. We load up the boards and walk up a short dune. Marius demonstrates the boards and how to control them. The wind blows sand into everything but we have a fun couple of hours of boarding.
This evening Barbara and I have a restaurant dinner in Stanley Street. Aunty Mary is staying with us for a week. Barbara tries to clean the toilet but the whole thing breaks in half.
Tuesday 26.
Landrover for new propshaft fitting. City tour with Brazilians Eduardo; Debby and Baby Hicky for a City Tour.
Thursday -- Dole; University; my Phone; Progress on the Qashqai; ID and Proof of Address to Giles; Hired Car details. Running / Walking with Mike; Chris; Liesl; Adrienne; Gaye; Sjani. Also part of the Group: Mike; Almarie; Michelle; Michelle; Maria; Kelly; Andrea; Natalie; Joan; Lyn; Riana; Claire; --- And others who I cannot place as it is dark and they run too fast for me to catch up.
Todays Addo Safari was not as good as it should have been due to the roads being graded and dust everywhere. The strong west wind did not help.
This evening I fetch Orit and her family at the airport, take them to African Sands B & B and then Ginger restaurant.
Saturday morning. I wake up reluctantly but still enjoy the run. We started with Lindy and a friend of hers. Also met up with Almarie and Adele towards the end of our run. We meet and greet Owen almost every morning recently.
Later this morning I pick up my Tour Family and we start the Garden Route tour from PE to Tsitsikamma.
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