Peter Giddy Guided Tours. October 2017
We offer -- Transfers from the Airport and Hotels; Our speciality is Wildlife Reserves such as Addo and others in the region. We conduct Historic and Cultural City and Township Tours.
Activities such as Elephant Back riding, Sandboarding, Horse Riding, River Canoe Trails, Surfing Lessons.
peter.giddy@gmail.com
October 2017
Garden Route Tour
I start the month with a Garden Route Tour. It is a week long Guided tour of the Garden Route with a Family.
Our first Two days are in Tsitsikamma Forest and Nature reserve. We stay at the Tsitsikamma Inn; We then move to Knysna where we stay at Pezula for the next three days. Each day is busy and full of activities. One night is at the Garden Route Game Lodge.
The last two days I am with this family we are in Hermanus where we do the Whale Watching from Gans Baai and the Quad Bikes in Stanford.
On Sunday I have to be back in Port Elizabeth for the Municipal Association Hike that is planned for Cape Recife.
After dropping the family off in Cape Town on Saturday 7th I drive through the night to Albertinia where Barbara has found me a Hotel Room. I arrive at about 9pm and after checking in with Sebastian I go to their bar for a nightcap.
Loud Afrikaans music playing crude and vulgar songs. Youngsters dancing, singing along and smoking. I did not last long and was in bed asleep pretty much immediately in this room with a wireless above the bed.
Sunday morning I wake at 3am and just brush my teeth and start the final leg of this journey back home. I get home just before 9am. Quickly unpack, wash the combi, take it back to the rental at the airport. Load the Landrover with bags and water which Barbara has prepacked for me.
Have a quick shower and then phone to confirm that the hike starts at 13.00. No says Melindi. It is due to start at 11am. A few quick phone calls and everyone agrees to meet at 11.
I rush down there. Pieter is my driver of the bus and he is already loading people up. We transfer the bags and water, I park the car and run back to the hotel just in time for the last of the delegates to board.
And we drive to Pine Lodge. This is a Municipal Conference of Electrical Engineers and their suppliers. An annual conference where they like to have activities for the delegates the day before the conference begins.
Robin Holmes and Jenny Levy who I hike with on Wednesdays are with me to assist with leading the walk. We introduce ourselves and there is a bit of banter on the bus. Everyone appears in a happy mood.
We leave the bus and start the hike on the Cape Recife road. Right turn towards the bird hide and dunes. Walking through the coastal fynbos area and up over the wetlands towards the Military WW2 Observation posts. We regroup from time to time and it appears that the delegates are enjoying the views and outing.
Then down to the beach where everyone starts to pick up shells and other interesting stuff. We have a bit of a chilly breeze behind us. For many it is clear that this is going to be at their own pace. Slow takes on a new meaning.
We gather together in a small cove for a snack. I have prepacked some fruit and sweets for everyone to have something to eat and drink.
As we approach the lighthouse we see a beached whale which we had heard was there. We walk across the rocks to get a better sighting and find our shoes and hands becoming full of blubber. Quite stinkey!
The last part of the walk is relaxed and easy going. Everyone appears to have enjoyed being in nature and out in the fresh sea air.
Back to the hotel and the delegates move to their respective hotels and rooms for a shower before the opening evening function.
Monday 9th. Morning run / walk with Adrienne, Gaye and Shani.
Later I pick up Claire and Geoff at the Beachwalk and we do a city tour including a bit of shopping.
I then take Brigitta and Julia on a Township Tour where I introduce Ntombekayha to the offering so now I have an additional home to take people to.
Tuesday -- Half Day Addo Safari with Geoff and Claire. It is raining when we start but we have an amazing day with Lions on a kill; Many Elephant and Buffalo and at the end we see three black rhino. The weather was great for us and we really have fantastic sightings.
Wednesday... Start my day with a run / walk with Adrienne, Sjani and Gaye.
Later this morning I meet Joseph and Susan from Switzerland for a City tour. We visit the Donkin area as well as the Campenile for a cultural and historical tour.
Thursday 12th
After a morning of arranging flights for family's overseas trips, I have a Township Tour with Honey who is Malaysian now living in London.
Barbara and I are working on Visa Applications.
Saturday 15th morning. Adrienne invites us to join her at the Grass Roof parkrun. She is one of the race directors at this parkrun and likes to do an early morning helpers run. So Sjani picks me up and we join Adrienne and Adelle for a Walk Run through the forests. Michael, owner of Grass Roof, joins us with his dog for a while. This run has a number of short ups and downs. We are taking it easy with a bit of jogging and lots of walking.
Later I receive results -- Sardinia Bay 29th Parkrun time 43minutes. Position 112 of 201 runners. 14st in Age Category.
Monday 16th October. -- Morning walk with Adrienne; Gaye; Sjani and Adele. Barbara and I are in Plett for a meeting with Giles.
Tuesday -- Morning walking with the group Later I take my Landrover in for Roadworthy -- this is to allow me to get a Double Disc which is required to transport Passengers for payment. The Vehicle flies through. I then take the Nissan (Ron comes with me) and we follow the same procedure but it seems to be taking longer. So we try to find out what is happening and suddenly we find ourselves surrounded by Police and Detectives. It seems that they are there to make arrests and confiscate computers.
We never found out what was going on but eventually they insisted that the company refund me the R350 I had paid in and they let us go.
Then I have a City Tour so I take the Landrover which returned from a Service on Monday afternoon. And the vehicle breaks down so I have to cancel the tour and am towed back to Savoy Motors for them to check what is wrong.
I arrange to meet Ron and Lyn at the yacht club. They leave on Wednesday for a couple of weeks in JHB with Duncan and then in London with Craig.
Wednesday 18th. Our walking group of Gaye; Sjani; Megan Holden and myself Start from Westview. I jog to the start and we begin walking at 5am. The girls walk too fast for me so I have to jog to keep up. As we round Grey Almarie and Adel join the group for a while. Sjani gives Megan and I a lift back.
I join Robin and the Wednesday walkers for the Sleepy Hollow Lourie Hiking trail. This is a first for me and an exciting, challenging hike. Later this evening we braai --- Venison and chicken sausages for something different.
Thursday... I almost stay in bed. There is the sound of the wind in the trees outside making it sound much worse than it is. But in the end it is Gaye; Sjani; Angela; Chris and Adrienne with the group this morning.
I have an Addo Safari with Rob, Pauline and Lynne. Derrick Joliffe had phoned me about this family who was in Port Elizabeth for the memorial service of Ken and Elaine of Schoenmakerskop. They had been murdered by men who had come into their home one night. This incident has upset the whole community. Rob tells me how important the leadership role of Derrick is. He has a calming effect on the villagers. Our Safari is quite successful ... We don't see Lions however we do see a Black Rhino reasonably close to the car.
Friday 20th. Morning walking / jogging to start the day. An Addo tour with Berthill and Judith from the Netherlands staying at the boardwalk and also Karol (Poland) and Paula (Chile) who are doing some round the world travel together. Overall a good day with the highlight of some Elephant babies playing around next to the car.
Saturday.... Start the day with our morning run.
Monday. After our morning run I make up a list of "things to do". And as I work through the list I have great satisfaction in scratching off from the list.
Tuesday 24th. Morning run and then I learn that I have an Addo for one person from Hippo. I have to use Peter's Peugeot as the Landrover is still at the Auto Electrician for repairs.
Wednesday 25th. Running with Chris. Walkers not walking and I battle to keep up. I have to hire a Quantum from Mark for the group of five but then one cancelled on collection and so only four for Addo today.
Thursday 26th. My land rover is in for repairs. A real stressful issue in my life. I have a City Tour with Eduardo and Manualina from Uruguay; Montevideo. With an Ilios Hyundai. A bit of a mix up as they had a 10am pick up planned while I was given an 8.30am instruction. A cold and windy day but ended up okay.
I receive a late call for a Garden Route tour starting Friday 27th to Friday 3rd November. I then spend about 3 hours working the logistics and issues out. Barbara has to hire a car as we now only have one car.
Friday 27th. Barbara and I pick up a hired vehicle for her to use in the week while I am away. I have a dentist appointment as I am suffering with toothache. I then drive to Amakhala to pick up the guests and take them to Plett for the next two nights. From Plett we go across the Outeniqua Mountains to Oudtshoorn and then back to the coast at Mossel Bay for two nights at the Gondwana wildlife Reserve. Our last two nights on this tour together are in Hermanus where we have a boat whale watching experience. Finally I drop the guests off in Stellenbosch as I must be back in Port Elizabeth the following day for some clients I have committed to.
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