Peter Giddy Guided Tours. November 2019. Addo Safaris; Queen Elizabeth Cruise ship ... Shore excursions.

Peter Giddy Guided Tours.  November 2019.  Addo Safaris; Queen Elizabeth Cruise ship ... Shore excursions.

The Boudicca is in port on Sunday 3rd November.  The season is now upon us as the cruise liners demand time from us.

Peter Giddy Guided Tours -- Shore Excursions -- Addo Elephant and other Wildlife Reserves -- Garden Route.  Flowers of Namaqualand -- 

0027 (0) 82 55 03 714    Whatsup

peter.giddy@gmail.com

• Addo Elephant Park Day Visit and Night drive. 
• Kragga Kamma Wildlife Reserve
• Daniel Cheetah Project
• Pumba; Shamwari; Amakhala; Kariega -- Day trips Private Reserves.
• Three day tour of Mountain Zebra Park. Graaff Reinet, Nieu Bethesda and Addo. 
• City Historical and Cultural Tours, 
• Horse riding for both experienced and inexperienced riders
• Hikes and Walks around Port Elizabeth (2 hour Nature and Coastal walks)
• Garden Route Adventure Tours (Zip Lines; Segway  in the Forest; Adventure Quad Biking; Bridge Walks; Bungy Jump; Knysna Elephant Park; Monkey Land and Birds of Eden; Big Cats Sanctuary; Oudtshoorn Cango Caves and Ostrich farms)
• Shore Excursions from Passengers ships
• Transfers. Airport; Hotel and Wildlife Reserve.
• Flowers of Namaqualand.  Seven days of adventure and exploring places and sights you never even knew existed.  History and natural beauty of the South West of South Africa
• Karoo to Garden Route. Six days of fun and activities.  Prince Albert; Swartberg Pass; Die Hell; Oudtshoorn; Prince Alfred pass; Plett and Tsitsikamma. 

Website --   petergiddyguidedtours.wordpress.com

For tours and bookings.. email me at.    peter.giddy@gmail.com

Contact me on Whatsup....  0027 082 550 3174

Friday 1st November.
I have been slack with running recently.  Happy to have run 10kay this morning.  I run with the walkers.  This morning in the group is Chris; Susan; Mitch and Adel.  Lindi; Stefany and Liesl; Almarie; Gaye.  They walk at a fast pace which I cannot maintain, so I run ahead and then either wait for them or a go back for a fetch.  This morning there is a chilly easterly blowing.

Adel; Stefany; Lindi and Viv.

Almarie; Liesl; Chris; Gaye; Mitch and Susan.
Our route this morning is from Grey we go down Target Kloof to 6th Ave Walmer.  Up 6th Ave to Water road where we turn left until 5th Avenue.  Left again into Prospect Road and right into Fordyce Rd.  We then make our way to Villiers Rd and 1st Avenue.  We do down Upper Valley Road and then up Brickmakerskloof.  I manage a slow jog up all the hills.  Must be some time since I last ran Brikkies.  From there we end our run around St Georges Park and back to Grey.  A good 10kay distance and for me 14 000 steps.

Friday evening at Delene and Mathew's house. 

 Liz; Carey and Jeanette busy in the Kitchen

 Carey making salad .. Mathew's brother is Peter and his wife is Dania.

 Peter; Delene; Nico at the table.

 John and Barbara listening to Mat

 Karen and Gail.

 Mathew in his shawl and explaining the proceedings.

Jasmin and her 4 month old daughter; Chelsea Lee. 

Friday 1st November ..... Delene is 50 today.  We are invited to a celebration at their home on the Draaifontein Road farm. A great evening of family.  Mathew does what he loves best -- Preaching and formalities.  The outcome is a warm family evening.  At their home -Merle... Gail's mother in law.  Gail and daughters and son: Karen and Delene and Johnny.  Their spouses -- Karen and John; And their child -- Carey with boyfriend Nathan.  Delene and Mathew and Delene's daughter Jasmine with boyfriend Nico and child Chelsea Lee. Johnny with his girlfriend Tracey Mathew has his mother Liz and her friend Jeanette.  His brother is Peter and wife Dania. Friends of Delene and Mathew are Marlene and Ian.  With Barbara and I that is 21 people I think.
I learn something about the lives of some of the Guests.
Tracey.   Runs an on line Marketing and Promotions business with her boss in Texas and staff in Phillipines I think she said.  She has never met any of them.  She works with them daily. Promoting a Chiropractor and Physiotherapy business.
Dania makes Date Biscuits called Vitality.  We have been buying these for many years not knowing that a "Family Member"makes them.  They live in Kenton. Her husband Peter is an Architect.
Johnny is now full time in Music.  He has just spent 5 months on board ship playing music for passengers.  He says not again.  This is boring and long.
Karen is doing a kind of Karate thing and is now running the operations.
Gail has a promotions business called Bounce which is continually being promoted through pamphlets that she distributes as well as Algoa FM.
People are so busy and in some cases really successful in their endeavors ...  It is truly inspirational to hear these success stories.

 Lene; Daniel and Josh in New Zealand watching rugby.  Sa Vs England.

 Ally in a pub in Stellenbosch watching SA vs England .. Rugby world cup final.

 I take my guests; David and Kate Clarke for a walk at the Sacramento Trail

 The upper Retha's Trail was built by Retha and Jackson and completed in 2019.  A real pleasure for us to enjoy.

 We walk up to a view point.

 Looking back.. Schoenmakerskop.  Beautiful day and wonderful views;

 On the Upper Retha's Trail .

 Heritage; Fire and Fynbos.   Retha Taylor and Jackson -- 2019

I think that this is an Orchid.

 David and Kate enjoy talking to the rest of the group who are equally interested in their holiday experience. And loving the fact that we have Tourists joining in our walking experience.

 Denis and I take David and Kate up the original Retha;s Trail.

 Retha's trail is a wonderful example of what can be done to beautify our country.

 Established 2001 and opened to us 2007.  Now 12 years later it is as beautiful and enchanting as it ever was.

 We join the crowd at Grassroof to watch Rugby.  This afternoon SA is playing England in the Rugby World Cup Final for the Web Ellis Trophy.  Siya Kolisi the captain is an ex PE and ex Grey boy.  Our coach is Rassie Erasmus and he is an ex Despatch boy.  One of the wingers is Mapipi and he too is an ex Eastern Cape Boy.  We are really proud of these chaps.  It has been a tough tournament with us losing to NZ in the opening match.  We won all the rest of the games including the Semi Final against Wales last weekend.  On Friday 1st November NZ played Wales to reach THIRD place.  This afternoon we go into half time with the scores at 12 to 6 knowing that no team has ever lost after being in the lead at half time.  Up to this point all the scores have come from converted penalties.
In the second half we open the taps and the ball gets out to Mapipi who then chips ahead. Another player gathers the ball and passes back to Mapipi who then scores a try.  We are now basically too far ahead for England to catch up.  Then in the last minutes the ball is passed out to Chelin Kolby and he too dots the ball down for our second TRY.
YES we are now Rugby World Champions for the next four years.  We won in 1995 when a last minute conversion by Joel Stransky gave Francois Pienaar the opportunity to hold the cup up high with Nelson Mandela and again in 2007 with Jake White as coach.  Today Rassie Erasmus and Siya Kolisi in the leading roles have brought the cup home again.

I take David and Kate for an afternoon City Tour.  Here we walk up the Campanile. We drive through the city; past the City Hall; Reserve Bank; Old Police station and Goal; the Feathermarket Hall; Prestor Juan Cross; Post office; Library and statue of Queen Mary; St Mary;s Cathedral; The Lighthouse; Pyramid and Donkin Reserve;  We pass the Prince Alfred Guard Drill Hall and 7 Castle Hill and then on to Fort Frederick. Wezandla Craft Gallery 37 Parliament St.   All closed on the Weekend.

Walking up to the Donkin Reserve with my 17 passengers from the Boudicca.

 On the bus with 33 Crew members in Addo.

The Boudicca in the Port Elizabeth Harbour.
Sunday 3rd.
I meet Mark at the dockside and then take a group of 17 guests for a Walking tour of the City.  just as I had taken David and Kate on the previous day but this time it is walking.  We meet Lux. A wonderful Xhosa man who describes for the guest the Initiation ceremony of the Xhosa People.  They loved the walk. This is a two hour walk from 10.30 to 12.30pm.
Once I have completed the walking tour I get onto a bus with 33 crew members including the Captain.  We go to Addo where we do a quick whirlwind tour and really dont have great sightings.

Nicky gave me this Coffee Machine for Christmas 2018.  Each morning I make myself a Cappuccino and usually drink it on my way to pick people up.  My treat for the day.

 In Addo we find this dead Elephant.  Probably in his late teens to 20's.  And appears to have died as a result of a fight with another elephant.  Predators have had a go at him as well.  The Park Staff are there and will remove the carcass -- probably put it in a remote location where the smell will not be as bad to tourists.

 Ngulube waterhole.  A melee of animals.

 The Twins arrive with little Left Tusk.

 This enormous Elephant passes us close to the car on Ngulube North.

 Picnic lunch with Donna and Tom.  They live in Venice; Florida.

 After our Addo Safari we do a short City Tour and then visit the Penguin Sanctuary at Cape Recife.  Here Ria -- Belgium volunteer, takes us for a tour of Sanccob.

Donna and Tom invite me to dinner at Ginger.
Monday 4th November I pick up Donna and Tom from the Marine Hotel. We have one of the most amazing days in Addo.  Spending about an hour at the first waterhole where we see the interaction between the various animals.  The Elephants pushing and shoving. Zebras trying to get a drink.  Warthogs running around and slipping in between the legs of the Elephants;  Baby Elephants chasing Zebras.  The Twin Elephants arriving with "little Left Tusk".

Tuesday morning.  8km run with Stefany; Gaye; Antoinette; Liesl; Mitch; Mike and Chris.  They mainly walk and I jog.

Dave Muller.  From East London.  Wrote a book about his experiences 20 years ago when his yacht was beached on the coast of Mocambique. He and his family were captured by a group of young Renamo Soldiers carrying weapons. They were held hostage in a rural forest area.

This is the book that Dave Muller wrote.
This evening I attend a Book Launch for Dave Muller (East London man) who launched a yacht in 1985 which was grounded on the Mocambique Coast line.. He was then captured by some young boys who had guns and grenades and held captive by the Renamo Faction in a rural village deep in the forests of Mocambique.  He wrote a book about his experiences called "Not Child"'s Play".

Wednesday 6th.  Megan is still not swimming so I go on my own.  I am first in the pool at 4.55am and swim 2km in 55 minutes.  Also in the pool are John; Ronel; Ken and Shereen.
Today I have two Italian Ladies (Stefanay and Mariagrazia from Napoli) with me for a half day at Addo.  We have a slow start but once we start to find animals they are overwhelmed. Especially at Spekboom and Hapoor.  Then towards the end of our time together we are on Mpunzi and see this family of Elephant walking towards us.  So altogether a short but wonderful Safari

 Joey Evans talks about his experiences.

Joey poses with Barbra when we buy his book.

Para (plegic) to Dakar.  Not actually to Dakar as the Rally is held in South America.
This evening we have been invited to a function with Garth and Sharon from Old Mutual.  It turns out to be a really fantastic talk by Joey Evans who had a MotoCross bike accident, was a paraplegic and then overcoming all kinds of adversities, rode the Dakar Rally in South America.  We bought his book Para to Dakar. 

Thursday early morning walking / jogging group.  Mike; Stefany; Gaye; Susan; Chris and Mitch.  I tend to run and then go back to fetch.  A total of about 8km this morning.

 Thursday walking group at 9am from Hoepoe st; Sardinia Bay.  We start off on Bernards Path all the way to the Sardinia Bay road. This is known as the Bridal Path used by local horse riders.   Then we turn left and immediate right which leads us to the old Boardwalk.

 The boardwalk is now completely sanded over and only the railing remains of what used to be there.

 Walking down to the Old Sardinia bay beach where we spent many evenings with children.

 Our snack stop with Helena; Bennie; Karen and Elsa.

 Looking back to the old Boardwalk which is now barely visible above the dune.

 A strong westerly brings up high seas and white water.

 The sea is wild and extremely dangerous.  Yet we see wind surfers at the beach.

 Unknown red ground cover flowers  -- Identified as Sedum

 Sedum.   The plant is green; yellow and red with the small white flowers

 From above we saw some Dolphins ... Difficult to photograph.

The trail ends on the M1

A miniature tortoise that we find on the trail

At this T junction we turn West.   The last bit of the walk is soft sand and we are glad to have it over.
As soon as we finish our walk; I go to the Newton Park Pool and swim 1500m.  Water is exceptionally warm.

 Peasland where the Elephant Carcass has been placed.  Here we find 5 Hyenas feeding on the Carcass.  Also three Jackal hovering around.

Beautiful spotted Hyena at the Elephant carcass.  See above for when the Elephant was killed by another bull elephant.  They fight for dominance and then lose it as they battle it out.

Lismore.  We find a pride of 5 lions.  Three females and two male lions. This girl is after a warthog that she saw on the far side of the hill

 The Lion follows the female -- Crossing the road right next to the car.  He was not in the least interested in us.

 We discover that the lion has this injury behind his right back leg.  It does not seem to be bothering him as he walks normally.

Friday 8th November 2019.  A day to remember.
Today Franzi and Lena (Germany) stay over at our house.  We have an incredible day.  At Peasland there is the carcass of the dead male elephant which I saw earlier in the week.  The park rangers moved it from Ngulube to Peasland.  A distance off from the road.  This morning we find 5 Hyenas around the area.  Three are squaring up to Zebra and it is the Zebra who see them off.  There are two Hyena on the carcass. Plus we see three Jackal trying to get in on the act.
From there we continue to Lismore where we find Five Lions.  Some sleeping but three of them are active;  Hunting and roaming around busily.  It is a cool morning so they are not quite as listless as we normally find Lions to be.
We continue over the hills to Marion Baree where we find Elephants on the road.  And that capped our day.  We had found a couple of Elephant but these were right close to the car.
A day to remember.

 Thembe at Hapoor.  Looking menacingly at us.   Chasing other bulls around

Irene; Jannis;  Peter and Christos.  Greek Pharmacists.  Living near to Olympia.  In a family Pharmacy  business.

 Our first sighting of the day is this big chap

My group today is Jessica; Marina; Anja and Jana.  A group of four wonderful ladies from Germany who regularly travel together.  We have a great day of sightings including plenty Jackal and Hyena.

Monday morning running group with Chris; Susan; Gaye and Mitch.  Lindi is up front..

 A big chap walks past the car at Hapoor.

 Mira at Algoa Lookout standing on a Termite Hill.

Family at Algoa Lookout.  With Josh; Adi; Mira; Sabrina; Jurgen and Marilise.

Josh takes over my job as tour guide.
Monday 11th November. +
Start the day with a 10kay run with the group.  Chris; Susan; Lindi; Gaye and Mitch.  We do the route to the bottom of Mount Road; up Dias road and then to the top of Tucker road to Collegiate.  We return on Westview Drive.  I do an extra loop around Grey to make up the 10k.
This morning I pick up my guests... A family of six from Keith Finnemore's farm near to Addo.. Rosedale.
Unfortunately the wind continues to blow up the dust.  We still have a good day in the reserve.  The fun part is when the two children -- Mira 5 and Josh 2, sit on my lap and drive.  I really took to this family and especially these two children who wanted to take me with them on the next leg of their tour. 
Tuesday ...  Start the morning with a 9kay Run / walk with Mike; Gaye; Antionette; Stefany and Mitch.  We meet Bianca who may start with us soon.

Felix and Kerstin -- Andrea (Andy) and Michael.  Great guests today.

 Little Right tusk.  One of the senior females with a tusk.

Kevin Mitchell identifies this as probably a sub adult Pale Chanting Goshawk.

Hyena leaving the Elephant Carcass which has enabled us to see more Hyena this past week than the whole year put together.
Wednesday 13th.
I pick up Michael and Andrea (Andy) from 57 Wellington St; Colchester.  Here I meet the owner Tienie.  A great host who invites me in for coffee and a chat.
I then pick up Kirstin and Felix from Parkview where I find out that the Camel is there to show that this venue does have some wildlife and it was, I hear, the cheapest and least wanted animal at an auction.
We spend the day in Addo.. It rains intermittently but nothing to bother us.  In fact it settles the dust that has been billowing about the past week.
This evening Barbara invites me to do Rhino Watch but ends it early.
Thursday 14th.  Running 8k with Mike; Mitch; Chris; Gaye and Susan
Morning half day Addo with Kedibone; Peter; Tato and daughter turning 5 today.

Xolani is the Horseman guide.  With Julika and Benedict.

This big bull had a long swim and then battled to get out of the water, slipping back a few times before emerging in front of our vehicle.

A Cape Robbin - Chat making itself at home on our lunch table.

The Sombre Greenbul is a regular visitor -- really fast at picking up scraps.
Friday 15th.  Early pick up.  Julika Doctor and Benedict. Policeman.  from Beyond Cui Bono
Horse Riding followed by Addo.

 Achilles at the Vukani 15k.  VP Sports Grounds. Tom. Graham; Christine; Percy. Michael. Shane. Bob, Desmond. Alan. Darryl. Tremaine.

 After the run with JoAnne.  Cindy and Evie.

 Anne.  Leslie and myself. Finished within minutes of each other.

 Justin.. A lead runner this morning.

Afternoon Safari tour: an Addo Tour with Michael and Sylvia.  Zebra at Hapoor.
An active day.
Ran the Vukani 15k , 86min
The Vukani starts at VP Sports Grounds and goes around the Airport to Forest Hill.  All easy at this stage.  Then we go to the back of Forest Hill where we are on this really gentle up to the turn at about 9km.  I enjoy this event as it gives us the opportunity to watch the fast runners as they return.  First Achillean past us is Desmond Zibi.  He works hard to achieve wins in his age category.  Later today I meet Justin who is also in the top group.  Others I see passing me include Graham Channon who, at over 70 is running amazingly as is Percy Dalton just behind him.  Shane Norris is trying to get back into shape.  He has lost some weight and looks like his old self.  Nic Chapman is always up front. Our first lady Christine Claassen trains hard to achieve excellent results.  Today I don't stop to take any pics.  I plod on for a non-stop run.  On the return I see that I am kind of mid way in the Achilles Group.  With some of my old running friends still coming.  Michael; Bob; Kenny; Tom are some of them.

I meet up with a talented runner; Errol.  I had met Errol a few weeks ago at the Mount Road Police Station.  I was looking for the Detectives who had apprehended some despicable men who had murdered two women in their 80's at an old age home when robbing them of their valuables.  So I had bought some cake for them to let them know that we value the work that they do.  Errol, recognising me as a fellow runner, had shown me around the offices of Mount Road Police Station.

After the turn and running on a slight decline, with a cool breeze, we can pick up the pace a little.  We are running at the back of the Airport and down towards Forest Hill.  I see an old running friend. Rasta.  A wonderfully friendly man who has a great athletic ability.  He promises to get back into running when he sees me.
As we run out of Forest hill we pass an unfortunate man who must have taken a fall from his Bicycle.  Then down past the South End Grave site and up towards Walmer Boulevard.  We turn left towards Quest School and the last kay is a gradual climb so you have to work hard to maintain the pace.

I had started with Jo Anne and Cindy (MPRG) and was surprised to find myself running with Jo as she is normally far in front of me.  I think that she has been working too hard and is battling to keep up the training.  Leslie and Anne Wallis are just behind me and I see them at the finish.  I meet a young Achillean; Julie at the end of the event.

Achilles Results for the Vukani 15kay. 
I jump into the car.  Change my shirt and drive to Grassroof.  I am amazed to find myself in rain.  I had no idea that it would rain today.  I jog to the start where they are finishing off the announcements.  I worm my way to the front where I like to stand.  And as I get there, greeting Debbie from Wednesday walking group, they start.  My legs are feeling a little tired but I soon get into a rhythm and enjoy the run.  Bennie from Seaview greets me.  I also see Andrew Porter.  But I am pretty much focused on getting the run done.  And it is raining.  So this is not social for me.
I run a 34min 5kay which I am not dissatisfied about as this means I have now run 20km in exactly 120 minutes.  6 min a kay.  Grassroof course is not designed to be a quick run.
I buy some Eggs -- I feel that Grassroof sells the best farm fresh eggs available.  And I look for Quiche which I often buy and freeze for a snack when I am home.  Today there are none so I buy mini Pizzas which I hope to be able to do the same.

Sardinia Bay parkrun results for event #135. Your time was 00:33:46.

Congratulations on completing your 80th parkrun and your 13th at Sardinia Bay parkrun today. You finished in 76th place and were the 60th male out of a field of 393 parkrunners and you came 3rd in your age category VM65-69.

I rush home for a shower and change and am in time to pick up Deborah .. North Carolina.  horse riding from Kenton for a stage event.  And Ed Hazel from Lungile and Grahamstown. for a City tour.
We climb the Campanile; drive around the University and the beach front; Up to the Donkin Reserve and through Town. Then around Grey School and that takes us about 2.5 hours.

I meet Michael and Sylvia Cohen.  Netherlands.  For an afternoon Addo Tour.  They have driven from Knysna today.  Stopping at Plett for the Robberg Walk and Tsitsikamma for Storms River Mouth.  They must have started really early this morning. Our Safari started off slow but we had great Elephant Sightings later in the afternoon.  Hapoor was surrounded by Elephants and we had them all around the car at various times during our afternoon Game Drive.

I meet Barbara at the Joliffes where we have been invited to a Cheese and Wine.  This was to be a time to listen to their friend; Heather; who has recently completed a Portuguese Caminto.  Lynne has bought herself two dogs after losing their old Alsations. This is a really great way to spend the evening.  I am able to sit back and relax and enjoy the conversation around me.  I never get to hear about the Camino (Maybe another time?).

 A really cute find was a family of Yellow Mongoose.  Three little babies running around.

 We find this Ostrich taking advantage of the overnight rains.

 Tom.  Stefan and Nicholas at Algoa Lookout.

An elephant that caused a traffic jam at the end of our day.

A family of Elephants pass us by on the road

A group of Elephants enjoying a swim on a warm afternoon
Sunday 17th.
Addo with Stefan; Tom and Nicholas from Germany.   A really wonderful day in Addo with this group of friends.
Monday ... I am really tired after the Saturday runs.  I start with the group but cut short for a 6km. 
Tuesday
Megan joins the group for an 8km run.  A first in a while.  Chris; Stefany; Susan and Gaye.   Today I work through a list of To Do's.  Plus updating Admin.

 Today we are 23 doing this walk.   Our leader  is Robin.  Dave and Dave; Rob with Lisa; Flo and Sandy Zoetmulder; Pat Farmer is new.  Here Robin is showing Pat our route. Paul and Des who do Alien Clearing on the Baakens Valley; Jim; Eugene; Isa who I meet today; Magriet is a regular; Di our administrator; Danny and Ian who walk at the back with me today.  Celia; Debbie who I saw at the Grassroof Parkrun on Saturday; Dennis the Saturday leader. Lesley is the Birder.

 We take a break sitting in the shade.  Robin explains the procedure to Pat Farmer

Des and Lisa are the two ladies talking to all the seated men.
Wednesday 20th. 
Maitlands Forest walk
I pick up Robin and we drive to the Maitlands Forest walk to join up with the rest of the Group.  I meet up with Pat Farmer who I knew many years ago while in the Furniture Trade. She had some agencies.  I start the morning with a ReHydrate sachet.  Later I find that this worked well for me as I feel none of the Dehydration sensation that I have been experiencing during the week.

We walk up the hill to the De Stades Turn off and then into the forest.   It seems that the walk has almost become easier as we chat going up the hill and then into the forest.  I am with Ian and Danny at the back.  All kinds of subjects.  The welfare of animals to our walks and various exercises. Stopping for a quick Snack.  I am not at all hungry but drink a lot of water today.   During this week I have felt dehydrated so bought some additives to try to combat this feeling.  And today at last I feel I have caught up.  The problem started on Saturday when I did the two events in succession and I dont think that I had enough to drink even though it was cool.
The part of the walk after the break is well known to all of us; but today it seems to be easier and quicker than normal.  I am sure that it is the chatting.. A couple of new people -- Pat; Isa and Rob.  I think that I know all the rest of the group.

Alberto and Macarena. Spain and Peru.  Airport to Amakhala Transfer.
Thursday 21st.  Running 10k with the group.  Today Mike runs with me for a while.  Then Chris joins.  Then Stefany and Antoinette run back all the way up and down Target Kloof.

 The Queen Elizabeth docked at the Port Elizabeth Harbour.
Queen Victoria born 1817 and queen 1837 to 1901 (63 years)  Married Prince Albert.
Sons:  King Edward V11 was king 1901 to 1910 and Prince Alfred. 
King George V married Queen Mary and was king 1910 to 1936.
King Edward V111 was king Jan 1936 to December 1936 when he abdicated and married Wallis Simpson.
King  George V1 married Elizabeth was king until 1952. Two daughters.  Elizabeth and Margaret 1930 to 2002 age 71.
Queen Elizabeth 11 from 1952 to present 67 years).  Married Philip.
Children Charles.  Anne; Andrew (Married and divorced Sarah) and Edward.
Charles married Diane (and Camilla) --
Two sons.... William (Catherine with
children George; Charlotte and Louis)
and Harry (Meghan).

 My group.  Louise; Mel; Maree; Sharon and Peter.

Lunch at Barnacles -- Seaview.  With Sharon and Peter;  Louise; Mel and Maree -- Australians

Mel; Peter; Peter and Lux the Tourist Ambassador.

Lunch at the Barnacles Restaurant at Seaview.  Prawns; Chips; Best Calamari ever; and fish platter shared by three.
Friday 22nd.  Queen Elizabeth.  Pick up Sharon; Peter; Louise; Mel and Maree.  Australians.  For Pier; Retha's Trail. Sacramento.  Township. Kragga Kamma; Barnacles for lunch; St Georges park; Donkin Reserve; Grey High; Liquor shop and bank.  Back to QE at 5.30pm.

Saturday.  I start the Altona School 21k and after a third of the race have to stop ... My Achilles and calf muscle are too sore to continue. After a first aid medic has tried to help me; I get a lift back in a dirty police car with the Policeman and Herman.

Sunday I am up very early and pick up Alberto and Macarena from Leeuwenbosch at 5.30am.  After trouble getting into the gate and then getting out of the gate. Eventually Alberto pushed the gate open while Macarena pushed the button to open for pedestrians. Otherwise they reported excellent service and meals at Leeuwenbosch.
Later I pick up Melvin and Sandra from the Airport for City Lodge.

Monday I have an Addo Safari Tour with Nouella and Gianluca (John in Italian).  And Corimore (Coco the Swiss air pilot) and Jessica from Japan. We have a wonderful day of Elephants.

Tuesday 26th.  Pick up Melvyn and Sandra for Kragga Kamma -- They love every minute.  They are here from England, for their sons Wedding to a South African Girl.

Elephants at Spekboom Hide

                                       
 Torsten and Nina enjoy watching the elephants frolicking in the mud

 Our group today  with Stefan; Torsten and Nina

 Melanie and Tom are on the far right ... Main camp elephant hide.

 Friday I have Petra and Jurgen with me in Addo.  Zebra trying to find grass.  It is so dry at present I am not sure how they are surviving.

We spent about an hour and a half at Hapoor watching the elephants at a Pool Party.  This is the way to see Elephants.  Fortunately it was not too hot so we were able to stay parked for the day.

Grassroof is a particularly festive and friendly parkrun.
Saturday 30th
I am still nursing a calf muscle / achilles tendon injury from last Saturday.
So this morning I do a slow walk / jog at the Grassroof Parkrun. Hopefully I don't aggravate the injury.  I enjoy this route and also the opportunity to purchase some eats (Quiche and mini Pizza which I freeze for a lazy evening) and their eggs are the best.

Sardinia Bay parkrun results for event #137. Your time was 00:40:59.

Congratulations on completing your 81st parkrun and your 14th at Sardinia Bay parkrun today. You finished in 123rd place and were the 83rd male out of a field of 342 parkrunners and you came 3rd in your age category VM65-69

Battling to keep going with a sore calf and achilles tendon.
What I find crazy is that two weeks ago I ran this parkrun 7 minutes faster than today.  And I was third in my age category. Same as today!

This evening is a function at the home of Michael and Aisha Cantor. They own the KK game reserve.  Barbara and other guests who we met this evening do Rhino Watch.  This evening was a Thank You braai at their home.