My top 10 places to view Wildlife in South Africa

We lived in Centurion, Pretoria for 4 years and welcomed numerous visitors every year to South Africa, including family, friends and work colleagues. We were regular visitors to the first 6 places and enjoyed annual trips to 7-10.
In no particular order, other than closest to our home at the time, are the following places to view game, wildlife and birds.

1. Reitvlei Nature Reserve just off the R21. Fantastic for picnics, bird watching and viewing Rhino.

2. Groenkloof on the outskirts of Pretoria where the M18 and the R21 join. Get out your car and take a walk with Giraffes, Zebras and Gnu’s. Hire bikes, ride horses or experience the awesome 4x4 route. Picnic, camp and experience authentic African food at Moyo’s restaurant.

3. Walter Sisulu Gardens in Johannesburg. Enjoy a picnic, a stroll through the gardens, view the nesting Eagles and walk to view the waterfalls.

4. Krugersdorp Lion Reserve, best to visit on a Sunday and experience the feeding habits of the Lions in a semi wild habitat. Picnic site and camp site with restaurant.

5. Pilanesburg Game Reserve. The closest place to view the Big 5. A two hour drive from Pretoria or stay over in a lodge, Sun City or camp site. Take a picnic or eat at Pilanesberg Centre. View Lion, Elephant, Rhino, Cape Buffalo and a Leopard if you’re lucky. Self drive or game drives available.

6. Kruger National Park. Nearest entrance is Malelane, nr Leopards Leap Golf Course, stay inside or outside the park in a lodge or camping. Drive along Crocodile River and take a walk with a ranger to view the hippos. Visit one of numerous restaurants in the park or take a picnic and braai.

7. Take a road trip to Cape Town via Port Elizabeth and visit the Addo Elephant National Park, there’s a variety of lodges nearby at reasonable prices. Spend the day viewing Elephants and other game.

8. Port Elizabeth Light house and visit the SAMREC Penguin Sanctuary. Learn about the plight of the penguin and the good work they do to rehabilitate penguins and return them to the wild. Take a walk on the beach to the light house and view the Oyster Catchers in their natural habitat.

9. Visit Oudtshoorn, inland of Mossel Beach and George. There is a great restaurant and gift shop and take a guided tour of the Ostrich farm and learn about their environment and the trade in feathers. Finish the day off with an Ostrich ride.

10. Finally visit the Cape of Good Hope, where the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean meet. Take a walk on the beaches with the free roaming antelope.

Why you shouldn't get out of a car on safari or have your windows open.

Following a death this week in Johannesburg in a lion park I was reminded of a visit to Krugersdorp in March 2012 when a man actually got out of his car, in the presence of a lion. The rest of the pride hadn't yet come out to feed and despite people risking their own lives by opening their windows to signal there was a lion behind his car, he stood there, waving his arms, yelling 'what lions? where?' In the car was his wife and two small children.

I had been given a list of do's and don'ts prior to entering the reserve, plus I had to drive past several notices telling me to keep my windows closed and people who had their windows open when driving through the gates were firmly and politely told to close them.

My Sunday Photo from Cape Town

My teenage son is on his school holidays from the UK. I decided to spend as much time travelling South Africa as time would permit.

We left Johannesburg by train at 12.30pm on Friday arriving in Cape Town on Saturday at 4.30pm. That's 28hrs.

We are staying in the Waterfront. Today we ventured out on the City Sightseeing Red Bus and walking tour.

I couldn't pick just one picture and even 4 doesn't do the trip justice.

Train from Johannesburg to Cape Town with a teenager

Well it’s been an amazing experience, something to look back on and say we’ve done, but I don’t think I’ll be doing it again in a hurry. I’ve always had a dream to travel by train, coast to coast in America, but 28 hrs on the tourist train from Johannesburg to Cape Town has put an end to those plans.

Booking tickets for the Shosholoza Meyl was completed online, once an enquiry was made, payment details were sent, proof of payment was returned, email with booking number received and tickets collected from Johannesburg train station minimum of an hour before travel. The cost each way is R630/£35pp

The station was busy and we were told to be on the platform an hour prior to travel, we stood in the waiting hall till the train was announced and it was one mad push, shove, scramble to form a queue, clinging tightly to our luggage and hoping no one moved as we’d probably fall over if they did.

The train was spotless, we had a 4 sleeper compartment, there was a toilet and a shower at the end of each carriage and around 2 hours into the journey a really friendly guy came and asked if we wanted to hire bedding for the night which cost R57/£6 pp. The compartment featured a pull down table and underneath was a sink with hot and cold running water and a plastic bag provided for the rubbish.

I packed toilet roll and wet wipes for the journey, which came in very helpful and plenty of drink, snacks and sandwiches. There is a buffet car on the train and they announce when they are serving lunch, supper and breakfast, all at a very good price with a range of burgers, pap and sarmies. Food was available also as a take away as was tea and coffee.

Sleeping didn’t come too easily I’m afraid for me. Son managed to sleep most of the night, then after an early wake up call at 6am, with a woman yelling ‘early morning coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee’ he went back to sleep. I’m afraid I wasn’t too polite and asked her to be quiet, but she carried on. It was 2 hours before we reached the next stop, I really didn’t need waking.

There were many stops in the night, up to an hour at a time, in the middle of nowhere while we waiting for trains to pass, it was strange but it was when the train was still and quiet that I actually woke up.

Both my son and I had loaded movies onto our laptops, but discovered there was no charging points on the train, thankfully I had packed many packets of loom bands that entertained my 15yo for most of the journey and I read a book and wrote some letters. There is no smoking on the train, but plenty of stops if you need one and a few people were hanging out the windows at times.

We arrived in Cape Town 28hrs later, only 1 hr behind schedule which isn't bad for an epic trip like this, we were clean, a little tired, but stress free and no aches and pains like the car journey down here before has given me.

We fly back on Wednesday evening using our Avios with BA at the cost of R350/£19.50 each.

We are staying approx a 5 min walk from the train station ands a further 15 min walk to The V&A Waterfront. A walk to a near by restaurant for dinner, a shower and a comfy bed to sink into and the train journey wasn't that bad, in fact I'd rather catch the train here again than travel by car as we will be using the hop on, hop off City Sightseeing Red Bus for the next 3 days to get around the city.

My top 7 tips on how to get the cheapest flight

I once entered a travel agents in Swindon as they had flights to Luxor 'from £99'. I asked the travel agent to book me that flight, they asked when I wanted to go, I replied 'when the £99 flight is' it apparently wasn't as simple as that, it depended on the departure point and date and time I wanted to fly. Having repeated several times I wanted the £99 flight and I didn't mind what time/date/location, I left emptied handed and never got the £99 deal.

My next trip to the UK will be for Christmas. I've started looking for flights now. I found a flight for R10,098.00 December 17th to January 4th to Birmingham but with a 24 hour stop over. I change the destination to Manchester, change the date to return a day later and I find a flight for R9520 with only a 2 hour stop over. It takes some time but it's worth it to set aside a day or 2 to get not only the best price, but the best route and stop over.

A direct flight will cost me R14,851 and I have the inconvenience and cost of getting to and from Heathrow.

My top 7 tips for finding a cheap flight

• I can tell you to avoid peak times such as Christmas and school holidays but you're not stupid, you've probably worked that one out by now.

• I can tell you to be flexible with your dates, routes, time etc, etc, etc, but you've probably worked that one out also.

• I can tell you to search for deals with budget airlines first....yeah...now you think I'm patronising you.

• Google 'cheapest flights from (insert departure) to (insert arrival)' then enter a variety of dates, times and routes and probably spend the best part of a day doing this.

• Change your arrival airport if possible....for example it's cheaper to fly into Birmingham or Manchester than it is into the London airports.

• Look for flights where you have a stop over...it is cheaper to fly with a stop over than direct to the UK from South Africa.

• Don't be fooled by the initial price you see....all prices should state whether this includes taxes or not, but please remember that some search/booking sites show you the price for each leg of the journey.

Walking in Johannesburg and The World of Beer

Firstly I would like to thank my friend Laura who invited me to the #JoziMeetUp where I met Louisa, who then invited me for coffee in Johannesburg Central Business District today gave me access to her staff car park in Ferreirasdorp which was the first tented camp settlement after gold was discovered in 1887 and took me to Cramers who claim to sell the 'World's Best Coffee' and it was good, where we chatted and set the World to rights.

We then walked back to the office through the Gold district

And past the Law Office of Nelson Mandela and O R Tambo

and then to the 5th floor of Louisa's office so I could take some pictures of Joburg CBD.

I didn't go straight home, we arranged another coffee date for Louisa to come to my neck of the woods and I wandered off, on foot, to SAB World of Beer.

R75 entry, tours start on the hour and last around 1 hour 15 minutes. You get 2 vouchers for drinks, a full guided tour and a Castle Draft taster on route and they let you keep the glass.

I was early so opted to visit The Tap Room for some lunch and ordered the Thai chicken salad, it cost R40, the drink was free and it was so appetising I didn't even stop to instagram it.

The tour starts with the story of Charles Glass and tells you about the history of beer from the Egyptians who drank it though a straw to filter it, to the Bavarians who came up with the light liquid colour we know today, a visit through the barley fields and hops and the distilling process before returning to the Tap Room to use the 2nd drinks voucher and a walk back to the car and home.

How to survive airport travel

I’m not a good flyer, it’s the take off and landing I’m not keen on. I need to sit by a window so I can keep my eye on the wing and the ground and make sense of what’s happening. The actual flight is ok, It’s probably the only time I sit and watch a movie.

As an expat I make regular trips between South Africa and the UK, preferring the Dubai route as I get to build up my air miles, use the Emirates lounge and it has the most leg room and more importantly, proper cutlery, not plastic forks that always snap. I’ve flown with various airlines, direct and with stopovers. Despite the Dubai route involving an 8 hour flight, 2 hour stop over and another 7 hour flight, plus the travel time to and from the airport, making it in total a 20+ hour journey, it has the most generous legroom in economy, checked in baggage is 30kg and trust me it’s not possible to get more than 30kgs in a suitcase. This disadvantage is the hand luggage allowance is only 7kg and as an expat and flying out of OR Tambo airport I carry all the paper work I need to sort out when I’m back in the UK and all valuables as theft from baggage is a high risk. Other airlines have a more generous hand luggage allowance of 10kg and purchase of an additional 23kg weight starts from around £45 where as Emirates charge £140 for up to 5 kilos.

It’s not just the ticket price you need to check when booking, how important is the luggage allowance? Is the cost of baggage wrapping included in your ticket price? What’s the charge for changing your ticket? Is insurance included in the price?

Top tips for travelling.

Check in online. I never print a boarding pass as from experience they prefer to issue you with one, but be warned, some airlines do charge for printing a boarding pass at check in.

When selecting a seat, you’ve more chance of having a spare seat next to you if you book an aisle seat; it is common practice for the airline to fill up the aisle seats first.

Avoid seats with extra legroom unless you’re particularly tall, the reason being these seats have fixed armrests, so if the seat next to you is empty you can’t stretch into it.  Also passengers will congregate on long haul flights near the exit doors whilst queuing for the toilets or they are near the galley where the cabin crew sit and passengers will stand and chat.

If flying from OR Tambo airport check with your airline to find out if baggage wrapping is included in the cost of your ticket. If not make sure you arrive in plenty of time not only for check in and clearing customs but for queuing to get your baggage wrapped.

After going through passport control, check the boards for your gate and locate it, it could be anything up to 30 minutes away and involve a train or a bus. It’s quite common for the gate to be changed, don’t just rely on your boarding card.

Once you’ve located your gate, grab a coffee, locate the smoking room and buy your duty free.

If travelling via another country, even if you are in transit, check what you can and can’t take through in regards to liquids. Best to buy your duty free once you’ve cleared security when you stop over, as they will not let you take liquids through, even though you haven’t left the airport.

Dubai airport have showers available at no charge. I always pack a hand towel so not to take up too much space/weight in hand luggage.

On arrival the first thing I do is activate my sim card, top up and message family and friends to say I’m here, this is my number, I’ll contact you again when I’ve reached my first overnight stop.

Coffee…any chance to purchase a coffee.

Fight or Flight? What would you do?

I wrote a blog post which was published on Monday about How safe is South Africa?

Today we were victims of a crime and all the advice we have been given about maintaining our safety in South Africa went out the window and I experienced 'fight or flight'

I always said I would I would run the opposite direction and I'd let a thief take what they wanted to, to protect myself, but until you're actually put in that situation you really don't know what you'd do.

I fought back, I chased a thief.

MIL arrived from the UK this morning. We sat and drank coffee while waiting for hubbies flight from Dubai, which landed an hour later. We walked down to the parking lot, paid for the ticket and as we opened the boot a guy insisted on helping us with our luggage. We told him no, but he grabbed the cases and put them in the car, then he started rearranging the cases. I told him no more and gave him R5 to go away.

We closed the boot and got into the car, but something stopped me, made me check the boot.

My first thought was he had marked the car and was going to phone ahead to hijackers, to intercept us on our way out of the airport.
Then I noticed hubbies hand luggage case was unzipped on the side. I asked hubby if he had his passport, he said it was in the side pocket of his hand luggage.

As I closed the boot and looked towards where the man had gone, I saw him start to run. I yelled at hubby, 'he's stolen your passport' and before he could get out of the car, I'd taken chase.

I ran up the escalator, looked left and right and saw him at the top of the next escalator, I ran after him, out the door, across the 2 roads, towards the long stay car park and the hotels.

For a split second I thought about running into the police station, but I really didn't want to lose him and go through the hassle of replacing a passport.

As I caught up with him I grabbed him on the shoulder and yelled 'Give me my f***ing passport back, NOW'

He removed it from his jacket pocket and said he'd found it on the floor. I snatched the passport and yelled 'you f***ing liar, you stole it' and turned and ran to the police station.

It was only as I entered the building that fear spread over me like a big wave. He could've had a gun, this is South Africa, Johannesburg.

I had no control over my behaviour. I fought, it was a natural instinct, one that I will have to learn to supress.

If the incident was captured on CCTV it'll look like I was the one who committed the crime. I was so bloody angry.

Error 404

I'm off to the UK again, I've only been back 5 weeks by the time I fly back out and so much has happened in that time.
The tenants are finally out, the quote for redecorating plus repairs and replacements, loss of rent, solicitors, cleaning etc, etc is currently around £8000...* sharp intake of breath*

My 14yo son left South Africa last week to attend Boarding school in the UK. I've throughly cleaned the house top to bottom, redecorated the boys bedrooms and the dining room. I've packed my bags and I'm ready to go.

So why Error 404.

Seriously, my life is complicated enough as it is.

Flights to the UK. I need to be there by the 6th of September at the very latest. The only flights available with Virgin Atlantic, BA, Emirates and Air France are this Sunday or September the 5th or my other alternatives are to book with Egypt Air with 2 stop overs and 2 carriers or Business or First class, neither or which I can afford.

So Sunday it is, August the 26th. Good job I got on with the cleaning and the decorating when I did.

But now I have to get from Heathrow Terminal 3 to Malvern. So I checked The Trainline. £50 single ticket change at Paddington. Click through the process to discover I have to collect my tickets prior to the start of the train journey.....mmmmmm can't collect tickets from Heathrow. So I booked a ticket from Paddington to malvern at the cost of £30. When I get to Heathrow I'll get the tube, bus, whatever, will figure that out when I get there at the cost of £8.40. A saving of £10.10 after the booking fee. And while we're at it, the trainline wasn't any cheaper than booking with National Rail direct.

Is your life as complicated? If not, please let me know the key to your success.

Art on Main ... Jo'burg on foot

I don't do exploring very well, I like to know where I'm off and what I can expect to find.

but this morning I got into the car to be taken to a surprise venue.

We headed south on the N1 towards jo'burg. Then into jo'burg, through Hilbrow and I started to panic.....i really didn't want to be there, past Ellis Park, which doesn't feel as safe as when I was there last year to watch the football as the security was obvious. Down a few side streets, and parked on the side of the road to discover Art on Main.

Lots of little cafes, bars and street vendors, a fashion show and salsa dancing on the rooftops.

Very friendly people, mind you the rasta who stopped us for a chat was from Hampshire.

So we had a little walk, took some photos, ate a fab breakfast, bumped into a couple we knew and shared a coffee.

But that was it

365 days on in South Africa...myths exploded

So a year ago today I blogged about Day 6 in South Africa http://www.chickenruby.com/2011/01/day-6.html

Well here's what I've discovered 1 year on.

THEN
'I won’t be driving at night on my own and as long as you are alert and remain alert it is perfectly safe to drive here.'
NOW
I drive alone, into Johannesburg, shopping malls, volunteer placements, the airport to drop off hubby and collect him, to game reserves, school runs and am often found in Pretoria at night on my own meeting up with Internations expat group.
THEN
'I’m driving a rental car at the moment and won’t be buying anything flash, so not to attract attention. All bags are put in the boot and valuables kept out of sight.'
NOW
Couldn't afford anything flashy, I drive a Jeep, same make, model and year as I owned in the UK, but I often drive hubbies shiny Toyota Fortuna and all valuables kept out of sight.
THEN
'This morning Peter and I returned to the bank....Peter has to give permission for me to have a bank account and as I’m here on a visitors passport it seems pointless as I won’t have any money to put in it.'
NOW
I have to 'ask' permission for money each month...I hate not having my own income, having to ask for money and to my despair, I won't be able to have my own money...I can't work here.
THEN
'We drove to the office in Eden vale about 10kms from Jo’burg after dropping Peter off for the day I drove home. Road works and exit changes which hadn’t been updated on the sat nav made for an interesting journey home, thankfully I had paid attention and apart from the township I drove past I felt safe.'
NOW
I drive many familiar routes without the sat nav, journeys of 40-50kms.
THEN
'SA is safer than I thought; I made an assumption that apart from the school runs I would be ‘stuck’ in the house all day and would need to go out with Peter couldn’t be further from the truth. If I want to pop out to the shops for a coffee or a pint of milk then I can.'
NOW
I am on constant alert, at the robots I check my mirrors constantly, keep a large enough gap to drive off quickly, keep doors locked and windows closed when i have to stop.

There are many more things I thought I wouldn't be able to do and many other things I thought I would be able to do with ease but rules and regulations prevent me.

If you want to know more just contact me.

Stolen? Mislaid? Why should we pay extra for our security?

Missing and disappearing things

It seems to be an accepted fact that things go missing in South Africa. I suppose really I should say stolen...but then I don’t have any proof of that, unless of course the one time my lap top and camera ‘disappeared’ from hubbies suit case as he left OR Tambo airport, Johannesburg or the monthly occurrences of envelopes arriving but open and contents missing, including the actual letter.

When I check in at OR Tambo airport I'm asked the usual security questions 'did you pack your own bag, etc?' and then no matter who I'm flying with the airline staff say ’we know stuff will be stolen from your bag, so we suggest you get your bag wrapped at the cost of 60 Rand per bag.

This really annoys me. The airlines know there is a chance items will be stolen for your suitcase as it travels to the plane, the airport must be aware this goes on or they wouldn't allow bag wrappers to operate inside the airport.

WTF? I’m already paying for a service, why should I have to then pay extra to stop my stuff being stolen? I don't have to pay more to leave the UK or Dubai (my frequent destinations)

There is only one solution and that's to employ better security, more CCTV and in the meantime I'd like to see the airlines increase the hand luggage allowance because as an expat, I fly frequently and have to carry documents, electronic equipment back and forth and as I can't put ANY of it in my checked in luggage, I have to carry it all on my person and I'd like to travel lighter, especially long haul flights.


Then there is the ‘lost’ post...it arrives, a slip is sent you collect your parcels and packages...easy peasy, except the slips don’t arrive and the parcels are returned to sender.
Except the parcels never reach the sender and the t-shirt and cap I sent which I declared on the customs form and the three cards I wrote (probably looked like birthday cards with money in them) never reached their destination.


You can't just pay for a stamp you pay to have everything sent with a tracking order, which can add up to 50 Rand on a letter and at least double the value of the gift and then you try tracking your tracking order and if it goes missing good luck getting a reply from the post office.
It's the same for post coming into the country. Why aren’t family and friends told by the UK postal service when they send a gift to South Africa that I have to pay a customs fee if it ever arrives? Why doesn’t the UK Postal Service advise all customers that when sending post to South Africa they should do it by recorded delivery so there is a tracking number so if the slip never arrives I can at least still collect the parcel, once I’ve paid customs clearance?


And why should we all pay twice? Is there anywhere else in the world where so much stuff goes ‘missing’?


I personally think the post office and the airport should tackle the issue head on and stop taking my money twice.