#MySundayPhoto

Too many pictures to choose from today, so feel free to visit my instagram if you're interested.

Visit to the African Cultural Market in Hartbeespoort, followed by lunch at the top of Harties cableway, North West Province, South Africa.

A day out at Hartbeespoort

As the youngest child is returning to live in the UK in 2 weeks, we asked him what places near us he'd like to revisit before he leaves.

Today's venue of choice was Bush Monkeys. It's a 60km drive from Centurion. once you leave the N14 be very careful on the roads. As you can see from the pictures it can be unsafe, but it's a journey I've completed many times alone and never had a problem.

The road is full of pot holes and the sides just drop off, watch out for speeding vehicles, plus there are no road markings so difficult to know where the over taking places are.



We stopped on route at Tan Malie se winkel, a wonderful restaurant with open fires in the winter, lapas on a terrace to enjoy a full meal or just a drink. Tan Malie is situated on the right just after the tunnel and the dam.

We drove onto Bush Babies. It cost R195 for an adult and R95 for a child 14 and under. Tours last an hour and start on the hour from 9am - 3pm. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable about where the monkeys originated from and was able to answer a wide variety of questions.

We have visited here many times and take all our visitors to enjoy the experience, unfortunately Appie, the over friendly, kleptomaniac monkey decided today he wasn't happy just sitting on my shoulders but decided to take a chunk out of my arm. My son was then armed with a water bottle to squirt at him should he come near me again.

After our tour we headed back and stopped at The Chameleon village we had driven through on route to Bush babies. The Chameleon village is open 7 days a week. Here we wandered round the market, the shops and stopped for a spot of lunch.

 

We then strolled over the road to the Welwitschia Market, open Tuesday-Sunday 9am-5pm before heading home a slightly different route by avoiding the Dam as the road over and through the tunnel is single track.


There are plenty of places to stop on route, cafes, restaurants, retail areas, plenty of fuel stations and accommodation. I personally would suggest you visit first for the day and decide where you want to go and what you want to visit: from Riding an Elephant, Aerial Cable Cars, Canopy tours and Ballooning, which are all on our 'to do next' list.

Irene - not the hurricane

Irene, pronounced Ireneee, is the neighbouring area to Centurion. In fact the golf estate is right on the edge and our electricity and water supply comes from Ireneee.

When I leave the back gate and turn towards the school the first place I come across is the charity shop.

This place has been a lifesaver to me, picking up bits and bobs, i.e sports equipment, household stuff and mainly books, I've read so many of them, they are so expensive to buy here as they're imported and where a book reads £11.99 it's priced in Rand at 200, which is almost double. I buy book for around £1 and return them, more of a lending library for me.
All funds from sales go to the mentally retarded and handicapped, their words not mine. Behind the shop there are many bungalows for people with learning difficulties to live in, there is little if no government funding, so I like to do my bit.
Next stop Ireneee dairy.

In fact they used to own all the land for miles round here and it is still a working dairy. they have a farm shop (over priced) and a restaurant.

However, in the summer it's not very pleasant eating with the smell of the farm. Local playgroups, mums with toddlers frequent it often as there are many animals and it is outdoor, public space, with grass and you can take picnics. Not many places like that around.
Ireneee dairy is a 'cash free' zone. this is becoming more popular now as the armed robbery risks are very high, so no cash, no robbery.

And then we drive on and we reach Jan Smutts, he was President twice, the same time as Winston Churchill, this place deserves it's own blog post.
Following on from there we reach the boys school, Cornwall Hill College.

The whole area is called Cornwall Hill, after a battle fought by the Duke of Cornwall in whenever. The boys house in school is Truro.
It's an amazing place, check out the cricket pavilion. There are 9 playing fields, put astro, tennis courts, a swimming pool 25ms long and cricket nets. The Italian football team used it as their base in the World cup.

kids aren't too impressed with the summer uniform, short trousers on a 16 year old?

From the school it's a very short drive to The Cornish Kettle and Plantland.

This is where I do my recycling, it is collected by a local charity and sold for funds.
The Cornish Kettle is delightful, there's a large pond, a play area and a couple of goats wandering around.
he staff here have been amazing, they've helped me out with information from buying a car to car tax and introduced me to various people when I've had a question they couldn't answer. They let me sit there for hours and don't mind if I only have coffee, they ask about the UK, the differences between the countries.
Then onto Ireneee Mall.

Yes, if you look closely that is indeed an upside down cow.
Again very similar to all the other Malls, in a security park and outdoors. Some very nice individual shops as well as the chain stores. This is where we go to the cinema, I prefer the kids to go to this mall in the evenings, especially if hubby is away as it's a much safer route for me to drive at night.
Anyway, that's my tour of Ireneee over and done with, just the Jan Smutts blog and market to follow, but I need to take some more pictures first.