My Sunday Photo - Race for Dubai

I've been torn this week with #mysundayphoto. Our furniture has been packed and is on it's way to Dubai, we spent Saturday at the Alaskan Informal settlement in Mamelodi saying emotional goodbyes to the Viva staff and children and today at Sun City at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

Today was something different for me, a break from the norm. We've spent 3 months preparing for our move from South Africa to Dubai. I spend my, none paid, working week in various facilities in townships so I thought I'd post a picture of Danny Willet winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge on the Gary Player course  in South Africa as this match marks the #RaceForDubai which I thought quite ironic  considering next year, we'll be living in Dubai and will probably be at that tournament cheering Willet on. 

Talk to your teen about alcohol with South Africa Breweries

I was invited by South Africa Breweries to take part in their 18+ campaign to educate children and teenagers about the dangers of drinking. I was given a gift voucher to exchange for an experience with my teen to use the time to discuss the subject of alcohol with him.

It was a 2 hour drive each way from Pretoria. The teen has had a busy visit to South Africa for his school holidays. After a 12 hour flight from the UK I bundled him on the Shosholoza Myel Train to Cape Town which took 28 hours. We had an amazing trip there and flew back 4 days later. We then visited St Lucia for a week, up near the Mozambique border, which was a 7 hour drive each way. The rest of the holiday the teen has spent in bed until after midday and has refused all efforts to come out with us proclaiming that he is on holiday and he just wants to watch TV and chill out, which is fair.

So after discussions and negotiations we opted as a family to go on a Segway tour of the lake and golf course at Sun City.

It’s a 2 hour drive to Sun City and as with all our trips there has been plenty of time for discussions about school, life in general and possible future moves. As expats we trust our sons boarding school to not only educate him but also to nurture, support and provide him with social activities and some sort of family life.

The teen knew the purpose of the trip with SAB and we opted to talk with him about peer pressure, unsupervised visits into town on weekends, whether alcohol was an issue in his school and who he could and would talk to if he had any worries about life in general.

You can read more here about the campaign, how to empower your child to say NO to underage drinking, how to start the conversation, alcohol responsibility at social gatherings, signs your child is drinking and do you agree that teens should wait till they are 18 before drinking? 

As parents we are satisfied there are no concerns about alcohol at his school and we are very fortunate that the school is open and honest with us. There was an issue with drugs in the 6^th form and it was dealt with quickly and efficiently and parents were informed about what steps would be taken and resulted in expulsion for those concerned, so we have no worries about the school not informing us if there were issues round students drinking.

Unfortunately on arrival at Sun City we were greeted by a man handing out leaflets for a free beer and our son was given one, but he gave it straight to us and said he found it rather funny that someone did that and then was pleased as he thought it made him look 18, my husband showed him that the leaflet could be exchanged for soft drinks also, but we didn’t take up the offer.

After a short introduction to riding a Segway, hubby and son had previously been on one, we set off around the lake and golf course at a slow and steady speed. My son and I had bets on as to how long it would be before hubby fell off, but it was me who took a tumble and I also spent 5 minutes waiting to be rescued after failing to move in any direction, staring at a tree.

The tour only lasted an hour, but we had lunch and coffees, a walk round the grounds and a trip in the elevator to see the views. We didn’t get to take many photos at it wasn’t easy to balance, travel at speed and focus a camera.

We would do it again, maybe find somewhere a bit closer to home.

Day Safari to Pilanesburg

Heading North on the N1 from Pretoria, armed with binoculars, food, drink, maps and animal/bird identifying books we drove for 2 hours to Pilanesberg National Park. Since our last visit in February, a fuel stop has opened on the N4 after the first toll and apart from a fuel stop and small complex of shops at Sun City, a few miles from Pilanesberg, there are no other stops on route. All that lies in between are mines to the right and the view of the Magaliesberg Mountains to the left.

Our first stop is at the Manyane Gate for breakfast and toilets. There is a camp site here which we'll explore one day, a small under stocked gift shop, another reminder to take everything you need with you. You can also book night drives from here should you stay over. There are several other sites offering accommodation in and around the park.

Entrance to the National Park is R20 per car and R65 per person, concessions for pensioners and children is R20 each and you certainly get more than your monies worth. You'll be asked to if you are carrying any weapons and I never tire of adding 'why? do I need one?'

The guide book is priced at R30 and as well as a map, it contains information on the animals and birds you'll see there as well as the history of the park. Pilanesberg is an extinct volcano, one of only 3 alkaline ones in the world and at its original height of 7000 meters it was a rival for Kilimanjaro. There is evidence of the Middle Stone Age, the Iron Age and more recently a court house after it's town and people were relocated in the 1980's and 6000 animals (22 species) were released into the newly formed park.

Pilanesberg is the nearest National Park to Pretoria where you can guarantee to spot the Big 5. Elephant, Rhino, Leopard, Cape Buffalo and Lion. I've yet to see them all though in one trip.

The speed limit for the Park is 40km but to view the best game a speed of 20km is recommended, so don't expect to cover the whole park in one visit.

Having made our way from the easy gate we head towards the Zebra Crossing, a recently refurbished rest stop, with restaurant, shop and souvenir stalls and toilets. We meander on the tarmac roads and off road routes, plotting our drive from one watering hole to the other. We drive a 4x4 but see people in small cars, but I'd not recommend leaving the Tarmac without a 4x4. In my opinion October/November is the best time of year for viewing game. The rains haven't really started yet and you can see so much further without the dense green grass, bushes and trees, however spotting lion and antelopes with their camouflage is a tricky job. At this time of year with water being so scarce, the animals are more likely to locate nearer the watering holes and this time of year they have their young.

At all the hides there is running water and flushing toilets and these facilities are also offered at numerous picnic sites in the park.

We picnic at Fish Eye which is elevated offering spectacular views of the park. The concrete benches and braai areas are nestled under the trees, providing shade and drinking water from stand pipes is on offer.

We then slowly make our way to the south gate, making sure we arrive back before the park closes. I did get locked in once and had to wait an hour to get out.


Every time we visit we see something new. This visit was a check point to search vehicles for signs of rhino poaching.