Saturday 27 March 2010

Roland's 18th birthday!

When Rolo was 2.5 yrs old, they came to visit me in Amsterdam. 'Tannie Rita' was a big mouthful and he shortened it it "Ittie" and the name stuck. He had a proper birthday party later and I returned to help prepare for a hamburger feast for his friends.

The Smitte and the Game Lodge weekend

My beautiful room at the Smit family! Their kindness, love and support mean so much to me!

The room was filled with flower arrangements ...
Lovely proteas - the South African national flower .... dankie Thea-Mei!

The zebras were so beautiful!

All the game looked so fat and healthy!


I loved the way the fruit was done - different fruit held together with a porcupine quill!

I was given the 'honeymoon suite' - they offered this deck to me, but couldn't get myself to stay out there for the night amongst all creatures big and small. I gracefully declined the adventure and slept inside. I did shower outside though!

My 'hut' for two evenings. There was a lovely bath at the back, with the shower outside. It had a fantastic view over the lodge. Thank you Linda ... and the Smit family!
Looking over Mabula Game Reserve

My wonderful friends, Andomei, Thea-Mei, Andries and Adriaan!

During our afternoon game drive we came across these two rhino's have a snooze in the middle of the road. I haven't seen many rhino's in my life and couldn't believe my eyes! The one closest to us slightly lifted his/her head, looked us and couldn't be bothered.


The ranger went into a lot of trouble to find an elephant to see. He talked to many rangers and they informed him there is one coming down the road. It suddenly surprised and the ranger couldn't start the jeep fast enough to reverse out of it's way. A stunning creature. I bought the book "The elephant whisperer" afterward and loved Lawrence Anthony stories about his elephants. I would highly recommend this book if you can get it.

"Turn back to God" morning in Pretoria


This was a very special morning. Thousands of South Africans turned out to attend the "Turn back to God" day. We went for the morning only and at one given point we had to turn around and stretched our hands out to the Union Buildings while someone prayed a very positive prayer for our Government. It was a powerful day - I was so glad I went. It was all about our relationship with a living God and nothing political.

On my way to Cape Town!



The clouds were absolutely stunning! Just love these photo's.
Rebecca took me out for breakfast at Chocolat in Bellville! What a busy place with a lovely atmosphere!
We stopped along the way to taste some wine! :)

Beautiful church in Stellenbosch.

Rebecca at a beautiful door!

The end of the day we stopped for apple pie and tea!

A perfect day to go up on Table Mountain

The cable car was fun - the floor slowly turned to help to get a good few all round!

It was the only day that week that the wind was still - a true gift!

Robben Island.

New soccer stadium - SA live and breathe the World Cup at the moment!

Chapman's Peak


Don't know the exact places where these were taken. Dirko kindly stopped so that I can take a few shots!

China Town - Kalkbaai


Santie and I thought we died and went to heaven! We stumbled across this shop called "China Town"! There were 10 or more rooms filled with second hand china .... and no, I didn't buy any because the price was a bit to steep ... I prefer to get them at the charity shops in the UK.

Somewhere near Kalkbaai