For those not on the Book of Faces, here is my costume from Saturday night. I was rather pleased with it! click on the picture to see the whole gallery - but don't blink!

Day 18, our first morning in Knysna, dawned bright and sunny with very little cloud, perfect for Monkey spotting and bird watching! Knysna is a beautful seaside town on the garden route, and I really liked it. I kept berating Mum and Dave for not moving here instead of Swellendam! I think it would be hard to make a go of a B&B here though, the tourist trade is a lot more established and there's a lot more competition. It's really pretty though, and I love anywhere by the sea, having spent my childhood in coastal towns before moving nearer london for secondary school. I think if I was to move to South Africa though, it would have be somewhere around here!

( Two Nights in Knysna Part 2 - Close encounters of a monkey kind, birds in endor, 101 things to do with a powerstation, I Don't Spy and I am the Dassie Whisperer )

See all the photos from the two nights in Knysna here and here!

On Day 17 we got up as early as we could and headed off for an epic trip. I knew the basic plan - we would drive the long way round to Knysna, a pretty town on the Garden Route by the sea so that I could see some Ostriches. We'd stay overnight at the Knysna Terrace hotel where Mum (through a combination of Groupon and somenifty networking) had got an amazing deal on two rooms for two nights. The following day the plan was to go to Monkey Land and Birds of Eden, and then drive home the following day. Mum and Dave are pretty smart though, and had kept back some of their plans to surprise me!

( Two Nights in Knysna Part 1 - Peace + Sex, Pink Port, Elephant cuddles, Ostrich massages, deep underground )

See all the photos from the first day here

( Day Fourteen - Lighthouses and shipwrecks at the bottom of Africa )

( Day Fifteen & Sixteen - Rugby, Pizza and Paradise Organic )

You can see all of the photos here

Tomorrow we're off to see birds, monkeys, caves and ostritch! I am excited! We've got an early start though as we plan to head off at 7am, so it's an early night for me.

( Day Ten - Birthdays, Birthday Cakes, Lunch in a not-really-a-jail, death of a smartphone )

( Day Eleven - Cake take 2, Fair Failure, the birth of Wilberforce Van Der Vlakvark and a family in the cottage get a new baby )


( Day Twelve -Further adventures of Wilberforce Van Der Vlakvark, More Fairy Failure, a trip into the township and a Brai )

( Day thirteen - Tiny dogs in tiny hats and a girls night in )

all of the photos from days ten to sixteen are here.

I'm not quite up to date, there are a few more days I haven't covered. Coming soon: Lighthouses, Shipwrecks and Rugby!

Tomorrow we're off to Knysna to see some birds and some monkeys, via Oudtshoorn to see some ostritch and some caves!

When Mum and Dave moved here, one of the first things they did was to try and get all the beautiful birds to come and eat in their garden, rather than anyone else's. They've been experimenting over the years with different combinations of fruit, meat, bread and positions in the garden for a bird table. They seem to have found the ideal combination, as their garden is FULL of beautiful birds. I have seen Sunbirds, Weaver birds, a few Cape White Eyes, a Hoopoe, a Shrike, Doves and lots of cute little sparrows. I need to put batteries in my camera to get good photos as my phone camera doesn't do them justice at all.

The magic solution Mum has discovered is sugar water with red food colouring. They've also tried blue, yellow, green, vanilla flavoured - all sorts of things - but the birds won't touch the others. They just love the red water! They scold us when we're late putting it out, and surround me on the bushes when I am putting it out, just waiting for me to get to a safe distance (about 2 metres!) before they swoop in. Mum says if she goes out to feed them wearing red they don't even fly away. I am assuming there's some reason for this about the way birds see colours? They are also really picky; if you don't get the right amount of sugar in there they don't drink it, and seem to scold you as you walk in the garden!

I have no idea, but since I finally managed to get batteries for my camera I've been sat on the porch (or Stoep, as it's called here) sitting still as anything trying to get photos of some of the regulars here. I am quite pleased with the pictures!

( some of my fave pics. Picture heavy, but entirely safe for work, unless someone at your work is really offended by pictures of birds. )

the rest of the pics are over on my facebook

( Day Five, in which we drive a long way for a very short shopping trip )

( Day Six, in which I go jam and liqueur tasting and get a ride in a bakki )

( Day Seven, in which we pretty much do nothing. )

( Day Eight, in which I move in to the Leopard room and go over the mountains, and a bird gets trapped inside )

( Day nine, where I see lots of PONIES, fall in love with a photo, drink lots of free wine and eat the sweetest fried thing in all of existence.  )

Tomorrow is Mum's actual actual birthday, and she's having a party at the B&B, so I am prepared to be introduced to many many people and say "yes, I know, it *is* a strong family resemblance?" about fifty times.

I am still in the Leopard room, which I have decided is my favorite!

To see all of the photos, go check them out on facebook.

Day 2
( In which I lie around, do very little, read a book and get filmed eating dinner )

Day 3
( In which I see lots of bok, and drink lots of free wine )

Day 4
( In which see a mongoose, more bok, zebra and whales, and invent a CSI drinking game )


( The CSI Miami Drinking Game )

All of the photos from day 2, 3 and 4 are here.

Blog coming soon, photos are up now!

photos are here

The updates will feature:
Lots of Bok, whales, zebra, sundown, swellendam TV, clever plants and the CSI Miami drinking game

At 10am on Friday 26th August I set off for Gatwick, with a large but surprisingly light backpack (having packed and unpacked 3 times, and ended up with a bear minimum of clothes) to start my epic 24ish hour journey to Mum's b&B.

This was the itinerary:
2pm flight to Dubai from Gatwick - 6 hours
Arrive midnight (Dubai is 3 hours ahead of UK)
4am fly to Cape Town - 10 hours
Arrive midday (South Africa is one hour ahead of UK,2 hours behind Dubai)

( in flight entertainment, travelling in the future, thieving birds, covered in bees and stroking a cheetah )

Check out my facebook for the full gallery of photos!