Week 22 - Namibia - Etosha National Park to Zambia – South Luangwa National Park

On Monday morning we drove straight to Dik-Dik drive as soon as we got up. We saw elephants, impala, springbok and dik-dik. We also saw some giraffe at the Klein Namutoni waterhole as we drove past. It seemed cooler and windier than usual this morning and we could see dust clouds everywhere. After breakfast, we checked out and drove to the Kalkheuwel waterhole. We sat at Kalkheuwel for two to three hours without seeing anything until finally some zebra came to drink. As we left we came across a large lion walking through the veldt towards a small group of lionesses who were resting under some trees. We saw nine females and a cub. As we watched, the lion settled down underneath a tree and then the lionesses started walking out onto the road crossing it in front of us. The cub got left behind and we heard him barking anxiously. We saw him trying to cross the road and keep his distance from the cars that were lining the road. We drove back to Namutoni to refuel the car, then we left the park and headed to Otjiwarongo.

At Otjiwarongo, after returning our car, we put our backpacks on for the first time in weeks and walked to the BP Express station where we had to catch our bus. While we were waiting we saw some young guys turn up in a car, put on some music and dance while they waited for their friend who was inside the station. They were really good with animal movements in the dancing.

We got on the bus and drifted off to a fitful sleep, only to wake in the middle of the night because the temperature inside the bus was arctic. After that we only managed to sleep in fits and starts so it was a long night.

We woke early on Tuesday morning while driving through the Caprivi Strip. The bus stopped at the Namibian customs and we had our passports stamped with an exit stamp then we drove to the Zambian customs a few hundred metres down the road. We continued on into Zambia but only arrived in Livingstone at approximately 3-30pm which was a couple of hours later than scheduled. We walked to Fawlty Towers hostel and checked in before walking into town. We saw a great handicraft market on the main street and beautiful fruit and vegetables on the other side.

The next morning we caught the hostel shuttle to Victoria Falls. At Victoria Falls, we paid our entry fees at the gate and we walked past the baboons to Eastern Cataract were we got our first sight of the magnificent waterfalls with multiple rainbows. Then we walked upriver along the bank of the Zambezi. Then we walked back to rent a raincoat and walked into the "rain" across the Knife Edge bridge and in a circle back to the bridge. The amount of water coming over the edge was huge and the rain and wind was intense in some parts. When we got back to the raincoat shop our shoes and socks were soaked. We walked down a gorge to the Boiling Pot and had some lunch looking up at the main or border bridge. There was a large monitor lizard on the path and it looked identical to the large Australian type. We walked back up and then around the top towards the main bridge but inside the park fence. There were great views of the Knife Edge bridge, the Boiling Pot gorge and the Zambezi coming through the gap in the rock, swirling past the Boiling Pot and then running off under the main bridge. After this we exited the park and walked along the road down to the border bridge where you are allowed to walk half way along the bridge without purchasing a Zimbabwe visa. We had decided not to bother as the Zim visa was USD 30 and then entry to Vic Falls was another USD 30! Also we would have had to purchase a Zambian visa for another USD 50 to re enter Zambia! We saw people bungee jumping off the bridge and took photos of the "You are entering Zimbabwe", "You are entering Zambia" signs. Then we walked back to the Vic Falls Zambian side and caught a taxi back to Livingstone. We walked around town again stopping at the craft market to have a closer look at the amazing wood and stone carvings. The furniture, masks and animals were exceptional with ironwood, mahogany and teak the most beautiful woods.

On Thursday morning we checked out of Fawlty Towers and went to catch a shared taxi to Kazangula so that we could get a ferry over the border to Botswana. Luckily, there was already one person waiting to go to Kazangula when we arrived and within five minutes someone else turned up so we were on our way. The road was really good so the 60 km drive took less than an hour. We went through customs and then walked to the water's edge to wait for the ferry. On the ferry we met some Zambian ladies who were going to Botswana to buy sugar and cooking oil because it was cheaper there. They were also taking sweet potatoes and ground nuts (peanuts) to sell there. On the other side of the river we went through customs (no visa fee for Botswana) and bought enough pula to pay for a shared minibus into Kasane. At Kasane we caught a minibus to the Thebe River Lodge where we checked in and organised a Chobe river cruise for the afternoon and a Chobe game drive for 5.45 am the next morning.

At 3.00 pm, we, together with a couple of tour groups were picked up by a game viewing vehicle and driven to a pontoon at the river's edge where we got on to a large flat bottomed boat. After ten minutes we entered Chobe National Park. The Chobe River is where Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana meet. We spent the next couple of hours circling around an island belonging to Botswana. During that time we saw African darter, water monitor, Nile crocodile, Chacma baboon, African fish eagle, pied kingfisher, white-fronted bee-eater, common impala, elephant, cape buffalo, spur-winged geese, white faced duck, African jacana, great white egret, sacred ibis, hippo, African skimmer, African spoonbill, Egyptian geese and red lechwe (semi-aquatic antelope). The kingfishers and bee-eaters were nesting in holes in the side of the river bank and the impala were licking salt from higher up the riverbank. We enjoyed the spectacle of the herds of elephant playing and swimming and were startled when what we thought was floating debris turned out to be hippos. It was a beautiful sunset over the river and marshes.

We set the alarm for 5.15 am on Friday morning and we had just enough time to pack up most of our stuff and have a cup of tea before being collected for our game drive at 5.45 am. It was a windy, bone-chilling fifteen minute drive in the open game vehicle to Chobe National Park. It didn't get much better after we arrived at Chobe either. We saw elephant, marabou storks (the undertakers), hippos with babies at the river, scrub hare, common impala, buffalo with oxpeckers, lions, warthog, giraffe, vultures, African fish eagle, bateleur eagle, kudu, red lechwe, squirrel, red billed hornbill, and lilac breasted rollers. We had breakfast at Thebe and then caught a minibus to Kazangula for the ferry back to Zambia. We hooked up with Shaun from the UK at immigration and shared a taxi back to Livingstone. We checked into Jollyboys backpacker hostel near the golf course and went on a big walk to Morembo market. Morembo market was a fifteen minute walk past a memorial to Northern Rhodesians killed in WW1 outside the golf course entrance, but it was worth the walk because it was a huge market with all kinds of goods and services including food, clothing, bicycle repairs, household goods, DVDs and anything under the sun. Then we went to the supermarket to buy meat and salad for a barbecue and an apple pie and cream for dessert. Back at the hostel, we cooked up a feast and had a great dinner around the table with some Germans who had cooked an African meal from scratch with a staff member. The apple pie turned out to be an inedible stodgy coconut pie with a soapy aftertaste so we were very disappointed! Especially as we had decided not to buy any chocolate because we thought we had apple pie for dessert!

We got up early on Saturday morning because we had decided to go to the airport early to try to get a standby flight to Mfuwe, the nearest town to South Luangwa National Park. We called Proflight who said that the flights to Mfuwe were fully booked so we caught a taxi into town and caught the 10.00 am bus to Lusaka. The bus was full and the landscape was generally flat scrub interspersed with bigger trees. The dust was constant but once we got past the first hour of road works, the road was pretty good. We came across another bus broken down after two tyre blowouts and reached Lusaka Intercity Bus Station at 5.30 pm while it was just light. We shared a taxi with Drew from Canada to Chachacha Backpackers Hostel where we got a basic room with a shared toilet next door. There was no power point in our room and no phone visible at reception.

On Sunday morning we had breakfast at the hostel then we walked to an ATM to take some money out. A kind South African man gave us a lift to the nearby shopping centre where we went to the supermarket Shoprite to buy some provisions for the next few days. We decided to catch a minibus back to the hostel and we were delighted to see a minibus pulled over on the side of the road in front of us. We hopped in, only to find that the minibus was pulled over because it had run out of petrol. (We were told later that Zambian taxi drivers prefer to keep their money in their wallets not their petrol tanks.) The driver assured us that the minibus conductor who had gone to get petrol was just a couple of minutes away so we waited. The driver kept pointing behind us and saying "Look, he's just here now". After about 5-10 minutes of this, we gave up and managed to flag down another minibus which took us most of the way back to the hostel. Back at the hostel we checked out. Keith called Proflight and found that there were seats available on the 3.00 pm flight to Mfuwe but we had to go to the airport immediately to secure those seats. We caught a taxi to the airport and we were able to purchase tickets for the flight, but then we had three hours to kill. The Lusaka international airport was small and dreary with a couple of places offering overpriced food. We boarded the thirty seater propeller aircraft and landed in just over an hour at Mfuwe International Airport which was even smaller than Lusaka International airport. There we hitched a ride with a Swiss family and the drive to Mfuwe village was beautiful. Small creeks, lagoons, thatched hut villages and vegetable gardens lined the route as the sun set on the Zambian bush. We were picked at Mfuwe by Kathy from Flatdogs and we managed to get a chalet for the first night and a safari tent for the next two. Very lucky and relieved as we had no confirmed booking what with intermittent internet access and uncertainty over our arrival date. As we drove into Flatdogs camp on the banks of the Luangwa river we saw a beautiful brown buck called a puku, several Thornicroft's giraffe, a couple of cuckoo owls, and a couple of warthogs. The camp had a fantastic feel about it as the animals were everywhere even though we were just outside the national park. We checked into the two storey chalet and went for a quick walk on the river bank before dark. We could hear a lot of hippos snorting and grunting loudly at each other in the river. Apparently the elephants have started coming into the restaurant to help themselves which is a bit of a worry.

Week 21 - South Africa - Cape Town to Namibia - Etosha National Park

After breakfast on Monday morning we drove along the coast to Kalk Bay. We spent a pleasant couple of hours wandering up the main street with the beach side train line and quaint harbour full of fishing vessels. We visited a bakery and some shops selling antiques, art, African collectibles and old books. Then we turned the car around and drove along the scenic cliff side drive to Chapman's Peak. We turned inland and drove over the Constantia Nek pass before getting back on to the N2 to drive to Cape Town International Airport. We returned the car to Avis and checked in and then we went to the food court to find some lunch. The food court was really busy and it took ages for us to be served and then get our lunch. We were just washing our hands after lunch when we heard a boarding call for our flight over the PA system. We had only just got through security when we heard them call our names. We managed to jump the queue though passport control and then had to run to the departure gate. We vowed never to do this again!

We arrived at Windhoek Airport and went to Avis to collect our car. We drove along a long straight and largely deserted road into town. On the way we saw a jackal! Thanks to the detailed instructions from the guy at Avis, we found our hostel really easily, checked in (our room was optimistically called "The Ritz") and parked the car in their secure car park.

On Tuesday morning we drove into town. We went to Trip Travel first to organise our seats on the Intercape Bus from Otjiwarongo (where we were returning our rental car) to the Zambian border. This took quite a bit of time as we wanted to get off the bus at Kasane (Botswana) and the bus didn't have an official stop there. Then we went to the Namibia Wildlife Resorts Office to book our accommodation at Etosha National Park. There we were very happy to find out that there was a last minute special and we were able to get a 50% discount on our accommodation at the park. It was already 10.30 am by the time we left Windhoek. We drove out of Windhoek along the B1 – a long straight road through African savannah. On the way we saw a mongoose, lots of warthogs and baboons and three police speed traps. We had lunch and filled up our car at Otjiwarongo and drove the rest of the way to Etosha. Once inside the gate, we had to drive another 17 kms to the Okaukuejo Camp where we were spending our first two nights at Etosha. On the way in, we drove past Maribou storks and a jackal feeding on a leftover kill, springbok and zebra. We checked into our room which was really luxurious and then made our way to the waterhole at the bottom end of the rest camp. When we arrived, the waterhole was surrounded by a herd of elephants with lots of little babies. Hovering in the background were four nervous looking giraffe who didn't approach the waterhole until after the elephants began to leave. They were soon joined by a herd of zebra and a couple of springbok. In the background we could see three dark jackal. It was really magical and we sat there watching for over an hour and a half. We had to tear ourselves away to go back to our room to update our diary before dinner. We had a lovely dinner while we watched Holland defeat Uruguay 3-2. Then we returned to the waterhole in time to see a couple of rhino leaving with elephant and giraffe still around. We stayed a little longer to listen to the night sounds and admire the starry sky before heading for bed.

We woke up early on Wednesday morning and made a cup of tea to take with us to the waterhole. We sat and watched the guinea fowl, zebra and springbok there for almost an hour before heading off to breakfast. It was windy and dusty after breakfast. Back at the waterhole we saw the usual zebra and springbok who were joined by impala, kudu, a wildebeest and eventually some very skittish gemsbok. Then we drove to the Wolfsnes waterhole. On the way to the waterhole, an inquisitive jackal came right up to the car and we saw a Kori bustard – an extremely large bird. At Wolfsnes waterhole we got our first sight of the Etosha Pan. We drove on past some springbok and jackal to the Okondeka waterhole. There were gemsbok, springbok and ostriches around the waterhole and way out in the distance were wildebeest. On the way to the Adamax waterhole, we photographed a small group of zebra with a baby on the edge of the road. We drove past three warthogs (mum, dad and baby) across a small section of the Okahakana Pan to the M'Bari waterhole where we saw zebra, wildebeest, gemsbok, springbok and ostrich. Then we drove back to Okaukuejo to check the game sighting register and the waterhole. Then we drove to Ombiko waterhole near Anderson Gate where we saw two fully grown giraffe. We did a side trip back via Gaseb waterhole and saw a couple of secretary birds furiously chasing a jackal down the road. Further on we were lucky enough to see a male and female lion by the side of the road. We got back to camp and went to the waterhole for an hour where the main entertainment was two adolescent male elephants doing some elephant wrestling. After dinner we went to watch the Germany vs Spain game. At half time we went back to the waterhole. We saw lionesses, rhinos and a herd of elephants with two small babies and various other children in tow. There was also a tiny pearl spotted owl in the tree above us which would fly down to the ground every now and again to catch something in the grass. The rhinos were pretty aggressive and they were happy to butt heads with the elephants. It was really funny to watch the animals interacting. One junior elephant trumpeted, flapped his ears, charged at the rhinos and then quickly ducked back behind the older and bigger elephants. It was the cutest thing that I've ever seen! We saw a lioness unsuccessfully chasing a springbok. When the lionesses approached the waterhole they were chased off by a grumpy hissing rhino. The grumpy hissing rhino actually came right up to the edge of the enclosure and then sprayed right in front of the spectators to mark his territory.

The next morning we spent over an hour at the waterhole watching the steady stream of animals coming for a drink and then went to breakfast. After breakfast, we checked out and then went back to the waterhole. In addition to the usual zebra and springbok herds, we saw gemsbok, kudu and wildebeest. We also saw one very black zebra. We spent a couple of hours there and then headed off to Halali via the Gemsbokvlakte, Olifantsbad and Aus waterholes. On the way we saw a rhino and six giraffes grazing. There were the usual herds of zebra and springbok at Gemsbokvlakte, but at Olifantsbad we saw red hartebeest, impala and a warthog playing in the mud. At Aus we saw five red hartebeest, four female kudu, three warthogs and a impala. On the way to the Ondongab waterhole we came across a group of impala feeding by the side of the road and we were able to drive quite close up to them and get some good photos. We drove to Sueda and Salvadora overlooking vast stretches of flat grey salt pan. We saw Charitraub and Reitfontein and on the road we came across a group of approximately twenty giraffe and got some great photos of them eating and galloping away after another car went past and spooked them. We arrived at the Halali Camp (where we were staying for the next two nights) at 4.30 pm, checked in and walked to the Moringa waterhole in time to see a rhino leaving. It was a very picturesque spot overlooking the small waterhole from the rocks above with the bush stretching as far as the eye could see into the sunset. We saw four nervous female kudu who didn't even drink and a bit later a hunting leopard passed by in the same direction. After dinner we walked back to the waterhole admiring the starry night sky, and arrived just in time to see a rhino leaving and we saw a few scrub hares and an elephant.

On Friday morning we sat at the waterhole watching the entertaining guinea fowl before breakfast. After breakfast we went back and watched kudu, impala and zebra coming down to drink and then feeding in the surrounding bushes. A nervous adult and baby warthog put in a brief appearance. After a couple of hours we gave up and decided to walk up to the Tsumasa Kopje (little hill overlooking the rest camp). We met a couple of Belgian guys who were on the way down and one had a rock in his hand so we asked him if he had found a fossil. He explained it was for protection - they didn't reach the top because they had been scared away by a large cobra which was raising itself, hissing and spitting at them. We continued anyway and thankfully there was no sign of the snake. There were panoramic views of the park from the top of the Kopje which seemed to be made up of volcanic rock slabs. After walking down the Kopje, we collected the car and drove to the Etosha Lookout. The Etosha Lookout was right on the edge of the salt pan and it was the only place where you could actually drive on to the pan itself. It was a flat plain of greenish brown earth which seemed to stretch out in all directions as far as the eye could see. After that we drove along some really dodgy gravel roads to the Goas waterhole. There were the usual impala and springbok and apart from some geese and ducks nothing new. We sat there for a short time and then decided to head back to Halali and the Moringa waterhole. We drove to the waterhole where a couple of black faced impala were sparring in the background. Just before sunset a black rhino appeared and rubbed himself on a tree stump with obvious pleasure. Then he had a drink and ambled off. After that it was only the bubbling noise of thousands of tiny doves and the scrub hare reappeared as night fell. Some people got really excited and we thought they must have spotted a lion or a leopard but it was a giant eagle owl! As we were getting ready for bed we heard a continuous call from the trees outside our room. We went out with the torch to investigate and found a tiny grey bushbaby running and jumping around the tree.

On Saturday after breakfast we saw a pair of black speckled hawks drinking at the waterhole then we checked out of Halali and drove to the Goas waterhole where we saw red hartebeest, impala, springbok and a grey hawk harassing a big eagle. We drove on to the Ngobib waterhole past a herd of elephants who were just crossing the road. We stopped at Ngobib for a while to watch four elephants drinking at the waterhole and nudging each other. As we left the waterhole we came face to face with a large adult male. We stopped the car and after taking a good look, he just walked around us – he was so close we could practically lean out of the window and touch him. It was heart stopping! Then we drove on to the Kalkheuwel waterhole and we were able to get quite close to it. There were two elephants, five giraffes and an impala there when we arrived. We sat there for a while watching elephants, giraffes, zebra, springbok, gemsbok and a nervous warthog arriving and leaving. We watched three groups of elephants taking it in turn to drink from the waterhole and then bathe and splash in the mud bath. This was followed by a liberal coating of dust and a nice back and tummy scratch against the trees and shrubs. From there we drove along a road that was lined with white termite mounds and we saw a baby giraffe and mum on the way to Namutoni Camp where we were spending our final two nights at Etosha. It was a short walk along a boardwalk to our room which was surrounded front and back by wooden privacy screening. Our room was even more luxurious than the ones we had at Okaukuejo and Halali. It had beautiful fittings and a queen bed and a monstrous bathroom with a large bathtub and an indoor and outdoor shower. We walked along the boardwalk passing some grey louries in a fig tree and a large family of banded mongeese on the way to the waterhole lookout near our room. The waterhole was different again with a lush reed-filled centre containing thousands of weaver birds. There was nothing to see so we moved to the white-washed German fort lookout where an elephant was feeding right in front of us and enjoyed a magical sunset. After dinner we went back to the waterhole for a last look before bed. As we sat there four giraffes materialised out of the shadows, they paced up and down for a while and then melted back into the darkness. We heard a whooping call which we thought was hyena but nothing else appeared so we went to bed.

After breakfast on Sunday morning we went back to the Kalkheuwel waterhole. On the way we stopped briefly at Chudop where we saw some zebra, springbok and a wildebeest drinking from the reed filled waterhole. There were weavers in the reeds and we saw a hawk dive into a flock of guinea fowl. At Kalkheuwel, we saw the usual kudu, springbok, impala, gemsbok, giraffe, jackal and zebra. After some time they were joined by five warthogs. Finally our patience was rewarded. We started hearing warning calls from the bush and then a large lioness in fantastic condition turned up to the waterhole to drink. All the other animals disappeared and then gradually returned to the waterhole after she left. We stayed at the waterhole for a couple of hours and then we drove back towards Namutoni. We drove along Dik-Dik drive to the Klein Namutoni waterhole where we saw a flock of vultures circling above a kill but we couldn't get close enough to see what it was. Dik-Dik drive was lined with broken trees and elephant dung. As we drove along we came across a pair of Dik-Dik (smallest antelope in the world - not much bigger than a domestic cat). We drove past Namutoni and across the Fishers Pan which contained quite a bit of water, to the Klein Okevis waterhole. When we arrived at the waterhole, a group of elephants were just leaving and it was surrounded by kudu, wildebeest, gemsbok and springbok. A jackal arrived to drink which spooked them, and they all retreated. However the jackal was soon shooed off by a solitary adolescent male elephant. As we sat there three more male elephants came to the waterhole. We went on to the Groot Okevis waterhole where we saw two kori bustards and some guinea fowl. Then we turned the car around and went back to Namutoni. We passed elephants with babies and giraffe on the way home. We caught sunset at the waterhole and then went for an early dinner so that we could watch the world cup final at the camp site bar.

Week 20 - South Africa - Cape Town

On Monday, we drove to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. We started off at the sculpture garden which was an outdoor display of African stone sculptures for sale. Then we visited the observatory which contained an unusual selection of succulents, bulbs and other desert plants. It was a beautiful sunny day and we had lunch of sandwiches before spending a couple of pleasant hours wandering through the gardens past the proteas, restios, ericas (heath), fynbos, cycads and aloes. Then we decided that we would do another scenic drive along the coast in the opposite direction to the route that we did on Sunday with Teresa. We started our route back at Camps Bay, then we meandered along the coast road past Clifton, Bantry Bay, and Sea Point. At Green Point, we turned inland towards the centre of town, parked the car and had a walk around town.

The next morning was really dark and cloudy. We drove into town and parked at the secure car park at the Waterfront. Then we walked to Parliament where we found that all tours had been suspended for the duration of the World Cup. We walked around to Green Market Square to see the Dutch Masters in the Michaelis Collection. To our surprise there was no entry fee so we happily donated R20. We walked around the gallery and saw some South African Art but there was no sign of any Dutch Masters! When we asked at the ticket office they told us that they were all in storage! It started raining as we walked to the Castle of Good Hope – a star-shaped fort built by Dutch settlers. The fort contained an excellent Military Museum with a detailed history of the history of the Cape through the Dutch occupation for 143 years, the takeover by the British, the frontier wars, and the Boer wars together with collections of guns and swords. There was also the William Fehr Collection of period furniture and paintings with an enormous dining room upstairs, and the Secunde's House which contained reconstructions of living rooms including a quaint box bed and a display about the Cape Town Carnival. Then we ran across the quadrangle in the rain to have a quick look at the dungeon/torture chamber. We tried to catch a taxi back to the Waterfront, where our car was parked. We managed to flag down a local minibus which dropped us off at the wrong end of the Waterfront so it was still quite a walk to our car but luckily the rain had stopped.

We drove to Stellenbosch to catch up with Sibella who we met in Leh, the capital of Ladakh, the northern state of India bordering Tibet. Sibella lived with her husband Alan and her daughter Juliette in a luxurious house on the De Zalze Winelands and Golf Estate five minutes drive away from the town centre.

After breakfast on Wednesday morning we drove into Stellenbosch and went for a walk around town where we admired the beautiful Cape Dutch style whitewashed buildings lining the streets, saw some bronze sculptures of animals by Dylan Lewis and visited some craft markets. Then we headed out of town towards Franschhoek.

Our first stop was the DeliCATessen at Tokara where we had a delicious lunch. Then we visited the Camberley Vineyard where the affable winemaker chatted to us as we tasted three varieties of his shiraz. Then we had a quick look at the Delaire Vineyard, Hotel and Spa (owned by Graff the jeweller of Bond Street). Sibella had told us that R 500 million had been spent on this vineyard. There were some animal sculptures by Dylan Lewis on the estate and a wonderful Easter Island style head at the entrance.

We drove to Franschhoek and spent a pleasant hour walking up and down the main street past the cafes, shops and art galleries. After visiting the M-shaped Huguenot Monument, we drove to the Boekenhoutskloof Estate (makers of The Chocolate Block, Porcupine Ridge and The Wolftrap wines). We spent a little time tasting some wines and ended up buying a mixed case of wine to send to Tibby and Geoff (half Chocolate Block and half Porcupine Ridge Sauvignon Blanc). It took us an hour to drive back to Cape Town through some peak hour traffic as we got close to the city.

We spent most of Thursday indoors doing some research on the next leg of our trip to Namibia and the Etosha National Park and booking a rental car. After a late lunch, we drove to the Cavendish Square Shopping Centre where we bought a Lonely Planet for East Africa and some new sandals for Suzie.

On Friday morning we tidied up and moved our stuff out of Paul and Robyn's room. We had organised to cook dinner for Paul, Robyn and the children and Martin (Robyn's brother) and his wife and children so we had to go shopping for the ingredients for dinner. We spent most of the afternoon cooking up an Indian feast. Dinner was a real hit – everyone seemed to enjoy the food and we had lots of laughs. It was a late bed time as Ghana vs Uruguay went into extra time and then penalties after the infamous hand ball off the line by Uruguay and then Ghana missed the penalty and lost on shoot out. Africa was out of the World Cup.

After lunch on Saturday we went to the train station to catch a train to the city to do the fan walk. All the trains going past were full so we chatted happily on the platform before we activated plan B and drove into town as far as we could, parking close to the Castle of Good Hope. We walked from there through town with the colourful crowds jam packed and vuvuzelas going off everywhere. After a good walk we wandered back to the train station and caught a train back to Mowbray. The train was incredibly crowded and a boy in our group lost R100 when his pocket was picked on the train. We went to Keith's Aunt Neva's house for dinner before going on to Ally and Ann's (Robyn's parents) house where we were staying for our remaining time in Cape Town.

On Sunday morning we drove to Cape Point National Park stopping to take a photo of the cast iron lighthouse at Slangkop. We got into the park and did the Circular Drive down to Gifkommetjie with beautiful views of the coast line and kelp seaweed beds. We drove to the visitor information centre and saw whale bones and an excellent stuffed bird collection as well as the history of shipwrecks off the cape. We drove to Cape Point and climbed up to the small lighthouse with magnificent views of the cormorants on the cliffs, Bellows Reef, and the Cape of Good Hope. We stopped at the cafe and had sandwiches and saw a striped mouse. We left and saw ostrich on the way to the Cape of Good Hope which we climbed as well. We saw a lot of fat dassies and dried kelp on the beach and then saw some baboons on the drive back to the Visitor Centre where we stopped as we had seen a couple of eland nearby. We walked as close as we could and took some photos before leaving very happy. We drove to Simonstown seeing some more baboons on the way and stopped at Seaforth to see penguins. We found some mothers and juveniles under bushes and saw good African artefacts at a craft market at the boulevard.

Week 19 - South Africa - Kenton on Sea to Cape Town

On Monday morning we headed back to Grahamstown via a public access road through a private game reserve. We saw some beautiful nyala, impala, water buck and warthogs. On the way back to Grahamstown we passed a large paddock where there was a donkey and a zebra who are known locally for being inseparable. At Grahamstown, we dropped off our luggage and the dogs at the house and then headed to Rhodes University for the Arts Festival where we had lunch and spent a pleasant afternoon visiting the art exhibitions.

On Tuesday morning we walked in the rain into town past some Central African crafts stalls to Avis to collect our rental car. Then we headed off on the next stage of our adventure to Storms River Mouth where we checked into a chalet which had a lovely verandah facing the beach. We saw a vervet monkey, a blue duiker and dassies on the way in. We walked past the restaurant along a path with spectacular views to the suspension bridge across the river mouth.

The next morning we woke up at 7.30 am and drew the curtains on to the verandah so that we could enjoy the view of the beach. We saw some dassies on the grass and the rocks and Keith went outside to get a closer look. He crumbled a slice of bread which made them all rush over to the patch of grass in front of our verandah. After breakfast we packed up the car. At first we drove back towards Storms River to get another look at the view from the Storms River Bridge. On the way we stopped at The Big Tree – a 36 metre tall Outeniqua Yellowood. We walked on to the Storms River Bridge with great views from both sides of the bridge but it was really windy, and we were glad to head back to the car.

We turned the car around and headed towards Sedgefield, past Plettenberg Bay and we stopped at Knysna for lunch. After lunch we decided to take a walk to the waterfront. To do this we had to walk through the car parks of some of the shopping centres next to the local minibus stand. There were a few local stalls there and a few Rastafarian-style black males loitering around. We saw a couple of them smoking marijuana through a hollowed out carrot! We walked along the waterfront looking at the shops. It was only a short drive to Sedgefield after that and we found the corner cottages (purchased by Grandpa Hockly in the eighties) easily. After we checked into Wagtail Cottage we drove to the beach where we had a short walk around the headlands.

On Thursday morning, the alarm went off at 6.30 am and we drove to the Giant Kingfisher walk at the Ebb and Flow National Park. We saw Knysna Turaco Loeries in numbers, a kingfisher, and cormorants on our way up the river to the waterfall. We crossed the river on a pontoon at one stage. We arrived back at about 11.00 am and drove along the N2 and then the N12 past George and up the Outeniqua Pass, after waiting for a truck accident to clear, to Oudtshoorn. We walked up the main road looking at the old sandstone buildings and shops. We saw great (expensive) ostrich products and mounted animal heads and skins. After lunch we looked through the excellent CP Nel Oudtshoorn Museum with its history of the Ostrich booms and busts, and reconstructions of a pharmacy, general store, bank, dining room, bedroom and the old Jewish synagogue. There were also displays containing magnificent Ostrich feather costumes, firearms, mounted heads, fine porcelain and china, and musical instruments. Then we walked down to Le Roux Town House as the best example of a "feather palace" with amazing furniture and fittings. We drove back to Sedgefield with a beautiful Little Karoo sunset behind us.

On Friday morning we had another early start. We checked out of Sedgefield and headed down the N2 and made great time until the turn off at Heidelberg. There was heaps of mist which was really spectacular but a bit daunting to drive through. There were lots of beautiful green pastures filled with grazing sheep and cows and Keith took some photos of ostriches in the mist. As recommended by Keith's dad, we took a scenic detour off the N2 to Barrydale through a pass in the mountains, and then the wine country towns of Montagu, Ashton, Bonnievale, and Swellendam where we stopped for lunch. We arrived in Cape Town around 3.30 pm and settled into Paul and Robyn's (Keith's cousin) house at Mowbray.

The next morning we drove to the Victoria and Albert Waterfront and parked in the secure car park. It was a beautiful sunny day but extremely windy. Table Mountain was swathed in cloud – known locally as the "tablecloth". We went to the craft markets first and then wandered around the Waterfront admiring the views of the dry dock, Table Mountain and the shops, but we only saw a solitary seal swimming through the docks. Then we walked into town and up St George's Mall and then Green Market Square. We walked through the Company Gardens which was the Dutch East India Company vegetable patch, where we saw some very tame giant squirrels and Egyptian geese with their goslings. Then we went into the Iziko SA National Art Gallery which we found disappointing (because we don't appreciate modern art) except for some great black and white photos of South African life in the past. We walked back down Long Street admiring many old buildings which have now been converted to lively bars and backpackers' hostels before reaching the car and driving home to Mowbray. We saw a Turkish bath at the top of Long Street and were accosted by many beggars.

Keith's cousin Teresa came over on Sunday morning and following Teresa's instructions, we drove to the start of the Platteklip Gorge trail up Table Mountain. We had expected it to be cold and windy and had prepared accordingly, but instead there was no wind and it was a clear and sunny day. The walk was a mainly vertical slog up steep rough-hewn stone steps and as we climbed we got very hot and sweaty. The views of Cape Town from the top were spectacular and we were entertained by a large group of fat happy dassies basking in the sun and munching on the greenery. After walking around the top, we ate our lunch, admired a peregrine falcon floating in the air, and then began the long climb back down the mountain. We were really glad that we had climbed up earlier in the day as by this time most of the trail was exposed to direct sun.

Then we went to Allie and Ann's (Teresa's parents) place via a scenic drive along the coast. We drove past Camps Bay and stopped at the wharf at Hout Bay where we saw seals frolicking near the pier. We drove inland to Constantia Nek and stopped at the Groot Constantia Vineyard for a quick look at the main house and cellar shop which featured beautiful whitewashed Cape Dutch gables. We had a lovely barbecue (braai) with steak, pork chops and three types of boerewors cooked on an open wood fire. After dinner we drove back to Paul and Robyn's place and to our relief we managed to find our way home easily.

Week 18 - South Africa – Johannesburg to Kenton on Sea

We landed an hour early on Monday morning at Johannesburg Airport feeling pretty good. The airport was really new and impressive. The atmosphere was really festive as there were a lot of World Cup spectators arriving wearing supporter shirts, hats and blowing vuvuzelas. After collecting our bags, we walked to the domestic terminal. We caught our flight to Port Elizabeth (PE) and met Lester and Toosie (Keith's second cousin) at the airport. We went back to their home for lunch before going for a drive around PE to see the beaches and some historic buildings, like the town hall and the pyramid dedicated to Lady Elizabeth Donkin. We saw hadeda ibises outside their home, the library, the university where Lester teaches and the pretty gorge where the river enters the sea. It was windy and a lot colder than we expected!

We woke to a cold rainy Tuesday morning in PE. After breakfast Toosie dropped us off at Walmer Park shopping centre where we bought biltong and drywors for Keith, undies for Suzie, warm clothing and wine. We caught a taxi (clapped out minibus used by the local coloureds and blacks) back to Lester and Toosie's. We helped Toosie prepare vegetables to have with Karoo lamb for dinner followed by apple crumble Toosie style. We drank the two bottles of wine that we bought – a cab sav and a pinotage. Glen and Hilary (Toosie's cousin) joined us and we had a great night only getting to bed after midnight.

On Wednesday, we went for a drive to the beach (Sardinia Bay). At the beach there were some huge sand dunes which had covered over the road and a car park so we had to park the car. We climbed up the dunes for a walk and while we were there, we saw a couple of guys wearing wetsuits carrying large bags. As we watched they unpacked large canvas sails and boards. They started pumping up what looked like a rib on one side of the sail. It turned out that they were kite surfers and were taking advantage of the wind. We watched them for a while and took a few photos and then rushed back to the car to get out of the cold wind.

The next morning, we woke up to a lovely warm sunny day which was a wonderful change from the last two days. After breakfast Toosie dropped us off at St George's Park. We walked through the park past a memorial to the fallen in the Anglo-Boer, Transkei, Basutholand and Bechuanaland wars. We walked behind the Fan stadium past some little food stalls and some reed and lily filled ponds. We talked to some mounted police who had been involved in transporting dolphins from PE to Ocean Park in Hong Kong. Then we went to meet Toosie who dropped us off on the promenade at the beach. We had a lovely walk along the promenade past a little craft market where there were some wonderful painted ostrich eggs, wood carvings, stone carvings, carved ivory tusks, wooden masks, copper masks, bead and wire sculptures, paintings, cushion covers, placemats and jewellery. One of the most unusual pieces was a mask made from a tortoise shell. An hour later, Lester picked us up and we went back to the house for lunch. Tibby (Keith's aunt) arrived just as we finished lunch and joined us for dessert. We said our goodbyes to Lester and Toosie and then headed for Grahamstown with Tibby. On the way we drove past a couple of game farms and we saw a lovely giraffe. On the way into Grahamstown, Tibby drove us past the Settlers' Monument to a vantage point from which we could see the whole of Grahamstown and Rhodes University. At Tibby and Geoff's rambling 1902 house we were greeted enthusiastically by Hector the bull mastiff and Pippin the dachshund.

We spent Friday morning in Grahamstown where we saw some magnificent buildings, confirmed our car hire at Avis and went to Pick n Pay where we bought some supplies to take to Kenton on Sea. Geoff returned from work after lunch and after he packed his case we all jumped in the combi for the forty minute drive to their house at Kenton on Sea. On the way we saw zebra, impala, wildebeest, blesbok, giraffe, ostriches and vervet monkeys. We arrived at Geoff & Tibby's beautiful house Windwoods, which had a panoramic view of the beach with a separate little "flat" containing a bedroom and a small toilet, bathroom and washstand for us. We went for a walk with the dogs along the coast overlooking rock pools.

Our alarm went off at 6.30 am on Saturday morning and we got up, showered and closed up our backpacks. We closed up our little flat and joined Tibby and Geoff in their kitchen for a cup of tea and a rusk. Then we said goodbye to the sad dogs and headed off to Addo Elephant Park. An hour later, we arrived at Nanaga Farm Stall where we stopped for a hearty breakfast. We saw quite a bit of game on the way to Addo – monkeys, eland, kudu, hartebeest and zebras. At Addo we saw grazing kudu and warthog, a jackal feeding on the carcass of a small antelope and various groups of elephants. One group of elephants had a very small baby in tow which they were protecting. We saw another elephant uprooting shrubs to eat the roots. We went back to the main entrance and reception area and had a look at the souvenir shop and a display which included the stuffed head of Hapoor (a large bad tempered bull elephant). After a late lunch in the picnic area, Geoff drove us to The Colonial B&B just outside Addo town. We were each given a lovely bedroom with a large sitting room and bathroom.

On Sunday morning we had a fantastic breakfast at the Colonial B & B, then we drove back to Kenton in beautiful weather to drop off our gear before heading out to Stanley's restaurant with views over the Kariega River to join Buzz, Marion, Bruce, Pippa, Angus and Caro for lunch. We had a wonderful lunch washed down with Chocolate Block (Shiraz, Grenache, Cab Sauv, Cinsaut, Viognier) red wine. We got some shots of a couple of Crowned Hornbills and headed off to Buzz Bowker's (related to Keith through his great grandmother) home for liqueurs including a memorable Irish Mist. We drove back to Windwoods and went for a walk on the beach with the dogs.

Week 17 - Japan - Mt Fuji to Hong Kong - Kowloon

On Monday morning we walked from the hostel to the railway station and dropped our backpacks in the left luggage office. Then we caught a bus from the railway station to the the fifth station of Mount Fuji. From the fifth station, we climbed almost to the seventh station before we decided to return. We got some good views of the summit, slopes and the surrounding countryside. We ate lunch at a restaurant with views of Mount Fuji and finished just in time to catch the bus back to Kawaguchiko where we collected our backpacks and caught the bus to Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. From there we caught a train to Narita (near the airport) and checked into the Mercure Hotel.

The next morning we had a fantastic final buffet breakfast at the Mercure and then caught the free hotel shuttle to Narita Airport and caught our flight to Hong Kong. We arrived at Hong Kong at a little after 2.30 pm and checked into the Ramada Kowloon for 5 nights. We had a lovely first evening in Hong Kong. We walked around Nathan Road, Suzie had a haircut to repair the damage from the Indian haircut and had some Chinese food.

We spent the next few days walking around Hong Kong eating, shopping and catching up with our Hong Kong friends Willy and Anita and their family.

On Saturday morning we walked to the China Ferry Terminal and on the way we saw a little schnauzer wearing shoes being taken for a walk. We got there just in time to buy a ticket, go through customs and rush onto the 10.00 am ferry to Macau. The journey to Macau took 90 minutes. We sailed out of the Hong Kong Port past container loading cranes, container ships, fishing vessels and small islands. Unfortunately the visibility was poor because of the high humidity producing mist. It was very atmospheric though, cruising past islands and ships in the mist. We arrived and caught a bus to the centre of Macau where we saw the Praca de Senado. It could have been straight out of Lisbon with the small Portuguese paving cobbles except for the pond in the centre filled with flowering lotuses. We walked around admiring the restored buildings dwarfed by the new casino monsters. We picked up some Pasteis de Natas (Portugese egg tarts) on the way to St Paul's Ruins which was all that remained of the Mater Dei church. The church had burnt down but a striking facade of stone remained. We headed up to the adjacent fortress mount and wandered around admiring the excellent views down onto Macau. We took some photos of giant cicadas and kept walking to Parca de Camoes. We walked back into the centre and saw the old library which reminded us of Coimbra University in Portugal. We walked past a renovated pawnbroker's shop front – which had been set up as a museum with a secure storage tower behind the shop for storing all of the pawned items. Above the pawnshop was a gift shop containing exquisite teapots, teacups and bamboo tea scoops. We walked out of the old centre and checked out one of the giant casinos, the Grand Lisboa, with its many levels of gambling, entertainment, bars, restaurants and priceless art (bronze Qing dynasty horse head) and jewels (diamond and emerald) in the foyer. We walked past more old Portuguese walls and towers and caught the ferry back to Hong Kong.

On Sunday morning, we packed up and checked out of the hotel. We walked along Nathan Road and walked around Chungking Mansions which are five high rise buildings with filled with cheap guest houses, dodgy Indian tailors, Indian restaurants, foreign exchange shops and electronics shops with spruikers on every corner. After that we walked along the Promenade at Tsim Sha Tsui East where we had a panoramic view of the Hong Kong Island skyline shrouded in mist. The Promenade was also home to the Avenue of Stars which is a tribute to the Hong Kong film and TV industry with Hollywood style handprints, plaques and sculptures. It started raining at this point so we decided to take a lunch break. We went to the Hong Kong Museum of Art after lunch and spent quite a bit of time in the museum shop. We looked at the special exhibition of Chinese gold jewellery and accessories on the first floor and then we went to the Fine Art collection which consisted mainly of porcelain and pottery. We went back to the hotel to meet Willy in the hotel lobby at 6.00 pm. Willy took us in a taxi to the Goldfish Market at Mong Kok where we saw lots of shops selling goldfish and other exotic fishes, reptiles, aquarium supplies, pet food and rabbits. From there it was a short taxi ride to the location of the old airport where we walked past some florists before heading to a restaurant in the basement of a shopping centre. There we met Anita, her parents and the children and started off by choosing a fish for dinner. To our surprise, Willy chose the most lacklustre "doongy" fish in the tank – it turned out later that he got a special deal on it because it was on its way out. The meal was wonderful – roasted corn-fed chicken with a red fermented soy sauce, green vegetables, silken tofu in soy sauce, lobster mornay with egg noodles, pork spare ribs in a light black bean sauce, the doongy fish (which tasted delicious) with ginger and shallots and large braised Pacific oyster with roast pork. This was all washed down with chrysanthemum tea. After dinner Willy rushed us back to Tsim Sha Tsui in a taxi to collect our bags and catch the Airbus to the airport for our flight to Johannesburg. The flight was full of English football fans!

Week 16 - Japan - Hiroshima to Mt Fuji

On Monday we had planned to do a day trip to Miyajima. After breakfast, we walked to the station to catch the train to Miyajima-guchi. At Miyajima-guchi we caught the JR Ferry for the ten minute ride past some oyster beds to Miyajima Island. Miyajima is an island in the Western part of the Inland Sea of Japan and it's famous for the Itsukishima Shrine. When we arrived it was high tide and the bottom of the torii (gate) at the Itsukishima shrine was surrounded by water, which made it look like it was floating on the sea. At the ferry terminal we were greeted by hungry deer looking for handouts. Keith has decided that deer are basically like goats as they seemed to eat anything! We walked through the Omotosando Shopping Arcade which sold the usual tourist souvenirs and large grilled oysters. The highest point of Miyajima is Mt Misen – which can be accessed by a few paths and a Ropeway (cable car). We chose to take the Momijidani course which was the shortest path at 2.7 kms – but it still took us a good hour or so to reach the top of Mt Misen. At the top we were rewarded with gorgeous views of Miyajima Island and the other little islands dotted around the inland sea. We chose to take the longer path (Omoto Course) back down to the pier so that we could see the other side of the island. This turned out to be a little more challenging as the path was not as good. When we arrived at the pier, it was low tide and the torii was now surrounded by mud and people with buckets collecting shellfish. Back at the Shopping Arcade, Suzie tried a couple of oysters and then we caught the ferry back to Miyajima-guchi. We were pretty hungry by then so on the way to the station we stopped in at the 7-11 where we purchased a couple of bento box salads to eat on the train. Keith had a little accident with the salad dressing on the train. As he tore open the sachet the ponzu dressing squirted out – onto the skirt and handbag of the unfortunate little Japanese girl who was sitting opposite him!! She was really sweet about it though – and even offered us the use of her flannel to clean ourselves! Keith was mortified and wanted to say sorry in Japanese but the only words he could think of were "arigato gozaimus" which he kept repeating until he remembered that it meant "thank you very much".

On Tuesday after a leisurely breakfast, we checked out of the hostel and walked to the station to catch the Shinkansen for the first leg of our journey to Tsuwano. At Shin-Yamaguchi we transferred to a local train with a single carriage and began the steady climb to Tsuwano. We had woken up to a beautiful day in Hiroshima but when we arrived at Tsuwano it was raining. Keiko from Hoshi Ryokan met us at the station with umbrellas and we walked around the corner to the minshuku (family guest house). We elected to take the room with dinner and breakfast included and Keiku agreed to have dinner ready for us at 7.00 pm. We went to the cafe next door to have lunch. After lunch we went back to the minshuku to drink Tsuwano tea and work out how best to spend a cold and rainy afternoon in Tsuwano. We decided to walk through Tsuwano town to the local onsen - Nagomi no Sato. We walked with umbrellas past carp ponds and mountains rising on both sides with mist swirling down. On top of one mountain were the remaining walls of Tsuwano castle. By the time we reached the onsen the rain had stopped. Onsens are natural hot springs and generally consist of public bathing/soaking facilities with indoor and outdoor pools. Onsen water is believed to have healing powers derived from its mineral content. The onsen we went to had several different baths, saunas and an outdoor bath. After about an hour, we met outside and walked home just in time for dinner.

The dinner was an absolute feast of white flesh fish sashimi with soy and wasabi, seaweed soup with crunchy bamboo shoot, small shellfish which we removed from the shell and ate with rice, a fine seaweed with cucumber in a vinegar sauce, cold soba noodles with toasted seaweed in a soy dressing, pickles and strawberries. While we ate our way through these courses a claypot nabe was cooking away on the table. Inside the pot were wombok cabbage, green water cress, onion, enoki mushroom, beef, and a prawn. We removed these from the claypot with chopsticks and dipped them into a ponzu sauce before eating with rice. We drank the stock at the end of the meal and also had green tea to drink. It was the best meal we have had in Japan!

The next morning, we woke up to sunny blue skies and went downstairs to another feast for breakfast: rice, miso soup, toasted seaweed, pickles, fried egg with lettuce and cabbage, a mini wiener cooked with potato and cabbage, some sort of white tofu looking gel, beans and honeydew melon washed down with green tea. After breakfast we packed up and checked out. Then we walked through town and up some stone stairs through multiple red toriis to the Indari shrine, and then up the path to the castle, passing a large brown snake on the way. We stopped at the castle keep thinking it was the castle. Later we realised and walked the extra 300 metres to the castle ruins where there were great views over the valley. We walked down back into town, admired the carp in the ponds and went to the station to catch our train to Asoeki at the base of Mount Aso.

On Thursday morning we caught the first bus to Mount Aso. The bus wound up beautiful green grassed hillsides towards the mountain peaks. We stopped on the way to admire twin lakes in front of a small peak. We got off at the final stop and walked a small distance up to the crater edge. You could see green molten material bubbling away in the bottom and white steam clouds rising from the liquid. Around it was a large crater of stone with no vegetation at all. We walked away from the crater and along a path until we reached the base of a peak and started climbing up the steep track marked with yellow painted arrows. A nimble elderly group of Japanese passed us on the way up! Once we reached the top it was a lot easier and we traipsed along the mountain edge admiring the changing views. There was ground cover growing in most places and many insects flying around. We stopped and had lunch of apple and nuts/cracker snacks by the side of the track. We continued on and on the southern side was a dense cover of low shrubs which the track ran through like a tunnel. From a distance it looked like an undulating green blanket. By now we were very high and looking over the cliff edges was quite scary. We decided not to take the steep track down to a parking station and took the longer but gentler route. By the time we made it to the parking station for the closed ropeway it was 4pm and we were quite tired. We had come down a different route so we had to walk down the mountain further to Miyaji railway station and catch the train back to Aso. Luckily a Japanese couple in a light van picked us up and drove us to Miyaji station, for which we were thoroughly grateful. We grabbed a sultana bun from the bakery next to the station and jumped on the train to Aso. Back at Aso we headed off to the onsen to soak our weary legs.

On Friday went to Fukuoka – the capital of Kyushu island. We checked into the Hakata Riverside Hotel which was in a covered shopping arcade. Fukuoka is famous for Tonkotsu (pork bone) Ramen so at the recommendation of the hotel we went to the nearby Canal City Shopping Centre where they had a Ramen Stadium. This contained half a dozen ramen shops. We had a fantastic bowl of ramen and then headed out to Tenji District to walk around the inner city. We saw the Akarenga Cultural Centre which was a European style building with a copper roof and the former prefectural office. We walked through the red light district and along some pretty canals lined with weeping willows.

On Saturday we caught the Shinkansen to Himeji – this time it was only one train. We checked in and dropped our luggage off at Toyoko Inn and then walked to Himeji-jo Castle. Himeji castle was surrounded by a moat and had tall stone foundations and white washed walls. Unlike other castles in Japan, Himeji (also called Shirasagijo - White Heron Castle - due to its white outer walls) was never destroyed by earthquakes, fires or wars so it is in its original state. We followed the tour route which seemed to spiral towards the main castle keep. We walked along the West Bailey building which had a long pine floored corridor with several stone dropping holes at strategic points. We saw samples of "family crest" circle tiles on the eaves and the oil wall (a wall made of clay and sand and boiled rice water). Unfortunately the main castle keep was closed for renovation so we were unable to visit it.

After leaving the castle we went next door to visit the Koko-en garden. This was a series of small ornamental Japanese gardens with waterfalls, carp-infested ponds, a bamboo garden, a pine tree garden, a flower garden and a tea ceremony house. These were all immaculately maintained. We walked back to the hotel for a rest before dinner.

This morning we went to the station to catch the first of our trains Kawaguchiko at the base of Mount Fuji. Today was our last day with the Japan Rail Pass. At Otsuki we had to change to the Fujikyuko line to catch the Fuji Express to Kawaguchiko. The train turned out to be a special tourist train with a beautiful wooden interior, lounge-like seating and big windows that gave us a panoramic view of Mount Fuji. When we arrived at Kawaguchiko, we were collected from the station by a van from K's House – which saved us a 1 km walk to the hostel. After we checked in, we walked around Lake Kawaguchi where Keith took some photos of Mt Fuji. As it was a cloudy day, we could only see the top of the mountain surrounded by cloud which made it look like it was floating in the sky. Much to Keith's excitement we saw a monkey – our first in Japan!

We walked to the Kosaku restaurant for dinner where we tried horse sashimi!!