After months and months of planning, negotiating rates and arranging hotels, air fares and tours the kids finally arrived on February 8th at about 6:30 PM. Tammy and Jim, Cordell and Rebecca, Caralee and Tyler and Kristy finally arrived after an exhausting flight from LA, SLC to Atlanta then Johannesburg. Travis and Sommer were not able to make the trip due to baby Jacob's arrival to the family.
We arranged for them to stay at Dukes court securing three flats, one for each couple. Kristy stayed with the Halls which had a third bed. After settling into their flats we went over to Mugg and Bean for dinner, which to their surprise was very good and inexpensive. They just could not believe how cheap food was and how good it was. Mugg and Bean became their regular when nothing else was available.
Saturday Jenee and I had to be at the temple at 5 AM so the kids slept in late. At about 9:30 or 10 PM they went to Wimpys for breakfast. I picked them up at noon to go to the temple for the 1:00 PM endowment session. Jenee and I officiated the session which was nearly full, the Watsons were the witness couple.
The kids had done their homework before arriving and insisted that we go to The Carnivore for dinner. I called and got reservations for the 9 of us and we had a most wonderful evening together. The Carnivore serves wild game along with chicken and beef so they wanted to try the African game meats.
After a delicious and fun dinner of Croc, Impala, Gemsbock, Warthog, Pork, Kudu, and beef we headed back to Dukes Court to get some rest and get ready for Sunday and the following adventures.
Sunday we got up and had breakfast. Jenee had made cinnamon rolls, eggs, fruit, and juice for everybody before we set out for church which started at 11 AM. It was Fast Sunday so the kids got to hear our wonderful black members bare their testimonies. They surely enjoyed mingling with the members before and after the meeting and left with a sense of respect and devotion for our African Saints.
We got home from Church at about 1:15 PM and at 1:45 joined up with Elder and Sister Bird, and Elder and Sister Garrett who were joining us for the remainder of our vacation adventures. We had to be at the Pilanesberg National Park by 4:45 PM for the kids' first African Safari evening game drive I had arranged for them. We got there just in time as the truck was waiting to get started.
The rest of us set out to find the Valley View Guest House where we were staying the night. With no signs and the Garman D S not cooperating we finally arrived at about 5:30 PM and checked in.
The Valley View Guest House
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| The Garrett's and Bird's |
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| Playing UNO waiting for the kids |
We were up at 5 AM for breakfast so we could get to the gate to enter the game reserve at 6 AM hoping to see other animals. The morning drive was OK but the night drive the kids took was the highlight of Safari Adventures. They saw a herd of elephants, lions, rhinos, hippos, and a chameleon.
We left the park at 11 AM and headed for the African Market in Heartbeesport. After the kids spent an hour shopping for their children's gifts we set out for Spurs to have lunch.
After lunch we headed for Lesedi Cultural Village where the kids could get a glimpse of the different African Tribal Cultures. We saw five different tribal villages and then were entertained with native music, singing and dancing.
All in all the first day was great fun, filled with a lot of activities which by the end of the day tired us out. Home to bed to get ready to leave at 6:30 AM for the airport to drop off the vans, check in, and get our flight tickets, for we are off to Cape Town for 4 days.
We arrived in Cape Town about 11:30, picked up two vans and set out for the Parliamant Hotel where we are staying for the 4 days. Thanks to the garman we had no difficulty in locating the hotel, right in the heart of downtown Cape Town.
After checking in and talking to the desk clerk we decided that we would try to get to Table Mountain by 6 PM since the entrance fee was half price. The Tram was about 2 km from our hotel and yet we never made it. The traffic was terrible due to other roads being blocked because of a concert (Red Hot Chili Peppers) that was going on. It took us 1 hour to go 1 km so we gave up and decided to try again tomorrow. We went back and Doppios to have dinner.
It was our intention on Wednesday to get up and have breakfast and try to get to Table Mountain. However through the night the wind picked up and by morning it was almost a gale storm and the tram was closed. So we had breakfast and headed out for a da'ys drive along the coast down the Cape Peninsula to see Cape Point, the Cape of Good Hope and everything possible along the way.
Here are some of the sights we saw on our way to Cape Point
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| Simons Town |
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| Looking back to Cape Town from Simons Town |
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| The Boulders at Simon's Town |
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| Table Mountain from Simon's Town |
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| Penguin Colony at Simon's Town |
From Simon's Town we headed out to Cape Point to see the light house.
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| The Cape of Good Hope |
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| The Family at Cape Point Lighthouse |
From Cape Point we headed up the west coast on our way to Hout Bay where we would stop for Fish & Chips. Along the route the kids located a beautiful beach and just had to stop, walk about and enjoy the wonders of the Cape.
The following day was Wednesday and when we got up, the wind had stopped so we decided to take the window of opportunity and get to Table Mountain. We had a great provided breakfast early and got to the cable car by 8:30 so we could get up on the mountain, see all we wanted to see and be back by 10:00 to head out for Stellenbosch, the beautiful wine country.
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After getting off Table Mountain we headed out for Stellenbosch. During my mission here in South Africa (1966) I helped open Stellenbosch to missionary work so I wanted everybody to see it. Stellenbosch is in the center of the wine country of South Africa. We drove about seeing the sights and then took a tour of one of the vineyards and winery.
While at the winery we stopped to have a gourmet lunch which was quite nice. We also had the opportunity to meet the owner of the vineyard who inherited it from his father who purchased it in 1953. The Bilton is the largest and oldest private vineyard in the country. Mr Bilton has a collections of old cars, his enjoyment is driving his 1955 Jaguar.
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| We then set out for Strand Beach to see if we could hook up with the kids. |
After our visit to the winery we set out for Strand Beach to see if we could hook up with the kids. Tyler, Caralee and Kristy went swimming with the sharks in the morning and were to meet up with the others at the beach. We drove up and down the beach looking but they were nowhere to be found so we decided to head back to Cape Town. We sure hoped the kids found each other! It was so nice that Cordell had driven left-sided while in New Zealand so that he could be the other van driver for them.
Friday was our last day in Cape Town before flying back to Johannesburg. We spent a couple of hours at the Kirstenbosch Gardens the oldest botanical garden in the world. It was out of the blooming season so not many flowers were there to see. But we did enjoy ourselves and then headed for the airport.
Saturday we spent the day shopping at Jo'Burg's very nice, large Eastgate mall and going to a movie-"The Life of Pi". After running around most of the day we finally got everybody to the airport for their 8:00PM Delta flight back to the good old USA. (Fournos bakery there being a big treat for everyone each time we were at the airport).
All in all it was a great time being with our kids, especially to have them here in South Africa with us. What a joy and a wonderful experience for everybody. We are so very blessed!
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