Mum was speechless (first time in her life ...ever) when she got out the car and her friend Bella walked out of June & Irena's ... Irena was shaking from excitement ... Bella ended up crying and mum's first word were "Bloody Nora what the hell are you doing here!!!" After they all eventually calmed down I told mum 'the bad news' she wasn't going up to JHB to visit my brothers ... she was actually relieved cos she hates flying (not relieved that she wasn't seeing the brothers though ... but it's not every day your best friend hops on a plane and travels 6000 miles to see you and she hasn't flown in over 45 years !!!! )
Kelsey & I left the two of them gossiping with a big pot of tea and plenty of fags... we were going to JHB to met dad (Paul) and Jane & Nigel ... they were waiting at the airport for us and off we went on Safari !!!! It was brilliant The Funny Five (as we were aptly named by Nan) in our big white mini van with all the cases... and stuff!!!
J&N had not slept in 2 days and with the heat (yes you read that bit right it was bloody hot in JHB ... not in DBN where we live like!!!) the two of the caught up on 40 winks while the 3 Bells caught up on our gossip around them ... I tried to be the 'professional' guide by pointing out places of interest (once they had woken up) J&N got to experience our 'rush hour' traffic thru Pretoria ... then we were out onto the open road ... along with the odd bit of History here and there ... we eventually arrived at Entabeni (Ben & Nan's place)
(Impala at the main gates...)
And the boys thought I was joking when I told them they were sleeping 'rough' !!! We wanted Nigel to experience safari tru African Style so Ben had organised a tent !!! Paul & Kelsey loved it ... Nigel said nowt !!! But he was a true trooper and didn't complain once ... (I think he enjoyed it) Nan had been rushing about getting everything sorted for our arrival (she is a star!!! a shining one). We ate 'Vetkoek' (a traditional SA dish) with 'buffalo savoury mince (and I mean the meat was really buffalo) Nan & I had decided we wanted J&N to experience as much of Africa as we could organise !!!
We all eventually crashed into bed/tent later that night ... the weather played nicely on the 1st night and day !!! Paul, Kelsey, Jane, Nigel and Russel decided (idiots) that they were going to climb the 'Berg' (mountain) behind Nan's place ... Russel & Kelsey promised us it was an easy climb ... Nan & I knew better so we stayed at home and baked fresh Muffins for breakfast for the climbers when the came down the mountain !!! I have lots & lots of photos to share so please be patient ....
(From the top of the mountain ... yes the boys slept in the blue tent!!!)
(Paul at the top of the mountain)After the hike and breakfast we set off into town to buy provisions (booze actually) for the weekend, and J&N experienced the time warp of Mokopane ... the nearest town to N&B ...by the time we got back Ben had lit the fire ... we were having the traditional 'Braai' with Buffalo wors too ... (boerewors is a traditional sausage here made with any type of meat) and being on a Game Reserve N&B get to try all types of meat ... needless to say the boys had to get out some of their toys and do a bit of male bonding too .... (Kelsey was loving it all ... I think Nigel did too!!!)
(Kelsey, Ben & Paul)
Before dinner we took a walk to the perimeter fence and saw the rhino's with their baby ... sweet.
Saturday night after the braai ... and lots of alcohol we crashed into bed to be woken by thunder & lightning ... Jane & I were expecting the boys to come running in at any moment ... they didn't ... next morning the told us of the leaks in the tent but the bravely battled it out in the storm ...
Sunday was a busy day we went to visit a 'working' Crocodile Farm ... I mean they breed crocodiles for their skins and their meat. The tour guide told us that Louis Vitton had just taken 4000 skins from them for handbags. Their biggest export was skins for bags ... they supply LV, Gucci, Prada and a few others (can't remember them all) and they also supply meat to the local butchers. (Did you know ... everything on a Crocodile can be used? the money they were talking about!!! Think I'm in the wrong business!!!)AND the owner says his mating pairs can produce for 120 years !!!!
After that we went for an early lunch at 'Spif' a local Chicken restaurant ... it was incredibly hot and I like this restaurant (yup we went there last time I was there) as it has these cool water sprayers around the place and a nice atmosphere and the kids can run around ... Ouma and Oupi (Nan's mum & dad) joined us for lunch ... it was great, but we couldn't stay too long cos Ben had planned a nice surprise for us all ... we stopped off on our way home at the next door neighbours ... where they breed White Lions AND they have 2 Cheetah too !!! I was in my element and J&N loved it too.... They're also supposed to have Buffalo on their reserve, however we didn't manage to find any but had a nice drive through a section of the bush veld. Boy what another fantastic ... however long day !!!! We were all exhausted ... (remember the sun comes up at 4am and Nan don't have curtains ... not like anyone gonna see us eh?)
Sadly Nan could not get time off work ... well she wanted to save her holidays for her visit to me here next week ... I can't wait!!!, so she had to go into work Monday & Tuesday ... but Ben had time off and we had another fun filled day planned for Monday ... Paul has asked Santa for a Quad Bike (don't think he's listening .... Santa I mean) and so as a bit of compensation Ben had organised for us to go on a Quad Ride through a section of the Reserve ... what fun !!! It was wet & muddy ... we rode dangerously like idiots without helmets etc ... but once we found the mud pits we just couldn't avoid them ... and had to keep going back in case we'd got lost (good excuse eh?) We were covered from head to toe in MUD ... it was great, in fact we enjoyed it sooooo much we booked to go again on Tuesday ... either before or after our game drive... When we got home Nan was in and she wanted to go too ....
Monday night we learnt ho to play Strauss Rummy !!! A lot of fighting and giggling went on (I'm sure Ben was making the rules up as he went along - cheat!!!) And of course the more we played the more alcohol was consumed so maybe that's why we couldn't understand the rules !!!! We all went to bed exhausted but satisfied ... the end to another lovely day ...
Tuesday Nan went off to work, Jane & I made pink muffins (best don't ask) with Nicki!!!! The boys had to go out to collect a game drive vehicle !!! The bad news we had no guide we were stuck with Ben (seriously not a problem there in fact best news ever) the good news we got to keep the vehicle overnight (why ... well we managed an evening game drive AND and early morning drive = BONUS) ... we waited till Nan came home and then we all went out Quad Biking ... got covered in yet more mud ... but this time we planned that !!!! We were filthy but had a fantastically brilliant time ... we also saw the White Lions feeding !!! We dashed back home, cleaned up and then we were off out on a game drive...
We saw Blou Wildebeest, Impala, Warthog, Jackals, Lion, Giraffe, Zebra, Water buck, Spring Hare, etc.etc. and lots of birds and generally a great time was had by all ... then Ben told us we could go out on an early morning drive on Wednesday we were thrilled....
I crashed into bed straight after food ... my eyes were on fire thanks to the Quad biking and all the sand the boys kicked into my face trying to be funny!!!!
Wednesday mornings drive was phenomenal ... as we were driving across the plain when the King of the Jungle decided he would just saunter in front of our vehicle ... it was amazing ... especially as we had searched all over for them the day before and only seen the lions in the distance !!! Wow, amazing ,brilliant!!! It was a fitting end to a fantastic 5 days ....
Ben, Nan thank you soooo much for organising a week to remember and for being such fantastic people ... I love you both .... very much !!!!
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