Hilton Sandton Johannesburg

... working 5 years in January and am sticking to my guns and taking my time out.. Leave is great but you'll enevitably end up doing the same old thing- heading down to the coast, spend time with the same people etc. Nev** doing things that you want to but nev** get time to... that could be writing a book, starting a band, travelling on train accross Russia- I dont know- for me its also the 'no worrying about email, cellphones and normal life' and trying to absorb ...

... pandas in a Beijing zoo, for (b) Seeing pandas in a Hong Kong amusement park zoo and enjoying some rides. Yes, travelling is tough. It goes without saying that the pandas were amazing to see, but the rest of the park was a little too weird for my liking. It had some very neat animal exhibits (like the bizarre goldfish room, and the psychedelic jelly fish exhibit (which must have been sponsored by Pink Floyd)). But the whole park was built on a ...

... talking about this aspect of Jo'burg life, he gave us honest accounts of the Aids epidemic in his hometown and possibly, most interestingly, about the racism and prejudice he still experiences as a black man in the business world, where major hotels refuse to use him, favouring white run tours to show people around Soweto. Crazy: neither Piet or I can imagine anybody being able to show the realities of the township with such pride and openness as somebody who had been born ...

... have been warned not to try and compete with the taxis! Set off on the famous Garden Route on May 18 - from Cape Town, and currently in George. The coast line has been absolutely spectacular and we have been blessed with good weather. Incredible azure ocean and rugged mountains, and sooooooooo many beautiful birds both small and large. And Wes is getting to see a variety of nonthreatening game (although ...

... money because it encourages them to stay home from school so they can just work the tourists all day instead. It was a good to experience this because it makes you realize how fortunate you really are with all that we have when these people have nothing, but they still seem happy. Also in Soweto we went to the Hector Peterson Museum, another great museum documenting the Soweto student uprising in 1976. The students were protesting against the school ...

The entire day was spent on the truck trying to get to Jo'burg as soon as possible. It was quite an uneventful day. We arrived at the hotel early afternoon, after unpacking we decided to hit the mall. We crossed the busy streets and headed to the East Rand Mall. Some of us badly needed the laundromat and so we returned later with all our dirty clothes to be washed. We had lunch at a little ...

... 2 cm of canvass. Most likely licking their chops. Perhaps they would eat the Danish girls instead. 26th February Somebody call the Sheriff there is a Gunman in town! So here is something you don't see every day: an African dude in a bank paying in lots of money. Well actually that is only the half of it, what made this guy special is that he casually strolls into a bank (I follow him into change a travellers Cheque), he walks up to the cashier leans over ...

... big I cant even see all of it in my side mirror and debs is filming this enormous animal coming towards us. Its an experience not to be missed!!! We visited the Lion Park which was on our doorstep where they breed the lions for the parks - and we held a baby cub - pictures to follow - this little thing was just adorable. Whilst on our 5 days break we visited Sun City again - which is a resort in the middle of nowhere with gambling ...

... town to buy some new ones, when, lo and behold (always wanted to use that phrase), what did I see on the street in front of me...my shoe! Slightly flatter than it had been previously but still intact and wearable. It made my day. Long live the shoe! p.s. I've sent a bunch of postcards to various people but the 'box' I put them in looked suspiciously like a rubbisg bin to me, so if they never arrive than that'll be why.

There's something great about mums....they know when post is necessary. And what is more necessary than chocolate hearts? Oh yes, CHOCOLATE HEARTS. Considering I really couldn't give a damn about honouring a saintly Valentine - I was actually rather pleased! Thanks mum! I love you too!