Oudtshoorn Inn

... rejste derudaf ville jeg vaere Malawi paa det tidspunkt som vi nu naar Windhoek paa, men der er nogle fastsatte datoer. <br>Det goer saa at jeg lige nu ikke nyder den her tur, men jeg haaber paa at det sker et eller andet der kan faa en smule eventyr ind i det igen. Lige nu er en chartertur til Rhodos (eller maaske Malta) mere oplevelsesrig.<br>Saa til min gamle mor: stop med at sende positive energier herned og forsoeg at sende nogle der skaber lidt spaending.

... Polo enjoyed it so much,<br>although we did see one couple trying to do it in a tiny Ford Ka.<br><br><br>Eventually we left the nature reserve and got back on a tarmac road. It was dead<br>straight and perfectly smooth again so I let the car recover from the hill climb and go at it's own pace, in no time we were at the turn off for the Meringspoort pass. This pass is on a tarmac road and it was fun to drive round all the bends. About half way up we stopped to look at<br>the waterfall. It was ...

... later we were all on our bikes and ready for Sunday's ride back home. The night before I checked a few people's tyre pressure. Vanessa's tyres required air... A LOT of air, but when we stopped at a petrol station to pump up, we were redirected twice to another garage as they didn't have any. We left the group to go find a pump... But when we returned the group was no where to be found. In these trips it's so easy not to think too much as you just have to ...

... was more comical than anything else and I think the "riding" part was more a contest of how long I could actually stay on the ostrich before falling off (which ended up being about 45 seconds). I spent the night at a really nice guest/ farmhouse sort of place and then this morning went to the Cango Caves. The caves were really something. Although not the biggest I've been to, I think the formations here were more spectacular than those I've seen anywhere else.

... you have scrambled ostrich egg. Tea is ostrich steak braai (BBQ to the rest of the world). Snacks are Ostrich biltong. (Dried meat stuff thats looks like dog food, but occasionally tastes good). As well as the dusters, you can buy just about anything made out of ostrich leather. Which, by the way, I am pleased to tell you, that I now can tell the difference between fake ostrich leather and the real deal, so if you ever need to know, I'm your (wo)man. As well as teaching us ...

... ostrich naked without clothes to shed that last kg. They asked that I keep my clothes on because they'd rather risk breaking the ostriches back then see me riding an ostrich naked. Fair enough. Rachel went and like all other skillful physical activities, rode it like a champ and stayed on for a decent amount of time. I jumped on and took the first ostrich out for a spin. We were going straight for a little bit and he tried to turn right on a dime and my momentum was going ...

... stop at one of the Ostrich Show Farms. Admission was 50 rand each, almost the same as the caves. It is not worth it. Arvid wanted to ride an ostrich but it turned out he was over the weight limit; a real disappointment. He would only be allowed to sit on one to have his photo taken. Not surprisingly an ostrich farm is the cheapest place to get those ostrich eggs. They range from the plain empty egg shell for 12 rand to elaborately decorated ones for 350 rand. By now we are ready for ...

... too tasty to hang around, I gobbled it up in a flash and when Keith looked up and saw me eating the plain roll with no ostrich in, I was obliged to explain that I had indeed been able to eat a huge chunk of meat in about three seconds flat. But it was so tender and succulent and it just slid down the throat, I couldn't help myself. I left the table feeling comfotably replete and went and basked in the warmth of the dying fire. I even got a game of one man Scrabble in before calling it a night.

... I'll be back in Telford for a short while after I've stayed in London for a couple of days, so no doubt I'll be out at the weekend. I think a visit to Sheffield is in order too, especially once Rees gets back from Afghanistan, so I'll see most of you really soon anyway,<br><br>Vicki. x<br><br>For photo highlights of Wilderness and Oudtshoorn:<br>http://www.facebook.com/ album.php?aid=1567&amp;l=44b6d&amp;id=5 07899698