Rosebank Johannesburg

... 10
*****ia
Lagos, Abuja
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11-May-10
16-May-1 0
Cam**oon and Central African Republic
Douala, Bangui
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16-May-10
23-May -10
Gabon
LibreVille
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23-May-10
06-Jun-10
Democratic Republic of Congo
Kinshasa, Kisangani

... 4am and everyone was looking a bit worse for wear. Me and Rach decided to call it a night and on the way out of the nightclub who walks in but Rob Kearney! We got chatting to him and got a few photos (Just look at the excitement on Rachel's face!). As a farewell he grabbed the crest of my Leinster jersey and kissed it telling me 'Best team in the world!', as if I didnt already know that? Turns out we missed Paul O'Connell by ten minutes as he arrived in after we left but ...

... the loveliest of hosts, Mansel and Melissa. So friendly and so evidently happy to be sharing their special abode, a tinge of envy hit as ourselves wondered "if only" to call such a place home.

Mansel and Melissa are smart to promote the peace and quiet here - the silence was deafening, interrupted only by interludes of birdsong by day! Their farm is possibly one of the loveliest hideaways in Limpopo if not ...

... February - Johanesburg, Florida, 53 Ninth Avenue, Rosebank Mall shopping for Giraffe, fond farewell at Tambo Airport. Finally rested after the first lie-in since entering Africa we all headed down to the local Brightwater Shopping Mall for slap up breakfast back at Scrooges. We were served again by Sol Cambells lookalike and had a great breakfast setting us up for a day of ticky tours. First on the agenda was a visit to ...

Today we fly up to Johannesburg and will spend our last night in Africa. In the morning we talked by phone with Dave and Teddi Treybig who went to Kruger National Park after the Feast. They will be flying into Johannesburg at almost the same time that we will. They will continue to fly back to the United States later in the evening. We will spend the ...

... Being comparatively wealthy and living in the posh suburbs is small help. You are still likely to be the victim of a carjacking, robbery at gunpoint, home invasion, and so on. Gun crimes in South Africa can be house robberies, but are as likely to be twenty guys with AK-47s attacking an armored car, then getting into a firefight with quick-responding police units. With rates of arrest and conviction ...

... we visited and the gorgeous weather we had whilst we were there probably didn't hurt, with not a hint of the previous days' low clouds and fog. Long Tom Cannon, a reminder of the violent times of the 19th and early 20th century is worth a short stop, although the cannon itself is a replica. The road passes a shell hole created by the original and this high level route that tops out at 2150 metres is a scenic drive that merits a few stops for photographs ...

... it was one of the those really large bottles (750 ml) straight out of the bottle. I have no problem with the small bottles but the big ones are a bit conspicuous when you are drinking straight out of them. But it probably impressed the Afrikaaner men nearby as apparently South African women are not much for drinking beer (unlike us beer-swilling hoser Canadians, eh). To cap off my South African day we had a braai with boerewors (yum) but i wasn't very ...

... driveway and through the security gate on the front door. Because of the insecurity in South Africa people now have to live behind walls around their yards and behind metal gates and bars on all doors and windows. Everyone who can afford to do so hires private armed-response security service, because police response to any emergency call is now so slow as to be essentially useless. They just come to make reports after the fact. We had experienced this during a previous ...

... tonight. October 11 - Drive to Jo'Burg A midday pickup left us stuck at the hostel for the morning. We hopped onto the Baz Bus for the last leg of our journey, heading to Jo'Burg. The trip getting to Jo'Burg was quite quick, only 3 ½ hours. We watched the mountain scenery until it changed into vast prairies. At this point, a movie was popped in and we enjoyed, K-Pax. Cool movie, we definitely recommend it. At 3:30, we hit the outskirts of Jo'Burg. As always, passengers have options ...