The Stumble Inn

Trip Start Aug 11, 2008
1
5
Trip End Aug 18, 2008


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Where I stayed
The Stumble Inn - Bush Willow Chalet
(Cape Town hotels)

Flag of South Africa  ,
Saturday, August 23, 2008

Well the last day in Swaziland was quite sad as we had really enjoyed our stay here and the people were fantastic!!  But we had to move on which meant flying from Manzini to Jo'burg.  Just a quick flight of an hour with a snack, packet of cheese and onion crisps and cup of juice.  Arrived in Jo'burg okay and so did our baggage, so off to Avis car rental to pick up the car.  A VW Polo, very nice and roomy.  Next thing was to reach our destination before dark.  Set off from Jo'burg at 5pm so meant we had about 1 hour before dark.  Got out onto the R21 okay, and coming near to Pretoria followed the website's directions - up the Zambesi Ramp, pay toll, drive past Roodesplatt Dam etc.  Got there very easily as Neil's driving and I'm navigating as usual, just as darkness descends and we hit the dusty track up to our place for the week.  The security guard rang ahead as we reached the 'boom' and Sally was there to meet us when we got to the end of the track. 

Wow!!  The Bush Willow Chalet was out of this world.  African rustic, spacious, everything you could want and more.  Hope the photos show it off a little bit, but believe me you need to see it to enjoy it.  I know Derek would have just sat and looked at the animals coming to the 'private waterhole' we had all to ourselves.  Sally's puppies were adorable and came to visit us on a regular basis.  Went walking on her 29 hectares and saw Zebra, warthog, impala, eland, and loads of birds as we did so.  Guinea fowl everywhere.  Can really recommend it if anyone interested and Sally is great (just brought it in the last month, she's English).

Dinokeng is just to the north east of Pretoria.  It is the new tourism area and is hoping to be the new Big 5 Area, hoping to rival Kruger National Park.  Where Sally is is at the moment part of the Leeuwkloof Conservancy, as far as she knows other animals will be brought in but whether it will include rhino, elephant etc she is not yet certain.  Pretoria is just 1/2 hour away.

Went into Pretoria to do our Thai Visa.  Only problem we had was getting through the security gate to the embassy.  Buttons and buzzing, security guards etc., out of practice of that sort of thing.  The rest was easy, yes we got our visa's with no problem.  Well we were paying them a fee anyway.  Pretoria is a large City so only spent the necessary time there.  Oh we could only go through the bank doors one at a time too - yet more buttons, lights and security.  Food shopping here is cheap like in Swaziland - British & Irish VAT etc pays havoc with the shopping bill.  Bottle of good wine 4 pound, cake 2 pound, (okay no pound sign on this african computer, but much faster than a swazi one).

For those of you interested in staying here then here is Sally's address:
Stumble Inn, Plot 30, Boekenhoutskoofdrift, Leeuwkloof Conservancy, Cullinan District, Gauteng, South Africa.
You never know you too might get to Africa at some time.. Stumble Inn
Stumble Inn
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