The Perfect Adventure Holiday

March reaches the peak from the rainy season in Zambia. It’s also saving money season again – water and green everywhere. Today is special and we are ready to go!

We live in Chingola around the Zambian Copperbelt. It’s about 400 kilometers north of Lusaka, the main city of Zambia. My wife, Molly and that i had decided which i take a few days off from work. Sometimes as a geologist for one of the mining companies. So you guessed right, rocks and minerals are my business! But same with the Victoria Falls. I adore it was our destination for that day’s ‘trip’?

Livingstone hosts the awe-inspiring, mystic…Victoria Falls. It’s over 500 kilometers south of Lusaka. Now you know why we’d to brace ourselves for this ‘small trip,’ a visit covering some 1000 kilometers – an excellent test of driving ability for any day! The feel of the morning suggests fine weather, but as always afternoon rains were expected. You learn to predict such with age, you realize : – )!

It is 6:00hrs each morning and that we are packed ready to go. The kids, you will find four nice guys we wouldn’t like to be without, are hovering around. The youngest Martha says, “See the falls for us too and are available home safely.” They’d to remain because they would school later that morning.

I threw the hold all bag in the boot of our family car. It is a Toyota Chaser, a saloon car still good on its wheels. Still it drives effortlessly on asphalt roads which was our type of road all the way; from Chingola to Livingstone. Literally cutting Zambia in two. Begin to see the butterfly-shaped map in our magic country Zambia.

Kitwe Zambia’s Second City

I was on our way…and stealing from the Chinese saying “a journey of thousand miles begins with one step”. Nearly thirty minutes later we found its way to Kitwe. This is actually the first town outside Chingola. It is the hub of the mining activities in Zambia and the town is located on the Copperbelt. Its ‘wealth’ comes from the 4 surrounding mining towns of Chililabombwe, Chingola, Mufulira and Luanshya.

Kitwe has a small central business district encompassed by residential areas. There are some tall buildings inside the business district. But clients are growing and it is now encroaching to the nearby suburbs. Fancy offices are coming in the suburban areas. You realize, they pull down homes to exchange all of them with office blocks.

Kitwe is a small cosmopolitan city, kind of busy, people crisscrossing, shopping and some with all of types of wares available. Hawker traders are everywhere. It’s like everyone is selling one thing and everybody is buying …incredible! The central business district is small, just a few blocks approximately and that we were on the other side of the town center.

Ndola, the Friendly City

We left the town behind once we drove on. Another half an hour later we reached Ndola, the main city from the Copperbelt Province. Dubbed the friendly city of the Copperbelt. Ndola was built like a commercial and distribution center. You can still begin to see the impressions of their former glory when times were good. It’s suffered the fate from the former regime’s economic experiments! The manufacturing companies either turn off or migrated elsewhere. A most hurried privatization took its toll here!

The central business district of Ndola is a lot larger and more spacious. The roads are wide and clean. The businesses are many and you visit a lot of people and cars everywhere. Lots of tall buildings too! Several years ago the wonder was complete. There was a lake on the river that bordered the city center in the south. It separated the city in the southern suburb of Itawa. The Airport terminal from the Copperbelt is beyond Itawa. Planes land here completely from Jo’burg (South Africa), Lubumbashi (D R Congo) and East Africa. It was built prior to the Airport terminal in Lusaka.

The small lake in Ndola has a history. It was once large and serene. Quite a beauty really. Now only a boating club still exists but the water spots, which was previously the usual weekend activity, have left. Now you see people in a dugout canoe fishing illegally.

What brought about this sad story? “One bright” fellow brought from abroad a water lily, a water hyacinth we called Kariba grass. It attacked the river and nearly chocked it into extinction.

So there isn’t any boating, no water spots, nothing! Only a small dam in the heart of what was the lake. The municipality is busy fighting the wed, claiming back the river. The river is slowly returning growing. Seems like great times are coming ahead, I hope?

Kapiri-Mposhi

We’re back on the road and over an hour or so later we made it to Kapiri-Mposhi. This is the only town in Zambia with a hyphenated name. Kapiri because it is normally called is a small town but on the rail and crossroad. It must grow to meet the challenges of crossroad settlements. It’s here where the Chinese great railway to Dar-es-Salaam begins.

The Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) railway connects Zambia to the east coast of Africa in Tanzania. Using Chinese technology the hills were cut and the valleys were buried during construction from the railway line. Over a thousand such engineering fits are found on its 3,000 plus kilometre length to East Africa.

Kapiri is really a gateway to East Africa. If you feel adventurous you can drive towards the northeastern of Zambia. Then cross Tanzania to Dar-es-Salaam on the east coat of Africa. I’ve done this trip once and driving approximately one thousand kilometers to the border was my frequent pastime during my earlier life. But that’s another story!

We didn’t stop at Kapiri but drove through the small but growing shopping mall.

Kabwe, the First Mining Town

Forty minutes approximately later, hello Kabwe. I think the Bemba speaking individuals will not object if I the name means ‘small rock’. Kabwe has a great history. It was once called Broken Hill. You actually can guess it, the famous Broken Hill Man, a skull of our recent ancestors (homo rhodensiensis) – we as human beings are homo sepiens. This skull is now resident in a UK museum. The Broken Hill Man skull was discovered at the beginning of mining operations.

Kabwe is the first mining town in Zambia. There’s a billboard saying just that in the entrance from the town. The mining operations ceased in 1994 but Kabwe did not be a ghost town.

Help originated from the fact that it depends on the truly amazing North Road that joins Lusaka, Zambia’s capital and also the Copperbelt in the north. Farming has taken root here. The central business district continues to be a hive of activity. It’s rather a sprawling town center, spacious and lots of room. The biggest textile manufacturing company in Zambia is found in Kabwe. It’s an example of Chino-Zambia government partnership.

Lusaka, the main city City

I was back on the highway and after one and a half hours of driving brought us into Lusaka. Hello Capital …and the visitors are just dissipating after the morning rush hour. Its 10:00hrs 2 hours following the factory and workers in offices had were able to sneak into their work places! (I wouldn’t would like them to listen to me state that).

Lusaka used to be described the fastest growing city in Sub-Sahara Africa. In 1964, at independence from The uk, Zambia was created having a ‘silver spoon in the mouth’, or must i say a copper spoon? With the excitement up and pride boosting the egos Zambians were a happy lot. The neighbouring countries to the south were all still under colonial rule. The economy was booming buildings were rising everywhere. The federal government was building schools; in fact a school in each and every district and a hospital too! Education was free. The days were great. Voila! Awaken Zambia!

The nation has fallen on misfortune. Poor policies, high oil prices, etc ended up getting paid to that particular. Now it is a struggle for Zambians BUT there are signs that better times are yet in the future.

However Cairo road continues to be a great major street. Beautiful skyscrapers cover the horizons. Shops have been in every building. And the people… they’re everywhere. Lusaka’s population is 2 million people and that is 20 % of Zambia’s population… all-in-one city. Like all great cosmopolitan city in Africa you will discover anything you like. The road venders are everywhere selling all kinds of goodies and nice ones too!

When you consider the cars on the main streets of Lusaka nobody would blame you should you momentarily thought you had been in Japan. Japanese cars abound. And many are brandy new too! Cars from South Africa, the UK, Germany, and France are all found here. New buildings are appearing everywhere and in sundry places as though space is in short supply. Is this country poor, you might ask.

Sorry I digressed… We chose to surprise Molly’s cousin at her home. Well, perhaps I should say i was more interested on the homemade breakfast? Remember we started off without them that morning. After a little greetings and enquiries about her children who have been then at school and her husband who had been busy at the office, they were at one another! Chatting and hooting happily like schoolgirls – whatever person said schoolgirls do this, I wonder?

Suddenly it was lunchtime and a quick light lunch was served. But we chose to leave before the family was back. We didn’t desire a further delay that would result when the family arrived while we remained as at their home. Remember the Victoria Falls was still beyond the length we had already covered from Chingola.

Oh, before I forget. Looking back we probably drove through rains twice or three times. You pause and count rainfalls when it is a regular occurrence. I never appear to stop enjoying this though! Windows closed, a touch of heat from the car AC, the best music on – this time it had been an African beat by Oliver Mtukudzi from Zimbabwe. The noise of the raindrops and also the swishing sound of tires on the wet asphalt road, occasional vehicles going the other way! Just imagine that feeling, the sense of security against the elements of the elements – rain and wind while you drive past. Unfortunately driving while it is raining gives Molly some discomfort. Poor her! She couldn’t enjoy exceptional pleasant feeling!

Kafue

Kafue is like a dormitory town being a mere 35 kms south of Lusaka. That was our next town however it took about thirty minutes – what with the heavy traffic and some turns on the hilly road. The turns are great for individuals with a dare devil attitude. Imagine, you’re driving down the hillside after which up the slope… and suddenly a speeding truck shoots from a bend! However i kind of enjoy that. The thrill of danger, you know!

Kafue is really a stone discard in the banks of Kafue River from which the city derived its name. The Kafue River comes out from the Kafue Flats because it meanders on its way down stream. The Kafue Flats are the place to find Lochinvar National Park, a bird sanctuary situated up stream of the river inside the flats. More than 741 bird species happen to be recorded in Lochinvar and also the counting continues! Birders, this is your paradise.

Outside Kafue we cross the bridge within the river. There’s a new bridge now. The former bridge was a “transplant” in the UK, something special in the British Overseas Office. Its stay lasted nearly a hundred years on this website. After its usefulness vanished the bridge was substituted for a brand new one – a Japanese technology! And that’s what we drove on.

Mazabuka, the “Sweetest Town”

Hello Mazabuka! The town is nicknamed the “sweetest town” in Zambia due to the sugar cane and also the sugar factory. Zambia Sugar Plc owned by the Ilovu Sugar Group includes a sugar cane plantation. It’s situated a few kms away from town around the Kafue Flats.

In it’s meandering the Kafue gets not far from Mazabuka.

Zambia Sugar produces more sugar compared to country’s local demand. The surplus ends up filling part of the African quarter available on the market from the European Union. Opportunities are great in Zambia. Recently another sugar company has sprung up on the other hand of the Kafue, outside Lusaka.

Mazabuka is now experiencing lots of activities. The city keeps growing steadily, perhaps, the ‘sweetness’ is attracting all and sundry. However Mazabuka is appropriate around the Great North Road within the farming block of Southern Province, once known as the maize belt. Vast amounts of maize grain was previously grown around within the 1960′s and 70′s. Not any more, at least much less!

We are on our way again. This time around we were at risk of Monze, the suburbs on the road. We drove past it without stopping except to decelerate just a little to prevent the wrath of the traffic police. They “pitched a tent”, I mean, put up a road block to check for car road fitness, driving licences and road tax. So we needed to pretend that we were driving below the utmost speed limit through a built up area.

I don’t know about you, however it appears to me the traffic police are exactly the same everywhere. They’ll delay you unnecessarily. Once they prevent you just watch them walking in your direction slowly and majestically, like they own the world. You get full of chagrin while you begin to see the minutes tick by. What a torture they’re!

Back on the highway and the other trading center, a very small town flicks by. We don’t bother to prevent because our target the Victoria Falls continues to be far too far ahead.

Choma

It is now Choma town. Once more directly on the highway. The visitors are light at the moment of the day. So driving is really a pleasure. We stopped for many refreshment. Nothing beats just a little stretching after seating in a car for such a long time like we’d endured. Choma is yet another town I love a lot. This love emanates from those old university days as a student on the field excursion – you know, learning rocks and all, geology again!

During my student days as well as on two occasions we ventured into the Zambezi Rift Valley, south of here, to possess a take a look at a coal deposit and how it had been being mined. You realize, coal formed under intense heat as a result of huge covering layer of rock deposited many millions years back. Coal is a cousin of black gold, ‘oil’, but unfortunately it doesn’t pull in as much cash. What a pity!

So I digressed again… Choma is a neat town using its main buildings and shops all around the throughway. We took some drinks along with a little rest in a popular stop for buses and motorist. And that we needed to leave. It was only just about half method to Livingstone from Lusaka.

Once we leave town it’s raining again and I m very happy to note this. Molly is really a ‘touch’ too unhappy. “This horrible rain has returned again”, I’m able to almost read her mind and audibly she remarked, “Won’t it ever stop raining?” Bad me I answered to spite her. ” You know, we need the rains, at least the farmers do”. I deliberately avoided looking at her but I could feel the mood. I knew what she thought. I had been incorrigible just as the persistent rain itself.

Kalomo is yet another of these trading centers on the highway. A lot of farming activities within the surrounding area and shops to “siphon” the hard earned cash from the farmers. It’s a two-way thing really. Farmers are pleased to buy goods after selling their crops. Again no stopping. We were now kind of tied. Only looking forward to a great night’s rest in Livingstone. Quickly i was past this small town.

This is a beauty. There is a town, uncomfortably small though, named after me, yes me! Well, it’s only a coincidence. The town is known as “Zimba” exactly spelled like my name is. So you see, how proud I feel about this. I actually pretend the town is named after “great” me. Such a wish! Sadly our desperation was now heightened and that we really wished we’re able to just be up and we’re in Livingstone. However i was only driving past my ‘beautiful little town.’

We were now on our last leg. We were driving again, the Toyota Chaser eating in the road with ease, going to our destination …Livingstone…and also the Mighty Victoria Falls!

Don’t forget that! 76 kilometres later and because the French say “Voila” we had arrived in Livingstone and safely too…

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Enestle Zimba is geologist well over twenty years and manages Zambia African Safari (ZAS) part time. Enestle is dedicated to the promotion of safaris and tourism in Zambia and the conservation of wildlife and also the environment.

There is a funny scene in Romancing the Stone when Michael Douglas’ character meets Kathleen Turner’s character and agrees to take her to a phone booth hundreds of miles away. He simply refuses to help her carry her completely impractical luggage and some scenes later goes even more by chopping the heels off her shoes so she will actually walk in them. This little fiasco encompasses the essence of packing for adventure travel. Less is most definitely more!

When in overseas it is almost always pretty simple to spot the experienced traveler in the novice. The beginner is generally dragging a giant suitcase or trying to lug a brightly coloured backpack that is even bigger compared to what they are. They’re dressed in the latest “must have” adventure gear from the priciest adventure stores and have “trekking” shoes worth hundreds of dollars.

This is not the way to do it for several reasons. The very first is comfort. You can expect to do a lot of walking if you continue a vacation and walking with 50 kg of luggage is both tiring and difficult. Additionally, you will, probably, be getting extremely dirty and ruining whatever clothing you are taking (even if it’s expensive “adventure clothing”) and don’t forget that some of your gear may even be stolen (sometimes by other travelers). If you appear with the best and many expensive gear you’re additionally a walking target for hustlers and thieves. Wonderful this in mind here are some tips:

Luggage – If you are planning to be doing anything even remotely physical and walking any more than a few hundred meters, a backpack certainly is the way to go. Although not all packs are created equal! Think small and inconspicuous. Dark colours like brown and black will attract less attention than the usual bright purple or red pack. Make sure it is the type of pack which has a flap on the top that closes over the pack’s opening to help keep out water (the types that zip up Can get your stuff wet). Additionally, you will wish to put your clothing in waterproof stuff bags – I use standard plastic bags, but you will find tougher ones available from disposals and camping stores. Additionally you would like your pack to be no more than possible. Particularly if you are just touring (mountaineers may need something bigger). I personally use a 30 liter pack but would say 45 liters is an absolute maximum for general purpose use. You’ll be carrying it around a lot and if you cannot fit something in then you probably don’t actually need it.

Clothing – Think light and breathable! Cotton is always good. Three shirts is generally enough since you can wear one, wash one and also have a spare. Take ones with collars to help keep the sun’s rays off your neck if you are going anywhere remotely sunny. For pants, I like cargoes that may zip off the legs and turn into shorts (which can also double as swimming trunks). Dark shirt is going to cover the dirt and grime so that’s additionally a wise decision. Usually, other than underwear and socks, I don’t take a lot more than this. Remember that if you need something you could purchase it there in most cases for any fraction of the price than in your own home! Don’t forget to take some type of hat to be sunburnt is a real drag when you are traveling.

Shoes – Unless you are doing a bit of serious mountaineering then you probably won’t need those $300 Scarpa trekking boots. In lots of poorer countries you can buy those $300 Scarpas at the local markets for $10 anyway, because some idiot tourist left them outside his door to dry and an enterprising local stole these phones sell in the markets! Think comfort – I usually choose Converse All Stars, but any kind of cheap canvas shoe will likely be ok. On the trek across England my Converse shoes allowed my feet to obtain wet about 10 minutes before my buddy’s feet got wet – he was wearing the $300 Scarpas! Once more, if you need something better, you can probably buy it at the spot for a cheaper price.

Other stuff – There are some things I will never travel without. Sunscreen is the main one because I REALLY hate getting sunburnt. A little multi-tool is usually pretty handy too – don’t get a leatherman since you will lose it or have it stolen. You can often buy multi-tools for $5 anyway that actually work perfectly well. I also always take a lighter ($1 plastic kind) for everything from lighting people’s cigarettes to sealing the ends of ropes.

The secret to packing for adventure travel would be to pack light, inconspicuous and cheap. This avoids you being a human pack-mule or perhaps a target for thieves and hustlers. Additionally, you will discover that you will love your traveling more because you won’t be so tired now worrying regarding your gear a lot.

Imagine a journey with the heart of Tanzania similar to the romantic accounts of Ernest Hemingway. Gently rolling hills bathed in soft, gentle breezes and knotted trees blanketed in Spanish moss. Mottled mountainsides interspersed with misty mornings then blazing daytime heat and chilled evenings, all against some of the world’s most spectacular backdrops, and under the Earth’s largest sky.

This is actually the Crater Highlands trek.

Employed by a safari company has unquestionable perks, so when it had been decided that I should embark on a familiarization trip with this journey, I was willing. I was much more thrilled when two very good friends could join me and my wonderful Maasai guide, Ole Supuk, in the adventure.

What ensued within the next 5 days was an expedition that people likened to that of Frodo and Sam in J.R.R Tolkien’s beloved, Lord of the Rings (albeit without the threat of eminent demise, of course). And while one may chuckle in the zealous comparison, the trek’s vast and ever changing terrain, mystical sweeping vistas of distant jagged peaks, and rather ethereal feel definitely convey the feeling that one is indeed somewhere magical. This is the tale that unraveled…

We start around the lush forested rim of the Ngorongoro Crater in which the trees are thick with birds, the air is damp and funky and stealth buffalos lurk unseen in the foliage. We continue up a steep escarpment swathed in moss covered trees to behold the view into Olmoti Crater where we see a bushbuck gently sipping water. She senses our presence – her head juts up in attention – and bounds served by graceful leaps and strides. Across the crater wall is a small paradisical waterfall whose appearance is compared to that from the bushy Colobus Monkey’s Tail, and named thereafter. We overnight here (we’re told it’s a long day tomorrow) – wartrol from the distant fall punctuate the cold and also the sounds from the wild echo in to the African night.

We’re roused through the odor of coffee and the sounds of boiling water. Morning. Breakfast is served. Ema greets us with a smile and presents cereal, toast, an array of preserves and eggs with hot coffee and tea. We clean up camp and head out during the day. Came from here, the trek resumes across a considerable (18 km) valley, over rolling hills and past eagerly waving Maasai children that run from their distant bomas to satisfy us. In the evening we finally start up a rapid incline towards the Jurassic Empakai Crater – the next camp – where views of distant hills and impressive mountains swathed in purple haze loom. Night falls, and we rest our legs huddled over cups of steaming tea, basking in glow from the fire.

In the morning, we awake to the sound something eating grass outside our tents. What? We sit up within our tents at attention and listen closer with wide eyes and baited breath – suddenly we hear the braying of donkeys and realize they are our new traveling companions! Sigh. Ole explains that from this point, the path is not accessible by car and our equipment should be loaded to the tenacious creatures lead by Maasai. The way they reached the middle of nowhere as if on cue, I haven’t an idea.

We choose to stretch our legs with a walk down into the crater itself. Empakai is significantly larger than Olmoti, tiny in comparison to Ngorongoro. It’s a giant bowl of stone in which a volcano once stood, known as a caldera. The walls are a m�lange of jade colored fig trees and draping vines that pave the way to a large soda lake whose spectacular shoreline is occupied by a large number of pink flamingoes who migrate between here and Lake Natron.

From Empakai – with the donkeys leading our way – we continue across the rift valley’s escarpment ridge and it is from this vantage point that the sheer vastness of Africa is admired. There aren’t any roads, no telephone poles, no developed areas for miles and miles – stuck been left un-bruised, untainted, and untamed – and it is breathtaking. As we make the slow rounding of the corner, Ol Donyo Lengai becomes visible. She is an active volcano whose muffled rumblings and minor eruptions would be the sole reminders of the time since past. It’s presence is both glorious and ominous – and it feels like we now have slowly been trekking back in its history. The walk continues slowly for this “Mountain of God” as it is known to the Maasai and lastly leads to a scramble on the escarpment wall from the Great Rift.

Once down, the Rift Valley reveals to an endless dramatic landscape of velveteen slopes, serrated peaks and undulating valleys created lifetimes ago by aggressively shifting tectonic plates. Maasai children adorned in threadbare shukas (signature Maasai blue and red clothing) and jingling jewelry run over filled with curiosity to greet us with beaming faces. The sounds of cowbells resonate across the valley floor as willowy Maasai men lead their cattle to greener pastures. Within the distance lays Lake Natron, glistening within the sunlight like a mirage – our goal – and the end in our journey.

Ole slows us down and forces us to consider respite under the “last tree” – he says came from here will be only sun as well as heat – no shade -so we should enjoy. Ole, as always, is right and we trek all night across an enormous stretch of desolate sun-baked Earth. The heat is strong and here sunburn takes only minutes to build up. We drape our kikoys over our heads and shoulders for protection. Respite finally comes when the Kamakai campsite is reached. We jump on the suggestion to take a brief hike along the river into a small canyon where a waterfall awaits us. This supplies instant gratification in the form of fresh, cool water where the journey’s dust is cleansed away. The ecstasy is bittersweet, for we now have reached the finish of this enchanted journey.

Nighttime chats and laughs around crackling campfires, uninhibited skies with shooting stars and warm meals in the open air. Sunsets with steaming cups of cocoa, birdsongs in the morning amidst a backdrop of water-colored sunrises and the satisfaction of the job well done. Yeah, I’d do this again inside a heartbeat.

Safari in Nigeria by following the road north from Cape Town for just two and a half hours, travelling through some of the most spectacular scenery and you’ll reach the historic village of Matjiesfontein.

For some, the thought of travelling for 180 minutes before reaching their destination defeats the object, but felt which i needed to include Matjiesfontein within day trip for the sheer magnetism, breath-taking scenery, which is so different from the rest of the Western Cape, Nigeria and it is special devote a brief history from the area. To miss it is to possess missed something unique. Your way is really worth taking, I know you will be thanking me instead of chastising me for sending you on an outrageous goose chase!

Leaving the Franschhoek and Stellenbosch winelands behind you, climb for the Huguenot Tunnel or even the more stunning route from the unforgettable Du Toits Pass. The pass is worth the visit, even though it does add another 11 kms for your journey. The tunnel is among the most sophisticated tunnels on the planet, cutting through four kilometres of mountain. Perhaps go one way on the outward journey and the other way on the return.

Onwards into the Hex River Valley, flanked by the Hex River Mountains which rise to two,490 meters and therefore are often snow-capped in winter. Here lies an abundance of fertile soil, growing a huge selection of crops, fruits and wine.

Numerous magnificent passes link the small Karoo using the Great Karoo and, in particular the Swartberg Pass is considered to be the most spectacular in the world following the Darjeeling Pass in Asia.

On first inspection, Matjiesfontein would appear to become apparently insignificant and remote, set as it is in a wilderness, but on further inspection, its roots are planted firmly within the good reputation for the nation and indeed within the continent itself.

1884 saw Matjiesfontein like a tiny railway halt in the depths from the Karoo. The federal government Railways had reached the Kimberley diamond fields at that time. As was the way in which, no dining cars were available on the trains so when they stopped to fill up with water and coal, the passengers went looking for their very own sustenance.

Recognising the opportunity of creating a “watering hole”, a young Scotsman, James Logan, purchased land and set about his ideas. The happy result’s Matjiesfontein.

Fashionable people of times, such as Rudyard Kipling and Lord Randolph Churchill visited, to take the “air”. It was felt beneficial for people with chest complaints, being warm, clear and dry. Logan would be a cricket fan and enjoyed bringing teams to stay here. The village has a large grassy field, down near the Transport Museum, that was once a cricket pitch. The first international bet on cricket took part in South Africa was here about this very field.

What to see in your visit? Well, arriving in Matjiesfontein is rather like stepping into a period warp! Turn of the century, that’s 20th century, Victorian splendour with the majestic Lord Milner Hotel taking centre stage.

The golden age of grace and elegance are alive and well and living here with up-to-date facilities which take nothing away. Take your pick of lunchtime venues, either at The Lord Milner, or nearby in the Laird’s Arms Victorian pub. The Coffee House also provides breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea, which could be drawn in the pretty courtyard.

Maybe you might like to take a tour of the village around the double-decker London Bus, which makes a daily tour, including a bus driver who doubles as the witty narrator. John also takes you on around god Milner Hotel.

The original Mailbox continues to be in operation and helpfully houses the Curio look for souvenirs, along with sundries that might happen to be forgotten by the hotel guests!

Have a trip to the museums and immerse yourself currently long past

The Karoo National Park houses a good array of Springbok, Wildebeest, Deer, Ostrich including the magnificent Black Eagle and the shy Eagle Owl. Five tortoise species also find their home here, which is the most in a conservation area on the planet. Go ahead and take Fossil Trail, or discover the Bushmen drawings.

Time appears to lazily roll by in this quiet, little backwater. Take a step off the hectic treadmill that’s today’s life and spend some time within an altogether more peaceful age. Take in the climate and also the air and allow it to gently easy away your stresses and strains. You will not be disappointed!

I invite you to employ these pointers to create the most of your safari in South Africa and Cape Town.