And so a new year: Huttons in Africa 2011!

So here we are almost at the end of January and I haven't been keeping my diary up to date at all. I really want to try to remember everything we're doing here and all the highlights, of which there are many. So, scraping the barrel of my memory, here's what's been happening over the last 6 weeks:

We took a picnic to Kirstenbosch for Carols by Candlelight on Sunday 19th December, a wonderful evening watching the sun go down over the mountain,and then lighting little paper lanterns along with thousands of other people whilst singing carols at top volume. South Africa's very casual attitude to health and safety was in evidence again, with people stamping out burning lanterns as they caught fire and landed on picnic blankets and the dry grassy embankment. No disasters though, and we left about 9pm, still singing. Speaking of fires, the newspapers and weather forecasts on the TV are full of warnings about bush fires. A helicopter flew over our house with a huge balloon of water suspended underneath, on its way to tackle one fire on the mountain.

Pre Christmas we went to Cape Aghulas, the very southern-most point of Africa. Glad we got down there, and it was lovely to have a couple of days break, but the area itself isn't especially pretty and there really is nothing at the end of the world. The weather wasn't that great either - we left Cape Town basking in beautiful sunshine and 30C, and arrived three hours later to a ferocious wind and much cooler temperatures. Tried to have a picnic on the beach but got sand blasted, so we retreated to our B&B, had a late lunch and then walked the couple of miles to the

very tip of the continent. We came back via the lighthouse, and squeezed our way up and down the very narrow staircase to climb right to the top.

The next day we set off for the little fishing village of Arniston. The original settlement of tiny whitewashed cottages is now a national monument. We wandered around the cottages, most with outside toilets, and then went for lunch and a quick dip in the icy sea. It wasn't very inviting, looking very grey and stormy, but the girls were brave enough to have a go. I chose to watch and look after the bag!

Having stayed a final night, we headed back to Cape Town, delighted to see the sunshine again. Only two days left til Christmas!

In preparation, we went for afternoon tea at the Mount Nelson on the 23rd December, and spent a beautiful afternoon on the terrace drinking gallons of their special blend tea. On Christmas Eve we went to see the Cape Town Ballet perform Cinderella which was magical. And so to Christmas Day. We woke to perfect weather, and decided to have a really indulgent day at home. Neil fired up the braai, the girls dived in the pool to try out their new snorkeling gear, and we opened a couple of bottles of wine we'd been keeping for a special occasion. We spoke to friends and family over Skype, gloating a little about spending our day in the garden. Then the tournaments began - we had bought ourselves a table tennis table for Christmas as we have a large empty space downstairs which is perfect for the purpose. Great fun and some very serious rivalry!
Around 6pm we headed down to Camps Bay, largely so we could say we had been to the beach on Christmas Day. It was a lot windier by the sea than at home where the mountain protects us, so we stayed long enough to climb a few rocks and eat mince pies and then headed back again to relax on our deck in the warm evening air. A very different Christmas to the one we'd have had if we had been in England, but a really lovely day just the same.

And then we returned to England for two weeks on the 30th December. Lovely to see all our close family and many friends too. Lottie even went to St Gabriel's for two days, to sit the 11+ entrance exam for Senior School this coming September. She's since been offered a place, and despite absolutely loving life out here, is pretty clear that she misses both St Gabriel's and her old friends a good deal and wants to come back to England once our next 6 months is up. I found it amazing how quickly we slotted back into life at home again, but also how much I missed Cape Town. I will never get tired of looking at the mountain, or of waking up to sunshine streaming through the windows, day after day. It's true what they say - Africa gets into your blood and we'll really miss it when we have to leave.

So, with that in mind, we are determined to live the next 6 months to the full. On our return to CT on 15th January we immediately set about booking out next two trips, one to the Cederburg in March, the next to Kruger and Mpumalanga in early April. Since we got back it's been all go again with the girls returning to school and work ramping up for me. The start of the new academic year here is very busy with Meet the Teacher meetings and extra mural information expos every other day. Between them, Lottie and Elizabeth want to do tennis, horse riding, choir, drama, environmental club, gymnastics and living maths (the last a surprise request by Lottie. Hope her enthusiasm lasts, especially when she realises that it takes place before school at 7am every Friday!)

This Friday was Founders Day at Rustenburg. On Saturday we got up early to take part in the annual 5km fun run. It was yet another perfect day (apologies to anyone reading this in England right now, but the weather really is wonderful), so the run set off early before the day got too hot.
And today we finally made it to Spier, one of the seriously big-business wine farms near Stellenbosch. As well as two restaurants, tasting rooms, a craft fair and a hotel, they have a Cheetah Outreach park on site and we got to stroke one of the adults males. There are fewer than 1000 cheetahs left in SA and the programme aims to help conserve these animals via a really innovative solution. Their fund raising buys Anatolian shepherd dogs for farmers who would otherwise trap and shoot cheetahs. The dogs protect the farm livestock by chasing away the cheetahs without killing or maiming any of them. The result is a more sustainable relationship between cheetah and farmer, and hopefully a growing population long term.

That's all for now. Time to get ready for another busy week. Love to anyone reading this - more soon. Sarah

Summer's here and it's HOT!

Almost another month gone, and we are very happily settled into new home! We are so glad we have the opportunity to stay until next summer (or winter, depending on your perspective), as we'd be very sorry to be packing up to leave already. Still so much to see, do, get involved in.

The girls broke up a week ago for the long summer holiday. I finished work on Wednesday, and tomorrow we're off to Cape Agulhus, the most southerly point in Africa for 3 days before Christmas. But before we get to that point, let's look back on the highlights of the last month.

Perhaps not a highlight, but a major emotionally charged event was saying goodbye to Mum and Dad after a glorious month. They left on 26th November, trading the heat of CT for heavy snow. Rachel had rang to warn us that airports were closed, roads blocked and that Mum and Dad faced a potentially difficult journey home. At the time we were watching Elizabeth's swimming gala, slapping on the Factor 40 and searching out any patch of shade. Since then the snow in Britain has gone, and returned again. It feels surreal to be talking to friends and family on the phone, hearing of the cold and the travel difficulties whilst behind me the girls are splashing in the pool and I'm glad to be indoors away from the burning sun. Christmas is certainly going to be very odd this year. This morning we asked the girls what we'd be doing a week from now (on Christmas Day). Their reaction to the question was amusing - neither had any real sense that Christmas is so close! If it's a day like today next Saturday (still, hot, blue sky from horizon to horizon) we will definitely be heading off to the beach.

Before Mum and dad left we managed to fit in a weekend trip to Langebaan, and numerous days out. The weather wasn't as good as the last time we had been up the West Coast, but it was dry, so we got some good walking in, with great sightings of small herds of red hartebeest

On days that the girls were at school, Mum, Dad and I went to Cape Point, walking on beaches utterly deserted of humans - though we did have to share one stretch of sand with a pair of ostriches. We also went to Boulders Beach to see the African penguins, and to Kirstenbosch. And one day after school we headed straight down to Kalk Bay for fish and chips on the pier, watching the seals.

And then on their last morning in CT, Mum and Dad came to watch Elizabeth's gala. The emphasis was very much on fun and end of term frivolity - hence the parent and child swim I was roped into joining. There were swimming versions of egg and spoon races, horse and jockey dashes and a hilarious pyjama race which involved swimming a width, getting into WET pjs and swimming back. Co-ordination more important than swimming prowess! That said, South Africans take their swimming seriously. (All sport, actually). The standard was very high, with 6 and 7 year olds powering down the 25 metre pool from a racing start off the diving blocks. And the rivalry is fierce: there are no prizes for taking part in SA, only for winning. Lottie and Elizabeth are both in Cambridge house. Naturally I'm not biased, but that is the best house! Much better than Michael, Ennis and the unfortunately named Weiner.....

All this swimming, at school and at home in our pool (sorry, but I'll never get tired of typing that) is playing havoc with my hair. So I went to Claremont for a cut and colour last Monday, to see Nikki, the big black woman who keeps telling me I have to embrace my hair, then cackles loudly. Yeah, right. Still, she works wonders, and the results last for a few weeks at least.

It's nice to have a free weekend. Last week Elizabeth was invited to Pagan's party
down the Peninsula coast at Kommetjie. This is the same little girl who introduced herself to us on our first day at school back in July as 'Pagan, which is funny because I am a pagan.' Pagan's siblings also have birthdays in December. I stupidly said to her mum that December must be a hectic month in their household 'with Christmas and everything.' Only to be told that 'Christmas isn't a big deal for us' - no, I suppose it wouldn't be!

After the party, we went to Noordhoek for Carols by Candlelight. The problem is the candlelight thing never quite happens as it's still light at 8.30pm. Unfortunately the Cape Doctor, the south easterly wind that plagues this coast, was blowing a gale, but the sun was still warm at 7pm as we belted out Jingle Bells, accompanied by the SA Navy Band. On Sunday we all went to see Freshlyground, the big SA band who accompanied Shakira for the World Cup hit 'Waka Waka'. It was one of a series of open air picnic concerts at Kirstenbosch that take place throughout the summer. What a great way to spend a summer afternoon.

This evening we're going back to Kirstenbosch for a further dose of Carols by Candlelight to finally try to get us in the Christmas mood - as opposed to the summer holiday one we're all in at the moment. And then a last cruise to Christmas - hope everyone else's preparations are as laid back as ours!

Mum and Dad arrive in Cape Town!

Back in Hermanus to watch dozens of whales frolicking just off shore, and to enjoy the beautiful weather of early November. Mum and Dad arrived in CT on 28th October and have definitely brought the summer with them. The weather is glorious!

In Addo for Neil's birthday weekend - Neil relaxing by the pool on his birthday, a baby elephant (not Neil!) and mum enjoying a wallow in the mud at a watering hole. My camera has a good zoom - we weren't quite this close! The girls didn't get eaten by lions - we haven't actually seen any yet. We did another sundowner drive (gets very cold when the sun goes down as you can probably tell), and were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the very shy and elusive black rhino.



We visited two different parts of the winelands for Mum's birthday. Firstly a day touring Stellenbosch and Franschhoek (photo is of the Hugenot memorial in Franschhoek). Despite being quite dismissive of the idea of stopping to do much wine tasting, Mum and Dad quickly got into the idea. We stopped at three vineyards randomly - the big multimillion rand business of Graham Beck (delicious fizz), the tiny boutique red wine only makers at Grangehurst where the cheapest bottle was R160, and the mid market, good value and very drinkable Avontuur. For Mum's birthday dinner, we got a babysitter and headed down to Constantia Uitsig, one of the oldest vineyards in the country with a superb restaurant. It was such a beautiful evening for such a wonderful setting.

We're also in the process of moving into a fab new house - hopefully our last move. We've signed a lease until end of June next year - yes, we've decided to stay the full year and continue to really explore and experience this amazing country. So Mum and Dad have been helping us move across from one side of Rondebosch to the other, and are staying there this week whilst we pack up the old house. I'm in Kenya at the moment anyway, so poor Neil has been left with most of the packing. The new house is nestled right at the foot of the mountain, a five minute walk from school, and has a pool and lovely garden. The girls' rooms are downstairs and double doors go out onto the pool deck so the minute they get home from school, they're straight into the pool. On Sunday, having got back from PE mid afternoon we headed to the new house for Dad to christen the braii - he looked so at home barbecueing away on the deck.

Gosh it's a long time since I've even opened this blog. Since the last posting, composed in the BA lounge at Heathrow, I've taken 8 flights in 12 days, visiting 3 continents and covering approximately 30,000 miles. I've been to San Francisco, via London , and then back up to Nairobi, unsure what time of day or night it is, or even which way I'm flying. (Very disconcerting to fly 'backwards' in the BA club world seats). I got home last weekend, hoping not to get back on a plane for a while, and have succeeded so far. Off to Malaysia next weekend, but for now, a break from traveling.

Although I haven't done much except work this last fortnight, Neil and the girls have been enjoying the start of a new term. There are new extra murals on offer (athletics, mini cricket, drama and now choir for Lottie too), so everyone is kept busy. Most afternoons, the girls disappear over the garden wall to the neighbour's house where two little boys live, the big draw being their solar heated swimming pool. Our pool here is in a shaded part of the garden and so is still freezing. I braved it for the first time last weekend and could only stay in because I went more or less immediately numb from head to toe.

The last two weekends have been dominated by the girls' belated birthday parties. Lottie was first, inviting 14 friends to a gymnastics party at Gordon's gymnastics in Mowbray.





They all had great fun, enjoying free rein of all the equipment and then scoffing sandwiches and cake during a break. Health and safety is an interesting concept in SA - there is nothing like the compensation culture and as a result personal responsibility takes a far higher precedent. At school, Lottie and Elizabeth's gymnastics teacher encourages activities that make me gasp (with terror). The entire squad is preparing for the Christmas show now, and girls are cartwheeling along the beams and hurling themselves from the parallel bars. The teacher is a dragon, but she really knows her stuff and as a result Rustenburg produces some superb gymnasts. Fortunately our girls aren't quite at that standard, but they are still expected to cartwheel off the end of the beam at the end of their routine, ending with a perfect spot landing. Elizabeth managed to twist her ankle coming off the beam this week and went to school all strapped up on Friday.

Last weekend Elizabeth had a party here in the garden of Malvern House. We managed to track down Yolanda Yawa, a well known Cape Town singer and dancer who was willing to dream up a party for a group of 8 year old girls. The theme was African inspired and Yolanda and a friend dressed the garden to look like an African village and then taught the girls to sing and dance as if local African children. The whole thing culminated in a show for the parents at home time.

Finally, a wrap up of our holiday. Bit late to be doing this now, but I don't want to forget any of it and this will serve as a memory jogger when we look back in years to come.


So....After wonderful Tsitskamma, we headed along the coast westwards through Plettenburg Bay to Knysna and the elephant park. Unlike at Addo, these elephants aren't wild but rescued, usually as orphans, either from Krugger or the Kalihari. As a result they are very familiar with people and pretty tame. It was amazing to get up really close to these huge beasts - elephants have hugely long eyelashes, at least 10 cms long. We even did the touristy thing and went for a ride in the forest on the elephants, Elizabeth and me on a relative youngster, Neil and Lottie high up on a 23 year old giant from Namibia. Overall however, perhaps because we'd recently come from the wildness and majesty of Addo, the impression was of something staged and false. Having said that, the girls loved it, and regarded their ride on an elephant's back as an absolute highlight of the holiday.

From Knysna, we headed inland and mountain-wards to Homtini where we spent the night on a magical farm. We slept in a rather grand 'tent' - a huge safari affair with wooden floors, a hot shower and proper beds. But still a tent, in a field with the most breathtaking views of the mountains. The next morning, we were the the only guests on the farm. At the farmer's behest, we sent the girls to collect fresh eggs from the hen house. We were encouraged to help ourselves from the vegetable and herb gardens, and to taste the farm honey. It was idyllically quite and peaceful, so rather than rush off to Oudtshoorn, our next stop, we decided to linger and spend the morning around the pool.
The photo is of our breakfast spot, a braai circle right outside our tent.

From Homtini, we followed a dirt road through the forest, over mountain passes and across rivers to Oudtshoorn, the ostrich capital of SA (if not the world). There are ostriches everywhere in and around the town! The babies are surprisingly tiny, perhaps one -fiftieth of the size of a fully grown adult. We decided we could do without an overdose of ostrich related tat, and headed straight for the Cango caves, an astonishing underground wonderland. Depending on which route you take through the caves, around 15 huge caverns have been discovered so far, deep inside the mountain, each bursting with weird rock formations, stalagmites and stalagtites.

And so, with our holiday drawing to a close, we set off on Route 62 through the Klein Karoo on the last 300 kms or so back to Cape Town. Route 62 is an empty, high quality road that stretches endlessly ahead across a dry and barren landscape. This being the Western Cape though, there are mountains on each side of the plain, and the closer to Cape Town we got, the more stunning the scenery. We spent our last night near Barrydale outside Montagu, staying at Ravenna Mountain Lodge, a large and comfortable self catering cottage overlooking a lake. The bird life here was truly spectacular - sudden flashes of intense colour as weaver birds and sugarbirds darted past, and then a huge shadow over the breakfast table and a massive eagle arrived in a neighbouring tree. Reluctantly we set out on Sunday morning for home, calling in at the little village of Ashton en route to take a photo of the name plaque for Harry. Making good time, we enjoyed a final indulgence, calling in at Fairview wine estate just outside Paarl for lunch and the obligatory tasting. The girls got bored with the wine talk and went outside to play in the sunshine, watching the goats (Fairview makes cheese as well as wine) and climbing trees.

And now, three weeks on, Neil and I sat over a glass of wine this evening and discussed initial plans for a trip through southern Africa before we come home. Not sure what we'll eventually end up with, but 6 - 8 weeks exploring Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique is top of our list right now. In the meantime, back to work and school, with the imminent arrival of Mum and Dad on Thursday eagerly anticipated.

Lots of love to all our famiies and friends - we miss you all!

Holiday! Part 1

Warning! Excessive use of superlatives ahead!






We're just back from the most amazing week's holiday - the best ever according to the girls. We flew to Port Elizabeth, and then drove over 1,000 kilometres along the Garden Route and through the Klein Karoo on our way back to Cape Town.

We crammed a lot in to the week - almost too much, but not quite! We stayed in a different place almost every night, from luxurious B&Bs to mountain lodges and fancy tents. We passed through amazing landscapes: dry bush, plunging canyons, mountains and forests, pounding Indian Ocean coastlines. Rural SA is very different to the cities. Living in the countryside isn't aspirational: this is where the poverty is most grinding and the living standards lowest. In SA, a whole socio-ecomonic class is defined as 'rural' on the assumption that there will be no electricity, no running water, no amenities of any kind. Traditions and customs are still hugely important in the countryside too. Given there is no universal health system and visits to a doctor are expensive and could involve long journeys, witch doctors and sangomas (traditional healers) still hold sway. Plus a deeply held belief in, and respect for, the power of the ancestors.

Anyway, back to our holiday. Quick run through of the highlights.....

Day 1: Flight to P.E. on Saturday morning. Picked up our hire car, and headed to the sea front for lunch. Quite cool and cloudy, so after a walk along the promenade we headed to our B&B to get settled. Girls got straight in the pool despite the temperature, but didn't stay in for long!

Day 2: Off to Addo Elephant Reserve. The third largest game reserve in SA, it covers nearly 3,500 square kilometres. It's one of SA's national parks and teems with wildlife, including the Big 5. In the end we didn't see any lions, leopards, rhino or buffalo, but had some spectacular views of the elephants the reserve originally specialised in. We stayed in a cute and cosy forest cabin, and took two game drives, one a 'Sundowner' with the obligatory drink next to a waterhole. The highlight of this drive, apart from the ellies and the sunset, was the sight of 2 black-backed jackals howling at the moon. Spectacularly eerie!

Day 3: Morning drive at Addo, then a swim in the pool, as the weather is really starting to heat up. Great excitement when a cheeky vervet monkey ran off with one of Elizabeth's Crocs. We had to chase it over the fence to get the shoe back! We spent the afternoon on a slow drive through the length of the southern section of the reserve, spotting kudu, zebra, eland, elephant herds complete with babies, warthog (really cute, if very ugly). Stayed in Jeffrey's Bay overnight - the unfortunate Afrikaans word for town (dorp) just about summing up this unexceptional place, renowned only for surfing as far as we can tell.

Day 4: Quick get away from dorps-ville, and off to another national park, Tsitikamma. We stayed at the Storms River Mouth rest camp in another little lodge. The national park accomodation is excellent, and very reasonably priced. Amazingly located right on the edge of the sea with the surf crashing and banging on the rocks day and night.

Before we even got to the sea however we took the treetop canopy tour of the local forest. Right up in the tops of the tallest trees, amongst the forest buzzards, monkeys and snakes (none in evidence thankfully), we whizzed down 10 zipwires as we zigzagged across the forest. Lottie has been excited about this activity since we first suggested it, but Elizabeth was more reticent and started off feeling quite scared. (So was I, but I could hardly admit it to Libby). Our instructor was very patient and gentle and, as I had fully expected, after the first couple of 'zips' Elizabeth was declaring her love for the tour and how she didn't want it to end. She was left dangling a few times though on the longest wires - too light to really get enough momentum up.

Day 5: A second day at Tsitsikamma. We spent today walking and exploring the fabulous scenery of the national park. In the morning we did a short but fairly strenuous walk to the lookout spot high on the neighbouring hill. The views were stupendous. We returned via the suspension bridge across the gorge. The world's highest bungee jump is at Storms River, but we didn't see any mad souls attempting the leap!

After lunch we headed off on the waterfall trail, despite the scary sounding warning.



And so glad we did as it was a lovely walk, mainly boulder-hopping along the rocky shoreline, but with stretches through the forest. Unfortunately, due to the prolonged and severe drought (the worst in over 100 years in the Eastern Cape), the waterfall was underwhelming when we reached it, and the promised swim in the fresh water pool didn't materialise as a lack of running water had made the pool look a bit suspect.

We did however catch a glimpse of the Knysna Loerie, a bright red and green bird with a peculiar shield on its head, and a long tail.

Got home as dusk was falling, meaning Neil had to braai in the dark!

All in all an amazing first half to our holiday.