Starting in Cape Town, then on to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated...

And inside the buildings including Mandela's cell

Some pictures from the top of Table Mountain

Views from the top of Table Mountain, including fools about to abseil down.....

And below, penguins at Boulder's Beach, they're soo sweet!

You can see why it's called 'Boulders' Beach!  The next morning we  went and saw them in the water

This chap has just jumped in (right)

These five penguins (right) have me (scary object) on one side and a lady with a dog, (another scary object) on the other, so they don't know which way to turn.  Hence the beady eyes on me!

Have you seen my car?

On our way to Cape Point - lots of nice views and the first lighthouse 

And Baboons on the way out - stopping all the traffic to take photos (including me, of course)

The one on his own is a baby who is having his fleas picked by the family... seems quite happy?

The lovely houses are in Elim - very pretty, note the angel weathevane on the church

The real southernmost point - this is the lighthouse at that point. 

Above, a typical market scene.  The bronze leopards (left) are in the middle of Stellenbosch in the wine region.

Views around Stellenbosch and Franschhoeck - wine region

The gardens at one vineyard

More views around the wine region

View of Table Mountain (far left) and in the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden

Another leopard in bronze. 

 To the right, our guide plus one of the many statues in Kirstenbosch

Red hot pokers (left)

Proteas below left

The Hippo statue is one of many in the gardens

On the left - Table Mountain with a wide angle lens - doesn't look flat at all

Same below - really it is Table Mountain!

Above, Lion Hill

To the side and below are the shoreline at Cape Town,plus another lighthouse

Rhino and Lion safari park - one you can drive yourself around, near Johannesburg.  No getting out the car.  Except with my brother's camera is in the back and he gets out.  And a ranger comes along to tell him off... 

Rhino,with baby too (below).

Above, a 'bok of some sort and of course ostriches - very curious birds

A pride of white lions snoozing in the sun.

I really like the leopard pics - again quite lazy but they just had a walk around the car to find somewhere to nap in the sun. 

Warthogs having a bit of a disagreement

This is more like a petting zoo in the same park.  Keith (brother, below) went in the pen with three baby tigers

Meet Keith's new friends - the tiger cub and then the blue stork... who thought he had treats in his pockets and between his toes...

Keith with his bird!

lovely flamingos

Above, Keith and I about to go to the wedding that we've gone to South Africa for. 

Following, pics from the monkey and elephant sanctuaries that we visited the following day

Keith on Courage Bridge - Heidi would have liked this - its a suspension bridge, and boy, does it rock!

Up close and personal with the elephants

Walking with the elephants is great fun - you stick your fingers up its trunk and lead it around.  And yes, elephant snot abounds

Below, ellies with meerkats and then an ellie who wants the branch that is just out of reach!

After the elephant sanctuary, we went to the first safari lodge - Elephant Plains.

See the welcoming committee - yes the bigger giraffe is about to mount the smaller one, but I didn't include that pic.

Also the elephants on the plain....

Elephant having a dust bath (far left) and then a 'chocolate elephant' who was mud bathing.... 

Yep that mud is good on a hot day!

More ellie pics including a baby

Coming up some lion pics - she's a mean lioness see that snarl...

Ranger with gun up as the lionesses are pretty mean and were about to go for him.  We backed off pretty quickly.

More lions - now we have a different pride and the males showing their manes

You'll see some zebra too.  The next day there was one less - the lionesses had killed it (but not the baby)

There were 8 cubs with the 3 lionesses and two males, all feeding on the zebra

Bit of a yawn from the lion (top left).  The other lion shows off his scars on his nose.On the left, a hippo.  They were quite shy and we only saw one out of the water.  He thought that if he hid his head in a bush (but not his wobbly bottom), then we couldn't see him.  Must try that myself, sometime 

Below are a sequence of ellies, they have had a ruck with another herd and are rushing across our path.  One of the young ones then decided to have a tantrum at us and then run off....  Not the best pictures, but the panic and movement is great

Yes this is the tantrum - look at that trunk swinging!

Some pics when we left Elephant Plains - I love the carrying a cone on your head.

Horseshoe falls and Bridal falls

The Pinnacle and the view from God's Window

The Three Rondavels and views in the same area

At Kirkman's Kamp, our second safari - the local warthog and then some zebra.

Some leopard pics - a speciality here.  This is mum who has made a kill and is going to pick up her cub (about 8 months old) for him to have breakfast...

You can see the cub (a bit above).  He wants to play and not go for food.  Eventually mum gets him there.  She also manages to put the carcass into the tree (while we weren't there).

The last two pics are of the male leopard - thinking about his own kill and poised, but he is upwind and the impala flee.  So he has a sit down and a bit of a yawn.

The next pic here is the Kamp itself.

More leopards to follow

So here we have the cub with dinner.  Mum is looking on (far right)

Again, eating lunch, with mum having a sit down (far right)

The lions here were hiding most of the time but we found them, surprise, having a nap!

My flight home - this is the local airport and my plane landing (above).  A six seater, so teeny!

This plane (left) seems to be a fixture, as are the baboons, it seems (underneath, by the back wheel)

A few pics from the flight.  When we landed there was a welcoming party - apparently their idea of a school trip is to go and see the planes landing at Kruger Airport!

So, safari, anyone?!