Summer Travels 2025

We got up early and both showered. It was freezing, but the shower was the best one we had had in a while. We went to have breakfast at 7:30 and the restaurant was moving very slowly. The waitress was building a fire in the fireplace and then took our orders. Our drinks came quickly, but it took forever for our food to arrive. While we were waiting, Sandra told us about her night. When she was getting into bed, she ran her hand on her sheet and felt something sharp. She looked and a small piece of glass in her bed had cut her hand! There was dried blood on the sheet so she thinks the maid cut her hand making the bed. There was broken glass on the floor, too! Our food finally came, but Ineike’s eggs were runny even though she had requested for the egg whites to be fully cooked not clear. She asked if they could take them back and cook them a little more. Twenty minutes later, we were all done eating and when we asked about her eggs, the man went to check and brought them out a few minut...

We got up early and got ready and packed. We enjoyed our final breakfast buffet and then went and got our luggage. The Lamborghini Club of South Africa was at the hotel. There were only four Lamborghinis in the parking lot. Three of them were very low to the ground and I have no idea how they made it up the road to the hotel!  We took a few last pictures. Next, we drove to Falcon Ridge to see a raptor show at a birds of prey rehabilitation center. It was very interesting! We got to see a fish eagle, a peregrine falcon, an owl, and vultures fly around. They showed us how they use falconry techniques to exercise the birds after they have healed so they can rebuild their stamina. During the show, our van alarm went off twice. Our van was parked out of sight and had all our luggage in it. We were glad when Sandra went to check it. Thankfully it was another false alarm. We got back on the road and stopped at a bakery to use the restroom and get a snack. I had an apple tart which was tas...

We slept in a little and went to breakfast around 8. The breakfast buffet was amazing! After we ate, we got ready to hike. We picked a shorter hike so that we could have time to relax around the hotel. We hiked to Doreen Falls. We took a slightly longer route so that it ended up being about 3-4 miles round trip. The home was rated as level A (easiest) and we were surprised because the first part of the hike was fairly difficult. However, we realized that we had added onto our hike and hadn’t gone the way we were supposed to. When we got to Doreen Falls, we spent a lot of time admiring them and taking photos. We then hiked back the easy way to the Cathedral Peak Hotel. It was almost time for lunch so we waited in the hotel lobby for a bit. Lunch was tasty. When we were done, I went back and showered. We went to see the chapel where Tammy would love to get married. It was smaller than I anticipated but had a gorgeous view. Tammy and I had $15 massages at 3:30. It was great other than the...

We got up around 7 and got ready and packed our stuff. It was easy because we had been leaving everything in our suitcases and backpacks in case the monkeys got into our rondavel. Did I mention that our rondavel smelled like animal pee? We are assuming it was monkey pee. Tammy saw a big spider on the bathroom wall and when I came to see it, I saw two more. They were hiding in the cracks in the wall. The body was at least the size of a quarter and with the legs it was 2-3 inches in diameter. Tammy looked it up later and they were Common Wall Spiders which are “completely harmless” unless you are Tammy and spiders give you a heart attack. We went down the hill and had coffee. Tammy’s mom was making scrambled eggs and I had some and a piece of toast. I had barely started eating when Devon arrived in the Land Rover to pick us up. He was over a half hour early. I quickly ate and ran up the hill to brush my teeth before bringing my luggage to meet the Land Rover when it arrived at the top. W...