Justin turned 40 on October 27th 2005! We had agreed that I'd plan a surprise trip for him so I had the pleasure of spending many happy hours online perusing travel sites, accommodation, flights, etc! So, here is what we did..... (the good and the bad!)
("whoops! photos appear to be completely and utterly back to front regarding the order of the trip!" sorry about that!)I ended up using Tshokwane Safaris for the Namibian part of the trip and Johann was fantastic, so helpful, I'd recommend him any day! www.tshokwane.co.za He basically took all my requests and put a perfect itinerary together, right down to getting the dates right so that we were in the right place at the right time for Justin's birthday!
First we stayed in Melville, South Africa, for the weekend http://www.saffronhousebnb.com/ which was nice but they gave us the wrong room for the first night, something about a leak in the roof....but there were other people in there so I was a fed up as I'd already paid in advance and it was the most expensive and the guy had even recommended it to me! They moved us the next day for the last two nights but we found it wasn't very private, it was very arty decor but the doors had loads of coloured glass in and you could actually see into the rooms! So it was a bit embarrassing getting dressed and stuff! To finish off, on our last night there was an awful fight outside our room! It was over the wall in a car park but we laid in bed flinching as we heard all this shouting and punching, we could 'feel' the punches, hear the people falling over and smacking into the ground and everything, they were really shouting aggressively so it wasn't great! (It turns out that Saffron House has been taken over by a company with various properties - it used to be personally owned by a lady and was probably more thoughtfully run) Nonetheless while we were in Melville we met up with Justin's folks for lunch and also went to his sister Jane and Tracy's for lunch in their new townhouse on the Sunday for lunch which was really nice. We had a couple of meals out and did some shopping.
Then on the Monday we went to the airport and Justin assumed we were flying to Cape Town or something so it was a great surprise to go to International Departures! We managed to check in without him seeing where we were going and I finally told him as we had something to eat about half an hour before we boarded that we were off to Namibia!
So we were in great moods and had a good flight but when we arrived at Windhoek my bag didn't arrive, only Justin's!
This really knocked us flat! Anyway, we transferred to the guesthouse for the night www.tourism-africa.co.za/namibia-accommodation/hilltop-house which was really nice. I had to wash out my clothes as all I had was what I was wearing - t-shirt, cargo pants and slip-slops. The guy there made us some toasted cheese sarnies and got us a big bottle of wine (there was also a mini bar which we pretty much emptied in our stress!!!) so we had a nice evening on the verandah outside our room and it was ok except for the worry about my bag. Next morning we had breakfast in our room but instead of it being leisurely as was my plan, we had to get up early and cab it into Windhoek town centre to get me some clothes and toiletries!
Luckily it's like Jo'burg so there were normal shops (I'd been a bit worried thinking it might be like Chingola!!!!) So I got a few basics.
One of my worries was that we were about to board the Desert Express and you're supposed to dress up quite nicely for dinner on the train, you know how it is, and I'd had nice clothes in my bag so that we could enjoy the opportunity of getting dressed up.
When we got back to the guesthouse with about ten minutes to spare before we left there was a message that they'd found my bag and it would arrive a couple of nights later!
So, we transferred to Windhoek station and checked in for the train http://www.desertexpress.com.na/ and it was great! We had SUCH a laugh! The cabin was gorgeous and it was just so surreal to be slowly chugging along watching the scenery change out of the window. The food was great, the drinks were great, we had to walk along to the end of the train for a smoke and sit in the conference room which had a little dance floor even and some chairs and tables arranged for us smokers!! There were only 15 of us on the train so it was quite empty which was also nice. We stopped for sundowners and got taken on a drive and saw white rhino and then had drinks laid on. The train pulled into a siding after dinner and we could get off and stretch our legs then go to bed. It started moving about 3am and I remember waking at about 5am and looking out of the curtains to see the desert passing slowly by! It was just too amazing for words! It was all like some adventure -Enid Blyton famous five or something!!!! We had breakfast in the dining car and then the train stopped in the middle of the desert and we walked across the sand to "Rand Rifles Dune" and climbed up it - pretty high! Quite hard walking up a dune as you keep sliding and sinking!! Apparently they filmed there, Dennis Quaid I think? Flight of the phoenix maybe? Knowing me I've got that all wrong, but something like that! IF YOU DO ONE SPECIAL THING IN YOUR LIFE, TAKE A TRIP ON THE DESERT EXPRESS!!!! We will never forget it!
We arrived in Swakopmund and had an hour or two to walk around and have a drink then we transferred to the airport there and boarded our light aircraft! We were the only two passengers so it was extra cool! The flight over the desert was amazing and we landed after about an hour and transferred to "Little Kulala Desert Camp" www.wilderness-safaris.com/camps (then click on Namibia camps and you'll see it).
This was beautiful, your own star-gazing deck, front deck and plunge pool (so hot there you needed it to cool down) lovely room, outdoor shower, brilliant view and very private, only nine 'kulalas'.
The first night we had dinner on our private star-gazing deck and also slept up there in the special beds they put out for us! Duvets and everything! It was great! Fab! (oh, my bag arrived that night, someone drove it there all through the desert from Windhoek, about five hours drive!) My bag had been broken into and straps cut and locks wrenched open so we did panic but found that they only nicked our small 'emergency' whisky bottle. They had put other people's stuff in my bag though so had obviously been rummaging through loads of people's bags. We have now heard that this happens quite a lot so advise anyone flying via Jo'burg airport to get luggage security wrapped - R50 per item of luggage - worth it for peace of mind). So the next morning we got up at 5am and went hot air ballooning! Yay! It was Justin's actual birthday 'day' so perfect! It was a bit windy and we nearly couldn't 'take off' but then we were ok! A great experience, surreal again!
We landed after an hour and had champagne brekkie in the middle of the desert! Surreal yet again!!! A long table laid up beautifully just sitting there waiting for us all to arrive! Weird! But brilliant! So we can never forget Justin's 40th that's for sure!
Back at the camp we chilled out for the rest of the day, lunched, had dinner on our little front deck that night, relaxed the next morning and transferred by game-viewing vehicle to our last camp for one night - Sossusvlei Wilderness Camp - website as above, you'll see it there as well.
We had lunch there and then spent the afternoon dipping in and out of our little plunge pool, drinking wine and drinking in the view! Amazing! It got really windy in the afternoon and was actually hectic, like a hurricane, apparently the wind gets up every afternoon and everything has to be closed up. It made us realise that the desert is not actually meant for man to live in, we can visit and see it's beauty but it's not ours. Yeah, ok, I'm sounding a bit poetic here or something I know!!!! It makes you feel that way though!
So the next day we had to hang around until about 3pm for our flight back to Windhoek by light aircraft again - just the two of us again! There was a storm coming - the first! The pilot pretended not to be scared -French guy, young, scruffy, long hair, with his chick in tow!!!! It was a hair raising flight for an hour or more! We flew into the storm, through thick clouds with no visibility, through rain, bumped all over the show, had lightening flashing all around us! At one point we were so low and so close to a rocky outcrop that I really thought the wing was going to smash into it and we were going to crash! I was not exactly the most happiest of bunnies at that point! I felt pretty grotty too I must admit! Was very relieved to land in Windhoek! Then when we boarded the 'big' plane for our flight to Jo'burg the pilot announced "there will be turbulence all the way due to storms"!!!!!!!!!!! Aaaargh!
That night we stayed at African Dreams Guest House near the airport which was ok. We were pretty tired as it was getting late by then. We went to bed quite quickly.
The next morning Justin's sister phoned to say she was sick and her and Tracy wouldn't be joining us for lunch. I was devastated! I felt like it was all going wrong! I'd got a limo arriving (www.limohire.co.za) to pick us up and then we were on to pick up Justin's parents and Jane & Tracy! He kept saying 'what is it babe? Tell me', so I had to tell him and he'd kind of guessed he said! Anyway, it was all fine, the limo was BRILLIANT! We just ended up the four of us but had a great laugh in the limo and had an amazing lunch at Bellgables Country Restaurant. www.bellgables.co.za The food was gorgeous and the restaurant was just beautiful - owned by two gay guys and had lots of glamourous diners (including us of course!!!).
The limo took me and Justin to Melrose Arch Hotel after dropping Rex & Prue home. http://www.africanpridehotels.com/ (then select melrose arch) which is the most hip and trendy hotel in South Africa (so they say!) I got a discount because I have a protea hotel prokard (www.prokard.co.za) which helped with the price! (I also got a discount at Budget car hire with the card!) It was excellent! The room was so cool! M & Ms in a bowl on the desk for you to munch on! A mini bar stocked like you wouldn't believe with even lots of chocolate and in the cupboard pringles and nuts and stuff! The tea tray had proper milk and even packets of biscuits! Under the TV was a drawer with five DVDs in it for you to watch! It was a very cool place, the decor was fab, very modern and funky, a nice change from the 'traditional african look'. We didn't go there but outside they have a bar with giant flowerpots in a shallow swimming pool and tables and chairs so you take off your shoes and paddle out!
We hung out in the lounge and had a few drinks - a real smoking lounge - funniest thing was - all smoking - nowhere for non-smoking which makes a change!
So that was a really cool night!
The next day we flew to Cape Town and the apartment was nice but the website had made it look much nicer that it actually was. (I think it had just seen better days)
http://www.campsbayapartments.com/ (then click on Rutland Place). We were having a great laugh and in high spirits, planning to go out for dinner all three nights. We had some bread, cheese & salami which the girl there had organised for me and I had a glass of wine, Justin had a couple of beers. Then we walked into Camps Bay, about five minutes, stopped for a sundowner (I had a whisky sour, hadn't had one in years and saw it on the menu). We decided to walk back and then checked out the video/dvd store on the way. While in there I felt odd, hot and uncomfortable and we had to hurry home. I had a dodgy stomach and wasn't feeling hundreds so we decided to drive back down, pick up Nando's and a dvd for the evening.
So something made me really sick. Justin was fine. He ended up having to go out to a late night pharmacy in Sea Point - dodgy area - and get me medicine as I was feeling so terrible.
So that was the end of that! Our short stay in Cape Town never amounted to much thanks to me! Or maybe thanks to the whisky sour! I never really got back on my feet properly. We had a couple of drives out but that was all.
On our last night, having flown back to Jo'burg, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Garden Court (about ten minutes from the airport by shuttle and our favoured place to stay for an 'airport overnight') and had the afternoon so that was quite leisurely and I was feeling much better. We had a couple of drinks at McGinty's Bar and some food, then went to our room where we watched Mr & Mrs Smith and thought it was pretty good!
And that was it!
We arrived home on the Friday 4th November afternoon to be welcomed by six absolutely gorgeous babies going mad with excitement!
I then gave Justin his forty presents which I'd been slowly buying, some online, some in England when I was there! He couldn't believe it!
The 'piece de resistance' being a cd that I'd had made for him, totally personalised with basically the 'story of us' with lyrics including all our 'babies' and their foibles! Alan, the guy who made it, had incorporated lines from poetry that I'd sent him as well as words from our favourite songs, all adapted to fit in but with great meaning. www.give-a-song.com
So all I can say in closing is....."roll on my 40th!" hmmmm, wonder where Justin'll take me.....?!
