More of Africa - Sun City and Capetown by Mary Helen

I arrived home last night after sleeping most of the way on the flight, felt as if I had missed out on the luxury of the flight but sleeping on the flat bed was a luxury one does not enjoy in 57A - my usual seat!

The trip was amazing and when I do get my head together I will send you the images of your good self with the lion cubs, they are wonderful and something to show the grandchildren. It was lovely spending only a few days with you, I thoroughly enjoyed our chats about such a range of things and yes, age does has its benefits sometimes - actually, most of the time.

The flight back must have been a hoot, I'd love to hear your stories about it - I am sure Sir Richard was the life of the party.

When I left you Pam and I drove to Sun City about 2 hrs from JNB where we stayed for the night. An incredible oasis of four hotels ranging from 5star deluxe to 4 star - I was expecting it to be a tad tacky but was pleasantly surprised - the 5 star deluxe property (The Palace) was amazing and somewhere I could bunker down for a few weeks. Pam then came back to JNB and I went on to a game park for an overnight inspection. Instead of staying at the lodge when I arrived I went out quadbike riding through the villages with one of the boys from the lodge - what an experience. The local children came from nowhere and I gave then a ride - I wanted to take them all home with me! I then did a safari trip at sunset and saw elephants, rhinos and all assortment of animals including a wild dog kill - luckily the "dinner" was already dead but it was a bit confronting for a city chick - my stomach was churning as everyone was marvelling at the near extinct dogs doing their stuff.

We flew to Cape Town and met up with one of Pam's guides, Mark was just wonderful and he took us everywhere. Cape Town is such a beautiful city - you would love it - great setting on the water with Table Mountain in the background, fantastic shopping and restaurants.