I’ve realised my non book related blogging has been a bit sparse recently – and this was supposed to also be a record of things that have happened to remember in the future – so I’m going to put that right!
Last weekend my Dad ended up in hospital on the Portuguese island of Madeira (famous for the cake, wine and Cristiano Ronaldo). Thankfully Dad is ok and safely home in the UK now – but this tale of his time incapacitated has produced an amusing anecdote that needs to be recorded for posterity.
Dad was asked if he wanted a cup of tea, to which he replied ‘yes please’. They asked if he wanted sugar, he said ‘no, just a little milk’.
He was subsequently presented with a cup containing just a bit of warm milk!
I shouldn’t mock – my Portuguese only extends to hello / goodbye / please / thank you – and chicken – so I’m impressed that the lovely support staff could ask him what he wanted, and it just goes to show how phrases that are normal conversation to us sound weird to other nationalities!
I have blogged before about my love of gin, and since then a fabulous shop stocking, amongst other things, a huge range of gin has opened in our village. I believe it was a complete coincidence that such a shop opened so close to where we live, and there wasn’t a demographic study completed to securitise funding against the future gin consumption of the local area……… Gin & Pickles is great for a coffee and cake, when it’s too early for gin, and gin and a cheese & meat platter later in the day.
Gin & Pickles has also hosted some gin tastings which I’ve gone to. The first couple I went to were hosted by The Gintleman, as in my first gin blog, and thankfully I’ve always consumed so much gin, lots of the information is forgotten between tastings! The most recent gin tasting was by Chase Distillery. This was a fortnight before my birthday – and the lovely brand ambassador, Tilly, mentioned that you could do tours of the distillery – and that they have a sister hotel that you can go to for a meal or even an overnight stay before or after your tour – and they will ferry you between the two places. This seemed an ideal birthday present from my husband to me (which obviously I sorted out myself #controlfreak) and last week we headed off for our tour of Chase and overnight stay at Verzon House.
We arrived at the hotel, checked in, and had a welcome drink – a gin and tonic, natch!
Welcome drinks – gins, of course!
We were then whisked 20 minutes away in a mini bus to the Chase estate.
The tours can be anything up to 15 people – but there were only 5 on ours. There was us, a guy who had just started work for Chase, and then a couple from Devon. (Turns out they were actually originally Brummies like us – but had moved to Devon to run a hotel). We were a lively bunch – but that definitely added to the tour.
It was incredibly interesting – and almost emotional – I was so proud of them growing the potatoes which they make initially into vodka (using spring water from on site and wood to power the wood burning stoves from the site too) – which then is either flavoured as vodka, or distilled with juniper to become gin! So when people say they like vodka but don’t like gin, it’s often because they don’t like the taste of juniper (or in my sister’s case, we realised it was the tonic with the gin that was the issue – she’s now a gin and rose lemonade kind of girl!) But for people to say they like gin but don’t like vodka is a bit weird!
We got to smell and taste the output at different stages which was ‘interesting’ – my husband was not backward in some of his descriptions (it tastes like petrol etc!)
It’s also amazing to think that every bottle of booze with the Chase name on it goes through that distillery – Fat Betty and Ginny are working super hard (these are machines rather than staff members, of which there are 54 now – the new bloke on our tour being the 54th!!)
After we’d looked at all of the gin memorabilia, including the entire range of bottles – and smelt lots of botanicals, and posed for photos in front of Fat Betty – we then got to go downstairs and try LOTS of the produce! Given we already own most of the gins, we tried lots of the vodkas – and I am a total convert. The straight potato vodka is lush – just so smooth compared to teenage experiences with cheaper grain based vodkas! And the flavoured ones wonderful – we came home with quite a few!!! The bottles we acquired being presented in potato bags was a fab touch.
We were then escorted back to Verzon House to prepare for dinner.
The hotel room was lovely – although somewhat warm (not helped by the husband having a boiling hot bath in the middle of the bedroom!) There is quite a lot of stuffed animal art on the walls – it didn’t bother us (although the husband impersonating all of them got a little wearing!) but we did wonder what a vegetarian might think if they stayed there?!
The food was AMAZING! The cocktails were great too. There wasn’t a huge amount of atmosphere in the restaurant, but it was a mid week stay in March – so not many tables. All of the staff were really attentive and did a great job.
Breakfast the next morning was served in the bar rather than the restaurant – and we were the only guests – but it was plentiful and tasty. I’d recently been converted to the product of another sister company, Willy’s Apple Cider Vinegar, and thought I’d miss my daily dose whilst away – but they had some with breakfast! The husband wasn’t converted though…….
Overall it was a fabulous experience and one we’d highly recommend. There is a shop at the distillery so you can get products at bargain prices – but you really should do the tour as well! And you can get almost the entire range at Gin & Pickles too – to save the drive to Herefordshire.
Our purchases!
This is not a sponsored post, we bought and paid for everything at all of the places mentioned above, I’m just sharing the love of gin – and now vodka! Cheers!
I said last month that I would ‘blog the sh*t’ out of our trip to Australia – but guess what, I was too busy having the holiday of a lifetime to do any blogging at all!!
But – I really want to – I want to remember every little bit of the holiday for the future – which was one of the reasons I started blogging in the first place, to have a permanent record of family ‘stuff’.
I want to remember:
the amazing Christmas lights at our friends’ house in Bunbury,
the fabulous new game for Christmas Day ‘find Daddy’s phone that he’s dropped in the ocean’,
snorkelling and diving at the Great Barrier Reef (although perhaps not the ultra unflattering photos of me in a stinger suit – which my husband has ‘kindly’ now got as his computer screen saver),
the 7 year old getting confused and asking why the kangaroo Daddy had for lunch was called Phillip (it was actually a kangaroo fillet)
the fireworks to see 2018 out and 2019 in from our hotel room overlooking Sydney harbour,
2/3rds of the family climbing Sydney harbour bridge
and lots and lots and lots more.
So my one and only New Year Resolution is to get all of the above documented properly to remember forever.
The Price family loved Australia and we will definitely be back (well, depending if we all survive the whole jetlag thing – the little 2 have been up since 3am…………….)
Just over 19 years ago (eek!) I worked in Sydney for 3 months. I had an amazing time being an accountant by day and a tourist by night and at the weekends. I had an inane grin on my face every day when I caught the bus (yes, Libby on a bus!) across the harbour bridge from my flat in North Sydney to the Deloitte office on George Street. Thankfully there was no social media back then, so not much permanent evidence! This photo is when one of my BFFs came to visit as she’d been working on secondment too, up the coast in Brisbane. How young do we both look?!?! We didn’t look quite that fresh faced after a big night out last week I can tell you!!
The husband and I returned in 2006 when we had the eldest 2 kids. We had a great holiday on the east coast – here’s us on a rainy Bondi Beach and the children in Port Douglas – I’ve actually kept this photo in my wallet ever since (to remind me of when they actually liked each other!!)
Now we’re heading Down Under as a family of 6. We’re doing the recently started 17 hour direct flight to Perth – and catching up with some friends who emigrated a fair few years ago. We’re then flying cross country and time zones to the Great Barrier Reef for Christmas, and then, in proper bucket list style, Sydney for New Year!
I. CAN. NOT. WAIT! Given the festive stress levels, the 17 hour flight to sit (lie) down and drink fizz whilst watching films sounds idyllic – and there should be plenty of sunshine when we get there.
Obviously I will be blogging the sh*t out of the whole trip – so watch this space!!
Although not sure how many more of my husband’s Down Under jokes I can deal with…………………….
(To the tune of ‘One Night In Bangkok’ , or ‘One Night In Heaven’ – take your pick!)
This summer the Price family went on an African adventure. Between our stays in Zimbabwe and The Seychelles – we had an overnight stay in Johannesburg due to flight timings. Joburg felt very different to Cape Town. It felt more of a sprawling city – not hemmed in by a huge mountain, so it could just spread and spread – and there were people EVERYWHERE. It felt a bit more daunting. We literally travelled from the airport to our hotel and back again – so didn’t see anything that the city or surrounding area had to offer. The Saxon hotel, however, was incredible.
We were lucky enough to stay in one of their villas – which are generally used by visiting dignitaries, celebrities and royalty to avoid the paparazzi in the main hotel! We’d missed Katy Perry by a week, and Nelson Mandela by a few years (he finished his autobiography ‘Long Walk To Freedom’ in the hotel). It’s joined to the main hotel by a skywalk (and as our son is Luke, cue lots of jokes about Luke Skywalker!)
We had 3 of the 7 luxury suites in Villa One and it was wonderful. Partly – it was nice to be back in proper civilisation after a week in the Zimbabewean bush – and to have Molton Brown toiletries (even if the husband did call them Melton Mowbray – a small village in Leicestershire, UK famous for pork pies?!?)
The kids loved the (heated) pool – and us adults loved the complimentary bottle of champagne in each suite. I have to confess we didn’t quite manage all 3!
We all enjoyed the super quick wifi (the one thing Zimbabwe lacked!) and the most amazing steak we’ve ever eaten. The food was great for dinner and breakfast – although slightly slow (I guess it has to come across from the main hotel) and that was the only minor negative of the whole stay.
Eating spag bol
The evidence!
The stay was brief – but fabulous. We managed to leave ‘liony’ behind – he was camouflaged by the white bed sheets, being a white lion himself. However, a call from the airport saw him being chauffeur driven to be reunited with a distraught 8 year old before we got on our flight to Mahe!
If you find yourself in Joburg – we would thoroughly recommend the Saxon – just a shame our stay was so brief.
Note: This is not a sponsored post, we paid for everything we did. All of it was organised by our wonderful Travel Counsellor Michelle. We just wanted to share the amazing trip we had – and keep a record of it for us to look back on.
I’ve mentioned before that we were holidaying in Africa this summer – well, that started in the city of Cape Town. There were 6 of us – my husband and I, and our kids – who range in age from 15 down to 6.
Here’s a random selection of things we did during our stay:
Our accomodationThe Cape Grace hotel – right on the V&A Waterfront was fabulous. All of us thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. The location was perfect, the views stunning, the service exceptional – and the wifi strong (which is a pre-requisite when travelling with children!)
We made use of the outside pool area – although admittedly were the only people in it due to it being midwinter! And I had a couple of excellent massages in the spa as I was struggling with a dodgy back.
Checking in with iced tea
Walking to our suite
The view of the pool from our balcony
The view of the amazing boats from our balcony
The taster menu in their restaurant was stunning – but equally, room service was also excellent – and very convenient in our 3 bedroomed suite, and we even ate on the balcony being hardy Brits!
Pool ready
The brave ones in the pool
Looking back up to our balcony
Lunch al fresco
I had a slight work crisis whilst there – and the staff were great, printing out documents for me to work on.
The suite was stunning – and perfect for our large family. We would definitely stay there again and highly recommend it for anyone visiting whether for work, as a couple, friends or families.
Table Mountain peaking out of the clouds
Such a stunning view
Random dog charitySo this is a slightly weird one – and wasn’t in our planned itinerary – but was a highlight for the kids in particular! Close to the hotel, in Nobel Square, there was a pop up dog rescue run by a charity for re-homing dogs. Whilst adopting a dog on holiday was clearly out of the question – you could also pay to take them for a walk for 10 minutes, or to play with the puppies and we did both!
The children loved it! You could also pay to name a dog – but there weren’t any nameless ones when we were there – however, the 8 year old has told everyone how she walked ‘Tonya Harding’ #nottheiceskater
The Big Red Bus TourWe did this on our first day – and it gave us a real feel for the layout of the city and close surrounding area. The weather was kind so we could sit on the top deck of the bus and enjoy the sunshine and commentary. We’ve done bus tours in lots of cities and it really helps you understand the geography and history (I am such a geek!!) Sadly the cable car to the top of Table Mountain was closed for maintenance, but the bus took us to the base station which still gave amazing views across the ocean to Robben Island and beyond.
Bus Top selfie
Looking out from Table Mountain
Maintenance works at Table Mountain
At one point we thought we’d spotted a whale – turned out it was a rock – but we’d somehow incited the whole bus into taking photos of it………
You can see why we thought it was a whale…..
The back of Table Mountain
Robben IslandTalking of Robben Island (or Robin Hood Island as my husband mistakenly called it – which is only amusing if you’re familiar with Hall Green in the South of Birmingham where a traffic roundabout is called that!) We were all really looking forward to this – especially the 6 year old who had learnt about Nelson Mandela at school last year. But we were thwarted because the weather was bad and all ferries were cancelled. So it’s the on planned thing that we missed out on during our whole trip!
The Cape WheelWe’d spotted this from our balcony and thought we should give it a go. Like the London Eye – but smaller. You had some great views from the top – although it did make me feel a bit motion sick! (It doesn’t take a lot, I feel sea sick on a swing or a lilo!!)
The view of an illuminated Cape Wheel from our hotel
TC Ted at the wheel
Apprehensive given I get motion sickness and don’t like heights!
Gorgeous girl on the Cape Wheel
Cape TourWe had been driven from the airport to the hotel by the wonderful Nazeem from Ilios Travel – and he was our driver for our Cape Tour – assisted by the fabulous guide Rian. It was great to be driven around by such knowledgeable people – and they were both keen to answer any questions or queries we may have had. We visited some great locations – explained more below – but it was definitely worth investing in a private tour as it gave us such flexibility with what we wanted to see -or not see. We would definitely recommend Ilios to anyone visiting South Africa.
We stopped at various points on the route to admire the views. One was the beaches in Clifton which are numbered 1 down to 4. 1 is for the beautiful (or in some cases surgically enhanced) people – the husband is convinced that would be his?!? Then it’s beach 2 for sports activities, beach 3 for the local LGBT scene, and beach 4 for families to chill out. I feel we are far more beach 4 than 1 but didn’t want to burst his bubble!
Strike a pose!
Team Price in front of Chapman’s Peak
We also stopped at the Farm Village in Noordhoek for a coffee where our 15 year old managed to find a tack shop. It sold the specific fly mask she’d been after for her horse that THE WHOLE OF THE UK had sold out of – so obviously we had to buy it and bring it back!!
Cape Point LighthouseThis was great – although very windy! We caught the funicular up and down – but there is still a lot of walking up and down steps to see both lighthouses and the amazing views. Totally worth the effort though!
The funicular – another mode of transport for me to feel sick on
The old lighthouse behind us
It was pretty windy
And there were lots of flights of steps
At the lighthouse
Cape of Good HopeI had – mistakenly (although seemingly a common mistake) – thought this was the Southern most point of Africa – but in fact, it’s the most South Westerly. But anyway – it was beautiful to see. The sun was shining and it was REALLY windy – but great. We had to queue to get photos taken – but apparently it was nothing compared to the queues at the height of the season!
The Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope selfie
Re-enacting The Lion King with TC Ted!
Penguins at Boulders BeachThe penguins were fab! You get to learn a bit about them – and see all different sizes of penguins on land – and swimming. We’d been warned it was a bit smelly – but it wasn’t at all – perhaps because it was winter? The kids now also know all the facts about why African penguins are different to penguins that live on snow and ice!
At Boulders Beach
Young penguins
Strolling up the beach
Kirstenbosch Botanical GardensThis was our last stop on our day trip – and everyone was getting a bit tired! But we still had a great time in the gardens. There’s lots to see – and we probably only witnessed a fraction of it. At least we could tick it off the list!!
Team Price selfie
Photos of plants for Nanny
Sniffing the plants
Like Reservoir Dogs – but scarier!
Two Oceans AquariumWe hadn’t planned to go to the Aquarium – but when our Robben Island trip was cancelled, we thought we’d try it (basically as we were up early and it was close to the hotel!) We were really pleased we did as it was great. There were lots of exhibits to look at – as well as some interactive quizzes for the kids to do. (Oh – and free wifi – which is always a winner!)
A turtle!
With nemo
More nemoes!
Scratch Patch – and Cave GolfWe are lucky enough to have a number of friends from – or who’ve been – to Cape Town. A number recommended Scratch Patch – which we may not have found without the insider knowledge! The original one was in Simon’s Town and opened in the 1970s. This one, just behind the waterfront, was great. Our little girls loved ‘scratching’ to find beautiful gems to bring home from the millions of rocks covering the floor. We started off with little bags (thinking of the luggage allowance!) but ended up buying medium ones too, as there were just so many to chose from! Whilst the girls enjoyed this – the boys played Cave Golf – an inside mini golf course (thankfully with only 2 of them playing this didn’t descend into the argumentative chaos that whole family games of crazy golf have!)
Scratch Patch
A gem angel
Cave Golf champion
The Ferryman’s TavernWe ate and drank at the Ferryman’s Tavern on the V&A waterfront 2 consecutive days – and the waiter remembered our order! I’m not sure if this was because my husband massively over tipped him the first day due to a currency conversion issue, or because the husband was drinking gluten free beer – or just that he was a great waiter – but it made us feel like locals!!
The V&A WaterfrontWe’ve already mentioned lots of places we visited on the waterfront during our stay – but it really was a great location. Lots of places to eat and drink and watch the world go by – and great shopping. The shopping mall was a mixture of familiar names from back home – and also familiar names from trips to the US that aren’t on the UK high street – all in all we had a great time. Generally things in SA seem cheaper than at home – which is always a good justification to buy more!
Chatting to Nelson in Nobel Square
Having missed out on Robben Island – and the fact that as we had the kids in tow the husband and I didn’t do any wineries – we kind of feel that we have unfinished business with Cape Town – but are already looking forward to a return visit in the future.
Note: This is not a sponsored post, we paid for everything we did. All of it was organised by our wonderful Travel Counsellor Michelle. We just wanted to share the amazing trip we had – and keep a record of it for us to look back on.
When people talk about favourite holiday destinations you expect the Caribbean, the Algarve, maybe the South of France or Italian Lakes, perhaps Florida for a Disney-fest – but I would like to add Zimbabwe to that list.
When we said we had Zimbabwe on our itinerary for our African Adventure this summer, friends vocalised their concerns with the political situation – especially with the violence after elections just days before we were due to travel. We were heading to Victoria Falls, over 900km from Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe and where the majority of the troubles have been, and so were hoping that all would be well.
We flew into Vic Falls and had to wait HOURS to get through immigration – as all visitors have to purchase a visa (in US$, as Zimbabwe no longer has its own currency) and then these are hand written and stuck into individual passports. It was a time consuming process – but eventually worth it.
So here are the Price family’s top tips for a once in a lifetime trip to Zimbabwe:
This was our first destination and it was AMAZING! We were lucky enough to stay in their River House – which sleeps 8 and has it’s own private dining room and kitchen, so you don’t have to go to the communal areas at all. We honestly felt like the only people there – despite there being 18 other suites. Like the whole resort it is right on the banks of the Zambezi with stunning views across to Zambia.
The view from our bedroom
A bath with a view too
Sunrise over the Zambezi
Matetsi at night
The rooms are well appointed – with air con, loads of storage, modern bathrooms, mosquito nets – and stunning views out across the river.
We also had our own private pool. It wasn’t heated – but all of the kids, and the husband, managed a brief dip. It was winter when we were there – but I can imagine in summer it would be a great place to chill and escape the heat.
Some of the wildlife does venture down to the lodge – so you do have to be a bit aware. I have to say I never thought I’d hear my daughter yell ‘Mum, Mum, a monkey has just stolen my gluten free breakfast biscuits’!! The cheeky thing had crept through a gap in the door as the girls were chilling in their room, it had swiped a packet of biscuits, climbed up a tree, perfectly opened the packaging and sat munching the gluten free delights! It was quite a sight.
The gluten free monkey!
On the subject of being gluten free, Matetsi handled this dietary requirement brilliantly – and made some fabulous GF options available. They also coped with a very fussy 8 year old who pretty much ate chicken nuggets and chips for every meal. The rest of us were more adventurous and the food was wonderful. As were the drinks – gin and homemade lemonade being my tipple of choice after Chris, the wonderful butler, rustled one up for me the first day. All of the food and drink was included in the price of the stay.
Lunch with a view
Breakfast time (post game drive)
More food!
Our laundry was washed every day, also included in the holiday cost, which with 6 of us was incredibly useful. The final evening the housekeeper had run us a bath and left a bottle of sparkling wine in an ice bucket next to it, for when we got back from our game drive – now that is perfect service! (I won’t include the photo of us in the bath – do not fear!!)
Candlelit bath with wine #perfect
I managed to have an open air full body massage whilst we were there – there is a separate spa / gym / pool / wine cellar complex – and it was wonderfully relaxing, and needed after being thrown around on game drives!
We have been lucky enough to stay in some amazing places around the world – but Matetsi will hold a special place in all of our hearts forever.
2. Game Drives
Matetsi allocated our Guide, Clever (yes, that really was his name) and Tracker, Mongoose (I don’t think that really was his name – but it was what Clever called him the day we met and it stuck!) the afternoon we arrived. We went straight out on our first game drive and it was fabulous.
Our transport for drives
Within minutes of leaving our house we’d seen loads of elephants at a water container. Then we saw impala, zebras, kudus and lots more – along with an amazing sunset. And this was just day one.
Gorgeous elephant
Mongoose spotting a leopard’s kill
We were up early for our game drive the next morning and it was cold. Proper bone chilling cold – which we hadn’t prepared for at all (the other mornings we layered up in ALL OF THE CLOTHES we had!) When we got in the vehicle there were blankets and HOT WATER BOTTLES – which was incredibly welcome. We were delighted to see lions that morning- which is not a given – and it made the bone shaking coldness worthwhile. We were also helped by Mongoose setting up a drinks station where we could have rangers coffee (coffee with a huge shot of Amarula in it!!) to warm up.
Wrapping up warm
Morning coffee
A majestic lion
The lions off hunting for the day
As well as game drives, Clever and Mongoose took us fishing on the Zambezi! I am not renowned for my love of the water – but Mongoose having set up the drinks and snacks on the boat before we arrived definitely helped. As the 15 year old so eloquently put it – ‘Mum’s only in it for the wine’!!
Ready for the snacks
A sunbathing croodile
Sibling assistance with fishing
They were very patient
A herd of elephants on the riverbank
On one drive Clever collected some elephant poo, reconstituted it by soaking it in some water – and then drank the water! This is seemingly a common thing for local people to do for its health giving properties! Mr and Master Price both partook. I didn’t (and informed Mr Price he had to clean his teeth before he could even think about a kiss that day!)
Drinking elephant poo
Like father, like son
All of the drives were amazing – and we saw different things every time.
A zebra crossing
Mongoose’s sundowners
Price family safari selfie
The boy on lookout
You do get a bit blase a few days in – with ‘oh look, more impala’ as if you’re talking about sheep when driving through Wales or such like, but to then see elephants walking across the plains as the sun sets – takes your breath away.
Sunset over the Zambezi
Sunset over the plains with the elephants walking home
3. Elephant Interaction
We moved on from Matetsi to The Elephant Camp – about half an hour away, and closer to Victoria Falls itself. We were lucky enough to have the 4 suites in West Camp to ourselves (there are 12 further suites over in the main camp).
It wasn’t quite up to Matetsi accommodation wise (but I’m not sure anything would have been!) but we were staying in tents (admittedly tents with a lounge area with sofas, and a full on en suite) but I’m taking it as a camping trip!! (I’m renowned for my love of camping about as much as my love of boats!!)
Every tent should have a living area with sofas and a minibar!
The main attraction about staying here was the chance to interact with the elephants who live on the camp. In the 1980s Zimbabwe culled lots of elephants – this resulted in many orphans, and the Elephant Camp took them in. They have continued to take in orphaned and injured elephants ever since. The elephants can roam around the park in the day – but at night are stabled. They are used to interacting with humans and so visitors can go and see them and feed them. Having seen lots of elephants in the wild in the preceeding few days – it was wonderful to get up so close to them. All of us enjoyed feeding them – and when one coughed all over the 15 year old, it was very amusing for the rest of us!
The Price family
Feeding the elephants
After an elephant coughed!!
4. Sylvester the Cheetah
The other amazing thing that The Elephant Camp had to offer was the chance to interact with their resident Cheetah – Sylvester. He was orphaned as a cub (his mother and the rest of his litter killed by a lion) and so has been brought up by the rangers. He therefore lacks the hunting instinct to be let back into the wild.
Older children are allowed to take Sylvester for a walk – but because our youngest kids are only 8 and 6 that wasn’t an option, but we could still do the interaction.
It was amazing to see such a majestic creature up close. The photos were incredible (although it does look like our 13 year old is trying to be all ‘gangsta’ rather than a public schoolboy from Worcestershire…….)
Price family cheetah selfie (although it would make a good album cover!)
5. Victoria Falls
My parents visited the Falls at a similar time of year a few years ago, from the Zambian side – and there wasn’t much water, and they could actually walk onto the river bed – so we didn’t have high hopes for water flow. However, it was perfect! There was enough water to be truly spectacular – but we could see quite a lot without getting completely soaked (although we did by the end!)
We started off with a walk with our guide who had collected us from the Elephant Camp. He was really informative telling us about the geography and history. Interestingly whilst there is a statue of Livingstone at the Zimbabwean side of the falls, he didn’t actually set foot on that side, having ‘discovered’ them from the Zambia!
Rainbow corner
Spectacular falls
The boys getting a bit wet
We walked along going to many different view points – which got progressively wetter as we went along! We walked all the way down to the bridge across the gorge that connects Zimbabwe and Zambia (built in England and shipped across many years ago. It reminded me of Ironbridge in Shropshire)
After that we went to the Lookout Cafe for lunch. The food was fab, as was the wine, and the view over the gorge quite spectacular!
From there we were picked up and taken to do ‘The Flight of Angels‘ – a 13 minute helicopter tour over Victoria Falls. The 15 year old and 8 year old refused to fly – but the 13 year old and 6 year old did (there is no lower age limit). The four of us had an amazing time – bucket list stuff. It gave a real insight into the geography seeing it from the air. And I managed not to throw up – which is unusual for me!! It was spectacular.
She was a bit nervous
Thankfully she had TC Ted for company!
The whole thing really was a once in a lifetime trip – and one we would thoroughly recommend to anyone considering a safari. We didn’t see any political trouble at all – and aside from a slightly ear flapping elephant, and being within striking distance of a lion, didn’t feel unsafe at all.
So there you go – Zimbabwe is now high up on the Price family favourite holiday destinations list!!
Note: This is not a sponsored post, we paid for everything we did. All of it was organised by our wonderful Travel Counsellor Michelle. We just wanted to share the amazing trip we had – and keep a record of it for us to look back on.
Everybody loves the 80s Toto classic – and the people of Cape Town are particularly loving any rains due to a drought!
The Price family are off on an African adventure later in the summer. And we’re all really excited.
This blog was supposed to be remembering family life – as well as book reviews (which are keeping me in free books, so we can’t complain, even if my family members CBA to read any book reviews unless they are specifically tagged!) but my documentation of real family life has fallen by the wayside a bit. Real life gets in the way of blogging about real life – and the hum drum of everyday life is probably a bit dull.
Anyway – we’re escaping hum drum to a bespoke trip to Africa – all planned by our amazing Travel Counsellor Michelle.
We’re starting with a few nights in Cape Town – the 6 year old is well excited about visiting Robben Island. Then we’re up to the Victoria Falls area for a few nights at a safari lodge (the closest I get to camping!!) and then an Elephant Camp (although the soon to be 15 year old is traumatised by the thought of a helicopter trip over the falls). And we’re finishing off with a week in the Seychelles to chillax, ready for the direct flight home to the UK (it only started in the Spring – but we’re very glad it did!)
With our wide age range of kids, there aren’t that many years that the youngest 2 are old enough to appreciate such adventures, and the older 2 still want to come on holiday with us (although as friends have pointed out, if we’re doing holidays like that – they’ll probably want to come with us forever!!)
The husband is so excited he’s bought special aftershave and retrieved his leopard print thong from the back of his pants drawer #luckyAfrica
We will keep you posted of our exploits – I am nothing but honest with my reviews on here and social media – but for now, altogether now:
“It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa
(I bless the rain)
I bless the rains down in Africa
(I bless the rain)
I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa
(Ah, gonna take the time)
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had”
Last night I sorted out a briefcase to take to fancy London today. These days it’s pretty rare for me to use such a bag – and that was clearly evident when I sorted out the contents of the interior pockets:
Business cards from an office we moved out of over 5 years ago.
Ibuprofen with a use by date of 2011! I’d forgotten just how many I use to pop – before pilates sorted my back out.
Medium sized tampons – this was definitely pre children 3 and 4, super plus all the way since then!!
Because of all of the above, I didn’t risk eating the chocolate coins that I also found……………..
I am renowned for many things – but my love of skiing is not one of them.
I blame this on not learning until I was nearly 26 – and I came to the French Alps for the Ski-llenium New Year (1999-2000, when everyone expected computers around the world to fail, and NOTHING HAPPENED……..) Well – that holiday could generate a couple of blog post topics for sure – but we’ll gloss over that for now – and just say, I’ve never really been bitten by the skiing bug!
However, my best friend from school has lived in the French Alps for almost 15 years – and we’ve visited regularly – so I have done the skiing thing a few times (although being pregnant and having a small baby were damn good excuses four times. This is not the reason I had 4 kids though (that was because the oldest 2 got old enough to realise I was nicking their Easter eggs, so I needed to have some more!!))
This year, when arranging ski lessons, I shocked aforementioned BFF by saying I would have lessons. There was an incredulous WhatsApp response – as if she didn’t believe me!! Anyway – 4 weeks before the holiday I had to have surgery, and was advised not to do anything strenuous for 6 weeks – so skiing, for me at least, had to be cancelled!!! Obviously I was gutted (not!) and planned lazing in a deckchair with my Kindle and a vin chaud…………
Now it should be said that skiing holidays are not for the faint hearted! A bit like Disney or Centerparcs you arrive home feeling like you really deserve a rest.
At this time of year EasyJet do a direct flight from BHX to GVA – so that makes life simpler. The flight was straightforward, quick and arrived early! Baggage reclaim was straightforward, and as it’s an airport we know quite well, we were quickly on our way to get our vehicle. To house the 6 of us and our fabulous nanny who came too – we needed a large vehicle – and a Citroen Jumpy it was. When we picked it up we saw it had German plates – but didn’t think much of that at the time. Until we started driving through Geneva and the Haute Savoie in France. People kept pulling out in front of us – and generally driving aggressively near us. Seems the Germans are not particularly well liked in this area. I’m not sure if putting a Union Jack in the window would have made this better or worse?!?
Mini bus selfie in Geneva traffic
We stopped at a huge Carrefour to stock up on essentials – milk, bread, yoghurt, tonic (had brought our own gin from home!) and prosecco!
Essential shopping
We made it up the mountain in one piece (this is not always a given, 9 years ago we managed to drive an Avis rental into a ditch and write it off on this same route – hence we always take out the additional insurance when hiring from Geneva airport!!) and to our fabulous apartment in St Jean d’Aulps. We’d booked through Chalet des Fleurs – who had been great throughout the whole booking process – but randomly the apartment used to be a restaurant my BFF’s parents owned, so it was slightly surreal going back to it as an apartment!
A sign in our chalet – it would appear they’ve met my husband before….
The apartment was walking distance to the telecabine (and on the first day to the ski shop to get kitted out). We’d booked private lessons through the local ESF office – who were brilliant. The little 2 had an instructor called Fanny, which caused much amusement for my husband, asking if anyone had seen Fanny (honestly, you wouldn’t believe he was 46!!). The big 2 had the instructor that I’d had back in 1999 – and they were much better behaved students than their mother, I don’t think at any point they cried, took their skis off and tried to walk back down the mountain……..
We had 3 days of skiing and lessons – the first day was GLORIOUS sunshine, with the other days not so great – but still a good time had by all. We even got to ski with our friends kids – who are AWESOME – we are very proud of them (and my husband does try to pass them off as his kids when people are impressed by their skiing / bilingual-ness!!)
A local lady had stocked our chalet with food – a tartiflette (local potato / bacon / reblochon cheese deliciousness), a Thai green chicken curry and a spag bol for the kids – along with a selection of fantastic cakes. This really helped in the evenings being able to feed everyone with minimal stress. We also managed take away pizzas from a place in the village – and ate up the slopes at a couple of different places – La Licorne being the best by far!
We were only away Monday – Friday, and this worked perfectly! 3 days of skiing for everyone, so no one was completely broken and exhausted – which seems to be the order of the day when away for a week. I would suggest that all 4 kids are probably better skiers than me now – but I’m pleased they all have this skill at a young age – before being lumbered with ‘the fear’!!
All 4 kids and our fab nanny. All of them can now ski better than me………
This is in no way a sponsored post – we paid for the whole trip ourselves – just wanting to share the love!!
This Price is Usually Right 