The Bricknells' 40th Wedding Anniversary Tour

After a small influx of visitors Matt and I are now getting back into the swing of work and have finally got round to updating the blog.

Mum and Dad arrived in South Africa on the 1^st October at the start of their 3 week holiday. They spent 10 days with us in Lesotho and are now lapping up the sun (hopefully) on the Cape and perhaps enjoying the odd glass of wine?! It was so good to see them here after a month of not knowing whether they were going to be able to make it or not.

After a day of rest and acclimatisation to African life we headed into the mountains for the Ruby anniversary celebrations. We had tried to keep the destination a surprise but when there are only a handful of lodges in the country it can be pretty easy to guess sometimes. We had booked a night at the only 5 star lodge in Lesotho which is in the Ts’ehlanyane National Park (where Jeepy had broken down back in March). We arrived to a warm welcome and 3 course lunch on the deck over-looking the mountains. This was the perfect pre-cursor to a lazy afternoon spent in our thatched chalets soaking up every inch of the luxurious and beautiful surroundings. After the sunset, with glad rags on we headed back to the main lodge for a celebratory dinner and drinks. After a great evening of catching up, mum and dad enjoyed the surprise of returning to their room which had been filled with lit candles (I think dad tried to pretend he has done it!).

The next morning, dad, Matt and I went for a hike. There had unfortunately been a bush fire that spread uncontrollably the weekend before and had totally desecrated the surrounding vegetation. The lodge was luckily untouched but only by sheer luck. As we tramped back after our 3 hour walk we heard a crackling coming from the lodge area and could see in the distance another blaze very close to our chalets. Matt then pointed out that the main lodge thatch was alight, only to discover it was the roof of our apartment. Mum was in the neighbouring one so we were all a bit frightened. Unfortunately at that point we were negotiating our way down a tricky bit of scree slope so we sent Matt (the quick one) on ahead. He ran off (I think more worried about Jeepy than his mother-in-Law!). When dad and I arrived, mum was safe and our roof was being hosed down. All that excitement certainly gave us a thirst for a well-earned beer.

During the week, whilst Matt had to work I took mum and dad to Ramabanta for 2 nights. We were the only visitors and lapped up the relaxing atmosphere, beautiful gardens and stunning scenery. In fact we were all so relaxed we barely made it to 9pm on either night. The sign of a good holiday I think. There was some lovely hiking (dad and I) and leisurely sketching (mum and I) before we had to head back to Maseru to collect Matt and begin our next adventure – the Sani Pass.

Friday was spent driving carefully over mountain passes until we reached Mokhotlong where we stayed for the night at the local hotel. After an early start the next day we set out for the Sani Pass. 3 hours of unpaved road led us to the highest pub in Africa where we enjoyed the views over the Sani Pass as well as a gale force wind! A beer and lunch gave us the confidence to tackle the pass and we enjoyed the 1 hour descent to the South African border where we were greeted by baboons and buck. That night we stayed at a Dairy farm 2 hours from the Sani Pass. The farm was vast and the house very beautiful. We were treated to a 3 course South African meal. The next morning we were invited on a tour of the farm...in the Bakkie. Matt, dad and I jumped at the chance to ride free in the back and were warned to hold on tight. It was a hair-raising drive - we grounded the vehicle beside a dam and a tractor had to pull us free and then we flew across fields at a 45 degree angle with the back flipping out. I haven’t seen dad look so scared before!

Having been a bit shaken up by the Bakkie trip we tenderly journeyed back to Maseru via the Golden Gate National Park for our last night together. A brilliant 10 days and I was sad when I dropped them off in Bloemfontein but great to think they had another 2 whole weeks of holiday ahead of them.