We were the only couple on safari so we decided to search for the elusive buffalo. Figuring it would be about a two hour drive there, we set

tled into our seats with blankets over our legs and hands.

As we left the camp, it was as though all the animals had come out to say goodbye – the rhinos, zebra, elephants, giraffe and the billion antelope and warthogs had all congregated along the sides of the path.

After spending so much time trying to find the rhinos and elephants in particular, it was as though they had planned to say farewell all along and were having a bit of a laugh at our expense.

Crossing the entire area, we had seen evidence of the buffalo, yet they seemed to be hiding. Mr Shallot decided he needed to perform the traditional male territorial ritual and was told to wait while the guide determined if it was safe. Looking up a rather large hill, it was then we saw one of the buffalo.

It is not an animal that you would want to encounter by accident. It’s huge and angers easily and quickly. We sat and watched, hoping that another would appear. It didn’t.

Around lunchtime, we left Lalibella. On our way from the site to the reception area, all the animals again came along. We even saw a newborn antelope, apparently not more than one day old. There was another one that was a couple of days old. I also thought of the lions and hoped they didn’t track these babies. It’s the way of the wild but I wasn’t ready to be confronted with cute things dying. I have trouble watching some nature shows for this very reason.

Later that afternoon, we were back in Port Elizabeth visiting family. It was the first time that I was meeting many of them – aunties, uncles, cousins, second cousins, etc. Part of the family that I had previously met organised a braai. This is a South African barbeque and is not to be confused with an Australian one.

A braai is on a weber-style barbeque and all with coals. There is to be no gas used and if you’re doing it properly, no accelerant either. Attached to the bowl is the grill plate and running up the side is a metal pole with holes in it to hang pots. The meat can be any of the antelope we saw (not the babies!), ostrich and the usual suspects (cows, sheep etc). There is a long sausage called boerwors that is rolled into a spiral and then cut after cooking and shared. It can be spicy and is also likely to contain miscellaneous bits of anything – sausages are the same the world over, it’s just the percentage of mystery ingredients that changes!

The similarities between a braai and a barbeque are:

• men cook the meat and the women do the salads and dessert
• beer and wine
• there’s always one expert and that’s the one giving the advice to whoever is actually doing the cooking
• a good time is had by all

The next morning, we met with some of our family for breakfast before a drive around my Mum’s old school and the school where most of the males in my family seem to have attended (and played either hockey or rugby).

Later in the afternoon, we met with my aunty and uncle again for a drive to a lion rehabilitation centre. We saw kudu and various other antelope as well as lions and bizarrely, tigers.

That evening, we met my other uncle and his two boys for dinner. They had been on the farm for the school holidays and were back in Port Elizabeth prior to school starting again the following day.

Hopefully we’ll see some of them again during a stopover in HK on their way to the World Cup in NZ next year!

While planning our itinerary, many people told us to go to Addo Elephant Park. So we did.

This was the first time we had sat in a hide. We watched a herd of elephants come over a hill to drink. It was pretty impressive to watch but it didn’t compare to our earlier experience of being surrounded by the herd while in the car.

Interestingly, we also saw a dung beetle which is also what this Park is renowned.

Back in Port Elizabeth, Mr Shallot went for a run and swim with a cousin / second cousin / third cousin (I’m not good at which is which so they’ll all be referred to as ‘family’). Our last dinner saw us meet again with our family tour guide (the one that had driven us to the schools), his wife, and our ‘family’.

We shared our last bottle of South African wine and went back to the hotel to pack.

We flew out, saw no animals on the way to the airport and some cows in Hong Kong after we landed.

• seeing family members – some whom I’d never previously met
• being surrounded by elephants
• the food
• experiencing a culture that was similar to Australia but different at the same time
• Cango Caves
• patting a cheetah
• termite mound with baboon poo on the top – the baboon puts it there to fool the other baboons into thinking that he must be pretty big. The thing is, other baboons fool him with the same trick
• two tortoises waddling down the middle of a path – they looked like they were racing until one pulled off the path and gave up
• dazzles of zebra – a large group looks amazing and fools the lions as they can’t see where one starts and the other ends
• Secretary birds – they are about waist height and have what appears to be quills in their head. They hit the ground with their beaks to encourage the ants to appear. We saw this on two separate occasions
• rhinos
• lion roaring that was in the rehabilitation centre
• seal in the wild

We always felt safe though had been told not to walk around after dark in Cape Town or Port Elizabeth. There are areas that are safe but rather than confuse us with the finer details, a blanket rule was better and easier. As a result, we caught taxis from restaurants and this was very straight-forward. There was no waiting for half an hour for one to turn up.

Many places had fences with glass on the top (same as places I’d seen in Ireland) or electric fences. Windows were also barred. It’s more of a deterrent as if you’re place looks easy to get into relative to another, then that is the one that would be chosen.

As with anywhere in the world – don’t go flashing your wallet around!

I’d highly recommend going and would be back in an instant if that was possible. Unfortunately I think it will be awhile though as there’s still places that I haven’t seen that I’d like to get to!