Phill & Steve
South Africa
We sold our property in France on 14 January. Most of our belongings went into storage. The rest had to travel with us.
We decided to escape the European winter by going to South Africa for six weeks. We flew to Cape Town from London Heathrow on Sunday 1 February, arriving on Monday 2 February.
Cape Town 1
We stayed in the Holiday Inn Express Cape Town BCD (Central Business District) for two nights. We then moved to an AirBnB apartment on Breda Street, Gardens for nine nights. We had three large bags and hand luggage with us. We decided to leave two bags in storage in an Apart Hotel in Cape Town CBD.
uMhlanga 1
We flew from Cape Town to Durban King Shaka airport on 13 February. We stayed in the Holiday Inn Express uMhlanga. uMhlanga is Zulu for "place of reeds". It is a district north of Durban. The locals pronounce uMhlanga um-shlanga.
Phinda
Phinda is a private game reserve in the kwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa. The name Phinda is the Zulu for "the return". It was farm land that was fenced off and wild animal were reintroduced.
We had a road transfer from the Holiday Inn Express Hotel in uMhlanga to Phinda Zuka Lodge on Sunday 15 February 2026. The lodge had been renovated since we were there last year. The rooms now have a bar. The water hole has been cleared of reeds and Bob the Hippo has moved in.
On Thursday 19 February 2026 after the morning game drive we were driven back to the Holiday Inn Express Hotel in uMhlanga, Durban.
Click on the drive links above to see our lodge and game drive photographs.
uMhlanga 2
We stayed in the Holiday Inn Express uMhlanga for two nights on returning from Phinda. On 20 February we took an Uber into Durban to to Paklite distributor. The Uber driver waited for us. We bought a large bag and two computer bags.
Cape Town 2
On 21 February, we flew from Durban King Shake to Cape Town. We stayed in an AirBnb apartment on Kamp Street, Gardens for seven nights.
On 28 February we moved back to the Holiday Inn Cape Town CBD for two nights. We put two bags in storage at a mobile phone shop in CBD.
Hermanus
Our friends Stephanie and Patrick Kilroe had retired from Cape Town to Hermanus. Hermanus is about a ninety minute drive from Cape Town. It is famous for viewing Southern Right Whales between June and December. One of our Cape Town Uber drivers, Shiraaz, advertised road trips. We arranged for him to drive us to Hermanus on 2 March. We stayed at the Windsor Hotel for three nights.
We saw some impressive breakers from our hotel window.
South Africans call Rock Hyrax Dassies. They are very agile and can run up and down cliffs. Their nearest relative is the elephant.
We saw an impressive full moon rise.
Cape Town 3
Siraaz drove us back from Hermanus to Cape Town. We stayed in an AirBnB apartment on Upper Mill Street, Gardens for 9 nights.
Table mountain is very much the defining view from Cape Town. Its flat top is granite and was once a valley floor. Most of the surrounding rock was much softer sandstone and has been eroded away.
The lion is a rocky structure that with Table Mountain forms the Cape Town City Bowl. It is a shame that the view is obstructed by the Gardens Centre.
