WE GOT ACCOMMODATION!!

We arrived 9.15pm on the 11th March...and then waited an hour for our luggage which got displaced somewhere along the line...

Then we looked for accommodation in a town that as catering for over 35,000 cyclists..."We have a room for $Rand 2,000?" the man said. TWO THOUSAND RAND we breathed very heavily! "No thanks! We'd rather sleep at the airport!" Knowing we were adhering to a budget if we were to actually see our year out, we said we wanted something a quarter of a price. He offered a room for $R1000 a night, trying his luck at securing a larger commission.

We made it very clear that was just not acceptable!

We took a room at "Tom's" for $645 rand and headed off there in a shuttle bus after he offered a taxi for about 250 rand instead of 90 for the shuttle. I guess they have to make a living somehow but we were glad the staff at Makutsi warned us about prices here in Cape Town.

Toms was nice. Martin, the gorgeous owner waited up for us and showed us a room after he gave us water and sat us at a table to ascertain where exactly we were coming from. He offered us one night of accomodation and we couldn't wait to get to sleep knowin the next day we had to be on the lookout for somewhere else to stay.

Monday 12th (Annie's birthday who we finally were able to msg after we changed mobile servers!) we searched for the Cape Tourist Centre, where we are right now on the internet (open 24/7/365) and booked tours and accommodation. It was all booked out, honestly these cyclist had inundated the place!!! What about us?????

We've found another place for 3 days which i'll tell you all about when we get back here! It's very cool. "LAKKA" as the locals say!

We've also booked a car for five days to go to Port Elizabeth. We're looking forward to doing our own thing and visiting PE and the wineries. South Africa has amazing wines!

We also booked tours today to Cape of Good Hope and Robbens Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for most of his time - 27 years.

BUT BEST OF ALL...we found a Flight Centre! So weird seeing that up in lights! There, we booked a flight to Victoria Falls and delayed our arrival in Madrid for a few days. Honestly, the way we're going, we could stay here forever. We love it here. So relaxed and so back to nature. Just fantastic place.

We've just gotten back from the Waterfront now where we drank white wine and ate a cheeseboard and listened to this amazing music - African Percussion. How could we resist buying their CD. A package home is looking imminent.

What a great place!!

And safety really isn't an issue. Last night we were out eating our steak and chips..and beer (yes i had all three..imagine that? I must be using so much energy i'm eating like a horse!) and we wandered home feeling very safe.

Okies, will write more when we can. So far, Cape Town is amazing.

Happy Birthday to Sue for the 11th! :-)

By the way, we've taken some great pics and will publish them on here when we get more time. At the moment, we're thinking we'd better get back to our accomodation as after dark is supposed to be scary, although, as i said, it does feel safe!

(So Mum, you don't have to worry!)