A day of contrasts and on to Worcester.

We were up early to see the wildlife after our cold night in the lodge. One of my companions came face to face with the Wildebeest through her window, and a springbok was jumping around the field as we left. Mind you it was so cold we all needed to jump about.  We said it was a bit like being on a school trip with the five of us sharing the lodge, but we did have our own facilities and imagined it could be fun for a family or group of friends to stay there animal watching.

 We had a couple of hours out on a truck viewing wildlife, when we saw wildebeest, Bontybok, steenboks, ostrich, eland and tortoise. But not the rhinoceros or the giraffes, which had moved to another part of the reserve. Our guide said the Wildebeest are made from all the spare parts of the other animals and that is why they are so ugly! We learnt that tortoise store water in their shells to sustain them in dry periods; the rhinoceros here are valuable and protected and our guide said thst when the sale of horn is made legal they have stores that could flood the market and bring the price down,  which would stop the black market. They cut the horns regularly to pritect them and it is apparently like cutting your nails except that it involves a chain saw. My nails aren't thst tough yet! He told us about the springbok which is a marsupial and how the various patches of colour on it retain warmth or deflect sunlight. The herd is kept strong by swapping males with other reserves every few years.

This was a lovely but cold experience and we returned for a hot drink midway.
We left, passing the wildflower reserve again and stopping to photo the wild Arun lillies before travelling through Darling again and on towards Worcester.

We stopped at Vonderling wines, a huge estate dating back 300 years. After a fire it had had its flora mapped indicating a huge range of precious species.  We had a leisurely walk, before going on to a wine tasting session.

 We tasted 10 in all, just little sips, before having a delicious lunch accompanied by more wine, comprising smoked snook, a local shepherds pie topped with an egg custard and Malva pudding, which I have now had three times!  A few more cooking ideas to bring home. The owner came out from England about 30 years ago and sells wine now to the specialist vintners. There was one called Sweet Carolyn! I am certainly going in search of these when I get home, but the supermarkets are not supplied!

We left here late afternoon, to travel through stunning scenery to Worcester.  There were high passes, great views and craggy mountains as we travelled through into the Breed Valley.

After a late lunch and early morning, I skipped supper for a restful evening and time to chill and regroup.  Breakfast was ok, except for the cold tea I was served! I checked the pool and decided it probably wasn't going to warm up enough for me, later in the afternoon, but a map collected from reception indicated a few possible local sites to visit.
This morning, Friday we headed off to the Karoo Botanical gardens, where a rather unpractised guide introduced the collection of succulents. I escaped early and with a travel companion, we explored the park, tried a bit of the hiking trail and had a coffee and lunch stop. Food service is generally slow so you always have to allow plenty of time!

As well as plants we saw a tortoise! So I took a video.

It has been a glorious hot and sunny day and in the afternoon some of us walked into the town, mostly visiting the bookshop, but a small group of us went on to the art gallery, the Hugo Naude art museum and learned about the South African impressionists, including Naude and Grenadier, learning that the queen has four paintings by the latter artist in her collection. The curator was so very enthusiastic and took us round in return for a donation, so we could see the historical collection and local artists' work. We felt rather as if we had been let out, as there seems a lot of caution about us going out without the group , which I find restricting. It doesn't feel any more risky than many places I have visited. We noted there is an evening market tonight but thought that might be considered a step too far!

Linda and I were looking for a supermarket and found both that and a delightful square with little shops and cafes where we stopped and relaxed for a while. We headed back to the hotel with snacks to have with the bubbly, one of our companions is going to share with us tonight. So as a very rare occasion, I have put on the one and only dress I brought with me. Then we went out to a local restaurant where I shared a seafood platter and again it was insisted that we were escorted home.

We discovered the following day that there had been an issue with the bill despite double checking before we left, the usual problem with big groups and inefficient restaurant procedures, not my favourite combination. It has been a noisy night with some fighting in our corridor, so we will probably feel  lacklustre today. Not what I expected when the security man let us in last night, truncheon in hand; I had presumed it was to deter external intruders!

I have made one very useful discovery on my travels- that antiseptic hand wash acts as an effective stain remover. It has successfully restored my sunhat to it's pristine condition after spilling coffee on it and removed a mark from my cream jumper!