Our first stop in South Africa is Orange River, a river on the border of Namibia and South Africa. We camp right on the river and take a spin down its flowing 'brown' waters with a beer in hand. The trick is to put a life jacket around your waist to help you float! Highly unattractive but provided lots of giggles! Have a fun night here with the gang - can't believe the trip will be ending soon.

Next stop is sunny Trawal, a beautiful wine region where we stay at Highlanders Wine Farm (with pool overlooking the property) and get an introduction to South African wines. The actual wine tasting is pretty informal which suits us fine so we have lots of giggles which sampling! I've decided to try my hand at cooking for the group - Cottage Pie - over a campfire this time (at least there was an oven when I tried it in Kenya)! I've got at least ten helpers so it ends up being prepared pretty fast but trying to get a crispy potato crust on a BBQ is another story... there were no complaints I suppose which is the main thing!

We head directly to Cape Town after Traval - love this city! It has everything - the busy cosmopolitan vibe, the arty eclectic set and pretty much anything else you would want! It only takes a couple of hours by car to be out in the middle of countryside which is an added bonus!

The group take a tour of the townships- I contemplated not doing this but glad I did. We visit the Langa and Gugulatu townships. The tour itself is really interesting and is my first proper introduction to South African history - sure, I know a little bit but we get to find out first hand what went on as our guide is from the townships. The living conditions for most inhabitants in the townships is still pretty rough and often more than one family are forced to live in one small bedroom. The government seems to be at great pains to make improvements only when there are major events like elections or the World Cup. We have lunch in this cool restaurant/bar called Mzoli where the music is thumping and there is a great party atmosphere! There's a real Caribbean feel to the place and the parties are supposed to be legendary there!

AIDS and HIV, like most places in Africa, are still major problems here in SA but it doesn't help when the president of the country, Zuma, is totally ignorant to the disease. Zuma was famously caught having sex with his friend's daughter who was known to have HIV. When asked if he was worried about contracting HIV he claimed that it wouldn't e a problem as he has showered afterward. There is a really famous cartoon by Zapiro of the whole issue. It is madness though - ignorance or naivety?

I get my first introduction to the frugal life I must lead for the coming months - there's free food at the hostel and although I'm loathe to take it, sense tells me that I need to start taking advantage of these little perks if I'm going to be able to afford the whole trip. Just catching up on recent news of the tsunami in Japan and the problems in Libya - seems the whole world is a giant mess! It's good to get out of the travel bubble and catch up on real life once in a while.

Both Naomi and Sarah (two lovely girls from the trip) are also staying on in Cape Town for a while so we all move into the Penthouse on Long Backpackers - coolest hostel I've been to by far - lovely staff, lovely atmosphere and cool rooftop bar and chill-out area. It's nice to have some time in one place so I take advantage of this and take in the sights at my leisure - St. George's Cathedral, Company's Gardens, District Six museum, Robben Island and loads of other museums.

The Robben Island tour is interesting but a little rushed. The tour is given by a former inmate who explains the segregation of the whites, blacks, coloureds and Asians (all categories existed separately) and gives some detail on Mandalas 27 year and Sobukwe's (another famous political dissident) 6 year imprisonment. Definitely worth the trip.

The Distict Six museum is a museum which documents the apartheid at a personal level. It details the lives of those black South Africans who were forced to leave the area known as District Six and move to the Cape Flats. I visit an Ernest Cole exhibition in the National Gallery. Cole was a black South African who recorded much of the apartheid through black and white photographs. This is one of the most interesting exhibitions I"ve ever seen - you learn more from the pictures than from any book or tour! Look him up!

Myself, Naomi and Sarah decide to hike Table Mountain via the Platteklip Gorge route - the shortest route but also pretty steep. It was a hard slog in the soaring midday temperatures and lack of preparation meant we had no snacks and not so much water - to say we were all barely on speaking terms at the top is an understatement! The views from the top of Table Mountain (1088 masl - higher than Carauntoohil, Irelands highest mountain - are fantastic. After a well deserved lunch atop Table Mountain we treat ourselves to the cable car downhill. Was great to finally do some exercise though!

Spend St. Patrick's Day in Cape Town and as luck would have it, there's a pretty alright Irish pub called 'The Dubliner' not too far from our hostel. After a great night out, myself, Sarah and her, fresh off the plane, friend Nerissa take a trip to Stellenbosch and Cape Aghulas. We hire a car, which someone crashed in to within ten minutes (I was parked!!!!). It's a crazy long day but we get to see the famous winemaking region of Stellenbosch with its Cape Dutch architecture and cool student vibe. We then hit the road for the southernmost point in Africa. We chase the setting sun to make it to Cape Agulhas on time and just about make it. There's a lovely little lighthouse and a wooden pathway going right around the point. We wait here until the sun disappears and then head for Cape Town.....I'm exhausted after all the driving. However, we still have the car for a few hours the next day so decide to hit for Cape Point at the bottom of the Cape peninsula. We take a spin around the park, taking in the wildlife and the magnificent coastline. See a dassie for the first time - weird little rat/rabbit like animal that is genetically very similar to the African elephant - I'm serious! My co-pilots fail miserably to stay awake on the trip spin back to Cape Town so make the trip with music blaring and windows down - looking forward to sleep!

I have about a week to spend on the Garden Route so try to pack in as much as possible. Unfortunately, I seem to have managed to delete my photos of the route so there's no evidence but am working on trying to retrieve them.

My first stop is Hermanus, a lovely seaside town with a nice walk along the coastline and some beautiful beaches. Meet a lovely dutch girl called Lara here who I end up traveling with for the next few days. We do some shark cage diving at nearby Gansbaai which is nowhere near as scary or adrenaline fueled as I had hoped/expected. We saw three sharks between 2-3.5m long swimming around the cage and at one stage, one of them crashed into the cage (but not while I was in it...).

Next stop is Oudtshoorn which is the ostrich center of South Africa. I pay a visit to an ostrich farm where they show you how they make leather items, feather dusters and egg ornaments. To make matters worse, they strap a saddle on the dumb animal and you can have a go at riding one - it looks as bad as it sounds so I give it a miss! Also visit the nearby Cango Caves which are really amazing. I end up scrambling through tiny little tunnels to get right in to the middle of the caves - thank god I"m not claustrophobic! I'm enjoying the quietness of the Garden Route. I seem to be hitting a lot of places in off-season but it suits me fine.

I stop in Wilderness, a little town beside Wilderness National Park and stay on a farm up in the hills. It's really different! I do an easy hike/trek through the forested NP - really beautiful scenery and arrive at a lovely peaceful lake smack bang in the center where you can take a swim before the hike home. I end up finishing the hike early so continue to walk to the village where I have the most delicious pizza and glass of wine (ever!) - maybe it's the hike and the feed afterward but I like the little hamlet of Wilderness...what a cool name!

Next stop is Plettenberg Bay where again I do another hike around the Robberg Peninsula. The hike (well it's more of a stiff walk) is along the coastline so I get to take in the crashing waves, the stench of the fur seals and the massive cliffs. There's also a really lovely little spot called the Island from which the views are stunning!

Finally, I hit the infamous Jeffreys Bay (or J Bay as the cool surfer-types call it!) I've been told that the parties are good so decide I'm up for a night out and head there for my last night on the Garden Route. Again its off-season so the night out isn't so wild but get a feel for J-Bay. Not sure its my thing - It's the kind of place you almost don't feel cool enough! A little pretentious and very dirty but I may be being a bit hard on the place considering I was less than 24 hours there!

My hard drive give up in SA and my camera breaks but manage to get both semi-repaired. Suppose its inevitable when you are on the move all the time!

My last night in SA, I hang out with Petrena, a crazy Canadian who carries her massage table around the world and has been traveling for 5 years and a lovely German girl called Maralous who has just arrived from India and gives me plenty of tips! Lots of dancing and chatting tonight - what a great way to finish in such a cool city! Home to the guesthouse just in time for my 5am taxi to the airport...... I likes South Africa, I do!