Deciding to fly to Capetown was an easy choice- it was much the same price as the bus and would only take two hours instead of 24! I jumped at the chance! I flew from Durban with Mango airways and when I arrived I took the bus into the city. I headed straight for the City sightseeing main office on Long Street where they stored my bags until I finished my tour. It was a great way to get straight into the sightseeing! I started at midday and finished at 5 on the first day and managed to check out the amazing Jewish museum, Holocaust centre and go round the city a few times listening to all the cool city facts. I stayed at my friend Lynrays house who I had met in Brazil a few years before, so it was cool that we could catch up again!

I had set myself a schedule and over the next few days I managed to head to the famous District 6 museum, Charlie's Bakery, Groot Constantia (the oldest wine estate in South Africa) and even took s trip to Robben Island to see Nelson Mandelas prison cell. I took in so much information and sights that I would come home in the evenings worn out. Nevertheless we spent two nights out on the town, third night on a pub crawl along bustling Long Street and Fri night gay bar hopping! It was awesome!

It was quite a shame that when I got to Capetown the weather was pretty cloudy and cold but I had some sun and mostly dry days which was fine! It wasn't until the last day on the way to the airport that I actually saw Table Mountain properly though. I had unfortunately missed out on the opportunity to climb it or even take the cable car because of the thick black cloud covering it- known locally as 'the table cloth'. I figured it was another excuse to come back to this wonderful country though. On a sunny day Capetown was beautiful and the city sightseeing tour gave me the chance to hop on and off wherever I wanted, and take 4 different routes around the city, within the city, passed townships and through the wine country. €20 for a two day ticket was a bargain! I was so excited to be here and it was so unexpected to finish this whole journey in Africa let alone Capetown- a place I always wanted to visit.! My last few days in Africa were amazing and I was sure to be back in this beautiful city one day soon! Thanks Lynray for hosting me and showing me a great time! :)

Visiting Durban was very nearly wiped off my South Africa list when I realised how little time I had to get to Capetown for my flight home. It was in Bulawayo though, that I decided to extend my flight by two weeks which meant I could visit my old friend Faranah who had moved from Ireland back to Durban a few years ago. I was so happy! 

I took the overnight bus from Joburg to Durban with Intercape and arrived super early in the morning. Bright and early at 4:30am- or not so bright actually, faranah and her dad were waiting for me off the bus. The visit started off epic, with a trip to a fresh 24hr bakery for some take away breaky. We headed back to her harbour view apartment where I met her husband and then headed for a well needed nap in my harbour view room. Over the next few days we took in some of the biggest sights in Durban including, Wilsons wharf, the gallery, the museums, city hall, a street Zulu war dance, Suncoast Casino, a play at the Playhouse Theater, The famous beachfront and Ushaka Marine world. We even took a 3 hour bus tour from Ushaka around the city for a cost of €7 which took us to two very good exhibitions at another museum and took us by the National Stadium- build for 2010 World Cup, along with a drive down the golden mile stretch of pristine coast. It was winter and still the air was warm and the sand was still occupied by the odd sun bather. I wasn't that brave though. 

And this was just the day time... At night we went out to Faranahs favourite spot #Hashtag which was very classy with great music, a chilled vibe and delicious drinks. We also headed to Rocca Bar on Saturday night with one of my travelling friends Lennard who I had met in Malawi a few weeks before. Rocca Bar proved to be a top night in Durban, so much so that we didn't get home until almost 8am. Needless to say the next day, the play was a struggle to focus on (still hilarious though) and the day was cut short by a severe hangover and the need to sleep. I had 4 good full days in Durban and before I fly to Capetown for the remainder of my time in South Africa- and Africa! The end was near but I was super excited to get to the place everyone raves about. 

Having brought the luck of the Irish with me upon entering SA with a full passport (you need 2 blank pages to enter SA officially), our first stop was Polokwane in the Limpopo district. From what I saw, this place was pretty nice, and it turned out that this was the home of a childhood friend of mine during her year living in Africa. We stayed at a beautiful lodge and went to Nandos and the cinema (first time in ages for me) that evening before having a lovely nights sleep in this beautiful accommodation. 

The next day we set off on the next half of the journey to Joburg, which went pretty quickly. When we arrived that day, I met David, Leisels son and we all headed out to Monte casino for the evening. We ate in the delicious Ocean basket restaurant in the stunning casino (laid out like the Venetian in Vegas) before a spot of gambling. After winning almost three times my money and losing it all again, we called it a night and headed home. It was such an amazing evening in a cool place. 

The next day Leisel and I went for breakfast at Clearwater Mall, did a spot of shopping and then headed to the China mall for the rest of the afternoon where I picked up some awesome things. Its also where unheard my first gunshots in South Africa- apparently a car robbery had happened right beside us and Liesel was more shocked than I was. The next day we headed to Mandela Square, where I got some nice pictures at he giant Mandela statue before we ate a delicious lunch at Walnut Grove cafe. David and I spent the entire afternoon at The Apartheid Museum while Liesel, chilled in Gold Reef casino. The museum was highly recommended before I got here and I knew I had to see it. It was one of the best museums I've ever been to- highly descriptive, informative bad very interesting. The history of South Africa was incredible and it was definitely a must see in Joburg. Afterwards we headed to the awesome Gold Reef city for some more casino time.

During the end of my stay in Joburg, Liesel took me out of town to the largest Buddhist temple in the Southern Hemisphere - Nan Hua Temple. We wandered around the majestic buildings and gardens for the morning before sipping on some authentic high mountain tea and veggie dumplings-(Something I'd missed so much since Nepal). Later on we headed back to the city where I had made plans to stop by the Greenpeace Africa office to meet some friends of my old boss Nick. They told me about their current campaigns and showed me around the place. It was a cool experience to be part of an organisation so well known and worldwide and to get the chance to see what goes on in this part of the world! That evening I packed my stuff and got ready to take the 7hr overnight bus to Durban which went pretty fast. Faranah and her dad were due to meet me at 4:30am- a very early start for all of us, and I was so excited to experience my first beaches of South Africa!