No.100 in the bag

Blimey – the prospect of actually being able to choose where we'd actually LIKE to go on holiday in the future now looms (rather than being driven by which new country I haven't yet dragged poor Hawksey off to). No.100 is well and truly dans le sac, with Mozambique bagged – if not the ever elusive bleddy dugong that I so wanted to see there.

Two days bobbing in a bateau around the Bazaruto Archieplago (as you do) in search of said sea cow/pig, and only a steady stream of dolphins, turtles and manta rays to be seen – yes, all lovely (cue Mr H leaping in to snorkel with a manta, one of his dreams - tick) but not what I was in search of. Hey ho – Mikey, the race to see one first is back on.

Anyway – had a fab 2 weeks. 5 nights in Mozambique, ranging from stunning turquoise shores (made all the better by avoiding the late snow in the UK, brr) to visiting the local kids' school, where our donation will apparently now buy the headmaster a door to his breezeblock office. And a monster island sand dune – who the hell put that there? 100 metres high and a sweaty old beast to climb, not least because a slip down the vertical side would end up in the aptly named 'Crocodile Lake'….

Then off on safari – cue the photo of the double headed rhino below… well, sort of. And the lovely white lion - yes we were that close, good job he was knackered post-hunting, not sure he had quite the moderate temperament of his looky-likey Aslan of Narnia. And a shedload more nanimals – have to say the game reserve was excellent so if you're ever considering it, try Pumba. Watching 10 elephants bathing in the lake at the foot of our water villa thingy kept us happily standing in the drizzle for hours…

And thence off to stay with Mark & Liz Sherrington at their Knysna pad – a slightly iffy start when I spotted only their third scorpion in 7 years of living there, right by my foot. Sending both Mark and Hawksey up onto their dining table for safety while Mark's 14 year old son will and I tried to flipflop it into oblivion. and us then checking under the duvet every night and needing a torch for safe passage to the loo at night.. But then lots of boating, golfing for Big Boy, a touch of spa for me and some nice beachy stuff, before we then went on to Cape Town with them.

Where, it has to be said, they have a truly stunning home and you can see the appeal of living in South Africa. And we ended the trip with the piece de resistance for Mr H – a trip to Newlands Rugby Stadium to see some Super 15s rugby – the home side Stormers vs the New Zealand Crusaders. Mark being Mark, of course shares his box with none other than Francois Pienaar who we spent the evening with – a really nice chap. Whose charming sons were also there (South African teens don't just grunt at you from afar, but come and give eye contact, a handshake and actually kiss strangers) – one of whom has Nelson Mandela as a godfather.. quite extraordinary.

And now we're back – 2 weeks of peace still while Scrumpy is at dog borstal being trained to perfection |(well, I can but hope), and Mojo gets used to our new floor rug (couldn't stop H bringing home a massive cowhide which she is now stalking). Plus we've trodden on her twice already as she does blend in rather well on it, oh dear.

Enjoy the pix in the next post – and be grateful its only these and not the 700 others I could bore you with x