A trip to South Africa to include Cape Town, the Wine District, Johannesburg and finally a Safari stay at the Kruger Park arranged independently and for non car drivers may sound daunting but when you see how much you can save on advertised packages and also learn that it can be done safely this soon becomes a very reasonable reality. Choosing a time of year when air fares are reasonable and the country is coming out of winter is important. Also worth bearing in mind is selecting a time when you have the most chance of spotting as many animals as possible on your safari, September worked on all these. We chose an open jaw ticket into Cape Town and out of Johannesburg and Qatar Airways offered by far and away the best prices and good flight times and with no jet lag as you are flying almost directly south, a slight eastern detour to allow a very simple transfer at Doha is no hardship.

First stop was Cape Town, as Edinburgh residents we are used to four seasons in one day and Cape Town certainly offers that, you have to choose your time to ascend Table Mountain carefully as it can be shrouded in mist called the Tablecloth for days. We can attest to this as our downtown apartment had a balcony that faced the mountain.

Cape Town stands out to me for two things, it’s spectacular setting best seen from the top of one of the regular tour buses which does a 2 hour tour of the Peninsula area and the quality of the food. I can honestly say we had some of the best food of our world travels in the Cape area and at prices, with the rand currently at 20 to the pound, so reasonable you are searching for the calculator to make sure your conversion is correct! Information of places to eat can be found on the Cape Town city page.

The city has huge contrasts as you would expect, wine estates in Constantia, seaside houses at Llandudno which are some of the most expensive properties in the country and so many people on the streets in the Central Business District. Not always an easy city but one worth exploring in depth.

The Cape Winelands offer a few days of non city time, soaking up in more ways than one the excellent wines available as well as the scenery and historic sites of the area. Stellenbosch was the first stop, a beautiful town famous for it’s university and the lovely Dutch architecture of the historic centre.

It’s wineries require transport to reach therefore we moved onto Franschhoek, the home to French Huegnots in the 17^th century. The setting is stunning, at the end of a valley, hemmed in by mountains on three side and more than 40 wineries in close proximity. It is also the culinary capital of South Africa, it is impossible not to fall in love with the town. A wine tram runs on two routes visiting a good selection of the wineries and a couple of days can happily be spent enjoying the wines, the scenery and the fantastic food. More details on the tram and restaurants can be found on the individual page.

We arranged transfers through taxi companies recommended by the Tourist Office and drivers arranged by our Guest Houses, all were good, reliable and very reasonably priced, Cape Town to Stellenbosch cost the same as 2 singles with Greyhounds buses but were door to door.

We returned to Cape Town for one night in order to catch the Shosholoza Meyl train for our 26 hour journey to Johannesburg. Having done our research on various options we chose this because reports were that it was comfortable, safe and very reasonable priced and it was ! To put this into perspective the famous Blue Train costs around £900 per person for the same journey, the Premier Classe train costs nearer £200, the Shosholoza costs around £35 for the journey including a berth in a 2 or 4 bed compartment.

The train was clean and comfortable, in fact the most comfortable sleeper I have experienced in any of our many long overnight train journeys during our travels. The train was safe, plenty of security on board and at stations. There was a restaurant car and bar serving plain, decent food and drink at very reasonable prices. The scenery on the first part was spectacular and even arriving four hours late, a common occurrence, did not spoil an excellent experience at a bargain price.

Johannesburg was our next stop for three nights, people in Cape Town were amazed we were stopping there but everything I had read made to want to spend a least a couple of days there. We stayed in Melville, a cool area with restaurants, bars and quirky shops but had to get used to the fact that at night you really do not walk anywhere, but cheap taxis and tuk tuks made this simple. The open top bus tour was a great way to see what a vast city this was and to learn about it’s history. The Apartheid Museum was on the must visit list and it was a sobering but fascinating place, as was our visit to Soweto, the scene of so many important events in the history of the country. I had read about the people being welcoming and proud of their city and this was indeed the case, it was fascinating to see the regeneration of parts of the city centre and I am pleased we chose to spend some time in Jozi.

One of the main reasons for the trip was to include a Safari holiday that was affordable, well located and allowed us as non-drivers to see as much of the wildlife as possible. We took the short flight from Johannesburg to Mapumalanga Kruger Airport then a transfer to Mvuradona Safari Lodge. From the minute we arrived we loved the lodge, for those that have seen the film Out of Africa this was it with such style. The lodge only sleeps 14 which to me seems a perfect size and the care and attention to the rooms and to the guests is fantastic. It certainly fulfilled all our requirements.

We took three safaris from the lodge into the Kruger, one sunrise, one night and one sunset, all were excellent and yes, we did see the big five and so many other animals and birds. The first bonus was being able to stroll from the lodge along the fence that borders the Kruger and Crocodile River and view the animals near the river, lions, elephants and hippos amongst the animals we saw on our daily walks. The second bonus was the zebras, giraffes, warthogs etc. wandering into the garden of the lodge, just magical. A wonderful, chilled experience with lovely food, great service, if another safari is ever undertaken the only place to go would be Mvuradona.

I hope this blog will encourage people to think about independently arranging a South Africa holiday to include a Safari particularly since our 3 week holiday cost around a £1,000 less per person than a 2 week advertised package. Ours excludes meals except for on Safari but trust me great food and wine is incredible value. Go for it !

I first visited Marrakech over thirty years ago while working in Morocco back then it had two types of tourist, the very rich and those on the hippy trail, it was not the easiest place to choose as a holiday destination but boy was it fascinating. We have been back three times since, all in the last eight years and have noticed a huge change, many more visitors, most for short breaks thanks to the arrival of low cost airlines, a much wider choice of places to eat and drink but still a fascinating destination that is only three and a half hours from the UK.

Accommodation options have also changed since my first visit, over the last ten or so years riads, traditional Moroccan houses built around a courtyard, have been converted into small boutique hotels. These are found in the traditional medina areas, north and south of the famous Jemaa El Fna square, the heart of the city. They are a wonderful way to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city on your doorstep while having a quite oasis of calm for relaxing. A lot of the riads are owned by Europeans and in some instances they leave the management almost entirely to local staff, sometimes this works but sometimes it does not. This means choosing a good riad is very important as many people want to enjoy the spa facilities often on offer or to try Moroccan food cooked and served in the riad.

We prefer the southern medina near the Bahia Palace, handy for transfers, the Jemaa El Fna, and many of the main sites. I always research reviews and comments even more thoroughly than for any other travels and this time were delighted with the choice of the Riad Houma. This is a fairly recent addition and is French owned, the care and attention to design is obvious as soon as you enter and the small number of rooms offers a range of options that are good value for money. The staff are all excellent, very helpful and friendly, and starting your day with an excellent breakfast on the terrace is glorious on the frequent sunny days.

On previous visits we have visited all the major sites and this time the main aim was to try new eating places and to do our Christmas shopping, although shopping in Marrakech is a must on any visit. Among the many new places to eat in Marrakech we tried two that stand out, Nomad in Place Kedina and Le Jardin, 32 Souk El-Jeld both in the northern part of the medina.

They are owned by local restaurateur Kamal Laftini who also owns the Café des Espices in Place Kedina. Nomad was my favourite and so enjoyable that it was revisited on the last day. The food is very good, the terrace setting lovely and the service friendly, they also sell alcohol, not that common in the medina. Really good starters of courgette fritters and a beetroot pastry were followed by excellent mains of lamb brochette with aubergine and chicken brochette with cous-cous. Le Jardin is housed in a beautiful courtyard and was a very enjoyable setting for dinner but perhaps slightly lacking atmosphere on the night we went. Our choices were all traditional Moroccan dishes but there were a number of other options available.

For a birthday celebration we tried Ksar Essaaoussan, this is housed in a sixth century riad and offers a set menu of a pre dinner drink, three courses, wine, and mint tea and Moroccan pastries for just over £20. The food is good but what makes it truly memorable is the atmosphere, service and surroundings, you also get a chance to explore the building before you sit down to a long, relaxed dinner. An old favourite Le Fondouk was revisited and while prices are now on the high side, as ever the food was very good and the service excellent. There is always a dish that they produce that just cries out to be photographed and this time the beef and tomato tagine was it, really delicious. There are many other updated recommendations on the city page for Marrakech.

A couple of days in Essaouira were also on the agenda for this trip and we booked tickets for the Supratours bus through a company called Marrakech Tickets, www.marrakechtickets.co.uk who purchase them on your behalf and deliver the tickets to your hotel. There is a surcharge of which part goes to a local charity but the service is worth every penny as it saves you having to go to the Supratours office in the new town.

Essaouira is on the Atlantic coast, around three hours from Marrakech It is a lovely town and very relaxed after Marrakech. The town is set to be even more popular with the opening of a direct flight from London with Easyjet in 2015 and since we had last visited seven years ago there had been a large increase in choice of places to eat. There is also a wide choice of riad accommodation and this time we chose the Chems Bleu which was very good, reasonable priced and easy to find, a short walk from the Supratours terminal.

Apart from wandering around Essaouira and taking dozens of photographs of the port and the blue and white buildings one highlight we were looking forward to was returning to Elizir Restaurant for dinner. The owner Abdellatif worked for a number of years in Italy and had not long returned to his home town when we first visited. The food, a mix of Moroccan and Italian influences, was memorable and did not disappoint on this visit. The restaurant’s eclectic mix of furniture and collectables and the good music complement the great food. The organic chicken tagine with walnut and gorgonzola and the beef fillet in balsamic were both top notch and went brilliantly with the house red wine.

Back in Marrakech the Christmas shopping still had to be completed but having decided what we were looking for, identified the areas for the purchases and practiced our bargaining strategy we were ready to set forth to the souks. We had a very successful day buying original gifts for friends and family at home, made even better by the glorious weather and refreshed by fruit juices Café des Espices and a lovely lunch at Nomad before heading to the airport for the flight home.