First off, a BIG congratulations to Heidi’s brother Luke and his wife Becca who have just become a Mum n Dad to their baby boy William! He was born in the early hours of Friday. This means Heidi and I are now Auntie Heidi and Uncle Christian!!
Saturday & Sunday
We were lucky to have Saturday and Sunday off so we hired a car and drove up to the beautiful Pilanesberg National Park where we stayed for a night in a BnB.
We had an amazing time and of course the main reason for visiting the Park is for the game viewing.
Zebra Crossing! 
Zebra Rolling!
It’s Pumba!
Springbok (I think)
Mr Rhino
Last time we came to South Africa we came to this park but stayed in a lodge which included a guided safari. This meant we were driven around in a big jeep with a guide who really knew his stuff. This time however we drove around the park in our tiny Kia Picante and tried to find the animals ourselves.
Although it was probably harder to do it this way there are some good things about it. We got to drive around the whole of the park for as long as we wanted, we could take pictures of what we wanted without having to wait for people who are taking thousands of pictures (thats not just the Chinese 
) and it only cost £10 per day!!!!
On Saturday we saw:
1 Elephant
8 White rhino
2 Osterich
LOTS of Zebra
Giraffe
Springbok
Wilderbeast
We had dinner at the Pilanesberg centre which ironically is situated in the centre of the park! It over looks the park and you can eat whilst looking at the amazing scenery and watching the animals that come to the water hole. These include warthog, zebra and giraffe. It is one of the nicest places to eat.
After this lovely day we then headed back to our guest house. A bargain we found on the interent and just 5 mins from the park. It had a swimming pool, nice views across the valley and a good breakfast! We left the park in time to make sure we got into the lounge and nabbed the TV to watch CRAWLEY yes CRAWLEY play Man Utd yes we managed to get it on South Africa TV. Luckily we were the only ones who wanted to watch anything and in the end the owner came and joined us too. We looked out for all our Crawley friends but couldn’t see any of you!!
Our lovely BnB Valley View guest house in Pilanesburg
The next day we sat outside in the early morning sun and ate our yummy breakfast. It was then time to go to the park, this time we saw:
2 Elephant
3 White rhino
7 Osterich
5 Hippos
Crocodile
LOTS of Zebra
Giraffe
Impala
Kudu
When we overtook these Ostriches they started chasing us in the car. It was like a scene out of Jurassic Park!!
Mr Giraffe and the water hole
This odd looking beast was our hire car which looks more like an iPod than a car.
Hungry Croc!
Nelly!
The gorgeous Pilanesberg National Park
On the way home we went via the modern Cresta Mall that we discovered on Friday and watched 127 Hours. We both really enjoyed it but at times Heidi had to hide and thought she was going to vomit! For those who don’t know it is a story about a climber who gets trapped in a canyon with his arm wedged between a rock and the wall. In order to get free he has to cut his own arm off with a blunt knife!!
Ironically, whilst I was leaving the cinema, I got wedged between the cinema doors. For one minute I thought I may have to get my knife out, but luckily I managed to open the doors. Phew! Disaster everted!
Monday to Friday
Another busy but very enjoyable and rewarding week. We are having such a great time! If we wrote what we did in the blog each week, it might start sounding a tad repetitive so we are only writing things that are a bit different. We hope though to add a video next week of a typical day a TLC.
On Wednesday, we were taken out by Les who is Thea’s nephew and now works at TLC. Along with some of the other volunteers we went to a hotel nearby where we used their bar area to play pool and have some drinks. It was a lovely evening and we got the chance to catch up with some of the volunteers who we don’t usually get to chat to.
Now it’s the weekend so we have a chance to relax for a day on Saturday and Sunday we’ll be taking some of the older ones to the cinema.
Dog the Week: Basher, she’s such a cutey and loves a little tummy rub.
Silly Dog of the Week: Sasko falls into the pool, oopsie.
Similo did a great drawing of Danny the Dinosaur!
Heidi helps Benji with his home schooling. He’s currently really enjoying The Famous Five books.
This week Mighty and Similo are back in another chaotic Life Lesson, this time on why you should wear sunglasses.
Heidi also thought this video was really cute of Ruth playing with her so we thought we better add it:
This from zipper-d-dodah (Grandad) What did the Meerkat compare things too?! Love seeing all the animal pictures and Mum (aka Nandma!) likes Mighty and Similo! Missing you lots speak to you soon. Jan and Dave ( Mum and Dad Orpin)
How confusing was Dad’s comment??? hehehe chuckles.
hehe! So is the dog of the week!
The videos are really cute
Christian’s picture captions are getting funnier each week, people will think I’m odd when they hear me laughing at my computer screen!
Love you lotsy Auntie Heidi and Uncle Christian
Auntie Beebee x x x x
Wise words from Similo, Mighty and Jerome there haha. If a little chaotic lol. I can’t belive how chatty Ruth is! Please give them everyone big squeezy hugs from me and tell them that I love and miss them. Glad to see you’re having an amazing time.
Becky xxx
Perhaps I shouldn’t abuse your blog for such purposes but congrats to Luke and Becca!
Looks amazing – wicked clouds at the national park. I found 127 hours pretty tough going, but I suspect it was probably a little more haunting if watching just after a trip to similar surroundings! Probably good that you didn’t watch the film on the way there though…
Much love xxx
BRING RUTH BACK PLEASE!