We woke up for our last morning at Oluchi Lodge and gave the boys their customary Weet-Bix before heading upstairs for breakfast. There were fewer guests staying by this point, so instead of the semi-buffet breakfast we had become used to, we had a seated breakfast with everything cooked fresh to order. We were all brought a little bowl of yoghurt and fresh fruit to start, which everyone except Chris was able to enjoy, followed by our own egg orders and freshly cooked breakfasts. It was really nice and a lovely way to finish our stay.

For the first time while staying at Oluchi, we also managed to see some wildlife around the lodge while we waited for breakfast. We were a little sad to be leaving, as we had really enjoyed our big room and, perhaps most importantly after some of our other accommodation, the very comfortable soft bed! Packing was also considerably easier now that we had acquired yet another suitcase, so apparently buying more luggage really was the answer to our ever-expanding belongings.

We said our goodbyes to the family and eventually got ourselves on the road. Or at least we thought we had. About five minutes later we were doing a U-turn and heading straight back to Oluchi because Dan had left her phone behind. This was made slightly more complicated by the fact that we had already returned the gate remote, so we then had to sit outside trying to attract somebody’s attention to let us back in. Eventually the phone was recovered, we said goodbye again, and this time actually left.

Once through Nelspruit we got onto the highway and started the long journey west across the country. The weather became quite strange as we drove, with thick patches of fog appearing and disappearing very quickly. At times it was difficult to see very far ahead and the fog seemed to be moving sideways across the road, making it hard to work out whether we were driving through fog, low cloud or rain. Then we would go around the next corner and suddenly everything would be completely clear again.

There were also many, many tolls along the way, and after a couple of hours we stopped at Alzu Petroport for lunch. This turned out to be considerably more interesting than your average motorway service station, as there is a large wildlife area alongside it. We could see rhinos and ostriches wandering around while we were there, which is certainly not something we are used to seeing when stopping for fuel and lunch.

We caught up with Danielle’s parents at the Appaloosa Spur for lunch, and Gary, Ashley and the girls also appeared for a while, so despite having said all of our goodbyes earlier in the morning we had managed to catch up with everyone again only a couple of hours down the road. One of the stranger features of Alzu is in the men’s bathroom, where the urinals have windows looking straight out towards the wildlife. Apparently even going to the bathroom in South Africa can involve watching rhinos.

After lunch we continued west, eventually travelling through the Pretoria area and then onwards towards Sun City. The further we went, the more it felt like we were seeing yet another completely different side of South Africa. We have seen the big cities, the coast, the Winelands, Kruger and all of the wildlife areas, but this part of the trip took us through countryside and roadside communities that looked very different again.

There were lots of people gathered along the side of the roads, roadside stalls and shacks, plenty of speed bumps and places where traffic had to slow right down, along with the occasional small fire burning beside the road. We also went through a tunnel or two and, around the Pretoria and N4 sections of the drive, started seeing warning signs about hijacking-risk areas and people placing spikes on the road to make vehicles stop. It was all very different from the sort of countryside driving we are used to at home and certainly kept the journey interesting.

The stars of the drive were actually Karl and Isaac. We had been a little worried about how they would cope with spending five or six hours in the car, but both of them were absolutely brilliant. Karl caused very little trouble and Isaac spent a large part of the trip dozing or sleeping. Considering how disrupted their routines have been and how much time we have asked them to spend travelling over the last few weeks, they both handled the day far better than we expected.

Eventually we arrived at The Kingdom Resort, only a few minutes away from Sun City, and checked into our new home for the next few nights. Almost immediately we noticed something very exciting — there were remarkably few obvious ways for Isaac to seriously injure himself! After several places with unfenced pools, steep stairs, big drops and railings that a determined one-year-old could crawl straight underneath, we have finally found somewhere where we don’t need to helicopter-parent him every second. A couple of strategically positioned chairs outside blocked off the main escape routes and suddenly life became considerably easier.

The Kingdom Resort itself is much bigger than we had expected. Even though we are only a few minutes from Sun City, there are swimming pools, a water park, restaurants, a convenience store and lots of different activities all here at the resort. They also run a complimentary shuttle into Sun City, so you can stay here and still easily head across to visit without necessarily needing to stay at one of the much more expensive Sun City hotels.

It was about 33 degrees when we arrived, so after unloading the car we decided a quick swim sounded like a good idea. Unfortunately the pool water was a little cooler than the outside temperature suggested and neither of the boys was particularly enthusiastic. They had also just spent most of the day in the car, so they were probably fairly over everything by that point. Karl did manage to practise some of his floating, and Isaac enjoyed a few rounds of Humpty Dumpty before we decided that was probably enough swimming for the day.

After such a long travel day, we were very happy to have arrived, unpack a little and settle in. We now have a few nights here to explore The Kingdom Resort and Sun City before the next stage of our trip.

Chris, Dan, Karl and Isaac