Chris Stevendale

I am delighted to report that my tickets arrived safely today. The envelope was addressed to Ms S Christine and so I hurriedly checked the name on the tickets to ensure that these were correct! The travel adapter that I had ordered has also arrived. South African ones are very like the old round pin type that was in use in the UK years ago and most shops don’t seem to stock them here.

To keep myself occupied on the long plane journey, particularly the flights where I will be on my own, I decided to purchase an MP3 player. I am now the proud owner of one though, as usual, I had to seek advice from a couple of experts (my daughters). I managed to “rip” music on to the thing without any help, but having done so, I couldn’t find how to get the menu up on the screen. Luckily, one of the same experts was able to rescue me again – it took all of 30 seconds!

Apparently the tour of Robben Island will include a coach trip around. I hadn’t realised that the island was so big. We will see the limestone quarry where Mandela worked for much of his time and will be able to look through bars into his cell. You can go inside some of the other cells but not his particular one. The tour guides are former inmates and so will be very knowledgeable. Our Hotel in Cape Town is a former prison also. Hopefully the interior no longer reflects this. I'm sure it will be very nice, and certainly, it is in a good area - the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront - great for shopping and eating.