Day 6

Day six
Wednesday 22nd January 2020
Current position
Treetops Guest House
44 Albert Rd
Walmer
Port Elizabeth
6075
South Africa
S 33°58'41.92104
E 25°36'27.82728

We woke to yet another murky day.
On our way out we saw Steve the owner of the Guesthouse and booked a days Safari for tomorrow. He also told us where best to book a hire car which we will need on Friday to start our drive along the Garden Route.
Fortunately the car hire place was not far so we could walk there on our way to the Beach Front. The man in the office took our details and then started to bamboozle us with all the different options and at each stage banged an additional cost into his calculator in the hope that we would pay whatever total turned up on his tiny screen. In the end feeling totally bemused we said as everyone does in this situation thank you but we need time to think about it.
We carried on in the now pouring rain when as luck would have it we came upon a Thrifty car hire shop. More to get out of the rain we went inside and the very helpful lady put together a mostly understandable package at less than half the cost of Mr Confusion. With this in mind and the rain still pouring down there was nothing else for it but to find shelter in a café and take stock over a hot cup of coffee. The devil finds work for idle hands so for something to do I opened up the Thrifty website and went through the quite logical stages of booking a car. Within minutes with a tap of the finger I had the same rental car as the one offered at the Thrifty Office at some fifteen percent less. All for the cost of a coffee. With that job out of the way and the rain gone with a smile on our faces we had a quick walk round the Shopping Centre before getting an Uber to the Sea Front.
It really was like having a dismal day at the seaside back home with a misty view of a grey sea grey sky a deserted beach and drizzly rain in the air with us wondering what on earth we were going to do next. All the activities in Port Elizabeth require good weather and at the moment the only sun to be found is in their brochures. I'm afraid it's all pretty miserable. Still there was nothing for it other than to cheer ourselves up with yet another cup of coffee at a nice café with a good view over the dismal grey bay.
The highlight of the afternoon was our first South African McFlurry at our old friend Ronald McDonald's where we had table service with a beaming smile which brightened up our grey afternoon.
So far the food at all the places we've eaten in South Africa has been excellent. Not only has the food been good but the service has been outstanding too and to top it all at very reasonable prices. Tonight was no exception as we tucked into a very nice well presented Chinese meal.
We walked back home to the Guesthouse and went to bed with fingers crossed that we would be blessed with better weather for tomorrow's Safari.