"Everyone I know in Joburg" Reunited

January 15, 2014

After a nearly 7-month hiatus, S came back to Joburg. Even if only for a few days, it was nice to have him back in the city, and was a nice way to kick off 2014!

The four original members of the "Everyone I know in Joburg" WhatsApp group.

Older and newer: a moderately adventurous night out in Bramfontein with S and some of our "new" SA friends. 

"Crazy Golf" and an unfortunate walk sharing a pair of shoes…turns out, the sun makes the pavement hot…

While S didn't have a lot of spare time when he was here, we did manage to sneak away for a night to Limpopo to the Monate Game Lodge (about two hours from Joburg) for a mini bush break.

Doesn't it look like the ostrich on the left is taking his "skirt" off? Naked ostrich bum.

While not a "Big 5" game reserve, Monate does have rhinos. Seeing these amazing beasts never gets old.

Can you see the little birds on the rhino's hump? These guys help to pick parasites off off the rhino's skin. I think it make for an interesting photo: huge rugged beast with tiny pretty feathery friends.

Sundowners at the hippo pond.

Despite not having lions or elephants, Monate still had a fair amount of wildlife to be seen. 

Sunset over the hippo-hole.

Early morning game drives = cat-naps on the cliffs.

Searching for San rock art on an early morning walk = a lot of yawning.

On our way back to Joburg we stopped in Bela-Bela to visit the Warmbaths Hydro Spa. My visions of hot springs, rocks and natural waterfalls came crashing down when we walked into a somewhat run-down and very kitsch water park. The guys took it as an opportunity to have a race on the water slide: clearly I was too close to the pool…(I think half of the water in the pool ended up over me when they landed). For the record, it looks like M won. Sorry S, next time!

Coastal Christmas 14- The Great Karoo

January 3, 2014

In case you were wondering how long these "Coastal Christmas" posts could possibly go on for- this is the last one…I promise! I know, it's taken me forever to post about each aspect of our trip, but I really wanted to capture the moments, the scenery, and the overall experience of it all. I hope, somehow along the way, I've managed to convey at least snip-its of what was a fantastic holiday, and our first African Christmas. Thanks for hanging in there!

Our last stop was in the Great Karoo- the Karoo National Park to be precise. Something about this place- the bareness of it all, makes it feel very different from the other national parks we've visited. We spent the night in a little cabin smack in the middle of the park, and went on both a late night and an early morning game drive to explore the area. This was one of our favourite night drives to date (it probably helped that during the day it reached around 40 degrees Celsius in the Karoo, so the open-air 4x4 in the night air was a very welcome break from the heat). I think it was also the fact that the guides were not in a hurry and took their time driving and spotting, so we actually managed to see some very cool wildlife. We saw both an aardvark and a aardwolf (our first sightings of these strange nocturnal creatures)- two very elusive animals that are rarely seen in the wild. While it's extremely tough for me to not take photos, it is nearly impossible to get a decent shot in the pitch dark on a moving safari truck, so other than one very blurry shot of the aardvark (taken with our little Nikon point-and-shoot), I put my camera away and simply enjoyed watching these guys in their natural habitat. 

Aside from a quick stop in the Northern Cape's Kimberley (see below), this marked the end of our 23-day trip. It was an incredible tour, and proved to us that while not a large country, there is so much to see and experience in South Africa (and so much left yet to be explored!). 

The view from our cabin.

Kudus and mountains.

Cape Mountain Zebras. 

Two rhinos grazing at the base of the cliffs (and an ostrich roaming around nearby to keep them company). 

Morning drive- those are three common eland running to the right of the road up ahead. 

Night drive- the blurry mass in the top left photo is an aardvark. You'll have to just take my word for it. 

This area of the Karoo was almost prairie-like.

Kimberley- an old diamond-mining town whose claim to fame is now a Big Hole. Literally. Been there, seen it. 

Coastal Christmas 13- Bainskloof Pass

January 2, 2014

Considered to be one of the most scenic routes in the Cape, Bainskloof Pass was build between 1848 and 1852, and aside from being paved, there have been minimal changes since it was first built. It transverses the Limietberg Mountains, and was constructed to provide a route from the town of Wellington to the interior of the country.

As we headed inland from the coast on our "Coastal Christmas" trip and worked our way slowly back to Joburg, we decided to take the scenic route on our way to the Karoo National Park.

We booked-ended the Bainskloof Pass drive by visiting a few wineries around the town of Wellington, and then stopped for lunch afterwards in the quirky and strange town of Matjiesfontein (an old railway town that has a slight Barkerville feel to it). Neither of these stops warranted being diarized in photos, but combined with the pass made for an interesting and eventful drive from Paternoster. 

It was a gorgeous sunny day when we drove through the pass, so I thought I'd share a few photos from the drive. Naturally, the photos never do justice to how breathtaking the scenery was. 

Coastal Christmas 12- New Year's in Paternoster

December 31, 2013

All I wanted to do to ring in the New Year this year was be on a beach with a bottle of champagne. Toes in the sand, bubbly in hand. Yes, please.  

I had heard of Paternoster briefly before we moved here- I think I must have read about it somewhere. It's the kind of place that not a lot of people have been to, but those who have been are unanimous that it is amazing. I've even heard it being credited as the Santorini of South Africa (M was skeptical, but curious enough to check it out). 

Sitting about two hours north of Cape Town at the end of a long dusty road (the same one that eventually goes to Namibia...), it's not necessarily somewhere I think we'd be able to get to super easily for a weekend, so when we started planning our Christmas trip I knew Paternoster had to make the list. And, for the record, we loved it. While there isn't an overkill of restaurants and shops, the ones that are there are worth their real-estate. And with pretty white-washed buildings lining the Atlantic shores, it's a pretty photogenic town.

It was the absolute perfect place to sip bubbly, barefoot, by the ocean. Now that's a Happy New Year!

Our accommodations: on a quiet road with a private stretch of beach just a 5-minute walk from the main part of the town.

Our path to the ocean.

I like the priorities: very little road signs in Paternoster, but no one will get lost trying to find the beach.

Crayfish, pink champagne, craft beer and a plunge pool. What else do you need to celebrate the New Year?

Watching the sun set for the last time in 2013.

Walking along the ocean on New Year's Day.

Awesome beach-front restaurant where we had a very late lunch on New Year's Day; perfect way to ease into 2014!

Seriously, every corner of this town could be on a postcard. 

This section of the beach was very popular with locals. I love all the colours and the buzz of activity. 

Bring on 2014!

Coastal Christmas 11- Hermanus

December 29, 2013

Leaving wine country behind, we headed- you guessed it- back to the coast (are you sensing a pattern here?). Since our trip to Cape Point last March, which erroneously calls itself "the most south-western point of the African continent", I wanted to try and make it to the real southernmost point of Africa- which is in fact at Cape Agulhas. This is also where the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans meet, and represented the transition from warm-water beaches to frigid coastlines. While just a stop for us on the way further west along the coast, it was well worth the trip to see the very tip of the continent we are currently calling home.

From Cape Agulhas we continued on to Hermanus. This tourist-hot-spot is known for it's land-based whale watching (we were there just out of season- the whales can be seen from June to November), but none-the-less we both really enjoyed the town itself. It has a beautiful coastal trail that makes for a great run or a long scenic walk to the beach (I did both).

The town of Betty's Bay is just up the coast from Hermanus, and is a great spot to see the adorable and pricelessly photogenic African Jackass Penguins. While we have seen these guys in Simon's Town, the scenery in Betty's Bay is more rugged, and there seemed to be way more penguins (that could have been just the time of day we went- we visited Simon's Town in the evening, while our stop in Betty's Bay was in the morning?). Either way, they are so much fun to watch; I could visit them everyday and never tire of it (although, M may feel differently…).

The awkward shot with the sign. But hey, ya gotta do it.

So many signs…I think they are trying to make sure there's no mistaking where the true southernmost point of Africa is.

Cape Agulhas Lighthouse.

Exploring the lighthouse and the view from the top…figured we made the trip all the way here, we should see all there is to see!

Going for a walk after dinner and finding a random monument in Hermanus. We loved that we could walk everywhere. We didn't move the car the entire time we were here.

Taking a rest along our coastal walk to the beach.

Makes the trek a little easier when this is your view. 

Well deserved drinks at the end of our trekking and beaching day (did I mention that neither of us had to drive anywhere in Hermanus?)

How adorable is this?!

I never tire of the classic "taking a picture" shot. Nor does M, coincidently. He thought I should also share the shot I was actually taking at the time- see below.

So many lil' tuxedo dudes.

Wait- maybe this was the shot?! Now we'll never know. I'll have to pay better attention next time...

I love how they just chill out on the rocks, fine with boats in the sea and on-lookers onshore.

This guy looks like a grandpa penguin. Is there such a thing?

One of these birds is not like the rest...

Sunning.