Typically on a trip like this Eric and I like to write in a journal. Sounds cheesy I know. Every night we take turns writing about what we did that day, the food we ate, the people we met, etc. It's tedious and not at all what you want to do in the moment, but looking back on our previous trips to Europe, I love reading through our journals. It's just so easy to forget the little things, and to only remember what you see in your photos.
On this trip, however, we didn't do so well with the journal. We started out good. The first 3 days were well documented. However on day 4 Eric only got about half an entry done. And then... disaster. We lost our journal! Pretty sure we left it at our hotel in Cape Town!!
So, I have very little details documented from this trip, but that's okay. I'll jot down a quick summary of what we did every day right now, and hope that our photos and our memories can fill in the gaps for us! Since this was honestly the most amazing trip I've ever been on in my life, I'm pretty sure I have very little chance of forgetting it! :)
Day 1: We flew from Tampa to New York City. Navigated the subway system and met up with my sister Amanda in Brooklyn. Got to see her apartment and went to dinner at a little Mexican restaurant... SO good! I only wish I could've spent more time with her!
Day 2: Boarded our flight from New York to Johannesburg. Just being in the international terminal at JFK and hearing all of the different languages around me had me on cloud nine! I love travelling, and it had been over 2 years since I even set foot on a plane! The flight was LONG (15 hours!) but went smoothly. We watched lots of movies, read some books, did a crossword puzzle together, and tried to sleep (but did not succeed)! The best part of the flight was opening up the window in the morning and getting our first glimpse of the African continent! Wow!
Day 3: Arrived in Johannesburg, picked up some "Wimpy Burger" lunch (kinda like McDonalds... enough said), and caught our flight to Cape Town. When we arrived in Cape Town, we were met by a representative from our travel agency (Lion World Tours... highly recommend!!) and taken to the Twelve Apostles Hotel (also recommend... I mean, at this point I can definitely recommend anything that I mention here! We loved it all!! Except Wimpy Burger, ha!) We relaxed in our awesome ocean view suite (pretty sure that was a free upgrade), drank champagne, and ate strawberry cupcakes that they set out for us on a plate that read "Happy Anniversary!" Then we hiked up the mountain behind the hotel, had a drink on the terrace at the Leopard Bar, and ate dinner at the little restaurant by the pool.
Day 4: Took the hotel shuttle into Cape Town and walked around the V&A Waterfront. Boarded a city sightseeing bus for a little tour of the city! We hopped off and strolled the streets a bit. Spent way too much time at the Greenmarket Square... talking to the vendors and buying little trinkets. I loved hearing the stories about where everything was made, and the materials used, and just talking to people there! We wandered some more and ate lunch at a little place called Arnolds. Eric had an ostrich burger and I had a chicken wrap. Hopped back on the sightseeing bus for more city sights. Ended up in Camps Bay and got off to sit on the beach for a while... so beautiful but the water was so cold! Finished the loop on the bus and took a shuttle back to the hotel. Got all dressed up for dinner at the Azure Restaurant... SO good! Eric had springbok and I had a steak. Oh man.
Day 5: Met up with our tour guide for the day: Hank from Ulungele Tours. Drove over to Hout Bay and took a little boat out to see thousands of seals sunning on a rock in the ocean... wow!! Drove around Chapman's Peak Drive that hugs the coast for some stunning views. Stopped along the way to take pictures. Visited an ostrich farm, saw lots of baboons, and parked at Cape Point. Hiked to the lighthouse and enjoyed the views of the Cape of Good Hope. By the way, this day was extremely windy... you can see it in the pics! Next we went to Boulders Beach to visit the penguins (so cute)! And then we headed to the winelands! Tasted 10 glasses of wine at Spier Wine Farm and bought 5 bottles (woah). Stopped in the little town of Stellenbosch and walked around and got some coffee. Ended the day with dinner at a restaurant called Mama Africa in Cape Town. Enjoyed Kudu steak and lamb pot roast while listening to live music!
Day 6: This is where it gets crazy! We took a helicopter from our hotel into the city this morning! Is there anything better than a helicopter ride over a beautiful coastline?! Landed at the V&A Waterfront and took a cab up to the base of Table Mountain. Rode the cable car up to the top of Table Mountain and admired the views! Here's where it gets crazier. Abseil Africa got us all strapped up and harnessed for some abseiling (rappelling) down the side of the mountain!! It was so. much. fun!!! A little scary, but so thrilling... and the views were unbelievable. We hiked back up the mountain and got some lunch at the top (I had an ostrich sub)! Then we took the cable car back down to the bottom and caught a taxi. Our driver took us over to the Wola Nani office in Cape Town. This is the HIV+ group that makes beautiful bowls for Noonday Collection! I love these bowls! I took a lookbook and a thank you card inside and chatted with the ladies there for a bit. Would've loved to have seen how they make the bowls, but they are actually made in home and then brought in to the office. Next we asked our driver to take us to Groot Constantia. Tasted some more wine and enjoyed dinner outside. What an awesome day!
Day 7: Flew from Cape Town to Johannesburg. Then caught a very small charter flight from Johannesburg to Madikwe Game Reserve. From the minute we landed on the tiny airstrip at Madikwe, we were in love. It is so amazing there and we saw giraffes and zebras within minutes! We were picked up by 2 safari vehicles and driven to Madikwe Safari Lodge. The lodge was just gorgeous and the staff so friendly! I think everyone gave us a hug or shook our hand and wanted to know our names. We ate lunch overlooking the reserve and were shown to our suite/cabin/hut... not even sure how to describe it! This is not your typical hotel- more like a camp. A luxury camp!! :) That evening we went on our first safari drive and all kinds of animals. Our guide Stephanie (originally from Germany) flew around in our safari jeep and kept us on our toes!
Day 8 and 9: Our full days at the safari lodge went like this:
5am- wake up knock on the door by the staff!
5:15am- coffee, tea, and muffins served at the lodge
5:30am- out in the vehicles for a safari ride! I can't even begin to name everything we saw: giraffes, elephants, zebras, cheetahs, rhinos, water buck, impala, steenbok, kudu, lion, hippos, wild dogs! I'm sure I'm forgetting so many! We always rode with the same guide and the same guests. Our companions were a couple from Georgia and a couple from the UK and Australia.
Around 6:30am- coffee break with dried mango and egg muffins. Somewhere in the bush, usually in a big open space. Need to the go to the bathroom? That tree over there will work nicely! Just look out for lions!
Around 7:30am- We'd round a corner to find the hotel staff set up in a clearing with a table full of pancakes, butterscotch and chocolate sauce, fruit, and orange juice! They even had a little urn for hand washing.
Around 9am- back to the lodge. We were always greeted by the staff with tray of warm wet towels to wash off with and a drink of some sort. And we'd stand on the front patio and talk about our drive!
Time for "real" breakfast... omelettes, eggs benedict, bacon, sausage, cereal, fruit, and toast!
Then it was time to relax! Unless you wanted to go on a bush walk around 11am!
The bush walk was so interesting... just trekking through the reserve with 2 guys carrying rifles. We got up close to some giraffes and zebras and it was cool to see how different their reactions were to us on foot versus in the jeep! Saw lots of plants, insects, and birds.
Time for a nap!!
Around 1-2pm- lunch is served on the deck. The food was always amazing. They had homemade bread that was just so good!
More napping, reading books, relaxing on our back porch overlooking the reserve, or taking a dip in the plunge pool. I liked the fact that we didn't have a TV or wi-fi in our rooms... we were truly unplugged! For a few hours anyway!
4pm- Afternoon tea back at the lodge
4:30pm- Another safari ride! More animals, more adventures!!
around 7pm- Sundowners! We'd stop in a clearing and Stephanie would bring out a full bar and snacks, and we'd drink and talk while watching the sunset over Madikwe.
We'd drive back to the lodge in the darkness and look out for more animals. One time we ran into an elephant (almost literally!) who was so close to our jeep. Just amazing.
8pm- dinner on the deck or under the stars in the boma. One night we had a "braai" which is like a barbeque... with game meat, fish kabobs, and brick oven pizza. We ate dinner with our friends from our safari rides and our guide, had some more wine and laughs together.
Day 10: One last safari ride that morning and then time for a nap and lunch. Have I mentioned the outdoor shower? We had an indoor shower too, but it was far more interesting to shower out on our deck with no one to around to see you but the giraffes in the distance! Such a cool experience.
But even cooler was our flight back to Johannesburg. We arrived at the airstrip to find the tiniest plane I've ever seen! The only people on board were Eric, the pilot, and myself!!! I sat up front next to the pilot and prayed quite a bit! :) I kept watching what he was doing in case he passed out or something and I had to take over! But I loved it, I really did.... it was incredible.
Later that day we flew from Johannesburg to New York, and then on Day 11 we flew back to Tampa.
What a trip. I am so thankful that my husband loves adventure and loves making my dreams come true!! :)
And here are the long-awaited photos. Sorry for the amount.... I tried to narrow it down! I think I got it down from 800 to like 600, but it was tough! If you're on facebook I'm planning on posting a smaller amount on there. Thanks for reading!
9 years ago
No comments:
Post a Comment