Postcard for you from South Africa! Rar!
Photo from Album: South Africa
In exchange for Joe being in China for 5 months, I got a 2nd honeymoon! Joking :). We spent 12 days touring around Kruger Park, Garden Route, and Cape Town. We decided to spoil ourselves and stayed at some pretty amazing places along the way. For Safari in Kruger Park, we stayed Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge. Even though we had early mornings, the pace of those days were quite a relaxing start to our holiday. The days looked something like this: 530am start for safari, 930am breakfast, (nap-time), 1pm lunch, spa, (nap-time), then 430pm start for safari, and 8pm dinner. And yes, we definitely utilized those nap-time slots very well. For those who are looking for great safari, luxury level lodging, spa, and food, Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge comes highly recommended.
We then flew down to George on the Garden Route, where we would attempt to drive (on the opposite side of the road) to Knysna. It's much easier than London because of the wide highways, but it was a bit surprising to see the locals like to use the highways to walk to work or simply for some daily jogging. Driving down the N2 we had our first exposure to townships, underdeveloped urban residential areas reserved for non-whites during the Apartheid. Think self-built shacks in bright colors and tin roofs. Large open spaces by the highway were used as football fields for the children living in the townships. See "Tsotsi" (2005), the South African Oscar winning movie for a good visual.
While in Knysna, we made Pezula Resort Hotel and Spa our base camp for exploring the rest of the Garden Route. My first experience golfing was on a championship course among baboons (see album for photos). The perks of staying at Pezula included Leading Spa of the World amenities and access to Noeztie Castle on the beach. When in Knysna definitely help yourself to the locally produced oysters (soooo tasty) at Cruise Cafe. The cafe is the same departure point for the ferry to Featherbed Nature Reserve, where we did a 4 hour tour/hike to see the Knysna Heads. About an hour from Knysna, we headed to Stormsriver Village in Tsitsikamma National Park for a Canopy Tour in the trees. Tsitsikamma National Park is also the location of the highest bungie jump in the world (216m) at Bloukrans River Bridge. Joe was super keen on observing some jumpers to possibly convince us to do it, but they were closing up before we finally got the guts to ask how much they charge. We did to watch this guy jump (see video, note gasp made by Sandy).
In Capetown, we stayed at the Welgelegen Guest House, a very convenient location to restaurants on Kloof St. and a short drive away from the Table Mountain Cableway. We booked through Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which is a great site if you are looking to book boutique hotels in popular cities. Joe's favorite thing (of course) was that Virgin Active was within running distance of the guest house. My favorite things were the restaurants and shops. Try Melissa's chocolate chip cookies, the Banana Chai smoothie at Buzz, the breakfast + coconut bread at Manna Epicure, or the chocolate frio (made with Lindt chocolate) at Vida e Caffe (multiple locations). -- all located on Kloof St. If you are into funky jewelery, make a pit stop at Philippa Green's studio at 51 Wale St. for laser cut of hand stitched patterns on resin bracelets. At the waterfront, book a table with a view of Table Mountain at Onewaterfront inside Grace Hotel. Joe and I dined there next to Drew Bledsoe and his wife.
Yes, we did other things aside from eat :). Go paragliding off of Signal Hill or Lion's Head, and book ahead for a tour at Robben Island where ex-inmates share their emotional stories about being a political prisoner along side Nelson Mandela. Robben Island is also home to South African penguins. No need to drive all the way down to Boulder's Beach to see those cute little guys. At sunset, drive up to Signal Hill, hike up Lion's Head, or take a scenic drive on Chapman's Peak Road to take some magnificent photos. For some beach time, head to Camp's Bay or any of the Clifton Beaches. Take a lunch break at Codfather in Camps Bay where you point at your fish instead of ordering from a menu. We ordered way to much, so I ended up feeding my left overs to the seagulls at Clifton Beach (they went wild!).
On our last day, we took a day trip to Stellenbosch in the wine country. Lunch at Tokara allowed us to have springbok just one more time. Don't leave SA without trying that if you eat meat! Yum! After lunch, drive into the center of time and have dessert at Lecca il Gelato, #13 on Church St. or Kerk St. in Afrikaans. The Italian owned joint makes gelato fresh on-site and is even better than some gelato we've had in Italy.
We then flew down to George on the Garden Route, where we would attempt to drive (on the opposite side of the road) to Knysna. It's much easier than London because of the wide highways, but it was a bit surprising to see the locals like to use the highways to walk to work or simply for some daily jogging. Driving down the N2 we had our first exposure to townships, underdeveloped urban residential areas reserved for non-whites during the Apartheid. Think self-built shacks in bright colors and tin roofs. Large open spaces by the highway were used as football fields for the children living in the townships. See "Tsotsi" (2005), the South African Oscar winning movie for a good visual.
While in Knysna, we made Pezula Resort Hotel and Spa our base camp for exploring the rest of the Garden Route. My first experience golfing was on a championship course among baboons (see album for photos). The perks of staying at Pezula included Leading Spa of the World amenities and access to Noeztie Castle on the beach. When in Knysna definitely help yourself to the locally produced oysters (soooo tasty) at Cruise Cafe. The cafe is the same departure point for the ferry to Featherbed Nature Reserve, where we did a 4 hour tour/hike to see the Knysna Heads. About an hour from Knysna, we headed to Stormsriver Village in Tsitsikamma National Park for a Canopy Tour in the trees. Tsitsikamma National Park is also the location of the highest bungie jump in the world (216m) at Bloukrans River Bridge. Joe was super keen on observing some jumpers to possibly convince us to do it, but they were closing up before we finally got the guts to ask how much they charge. We did to watch this guy jump (see video, note gasp made by Sandy).
In Capetown, we stayed at the Welgelegen Guest House, a very convenient location to restaurants on Kloof St. and a short drive away from the Table Mountain Cableway. We booked through Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which is a great site if you are looking to book boutique hotels in popular cities. Joe's favorite thing (of course) was that Virgin Active was within running distance of the guest house. My favorite things were the restaurants and shops. Try Melissa's chocolate chip cookies, the Banana Chai smoothie at Buzz, the breakfast + coconut bread at Manna Epicure, or the chocolate frio (made with Lindt chocolate) at Vida e Caffe (multiple locations). -- all located on Kloof St. If you are into funky jewelery, make a pit stop at Philippa Green's studio at 51 Wale St. for laser cut of hand stitched patterns on resin bracelets. At the waterfront, book a table with a view of Table Mountain at Onewaterfront inside Grace Hotel. Joe and I dined there next to Drew Bledsoe and his wife.
Yes, we did other things aside from eat :). Go paragliding off of Signal Hill or Lion's Head, and book ahead for a tour at Robben Island where ex-inmates share their emotional stories about being a political prisoner along side Nelson Mandela. Robben Island is also home to South African penguins. No need to drive all the way down to Boulder's Beach to see those cute little guys. At sunset, drive up to Signal Hill, hike up Lion's Head, or take a scenic drive on Chapman's Peak Road to take some magnificent photos. For some beach time, head to Camp's Bay or any of the Clifton Beaches. Take a lunch break at Codfather in Camps Bay where you point at your fish instead of ordering from a menu. We ordered way to much, so I ended up feeding my left overs to the seagulls at Clifton Beach (they went wild!).
On our last day, we took a day trip to Stellenbosch in the wine country. Lunch at Tokara allowed us to have springbok just one more time. Don't leave SA without trying that if you eat meat! Yum! After lunch, drive into the center of time and have dessert at Lecca il Gelato, #13 on Church St. or Kerk St. in Afrikaans. The Italian owned joint makes gelato fresh on-site and is even better than some gelato we've had in Italy.
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