South Africa 2010-2011



Table Mountain



I’m back…well, I’ve actually been back for just over 2 weeks now and I am not ready to be back in cold Colorado yet. Since I’ve been back, I’ve been a lazy little blogger, so sorry about the severe lack of anything even remotely resembling a blog post, but I could not have been bothered.



Wine Area - Paarl



I’ve been to South Africa on vacation so many times, basically once a year, every year for the past 10 years. After all, it is the land where I grew up and where most of my friends and all of my family live and I pretty much love it. In fact, this year, more so than any year before, I absolutely just loved our trip. I usually feel like a headless chicken, rushing from one place to the other, one person to the other, and in the end, I end up not enjoying the whole experience because it feels like a lot of work. This year, we did things a bit differently, we arrived on Christmas Eve (Christmas usually seems to take up a lot of time, because there is still some last minute shopping, food buying and lots of cooking involved). By arriving at the last minute this year, we managed to just literally “walk into” Christmas where everything was already arranged by our families, so we just had to enjoy ourselves and meet our brand new niece and nephew. What a pleasure!

 

Rooi bokke (Red bucks) in Mabalingwe

 Another great thing about this year, is the fact that we took some time to go to Johannesburg for a few days to visit my brother and his family (and my cousins) and over the weekend, we travelled about 2 hours North to Mabalingwe where we spent some time in the “bush”. (on safari/at a game park). It is just amazing how peaceful and awe-inspiring nature can be. Just so beautiful, so perfect and so relaxing. It actually felt like we were on holiday and not on a race to do and see as much as we possibly could. On our game drives we were happy and chatty the one moment and then completely quiet and awe-struck the next. (photos to follow).



Penguins at Boulders Beach 



All-in-all, our trip was amazing. We ate fantastic food, laughed with amazing friends and family and experienced a few take-my-breath-away-type special moments taking in the beauty of nature: Animals in the North of the country, the Wine Area, Table Mountain, penguins at Boulders Beach, Chapman’s Peak and the beautiful harbour and coastline of Cape Town. I’ve always been proud of how beautiful South Africa is. How different and unique it is. The fact that it basically is “a world in one country”. But this year, I’ve finally seen it through the eyes of a tourist (instead of a crazy person rushing around trying to do/see as much as possible), and what I saw was BEAUTIFUL.

Chapman's Peak Drive