Category: South Africa

The Day That Went Missing…

April 10th –

 

After what was actually a super restful night (bed at 2:00 am and up by 6:30 am so I’m not sure that truly counts as ‘night’) we got up and gathered the last of our things, took out the garbage, said goodbye to Atlas and the kittens and headed off to the airport after picking up our siblings who would be taking our truck back from the city, post airport drop off.

The Saskatoon airport was very quiet, even for there 😉
So I didn’t feel SO awkward posing for Mike to take this photo 🤪✈️👍🏻

 

We were in no rush so we also stopped to take time and play on the color wall art instalment thingy 😉💎🌈

 

 

We flew the short flight to Calgary and had around an hour and a half there until we boarded for our eight and a half hour flight to Amsterdam.

We were slightly morose after learning that the Calgary airports chic-fil-a, was permanently closed down?!
So many layovers will never be the same 😭🍗💔

 

So we instead filled ourselves with some honey chipotle crispers from a Chilis restaurant and they were actually very good ☺️

We walked around in our remaining time, trying to prolong the leg stretching time we had left 🤪

We managed to doze off and on during the first hour of the Amsterdam flight but from then on out, for me, it was awake time.

Dinner came and that is always fun to me… I think maybe because everything comes in separate containers and it’s all so organized, making my ‘food can’t touch and must be eaten one genre at a time’ personality trait, rejoice 😉🙈
Also, KLM does focus on the little details.

(The Clamato/bloody marry was disgusting though… I think they just used tomato juice with lemon and that is NOT the same as I don’t like textured drinks :P)

A napkin held golden plastic cutlery, a fresh little roll is served as an extra side, the coffee cups are designed with darling little Dutch illustrations… I’m telling you, it’s the little things that become oh so interesting when you have 9 hours to stare at the same space 🤪

My Mom (and group of encouraging supporters)will be so proud… not only did I hydrate with H20… I also got up to use the bathroom AND stood awhile just to stretch.
It’s like I became a totally new person 😂

We made it to Amsterdam airport and it was for sure a little odd to get there and not be greeted by family or continue on by train to get to family… but to instead find a place to wait out the 2 and a half hour layover.
I was deposited at a couch with our luggage so I could lay down and Mike left the airport to search out dutch snacks or a grocery store because he couldn’t wait ten more days for some Dutch treats 🤪

As I lay, I spotted this MASSIVE fiddle leaf tree… I didn’t think they could even get that big and I even had Michiel go touch it’s leaves to authenticate it’s realness 🤪👍🏻

 

He had returned with a loaf of bread, chocolate bars, chocolates, croissants, chocolate cracker things and chicken sushi 😂

We boarded our plane to Johannesburg and I took a sleeping pill, praying it would work because most times in the past, it had not.
It worked 😅🙌🏻
It also helped immensely that we had an empty seat in between us!!
Two airplane seats and a husbands lap for a pillow, is just enough room for me to lay with my feet up.
An extra seat also meant an extra pillow and blanket so you could say I was pretty pleased with the situation 😜

Talking in a way that may show my age or lack of health or perhaps it’s simply seen as a taboo subject, I bring you, compression socks 🤓
I got a pair of prettily coloured compression socks off of amazon, after suffering swollen and achy legs during many of our more recent flights and even road trips.
Not only did my legs not ache whatsoever, they aided greatly in the comfort/warmth department 👍🏻

I slept probably a good four hours solid and then dozed in spurts between eating and landing for the other five 😏☕️✈️🍦

We were picked up by a shuttle car and taken to the Aero Tropolis Guest Lodge, the same place we had previously stayed at during our trip 2 years ago. We were given the same room as well and after eating our chicken sushi (which still sounds like the oddest and whitest thing to buy in the way of sushi 🤪) we went to bed, unsure of how we would (or would not) sleep…

 

 

April 12th –

 

We slept. Not that that’s really super interesting information for you all 🤪
But we did and it was grand and we awoke, got some breakfast, prepared ourselves and packed up to await pick up from some friends whom we’d been spending the weekend with ☺️

 

 

We visited at their home for a while and then we went out for lunch to the Irene Farm.

I ate chicken, zucchini and feta ‘lollipops’ with sweet potato fries and a basil apricot sauce.
They were good ☺️

Then a craft store was explored.
It was like a Michael’s of sorts but cheaper & had more available for creating party favours etc. It would be a very handy place to have if you had a specific project in mind to create 👌🏻
There was even one lady there who heard us talking and asked if it was my first time to the store and then went on to say it was just like ‘Michaelas’ a place she’d been in the states 😉

Then we headed back to our hosts home where we visited until enjoying a very tasty homemade supper that evening.
Our lovely host actually make what Mike had said was his favourite meal, during his trip there in 2013!
She puts my hosting skills to shame and I knew we’d be spoiled royally by the time we left 🤭😉💕

We ate ‘Milk tart’ and ice cream for dessert as that’s a very South African thing & good one at that! 💁🏻‍♀️
Almost like a pudding pie of sorts but tastier… not that I’ve ever eaten such a thing as a ‘pudding pie’ but texture wise I feel that is all I can compare it to for you all 😜

 

Upon entering our room, there were towels laid out with personalized goodies atop them. Flowers and water on the nightstand, along with a personalized magazine selection per person as well… art and home decor for me and home renovation for Mike… best B & B experience yet 😉💕

We went to bed fairly early, not having felt too to tired throughout the day but being very ready for bedtime once it came ☺️
Due to flying etc. it really felt like April 11th never even occurred for us, as we woke up to travel on the 10th and the only time we slept in a bed and awoke was on the 12th 🤪

Mingling Theatre Goers

Friday March 31st –



One last early morning… something I could readily say I wouldn’t miss 😜

Out we went and though we never seen as much the last two rides as we did during the first two, there was of course still very interesting moments 😉

Three rhinos crossed in front of us, a female, calf and a male who was trying to keep the female in his territory.

Calves generally stay about five years with their mom and she won’t breed again during that time, so the male was wasting his time.
That didn’t stop him from generously marking his territory as he crossed the road, spraying and dragging his feet through it.
It’s good we were a few yards away 😜

Also, we learnt that the rhino horns actually grow out of the same stuff as our fingernails?!

Multiple impala, wildebeest and giraffes were seen throughout each ride and usually a few zebras as well but that morning we got to see a bigger herd of them, including an adorable little baby😁

We stopped by a thorny bush and Chris pulled off a small branch for us to all take a look at. Continue reading “Mingling Theatre Goers”

The Never Ending Day

Thursday March 30th –

4:30 am… what a time to be up on vacation😳
Or any day of life really.

We got ready and drowsily headed out to the tea and coffee area.

We were the first ones there and we clumsily poured some coffee and munched on a peanut butter cookie or two while waiting for the others to crawl out.

Our guide joined us to say good morning and that he was ready when we were, so we quickly finished up our drinks and loaded into the jeep.
He’d warned us to dress warmly because mornings were usually pretty brisk but it wasn’t too bad at all with the blankets around our shoulders and we forgot about the cold once a lion was glimpsed on the road and then another further on and once the sun was up 😏👌🏻

Photo creds to our guide👌🏻

www.chrisbatessafaris.com

The second (pictured above) was a bit of a younger male and he cared less about us being by him, calmly walking down the road.

He walked long enough that we decided to move on and try seeing other things.
Like a leopard that had been reported!

On our way to see the leopard, four hippos were seen bathing in a dam.

A baby tried to get up on its mother back and the group actually swam closer to us, grunting in slight annoyance.

We then drove as quickly as possible to reach the area the leopard was, all in anticipation of seeing one of the harder to spot, ‘big five’.
With roughly 1 to see in every 9,000 hectors, you may better understand our excitement 😉
We got to the red rocks where the leopard had been seen sunbathing and after squinting greatly and having some direction of where to look, it was seen. Continue reading “The Never Ending Day”

African Safari Field Notes – Day One

African Safari Field Notes – Day one, time unknown. We joined our fellow expedition members and guide. There are seven of us in total. Weather looks hot, water supply low. Emotions are running high, all feeling mixtures of slight excitement and trepidation. What will this journey hold? Are any of us really prepared…?

Wednesday March 29th –

(Due to the amount seen and done on the following days, I will be uploading one days adventures at a time, instead of the regular two days worth 😉)

We awoke after a springy mattress sleep and got everything packed up and sorted out to head to ‘Ivory Tree Game Lodge’ for the safari part of our trip.

Before we left, we made mention of the pools lack of cleanliness and the owners irritated response was, ‘ Yeah well THIS IS AFRICA, it’s dirty!’.
To which I replied, ‘If that’s the case, how is your pool (which we could see through the separating gate) crystal clear?’.
She then didn’t say anything and went on to talk about a different topic 🙈

We really didn’t want to be mean or rude… that’s never the point.
She was a nice enough lady and we did choose the spot but in a sense I feel like they should also know the customers opinion if they plan on running a guest house?

Breakfast was eaten at ‘Tasha’s’ and we went for unusual choices.

A middle eastern chicken and rice salad for me and lettuce burgers for Mike.

I also got a juice, since my newfound love for them needed quenching and Mike got a coffee milkshake, something else we’ve had a lot of.

My chicken salad was cold (I was expecting warm because of the rice part I guess?) and very refreshing.
A mixture of rice, chopped olives, cucumber and tomato was eaten with pepper grilled chicken and a side of very light, lemon pomegranate yogurt dressing.
It was very different but also very good and though I was full afterwords, it wasn’t that ‘weigh you down, food coma’ kind of full.

We’ve actually eaten some of the healthiest meals during this trip.
Many more restaurants (at least the ones we’ve chosen) have a large variety of healthy meal options.
Whether its fruit, yoghurt, nuts or grains, the choses are plenty and seen much more often than anywhere else we’ve been.

They do leave a person feeling better after eating and the flavours have been lovely.
Lots of lemony pesto too, which I’ve enjoyed.
But… away from food for a bit and on to the rest of the day 😋 Continue reading “African Safari Field Notes – Day One”

Journeying To And Through Johannesburg

Monday March 27th –


The view from the surf lodge was taken in one last time that morning before we drove off, looking for breakfast in the town of Jeffrey’s Bay.

During the drive there, my first flamingos were spotted 😁

They’re actually super weird… which I pretty much knew, but seeing their spindly long legs work in real life brought it more into perspective😋

‘InFood – Coffee Society’ was where we sat down for a drink and bite to eat and though it was one of the cooler ‘looking’ dishes and drink serving, it was probably the one of the least tasty 😬

It was a nice sunny spot though and we enjoyed the weather from our table beside the window.
I was also able to get a blog posted so it worked out well.

The town was home to one of the biggest surfing competitions in South Africa, hosted by Billabong.
Thus, there was a large Billabong factory outlet that we took our time looking through.

Then our drive to port Elizabeth began. Continue reading “Journeying To And Through Johannesburg”

We Write To Taste Life Twice

Saturday March 25th –

Almost the worst I’d felt yet 🙄
Waking with a pounding head, aching body and runny nose.

The plan was to get breakfast and then medication.
We made it into ‘Ile de Pain’, the breakfast place Mike had been wanting to go to and
a coco nutty smoothie was ordered to share and I couldn’t taste any of it 😏
Same goes for the scrambled eggs with parmesan and pesto.

Which sounded good, but I unfortunately can’t tell you how it was 😬

Mike had found a farmers market of sorts to check out so we drove there and wandered through it for a few minutes.

It was more of a food market than crafts and since we’d just eaten breakfast it wasn’t the best time to go.
That, mixed with my shivering, loss of taste and smell made it a little unappealing to me but if I’d went in good health I can imagine we would have lingered longer and left fuller 😉
Mike did buy raspberries, strawberries and ready to eat pomegranate though.

The sunshine was what felt best to me, so we headed to a beach but the wind near the water proved to cold for my frail self and the sunshine made my head pound😜

So, to a store for medication.
Mike got me some cold meds you drink with water and after downing the very odd tasting/slightly fizzy water, I began improving 👌🏻💊 Continue reading “We Write To Taste Life Twice”

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