In 2018, we travelled in South Africa with friends, and afterwards went to Germany.
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And so it begins…
“Put everything you want to take on the bed. I will pack half of that and it will still be more than we use.” Eye roll.
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First flight – MCO to MIA
We are on board the first flight to Miami. Ruth (Kenn's Mom) dropped us off and we got through everything with no issues. Good sign for the rest of the travels!
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Miami
Miami airport. We made it onto the plane. Next stop: Istanbul!
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Istanbul Airport
Arrived in Istanbul. Big wonderful crazy airport. Got a room at the airport hotel and slept so well. Then at 1:55 we boarded the plane for Cape Town. We are on our way!
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The Other Home
First sight of Table Mountain from the airplane. Now we are just visiting and already drinking wine. C’est La Vie “O Kaap, O Kaap mooiste kaapJy maak my hart weer baie seerJou ghantam kom mos altyd weer en weer.”
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Delaire Graf
We decided on a short trip for the day. Only two wineries. First stop, Delaire Graf. Sat up on the mountain top looking out over the valley on a beautiful day. http://www.delaire.co.za/
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Vrede & Lust
Vrede & Lust Translates to Peace and Desire. This might be or favorite winery ever. We have been here so many times, specially the day after our wedding ceremony. Thank you Alexi for introducing us. https://www.vnl.co.za/
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Day of chores
First with weekday here was a day of chores. Things we had to take care of. But we saw some beautiful places and had an amazing dinner with wonderful friends.
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Friends and Family
A nice long day with lots of different friends and family visiting during the day. Ended with a wonderful evening of wine and cards.
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Michaelangelo Awards
We were treated to an insiders view of the Michaelangelo Wine Awards being conducted on Longridge Wine Estate. This is one of the world’s most prestigious wine awards with more than 2000 entries from as far away as China. We observed the master Sommeliers doing the blind wine tastings and after a tour had a…
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Stellenbosch
Chilling in the University town of Stellenbosch in the heart of wine country. Lots of fun and unusual sights, great food and just a wonderful time. (More photos than will fit on this blog!)
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Mountains at Sunset
You can see part of the mountain range from the house.
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Around town
Shopping Malls, Fish & Chips and red wine. Just another day being domestic.
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Lourensford
A brisk morning on a very nice wine estate. We had coffee and a little something, and then had a wine tasting. Of course! https://lourensford.co.za/
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Vergelegen
Vergelegen is a historic wine farm established in 1700. One of the oldest (and prettiest) in the area. But by now it is a blustery day! Nice wine tasting and then we had an amazing lunch in the restaurant. http://www.vergelegen.co.za/
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More Stellenbosch
We got more ‘muricans and we chilled as a posse for the day in the second oldest Dutch town in South Africa: Stellenbosch. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellenbosch
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Wijnhuis
It was a very wet day in Stellenbosch, but we had a lot of stops available on the way. This was a charming place with very good service called the ‘Wijnhuis’ which translates to Wine House. http://www.wijnhuis.co.za/
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Art in ‘bosch
What an amazing place!
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Steam
Last stop in Stellenbosch was a charming place called ‘Steam’By now we were so cold and wet we all had Irish Coffees!! http://restaurantwebexpert.com/Steam_Restaurant/
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Morning walk
It is winter here. We went for a morning walk to activate a cell phone, and we were freezing!!
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Ben’s
We went to one of the highest rated restaurants in the area. Not because of that reason, just because it was 40 feet from the other condo. And it was amazing. So much good food and good wine. Add to that the good company, and you have the perfect recipe for a wonderful evening!! http://www.bens.co.za/#/welcome
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V&A Waterfront Lunch
Had a great lunch in the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. Despite all the tourism, the big part of the charm is that it is still a working dockyard. https://www.waterfront.co.za
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Distillery
Cape Town is getting famous for the locally made gin. We went visiting one of the highest rated Gin distilleries in town. What a great experience with wonderful people and exquisite gin. Thank you Andre! (And Bear is adorable!) https://pienaarandson.co.za/
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Images of Cape Town
The Mother City. http://www.capetown.travel/
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V&A evening
Back to the waterfront. It turned into a stunning evening. We even took a selfie with Nelson.
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Life Grand Cafe
We had an amazing dinner on the Waterfront. What a spectacular day with wonderful people on an amazing place. http://www.life.za.com/home?category=Restaurant
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Table Mountain
We took the Cable Car up to the top of one of the new 7 wonders of the natural world: Table Mountain. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_Mountain
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Table Views
Goofy selfies and stunning views on the best day we've ever had on Table Mountain in many decades.
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Dassies
Dassies are adorable, and evolutionary very interesting. Their closest relatives are elephants and manatees, but they are on their own branch. Might be a dead end? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyrax
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Flying again
Flying to Hoedspruit to make it to Kapama.
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Kapama first view
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Kapama The Room
We were blown away. There is no other words I can use to describe the moment we walked into the room and both had that stunned silence as we just stared. Wow!
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First Game Drive
Out first game drive was spectacular! We even had two male lions walk right next to us.
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Sundowners. Day 1.
As with any colony, you stop in the middle of the 'veld' and have some nibbly bits and G&T's and watch the sunset over the African Savannah.
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First Morning Drive
Or first morning drive definitely did not disappoint. Lots of animals really close. But the best part was the Watering Hole experience. We stopped at an empty watering hole to look at a Maribu stork when suddenly a Cape Buffalo appeared coming towards us. Then another. And then one more. Suddenly we were surrounded by…
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Out again
Our evening drive started off very well. We see two lionesses, more buffalo, an elephant and zebra.
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The Rhino Incident
And then we came across the Rhinos. A little family of Mom, Dad and a youngster. They were just waking along and got really close to the vehicle. All good so far since we are all sitting really still. As instructed. Next moment we just hear the tracker say to the ranger, camly but with…
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Sundowners
After The Rhino Incident, we had sundowners and watched a stunning sunset under African skies.
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Celebrating
Celebrated Gaby's last evening in the 50's. It was a spectacular night!
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Elephant Interaction
On Gaby’s birthday we all met up again the next day for the Elephant Interaction. These are all rescues that can not be reintroduced into the wild. It was a truly humbling experience to interact with these gentle giants.
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Birthday lunch
Our afternoon drive started out with a very special lunch in the middle of the reserve somewhere. This was done specially as a birthday treat, and it was definitely a rare treat!
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Last evening drive
So many great experiences. At some point we were surrounded by a huge herd of elephants waking through the trees. It was truly magical. You know it was an evening drive because the lion was sleeping. And he was so close to the vehicle he was barely a whim away.
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Last Morning Drive
Our last morning drive. All morning we were looking for the elusive leopard but with no luck. After we all agreed that it seems to be a lost cause, we started heading back. And that was when we found them… Two female lions and 5 cubs eating. We were driven right next to them (about…
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Goodbye Kapama
Karula Camp. Kapama. This is the kind of experience that does not exist in our world. Everything, down to the tiniest detail, was so well taken care of. We made wonderful memories with our ranger, Ruan, and our amazing tracker, Nicholas. A fantastic team they should be proud of. Thank you! … and now we…
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Shopping malls and lunch
We went to the Victoria and Alfred mall to do some souvenir shopping, and ended at the stunning Grand Africa Cafe & Beach. http://www.grandafrica.com/
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Victoria and Alfred
Wondering around the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town waiting for Gaby and Roland to arrive. They took the Blue Train down from Pretoria to Cape Town. https://www.waterfront.co.za/
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Mitre’s Edge
Our first winery on our tour was Mitre’s Edge. It is a charming boutique winery. The owner and winemaker have us a personal tasting with lots of wonderful information. And the wines were good too! https://www.mitres-edge.co.za/phone/index.html
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Villiera Wines
Our second stop was Villiera Wines. They make sparkling wines in the classic Champagne method. The Brut Rose was very good. They even gifted one to Oupa and Ouma! http://www.villiera.com/
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Middelvlei
Lunch was at the Middelvlei wine estate. It was a sampling of a traditional South African braai. During lunch we had a wonderful red wine, and afterwards went into the cellar and we able to sample a young one straight from the oak barrel. http://www.middelvlei.co.za/
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Lovane
At Lovane we had a wine and chocolate paring. It was very tasty, but why is there never enough chocolate? http://www.lovane.co.za/wines/winery/
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Vergenoegd
Last farm of the day was Vergenoegd. Yes, the wines were good, but the best part was that we were there in time to see the daily Duck Parade! What a delightful spectacle that had us all smiling. The ducks work in the vineyards eating the bugs. http://vergenoegd.co.za/
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Vrede & Lust – Again!
Introducing more friends to our favorite wine farm. https://www.vnl.co.za/
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Indochine
We stopped at Delaire Graff for lunch. We ate at a restaurant called Indochine. It is South African food with distinct eastern influences. It was so perfectly tasty. Our view was down the valley overlooking vineyards and farms. So much yummy! http://www.delaire.co.za/dining/overview/
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Dinner at sunset.
For dinner we just dropped into a local seafood restaurant. The view of sunset was breathtaking, and the place was cozy and fun. Spend a great time with the owners hanging around at our table. https://www.oceanbasket.com/
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Setting up dinner
We arrived a little early at Cavalli to help with the setup for dinner. The room looked so pretty and with the landscape around it was like sitting in a painting. As the sun started going down, the view got even better. Everything had a warm tint of gold. This was setting out to be…
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The Birthday Dinner
So many photos of many happy smiling people. The food was so good, the wine kept flowing and the room was filled with laughter and conversations of old and new friends. Happy Birthday Ouma, Gaby, Kenn and Coen!
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The Blue Peter
We went to one of our favorite little places. The Blue Peter on Bloubergstrand. The idea was to go have a drink and move on. Many hours later we have listened to a great band, danced with strangers, heard a street person walk up and sing Italian Opera, had friends come over to join us…
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Family
It was a fun-filled day full of love, laughter, family, friends and fun. Lunch was a Louisiana Crawfish Boil and they devoured this 'American Import' dish! After dinner some of us went to the mountainside to go watch the sun set over the bay. All in all, a splendid day!
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Hermanus
How did we get so lucky to have the most perfect day to go whale watching?It was warm and beautiful. The whales were all around us. It is just a little tough to catch them on camera! Hermanus itself is a charming seaside town that knows what it is. Little art stores, coffee houses and…
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Another dinner at Sunset
We took the parents out to dinner at their favorite neighborhood restaurant. One of those beautiful evenings.
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Ouma’s Treat
As a treat for Ouma’s birthday on the 13th, we took her to the casino for the night. This is, according to her, the best thing you can do for her as a treat. She had a blast gambling, and actually left with more money than she started with. We stayed at the hotel on…
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Leaving Africa
It was a very sad morning leaving. Very. Enough said.
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Istanbul
It is 4:15 am and we are in the airport in Istanbul. This is a 24hr airport so everything is open. Since we are in Turkey, we decided to try a Turkish Coffee. Yeah… that was interesting. Was like trying to chew through coffee flavoured mud. Now we know! Off to Germany in a few…
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Germany
Made it to Germany! Spent all afternoon and evening just visiting and relaxing and eating and drinking. So much fun. These are wonderful people.
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Jacques
The ladies went grocery shopping. The guys went to buy wine. We went to this charming wine store in Weinheim where you can taste any of the wines! You just ask and the owner will open it and give you a taste. Interesting concept, specially early in the morning! https://www.jacques.de/?campaign=Google-Places/237_Weinheim
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Party Prep
We arrived early to make sure everything was set up and ready. It was very beautiful and it had everything ready to be a great night.
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Gaby’s Big Party
What a great night! Music brings people together. The band was so good. Reputedly one of the best in the area. And that might just be true! There was great food, wonderful wines and so much love in the air. We started at 6 and finally left around 2am. Of course we toasted a great…
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Michelstadt
We took a day trip out to a very pretty historical town. Walked around the city center looking at buildings older than the US and had lunch outside on the square. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelstadt
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Drei Birken
We had a wonderful dinner at one of the nicest restaurants in the Odenwald. Everything was so fresh and delicate. http://www.restaurant-drei-birken.de/
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Birthday Breakfast
Kenn’s birthday started out with a great birthday breakfast and a champagne toast. Now off to the wine tour! Happy birthday!
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Mesmer
Kenn’s birthday trip continues… First stop on the birthday tour, is his favorite winery in the area. Mesmer. And we are off to a good start! https://www.weingut-messmer.de/
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Winzergaststaette
The birthday tour continues… http://www.winzergaststaette-burrweiler.de/
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Pfeffingen
Had some of the most unusual wines yet from all our trips here. A family owned winery very proud of some really good wines. The birthday is still going… https://www.pfeffingen.de/
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Birthday dinner
For his birthday Kenn wanted to cook with Roland. Of course I made sure I give that to him, and had the best Osso Buco ever! Yum! Happy birthday Kenn!
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Frankfurt Airport
Got up at 3am and we got to Frankfurt Airport very early for our 7am flight. Was very sad to say goodbye to Gaby and Roland since we always have such a great time with them. See you again soon!
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Statistically Home
And we are back! Days gone: 33Continents: 4Inside an airplane: 60 hrs and 30 minSitting in airports: 39 hrs and 30 minsFood & Wines: Too many to count. Fun with friends and family: Priceless!! To each and every one that was in any way part of this adventure, there is no way we can truly…