Following the Cup

The last weeks I spent exploring South Africa on a roadtrip, driving more than 4000km across this beautiful country, taking in the world cup spirit and loving every minute of it! Internet has been rather sporadic, so here's a quick recap of my whereabouts in the previous weeks.

Our journey took us from the highveld of Johannesburg for the Germany-Ghana match via the capital Pretoria on to Pilanesberg National Park and then to Bloemfontein in the Free State, where we attended the England-Germany game; and so we got a first impression of the rainbow nation and proud host country of the World Cup.

The second part of our roadtrip brought us from Gaborone to the Drakensberg and a quick visit to Lesotho, then to Durban and from there to the Wild Coast where we spent a couple of days on the beach.

In Port Elisabeth we saw Germany's last victory against Uruguay and then hit the road again to reach our final destination for this trip: Cape Town

Thanks to Björn for encouraging me to do this trip and being such wonderful company, to Keith for being a great travel buddy and to all the people we met along the way for their amazing hospitality and for sharing some insights of this fascinating country with us!

Ein Tag am Meer

In Chintza, a well-loved holiday resort on the Wild Coast, we found a perfect place to rest after spending so many hours on the road. Situated on a hill overlooking a bay we spent two nights at Buccaneer's from where you would wake up in the morning to a beautiful sunrise and the sound of the waves down at the beach.

On our beach walk we collected some seashells, observed little snails walking across the sand, listened to the endless crashing of the waves and had picnic on the beach before we returned to the lodge and enjoyed a delicious home-cooked dinner and some live-music.

Life is good at the Wild Coast and this was exactly what we needed in order to prepare for the rest of our journey.

walking above the clouds

The Kingdom of Lesotho is quite unaccessible because it is soo high up and surrounded by lots of mountains. The Sani-Pass is the only way to get into it from the Southern side and it took a long and bumpy uphill ride in a trustworthy landrover to get there.

Of course, this was not the end of our trip: We climbed further to get to the top of Hodgson’s peaks, a steep 2 hour-hike and 3256 m above sealevel.

The lack of oxygen was compensated by a spectacular 360 degree view all over the Drakensberg, down to the hills of KwaZulu-Natal and inwards to the highlands where Lesotho ponies and herds of sheep grazed in the distance.

Walking back along the edge and peering down the cliffs makes you feel very small and almost as if this kingdom above the clouds is somehow detached from the rest of the world.

Capetonian Views

Everyone told me how beautiful Capetown is but still I wasn't quite prepared for the outstanding beauty of this part of the world.
After a long and rainy day in the car we arrived at sunset from the Sir Lowry's Pass and for the first time I loved the traffic jam because that meant I could enjoy the fantastic view even longer :)



The next days we spent exploring the city and the surroundings, including a trip to the wine region around Stellenbosch with georgeous views from the vineyards and the spectacular backdrop of snow-capped mountains.


Table mountain even cleared its famous tablecloth when we went up there and so we got some absolutely amazing 360-degree views of the peninsula.


Driving around the peninsula is really hard as you get distracted by the natural beauty all the time and I had to pull over more than once because I just could not concentrat on the road for all the beautiful views around us.


More sunsets along the coast and dramatic skies left us deeply in love with this beautiful city and I am already planning to go back and see more.

Baby you can drive my car

Soon after arriving in Gabs it became clear that I will need a car in order to get around. And so my favorite man took me to his trusted Sri-Lankan car dealer in the dusty suburb of Mogoditshane where we inspected a number of 'freshly arrived' cars from Japan.

And even though the offer was rather limited I decided I definitely want a German car!
(After all, it's the first time I am buying a car)

After some back and forth, test-driving, negotiations between the men, getting lost on the way, trying every cash mashine in Gabs, and finally a rather lengthy cleaning session (just before the WC started), I am now the proud owner of this lovely green VW Golf:

Isn't it pretty? :)

Let there be Rhinos

Last weekend we packed our bags and went to Khama Rhino Sanctuary near Serowe to see some more of Africa’s wildlife.

In the park you can do a guided game-drive or drive with your own car through the bush and around the pans on dusty sand roads.

On our early morning drive we saw loads of antelopes, wilderbeest, springboks, impalas and a herd of zebras.

But it got really interesting during the afternoon drive (when all the animals supposedly hide in the bush and sleep) when we saw more than half of the entire Rhino population...have you ever seen a baby rhino jumping around the water hole and trying to play with a very unimpressed wilderbeest? It’s the cutest thing ever!

And when we were driving around the pan in an attempt to get closer to the giraffes we had seen in the distance, we accidentally bumped into 3 cheetahs preparing to hunt but then innocently and very elegantly just crossing the road just in front of us…

{the picture is not great but the best I could get with my little camera}

Wildlife here is amazing and luckily it looks like I’ll get to see some more of it in the next months, hurra!

Dumela Botswana!

I arrived in Gabs on the brand new airport and was picked up by my favorite man. Our house is situated in Phakalane, a suburb of Gaborone, which sports a supermarket, a school, a golf course and maybe some other attractions I have yet to discover.

We spent the first weekends exploring the city, meeting colleagues and friends, went to the cinema, and visited the Fete de la Musique. So it’s pretty much city life as usual I would say.

I also got to go on my first game drive in the Mokolodi Game Reserve just outside Gabs where we saw loads of antelopes, a herd of giraffes, ostriches and then also paid a visit to the cheetahs.
Yesterday we went to see the sunset at Gaborone Dam and the colors were just amazing!

Oh, I can't wait to go on a 'real' safari and spend the night out there somewhere...