South Africa

After our recent trip to South Africa, we've checked quite a few items off our lifetime bucket list! The weather was perfect, the sights were breathtaking, the food was delicious, and the experiences we had were unforgettable! We hiked, saw animals, had picnics, drank tea, tried local wines, ate WAY too much, grilled at our Air BnB, walked the beach, and the kids played at numerous parks. Roman left with a black eye from one park and Nicolette enjoyed grass and leaves for one of the first times since she was a baby. This may be one of my longest posts yet, so grab a drink and get comfortable.

Seeing the world from the top of Cable Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa 

Traveling with Kids 

After take-off, we get both kids settled and Nicolette was sleeping in her carseat. As I close my eyes to drift off to sleep, I hear a familiar cough. The kind of cough that means puke is coming. I know this cough from our last instance of stomach flu, all too well. By the time I open my eyes, Nicolette is tossing her cookies all over the place. I wake Nick up and we go into crisis mode, heading off to the bathroom, cleaning up as best as possible and all I can think the entire time is, we are all next! The rest of the 9 hours of the flights were uneventful. Crisis seemed to be averted! As I'm breathing a little easier and we are heading into the Pilanesberg National Park, we see a huge giraffe just a few feet from our car and we are in awe! Then comes that cough. To spare the gory details, let's just say it was like a scene out of the movies. Nicolette was so sick. Everywhere. For thirty LONG minutes, we drive 5mph on a very bumpy, middle of nowhere Africa road. At this point, it's clear this poor girl is motion sick and looks miserable. Thankfully, Roman is not sensitive to her sickness, and didn't follow suite! For the remainder of the trip, she was completely fine. All we can assume is that she was motion sick because she was recovering from a ear infection earlier in the week. Lesson learned: always be prepared with extra clothes, wipes & always grab an extra blanket off the plane on the way off. It made a great "towel" for clean-up during the road trip disaster.

How about that drive in: Johanesberg

Aside from the puke-fest, the drive in was an eye-opening experience. Our GPS took us an alternative route through a "township" which is a poverty stricken area. It was a Sunday afternoon and the community was bustling with their usual activities. Imagine the African children running and playing near the streets, seemingly free roaming goats everywhere including crossing the street, men selling bags of produce to passing cars, and women carrying large bundles of goods on their heads walking along the streets. Also imagine: Nick getting used to (aka forgetting to drive on the left side of the road while using a manual transmission that's also on the left) and flying over unforeseen speed bumps. I'm probably still having PTSD from the potholes and speed bumps we hit along the way. 

A Safari Experience

Once we arrived at the Bakubung Bush Lodge, the boys left right away for an afternoon safari while I was on damage control. Nicolette continued to do well and we walked the beautiful property which is surrounded by the scenic mountains and nested next to a watering hole where animals are only separated from the facility by an electric fence. Throughout our time at the bush lodge, we saw a incredible variety of game animals such as: wildebeest, zebra, lioness (and cubs), kebu, giraffe, hyena, impala, many kinds of birds, hippos, and rhino's! Roman was at the perfect age for the safari rides, where he would patiently scout the animals out with his binoculars and listen for sounds quietly as we observed the animals closely. Our family took self-drives in the evening throughout the park as well. Half of the reserve is paved and half is dirt roads in awful conditions that we tested our tiny little rental car on anyway. There is nothing like riding off into the African bush, with just your family, searching for animals in their most natural habitat! Seeing the animals in their most natural environment is unlike any other experience. Some of them are more active then you would see in a small enclosure at a zoo. We saw Giraffe's migrating across the valley quickly in herds, and elephants playing! Our guides helped point out certain animals and characteristics about them which made the outings even more informative and intriguing as we watched the animals from up close and afar. 

  

After a relaxing few days of sunsets, star gazing and safari drives, we headed off to the airport at 3:30 in the morning. I knew some of the areas we were driving through where not going to be great (we even saw bullet holes in the buildings when we were looking for a gas station, which was frightening) and the road conditions were so poor I was terrified of getting a flat tire and being stranded. This time, our GPS did not take us through any town-ships. Fortunately, all that was lost was a hubcap along the way (see previous mentions of those awful potholes in the roads). 

Cape Town: A city rich in History and Beauty

Cape Town is on South Africa’s southwest coast, and lies beneath the imposing Table Mountain (a completely flat table-top mountain that gives epic views of the city and coastline). The surrounding area is equally beautiful.  Numerous vineyards and mountainous nature reserves are within an hour of the city. Having a rental car afforded us the ability to go at our own place, change plans whenever we found something interesting we wanted to add to our day, and was a good spot for the kids to nap along the way to new places. We started our days early and were often the only people visiting attractions! Winter is the start of the off-season and most children are still in school so throughout our trip, most places were not very busy. It was the perfect get-away for our family. While locals were bundled up, we were basking in the 65-72 degree temperatures. Even on the cloudier days, the change of environment from Bahrain was a welcome one! We did a lot of driving in which we were able to see so much of the area both coastal and further inland towards the mountain reserves. We also drove past many townships which provided a sobering reality in the struggles the country still faces. 

Top Attractions:

All the places we visited were so unique and memorable but for the sake of memory keeping here are the highlights.

A picnic lunch at Spier Winery was picturesque and a highlight of the trip! We ordered a gourmet picnic basket in advance that had all kinds of delicious foods. We set up right near the lake and next to the playground. Both kids were happy and we enjoyed a glass of wine while we ate our lunch. During our trip, we also took a Hop On- Hop Off bus for a winery tour. They have many of these types of tours and we rode in on a open air bus (a great designated driver but bad for those with motion sickness).  Groot Constantia wine estate is where we had lunch and a tasting. It is a beautiful estate with fantastic views, Roman fed the ducks on the property and we took a stroll. Beau Constantia Wine Estate was another memorable experience, we sat at a picnic table that overlooked a grassy yard where the kids played the whole time. We enjoyed a cheese plate and wine. The had two friendly dog on the property and Roman wore them out playing fetch the entire time!

Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden was more than I had expected. We typically bypass botanical gardens but for whatever reason we went and had a amazing time hiking trials (they have walking paths too) and walking over their famous tree-top canopy which is a bridge that takes you above all the trees in the park. From there, you can see the views of the mountains up close and in the distance. There was also a park, and restaurant patio where we sat and drank tea and coffee while Nicolette toddled around and Roman played at the park. The staff is dressed in fancy traditional African attire and come to your table to do the traditional face painting, and hand washing in a basin. 

World of Birds is a outdated and slightly sketchy bird zoo that had meerkats, monkeys, marmosets and more. It's perfect for kids and we enjoyed the little Squirrel Monkeys that hopped all over us! 

One day we set our for animal adventures that landed us at Giraffe House first, where we got to feed and pet a giraffe completely on our own. You get a bucket of food when you enter the property and are free to roam the area. They have a variety of other small animals as well. After that visit, we took a short drive over to the Lion Park. 

She wasn't too sure about this. Meanwhile, I was overly excited about it.

Lion Park is a refuge for lions that have been rescued from abusive private owners, zoo's and circuses. We were the only visitors at the park and were able to walk the expansive property viewing these lions up close. It's eerily quiet and a expansive property. You are given a safety briefing before entering to stay quiet and move slowly. These lions are massive and separated some fencing and an electrical fence. You are surprisingly close and it was a cool experience. 

After Lion Park, we noticed a place nearby on the GPS that was called 'Croc Farm' so we headed that way to see what it was. Le Bonheur Crocodile Farm turned out to be a complete gem! Not only did we get a private guided tour and history behind the "crocodile farm" but we also had wood grilled pizza at their restaurant which had a indoor and outdoor play area with views of the mountains and a lake. The sun was shinning, there was a beautiful breeze and we could have stayed there all day. Nothing makes me more excited than an unexpected find of a great location. Once again, we were among the few visitors at all these places so we had a lot of one-on-one time! 

I was really being brave in an effort to get Roman to hold this croc but no luck! We also felt his teeth, which were understandably but shockingly sharp!

We took a road trip to the most South western point of Africa but it was filled with tourists and the weather was cold and windy so we didn't stay long. Unfortunately, Table Mountain was also cloudy the day we tried to visit as well which meant we didn't get the best of photos but it was still a unique experience. We were riding up in a cable car and the floor spun 360 degrees while climbing to the top! On a clear day, the views would be incredible. It was still a fun experience to be up in the clouds watching them pass through! Among the more touristy spots was Boulders Beach, a beach inhabited by penguins! They had just finished their breeding time so there were a lot of baby penguins. This was probably among Roman's favorites. He wanted to stay and watch them all day! 

Cape of Good Hope

South Africa is truly one for the books and one of our top favorite vacations. We are already planning to return to Africa one day. We have only TWO continents left on our travel bucket list: South America and Antarctica which we won't be checking off anytime soon. Although, we have a few more fun trips in the works!

For more travel photos of our adventures, check us out on Instagram:

@SunshinetoSushi