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South Africa 2023
  • Nicole Barten
  • Matthew Koen

South Africa 2023

Our 37 day roadtrip through Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu Natal Read more
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  • South Africa 2023
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    Hluhluwe - iMfolozi Park - part 2

    December 15, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Some more photos and videos from the Hluhluwe - iMfolozi park.

  • South Africa 2023
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    iSimangaliso Wetland Park

    December 16, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Today we visited the Western Shores of the iSimangaliso Wetland park. The weather wasn't ideal and with a clear sky we could have looked much further from several lookout points but still definitely a beautiful park with again animals we hadn't seen much before. Also here the leopard is just not showing itself so at this point we just accept that that stayed with the few seconds we saw it in Kruger.Read more

  • South Africa 2023
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    Kwambonambi - Dolphin Coast

    December 17, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ 🌬 28 °C

    We only had a relatively short drive to Dolphin Coast today so we slept in a bit and enjoyed the sun and swimming pool at the accommodation in Kwambonambi for a bit longer before we drove to Dolphin Coast. Eventually we arrived at our accommodation around 15:45 but couldn't get in touch with our host. Turned out that our host was currently out of the country but employed someone who was supposed to be there when we would arrive but wasn't there. Luckily after about an hour the housekeeper showed up and was able to let us in. It's a beautiful view from the apartment and if the weather allows it we can walk just 350-400 meters to Salt Rock Beach tomorrow. In the evening Matthew cooked us a lovely Curry, I am so blessed with a man like him 🥰Read more

  • South Africa 2023
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    Dolphin Coast

    December 18, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    The first half of the day we spent on making calls to attorneys and the High Court trying to still get the last documents legalised we need for the visa application and in the afternoon we went to the beach for a short while. Unfortunately the sun disappeared and the temperature dropped quite a bit so it was not very pleasant to lay on the beach or swim in the sea but we still had a nice stroll over the beach.Read more

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    Dolphin Coast to Winterton

    December 19, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Today we drove from Dolphin Coast to Winterton. It was quite a busy road going past Durban and Pietermaritzburg with quite a lot of roadworks but all together it was a pretty smooth drive. After stopping in Mooi River to get some groceries we continued driving to the farm we're staying at for the next few days. We were welcomed by a 12-year old boy, Hendrik, who showed us the way to the cottage. What a beautiful place surrounded by a lot of sweet animals, we love this place! This evening Matthew cooked us homemade delicious bobotie, my favourite South African dish. As a complete surprise Hendrik knocked on the door and brought some lovely pancakes with cinnamon and sugar which we ate as a dessert. As you could see we couldn't wait to eat them so the pancake had already been partly devoured 😅Read more

  • South Africa 2023

    Canoeing and horseriding

    December 20, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    Unfortunately Matthew wasn't feeling too great today and I stayed with him for most of the day (both of us were having lots of stress about the documents for the visa application) but luckily we had a really nice, comfortable cottage so after making sure he was going to be okay I still went for a bit canoeing and swimming in the dam with 12 year old Hendrik and his 18 year old sister, Rika. What a beautiful place to be on the water surrounded by mountains and of course my competitive spirit couldn't say no when Hendrik wanted to race me in the canoes 😂
    After I went back to the cottage and had supper together with Matthew I got a message from our host asking if I'd like to do a bit of horseriding after Rika would come back from her ride. After that I still spent some time with her with the horses and we agreed on going on another ride together the next day. I really feel so at home at the farm with all the animals 😍    Read more

  • South Africa 2023

    Farm Winterton

    December 21, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    This morning I went out with Rika for some nice horseriding in this beautiful area. What a stunning surrounding and what amazing to explore the surrounding on horseback, this really made me feel so free again. In the afternoon we just took it easy and enjoyed the sun and the beautiful, massive yard with the dogs and cats coming up to us every now and then.Read more

  • South Africa 2023
    Lovely dog "Willow"
    Our cottage

    Winterton

    December 22, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    We are still waiting for documents that should have been delivered in Winterton per courier yesterday but still aren't here. These are the last documents we need so we can take them to an attorney and then to High Court to get an Apostille stamp and with those last documents we can finally do the visa application. Originally we planned to leave the farm today and drive to the next accommodation in Kestell but since the documents hadn't arrived yet, we decided to extend our stay here with another day. We are also trying to make a plan what to do now that the documents are delayed. So instead of going to the next accommodation we went to Winterton town to make some calls because we have almost no cellphone reception at the farm (which also explains the delayed blog updates, sorry) . Since it is so important for us to get this done before the end of this trip, we wanted to get some information about the possibilities between Christmas and New Year's and checking for the possibilities to change flight tickets and extend rental car. We did get some good news from High Court in Pietermaritzburg that they would be open between Christmas and New Year's. Unfortunately extending the rental car wasn't possible and we had to go back to Johannesburg airport and then check at the desk if we could get another car. So with this news to think about we went back to the farm where we were shown around a bit and taken to the river by Hendrik and for the rest we just took it easy and thought about what to do next with the lovely company of some of the dogs.Read more

  • South Africa 2023

    Winterton - Kestell

    December 23, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    This morning Nicole went to town around 8:00 so she could wait at the address the documents would be delivered while Matthew stayed at the accommodation to pack our bags so that we could leave to the next accommodation the moment we had the documents. After still waiting for about 2 hours we finally had to documents and around noon we left towards Kestell. On our way there we still stopped at some viewpoints of which one was Sterkfontein dam which is really big and beautiful blue water. Later that afternoon we arrived in Kestell, the town seemed really deserted but when we arrived at our accommodation, Campbell Stays we received a very warm welcome by Bea, our host and we enjoyed some coffee and tea on the porch before we went to the only restaurant in town where we definitely enjoyed some lovely food. A very meaty burger with beef, bacon, biltong and more with fries.
    When we got back we still chatted with Bea for a while and started making a plan for the next day.    Read more

  • South Africa 2023

    Golden Gate Highlands national park

    December 24, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Last night we thought of going to Tugela Falls today, which is said to be the longest waterfall in the world but that hike seemed quite difficult and neither of us felt really fit enough to go for that intense hike. So we decided to go to Golden Gate Highlands national park instead and do some more moderate hikes there. Definitely not a bad decision, really beautiful views and the hike to mushroom rock (a rock in the shape of a big mushroom) was very doable. We went back to the accommodation relatively in time because we knew we still had to pack and both really weren't feeling well knowing this was basically the last day of our trip. While Matthew was cooking and I was vacuuming the rental car in preparation for returning the car the next day a feeling of panic suddenly overwhelmed me realising that I wasn't ready to leave and that we had to get the visa application done first. So very last minute I still decided to change my flight ticket from the 25th to the 30th so our story continues with a few more days...
    After supper we also still had a really nice surprise in this small town since Santa was driving through the streets and handing out sweets to everyone. What a great initiative in this small town, this really made our day and put us in the Christmas spirit! 🎅    Read more

  • South Africa 2023

    Kestell - Johannesburg

    December 25, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    This morning when we woke up and walked into the kitchen, Bea, our host, surprised us with coffee and tea and delicious Christmas cookies. She really is such a sweet host and this is the first place we're kind of getting the Christmas feeling. Although we decided to extend the trip with a few more days so we could still try and get the Apostille stamp for the documents sorted out, we still had to return the rental car at Johannesburg airport this afternoon. After driving about 3-4 hours from Kestell to Johannesburg we first still got a few groceries and checked in at our accommodation for the night in Boksburg. Johannesburg is really not the nicest city to stay but at least our accommodation is very well secured and we can open the gate from our phone. After completely unpacking the rental car we went to the airport to return the car and ask for another rental car. This all went relatively smooth and within an hour we had another rental car for the last few days and went back to the accommodation in Boksburg.Read more

  • South Africa 2023

    Johannesburg - Ladysmith

    December 26, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    This morning we left our accommodation in Boksburg again and started driving towards Pietermaritzburg since we knew High Court would be open there. Since the drive from Johannesburg to Pietermaritzburg is a bit long to do in one day we booked one night in Ladysmith in KwaZulu Natal. It had been raining heavily all day and the day before there even had been some flash floods. We came past a bad accident on the highway but thankfully we managed to arrive safely in Ladysmith. Here we were welcomed by a (too) enthusiastic dog that immediately started jumping up to the car and to us and made everything muddy. It is a really cute dog but a bit much and we unfortunately had to tell the owner that as well because the dog did lightly scratch the rental car with his nails. But for the owner this was his first time as a host on Airbnb and we were his first guests so he only appreciated the feedback and was going to think of a solution for future guests with his too enthusiastic dog, probably a friend for him to play with because all the dog wanted to do was play with us. We definitely felt welcome in his house and the room was perfect. Our host, Simphiwe is a chef as well so he had a very well equipped kitchen which he allowed us to use as well. After a nice meal and a cup of coffee and tea we had some fun with the Christmas sweets we got from Santa in Kestell of which one of them gave us a very blue mouth 😂 The evening ended great with receiving a reply from one of the many attorneys in Pietermaritzburg that we emailed saying that he would be more than willing to help us and immediately suggested to meet us on the 28th. This really gives hope we can all get it sorted out in time, another step closer to doing the visa application! 😀Read more

  • South Africa 2023

    Ladysmith - Pietermaritzburg

    December 27, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Today we drove the last 2 hours from Ladysmith to Pietermaritzburg, spent some time at a big mall because we were a bit early for check in and then went to the accommodation. This accommodation was quite disappointing with a bedroom door that was almost falling apart and an employee knocking on our door at 6:15 the next morning because we had to move our car for other guests. But well we would only be here for the appointment with the attorney and our visit to High Court so at least we have a place to sleep but this place isn't much more than that.Read more

  • South Africa 2023

    Pietermaritzburg

    December 28, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    This morning we had an appointment with Gavin, the director of Randles attorneys who offered to help us with notarizing the documents. He was really friendly and helpful and this part was done really quick and easy. He gave us instructions on how to get to the High Court and where to park etc and after telling him how grateful we were for helping us during the holidays we left his office again to go to the High Court for the very last step of the process. Unfortunately here we were a bit less lucky since the lady at High Court refused to do her job and convinced us that this was the attorneys job. So we contacted Gavin again who said he wasn't allowed to give the Apostille stamp, that was really something High Court had to do. Eventually we left High Court and went back to Gavin where he still tried and thought of how he could be of any further help but eventually we just came to the conclusion that the lady at High Court didn't feel like doing her job and sent us away while she was supposed to help us. We ended up leaving the documents with Gavin and he will send someone from his office in the morning of the 2nd of January to basically get the staff at High Court to do their job. Unfortunately this means we can't get the application done while we're still together but we really trust Gavin and are convinced that he will get this last step done for us meaning we can do the application hopefully on the 2nd or 3rd of January 🤞Read more

  • South Africa 2023

    Pietermaritzburg - Harrismith

    December 29, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Today we left Pietermaritzburg to start our way back towards Johannesburg again. For tonight we did book a night at an Airbnb in Harrismith. We received a warm welcome from our host Johnny and his 3 dogs. Matthew made us a nice lunch with some food leftovers we still wanted to finish before the end of our trip and played a bit with the dogs. Unfortunately also packing had to be done and when we were finally in bed we cuddled until we fell asleep. Realising that it's the last night for at least the next few months is not easy but we do have hope now to which we can hold on to 🙏Read more

  • South Africa 2023
    She looks adorable in the morning!
    A few more for luckOne last "smile" for the cameraI'll see you soon sweetheart!

    The end of an amazing trip

    December 30, 2023 in South Africa

    Unfortunately this trip also had to come to an end eventually. On this last morning together, Matthew still spoiled me with a delicious breakfast in bed.
    We both felt nervous and stressed this morning because of the goodbye that was only a few hours ahead of us. However, it really helps that we really got something to hold on to and are convinced that we can do the visa application on the 2nd or 3rd of January. All the way to Johannesburg we kept saying that to each other and after an emotional, difficult goodbye at the bus station in Midrand Matthew got on his bus back to Fort Beaufort and I drove straight to the airport from there. We'll see each other again very soon, how do we know? We just do!Read more

  • South Africa 2023

    Good news!

    January 4, 2024 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    We are excited to share the news that we have finally been able to do the visa application last night! We truly believe our application will be approved by the IND, meaning Matthew could come to the Netherlands at latest in April but hopefully even sooner! Now we just have to wait and look forward to the moment we can be together again 🥰 we are incredibly grateful for our attorney Gavin who succeeded in getting the necessary stamp from the High Court and sent it to us.Read more

    Trip end
    December 30, 2023
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