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Zuid-Afrika 2022
  • Nicole Barten
Nov – Dec 2022

Zuid-Afrika 2022

Rondreis van een maand door de West en Oostkaap. Read more
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  • Trip start
    November 27, 2022
    Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022

    Laatste avond in Nederland

    November 26, 2022 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Heerlijk uit eten geweest met papa en mama. Gezellig om nog even een wat tijd door te kunnen brengen tussen onze vakanties in!

    See translation
  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022

    Boarden is begonnen

    November 27, 2022 in the Netherlands ⋅ 🌧 6 °C

    Na gisteravond nog heerlijk uit eten te zijn geweest met papa en mama ben ik er nu echt helemaal klaar voor en is het boarden van de vlucht naar Kaapstad inmiddels begonnen. Ik zal vanavond tegen 22:50 lokale tijd landen en wordt dan opgewacht door de taxi chauffeur die mij naar de accommodatie zal brengen. Matthew is hier vanochtend in de vroege uurtjes al veilig aangekomen na een 11 uur durende busreis.Read more

    See translation
  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022
    2

    Cape Town

    November 27, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Sunday I arrived around midnight at Happy Home Woodstock, our accommodation for the days in Cape Town. Of course there was first a lot of cuddling and tears after finally being reunited after more than 2,5 years. After a short but really good night we woke up around 7 the next morning to have some breakfast and take a walk of just over an hour to the waterfront where the ferry to Robben Island departed. The trip to Robben Island was really nice but also confronting and eye opening. Afterwards we took a nice stroll along the waterfront and sat down for a drink.Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022
    1

    Cape Town city sightseeing

    November 29, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Today we did a tour with the hop on hop off city sightseeing busses in and around Cape Town. It was nice recognizing certain places from back in 2020 but it was just as impressive and stunning as I remembered. We enjoyed every moment and visited several places. We did a nice cruise with a sightseeing boat through the harbour of Cape Town and made a stop at the monkey and bird sanctuary where we got the chance to get close with the monkeys which was a really nice experience.
    That evening we were invited at the Dias Tavern, a nice Portuguese-African restaurant, by Toby and his wife Fiona. Toby was one of my colleagues during the tortoise field work study back in February 2020 sp it was really nice to catch up and we really had a great evening with the 4 of us.    Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022

    On our way to Barrydale

    November 30, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    This morning our rental car got delivered at our accommodation in Cape Town and after we checked out at the accommodation we left for Barrydale. On our way to Barrydale we made a stop of about 2 hours at Gearing's whale watching viewpoint in Hermanus. I thought to see maybe 1 whale or a dolphin through my binoculars but it was very far away so I wasn't 100% sure and couldn't catch it on camera. The view however was amazing and the weather was great as well so we really enjoyed. We continued our way to Barrydale and the last bit was a stunning road through the Tradouw pass. Towards the end of the afternoon we arrived at a very nice accommodation at a beautiful farm with lovely cats, dogs and horses. We had a delicious braai and a magical evening under the stars. When we were looking at the stars together something really special happened, Matthew suddenly sat down on one knee and proposed to me and of course I said yes! 🥰 We are so happy together and wouldn't want anything else than spend the rest of our lives together. ♥️Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022
    Wilderness National Park
    IbisWaterbuckCheetahElandCape BuffaloBlue Crane and Buffalo

    On our way to Knysna

    December 1, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    After a lovely night we left Barrydale again. It was a bit stressful start because somehow we managed to lose the key of the electronic entrance gate to the property but luckily it fell out of our luggage when we put our luggage back in the car. We said goodbye to Ella and Ian who were very lovely hosts and drove towards Albertinia where we booked a midday game drive at Garden Route Game Lodge. It took us a bit longer than expected because quite a bit of the road was dirt road where we really had to reduce our speed but we still arrived 10 minutes before the game drive and still had time to quickly fill out some forms and met our guide Brandon.
    It turned out that we were the only guests that booked the 11am game drive so we were very lucky to have a private game drive with just the two of us and our guide who did an amazing job and explained a lot about the animals. We had a really close encounter with 3 Cheetahs and some waterbuck and got lucky enough to spot the lions as well eventhough it was from quite far away.
    After the game drive we continued our way to Knysna and stopped at Wilderness national park for a short hike. Arriving in Knysna we again had a really nice accommodation and very friendly host. So far everyone is so friendly and the accommodations are all lovely. We walked to the waterfront and had amazing steak and burger at Spur with a view over the water.
    The rest of the pictures of the game drive will be in a different post because I reached the limited amount of pictures that could be added to 1 post.    Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022

    Knysna

    December 2, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Today was a bit overcast and quite windy so we decided to not go canoeing as I had planned but instead we drove to one of the viewpoints where we had a beautiful view over the heads. Afterwards we drove to Leisure Isle where we took a nice stroll across the island and had the most delicious mocha and hot chocolate we had ever tasted at Artisian Coffee. After that it was still a bit rainy and we didn't really know what to do because it was not really weather for the water activities I planned so we decided to drive to Wilderness National Park again and hiked to the waterfall. Which when we arrived there turned out to be barely a waterfall because of lack of water but nevertheless the hike up to the waterfall through the forest was really beautiful.Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022

    Knysna -> Tsitsikamma National Park

    December 3, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    This morning we drove from Knysna to Tsitsikamma National Park. We stopped at a bird sanctuary in Plettenberg on the route to get a tour around the Sanctuary and a little show when the birds were being fed. Chris, who was giving us the tour was really enthusiastic and told us everything about the birds and their stories. When we got to Tsitsikamma a bit later in the afternoon we first visited the National Park and walked to the suspension bridge and afterwards we went to our accommodation to check in and unpack and ask Herman (our host) where we could find something to eat because on the route from the National Park to our accommodation close to Witelsbos we had not seen any restaurant or supermarket. He recommended us a small and also the only shop nearby in the informal settlement. We were glad we could find a few things to cook something with there and did not had to drive all the way back to stormsrivier which was about half an hour driving.Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022
    3

    Tsitsikamma falls zipline adventure

    December 4, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    This morning we woke up in our lovely studio apartment in Witelsbos and while I was still relaxing in bed Matthew served me a lovely birthday breakfast in bed before we left the house to go to the place where the Tsitsikamma falls adventure started. When we arrived there it turned out that the card machine didn't have signal so we first had to drive to the nearest petrol station to get to an ATM and afterwards went back to the falls adventures and not too long after that we could join a small group on the zipline tour. We saw beautiful waterfalls and nature from above and got some adrenalin and a nice experience. That evening we visited the big tree national park near stormsrivier and afterwards drove to stormsrivier and ate delicious pizza at Tsitrus cafe. When we got home Matthew even gave me a nice little pedicure treatment. All together I had an amazing birthday and felt special and loved.Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022
    2

    Witelsbos -> Addo Elephant Park

    December 5, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    This morning we left our accommodation in Witelsbos en started driving towards Addo. We arrived in Addo at the beginning of the afternoon and were a bit too early to check in at the accommodation so we first went to the national park where we already after a few minutes saw the first elephant and later more animals.Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022

    Addo Elephant Park

    December 6, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Today we had an entire day in the park and saw again a lot of elephants, hartebeest, kudu, zebra's and jackals. With some of them we had really close encounters. It was a really great experience!

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022
    223

    Addo -> Fort Beaufort

    December 7, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    This morning we left our accommodation in Addo in time to drive a few hours through the national park first to leave the park at t he South Gate close to Colchester. From there we drove to Fort Beaufort where we walked to Spar to get a few groceries and so that Matthew could show me the town a bit. It is a small town but it was still nice to get an impression of what it looks like instead of only hearing about it. After that I tried to bond with all the animals a bit while we waited for Eve (Matthew's mother) to come back home from work. As soon as she got home I got introduced and immediately felt at home and we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening chatting and she polished my nails and made me my favourite South African dish I had been craving for this entire trip, real homemade bobotie which was really delicious! Since it was full moon we also just played a bit with the settings on my camera and managed to take a really detailed picture of the full moon during loadshedding when there was barely any light pollution.Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022

    Hogsback

    December 8, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    This morning we slept a little bit longer because the drive from Fort Beaufort to Hogsback is a relatively short distance. After packing the laundry that we did yesterday we left to the beautiful forests of Hogsback. As soon as we came closer and were on the road up the mountain I got quiet from the beauty of this place. Very dense forest and just one road that circles up the mountain which is densely packed with trees. When we got to our accommodation our host offered us a free upgrade to the entire house instead of the studio apartment that I booked because we were the only guests. Of course we didn't decline that offer and after unpacking the car we walked down the road to the start of a short hike to the Californian Redwood trees where we admired the size and beauty of these trees. After that we walked to the supermarket and got things for the braai that evening. It was quite a long way back to the accommodation because it was a steep walk uphill. When we got back we decided to pretty much immediately start with the braai. I feel so blessed having Matthew tell me to sit down while he is busy with the braai and cooks me a delicious meal.Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022

    Hogsback day 2

    December 9, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    This morning we decided to again leave the car at the accommodation and walk to several places. First we walked to "the Edge". This really is on the edge of the valley with the most amazing view! We just sat there for a while to enjoy the view and afterwards enjoyed icecream and a cold beer and the Edge Mountain Retreat. We then decided to walk from there to Hobbiton, it was a really beautiful and very heavy hike despite the weather changing from being really hot and sunny to dark, rainy clouds. Hobbiton seemed a bit abandoned and looked different compared to what Matthew remembered from the last time he had been there but the hike was definitely still worth it because of the beautiful surroundings. On our way back to our accommodation we made a quick stop at the supermarket for that nights dinner after which we started a long hike up the mountain again. Eventually we came back covered in sweat and with terribly aching feet, that was almost 18 km of hiking in the heat of which a big part was quite steep uphill.
    That evening after we had eaten we really wanted to take a shower but because of the lightning storm that just started that wasn't the safest thing to do so we wanted to wait for the lightning to stop but instead of stop it got really worse and we kind of got a bit scared because we were really trapped in the middle of it high on the mountain. Luckily everything went fine and we just watched the lightning until it eventually started to calm down a bit and we fell asleep.    Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022

    Hogsback -> Fort Beaufort -> Cradock

    December 10, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    This morning we first went to the Saturday market at the edge to just look around and afterwards we parked at the start of a short but steep hike to the Madonna & Child waterfall. We were lucky that it rained quite a bit during the night so there was enough water coming down. What a beautiful waterfall is this! After that hike we had to leave the beautiful Hogsback because before continuing our journey towards Cradock we wanted to have another stop for a cup of tea/coffee in Fort Beaufort first. After a nice cup of coffee and tea and we got take away chicken and fries from Champs for the evening and then left towards Cradock. We arrived there just after dusk so we had to search a bit for the correct turnoff but after a bit of a detour we found it and were welcomed by our host Andre and several cute cats. One of the cats immediately decided that she liked us and made herself comfortable in our apartment. Two cat lovers like us could only welcome her with open arms of course so she slept on the bed with us and only left the room when we were leaving. We made a new friend in the few minutes after we arrived 😻Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022
    2 Wildebeest fighting

    Mountain Zebra National Park

    December 11, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Today we spent the entire day in Mountain Zebra National park. This park is smaller in size and has a little less variety in animals than Addo but still quite a lot of species we could look out for. We saw multiple mountain zebra, baboons, springbok, rhebuck and a big lizard of which we think it was a monitor lizard.Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022
    Rhebuck
    Mountain zebra. Interesting fact is that the stripes don't go under the bellyThe line on the door shows how high the water got during the floodingsMatthew saw a beautiful sunrise from Denmark Farm Stay when he woke up early in the morning

    Nieu Bethesda

    December 12, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    During the night we heard a lion roaring from the direction of mountain Zebra park so this morning we first went into the park again trying to find those lions. We couldn't find any lions but again quite some other animals amongst which some rhebuck which we hadn't seen so far. We left the park shortly after noon because we also didn't want to arrive in Nieu Bethesda too late. After a long straight road we arrived in the very small town Nieu Bethesda where we first went to "die winkel", the small local grocery store to get a few things for breakfast and afterwards we checked in at our accommodation and met Rohan, our host. After unpacking the car we decided to find a place where we could get something to eat and ended up at a restaurant at a sports club that surprisingly enough made the most delicious pizzas in their outside pizza oven. We won't forget that place because for one of the sauces/toppings for the pizza a very hot chilli pepper had been used so this was heaven for Matthew since he loves spicy food so much. We even talked to the owner to find out the name of the chilli which turned out to be the Moruga scorpion chilli which was the hottest he ever tasted before. While we were eating we already heard thunder getting closer and it started to rain a bit so once we finished our pizzas we walked straight back to our accommodation and just relaxed a bit. Not too long after that the clouds really broke and rain started pouring down heavily. Within minutes the street and yard turned into a flowing river and while we kept checking if the car wasn't getting washed away with all that water we saw that our host Rohan had the door of his house open and was busy sweeping water out of his house because his entire house was full with water. We could stay dry because we were staying in a tower and our bedroom was on the first floor so we only had to go outside to get to the bathroom. But when we saw all that water in Rohan's house we decided to go help him with getting the water out of his house. Together we sweeped and mopped for quite a few hours and meanwhile got to know our host a bit better and shared stories together. Eventually the rain stopped and slowly but surely we could see the water levels going down. We felt so sorry for Rohan because all his furniture and carpet etc. were standing in a layer of water. He felt bad that his guests were helping him but we assured him multiple times that we really wanted to help because we are not the type of people to just watch someone fighting against a flooding alone. And even during this flooding he kept his guests in mind and offered us coffee and tea and even pizza. When most of the water was out of the house and it stopped raining we could eventually get a few hours of sleep.Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022
    The bridge out of Nieu Bethesda that was partly washed away by the floodings
    Wall in front of a house in town that was washed away by the waterThe day after the stormJust before the storm in AddoAddo during the storm

    Nieu Bethesda -> Addo

    December 13, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    This morning we woke up after quite a short night because we had a long drive back towards Addo ahead and we wanted to make a stop at Camdeboo National Park first to visit the Valley of Desolation. So after saying goodbye to Rohan and wishing him lots of strength with all the damage that the floodings had caused we left the town of Nieu Bethesda and saw at multiple places what the floodings had caused, it was so sad to see a small, poor town like this having to deal with so much damage. Once we left the town we drove to the viewpoint over the valley of Desolation which gave a truly stunning view over the valley. After that we continued our way towards Addo. This was such an amazing experience that after I decided to extend the trip we decided to go back to Addo before heading further back towards Cape Town. It was a long drive and when we arrived around 3 in the afternoon we first rested for a little bit and then I still really wanted to go into the national park for about 2 hours but the weather was changing rapidly and just before we arrived at the park we decided to turn around to get a few groceries and tried to be back at the accommodation before the worst of the storm would start. On our way back from Spar the rain really started and once we got home and opened the doors of the car the wind blew the rain immediately in the car and within the few seconds it took to run from the car to the room we were completely soaked. That really was a lot of rain in a short amount of time. I was feeling a bit sick again that day and struggled with a fever so with also the weather being like that it was a good choice to be at the accommodation a bit early and just rest so we could enjoy the national park the next day.Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022

    Addo Elephant Park

    December 14, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    This morning we went back to Addo Elephant Park. This was the first time that we drove through the park for multiple hours before spotting the first Elephant. All the animals seemed to be really hard to spot since the first animal we saw was a Kudu only around noon so maybe the animals were still less active or hiding in the bush after the heavy rainstorm of the day before. Later in the afternoon we did see some more animals under which multiple elephants, jackal and cape cobra.Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022
    Outentiqua pass

    Addo -> George

    December 15, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Today we had a long drive of about 4 hours from Addo to George on the planning so we left relatively early so we could drive through the national park from the main gate to the south gate and from there drive to George. In Addo we didn't see much that we hadn't seen earlier, just a few Kudu, Elephants and Zebra and nothing very close either so we did not spend too much time in the park so we would still have time for a few stops on the route to George. We stopped a few times just to stretch the muscles and eat our lunch and at the Outentiqua Pass for some pictures of the view. Eventually we arrived in George just before 19:00 and after we ate something we had a relaxed evening together and an early night.Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022

    George -> Oudtshoorn

    December 16, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    Today we didn't had a very long drive ahead of us so we slept in a little bit and after checking out at the accommodation in George around 10 in the morning we decided to first get a few groceries at the Spar in George and afterwards the idea was to drive to a national park that I found on Google Maps to see if we could go for a hike there. Unfortunately Google Maps just sent us far from the main road over the smallest dirt roads which only seemed to lead to vineyards and the roads getting smaller and smaller. So eventually we decided to turn around and just drive towards Oudtshoorn after a stop at "over the mountain" tea garden for some coffee and ice tea with a beautiful view. On our way to Oudtshoorn we saw the weather changing again and not long after arriving at our accommodation it started raining quite heavily again so we spent the rest of the afternoon at the accommodation and rest a bit. When the electricity came back just after 18:00 we cooked and while we were still busy cooking our host, Gertruida knocked on our door with a plate full of homemade cookies which were still warm and tasted really delicious. Everyone we've met so far during this trip has been so friendly to us and we feel really welcome at every place we've been so far and that was definitely the case at this beautiful, peaceful accommodation in Oudtshoorn as well.Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022

    Swartberg pass

    December 17, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    This morning when we woke up it was still raining so we decided to start the morning relatively relaxed and left towards the Swartbergpass at the end of the morning. According to the forecast the weather would get a bit better in the afternoon so with that hope we started driving the pass hoping for some beautiful views. Unfortunately it kept raining at a slow but steady pace and the fog only seemed to be getting only worse and worse the further we drove onto the pass. That's why we decided to turn around as soon as we reached the top because the road was quite dangerous with the wet, steep dirt road and barely any sight because of the dense fog. We drove back to Oudtshoorn and spent the rest of the day in and around the accommodation.Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022

    Oudtshoorn -> Suurbraak

    December 18, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    This morning the weather was better than yesterday and we didn't had a very long drive ahead so we decided to drive the Swartbergpass again and this time completely. This time we actually were rewarded with some beautiful views which made the challenging road down more than worth it. Afterwards we drove to Suurbraak were we would stay two nights. The last part of the route to Suurbraak was through the Tradouw pass again so definitely a beautiful route!Read more

  • Nicole BartenTravelerZuid-Afrika 2022
    A corner with Dutch specialities in the supermarket in Swellendam
    Lovely dinner

    Suurbraak

    December 19, 2022 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Today was a rainy day and we were both feeling tired so we decided to not go to the Marloth Nature Reserve for a hike to the waterfall. Instead we slept in and after breakfast we drove to Swellendam to get some groceries and have a short walk through the town of Swellendam. Afterwards I used the time at the accommodation to write a bit more for this blog and since there would be loadshedding in the evening we decided to cook towards the end of the afternoon. While I was still working on the blog Matthew cooked an again delicious meal. I am so grateful for having such a talented fiancé who actually loves to cook for me.Read more

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