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Zuid-Afrika 2022
  • Nicole Barten

Zuid-Afrika 2022

Rondreis van een maand door de West en Oostkaap. En savoir plus
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  • Nicole BartenZuid-Afrika 2022Voyageur

    Suurbraak -> De Hoop -> Napier

    20 décembre 2022, Afrique du Sud ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    This morning we left Suurbraak for a relatively short drive to Napier as one last stop on our route back to Cape Town. Since we didn't had a very long distance to drive we visited De Hoop Nature Reserve on our way there. Compared to the other national parks we've been to so far this wasn't something particularly special but still beautiful in its own way and we were treated with some nice views and sightings of eland and ostriches. We arrived in Napier at the beginning of the afternoon. We had some trouble finding the accommodation and when we were at the address that was noted on Airbnb we were told that this was a false ad and the accommodation as advertised wasn't there. Luckily very friendly people in the town helped us with alternative accommodation for a similar price which was a big upgrade from the caravan we originally booked but didn't exist. All of this was quite stressful for a moment because it suddenly looked like we didn't had a place to stay for the night but all turned out well thanks to very helpful people in the town.En savoir plus

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  • Nicole BartenZuid-Afrika 2022Voyageur

    Napier - Cape Town

    21 décembre 2022, Afrique du Sud ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    This morning we left Napier and started on the last bit of the route back to Cape Town. I had the idea of visiting Cape Algulhas, the most southern tip of Africa, before heading to Cape Town but Google Maps completely failed us and there were also no signs that helped us so after searching and driving around for about 2 hours and a quick visit to a very windy but beautiful beach we continued our way towards Cape Town. The closer we came towards Cape Town traffic got busier and it was clear we were close to the big city again. Towards the end of the afternoon we arrived at our accommodation in Fish Hoek and were welcomed by our hosts Graham and Gretta, a lovely (elderly) couple. They showed us the apartment we booked and we were very impressed and happy with what we got because we got an apartment with a fully equipped well sized kitchen meaning we could cook a proper meal again after eating a microwave dish last night in Napier since that room didn't had a kitchen. Luckily there was a big Pick 'n Pay supermarket literally a bit further down the road so we could leave the car at the accommodation and got our groceries for supper there. After a lovely meal we just had a relaxing evening together.En savoir plus

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  • Nicole BartenZuid-Afrika 2022Voyageur

    Boulders Beach & Cape Point

    22 décembre 2022, Afrique du Sud ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Today the plan was to go to Boulders Beach and Cape Point together. Unfortunately, Matthew really was not feeling well in the morning and decided to go back to bed after we had breakfast together. After he assured me 10 times that I could go I left on my own to Boulders Beach. After spending some time finding a parking space for the car I walked the last bit to the penguin colony and even though I saw this back in 2020 as well I was again impressed by the size of the colony and it never gets boring to look at these adorable birds. After my visit to Boulders Beach, I bought a souvenir for my parents as well as a small Christmas present for Matthew and continued my way to Cape Point. The pictures of Cape Point will follow in the next post since I reached the limit of pictures on this post with all these penguin pictures.En savoir plus

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  • Nicole BartenZuid-Afrika 2022Voyageur
    A tree dassie in one of the trees close to Boulders Beach1Matthew just keeps making me feel special by making an effort to bring me hot chocolate on bed 🥰

    Again Boulders Beach and Cape Point

    23 décembre 2022, Afrique du Sud ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    This morning Matthew was feeling much better than yesterday so after packing the car and saying goodbye to our lovely hosts Graham and Gretta we went to Boulders Beach and Cape Point again but this time together. Watching penguins will never get boring and the views from Cape Point also remain stunning. On the road from Boulders Beach to Cape Point we got warned by a car from the other side of the road that there was something ahead. That turned out to be 2 baboons who were making love in the middle of the road on the mountain pass. This just proves that everyday you can see different things on the same places. Yesterday I walked all the way up to the lighthouse which was a nice hike but was quite steep and took quite some time so this time we only drove to the viewpoint because we had to leave towards the next accommodation in time since we had to be there and unpacked the car at 3 because our rental car would be picked up between 3 and 4 in the afternoon. So we left Cape Point around 2 to start driving more towards our last accommodation in Brooklyn. The last bit of the route was very busy and hectic traffic but we made it to this last accommodation safely and immediately knew we made the right decision to travel these last days in Cape Town by public transport and Uber. After we got everything out of the car and did the final inspection with the employee from the car rental agency we decided to walk to the nearest bus kiosk to buy myciti bus cards that we could use to get around Cape Town the last few days. We eventually got back to the accommodation around 6, had some supper and enjoyed the evening together. Packing our bags is something we don't really want to think about yet, for now we are still tyring to fully enjoy despite knowing that the moment of having to say goodbye comes closer now that we are at the last accommodation of this trip.En savoir plus

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  • Nicole BartenZuid-Afrika 2022Voyageur
    Christmas decorations in the mallTrying to take the perfect picture to announce our engagement with table mountain in the background.An overview of the waterfront with in the distance behind the large Christmas tree Victoria WharfPerformance of an amazing choir1A very talented violist playing Christmas songs in the mall

    Waterfront

    24 décembre 2022, Afrique du Sud ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    This morning we slept in a bit and after breakfast, we figured out the bus routes and decided to go to the waterfront since we felt this was a safe area to go with enough to see. We ended up having a nice walk along the waterfront and watched the seals in the harbour. When it suddenly started to rain we walked through the massive Victoria Wharf mall and enjoyed some coffee and tea. When the weather cleared up a bit again we enjoyed a few street performances and just the views and each other's company.En savoir plus

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  • Nicole BartenZuid-Afrika 2022Voyageur
    Street performance, incredible how flexible this man is!2

    Bo-Kaap, Waterfront and Christmas dinner

    25 décembre 2022, Afrique du Sud ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    This morning we first took the bus to a stop close to Bo-Kaap and walked through the neighborhood and took pictures of the nice colorful houses. Since I read something online about noon gun we went to the place where that was supposed to happen at noon but after walking all the way up a very steep hill and waiting for 10 minutes it got noon and nothing happened but at least we had our exercise for the day. In the afternoon we went back to the Waterfront and enjoyed more live music and street performances. Towards the end of the afternoon we managed to find a place at a restaurant at the Waterfront where we could enjoy a very lovely tapas dinner for Christmas. After this lovely dinner we took the bus back home where we could not longer procrastinate and really had to start packing our bags. Afterwards we cuddled for hours until we fell asleep, it is still so hard to believe that this is our last night together. But we know it's the last night together for now but definitely not forever and that is what we try to hold on to. We are really trying to stay strong for ourselves and each other.En savoir plus

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  • Nicole BartenZuid-Afrika 2022Voyageur
    Taking one last picture together while waiting for the bus. Together until the very last minute 🥰
    One last picture of Table Mountain before going to the airport. One day we'll be back ✈️

    Last day of the trip

    26 décembre 2022, Afrique du Sud ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Today was the last day of our trip and therefore also the last day together. We originally still had plans to take the bus into the city but we both felt so terrible because of the idea of having to say goodbye that we ended up staying at the accommodation and just tried to get the best out of the last hours together. Because it was Christmas Monday a lot of places were closed so we eventually went to McDonald's to get an early take away meal and after eating that and a quick stop at the corner shop to buy some snacks and drinks for the long journey ahead we couldn't avoid the unavoidable and really had to go towards the bus station where Matthew had to get on the bus that would take him back to Fort Beaufort. This was insanely difficult and that's also the reason I'm only updating this last bit of the blog now because ever since that bus left with him on it I couldn't stop crying anymore. People at the bus station were incredibly nice to me and hugged me and told me I would see him again. Even now I'm still thinking about the beautiful words Matthew told me on this last day together "don't cry because it's over but smile because it happened" and that's really what I'm trying to do no matter how hard it is. This time together and this entire trip and having all these adventures together was truly amazing and that are memories that no one can ever take away from us 🥰 despite struggling incredibly much to keep it all together when I had to take the Myciti bus back to Brooklyn and walk the last bit to our accommodation I still made a short stop at the same spot we stopped the day before to take one last picture of Table mountain with the sun setting behind it. After that I went back to the accomodation to pick up my luggage and get an Uber to the airport. Elizabeth our host immediately saw that I wasn't doing well and just hugged me and ordered that Uber for me and stayed with me until the Uber was there to pick me up. I feel so blessed and grateful for meeting so many amazing and kind people during this entire trip.En savoir plus

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    Fin du voyage
    27 décembre 2022