Honeymoon Blog: South Africa

South Africa has been wonderful!

We first spent a couple of days at Ifafi with my Uncle Marius, Aunt Ilze, and my favorite youngest cousin, Imke. She was, as always, a playful bundle of energy, but I love being able to spend time with her every time we come to South Africa. Ben and I really enjoyed the couple of days of relaxation we had at Ifafi. Uncle Marius also welcomed us to south africa with a bottle of champagne and Ilze and his wedding flutes.

Next, we headed to my favorite part of South Africa, the Kruger National Park. We spent 5 days there and were very lucky in our animal sightings. Here is a list off the top of my head: lion, leopard, hyena, elephant, rhino, buffalo, steenbokkies, duikers, kudus, nyalas, impala, bosbokkie, waterbok, wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, a variety of birds, hippos, crocodiles, mongooses (on our porch in skukuza).
Ben and I also cooked our first meal together as a married couple in our little hut in Skukuza (braai and couscous), and we both think it was delicious :)


During this time, we also had our South African wedding in Magda and Roussou's garden in Skukuza. It exceeded all my expectations. It was a gorgeous setting with a touching ceremony from the preacher surrounded by my south african family. My mom did an amazing job organizing everything for me from America so I wouldn't have to worry about a thing and it turned out wonderfully. We had the same flowers from the American wedding decorating the garden and the food was delicious and the wine was flowing. It was a wonderful time and Ben and I both really enjoyed ourselves and visiting with the family. The only thing lacking were baby cheetahs drinking from the river, but I suppose you can't have everything ;)

After our time in Skukuza, Ben and I spent some time with my maternal grandparents, Ouma and Oupa Mathee in a resort just outside of Kruger called Sanbonani. We also went into Kruger with them. One afternoon, while Tiaan, Oupa, and I drove into the Kruger we came across 4 lions just lounging around in the road. We got some awesome pictures, and it was great to be so close to them! We also go to see some of the beautiful scenery of the area -- we visited bridal veil falls, mac mac falls,
god's window (which was unfortunately too misty to see anything), and Bourke's luck (rock formations carved out by the river). It was beautiful, and I was so glad to experience that part of South Africa.
We also stopped by Harry's pancakes where I had the most delicious chicken and mushroom pancake. Ben, unfortunately, was a little sick with stomach troubles for a couple of days while we were there, but he recovered after a few days. Tiaan and I enjoyed running in the resort and playing tennis...it was very scenic. We also adopted a cat (temporarily) and named him sokkies (or socks in english) because he was black with white paws. The resort was also right next to the river and hippos came out at night, and we actually could see them from our chalet!

We have spent the rest of our time in Heidelberg with my other grandparents, Ouma and Oupa Krige and my aunt Adele and her family next door. It's been very relaxing, and Ben and I have been doing some reading and of course watching the world cup. I've decided I'm rooting for Germany. Tomorrow, we will go hike the Suikerbosrand with my cousin Con and Tiaan. I'm sad we will be leaving on Wednesday because I feel like I'm leaving one of my homes, but hopefully, we will be back to visit again because I still want to show Ben the beautiful area around Cape Town.

Arrivaderci en Totsiens!