"Ons Vir Jou SuidAfrika"

Thursday (Feb 9)

We enjoyed a delicious breakfast on the train and continued reading and relaxing until we reached Pretoria Station (hard life, I know).

At Pretoria Station, Uncle Marius was there to greet us. Again, it is SUCH a nice feeling to see the friendly face of a family member who you haven't seen for a while when you return to South Africa. Uncle Marius then gave us a quick tour of Pretoria by car -- church square and the Paul Kruger statue -- as we headed to the Blue Crane Restaurant for a quick bit to eat. Aunt Ilze ended up joining us on her lunch break since she works fairly close by. The restaurant is situated overlooking a lake with some really nice birdlife.

After lunch, we headed to the Voortrekker Monument to learn some Afrikaans history. We met our guide in front of the monument, a middle aged Afrikaaner women who misheard Uncle Marius introduce himself and called him "Mario" for the duration of tour (to our entertainment). She proceeded to give us an expansive history of the Afrikaaner people starting with Jan van Riebeeck landing in the Cape to the Battle of Blood River while throwing in some information about the history of the monument and details about its architecture. She also spiced up the tour by including some of her own political commentary as well (again to my entertainment). My favorite part of the tour was when she was finished -- ha, just kidding :) I actually really enjoyed her leading us through the marble panels on the inside of the monument that depicts the journey of the voortrekkers and struggles they had to face to find a land they could call their own. I know this is a significant part of my history as an Afrikaaner and I appreciated learning more about it.

After our tour, we had the opportunity to go to the top of the monument where we had a really nice view of Pretoria -- the union buildings, freedom park, and Unisa (from where Mamma received her Masters). We also got to see the cenotaph. On December 16 ever year, the sun comes through the roof of the monument and lights the words inscribed on the cenotaph -- "Ons Vir Jou SuidAfrika." December 16 is still observed by the descendents of the voortrekkers today to remember the Battle of Blood River.

It was then time to head back to Uncle Marius' house in Ifafi for dinner. We stopped at Jasmyn along the way to pick up a few things and got the chance to appreciate the view of Hartebeespoort dam as well as the gardens surrounding the area.

We arrived at Uncle Marius' house, greeted by the ever energetic Imke, my favorite youngest cousin :) She has grown up so much since the last time I saw her! --from a small toddler to a tall, lanky young girl. After settling in, we sat outside in the garden and enjoyed a nice glass of wine while catching up with Uncle Marius and his family. Imke kept me entertained by showing me her doll who pees after drinking a bottle, how she feeds georgie and porgie cat food, and a variety of stuffed animals. Uncle Marius then got busy with braai (chicken kabobs and boerewors--yum!), so I went down to the kitchen to keep Aunt Ilze company while she made a veggie casserole and pap en sous (especially for Ben). After a delicious dinner, we showed our Sabi Sabi pictures and headed to bed.

Friday (Feb 10)

After some breakfast, Uncle Marius took us over to the Avis rental center, so we could pick up our car to drive to Heidelberg. Ben showed off his awesome South African driving skills once again as we made it safe and sound to Ouma and Oupa Krige's house in Heidelberg. I jumped out of the car and gave Oupa a big hug, and then went to find Ouma in the garden where she was cutting a rose for to put in our room -- so sweet :) It was so nice to be there in the summer and see Ouma's garden in bloom. It was beautiful. After some tea, Aunt Adele popped over, and we all had a nice light lunch together. Then, she, Mom, Dad, and Ben left to check out Diamante en Goud while I spent some time with Oupa and Ouma at home.

That evening Oupa braaied some boerwors, lamb chops, and toasted sandwhiches for us -- so good! He even braaied out in the rain (Dankie Oupa!). After dinner, we headed to bed in the little apartment.

Saturday (Feb 11)

The next morning I spent some time reading and relaxing while keeping Oupa and Ouma company until the Ifafi Kriges got there with the food for our Saturday family lunch. As they arrived, we helped carry all the supplies to Aunt Adele's house where we would be eating. While we waited for Dinele and Con to arrive, Imke kept me busy -- feeding the fish, feeding the chickens, playing with the cat, and keeping her way from Juliet. Once everyone was there, we sat down to an incredibly delicious meal of chicken pie, roast leg of lamb, pumpkin fritters in caramel sauce (a big favorite), veggie casserole, salad, and more! Eating delicious, traditional South African food, surrounded by the family I love -- it was the perfect way to wrap up a wonderful visit in South Africa. I didn't want to leave, but the time came that we had to head to the airport. So, we said our goodbyes and drove up to O.R. Tambo where we had one more family meeting before heading back to the states.

After checking in, we found a little cafe near the terminal to meet Marita and Stuart. I'm so glad they were able to meet us at the airport, so we could catch up. After a quick drink, we unfortunately had to say our goodbyes as we headed to passport control where we were met with incredibly long lines and complete chaos. We eventually made it through and headed to our terminal, so we could settle down and buy some last minute (duty free) gifts. Just as we are about to sit down, they announce "All Delta passengers, please proceed to the end of the terminal for security check." Are you kidding me??? ANOTHER security check? But, we go stand in line and by some stroke of luck, manage to be first in line. We proceed through this "security check" where they barely glance in your bag and give you a body pat down, and put our things down in the terminal. We leave Dad with the bags as Mom, Ben and I hurry to the closest shop to buy our gifts. We return right as our flight is about to board, and we again get stopped by the power hungry airport personell telling us we have to go through the "security checkpoint." We try and explain to them that we already have gone through their security checkpoint and we just left to buy some items in the duty free shop. One employee lets mom and me through, but I make the mistake of trying to go back for Ben :P He is having more trouble probably because he is letting these people know his frustration. Eventually, we just walk past them to our bags and they either give up trying to harass us or realize that we have already gone through their BS security checkpoint.

We finally make it aboard the plane, settle into our seats, and toast to the exceptionally wonderful vacation we had in South Africa.

"Rains Down in Africa" (or at least Jeffreys Bay)

Sorry for the long gap in updates...time and internet became scarce as we continued our vacation.

Last post we left off in Sabi Sabi...

Wednesday (February 1):

We managed to squeeze in a morning safari before flying out of Sabi Sabi. We scoured the grasslands in the northern part of the reserve in hopes of finding my cheetah, but to no avail. We did, however, see a nice male buffalo, a waterbuck, a purple breasted roller, and a male wydah bird trying to impress a female. As we got in the landrover one last time to head to the airstrip, I couldn't help feeling sad. I just never can get enough of Kruger -- it has my heart.

This time we had a slightly larger plane (16 seater vs. 8 seater flying in), and I took a little nap as we flew to Johannesburg. In Johannesburg, we had 3 hours to kill before our connecting flight to Port Elizabeth, so we relaxed in the British Airways lounge where I read and napped some more (I guess those 5:30am wake up calls were getting to me).

We arrived in a rainy and foggy Port Elizabeth greeted by Oupa Pieter. It is always so exciting and wonderful to see the Oupas and Oumas after being gone for a while. That first hug is definitely the best. Oupa drove us through the rain to Jeffreysbay where Ouma Cielie was waiting for us. We had tea, unpacked, and got ready for dinner. Ouma served a delicious beef potjie will all my favorite sides (sweet potato and green beans...yum!). We then brought out our gifts for Ouma and Oupa -- a copy of Rode's Christmas ballet recital and a kindle. Ouma was SO excited about the kindle, and I was glad we were able to get it for her. After visiting over some cappuccinos, we headed off to bed.

Thursday (February 2)

We woke up to more rain and headed off to Le Chameleon for brunch. Le Chameleon is a charming little restaurant and specialty gift shop. The interior is beautifully decorated, the food is delicious, and there are always more than a few unique little items I want to buy for my house. We managed to find a gift for Mamma here as well us some fleur-de-lis salt and pepper shakers for our dining room.

After brunch, we headed back to Ouma and Oupa's house where we showed them our Sabi Sabi pictures and Rode's Christmas recital. They were so impressed with how much Rode has grown up into a young lady and a beautiful ballet dancer. After visiting a bit with Ouma, I did a modified Crossfit workout outside while we had a break from the rain. By the time I finished, it was almost time to head out for dinner, so I took a quick shower before we left for Kitchen Windows. Kitchen Windows is a beachfront restaurant with an incredible view and an extremely hospitable owner, Marius. He came over to welcome us and chatted with us for a while about how we were enjoying our vacation. We all ordered delicious seafood (I got the sole -- soooo good!)

Friday (Feb 3)

The next morning we woke to some more rain, but that didn't stop us from going out to visit the Jeffreys Bay shell museum where they display beautiful shells from all over the world. Afterwards, we went to visit one of Ouma and Oupa's regular coffee spots, the art gallery. This coffeeshop/art gallery has a few tables set up in the back of the gallery, so you can enjoy the artwork while sipping your coffee.

We then returned to home to have a delicious lunch of cottage pie before heading back to Port Elizabeth to catch our flight to Cape Town. Oupa let Ben drive us back to the airport so he could practice a little bit before we rented a car in Ifafi. Once we got to the airport, the lines for check-in seemed unusually long. We managed to check in, get our bags checked, and move through security to the terminal when we hear multiple flights being canceled. Apparently, no flight had landed or taken off yet that day (by this time it was 2:30pm). We nervously sat down at our terminal and hoped that our flight wouldn't be canceled. After about an hour delay, we see a plane land on the runway, and it's ours! We excitedly make our way out of the terminal into the rain to board the plane. Once we are all settled, the flight attendant tells us how the pilot tried to land twice, but had to turn back because the cloud ceiling was too low for a safe landing. On his third try, he had his hand on the throttle ready to pull up when suddenly a break in the clouds appeared and he was able to land. I think we were probably the only flight to make it out of Port Elizabeth that day -- SO lucky.

We arrive in Cape Town to clear skies and sunshine where our driver, William, greeted us. As William drove us to the hotel, he pointed out the major landmarks (district 6, Groote Schuur, Long Street, Strand St, the FIFA stadium, the harbor, and the bridge that goes to nowhere) and gave us some history about Cape Town. He had a friendly smile and an easy laugh, and I enjoyed the brief little tour he gave us.

We get to the Table Bay Hotel where in our rooms we find a bottle of champagne, rose petals on the bed, assorted cakes/treats, and an INCREDIBLE view of Table Mountain to welcome us. WOW. We toasted the champagne to our arrival in Cape Town and then relaxed before dinner in the hotel restaurant, the Atlantic.