South Africa

"Another beer, Rich?" asked Braam, my father in law, as we sat and watched his rugby team, the Blue Bulls, playing the Reds in Brisbane, Australia. The Super 14 was on and it's a huge event for any rugby fan hailing from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. "Yeah, go on then!" I reply and dig into my second can of Windhoek Light. Ah, that's hit the spot. It didn't feel like Erika and I had got married just seven days ago, our hearts pounding and our mental states on a complete and utter high, and that in three hours we'd be well on our way to Johannesburg Airport to fly back to Thailand. Erika was in the kitchen helping out my mother in law, Marita, talking about what we saw on our honeymoon in the simply beautiful Kruger National Park (which we'd arrived from the day before). We were exhausted and so were Erika's parents after spending a year organising what was, in all respects, a perfect wedding. If there is one place to relax, it would be in the South African bushveld, a landscape that dominates Braam and Marita's home in Limpopo Province. We'd arrived on April 2nd from Bangkok to give us a week to settle in and do whatever was needed for the wedding on the 10th. They picked us up and drove us to their home in Kokanje. It's a beautiful house with amazing views over the bush and is set in a wildlife reserve area. I'll never forget the first time we went in 2006 directly from a cold, grey Hackney, where I stood in their garden watching the sunset and was suddenly surrounded by a dozen guinea foul. 'Yep,' i said to myself,  'you're in Africa, mate'. Since then, I'd visited again in 2009 to propose to the incredibly lucky lady and now we were here for my third visit a year later. It's true what they say, and I know it sounds like a cheap one liner that tour companies put on their posters, but it is true: Africa seeps into your soul. Every time you visit you know you'll get that feeling. Describe it? Well, you'll just have to visit this continent yourself. In a way, it feels like a home, where you know perfectly well that it isn't (in my case, anyway). Maybe it's in the genes. 


So, on our second day of our visit, still feeling sub-human from our 22 hour journey that took us from Bangkok - Doha - Jo'burg, Erika and I had some time to explore the area and to let it sink in that we were finally here. And to get that feeling back.

The view from Braam and Marita's porch (or 'stoep', pronounced 'stoop' in Afrikaans).

The essential braai (BBQ) area.

It seemed that the intermittent rain decided to govern the first week we were in South Africa...

A mongoose family inhabits the area. Their lives evolve around digging small holes in the garden for worms (apparently they can smell worms up to a meter underground) and generally annoying the locals. But they're cute and we want one.

And then back home for a braai.

That worked. We were ready for the wedding now. Amongst the other preparations, we met with our pastor, Reverend Theo, for the next few days to talk about the marriage and we're so happy we had such a solid, good man that was going to marry us. I'll quote him: "If both of you give to each other, who needs to take?"

A few days later my mother, Jenny,  and sister, Dulcie, arrived from the UK with my best man, Gaz. Erika's sister, Sanet, also arrived with her four children: two nine year old twins, Lukas and Stefan, their younger five year old brother, Nicolaas, and the newest arrival, Nina, their sister, who is 2 years old. Along to help is Sanet's maid of many years, the lovely Christina. It was fantastic to see everybody again as this had been the longest I'd been apart from my family. My mother had met Erika's family last year and it was great to see my little sis and Gaz finally meeting them. I sat there and for the first time we saw our future family as one.

(left to right) My sis, my mum, Lucas, Sanet, Braam, Marita, Erika and Gaz. 

Wedding preparations...

Erika and my sis, previously seen on this blog diving into the green waters off Koh Phangan.

Well trained Nikolaas and Lukas at work with Sanet!

Gaz and Marita.

Stefan, Christina and Nina, fast asleep. 

My mum and Marita both wondering why on earth we bought her a wind chime when she lives in windy Norwich, UK.

This was the day before the big day and Braam and Marita had organised a braai at the hotel to break the ice (and eat some high grade BBQ'd red meat!). My father, Terry, arrived all the way from Jakarta, Erika's brother, brother in law and sister in law (Etienne, Nico and Hanneke respectively) all arrived on that day too and it was great to have everyone finally together. The hotel, chosen by Erika's parents, is one of the many Protea hotels in South Africa and ours was at the Shangri-La near Bela Bela, a beautiful place set in a rural setting. The braai was outdoors right next to the pool, which in itself is stunning with the water being poured into the pool through four clay pots. The lounge has a country mansion feel to it where you can imagine discussing politics whilst sipping on excellent sherry and smoking a pipe. After living in Thailand for 8 months it was also nice to have a drink in a real bar that was akin to sitting in a country pub somewhere in England. Their website only has three stars but we think that's modest as the restaurant, bar and rooms all have a five star quality with a real rustic feel. They even have a polo playing field! This venue was perfect for us as there is a reception area and a lovely little chapel that was perfect for the wedding.

The pool area where we would be having the Friday night get together.

One of the many winding lanes that carve through the hotel's lush grounds.

Outdoor seating area.

This road, lined with jacaranda trees, greets you as you enter the hotel grounds.

The bar...

...which Gaz, Dulcie and I quickly discovered.

And then an amazing braai, laid on by the hotel. 

Well, that was our last day as people ticking the 'single' box. There was only one thing left to do: get married. Which we did.

Erika gets ready, in 1964.

I get ready, in The Godfather.

Erika's trusty bridesmaids, Sanet and Dulcie.

Gaz, adjusting my collar and not giving me a massage...

Erika leaves the bridal suite...

...and arrives ten hours later.

And we do it.

(Dear friends and family, all photo's are up on Facebook)

The wedding went without a hitch. Even the monkeys that were banging on the roof the day before were quiet. It was also Etienne's 40th - thanks again for letting us hijack your big day mate! Erika's parents, Tannie Susan and literally everyone else in the family had really made the day perfect and we can't thank them enough for that. The setting, the service, everything was great and Erika was so happy to see all her old mates. My best man, Gaz, did himself proud with his speech and I think I did OK with mine - learning a whole segment in Afrikaans was tough! Dulcie and Sanet, two fantastic bridesmaids who helped Erika through her day, drew looks from all the lads there - sorry boys, they're taken. Erika's friend, Nina, played beautiful guitar during the service and afterwards the photographers got us to do some cheesy posing, which we secretly loved. It was reported that some people had to step over baby crocodiles around the hotel, it seems that the rain had flooded their usual habitat and that they also wanted to join us on the dance floor.

Anyway - this is a travel blog. Which brings me to our honeymoon. Which involved travelling. So there.

The next day, after saying our goodbyes to our family and friends, we left the hotel, slightly worse for wear! We were heading to Kruger Park for our honeymoon. Our wedding present from Erikas's parent's went towards the trip and we'd like to thank them again for making the following trip a dream...

Kruger Park is a game reserve on the eastern edge of South Africa with Zimbabwe and Mozambique bordering it. Ignore the word 'park', as Kruger Park's 18,989 square kilometres is large enough to be a country in it's own right. It's lions, leapords, cheetahs, elephants, rhino's, birds, crocs and hundreds more different animals don't walk up to your car and eat your windscreen wipers while you feed them bread. In fact, you're lucky to see any of the 'big five' (elephant, white rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard) which actually makes it even more special when you do. The park operates a strict 'no feeding, touching or getting out of your car' policy in order to help keep the dignity of the park and it's animals intact. These animals are truly wild. If you prefer to spend money somewhere where you'll guarantee a sighting, maybe the odd giraffe sticking it's head through your open car window for food, this place is not for you. If you're not disappointed at having missed the leopard sighting round the corner, enjoy sitting by a dam with your binoculars listening to bird song whilst watching a family of baboons play in the shade, or cooking a braai under a blanket of shimmering stars, or having a picnic outside the car in lion country, or reversing away from an elephant bull - this place is for you. This would be my third visit to the park and I've fallen in love with it. Erika's been coming here since she was a child and it's in her soul. You know that 'happy place' you're meant to picture in your mind when you're upset? This is hers. You don't need to see anything to enjoy it here if you're a nature lover as the environment is one of the few places on this earth where the impact of humans is minimal. Apart from the basic infrastructure, such as roads, waterholes and camps, the park is untouched. The first memory I had of this place, apart from the odd sighting of a turtle crossing the road as soon as we breached the main gate, was the complete lack of any human footprints in the sand on the river banks. I know that sounds odd but coming from England, where a disused can of Carlsberg Special Brew could turn up in the most remote part of the Lake District, the utter size and emptiness of man in this park made a huge impression on a city boy. I suddenly realised that this is it. This is reality in it's most primal form. And I turned into a wimp. 

"What if there's a lion behind the bush when we're cooking our food?" 

"That fence is incredibly low. Are you sure a leopard can't get over? What do you mean 'of course it can' ?"

"What's that noise?"

"Can a rhino tip a car over?"

"Can I buy a gun here?"

After a couple of days I had to get used to the fact that, if a lion breaks into the camp, then so be it. There are duller ways to die.

We arrived at about 4pm on Sunday at Orpen gate and drove straight to our bush camp at Talamati. Talamati Camp is where I proposed to Erika last April, so it's a pretty special place. No shops here, just some houses to stay in and a few lookouts dotted around. Perfect. You have to arrive at these camps before nightfall as that's when the furry things come out to hunt. You can arrange night walks with a ranger if you want but I'd rather see nature from the safety of our Toyota. 

I woke up early to the sound of the dawn chorus and sat outside, drinking my tea and rusks.

And in no time I was surrounded by four different species of birds picking up crumbs left behind by the previous occupants (...).

Remember Zazu from the Lion King?

Hopefully not an omen.

We left mid morning and drove to Satara, the nearest large camp, where we had to do a bit of shopping and looked at the sightings board. The sightings board is simply some colour coded pins that are stuck onto a map of Kruger to tell you where the big five had been spotted on that day and the day before. We noticed two little red pins on a dirt track, not more then thirty minutes drive from here, depicting two lions. The pins had been there yesterday and were still stuck in today, which means there would be a good chance that they were feeding. And we were right...

We found a lioness and a male feasting on the last scraps of a giraffe carcass. There was only us there with another car and we switched the engine off and just watched, listened. You can hear her teeth scraping across the bone. My first ever lion feed and it was amazing. The stench is something else - it smelt like rotten fish. That's the best explanation I can give. Unfortunately we couldn't get a decent enough shot of the male just to the left of this lioness but he was there, breathing heavily as cats do after a decent meal. This female, unfortunately, was suffering from some disease as she was incredibly thin and her skin hung off her hind legs.

After a good half hour we left the lions, and the vultures, alone.

An impala ram.

"Zak, can you bow your head a little more, mate. A little bit more...tiny bit more....that's it, keep it there, DONT MOVE. Zoe, can you move your right ear up a bit...a bit more...that's the one...OK, now hold...hold it...got it!"

Elephants, although sublime in their appearance, are better viewed on a wide tarmacked road in case you have to whizz the car into a three point turn to escape from a charging bull. You won't believe how these huge beasts simply disappear as soon as they turn off the road and enter the bushveld. At anytime a male bull or a protective female could be lurking right next to your little city car without you even knowing it. I managed to keep my composure though and only cried a little bit.

And we end our second day with a braai of lamb and droewors (sausage). I am no longer a safari braai virgin.

We left early the next day to head to our second camp, Mopani. Early morning drives are great as it's when you have the biggest chance of seeing cat's with their belly's full or hyena's returning to their homes. We were lucky to see this jackal as soon as we left Talamati's gate.

Passing a rare Ground Hornbill on the way...

The rivers were full this week, including Olifants River.

We're sure this is the same family of elephants we saw the previous day. I was so happy to see them approaching our car.

Crossing over the Tropic of Capricorn.

We arrived at Mopani an hour later and we were so impressed with the position of our hut that we organised to stay an extra night. Mopani is one of your more upmarket camps with a nice bar and restaurant overlooking a man made lake. It's actually my favourite but isn't exactly what one would call a truly South African safari experience. Still...

The braai area...

...and our porch where you can watch the sunset over the lake, nibbling on your last bit of steak.

And we wake to see this view from our breakfast table. You can hear the hippo's, out of sight,  doing their grunts and belly-deep laughs.

We decide to take it easy today and do what you do on honeymoon: have a champagne and orange brekkie.

We chilled in the morning and then went for a fantastic afternoon drive. Who says you can't polish a turd?

Some elephants drinking from a water hole.

That morning I had read about the new breed of young tuskers in Kruger Park. The park thought most of the gene pool of the original massive tuskers had been obliterated by poachers but look who we found. We knew it was Mac, one of the new tuskers, as he hangs around the area of Mopani and has a radio collar attached to him.

You occasionally see these Dwarf Mongoose scatter across the road and if you just stop your car on the side of the road, they'll peek out, like this one. 

Classic Kruger. Red soil, blue skies.

And we end day three of our honeymoon. Already.

The next day we went to Shingwedzi, E's favourite camp, for our last night in Kruger. On the way we sat and watched a family of baboons hanging out by the road.

And some monkeys...

And some other apes.

Who then went swimming.

We finished our last night having dinner at Shingwedzi, right next to the perimeter wall, surrounded by the buzzing of the night and the feel of hunters and the hunted in the distance.

An end to a perfect two weeks in South Africa and, more importantly, the birth of a new family.