Why you don’t need luxuries to have an incredible time in the Kgalagadi

A friend of ours always said that he wants to spend his 30^th birthday somewhere deep in the African bush with a few close friends. When he started planning the trip, we were the first to commit to joining them for a 10 day vacation camping in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park covering 38 000 km² across the border between South Africa and Botswana.

There is much more admin going into a camping vacation than say an all-inclusive island breakaway. A lot of planning, comparing notes and even a trial camping weekend were necessary to prepare four couples and one toddler for a hard core camping trip. On the trial camping weekend we visited the Pilanesberg National Park located in the North West province of South Africa. Here we tested all our camping equipment, made sure we had all we needed between the four couples and got a bit of a temperature scare. While the temperature is usually quite warm in this area, the Kgalagadi is a dessert, known for extreme temperature fluctuations. Coincidentally, the weekend spent camping in Pilanesberg was significantly cold and we quickly realised that we needed to be better prepared to face the cold dessert temperatures a month later.

Finally the day arrived and we travelled 999km in 12 hours and spent the night at the Molopo Lodge a few kilometres outside the park. We eased into the camping expedition, staying at the Kalahari Tented Camp the first night. Thereafter we spent 3 nights camping at Rooiputs, a campsite on the Botswana side of the park, with absolutely no fences, no electricity, warm water or ablution facilities. In spite of this, we had the best time! We then took a break from the intense camping and camped at Nossob for two nights, a rest camp with some more luxuries including electricity and a small shop. After that, we roughed it again at Polentswa, which not only has no warm water, it has no water whatsoever! Here we had such a fun time figuring out how much water is needed for a shower and wondering if we would have enough for the three night stay! The group then split up and the two of us visited the Augrabies Falls National Park for two nights where we stayed at the incredible gorge cottage, followed by a night at Mokala National Park in Mosu Lodge, Sanparks camp of the year.

In spite of what some people would call inconveniences, this humble camping trip turned out to be one of the best trips of our lives! We will not hesitate to do this again with friends as there is no better way to relax completely and have an awesome time together than being so close to nature. 

Why holidays with close friends are a great idea

At the end of 2014, friends of ours phoned my husband and asked – completely out of the blue – if we would be interested in joining them and two other couples on a Mauritius breakaway. He came across a good offer at one of our local travel agents and convinced them to give us some extra discount and benefits, if he makes sure that we are a group of 8 people… and all pay within 24 hours! So I only heard one side of the conversation, and all I could gather was “Something-something-Mauritius” and “Yes, that sounds great, we are in!”

That leads me to one of the best pieces of travel advice that I could give: always say yes and commit as soon as possible!

Without thinking about it too much, we committed and made our booking. And six short months later we arrived at the airport, all dressed up in island-themed outfits!

The group included three newly married couples and one couple who actually got engaged while we were there! It was the first time we were all on holiday together and it is always a bit of a risk because you never know what to expect. Will everybody get along? Will there be issues because one person wants to do this and another wants to do that? Will we work on each other’s nerves and cause damage to the relationships?

We found that the secret is to make it clear at the beginning of the vacation that while we want to spend time together and take part in group activities, it is important that everybody knows they are allowed to do their own thing. If someone is not keen to join the others, they can break away from the group for a while and meet up later.

We ended up spending a lot of time together as a group and it was so much fun. We had all our meals together including a special seafood dinner instead of the normal buffet. We booked two excursions, one catamaran day trip to the exquisite Ile aux Cerf and one trip to Port Louis, the capital, where we explored the old fort and the markets. We spent a lot of time together relaxing on the beach and working through the list of cocktails available on the menu. We had game night more than once where we played card games and board games and laughed way too much.

But still every person did what they wanted to, when they wanted to. My husband and I tried out all the activities offered by the hotel, including snorkeling, glass bottom boat rides, paragliding, walks on the beach, canoeing and spa treatments. Others preferred to work on their tan and relax on the beach more. We respected each other’s preferences and had an incredible time together being spoiled by incredible staff in such a beautiful spot.

Vacationing with friends can work and can turn out to be incredible, as long as you respect one another and always be considerate. Choose your vacation partners wisely. A weekend away is one thing, but planning a big expensive trip with friends for a week or longer and only realising that you are not compatible when on vacation, could spoil the whole trip.

Why you need to do a Contiki tour before turning 35

Because that is the rule, you can only book a Contiki tour between the ages of 18 and 35.

Loophole – if you are married to someone under 35 and travelling with them, you will still be allowed to join even if you are a little bit over 35 already!

My husband and I went on a Contiki tour in 2013 as a couple, and returned with the most beautiful ring on my finger! We had both been to Europe before, but wanted to see it together.

Contiki offers tours to 6 continents, including Europe, USA & Canada, Asia, Latin America, New Zealand and Australia. You can choose the type of tour as well as the pace, which could be an overview type tour, visiting many destinations in a short period of time to allow you to enjoy all the highlights, or an in-depth tour, visiting fewer destinations over a longer period of time to allow you to get to know the culture properly. You can choose to stay in more luxurious hotels, less luxurious hotels, camp or cruise. You can choose between extensive tours or short stays or tours based on festivals.

It was difficult to pick the ideal tour from all these options, but we were very happy with the one we picked. We decided for our first big overseas holiday together, we would prefer visiting more places, even if only for a short period of time. This way we could get a feel of each country and decide what we like most, and return later to explore the culture in depth.

We chose the European Discovery, including 9 countries in 12 days: England, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Vatican City, Switzerland and France. We were lucky enough to have family staying just outside London, so since the tour departs from London, we decided to stay there for a few days and explored on our own. While this was extreme fun, we were so relieved to get on that Contiki bus after four days of intense planning and scrambling to tick all the boxes off our list without wasting too much time getting lost! It was wonderful exploring ourselves, but Contiki just makes everything so much easier!! They arrange all the accommodation and most meals and of course, all the transport. In the bus, they go through the schedule for the next few hours, highlighting the must-see places and advising us on where to go for what type of experience, exclusive, budget, secret local experience or touristy attractions. You hardly have to think – you just get on the bus when they tell you to and enjoy the ride!

When we first got on the bus, we met our tour manager, Emmo, bus driver, Sandro, and 49 other keen travellers. There were people from all over, including 9 South Africans, Americans, Canadians, Mexicans, Australians, New Zealanders, Brazilians, one Brit and one Portuguese. Singles, couples, married couples, friends, a little bit of everything. A bit overwhelming at first, but throw all of that into a bus visiting the most incredible places across Europe and it is impossible not to become close friends super quickly!

We travelled 4582 km in total, saw the most incredible places and met amazing people who we will never forget. 

Do yourself a favour and book a Contiki holiday as soon as you can! You will not regret it. #noregrets 

Why the Serengeti belongs on your bucket list

For most people, a Serengeti Safari is one of the items on their bucket list. 

For us, it was our ultimate holiday up until now for two reasons. Firstly, it's undoubtedly  a nature destination second to none. With nature so close to our hearts, it was incredible to experience the Serengeti plains, the great Rift Valley and the Ngorongoro crater in one holiday. Secondly, we were lucky enough to spend our honeymoon there - and what a romantic setting it is!

Serengeti, translated from the Masai language as Endless Plains, gave us exactly what we were looking for in a honeymoon: royal treatment, adventure and relaxation. On a vacation in the Serengeti, you are provided with a personal guide that drives you around every day according to your personal preferances. He organises all your extra excursions like walks or massages and meals, whether it is in the hotel or out in the field, and of course acts as a tour guide. Most guides have game vehicles with a roof that can open up, allowing passengers to stand up straight in the vehicle and turn around 360 degrees, allowing for great game viewing opportunities.

The lodges in the Serengeti are frequently ranked as some of the best in the world, and we now know why. The service and food is excellent and the locations provide magnificent views of the landscape. We stayed at the Lake Manyara Serena Hotel on the way to the Serengeti. Then we spent a night at the Serengeti Sopa Lodge and two nights at Elewana Pioneer camp close to the Seronera valley. We then travelled to the Western Corridor of the Serengeti where we stayed at the Serena Kirawira camp. We then left the Serengeti behind to spend two nights on the rim of the Ngorongoro crater at Serena Ngorongoro Lodge. We ended off the vacation with one last night at the Mount Meru hotel in Arusha. 

Our typical day in the Serengeti started off with an early wake up call to enjoy the sunrise with a cup of coffee, followed by a hearty breakfast. Our driver, Freddy, would then pick us up for our daily game drive across the Serengeti National Park. With his keen eye, we did not miss a thing and he showed us all the most beautiful spots to have lunch. We preferred to spend most of the day exploring the plains and the kopjes (Maasai, Simba, Moru). In the Serengeti it is not uncommon to come across many Wildebeest herds of a few thousand strong more than once a day. We enjoyed standing at the edge of the herd, seeing it stretch as far as the eye can see. Other notable sightings we were lucky enough to see is a lion kill, a beautiful leopard on Maasai kopjes and a majestic elephant Tusker in the Ngoronogoro crater.

The perfect end to our honeymoon was witnessing the amazing views over the crater and I challenge anybody to name a more beautiful view anywhere in the world. We have been to a few island destinationss that are usually most people's first choice for a honeymoon, but the Serengeti was the perfect choice for ours.

The Serengeti will no doubt see us again. Many people have the idea to visit the Serengeti at the age of 50 or 60 as a retirement vacation. We feel that you can’t go soon enough! It is so much fun to be able to hop around in the game viewer to ensure the best view of whichever amazing creatures you see. Make sure that a Serengeti safari is not only on your bucket list, but that you tick it off as soon as possible.

#theluckytravellers

Favourite Moments

Just as a teaser for the upcoming posts, here are some of our favourite moments on some of our favourite vacations!

Our first official trip - when the Zanzibar Quattro explored the birthplace of Freddy Mercury, the tropical island, Zanzibar! 

Our engagement Contiki - to top off an incredible, eventful holiday full of highlights, we got engaged on a gondola in Venice! 

Our Serengeti honeymoon - the most wonderful way to relax after planning a wedding and start our life together!

Our delicious Mauritius getaway - a great idea to get friends together and have an awesome night, six nights in a row! 

Our hard-core camping adventure - camping in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park with a few close friends and very few luxuries definitely makes for a great holiday! 

More on each of these incredible journeys to follow soon! 

Married Life

We have been lucky to be able to enjoy some incredible vacations since we got married. The highlights:

The Umbabat

Our ultimate favourite vacation spot is located in a game reserve right next to the Kruger National Park. As most of you know, the Kruger National Park is one of the most visited destinations in South Africa. What you might not know is that there is about 180 000 hectares of land around the Kruger National Park, which forms part of the Greater Kruger. This area used to be privately owned land, but in the late 90’s, the owners agreed to create additional Nature Reserves by dropping all their fences in order to increase the size of the Kruger National Park and allow animals to roam free in a larger area. One of these Nature Reserves is known as the Umbabat, bordering the Timbavati and Klaserie as well as the Kruger National Park. This means that you are staying on a private area where only a selected number of visitors are allowed, but you have the possibility of seeing all the animals that you might have seen while staying in the Kruger National Park. We love visiting the Umbabat and try to do so as often as possible!

Thailand

After our tropical breakaway in Zanzibar, we decided that 2015 would be a good time to explore Thailand. We were psyched when we arrived at the airport just in time for check in, ran to the boarding gate just to find out that our flight had been delayed. Five long hours of waiting later, they announced that our flight was cancelled! We couldn’t believe it, after such a long wait our vacation might be cancelled! The next fifteen minutes was a bit of a blur, but some way, somehow, we managed to get on the only other flight leaving on the same airline within the following 24 hours. Vacation back on! We first visited the city Chiang Mai with its colourful temples and elephant rides, then visited the Big Buddha in Phuket, explored hundreds of islands in Koh Samui and ended off in getting lost between thousands of tiny stores in Bangkok. On the way back, we stopped over in Qatar for a quick overview of the contrast between the dunes and the city, before heading home.

Mauritius

In June 2015 we were one of 4 couples who shook up the Solana Beach hotel on the beautiful island off the eastern coast of Africa, Mauritius. This was our second all inclusive island holiday and we can certainly recommend upgrading! Relaxing on the beach sipping cocktails, catamaran cruising, air gliding, snorkelling, glass bottom boats, way too much food and great friends. Nothing wrong with that!

Catalunya

At the beginning of 2016, we visited friends staying in Europe and explored a few new places while we were there. We had the most amazing time exploring the French Riviera and the land of the Catalans! We started in Barcelona where we spent New Year’s Eve, then travelled across the French Riviera all the way to Monaco and back. On the way back, we chose smaller roads directly next to the scenic coastline and then drove from the one winery to the next, tasting here and there. We then passed through the winter wonderland Andorra where we got to play around in layers of snow for the first time. We then moved on to sunnier skies in Madrid in Spain followed by Porto and Lisbon in Portugal, ending off back in Barcelona. While we were there in January, the weather was not too cold at all and it was nice that there were not too many tourists. It was an incredible holiday full of history and stunning scenery!

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

In June 2016 we were one of 4 couples camping hard core in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park on the border of South Africa and Botswana. We travelled 999km to the park and stayed for 10 days. Half the vacation was spent on the South African side of the park in fenced off campsites with running water, and the other half spent on the Botswana side… no fences or running water, but much more exciting and we can’t wait to go back! On the way back, we popped in at the Augrabies Falls National Park to view the waterfall and river raft and Mokala National Park where we enjoyed staying at the campsite of the year, Mosu Lodge. It definitely turned out to be one of our favourite holidays!

Where it all began…

This is our story, from the day we met until the day we promised each other everlasting love. 

About seven years ago, Wikus and I were both studying at the University of Pretoria. I was in my second year and stayed in the ladies residence, Asterhof, while he was a fourth year in Sonop. A friend of mine was working for the campus newspaper at the time and asked if I knew any rugby players in Sonop. She had to write an article about the residence most likely to win the res rugby tournament that year. When we got to the LC De Villiers stadium, we asked around and determined that Wikus was our guy. He had just captained his team to yet another victory, but agreed to share his thoughts. The interview was quick but the impression lasted…

Two years after our initial meeting, we had both started working and the chances of running into one another at a University social were slim. I was working at Unisa and coincidentally there was a lecturer in my department by the name of Danie Theron who had mentioned his son to me before, casually asking if I was in a relationship.

Who knew that when I casually agreed to join a friend at a Sonop social, Wikus would be there, ready to sweep me off my feet?

A few weeks later Wikus asked me to join him and some friends at their family game farm where he also asked me to be his girlfriend on 30 April 2011. It was the first of many weekends spent in the warm bushveld sun where we discovered that we share a strong love for nature and spending time with good friends. 

A visit to the Kruger National Park later that year confirmed that both our hearts belonged in nature, and that we loved exploring new places together! We enjoyed visits to our family farm outside Thabazimbi, a beach holiday here and there, and couldn’t resist when friends asked us to join them on an island breakaway to tropical paradise, Zanzibar! We explored some of the best wine estates in the world in the Western Cape and even committed to join a group of friends hiking the Otter trail, 42 kilometres of magnificent, untouched coastline.

In 2013 we turned it up a notch by booking our first Contiki holiday, a European Discovery. We visited 9 countries in 12 days, made such good friends and great memories. Here I became the luckiest girl in the world, because as soon as we were on a gondola in Venice and I thought things could not get any more romantic, the man of my dreams bent down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him, as his wife! This just made the vacation a hundred times more extraordinary!  

The next few months we spent most our time on wedding planning, except for a few much needed bush breaks in between. We got married on a game farm with elephants in the background. Wikus then exceeded my expectations once more with the most incredible honeymoon imaginable – in the Serengeti! I still can’t believe the magnificent beauty of endless plains and cannot wait to go back.

These few short years filled with amazing memories lead to the suitable nickname, the Lucky Travellers, and we feel lucky to be sharing our stories with you!

The perfect room or room for improvement?

While exploring the world, little by little, we found that some of the rooms we have stayed in, might have room for improvement! Reading reviews before visiting an establishment might change the course of your vacation, so our advice is to read up and make an informed decision! 

At this stage, we are both committed to day jobs taking up 40 hours a week. This makes it impossible to travel half as much as we would like to, leading to a limited number of room reviews. So instead of only exploring new places outside our home country, we love using food to be transported to other places as well, if only for a short while. We will therefore share our journeys and make recommendations on both hotels and restaurants in South Africa and other parts of the world we are lucky enough to come across. 

#beentheredonethat

The Lucky Travellers

This page is dedicated to our travels; or the little piece of the world that we have  been lucky enough to explore... up to now! 

Us (in one of our very favourite spots) 

The little piece of the world referred to above: 

It does look a little bit better when you focus on smaller areas... for example Southern Africa - note the tiny little dot on the Eastern point of the map is covered as well! 

And we have at least covered SOME ground in the Western part of Europe! 

Now to decide what next! <3