Wedding bells

Well, we finally did it! Ambereen and I got married on the beach in South Africa. It was a windy day and the beach was very crowded but we rolled with it (as we do with much of what comes our way). It was a very low key affair. We plan on celebrating back in the states with family and friends once we get settled.

Our honeymoon begins in a week with a trip to Victoria Falls, Chobe Game Reserve and Kruger National Park. Can't wait for that one!

Addo Elephant Park

I really wanted to see some critters on this trip and since we had purchased The Wild Card, which gave us free entry to all of the National Parks in ZA, Addo was on the list. We booked a place for two nights and found ourselves in a wonderful thatch roofed duplex with a view of the game reserve. We entered the reserve from the South gate and had to drive 37 km in an hour to make it before they closed the gate in 1 hour to the rest camp. The speed limit in the park is 40 km so you do the math. We're cruising along when all of the sudden we spot a herd of elephants on another road so of course we took a detour. I pulled over to observe when a large bull started walking our way. I didn't know what to do so I threw the car into reverse and started to back up. Ambereen was telling me to stop. There was another care backing up too so it got confusing! I did stop and the bull walked right towards us.

We ended up booking a morning game drive. It was cool but pricey and we later found out that we could have hired a Ranger to drive with us in our vehicle for a private drive at a fraction of the cost. Oh well, not everything we do ends up perfect just so you know. We did see some cool things including two lions who were lounging around the road.

After deciding to go on our own game drives we ended up at a watering hole (known as a pan) where a herd of elephant were hanging out. We parked and just watched for about an hour as people came and went until we were alone with many elephant. A few came up behind us along a path leading the the pan and we were surprised at how close they came to the car. We saw lots a babies including one who used the sign as a scratching post. Behavior he learned from his mom.

Two males ended up locking tusks right behind the car and I had to move or we could have been crushed!

Tsitsikamma National Park and Storms River

Our next stop was at Storms River along the Garden Route. One of the most spectacular parks we've been to. The crashing waves were spectacular and the park itself was first rate. Great accommodations in our forest hut and a lot of activities to enjoy. We booked a trip on a power boat which took us out into the ocean over huge swells and up the coast so we could see the beginning of the Otter Trail. We then came back and headed up the river a little way to view the spectacular gorge. After that we rented kayaks to paddle back up the river to see where the river met the sea and to swim in the warmer water.

Knysna Heads

I am going to kick myself in the ass for not keeping this blog up to date. My internet connectivity has been the problem as uploading photos is a killer. FB is not the best option either as it's hard to go back to review. So I'm going to try and recreate some of the highlights in the next few posts.

After a little planning we decided to take a road trip along The Garden Route to the Wild Coast. We drove the bakkie to George airport and picked up our rental car as the bakkie just isn't very comfortable on long road trips. We made it to Knysna Heads and stayed at Augusta Bay after scoring a deal online. We had the best room in the house with a spectacular view of the bay from our bed. It was amazing. And crazy busy as it turns out we were going during peak season. This would come back to haunt us later.

After cleaning up we went for a walk to the Knysna Heads.