Pre & Post Wedding
We arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa the morning of July 11th and headed right to our hostel, the Westmoreland Lodge (little did we know… this would become our second home). This place was beautiful, safe, and so comfortable. Comfy beds, hot showers, and it served the best hostel breakfast we’ve had thus far on the trip (and it’s free!). We took a long and deserving nap, and then upon waking faced our reality. Our ready-to-overland vehicle fell through and we needed to be in Zimbabwe in exactly one week. We had expected to make our way to Botswana to look at cars but instead met with our new friends Mike and Alison, and we went through a game plan to check out a car (singular) that they had found in Joburg the next day.
The next day we met PJ. We didn’t expect to love PJ, but something felt right. We purchased the Pajero and started the paperwork to transfer the title in our name. In the meantime, we drove off the lot, outfitted it quickly with a rooftop tent and fridge at 4×4 Mega World, and started the journey to Zim. It really was a longer ordeal than mentioned here, but you can read all about it in our PJ blog.
Coons stopped at a very manly salon named Hines and Harley Men’s Grooming Lounge and got a hair cut and beard shape/trim (it was time!) before the big day and picked up his rental suit. Otherwise, we were at malls trying to buy supplies for life on the road. We hope to say that we visited more national parks than malls during our time in Africa, but at this point, it is heavily swayed in the latter direction. They really do have everything you need though: grocery shopping, hair salons, nail salons, outdoor gear, clothing stores, cinemas, etc.
We made it out of South Africa through our first African border crossing into Botswana which was pretty much a breeze. We had read about nightmare crossings that take all day and involve several bribes to police but didn’t encounter anything of the sort. This was great! Our Botswana drive was amazing and our campsite for the evening — even better as we were dining with elephants at their waterhole! We made it to Zimbabwe and had the most magical wedding either of us could ever imagine! All in nine days. We call that getting $h!t done!
After the mini-moon in Hwange National Park, it was time to head down to Cape Town to get Kristian! Roughly an 800-mile drive, this meant four days of driving 8-12 hours a day in the daylight, because of course, it is too dangerous to drive at night (rule number one of driving in Africa) due to the animals on the road and the numerous reported robberies — not to mention African drivers are not always the best.
The morning of the 28th, we broke the rules and left at 6 am, thinking the sun would rise around 6:45 am. In the South African winter, the sun does not rise until closer to 7:30 am, but it was beautiful when it finally did. On our drive to retrieve Kristian, there were multiple rainbows, and Kourtney could barely contain her excitement. At the airport, we waited patiently for her arrival, but she did not come. Rushing around the airport, looking for intel, Coons finally realized that she would not be here until the same time the next day. We contacted Mark Kenney, a firefighter, to tell him the unfortunate news, and he informed us this was always the plan. To say that we were excited about her arrival was an understatement.
Kristian Comes to Africa
The 29th, the actual scheduled day of Kristian’s arrival, really felt like the start to our South African journey. No strangers to jet lag, we decided to keep her up as long as possible after her 36-hour journey. After dropping off our luggage at the hostel, we went to the V&A Waterfront for some lunch. There are tons of restaurants and shops all along the waterfront. We all especially enjoyed the food court which is a hipper version of Faneuil Hall in Boston. We booked a great white shark cage dive, although that never materialized due to some very uncooperative weather while Kristian was here. We kept waiting for the weather to turn, so perhaps we could see the top of Table Mountain and take the cable car up to the top, but the weather just stayed cloudy and rainy (the downside of winter in Cape Town). Determined not to let the weather get us down, the next day we went on a free walking tour of the Bo-Kaap neighborhood to tour the colorful houses heavily influenced by Muslim, Dutch, and African culture.
We got a recommendation from our guide to try Cape Malay food at a restaurant on top of the hill and it was exquisite — full of spices and curry sauce with a variety of meat. We also visited a restaurant called Brownies & Downies, a restaurant that trains workers with FAS, Autism, and Downs Syndrome to help them get on their feet in the working world. Kristian and Kourtney support any organization that promotes brownies for breakfast. They are the best!
On Sunday, when everything was closed we decided to do our own DIY brewery tour. Microbreweries are just starting to pop up in South Africa — a lot of them in the Woodstock neighborhood. We visited Devil’s Peak Brewery, Woodstock Brewery, Shackleton, and Stone Circle Brewery (the latter on Monday). The beers were tasty, but we all really enjoyed Stone Circle because they encourage people to play board games while sampling their beer. We had a blast!
After one cancellation due to weather, we finally found an opening for the ferry ride (the day before we planned to leave Cape Town) to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner during the apartheid era. The ferry boat was rocky, and in fact, the captain announced it would be the only trip that day (and probably that week). We toured the island on a bus and then went into the prison where we met our guide, Sopi (his name means “gift”) who was also imprisoned on the island during Mandela’s time there. We were able to hear his first-hand account of life under the rule of a malicious government and how the prisoners maintained their will to resist even in prison. We saw where he slept and also visited Mandela’s cell. This was an incredible experience as it gave us a chance to learn about South Africa’s history through the eyes of someone who lived it.
After our humbling tour, we headed down to the coast to the Cape of Good Hope. Unable to actually make it to the point before dark, we walked along the boardwalk past a lighthouse on the coast to watch the sunset. We stayed at a lovely Airbnb on the hill in Simon’s Town with an excellent view of the ocean. The next day we went to Boulders Beach where the penguins hang out. These little guys are called the “jack-ass penguins” because the noise they make sounds exactly like their donkey cousins. We watched them shake their tail-feathers, swim around, find their mates, and warm their babies.
Then we made our way along the Garden Route to the Garden Route Game Lodge; this reserve specializes in rescuing and rehabilitating wild animals that used to inhabit South Africa before everything was turned to farmland. We were upgraded to the Sunset suite which was baller. It had a shower and bathtub both inside and outside and a patio overlooking the park.
At dusk, we set out on our first game drive. Quickly, our driver Arnis spotted a cheetah and we sped off in her direction. Eventually, she charged a group of springbok who were able to disperse and escape her attack. We learned that the herd of zebras follow the cheetah to keep track of her movements so they are always aware of danger (how bold of them).
We saw buffalo, kudu, eland, and waterbucks. After a stunning sunset when night was fast approaching, we all saw our first rhinos of the trip! This mother and son duo were absolutely enormous but still gracefully chomping the grass. On our way out of the park, the hippos were getting ready to leave the water and also feed on the grass for the evening, and we got to watch them for a few minutes. We were dropped off near a huge bonfire with an outside bar where we enjoyed a cocktail. We were the talk of the town so to speak because a lot of people have been safari chasing to see a cheetah spring into action, and we got to see that the very first time we went out. We planned that, Krig! You’re welcome. We enjoyed a lovely buffet dinner where we got the chance to try ostrich and kudu. Once we were stuffed to the brim, Kristian set out to use all of the baths and showers. We wished everyone at home a Happy 4th of July before bed; another safari awaited in the morning.
The next morning the group met in the lobby for some coffee and tea before the Land Cruisers arrived to bring us out. Immediately we saw elephants munching on leaves in the trees. As the sun was rising we found a cheetah with her five little cubs. We watched them climb trees and wrestle each other while their mom was spotting their next meal. We set out in search of the lions who were sunning themselves. These creatures are absolutely magnificent! We were all just speechless. When we headed back to the lodge; it was time for a hearty breakfast and then we had to be on our way. We had a wonderful time at the Garden Route Game Lodge and appreciate their efforts to protect these beautiful animals.
Now it was time for Stellenbosch, South Africa’s prime spot for wine country. We visited Annandale which had a wonderful port wine; the owner was a quirky man who didn’t seem to mind his dog running over the picnic table spilling patron’s wine. “Just pick up some rocks and throw them to keep him busy!” He told us to head to the famous Peter Falke winery and so we did another tasting as the sun was setting. We went out to dinner and then to rest up for another big day of wine tasting.
Rather than drive around or use Uber to get to different wineries, we found a hop-on/hop-off bus (Vine Hopper!) that stops at six different wineries during the day. They had scheduled pick up times at each winery during the day and you could stay longer if you wanted. They picked us up at 9 am and brought us to our first winery, Neethlingshof. By 9:30 am we were trying our first variety of whites and reds. The dessert wine here was scrumptious! Now we’re cooking with gas! The next stop was only for those “cooking with diesel;” it was the Van Ryn’s brandy distillery. By now we had picked up some late risers in the van and we all decided to get out because there was a lovely tour of the premise. They hand make all of their barrels and it takes a full day to make one! They only age the brandy in the barrels one time before they sent them off to a sherry distillery. The tasting came with a chocolate pairing which was Kristian and Kourtney’s favorite part. Coons got to sneak some of Krig’s brandy because she was not a fan. Next, we went to Spier where we had the most delicious meal of pulled pork, ribs, jalapeno poppers, and cheesy broccoli.
We were rested and recharged for the next two wineries. Haskell had some whites that Kristian really enjoyed and then we all met up as a group at the last and final stop, Kleine Zalze. Sitting at a huge table, chatting with new acquaintances, we found out that two other couples were celebrating their honeymoons, there were two other nurses in the group, and a bunch of MBA nerds for Coons to talk to!
The next day was a very sad day as we had to drop Kristian off at the airport. It had been a whirlwind of a week and we fit a lot in, but this day came too soon. We miss you so much already, Krig!
The Garden Route
While PJ got some new shocks and a service, we were finally starting to see the sun, and that meant that we could finally climb Table Mountain. We accidentally took the most challenging way up to whip ourselves back into shape, which was a blast with its chains and bolts attached to the rocks.
It was finally time to leave Cape Town for good. We had our sites set on the famous Garden Route which runs along the southern coast. En route, we finally got the go-ahead from Marine Dynamics to shark dive — sorry, Bug! — and so we stayed outside Gansbaai until the next morning. Shark diving was awesome! We were the first group into the cage; the water was sooo cold that it gives you a headache, but the adrenaline and the sharks passing around the cage kept us entertained for the 20-30 minutes we were in the water. For the rest of the time, we listened to a vivacious Mexican family take their turn screaming bloody murder while we watched from above. It was just as cool watching the sharks jump in the water for the chum as it was being in the cage. Up top, you could really appreciate just how big and powerful these sharks were — the biggest was over 12 feet long!
After Gansbaai, we stopped at Cape Agulhas where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet and officially marks the most southern point in Africa. There was a huge topographical map of the continent that we had fun climbing on to locate all of the places we might go.
The next morning we stopped just shy of Mossel Bay to hike via the St. Blaize trail into town along the cliffs overlooking the Indian ocean. We got lost a couple of times along the 14km (~8 miles) trail, but with the ocean on our right, we finally found our way to the lighthouse at the end of the trail. After a quick taxi back to our PJ, we made a stop at ShopRite (the only grocery store always near a liquor store) in the sketchiest part of town — unfortunately this was not the first time … we have got to stop going to ShopRite’s. We were on our way to Wilderness.
We stayed in Ebb & Flow National Park so we could go do a waterfall hike the next morning. Seriously, have you heard of a cooler name for a town (Wilderness) or a national park (Ebb & Flow)? The waterfall hike gave us a chance to use the new ND filters that Kristian brought so that we can capture that smooth water look with long exposures while not capturing too much sun. Coons really nailed it!
Once lunch was finished, we drove to Plettenberg Bay (known as Plett by us locals). Our campsite was right on the water which was beautiful but meant that we woke up to an even more saturated tent. Now on top of the outside of our tent being wet, the blankets on the inside were starting to become damp. We needed to get off the coast, but not before we completed a hike around Robberg peninsula to see the cape fur seals. There were hundreds of them! At the point,, we stopped for a snack and got to watch them jump into the huge waves. It was a beautiful day for a hike. After the hike, we made our typical tuna sandwich lunch and then drove to the next town.
Stormsrivier is the final town along the Garden Route. We were finally in an area that was warm and dry for our tent so we popped it open in the hotel parking lot as we began our hike. We decided to end our Garden Route drive with the Striptease Trail for fun. It is a picturesque New England trail along the river with multiple little pools all named something different, some a little naughty. There’s even a bell before the last pool that you’re supposed to ring because it’s named the Kaalgat Pool (aka the stark naked pool). Since it was our honeymoon, we decided to follow directions, and stark naked and all jumped into that freezing cold water! Then immediately jumped out! Thank goodness no one rung the bell!
Now we were on the road to make it as far as we could on N1 to Joburg … except that we broke down in this no-name town, Winburg, three hours shy of Joburg. Will we find an engine and continue our journey as planned? Spoiler alert, no, we did not (read about it here).
Drakensburg Mountains
Determined to get out of Winburg and not let our car issues derail the trip, we took a Citybug bus to Johannesburg to visit the Westmoreland Lodge again. They probably missed us. We decided to rent a small little white car and drive to the Drakensburg mountains so we wouldn’t miss our chance to visit Chris’ swanky log mansion. We had so much fun hiking during the day, cooking in the evening, and relaxing by the fire at night! Chris only mentioned one thing: don’t leave the door open even for a few seconds as the baboons will run right in the house! Even though they were adorable and practically knocking at the door (and climbing on the roof), we didn’t let them in.
Our first hike was to a point named Blind Man’s Corner in Monks Cowl National Park. It was a hot walk up but the scenery was beautiful with the different colored landscape surrounded by mountains. By different colored landscape, we mean that some of it had been burned to prevent wildfires and some of the tall yellow grass was left. On our way up, there was this large rock formation that looked like a sphinx which was one of the more popular things to look at. The Blind Man’s corner was by no means a summit, but it just felt wonderful to be out in nature. Did we mention that we both had to get new shoes? After 10 months of everyday wear, our old ones were in rough shape. Coons was able to find the same pair of shoes at (you guessed it!) the mall, and Kourtney upgraded to a pair of Keens.
The second day we drove two hours one way to the northern area of the Royal Natal National Park through the most awful town (full of speed bumps) to do the Amphitheater hike. However, the wind was whipping around 55 miles per hour, and they wouldn’t let anyone hike anywhere that day. We got a voucher to come back on Friday as we already paid the entrance fee, and we were on our way back to do the Rainbow Gorge hike much closer to the cabin. The Rainbow Gorge was beautiful, although not marked well and not correct on Maps.ME. It reminded us a little of the Narrows hike at Zion National Park with less swimming involved. We were able to take some trick photos too which is always a good time.
The third day we drove to the Injisuthi section in the central Drakensburgs which was a bumpy ride in our little Nissan Micra. Here there are ancient cave paintings and one particular set depicting a battle scene, which gave the Battle cave its name. We took a wrong turn and went five clicks down another trail through waist-high pointy grass (if you’re Kourtney’s height), but the end result was well worth it. There were paintings of women gathering, men hunting, rhinos, eland, buffalo, and more. These were created by grinding different types of rock into fine powders and mixing it with animal fat. We saw where the sun hits the rocks and is fading the paintings and where others are well protected under overhangs. While these paintings are difficult to date, the San people lived in this area somewhere between 40,000 and 100,000 years ago. It was such an incredible experience to see these caves where the San people recorded their history and pictures, acting as the first form of language and communication — thus we have the word “rhino” for that enormous thing with horns on its nose. Truly humbling.
The next day was Friday and that meant it was finally time for the Amphitheatre hike, a switchback climb on pavers turned into a narrow (maybe 15 inches across) walkway along the cliffs of a mountain. We reached the chain ladders which filled us full of adrenaline and made for some pretty awesome selfies. At the top is supposed to be the second tallest waterfall in the world behind Angel’s Falls in Venezuela, but there was no water! Silly winter. We got some great views of the rock formation (Amphitheatre) in the background and Kourtney still got her kiss!
We relaxed the next day to make the most of our time at the house, packed our big bags, planned our next move to Lesotho and our trip home to see family and friends. After a whirlwind week at home, we returned to Westmoreland to get our things, planned a stop-over in Eswatini (Swaziland), and headed to Winburg to put some pressure on Ian, the mechanic who had PJ for a month at this point. We got the car back from him and headed to Joburg to get a second opinion on it. Of course, the car broke down en route and we barely made it. Stuck in Johannesburg again, we tried to keep our spirits up by going to the mall to watch a remastered The Lion King in 3D and Hobbs and Shaw Fast & Furious.
National Parks
After spending a couple of uneventful days in Johannesburg, we decided it was time for another compact car adventure. We’re happiest when we’re looking for animals and Kruger National Park is perfect for just that! We were able to book camping reservations in Malelane Camp for a couple of nights. We got there just in time for the sunset; thank goodness we purchased some backpacker meals while at home, because without a fridge, our food options were limited. The ablutions (African for bathrooms) even had hot water on tap! We spent our days driving the park and our nights playing cards and listening to the hyenas howl as we fell asleep. We were able to spot four of the “big five” both days we drove which means we spotted our first leopards on this trip to Kruger. Buffaloes, elephants, rhinos, and now leopards. We only needed to see lions and we would complete the “big five” and on self-drives to boot!
The next morning we planned a route where others had spotted lions before we exited the park. At a particularly congested area, we thought we had found them. Trying to get a good look at what all the fuss was about, we both stuck our extremities out of the car window to get a closer look.
Quickly, we were pulled over by park police disguised in a small white car like every other person there. She said the fine for both of us was 3,000 Rand, which is about $200 USD. Coons balked at that amount, so she asked “what can you afford?” We told them we only had 300 Rand on hand (about $20 bucks). After a quick conference with her partner, she said they would take that instead. And they drove away. Back in the mass of people, we realized that one of the officers still had Coons’ driver’s license. Struggling to get back through traffic again, we flagged down the first police car we saw. The woman stepped out of the vehicle and we said that other officers had stopped us and had our license. She immediately asked us if we paid a fine, how much, and where our receipt was. Damnit, lady, they took all the money we have so we don’t have enough to pay you too!
“Ma’am, please I just need my license back!”
She instructed us to follow another vehicle to the nearest camp. We figured he was radioing the officers and/or going to make us pay the full fine. On the way, we saw the original officers and flagged them down. The man walked up with Coons’ license. Clearly his secondary concern, he asked numerous times what we said to the other officer and was very relieved when we told him we didn’t mention anything about the money (not true, but we just wanted the license back!). We just want to continue our day, sir. Finally back on the road with the license, we realized they had turned around and were following us, and then they flashed their lights at us. Seriously. What. Now! The man walked up to our car for the third time and handed us back the money. He told us there is no “fine” and that he would let us off with a warning. Somehow the other female officer must have made it known she knew about their scam, and they returned the money. We just wanted to stop talking with the police and look at some lions.
After leaving the park, we stayed that night at a beautiful campground with panoramic views of the mountains and an infinity pool. We had the most delicious curry dishes and recapped what an emotional roller coaster the day had been. At this point, we were still trying to decide whether to stay in Johannesburg waiting for PJ or explore Namibia.
Namibia… No way.
Since all of our discussion centered around seeing the crimson red desert, we decided to be bold. We woke up early to watch the sunrise, got in the car towards Joburg to drop off one rental car from Hertz, rent another from Thrifty with entrance paperwork for Namibia, and drove as far west as we could before the sun went down. We made it to Red Sands Lodge which was a lovely campground with buffet dinners and fantastic WiFi. Coons was missing his fantasy football draft so he was able to FaceTime with some of the guys and watch a lot of the ridiculous Snapchats.
The next morning we got up early and drove five hours to the border. There we realized that Kourtney had overstayed her visa and was registered in the embassy database as an “undesirable person.” What this means is that once she leaves the country, she is not allowed to enter the country again. It’s looking like a year at this point, unless we can win an appeal. So, Kourtney is an illegal alien at this point — Marla will be so proud!
We explained everything. We arrived June 11th so were still within our original 90 day visa. Kourtney got a new passport when we married. When we were coming back through the South African border from Eswatini, it was extremely busy and the woman asked her two questions: Where are you going? How long are you staying? She answered the questions and she stamped the passport August 19th — we showed up at the border on the 25th. Unfortunately, we didn’t notice at the time and Coons didn’t get a new stamp since he was using the same passport.
There was nothing they could do. We could go to Namibia and not return to South Africa, or we could turn around and drive back to Johannesburg and return the rental car. Defeated, we took our passports back, got information on appeals, and left.
Sensing that all of Kourtney’s optimism had run out, Coons suggested we keep the car as planned and visit another national park in South Africa that borders Namibia and Botswana.
“Lonely Planet says it’s the best place to see big cats!”
So we went to McDonald’s for some comfort food, made reservations for the park, grocery shopped for more non-perishable foods, and headed north towards Kgalagadi TransfrontierNational Park.
This park is big cat central! Lions, caracal, and cheetahs — oh my! We did another two-day self drive where we saw lions each day and a pair of cheetahs the final day! We saw a male lion in a food coma moments after devouring an oryx. We decided to let another person drive us around one night and went on a sunset safari where we saw new animals we hadn’t encountered before. We saw honey badgers, foxes, owls, and rodents that hop around like kangaroos. The guide’s eye was impeccable! Safaris are definitely worth the information and knowledge. He told us about the giant bird’s nests that we’d been seeing in the region — ones that take down full telephone poles and trees! One type of warbler makes the nest with an entrance underneath which makes it a prime spot for cobra snakes to slither up and invade. So the warblers invite another type of predator bird that will hang out and defend the nest. How cool!
Feeling more refreshed, and pretty excited we finally checked off the big five, we headed back to our primary residence in Johannesburg with a big decision to make. Freek, our new mechanic, said he’s still waiting on head gaskets for the car and they should arrive by September 6th. Coons’ passport expires on the 9th. So we’ll stay in Johannesburg another week; we’ll blog, read, and keep ourselves busy visiting a couple museums, although looting and rioting immigration in downtown is keeping us pretty cooped up.
“And by September 9th, we leave South Africa with or without PJ.”