Day by day highlights from our Botswana self-drive camping trip 2017: Planet Baobab, Kubu Island and Khama Rhino Sanctuary. (29-31 July 2017) *Catch up on an overview of our trip and highlights from day 1 to 5 in the blog series Part 1, Part2,  Part 3,  Part 4 and Part 5. Day 10: Dizhana- Planet Baobab, Gweta We switched directions and safari style on day 10 as we traversed from north to south this time. Our route roved from Dizhana Camp towards Maun and onwards through the Nxai Pan area and then to our destination for the night: the quirky Planet Baobab, just outside Gweta. A f ..read more

Day by day highlights from our Botswana self-drive camping trip 2017: Dizhana Camp and Mokoro excursion in Khwai, Moremi. (27-28 July 2017) *Catch up on an overview of our trip and highlights from day 1 to 5 in the blog series Part 1, Part2,  Part 3 and part 4. Day 8: Savuti- Dizhana camp, Mababe, near Moremi Game Reserve The drive out of Chobe National Park, from Savuti to Mababe gate, was 60kms of bumpiness. We did wave at a few elephant, giraffe and antelope but did not share that stretch with much else. Still, it’s all part of the journey and every kilometre took us into new Bots ..read more

Day by day highlights from our Botswana self-drive camping trip 2017: Linyanti and Savuti, Chobe National Park. (25-26 July 2017) *Catch up on an overview of our trip and highlights from day 1 to 5 in the blog series Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. Day 6: Ihaha- Linyanti, Chobe National Park A 4×4 adventure kind of day lay ahead of us and we got an early start out of Ihaha and Chobe National Park’s northern section. Sleepy baboons absorbed the early morning sunshine along the track and a black-backed jackal sniffed along a dry river channel in search of a last snack before he retired from ..read more

Day by day highlights from our Botswana self-drive camping trip 2017: Ihaha Camp, Chobe National Park. (21-24 July 2017) *Catch up on an overview of our trip and highlights from Day 1 and 2 in the blog series Part 1 and Part 2. Day 3: Elephant Sands- Chobe National Park 250kms onwards up that A33 and we were in Kasane, just moments away from the wildest part of our trip and where it all really began for us. Chobe National Park beckoned to us. After refuelling (jerry cans too) and stocking up our camping fridge with meat, fresh veggies and bottle store beverages bought from one of the Kasane sh ..read more

Day by day highlights from our Botswana self-drive camping trip 2017: Nata and Elephant Sands. (19-21 July 2017) Day 1: Johannesburg – Nata, Botswana  A 4am wakeup call is only okay when the reason for it is a holiday. On the 19th of July 2017, this was how our day and our incredible Botswana trip started and we welcomed that alarm clock chime. We tackled the very long drive from Johannesburg to Nata (886kms). Our excited anticipation got us going and later the emotional support from each other over our little 2 way radios and the energy from snacks and energy drinks got us through that f ..read more

3400kms travelled. 4 happy campers. 2 reliable and cherished 4x4s.  12 nights camping in Botswana. 850 photos. And a suitcase full of memories taken home. We ended each day, clambering into our rooftop tents, with dusty feet, shining eyes and hearts so full from all we had experienced. Adventure called. And we answered it. We were a herd of four, exploring Botswana on a self-drive, camping holiday which we had been counting down to for months. It was July 2017 and our herd was made up of my mom, dad, husband, me, and our two trusty 4x4s – Paddy the Pajero and Priscilla the Patrol. We emb ..read more

My Instagram pictures have made some of my favourite KwaZulu-Natal and Durban based memories immortal. I like that. While we’re blissfully off living and loving life, Instagram tells our story though pictures… without us even noticing. I recently browsed through my Instagram account, and found myself smiling as I quietly reminisced about the memories I had captured and shared on that social media page of mine. Unknowingly, and unintentionally, I had naturally documented some really special moments, in some very memorable places. Our Durban days feature quite prominently in my Instagram picture ..read more

Our dogs go away with us for our anniversary. Don’t yours? It was our 3rd wedding anniversary, and in our true getaway-spirited style, we celebrated it in our favourite way. We escaped to somewhere lovely, with our dogs of course. Since we already live somewhere lovely by choice (in Hartbeespoort’s countryside), and since we only had one night to stay, we chose to save ourselves the travel time and go somewhere close by. Very, very close by. Just 5kms away from home to be exact. We went to a little hideaway around the corner called Iris Retreat. And it was perfection. Just around the corner ..read more

A getaway to Durban is quick and easy… and always a good idea. Durban (and its KZN surrounds) has my heart. During our 4 giddy years living in Durbs we got to know her well. As Joburgers’ by birth and with our friends and family mostly based there we also travelled between the two South African cities often. And I mean really often. You could label us “N3 road trip experts.” Playing ball in the La Mercy Lagoon while kite surfers play nearby too. On the Road Again We’ve driven that N3 in the rain, the throbbing heat, the moody mist, the pumping cross winds, the hail, and even the sleet. We’ve ..read more

They were brothers, so we were told. Bigger than any other cheetahs I’ve seen before, but then again the few others I’ve seen were far in the distance, teasing us by skulking in the bushes, almost out of sight. These boys were close-by. They were very close by. My husband and I were enjoying the good safari life at Amakhosi Safari Lodge in northern KwaZulu Natal. We were there as guests of Africa Geographic being spoilt to a weekend away as their client. We were soaking up the Zululand bushveld and all its wild offerings while being in good company too. We followed that cheetah duo as they wa ..read more