19 Feb - 10 March 2010 An African Adventure

2010 started off with a fab trip which first took us back to our roots in South Africa in February. We spent a week catching up with all our friends and joined in the celebration of two stunning weddings. We landed on the 19th of February at O R Tambo airport where Suzanne was waiting to greet us. We headed straight to the Vaal for Warren and Johns 20's themed commitment ceremony. A Barbeque was arranged that night for all the guest and somehow we ended up hosting it at our chalet and we partied until the wee hours of the morning. Those two litre bottles of vodka we bought at duty free came in handy and soon enough we introduced everyone to lemon drops. As it was an afternoon ceremony, we all had a well deserved lie in and we mooched around and became the models while Suzanne showed off her make-up artistry skills. Wow, everyone went all out with fabulous dresses and accessories to go with the 20's theme.The weather was glorious, the boat was amazingly decorated and the ceremony was very touching. It was wonderful to be a part of their special day and to finally meet John who we had been looking forward to meeting for a very long time. After the Ceremony and evening festivities everyone ended up back at our chalet to continue the party. Gunter and John got up to their usual antics and left their mark on our ceiling. The next day we were left the embarrassing task of explaining to the maintenance man why we had two holes in the ceiling, luckily the damage was minimal and we paid the guy and hightailed it out of there. Back in Joburg we spent time with all our friends and it was lovely to meet the new editions to all our friends families. On Friday the 26th of February we flew down to Cape Town for Donne and James' wedding in Noordhoek. We stayed at Monkey Valley Resort which is beautifully situated on the hills overlooking Noordhoek beach. It was a stunning location and a perfect setting for a wedding. Suzanne was already waiting for us with the hire car and we headed towards Noordhoek where we met up with the rest of the gang for a delicious meal of fish and chips at a restaurant on the beachfront. On the day of the wedding the weather was glorious and the wedding ceremony was very touching and emotional. After the meal we all got down and boogied on the dance floor, we continued to party at a different venue where it turned into a rather drunken affair. Claudia and I had an early flight to catch to Zambia, we somehow managed to pack our bags and it was off to the airport feeling rather worse for wear after pulling an all nighter .

We continued our African adventure in Zambia, where we were met by Steven our host who drove us the the Islands of Siankaba, our luxurious tree house accommodation for the next couple of days. Just what the doctor ordered some piece and tranquility after a raucous week in South Africa catching up with all our friends. Being surrounded by nature was an amazing feeling, overlooking the mighty Zambezi and listening to the sounds of nature was blissful. Wow this unique setting was stunning and truly luxurious. After catching up on some much needed sleep as we were so exhausted from the Wedding the previous day we woke up the next day bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready for a new adventure. It was off to see the Awesome Victoria Falls Mosi - O - Tunya (The smoke that Thunders). After seeing the falls up close and personal we then decided to get a birds eye view of this natural wonder and took a helicopter ride of the surrounding area, what a beautiful view, truly breathtaking. The following day we did a nature walk and Victor our guide took us to see the local villages and schools surrounding the island of Siankaba. The kids were so energetic and loved posing to have their photo's taken.

The next day we said goodbye to Zambia and headed to neighboring Namibia crossing over the Kasani boarder we made our way to the Caprivi strip where we spent a few days on the house boat on the Chobe river bordering Botswana and Namibia. Our guide Orbit introduced us to all the vibrant and colorful native birds on route to the Nguni Voyager our Luxury house boat for the next couple of days. We ended up being the only guests on board so we had the whole boat to ourselves. The owner, Peter Watson was also on board and he made sure that we were well taken care of. We spent our days game watching from the comfort of a smaller speed boat and it's astonishing how much wildlife you get to see whilst floating down the Chobe. Some great moments were captured and seeing a family of Elephants bathing in the river just meters away was truly awe inspiring. And when it was raining we spent our time chilling on the boat and playing drinking games with our host Peter who was a total scream who felt like he was a childhood friend.

Our final stop of our African adventure took us to the Chobe game lodge in Botswana. Now that we were back on land we did some more game viewing from the jeep and were lucky enough to spot on two separate occasions four of the seven Lions that reside at Chobe, not to mention an abundance of other wildlife including, Elephants, Hippo's, Buffalo, Impala, baboons, giraffe, crocodiles, Ground Hornbills, eagles, lialac breasted roller, Carmine bee eaters...

Being back on African soil made us feel so homesick and nostalgic of what this great continent has to offer, and all the friends that we so dearly miss. This was an amazing trip one that we will not forget ion a hurry.