Our time in Germany is almost finished. Since Matt's contract will be finished at the end of the year, we unfortunately had to find a way to use up the remaining vacation time for the year. We decided to head to South Africa for two weeks full of good weather, beaches, wine, nature, animals, animals, and more animals!
While we were excited for the trip, I can't say we were excited for the journey to our destination. Since we chose not to start our trip in Johannesburg or Cape Town, we had an extra connection to a smaller airport in Port Elizabeth. This was the longest day of travel we've ever had, and we assume it will stay that way for quite some time...
We flew with Qatar Airways, which means we had a layover in Doha, Qatar. The airport in Qatar is brand new and it was definitely the nicest airport we've ever been in! The planes were also really nice and comfortable - we definitely would fly with them again. Our only complaint would be the food - it's a bit strange seeing people each fish for breakfast in the morning...
Our travel itinerary:
Leave home at 12:30pm
Fly from Munich to Qatar - 5.5 hours
Layover in Qatar - 2.5 hours
Fly from Qatar to Johannesburg - 8.5 hours
Layover in Johannesburg - 2 hours
Fly from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth - 1.5 hours
Arrive at hotel at 1:00pm
...door-to-door it took us 24.5 hours! Needless to say, we didn't do much on that first day.
After arriving in Port Elizabeth, we picked up our rental car. Since Matt's driver's license is now in German, we had to get an international driver's license booklet from the German authorities before the trip. While this a was a new experience for us, a bigger new experience was driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Being a former British colony, South Africans drive on the left side of the road. It's not overly challenging and it becomes routine rather quickly. However, the first few minutes feel really strange.
It was a good thing that driving wasn't too difficult because we had a lot of it ahead of us. Our total itinerary over the two weeks would take us more than 2,000 kilometers along the southern coast.
Our itinerary for the trip:
Day 1 - Arrive in Port Elizabeth (a pleasant beach town in the Eastern Cape) and relax and recover.
Day 2 - Addo Elephant National Park (!)
Days 3 & 4 - Kariega (a game reserve east of Addo for several game drives)
Days 5 & 6 - Plettenberg Bay (another beach town along the famous Garden Route)
Day 7 - Oudtshoorn (famous for ostriches, caves and scenery)
Day 8 - De Kelders for whale watching
Days 9 & 10 - Winelands (!)
Days 11 & 12 - Cape Town (including a day trip to Cape of Good Hope)
Days 13 & 14 - Camps Bay
The map is small, but clicking on it should enlarge it.
Just a few more general notes before moving on:
- Since South Africa is in the southern hemisphere, our trip was actually planned during the beginning of their summer. The weather was already really nice - usually around 75 degrees - and it will only be getting warmer in the coming weeks.
- While everybody speaks English, it's actually only the 4th most widely spoken language in the country. The majority of people, both black and white, speak Afrikaans, which originated from Dutch (the first people to colonize South Africa). This also made it interesting for us, because Dutch and German have a lot in common. We certainly couldn't understand any Afrikaans and reading it was difficult, but there were enough similarities that we could sometimes figure a few things out.
- We mostly stayed at bed and breakfasts on our trip. This was great because every morning they prepared fresh breakfasts for us. We almost always had the choices of eggs, bacon, sauasage, pancakes, etc., and it was always great. Also, most of the places would bring the coffee out still in the French press and leave it for us. We're yet to find this type of service and value anywhere else!
- The currency is awesome for two reasons. First, the exchange rate is really favorable at the moment, which means that a lot of things were less expensive for us when compared to Euros. For example, our first meal in Port Elizabeth was at a highly-rated restaurant where we had two starters, two entrees, beer & wine, and our total bill including tip was around $20! Fortunately, this trend held throughout the whole trip. Secondly, the currency itself is just awesome!
While we didn't do too much in Port Elizabeth after arriving, it was still a great start to the trip! We got a good night's sleep, had a nice run along the beach in the morning, and then set out for our next stop - elephants at Addo!
Before we go - here's a teaser picture of a kudu (look at those horns!) at Addo. It's important to keep the readership interested :)
Auf Wiedersehen!
Matt and Kristin
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