Traveling Through South Africa: Stops in Clarens and Graaf-Reinett

After leaving Swaziland, we drove for a day and spent the night to rest up. Then drove for another day, spent the night and rested up for our next big stop on our tour of South Africa. (That stop was in Oudtshoorn...that will be the topic of another post.)

Our first stop on our way to Oudtshoorn (from Swazi) was the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, near Clarens, South Africa. We stayed in one of their chalets. This was a 'self-catering' place - so we had a full kitchen in which to prepare meals. The nearby hotel also had a restaurant, which we visited for dinner. I was on vacation - as little cooking as possible for me!!!

This was the incredible view from our chalet. In the evening this magnificent "cliff" was illuminated with man-made light. Just beautiful. I regret not capturing a picture of that sight. In the morning, we spotted several hikers atop this "cliff". The park has innumerable hiking trails. A hiker's haven.

This was our chalet, with attached carport. We had 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, full-kitchen, TV! and patio with braai (grill) facilities.

Another spectacular view

The girls going 'exploring'

Our next overnight stop was in the historic town of Graaff-Reinet We stayed at the Cypress Cottages - a lovely bed and breakfast. The gardens on these grounds were just beautiful, as you can see. We stayed in what is considered a 'family room'...one big room for us all. It was very nice and we all slept wonderfully! This was our room.

Our cottage

Cypress Cottages was very kid-friendly. The garden area featured a trampoline, which the girls thoroughly enjoyed, as well as swings. (The girls now want their own trampoline!)

I thought this was pretty neat - jumping on a trampoline, with this incredible view of the mountains as a back drop.


Isn't he adorable? A little weathered, but quite adorable. 'Sleepy' was 'guarding' the door of one of the buildings (next photo below) in the gardens - a building probably used for potting plants, etc. Or maybe it's a place where the 'rowdy' kids are sent?!. Hee hee. Looks like it would make a fun 'play house'.



Just swingin'! The seats were quite wet from a recent rain, so the girls stood up instead. Fun! B is really getting in to it - rather, showing off for the camera.

I just had to take these pictures. Just like in NC, it seems you can't drive anywhere without encountering the dreaded 'road construction' zone. On one particular stretch of highway (2-laned most of the way), we would encounter these 'stops'. The little booth for the attendant featured red and green lights to inform motorists of their required action. I thought that was nifty.

This is the roadside view while at the construction stop. Most stops were a max of 15 minutes. Some were only a minute or so. Sometimes our stops were by an ostrich farm. Didn't take a picture of that. Sorry.

Hooray - a green light!

While still on our way to Oudtshoorn, we stopped off at this 'overlook', like those on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the mountains of NC. This looked like a scene from the NC mountains to me - who would think this was South Africa?

Dad and his girls

Me and my hubby

Now for a 'change of pace' on this photo tour you've been on with me so far.........

Check out this 'Abnormal' truck. In the US this would be labeled "Wide Load".

Now it's time to start working on the next blog post......stay tuned for more!
Thanks for stopping by.

Swaziland - Our 1st Vacation Stop

We're back from our awesome 2-week vacation 'down south' to South Africa and Swaziland. We logged a total of about 3,000 miles in the car! Believe it or not, the time was relaxing - except for my hubby who did all the driving. Many asked if we were taking a DVD player in the car. (All that time in a car - won't we all go crazy?!) Mine and my hubby's thought was, "when we were kids, we didn't have a DVD player on our family road trips, and we survived just fine". (Although I don't remember how much bickering and aggravating took place with siblings...I'm sure our parents remember!) Anyway, we did pass away the hours by listening to The Chronicles of Narnia on CD, (19 of them!) by the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre. We all thoroughly enjoyed listening to the stories - the voices, sound effects, etc. Highly recommend them for road trips. Now on to telling you about our time in Swaziland!

This first picture is of my most favorite piece of artwork at the Ngwenya Glass Factory. What a beautiful vase!!!! I think the artist of this piece was inspired by one of the many peacocks that can be seen walking around the grounds, like this one.

More vases and bowls

One of the highlights of visiting Ngwenya Glass is to WATCH the artisans at work! We could watch all the aspects (from an observation area above the factory floor) of each piece of art being made by hand . Sadly, photos of the work being done were not allowed - but I did snap a picture of this cute sign before I noticed the "no photos" sign. Ooops. The artisans kept us mesmerized for quite a bit of time. (I found it difficult to leave the observation area - I could have watched them all day long!) So what were they making that was so fascinating? It seems that swans were the 'item of the day', as well as stemware. One of the artists treated us by blowing the molten glass into the shape of a large sphere.... I wish I could have taken a picture!

Here are some of the pieces available for purchase in the store

Giraffes and Zebras

Stemware - all shapes and sizes

Angels

The duck - chosen by our youngest to bring home.

In addition to the glass factory were countless other shops - all selling products hand made in Swaziland. We had a blast shopping! Hand made scarves, table runners, place mats, jewelry..

One of the shops was called "The Rocking Horse". We chatted with the owner and maker of these unique horses for quite a while. The proprietor is originally from England, and was a pleasure to speak with. He graciously asked our daughter to sit on one of his creations for a photo opp.

Isn't this zebra rocking horse just adorable????

Even swings!

View of Swaziland from the shops

Ngwenya Glass

View of Swaziland as we're driving along the mountain roads.
Reminded us of being in the mountains of North Carolina.

We stayed at the Forester's Arms Hotel. Lovely place. Food was delicious.




















Did your dad ever give you a 'noogie' on your noggin' when you were a kid? I think I hated that. Our child just cackled!


I've got many other adventures to tell you about and pictures to share, so check back in a few days!