the eastern cape& kwazulu-natal

Let me just share a few experiences with you from our easter trip to the eastern cape and kwazulu-natal...
The three of us, meaning Giannina, our flatmate Ben and myself rented a car to drive to the lovely and warm east coast to spend some days off there!

From Potchefstroom we drove all the way to Pietermaritzburg which is the capital and second largest city of the Kwazulu-natal region. The city was originally founded by the Voortrekkers (emigrants who left the the Cape Colony moving into the interior of what is now South Africa). Here, we visited the natural and history, the Voortrekkers and also the apartheid museum, which was all very interessting! Just look at the homemade weapons built and used by the ANC members during the time of political violence in the 1990's....not that long ago if you think of it!

From this city we decided to drive all the way down to coffee bay, which is a very popular and known touristic spot along the southern part of the east coast! What a drive that was, south african roads can be crazy and only at the easter weekend about 150 road deaths were reported, including the one we saw! those local minibuses that usually transport coloured people do not hesitate to take any risk to overtake other cars and then sometimes just end up crashing frontal into a truck, not nice! There were also lot's of dead dogs along the road and we were also suprised about how many kids just play besides the road! So we call ourselves very lucky to have arrived safe and sound at the coast!
Coffee bay is beautiful I must admit and defenitely one of the highlights of our trip. we took a walk to the famous 'whole-in-the wall' with our funny tourguide john. a beautiful, but also very long and tirying trail that granted you with the most stunning views along the coast.

Later that day, John also took us to a xhosa village where we got to shake our booties with the mammas :), eat some traditional xhosa food and try their self-brewed beer. it was such a lovely experienced because it didn't feel staged at all. we were like a part of their family, the teenage girls had their sellphones on and just naturally danced along as well when they wanted to.

Our next stop on the route was Umzumbe, close to Port Shepstone along the coast where we stayed in a lovely backpackers just about 3min walk from the beach. I really liked this place as it felt like being far far way in some sort of rain forest. They had a jacuzzi and even a tippi tent we slept in for one night.

The oribi george national park was also close by so we also spent a lovely day there. You can't believe how much it took for me and I think especially Giannina to dare to jump for the highest swing on this planet!

and by the way...would you vote for this guy :)?

Our last stop for our trip was Durban, where we took a days walk around the city. As it was easter monday, sadly all the arts and craft shops were cclosed but we still got to see the stadium, the beach and most of the city centre. Not really a top-of the list priority to see this city in my opinion, but at least we ticked it off of our lists and they have a nice botanical garden ;)

So that was it concerning our trip, it's unbelievable but we only got 4 school weeks left at uni before our exams start and then we're off to travelling Namibia, Botswana and Mozambique for another month, and I can't wait :)

Into the wild

For our ten day holidays we took the chance to visit Cape town and the garden route, and we LOVED it!
We got a flight from Lanseria airport down to Cape town and rented a car to get there. Now it was Giannina’s turn to ride on the ‘wrong’ side of the road for the first time and also with an automatic car! You bet we had a laugh! But we got there safely and had a great flight down to the coast.
As we arrived only at 10pm in the mother of the cities there were no more buses and the transfer to the hostel would’ve cost us the same amount of money, so there we go, more driving!
The penthouse back packer on long which we booked the first two nights was absolutely stunning, lovely dorms of 6, very clean, friendly personnel and on top of that equipped with a ROOFTOP bar!!!
We decided to do a trip to Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point the next day as we only rented the car for one day and this was the ideal opportunity to get there! The guy at the front desk coincidentally knew about two other girls from Argentina that wanted to do the same trip and didn’t have a car so we were very happy to take them along! I can’t believe how blessed we were with the weather. Cape town had been foggy and rainy for a couple of days before we arrived. But the next day, oh wonder, it seemed like the sun was just waking up turning up behind the clouds and giving us the most beautiful sunshine along the coast! Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point are definitely worth a visit and everyone who gets a chance should go there! You will be impressed, I promise!

In the evening we met an Australian girl that was staying in our dorm so we decided to climb table mountain with her the next morning. Early morning to be precise. We still wanted to go out for dinner and drinks though. So we head down to the street and found this cool restaurant that looked kinda shabby but the food was great! The Australian girl went to another bar and came to fetch (get) us later. We started talking to two other guys from Wales that also wanted to join in for table mountain! We had a really fun night (just look at what some crazy guy did to the McDonald’s advert!), there are so many cool bars on long street and people are much more open-minded and also much more European than what we’re used to in Potchefstroom.

This kinda made us only have 4hours of sleep before getting up really early in the morning to grab a taxi to the mountain. Well…there should’ve been six of us, but in the end only Giannina, the Australian girl and me managed to get up on time! Lucky us we just managed to get up the road where the trail started before they closed it for shooting some film with Denzel Washington! The climb wasn’t too bad, luckily we started early and the sun wasn’t out too much, but still it’s a steep 2hours walk up the mountain! All the pain and sweat is worth it though when you reach the top and can be proud of what you have achieved! The views are spectacular!!! But you do feel quite exhausted so we took the cable car down!

New day, more sunshine! On the 3rd day we walked around in Cape town exploring the city center. We arranged beforehand to go couch surfing (www.couchsurfing.com) for two nights at Ryan’s place, a guy Giannina contacted over the website! It was the first time that I’ve done couch-surfing and I must say I really enjoyed it. It’s just a great opportunity to meet locals and hear about their experience with the country and also have the opportunity to get their tips on what to see. We were very lucky with Ryan, as he rented out his own flat to another girl for two months we stayed at his parent’s home just outside Cape Town. We got our own guest room which was brilliant! As Ryan had arranged for some german guys to go to his parent’s beach house in Hermanus over the weekend and do shark diving, this was the perfect opportunity for us to spend some time at the sea! With 9 other people we ventured out and spent two wonderful days at the beach, swimming, relaxing and just enjoying our free time! We ended up staying two more nights at Ryan, probably just because we weren’t able to say goodbye yet to the beautiful city.

One day we also spent with the two guys from Wales on a wine tour. The only money not spent wisely on this trip! We paid far too much but hey, we got to see the three different wine regions, namely Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek. In the evening we went for Cape Malay food (traditional food from the area) and also out to the bars again.

The next morning the two of us started our trip towards Garden Route in our baby blue Chevrolet Spark! Ryan’s dad had drawn us a map of places we had to visit, so we could just easily follow that without having to make use of our lonely planet! Great! The first night we stayed in Mossel Bay and where you can eat the best sea food!!! Sadly the weather got a bit worse the next day and we weren’t able to do skydiving as planned! I must say the garden route is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited! Nature down there is just breathtaking! Places you definitely don’t want to miss out on along the coast are: Victoria Bay, Wilderness (where we took a trail to the waterfall), Plettenberg bay, Nature’s valley, Stormsriver and if you’re into surfing: Jeffrey’s bay! We found the most amazing back packer in Stormsriver, they even had a rooftop Jacuzzi!!!

Last but not least, I managed to visit my dear friend Eva (who used to be a Flight attendant also and now does an exchange semester in SA) in Port Elizabeth! We had a great time with her and her flatmates, going out, sitting at the beach or in a café overlooking the sea!
I can’t believe how fast time went by, after this amazing trip we took a bus back up north, back to university!
Unbelievable that we have already been here for more than two months, time flies! But I’m enjoying every second of my stay and will keep you guys updated on life here! We’re already planning our next travels!

Lion farm

As I rented the car to visit Mel in Joburg me and Giannina thought it would be a cool opportunity to keep it one day longer and visit a lion farm in the area!
What a great day we had!
The Letsatsi la Africa (http://www.letsatsi-la-africa.co.za/) is about an hour drive from where we stay and it was quite a hussle to get there! You have to know a few things when travelling with a car in SA and asking people for directions: a traffic light is called a robot. Distances are much much longer than anywhere in Europe...so if they say you will turn left and drive over a bridge- the bridge might only come after a 15min drive! And last but not least, locals always find their way with the car because they know where to drive, whereas they are mostly unable to explain the route to foreigners. So generally speaking, it's good to know where you're going and to have a map with you :)
Once arrived at the farm we got a tour to all the different lions, turtles, leopards and all the other animals they keep there.
It was very interesting and fascinating to see all the animals up close only the fence between you and the killer beast!

Our tour ended with an unforgettable play time with baby lions! Yes! You heard me right, baby lions to play around with, cuddle and off course take lots of pictures! We absolutely loved it the poor fellas had to wait longer for their lunch just because we weren’t able to let go of them! At that stage they were about 1 to 2 months old, very cuddly and cute!

Joburg- Mel's visit

I was very lucky and happy that my beloved friend Mel got a Johannesburg flight and was able to bring me all the stuff that I forgot at home or just those little things like chocolate and good bread that I missed from Switzerland! So thanks a lot to you Mel for carrying all the stuff, you're a STAR!!!

So there I went, rented a car and drove from Potchefstroom to Sandton (where the crew stays) which takes around 2 hours. Mind you, it was the first time that I drove on the 'wrong' side of the road (thanks to the british empire south african roads are like the UK, they drive on the left side of the road). Being all by myself driving to the big city where there are sometimes 6 lanes and lots of traffic was a bit scary, but also very exciting and fun to get out of Potch (that's what the locals call Potchefstroom). I got used to having to change geers which the left hand quickly and arrived safe and sound at the Hotel.
It was so nice to meet a swiss friend in SA. We spent the rest of the day eating sushi, relaxing at the pool and going for dinner and drinks in the evening.
The next day us and two other guys from the crew went on a safari outside of Joburg to spot some Game (wild animals).
We had an amazing time at the farm, being able to walk with Elefants and seing all the beautiful creatures.
This is just how South Africa and nature can warm my heart and make me thankful that I get to spend my exchange semester in this beautiful country!

So thanks again to Mel and everyone else that made my stay in Joburg unforgetable!