We are very excited to start our life together in beautiful and wild South Africa. We will fly to London and then on to Cape Town for 3 relaxing nights overlooking the ocean from our private balcony at Les Cascades, a phenomenal boutique hotel. Cape Town is one of the most cosmopolitan and beautiful cities in the world. While there, we will explore rugged Table Mountain, visit Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, Erika will take a cooking class in a local home and we will explore some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Cape Town is also home to many great restaurants, bars and lounges and we will definitely hit a few.
Next we will drive over to Boulder Beach, home to thousands of African Penquins, some of which commonly just walk into your room at the inn we will be staying. From there its time to hit the South African wine country where we will make Franschhoek our base as we explore some of the dozens of wineries located in that area.
After drinking lots of wine and enjoying the relaxing beauty of the wine country, it is back on the road. This next stop is definitely Erika's least favorite part of the trip as Bryan is going to jump off the 700 ft. Bloukran's Bridge, the world's highest commercial bungy jump. Assuming Bryan makes it, its then on to find the big game at Kariega Game Reserve on the Eastern Cape. This is a beautiful safari lodge located in a private reserve where we will have 2 game drives each day as well as bush walks in search of the Big 5 (elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo and rhino) as well dozens of different birds, hyenas, jaquars and hippos. We will aslo have the opportunity to visit a beach where young turtles will be hatching this time of year.
Following the excitment of bungy jumping and safari, its on to J-Bay (one of the best surfing spots in the world) and Plettenberg Bay for some sun and sand. Erika will be hitting the waves and Bryan will try to hit the waves but will assuredly just be hitting his head on the ocean floor as he continuously wipes out. This is also a good spot for cage diving with great white sharks and Bryan will use all of his persuasion powers to get Miss Erika in a cage for this out of this world experience. November is the high season for whale migration and here in Plettenberg, we will go whale watching.
Then its on to the grande finale, 3 days in the honeymoon suite with our own pool and day bed at the Elephant Sands safari lodge in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve of Kruger National Park, one of the greatest parks in the world for safaris. We are almost guaranteed to see every animal imaginable and many of them much closer than we may want. Often, the rangers will get you within a few feet of a lion pride making a kill and the elephants are known to simply rub up against your jeep. It will not be all animals here as the lodge has a spa, great food and clear cool nights in the bush of upper South Africa.
Following our safari, its back to Cape Town for 2 nights of relaxing (and probably some bathing after being in the bush for 3 days) before we head back home. This honeymoon is sure to be the trip of a lifetime and the perfect start to our marriage!