For our two year wedding anniversary my wife and I went to three towns (Paarl, Franschoek and Hermanus). I really like Hermanus and Franschoek a lot. The nicest thing about this is that my wife was so cool to organize complimentary accommodation, breakfast and some complimentary lunches and dinners. (As we are on budget for our 2 year South East Asia plan).
First we went to Paarl.
Above you can see a few pics from the place we stayed in in Paarl. (I should have added more pics of Paarl actually :-) )
Next we went for two nights in Franshoek.
Franschoek is really a beautiful little town. It has lots of character and is definitely a place where you can kick back and relax. We stayed in two different places here. The place where we had lunch we saw one of Brittan’s Queens’ first cousin :) (Think it was Queen Elizabeth’s 1st cousin). We ate well, slept well, relaxed a LOT. I enjoyed the food, beds, scenery, company.
Next it was off to Hermanus.
Hermanus is a very beautiful town. Not much to do but relax and take in the beauty of nature. We stayed in two nice places and ate great food. I enjoyed the walk next to the rocks and ocean the most.
Well – back to planning for what is to come…
Our Zanzibar trip started off with a few rocky patches, but ended up being a very nice holiday.
Once we got new flight through Kenya Airlines (after Air Tanzania got grounded) we finally made it to Zanzibar. Zanzibar is a beautiful island. I likes the Eastern and Northern coast the most, but one must definitely visit Stone Town as well.
For me this was supposed to be a budget holiday and ended up being way more expensive than we had budgeted for. Most of our friends who have been there about 3yrs ago say it was very cheap when they were there. They could pay about $4.5 for a whole platter of seafood, whereas we would have paid about $20 for a decent platter. Taxi’s are very expensive and I would suggest you taking the local transport (if you want to budget). Accommodation was good, but no budget accommodation was really found. Anyways – enough of the costs :)
We really liked it. I loved the different sceneries in Stone Town. The tortoises on Prison Island. The relaxation in the East. The palm trees. The long beaches. The boats. Walking in the shallow waters while it rained. Swimming with dolphins. Chilling with my wife and family. Kendwa Rock. Even the cramped taxi ride with the locals :)
I think my most memorial time was swimming with the dolphins!! And sitting in the shallow waters in the rain the one day.
If you have the money to go to Zanzi – I would say have fun!
Obviously my wife and I know the possibility that we might not be able to travel in about 2 years’ time, but we trust that it will happen.
The first few months of saving didn’t go according to plan, but last month we saved more than we wanted to, so it will make up for some of the savings we lost. This month is also looking good with my wife helping a LOT with selling custom travelling in South Africa. So if things go on like this we should be able to go from a money perspective.
As a couple we are part of a very nice church and we love God’s people. One thing about being involved is that you never just want to pack up and go if it is not God’s timing, since then you can do more damage than good :) I know some people might not understand this, but we fully want to live like this. We want to look after Jesus’ bride and not harm her.
Currently we don’t feel that we will NOT be going, but we are open to the suggestion if we are not supposed to go, but until we receive any other news we will be saving up as if we are going.
Think I might send out another blog in a few minutes – just feel like writing today :)
We've had numerous problems with our holiday plans to Zanzibar, but we are still being positive and looking forward to it a LOT :)
