Before we immigrated to South Africa we travelled a lot through southern and eastern Africa. It started in 1997 when we wanted a different kind of holiday and decided to go on safari. After some searching we found a trip through Tanzania of two weeks with a few days on Zanzibar at the end. This first holiday lead to many others. We felt at home in Africa straightaway and the bush with the animals is amazing. After some years of travelling the idea to settle here became more and more attractive. More about this subject on the page “our emigration”.
Tanzania and Zanzibar, 1997
This was our first safari, for two weeks we travelled with a group around Tanzania in a truck. We camped, often very primitive, in the middle of the bush. We flew to Nairobi in Kenya, from where we were transported to Arusha in the north of Tanzania. For me the journey really started when we left the paved roads in a small village to drive to Mto Wa Mbu. The next two weeks we drove through the Great Rift Valley and visited the Serengeti and the Ngorogoro Crater. I remember one part where the road was so bad that it took us all day to drive 40 kilometres, or the camp, nearby a Masai village, where we heard the call of the hyena for the first time and the camp without any provisions but with a little stream where we could wash. Still the game parks were the highlight of our trip. We enjoyed enormously and I felt a little regret when we came back onto the tar road to Arusha after two weeks of wilderness. Zanzibar was beautiful and exotic and we enjoyed our days on the beach, but our hearts were now forever in the African bush with its abundant wildlife.
From Cape Town to Harare, 1998
We enjoyed the last trip so much that we booked a trip from Cape Town to Harare, again with an overland truck. From Cape Town we drove to the north, to Namibia. We went to the Fish River Canyon and the red dunes of the Sossusvlei, where we saw gemsbok and ostrich. The empty, rugged landscape of Namibia has, just as the desert, its own beauty. In the north of Namibia we went to Etosha National Park where we slept very little because we sat at the waterholes close to the campsites all night so we would miss nothing. I remember the sandstorm in the first camp, later that evening we saw a rhino come top drink at the waterhole. In another camp we skipped dinner so we wouldn’t miss anything of the herd of elephants that came to drink. From Etosha we drove to Botswana, where we visited the Okavango Delta. Although it was very hot on the trip in the mokoro’s (wooden canoes) through the Delta, we were very impressed. Via Kasane we reached Victoria Falls, a tourist village on the Zambezi River between Zimbabwe and Zambia. Here we visited the Victoria waterfalls and Corné went rafting on the river while I choose for a flight above the waterfalls in a micro-light plane. In Zimbabwe we went to the Matopo Park close to Bulawayo and the Great Zimbabwe Ruins, before we flew back home from Harare.
Botswana and Zimbabwe, 1999
On our previous trip we saw a small piece of Botswana already and now we wanted to see more. Since we found the tour that we were interested in too short, we decided to rent a car and do one week of Zimbabwe on our own. Botswana was fantastic! It is still one of my favourite destinations for a safari. We visited the Makgadigadi Pan where we slept under the stars. For the first time we saw the breathtaking beauty of the stars of the southern hemisphere in all glory on a place where it was clear and dark and you could see the stars till just above the horizon. After that we went to the Okavango Delta and drove via Moremi, Savuti and Chobe to Kasane. Our guide, Anthony, was amazing and on this trip we met Sjaak and Ineke, who are still our friends. The last week we drove with a rental car through Zimbabwe. Ben, a friend we met on our last trip, joined us for that week. We visited Hwange National Park where we spend one night a platform at on e of the waterholes. It was quite an experience to drive ourselves between the animals for the first time. Especially elephants seem very big at once when you are in a normal car instead of an overland truck.
From Johannesburg to Nairobi, 2000
The last trip with Drifters was such a success that we wanted to book with them again. We stayed in touch with Sjaak and Ineke, and since they were interested in the same trip as us, we decided to book together. In one month we drove from Johannesburg in South Africa via Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi to Tanzania. It was a beautiful journey, with many different landscapes and adventures. We had a very nice group and went, amongst a lot of new places, to a few familiar places as well. The canoe trip on the Zambezi was, although exhausting, one of the highlights of the trip and in Zambia we saw our first leopard in the wild. I missed the camping in the middle of the bush a little and we didn’t always have a campfire. The Ngorogoro Crater was still amazing although much busier than we remembered. The Serengeti was fantastic again.
Canada and Alaska, 2001
Since we were busy already to make plans for our emigration to Africa we decided to do another trip this year. We made a beautiful trip from Vancouver via the west of Canada to Alaska. This time we went a week on our own before the trip started. We went to Vancouver Island where we saw orcas. That made a huge impression on me. The mountains and the rugged nature of west Canada and Alaska were beautiful and we walked on a glacier for the first time. We made a boat trip on Glacier Bay and we saw wolves and bears in Denali. We saw the Northern lights for the first time.
South Africa and Botswana, 2002
The first week of this holiday we stayed in Phalaborwa, close to the Kruger Park to look for properties in this area. Then we made a trip with a group, including our friends Sjaak and Ineke, through Botswana. We visited the Kalahari where we saw gemsbok, springbok, ostrich and the brown hyena. Since water is so scarce here we could not shower for six days, just wash up with a small bowl of water. At Baines Baobabs we had enough water for the first time again and soon everybody smelled clean and like soap again. We visited the Nxai Pan, the Okavango Delta and went via Moremi and Savuti to Chobe. We saw incredible things like fighting lions and lots of game on this fantastic trip to Botswana.
The first week of this holiday we stayed in Phalaborwa, close to the Kruger Park to look for properties in this area. Then we made a trip with a group, including our friends Sjaak and Ineke, through Botswana. We visited the Kalahari where we saw gemsbok, springbok, ostrich and the brown hyena. Since water is so scarce here we could not shower for six days, just wash up with a small bowl of water. At Baines Baobabs we had enough water for the first time again and soon everybody smelled clean and like soap again. We visited the Nxai Pan, the Okavango Delta and went via Moremi and Savuti to Chobe. We saw incredible things like fighting lions and lots of game on this fantastic trip to Botswana.
South Africa, Kruger Park area 2002 and 2003
Between Christmas and New Year in 2002 we were back already in South Africa. This time we stayed in a lodge on the road to Orpen, close to the Kruger Park. We wanted to have a look at some more properties for sale. One of them was also on the road to Orpen and the back bordered the Thornybush reserve. We liked it very much and it seemed very good for our purpose but unfortunately it got just sold. The end of March 2003 we were back again, this time with our parents. We stayed in the same lodge on the road to Orpen and went to see several properties, including the place in Balule that we later bought. In between we visited all the tourist attractions in the area. The last few days we went to the Kruger Park, where we stayed in Satara and Shingwedzi, the last is in the north of the park. Here we met Kobus, who is still a friend of us.
Between Christmas and New Year in 2002 we were back already in South Africa. This time we stayed in a lodge on the road to Orpen, close to the Kruger Park. We wanted to have a look at some more properties for sale. One of them was also on the road to Orpen and the back bordered the Thornybush reserve. We liked it very much and it seemed very good for our purpose but unfortunately it got just sold. The end of March 2003 we were back again, this time with our parents. We stayed in the same lodge on the road to Orpen and went to see several properties, including the place in Balule that we later bought. In between we visited all the tourist attractions in the area. The last few days we went to the Kruger Park, where we stayed in Satara and Shingwedzi, the last is in the north of the park. Here we met Kobus, who is still a friend of us.
