Visit from Grandma & Grandpa

We had our first visitors here in South Africa as the girls' Grandma and Grandpa Walker made the long trip to stay with us during our October break. After a couple of days to get over jet lag, we all headed up to Pilanesberg for an African safari game drive. We saw the typical zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, elephants, rhinos, and springboks as well as a couple of rare finds. First, we witnessed some hippos fairly up close (from the car, of course). In the past, we have had to use binoculars to make out a hippo's face, but there was no need to this time. Then later on, we were driving along a deserted road far off the main road of the park when all of a sudden a leopard walked out right in front of us. This is an extremely rare find in the park - something that you may catch once in a lifetime! We ended up driving right behind the leopard for about five minutes. It was pretty awesome to be that close.

Next, we all hopped on a flight to Capetown where we spent a majority of our vacation. We stayed in the city for a few days to see the Aquarium, Boulder's Beach with the penguins, and to enjoy shopping and eating along the Waterfront.

Just up the road about an hour from Capetown is where he headed to next to a small town called Hermanus. Justin and I went there last year as well and knew that Bob and Karen would enjoy it during their visit. We rented a cottage on the beach where we could see whales in the ocean from the front door. One day while in town, we even saw the whales jumping out of the water. They were amazing. Hermanus is also a great destination to visit vineyards, so we went for a couple of drives to enjoy the gorgeous scenary of the winelands and stop in for a wine tasting from time to time.

After Hermanus, Justin and I returned to work while Bob and Karen took their own little trip to the Drakensburg Mountains for some hiking. They left South Africa having experienced three drastically different experiences but that all come together to define the landscape of the country.

We had a wonderful time and are grateful that our visitors came out to see us. The girls especially liked the time with Grandma and Grandpa. The only downside of the trip was that we got robbed in Hermanus, but everyone is okay and doing well.

This photo album customized with Smilebox