Click here for the Singita picture gallery!

Peter takes final snapshots from our patio

We spot the usual suspects (water buffalo, various birds, giraffe, hippo, zebra, hyena) on the last game drive of our trip. Peter and I pack our bags before breakfast and head down to the pool for our final meal. As Fortune pours us a glass of freshly squeezed guava juice, I tell him how much I’ll miss the food here, even the snacks like their homemade dried mango strips. […]

We don’t see anything particularly exciting on our morning game drive, mostly the same animals. After breakfast, I swim and read by the pool while Peter takes a nap. We have a couple’s massage scheduled in a few hours and plan to do some shopping for locally made crafts at the African Trading Store beforehand. […]

Our outdoor bed

I’m up at 5:30am even without the dawn wakeup call. I leave Peter soundly asleep and take some photos of the sun rising on our patio. The sun’s colors look perfectly blended and ethereal streaming through the nets of our tented bed. Though many of the guests do sleep outside on the terrace, Peter and I have yet to try it. Yesterday afternoon we stepped out on the terrace to watch some giraffe drinking from the river and noticed footprints on the outdoor bed. Baboon tracks! […]

Thirty minutes after our wakeup call, the porter is knocking on our door, signaling it’s time to be escorted to the meeting spot. After a quick tea and scone, we’re bundled in blankets in the back of the Landrover and our dawn game drive begins. We take a different route than yesterday and immediately spot hippopotamuses swimming in the river. […]

Transportation from Johannesburg to our safari reserve Singita Lebombo is by air. To be specific, a small 14 passenger Cessna plane that resembles a toy my younger brother once played with. Serving as a sort of air taxi, the plane drops people off at their respective lodges, and of course, as luck would have it, ours is the last stop. […]

Click here for the Cape Town picture gallery!

Last day in Cape Town… time to go shopping in the City Centre. We start the morning with a buffet breakfast on the outdoor patio of our hotel. Fascinating, exotic, fresh fruit spread. The sea breeze is blowing, boats are sailing, and Table Mountain is looming tall. We feel alert and content. […]

Whale-watching day! Ever since elementary school when my field trips consisted of whale-watching excursions off the Catalina Islands, I’ve been fascinated by whales. They’re my favorite animals. Whales recur in my dreams, though I’ve yet to find a bona fide Freudian significance in their appearance. My mother-in-law believes they mean I’ll give birth to a son. […]

Today is my 30th birthday. Holy Jesus. Supposedly I’ve just entered into my “prime” years. I don’t know, wasn’t that term coined by disgruntled Manhattan women in their 40s? When the hotel concierge, taxi drivers, and tour operators ask why we’re here, the conversation naturally leads to my birthday and Peter’s. Friendly Capetonians assure us that 30 is an age to be proud of, that we still look “youthful,” that we should enjoy these “golden years.” […]