South Africa

This part of trip was less travelling and more reuniting with our good friends Caroline and Ewart (think we may now be on the way to pronounce his name kind of right every tenth time or so…). It was great to be together after a long time! Guys have also proved to be perfect hosts, they planned so many great things to see and do, so that this was our best SA trip ever!

So, first Cape Town. Such a lovely place – has everything: mountains, sea, city life, history… Definitely our favourite city on this continent. Obviously, we did what the tourist do – walked the sea-front, Long Street, city centre… Living in Ireland for the last decade or so, we thought we knew what strong winds are, but boy were we surprised. It can blow here is all we are saying!

Table Mountain is a must and since we missed it on previous occasions it was definitely on the list this time. It was really a special experience doing it with Ewart, who is a mountain rescue volunteer. And this is not just a posh name people, his phone keeps bleeping! Even had to go on a mission to rescue somebody in practically middle of the night. Anyways, we learned about all the nooks and crannies and best climbs as well as all the stories and history. After all this, lazy as we are, we took a cable car. And it was all concluded by a majestic sunset… Yup, life does not get much better than this… Ah sorry, it does – with a nice glass of red and braai (that would be a bbq for non-initiated) to conclude the day later on… 

They must have confused imperial and metric measurements here is the only explanation for food size (2kg steak is the norm) and, as expected we averaged 2kg weight gain per week per person (same as on all our previous visits really – nice to be consistent).

Next stop was wine touring in Franshoek and Stellenbosh. Reached via one of the most beautiful roads in the world on a perfect sunny day. On a motor bike! Yes, baby… We were there in no time with slightly numb butts (are we losing touch here?).

Can you even pronounce Franschhoek? We couldn’t neither before sampling the good stuff in this gourmet South African village / wine region. The place is littered with 5 star retreat lookalike wineries (we figured it’s a lot like a retreat – you leave happy and relaxed – and that’s the point, right?). Try as much as you can, but short of having AA on speed dial, there are just too many to visit them all… but you know us, tried our best. With six months of Asia and scarce wine availability at the very least ahead of us, we imitated a camel before heading into the desert. And yes, all stored in fat (hey, same as camels with water!). We truly believe that we made a serious dent of local stock. And they even have trains and buses to take you from one winery to another starting at 10 am and finishing at 5 pm! No we haven't died and gone to heaven - this place does exist! Town is lovely as well, although we cannot really say we remember everything crystal clear. Not to mention the food – some of best steaks ever! Thank god we planned only four days or we would have needed a new wardrobe!

Final place we had on the list was totally something else – Tankwa Karoo. Bet you never heard of it? Well, we didn't either. Remote is the name of the game in this part of the world – took about 200km of dirt roads and 2 tyre punctures to even reach the gate of the park. You better come here with friends who know how to fix tyres, as there is a very sketchy mobile reception as well. We wouldn't be writing these word without Ewart‘s off-road know how.

Idea of Tankwa Karoo is to try and live like the early settlers did… well sort of (our first panic was when Nives realized that she forgot the mosquito repellent – so much so for early settlers state of mind). We indeed did not have the electricity, but did have a solar heated hot water, fridge, pool, braai (and if you are wondering, Dejan did burn a small forest in those few days)… kind of roughing it, if you catch our drift? Park is on the north-west of SA, not that far from Namibia (well, this would be in African terms, we are sure you could put a few Slovenias in-between). It is basically a desert, with some bush vegetation and quite a bit of life. And this would include snakes and such. So, no electricity and snakes in one place at the same time. Let’s put it this way, Nives was not the most enthusiastic about this idea from the start. But the promise of some of the best star-gazing in the world (and it really was!) we were on the way. Such a good decision! This was one of those experiences you just never forget, absolutely amazing scenery, views, and really unbelievable stars at night (we were on schedule here – either staying late or waking up early in the morning). So special!

Very quickly, it seemed, our SA time came to end. Caroline even prepared a Christmas dinner (start of December) for us when we were leaving – with decorations and all! Neighbours probably thought we really lost it with all those empty bottles of wine in the bin…

For us, time to move to Mozambique and finally do some diving!

To build up some wine thirst and rest your eyes on beautiful landscape click here.

Travel to Africa, through Africa

You will be relieved to hear that we actually made this flight. And without ANYONE checking for visa. Nives felt like having a fit (well, actually had a small one, but let’s move on…). Instead of originally planned flight with Quatar, this one was with Ethiopian with a long stopover in Addis Ababa (serves us right we thought). We were prepared – food and water in the backpacks – to face an African airline. And were totally surprised! New plane (Dreamliner), lovely food and wine on tap (actually good South African one). Flight was great, although a bit in a haze. We believe it could be the altitude, possibly helped by the few (well, technically more than two, but who’s counting?) bottles of lovely red… Flight to Addis Ababa passed in no time.

Customs passed in the regular manner. We dutifully declared all the cheese we had on us in sandwiches. To utter dismay of customs officers, of course. Think they probably had money or diamonds in mind. On the other hand, judged by our past experiences, there is probably a circular between customs officers of the world with pictures of crazy middle-aged couple (well, her really) who are declaring various types of food products. What can we say? Scarred in Australia and New Zealand for life…

Anyway, bad news was that we had 16 (yes, you are reading right!) hours stop-over. Getting books and phones ready and bracing ourselves for the worst we were shocked again. Lovely people in Ethiopian not only provided us with free hotel, but also free food and complementary visa! Goes without saying we felt a bit sheepish carrying all that vasa-brot, cheese and water with us….

So, Addis. Not a lot to say really, city is a dump. Seriously! Two hours in, we had enough and retreated back to the hotel to have few beers (at extortionate price of €1 per bottle). And surprise, surprise – encountered another St. George. But really liked Habesha more. Talking about beer if u happen to get all religious on us. Hotel was cool, we kind of thought it was two, maybe lower three star, but after talking to our friends in SA who travelled in Ethiopia, we were told it was a four star (apparently real luxury is confirmed if windows have glass – yeah, we know). All in all, sixteen hours was enough and we were happy to leave (with two hours’ delay, of course – this is Africa!).

Didn't really fancy taking pictures of severe poverty, so only a tiny amount of pictures here.

Skiing in Austria… and the F*ck-up(s)…

OK, c’mon, you all knew it was just a matter of time before we succumbed! After a week of eating and drinking too much, we decided it is time for some physical activity before we hit the road and what better to do in central Europe, but to go skiing? Beautiful glaciers of Austria, here we come!

After serious consideration we decided on Hintertux, Pitztal and Stubai (nicknamed the Lady glacier). Austrian Tyrol glaciers now offer 10-day pass and you can ski on any of them. Like they had us in mind. So, plan is set, three days Hitertux for start, three Pitztal, three Stubai and then Hitertux for the last one. They look close on the map, but nope, they are not. It takes hours to drive between any one of them. But well worth it, we want to ski them all.

After three glorious days in Hintertux we moved to Pitztal. Wake up at 6 am, as per usual, and drive from our room to the funicular and stand in the queue until it opens (yeah, we know…). After nice 30 mins wait we are ecstatic to be on the first car of the day. Life is good… Until the machine bleeps red instead of green. Few tries later we turn and still alive (not if the looks of people behind us could kill) go talk to the staff. Yup, you got it. We f*cked-up – bought the wrong ticket and the only solution is to drive 3 hours each way to Hintertux where we bought the tickets in the first place. Picture and no sound is the norm during the drive. Luckily we have our ticket exchanged. In normal circumstances we would not have been that angry as they made a mistake and gave us a fresh new ticket for 10 days. But in this case, we have our flights booked. Damn!

It felt so good to be on skies again, just admiring mesmerizing views over the Austrian Alps. We think these are one of the most beautiful views in the world (regardless of what NZ tourism board will try to tell you about Southern Alps; or any other part of NZ for that fact; as Nives probably have told you already…repeatedly…). Warmed up by log fires and good hazelnuss-snaps (nectar of gods, for sure) we had some of the best skiing ever. Singing Tux, Tux, Hintertux (helped by jaeger-bombs) we were saying goodbye (some of us with tears in our eyes… no naming names, but it was the male part of this duo) to the snow and carving for the season. Or so we thought …

Anyway, after a quick, but lovely reunion with family, Matej and Sanja, in Vienna, we were ready to go. Woke up at 4 am, schlepped 50kg or so of luggage to the airport to have a proper shock. Lovely ladies at the Quatar desk told two wide eyed stupefied speechless morons that they need a visa for South Africa. Yup, we f*cked-up. Again. But this one was truly and really one of best. Ever! Anyway, we were absolutely sure that previous time we went to SA we got visas at the airport, but seems the economical and geo-strategic position and importance of Slovenia (we are in EU and NATO now, people!) warrants a visa for all African countries these days. They probably can’t find us on the map (remember, not same as Slovakia!), so to be on the safe side decided that visa is a good option… Shell-shocked and aghast we went back to Vienna to South African consulate. It is going to be up to ten working days to get a visa!!! Luckily, the consul took pity on two eejits and we got it in a day. But out flight was gone and as we were unable to reschedule we needed to buy another ticket (do NOT go there! EVER!) a week later. So, what can one do in Austria in November in the midst of snow storms?

Yup, got it – we hit the ski slopes. Remember those three extra days of skiing that we thought we would not be able to use?  Seems now was as good time as any. Hintertux, here we come again! And it definitely was the best skiing in Tuxer ever – fresh real snow (not that artificial stuff), ideal temperatures and mid-week (i.e. empty pistes!). Just perfect!

After three days of pure pleasure we also had some extra time to spend in Vienna with Matej and Sanja who showed us the real beat of the town. We even managed to go to the Viennese Christmas market (just opened!). Like a fairy tale…

And then we packed (again) and schlepped 50 kg or so of luggage to the airport (again). South Africa, here we come!

Click here, but only after you tone down the brightness of your screen or put on some snow glare eye protection.