The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Christmas 2008

We were extremely spoilt for Christmas this year. My parents, John and Shirley, and my brother, Andrew, and his wife, Shannon joined us for a brown Christmas (the opposite of white- warm weather and beaches). We picked everyone up from the airport in Cape Town and headed to join our extended family in Groot Brak, in between Mossel Bay and George. There Karel’s cousin Elize and her husband, Andre organized up to 27 of us at times. Company included Andre and Elize and their beautiful children Wichard (24), Izelle (22) and Sune (21) with their partners and guests Marijke, Devon and Fredrik, Karel’s cousin Karel and his wife Karen and their lovely children Stephen (15) and Gerhard (9), Andre’s sister Ina and her husband DeVille with two of their fantastic children Alida (26) and Denel (24), and Karel’s cousin Nico with his family Hannelie, Leani and Hanku. We were also joined for a couple of days by Karel’s cousins Micheal and Gerrie. We stayed in three houses, only a couple kms apart for about two and a half weeks. We had amazing meals, all traditionally South African, including Cape Malay dishes, potjies, a spit roast and of course braais.

Besides eating and sleeping like Kings, we did some amazing activities. We went on a game drive at the Garden Route Game Lodge with an amazing guide who knew loads of interesting information and facts about the animals. Amongst other things we saw elephants, lions, rhino, buffalo and learned about the vegetation and soil (remember we did have a farmer who asks loads of questions on our tour  ). We feed elephants at Botelierskop which was fantastic. Elephants have such thick, coarse skin and such dark thick hair, with the longest eyelashes I’ve seen (even longer than a giraffe’s) and seeing them use their trunks so close up was fascinating. Karel and Andrew went bungee jumping at Gouritz , a more than 60m drop (check the video out on K’s facebook). We went to the stunning Cango Caves near Outshoorn (definite recommend) and divided into two groups to go to either an ostrich farm or an adventure park with cheetahs. Both received rave reviews. We attended the largest church service I have ever been to, which was outdoors, in Afrikaans and really special. Spending New Years together was so much fun. We all went to the Fete du Mossel, a beach party with a twist. There were ten seafood courses, freshly prepared on the fire, an unending supply of bread and pumping Afrikaans tunes with a very memorable lion number. And amongst all these activities we also found time to lie on the beach feeling the heat of the African sun and also to shop (Canadians heart Cape Union Mart).

Thanks to everyone for making our Christmas so special. We’ll treasure it always.