{Travel} Siyaya Game Lodge

Yay the time finally arrived for my father and Joni to come visit us! :)
I was so excited to see them at the airport Saturday.
We went away for the weekend to Siyaya Game Lodge in the Dinokeng Game Reserve area.

We have been there before so this was our 3rd time to go there.
It's self catering which we love and only an hours drive from Johannesburg (with no traffic).
So the cars were packed and off we went after the airport.
I love spending my time with the people I love....

What a relaxing weekend! I hate how quickly times goes by when you are having fun!
But luckily I took 1 day leave yesterday so I had a nice long weekend!
We spent our evenings next to a nice big fire and ate ourselves fat this weekend! haha!

And also went on a Game Drive, Landan went crazy when he saw the animals, he loved it! Don't you just love the Bushveld??? Beautiful! 

And then it was time to head back to Johannesburg. :( 

Well we had a lot of fun at Siyaya and will go back again and again! 

Please go visit their website - http://www.siyayalodge.co.za/

So let's get back to working.

Till next time!

xxx

Weekly Wrap Up....

What a week!
Cedric came back on Tuesday! Felt like he was gone forever!
Wednesday we went to dinner with friends at La Campagnola, (http://www.lacampagnola.co.za/) I love this restaurant!
And seeing as I was craving good pasta I got the Linguine al Poletto and Cedric had one of the specials. (Beef)
Don't forget desert, my all time favorite is Chocolate Fondant!!!!
And like always they did not disappoint with any of the courses!

Then it was our 22 Month anniversary on Thursday, the 2 year mark is slowly but surely creeping toward us! Exciting!
Then the weekend finally arrived!!!
Friday night we had a relaxed braai at home, and Saturday we went shopping but Sandton City was crazy busy, how frustrating to drive around for 15min just to find parking!
And Sunday was the big day for me! My 10km fun run, the RAC/Asics run.
Simone and I did it! We actually finished, I am so proud of myself.
And I finished in 1hr 26min!

But believe me I can feel it today, I am stiff everywhere, but looking forward to the next run!
After the race Cedric spoiled me with a yummy breakfast at the new shopping centre that opened, Nicolway, Bryanston, at Licorish Bistro.

I went with Cedric to play golf later the afternoon, after which we went for dinner at Col'Cacchio Pizzeria, (http://www.colcacchio.co.za/).
Best pizza I've had so far!

"Lifetime relationships teach you lifetime lessons"

Mothers Day

To the most amazing mother in the world.

Thank you for always being there, good or bad times, happy and sad!

I love you with all my heart!

My sister, mommy and me - 

Cedric and his amazing mother - 

Have a blessed week everyone!!!!

xxx

Weekly wrap-up!

So we survived a full week after all these public holidays!
I must admit I suffered a bit! But was good! I finally decided to speak up about something that was bothering me and it had great results! Now just to wait for it to become reality!

Wednesday Night we joined Lelande and Alan for dinner at Adega!
We had so much fun and completely lost track of time!
Both couples actually decided to have the platter for 2 with the Baby Lobster. YUMMY!!!

And then the most important part of dinner, desert!!!!

Lelande and Alan -

Cedric and I -

And then the time arrived that we both hated most, good byes! :(

Cedric off to Durban till Tuesday (15 May 2012)

Look how amazing the sun and the clouds looked that morning on our way to the airport!

Packed and ready to go!

And I decided to babysit my nephew Landan this weekend! WOW what hard work it is to look after a baby! I look up to my sister! Although it was fun I am quite relieved to get a proper good nights rest tonight! hehe - but isn't he just the cutest????

That's our week, and in 44 Hours Cedric will be back! I cannot wait!

xxx

Countdown Update!!!!

Dad and Joni coming to visit = 17 Days
Paris = 73 Days

"You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you." - James Allen

What I'm reading....

I love reading, and when I have time I can sit and read for hours!

So I thought I would give you a recap of what I've been reading.

My December reading was "The Best of me by Nicholas Sparks", I love his writing and obviously my all time favorite movie is "The Notebook" also by him.

What a stunning book! Had me in tears by the end of it!

And then, seeing as I am a major Lauren Conrad fan I finally bought her first book!

"L.A. Candy A Novel by Lauren Conrad" 

Loved it and couldn't put it down for a second, Cedric go so frustrated with me and my nose glued to the book!

I am currently trying to read "The Lucky One" also by Nicholas Sparks, so far so good, just wish I had more free time to finish reading it!

Apparently this book was made into a film and is showing in Cinemas now, but before I go watch it I would like to finish the book first.

And then Cedric bought me the sequel to Lauren Conrad's first book yesterday, "Sweet Little Dreams an L.A. Candy Novel".

Super excited to start reading it! If it's anything like the first book then it can only be great!

Happy reading everyone!

xxx

{Food} Cafe Villa @ Camelot Spa (The Birdcage)

This 2 day weekend really flew by after all these long weekends!
And this coming week we are going to struggle a bit I think, especially after our 3 day week last week!
Wouldn't it be perfect if we only had 4 day weeks and 3 day weekends? Something to consider! He-he

Back to our weekend shenanigans...
The weekend was very relaxed actually, nothing out of the ordinary happened!
But the main reason for this blog is actually about what we did today!
I found this lovely place on one blog I'm following, (http://arumlilea.blogspot.com/2011/12/clouding-over.html please follow her, her blog is amazing!) this one cute little place called "The Birdcage", and seeing as Cedric and myself are always looking for nice outdoor places to have lunch at I thought this place would be perfect.

So this morning we jumped in the car and the journey began!
And lucky for us we had a perfectly sunny, not one cloud in the sky day!

We entered the address in the GPS and off we went, but could not find any sign helping us find "The Birdcage", and all we could find in the place was a Spa called "Camelot Spa".
We decided to try it anyway as we were starving, and what a beautiful place!

They told us that the name has changed to "Cafe Villa" in December 2011.
Only sad thing was that we were the only customers, :( and we like lively places with a nice atmosphere.
Don't get me wrong, this place is stunning and the food really good, very relaxing!
I would love to go try out the Spa some day!

We had a sandwich each and ordered a Pasta to share (we wanted to try some of the other food too).

After our yummy lunch we strolled through the pretty courtyard of the Spa. With interesting features everywhere.

So the end to our weekend was nice with yummy food! Now we have a full week ahead of us and Cedric is already leaving again Friday! Feels like he just got back! :(

Please if anyone has any other yummy place suggestions feel free to let us know!

Have a lovely week!

xxx

{Travel} Idube Game Reserve - Sabi Sands

Hope everyone had a relaxed long weekend, mine was extra long as we took Monday off as well.
Cedric's parents invited us for a Safari weekend away and it worked out perfectly as it was long weekend and I took leave for the Monday LONG ago! :) I think my sixth sense told me to do that! he-he

What a lovely weekend it was!!!!
This was my first PROPER Safari where the lions was not separate from the rest of the animals.
And my worst fear ever, the Lodge was not fenced in so animals can come and go as they please! Yes even Lions!!!! Eeeek! But we survived the weekend and enjoyed it terribly!

His parents is the sweetest people on earth and we enjoyed every minute!
Friday (27th) was a Public Holiday, but seeing as Cedric and his father only landed on Friday, we decided instead of being rushed we will have a relaxed braai at our place, so we left the Saturday morning.

Early morning wake up and we took the plane to Nelspruit (Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport), it's less than an hours flight from Johannesburg, then another 2 hours drive to Sabi Sands.

But the scenery is so beautiful you hardly feel the 2 hours drive.

We arrived at the lodge to a yummy lunch! We have never in our life eaten so much that the past weekend! I really need to start exercising now! Yes it is that bad! But sooo good! Luckily the weather was also great, extremely warm during the day and cold at night. 

We went on 2 Game Drives every day, 3 hours each. And lucky for us we spotted the Big 5 within the first 24 hours of arriving! Lucky us! And I was very excited as I've never seen a leopard in the wild. And what beautiful animals they are! 

The Game drives was every morning at 6am - 9am! Wake up call was at 05:30. Then we would come back to a lovely breakfast. Then you could relax around the Lodge until lunch is served at 2pm. 

Then you can go for a quick nap in the room before the afternoon Game Drive at 4pm - 7pm. And after the game drive dinner is served at 8pm in the Boma Area next to the bar. 

We were there for a total of 3 nights and went on 6 Game Drives = 18 Hours of Game Viewing! I don't think there is something that we did not see! ha-ha

I've seen so many things! I fell in love with the bush after this weekend! (thank you baby, your fault, he-he) And I will move there in a heartbeat!

And once again the staff outdid themselves! Our Game Ranger (Andries - left) and the Tracker (Titus - right) kept us entertained the whole time and had us fooled a few times! We are such gullible people!  

I am sorry for combining all the pictures, but if I had to insert them separately this blog will be longer than the wall of China! I loved these 2 Leopards, a young female (on the road) and a older male (in the grass)! 

And the nice thing about this Lodge, the animals are so relaxed with the Game Drive Vehicles because they ensure that the animals still have their space and there will never be more than 2 Vehicles at a time with sightings. This ensures that the animal still have space to move and almost forms a sort of trust between them. You will see how close the elephants came to us (below picture)!

Amazing!

We had sun downers at the most breathtaking spots! 

Memories that will last us forever! And I think the first time ever where we went away for a weekend and I saw more of the Big 5 than any other animal! Yes!!! Believe me, after the 500th Impala you just want to scream! But here we saw mostly Big 5!!!! 

If I have to tell you about all the amazing things we experienced this weekend I will keep you busy with a whole day of reading! And I do apologize for the already long blog! I just had to share as much as possible!

I would highly recommend this place to animal and bush lovers! Warm Friendly staff that know how to keep their guests happy and entertained!!!! Thanks Idube and team!!! Till next time....

"Life's blows cannot break a person whose spirit is warmed at the fire of enthusiasm" - Norman Vincent Peale