A few months away from our Winter Wonderland

We certainly have had a lot of snow over the last couple of weeks. Although hard to get around at times, and it can be bitterly cold, we still enjoy this winter wonderland. We are lucky to have a neighbour, and very talented photographer, Daniel Gibson (Skyhills Photography), who captures the beauty of winter. Daniel, thank you for allowing me to share some of your winter photos from our neighbourhood. We look forward to seeing your photos while we are away so we can still enjoy the beauty of home.

We are once again travelling to South Africa, leaving January 29th, arriving in Cape Town on January 31st and returning March 25th, arriving in Toronto on March 26th. We are flying through London Heathrow.

We will be visiting a few new spots this year, combining this with our favourite places to stay in Hout Bay, Wilderness and Franschhoek.

Below is an overview of our travels.

When	Where (Click on the underlined links and you will see where we are staying).
Jan 31 – Feb 7th	We are staying at Hout Bay Manor again. The hotel is walking distance to the village and a short drive to Camps Bay and Cape Town. Lots to do in this area, and also a great place to relax.
Feb 8 – Feb 13th	We are flying to Skukuza Airport this year. For the first few days we are staying at Kruger Shalati – Train on the Bridge, which is a unique small hotel (thank you Wendy and Gord for recommending it). The hotel has great views of the Sabi River and our stay includes 2 game drives a day in Kruger National Park. This is our first time at this hotel – it should be a fun experience. We then head to Inyati Game Reserve again for 3 nights (6 game drives). Our last stop is Kruger Gate Hotel for 1 night before we fly back to Cape Town. We have not stayed at this hotel before.
Feb. 14 – 18th	We return to Hout Bay Manor for 5 nights. Deb and Lauchlyn will be joining us in Hout Bay on Feb. 14th and will travel with us into March. We are lucky to have such fun travel companions.
Feb 19 – 20th	We head to Paternoster, a small West coast fishing Village.  A friend recommended Paternoster years ago, but we never booked far enough in advance to stay at Ah! Guest House. Ah! is known for its exquisite food. The owner prepares a 5 course dinner a couple of times a week and guests rave about it (thank you Jan for the recommendation). Finally, we will be able to experience it on Feb. 20th.
Feb 21st – March 10th	Next is Wilderness, with an overnight at Mo & Rose on the way to break up the 6 hour drive. Mo & Rose is in the Robertson Wine Valley, and is nestled at the foot of the Langeberg mountains. This is a new stop for us. We love our apartment at Wilderness Waters. This is our third year renting the apartment and we have developed a friendship with Ruan, the owner. The location is great – an easy 5 minute walk to the beach and an even shorter walk to some wonderful restaurants. There is lots to do in the area – we already have a few activities booked. Lauchlyn heads home on February 29th and Deb on March 9th.  We will miss our travel companions.
March 11 – 26th	Our final stop is Franschhoek and Devilliers BnB. We stayed at Devilliers last year, and it was by far our favourite BnB in this area. There are so many wonderful vineyards to enjoy within a 45 minute drive of Devilliers. Of course, we have our favourites, plus we always add new vineyards to our list. We fly home on March 25th , arriving March 26th, after spending almost 2 months in South Africa.

Our next post will be the first week in February. Thank you for following our travels.