Our African Adventure!

In January, AJ and I embarked on a trip of a lifetime, visiting my birthplace – South Africa. I haven’t been back since I was 21 years old, and this was the first time I have been without my parents. Here’s a bit about my background and what we got up to on our African adventure!

Born in Uitenhage (now called Kariega), this is essentially the Hinckley of South Africa!
Located around 30 minutes away from Port Elizabeth, it’s nowhere near Cape Town or Johannesburg! Uitenhage is best known for its Volkswagen manufacturing; all of South Africa’s VWs are made there.

My parents moved to South Africa when they were children and they met at a mixed school dance. Last year, they celebrated their Ruby wedding anniversary. Both my sister and I were born in South Africa. We moved to England when I was 6 years old, and my sister was aged 4. First, we lived in Brighton with family for a while. My Dad then got a job in Leicester, and we moved into a little rental property in Burbage. My parents still live in this area today.

Saying goodbye to the Old Croc

One of the reasons we went to South Africa in January was to visit my very sick Grandad, who we sadly lost during our visit. He never moved back to England as he was sure the cold weather would kill him off. We have had him visit us and we have gone out to visit him, but it was hard growing up with my grandparents on the other side of the world. At least I got to say goodbye to my Old Croc, who was naughty to the very end with his dirty jokes and bad limericks!

Flamingos and family

I also visited where I used to live, just before we moved to the UK, which was my Granny’s house… And this is also where my flamingo obsession began! The house overlooks a river with sandbanks, which is home to hundreds of flamingos. It was great spending time in the area with old family friends, especially as we’d just lost my amazing godmother, Jann.

Addo Elephant Park

Staying in a thatched tent, right next to an elephant watering hole, we spent the night at Addo Elephant Park. We got up close to lots of elephants, including cute baby ones, and it was an incredible experience!

Stroking a hyena!

It’s rare to get up close to a hyena and this was one of my bucket-list goals. During our adventures, I met Bone, a rescued hyena who was very partial to ear scratches! After having a bad start in life, he needed to be hand-reared by humans, and he’s now too soft to be in the wild. So, Bone now lives in a sanctuary, where they educate people about hyenas. Unfortunately, The Lion King movie gave hyenas a bad reputation!

Cage diving with sharks

AJ also achieved one of his bucket-list goals too – to get up close to a great white shark! Although, while he went cage diving in the ocean, I chose to stay safe on land! We also visited Table Mountain near Cape Town and Boulders Beach to see the penguins.

Our South African trip was filled with lots of unforgettable moments that we will both treasure forever! If you’d like to hear more, why not book a catch up with us over a hot cuppa?

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