Friday, February 24, 2017

Cape Town - one of my favorite towns worldwide, my insights for you!

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Cape Town - what to do and what to see, my insights! 



Palms, Tropical, Sun, Poolday, Heaven


“Perhaps it was history that ordained that it be here, at the Cape of Good Hope that we should lay the foundation stone of our new nation. For it was here at this Cape, over three centuries ago, that there began the fateful convergence of the peoples of Africa, Europe and Asia on these shores.” 
– Former President Nelson Mandela, during his inauguration speech on May 9, 1994.


Hey guys,


today I will write about Cape Town, one of my favorite towns worldwide. It is just an unbelievable beautiful, amazing and inspiring place to spend your vacation, lifetime or just some years of living. Cape Town is a coastal city located in South Africa.

Where to stay?

This hotel is located just one minute walk from the world famous Alfred & Victoria Waterfront, where many restaurants, shops and bars are waiting to be explored. 
We stayed at the Tafelberg Suite and had every day a wonderful breakfast on our own balcony facing the amazing Tafelberg.


One&Only Hotel balcony view to Tafelberg

One&Only Hotel Cape Town, breakfast table

one&only hotel view from balcony to tafelberg, 360 grad view


One&Only Cape Town balcony, view from the room facing private island

One&Only Hotel, Tafelberg Suite, Bedroom

One&Only Cape Town, living room

One&Only Cape Town, bath room

One&Only Cape Town, view towards the private island, sitting on the water

2 glasses of Champagne, relaxing, One&Only Cape Town

One&Only Cape Town, entrance hall


They have great amenities, after a long day sightseeing in Cape Town it was the best to spend some time relaxing on the pool or at the private island spa. The pool has also a great own restaurant with many fresh seafood, wood-fired pizzas and mediterranean snacks available, it is called "Isola".Don't forget to bring the sun blocker, otherwise you get sun burned really quick with the African sun.


One&Only Cape Town seafood dish at Isola restaurant

One&Only Cape Town, pool area, view towards the pool

One&Only Cape Town, pool area facing the hotel, palm trees


Where to eat?

One & Only Cape town offers you a world famous restaurant called "NOBU", it is the first NOBU in Africa. It serves Japanese-Peruvian cuisine. As I love Japan and Im a huge fan of Nobuyuki Matsuhisa of course I tried it out and it was fantastic. The style is really modern and minimalistic and for all who know me well, I JUST LOVE those places. Make sure you place a reservation, as this restaurant is really popular.

One&Only Cape Town Sushi, Dinner, NOBU, Nobu Matsuhisa, Nobuyuki Matsuhisa

One&Only Cape Town, interior NOBU, Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, Nobu Matsuhisa


It is getting you bungalicious. This restaurant is located at Clifton Beach and it is really located on the beach, which means theres nothing between you and the Atlantic Ocean. The best place to have a sun downer and afterwards a great dinner. Really romantic and is just an insane setting. Please also make sure you place a reservation, as this is also a place to be in Cape Town. 
It has also open for lunch, I just loved the quote on their website: "here barefoot is the new Louboutin as the sun drowns itself in a pink puddle most nights. And yes we just got soppy about the sunset - no need be a bitch about it".


Camps Bay, Clifton Beach, Salad dinner at the Bungalow Restaurant on the beach


I may start with a quote from Alex Perry, Time Magazine: 

“The day Woodstock officially became Cape Town’s hottest district can be dated to Nov. 24, 2010 – when Luke Dale-Roberts opened The Test Kitchen there.”


Some might call it "foodporn", they call it a 21-courses menue. It is extraordinary without being over priced and snobby. We had a table directly by the open kitchen, which I loved because I just love cooking and to see how this team is working together was an incredible experience for me. They have an outstanding service, which explains you every detail of your menue. We ordered the menue with wine, which I can recommend you to do. And don't make the same mistake as we and eat breakfast before or have lunch with more then a salad. Fullstop. Nothing more to add, well one more it has open from tuesday - saturday and make sure you place a reservation 6 month before you go there. No joking, it is South Africans Nr. 1 ! restaurant for a reason. 


Test Kitchen, Woodstock, Cape Town, lunch

Test Kitchen, Cape Town, Woodstock, view in the kitchen

Test Kitchen, Woodstock, Cape Town, main dish, lunch

Test Kitchen, Woodstock, Cape Town, dessert

Test Kitchen, Cape Town, Woodstock, Lunch


What to do?

The V&A Waterfront is always worth a visit, you can go shopping there or have a little snack while walking along the beach or the harbor. 


V&A Waterfront, view to the harbor

V&A Waterfront, Shops, shopping


Rent a Cobra
We rented a Cobra and made a half day tour. We drove the famous chapmans peak drive and all the coast side down to the national park ending point was the cape of good hope. You should calculate around a half day for this trip and for security reasons I would highly recommend you to plan your trip beforehand and during day time as the Cobra has no navigation system inside. 
Also we made some stops along the way, one of my favorite spot was to see my penguins friends at Boulders Beach (close to Simons Town). They are so cute!


Cobra, rent a cobra, half day trip, exciting, car moment, car view

Cape Town, Half day tour, Cobra, view to the beach

Driving a cobra, view out of cobra, picture taken from the ocean while driving

Cobra rent,  half day tour, last tour point cape of good hope, picture of the beach

Cobra tour, driving threw the national park to point of good hope, driving picture, cobra view

cobra driving, national park, view out of the cobra, driving, seeing a big bird

simons town, half day tour, cobra tour, beach view, way to the beach, boulders beach

penguin beach, many penguins, penguin viewing, nature picture

penguin breeding/moulting in progress

penguin in real life, penguins close up, boulders beach, south africa, simons town


Kirstenbosch botanic garden is acclaimed as one of the great botanic garden in the world. We spend a day there, as it is so nice to explore this park. You can visit during summer time great concerts, make sure you reserve the tickets beforehand. A must is to have a picnic (wherever you want in the garden!), you can order it directly in the kirstenbosch tea room. You definitely need to check out the Centenary Tree Canopy Walkway (130 meter, 12 meter above the ground), it is a curved steel and timber bridge with awesome viewer points facing cape town and the highlights from the garden.  


Kirstebosch, botanic garden, 360 grad view from centenary tree canopy walk

kirstenbosch, botanic garden, view in the garden, mother nature, amazing

Kirstenbosch, botanic garden, nature, palm trees, nature photography


I integrated the links this time in the words in my posting, if you click on them you will be forwarded to the pages.

Cheers,
Melaines-Insights














Thursday, February 16, 2017

Singita - Luxury Safari, my insights for you!

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You wanna take a walk on the wild side with high end luxury and nature combined? This is the place to be, Singita Lebombo Lodge, my insights!


Pool, Infinity Pool, Bush, Wilderness



Hey guys,


I have been around the world and saw many places but I think this is really one of the most magnificent experiences I have ever made in my life. Im really thankful for it and it will always be a special timeless memory. 

Singita evaluated from a single-lodge company to operating 12 lodges and camps in five wilderness regions across three African countries. The focus of Singita is to preserve wilderness areas for future generations. That means fewer guests paying a premium for the privilege of experiencing vast open spaces - exist to sustain these wilderness areas and their resident wildlife, while providing an exclusive safari experience. 

We decided for the Singita Lebombo Lodge, located in the Kruger National Park. They have an exclusive concession, which means no tourism from Kruger Park can enter this land. 


Suite Singita Lebombo Lodge, Exclusive Suites, Luxus, Safari


I don't even know where to start, because it is so extraordinary amazing. Speaking about the suites (only 13 offered!), they are all located above the N'Wanetsi River. They are all modern, minimalistic (as you know I just LOVE that) and open designed (glass-walled suites!) which make you're feeling being in an eagles nest while watching the wild life from your own private suite / roof terrace. You may take the opportunity to sleep out with nothing more than mosquito netting between you and the stars. 


view from the suite of Singita Lebombo

outdoor, balcony, suite lebombo singita, a room with a view

dinner, singita, lebombo lodge, suite, indoors


The service is simply amazing, you have an own butler which is 24hours available for you. 

The adventure for us started when we flew from Johannesburg with a private airplane to the Lodge. Only 6 persons and we were flying 1 hour to land in a field in pure nature with a bar of fresh juices and some bubbly waiting for us. We got picked up by our lovely host, which drove us 30 minutes threw the wilderness to our Lodge. 


private airplane, exclusive flight, Kruger Park, into the wilderness

Singita welcoming sign, drive in Singita Kruger Nationalpark

stairways to our suite, way to our suite, in the middle of the bush, wildlife, sinigita, lebombo lodge

singita lebombo lodge, kruger park, main lodge, outdoor

singita main lodge, sitting area, outdoor

singita lebombo lodge, sitting area, playing area

singita, game drive, getting ready, lebombo lodge main lodge area

singita viewing area, outdoor, pure nature, room with a view

singita lebombo lodge wine cellar


Arriving there and seeing the lodge was an amazing impression. The main lodge is offering a roof terrace viewing area and breakfast/lunch and dining area (if you don't want to choose eating in your own suite), and they have an own luxury wine cellar (in the middle of the wilderness!) and - my personal highlight - 25-metre lap pool.



pool area, infinity pool, singita lebombo lodge


pool area singita lebombo lodge, dinner, lunch, area, breakfast, main lodge, monkey, wildlife

breakfast, lunch, dinner, area, main lodge singita lebombo



The food they present and the wine choices are simply amazing and are matching the high level tourism expectations anytime. I would even say, they overmatching the high expectations from everybody, because your in the bush with his service. 

And of course you can also go for some daily game drives with your own personal driver, which will be introduced to you when entering the lodge. They did a great job with us, we saw all the big 5 and explained the wild life perfectly. Every question you have about nature, they will give you an answer to it. I learned a lot while being there. 


safe safari, singita lebombo lodge, game drive, driver, service personal, safety first

game drive singita, wildness, bush, elephant

singita lebombo lodge, game drive, exclusive safari, bush, wilderness, giraffe

game drive, singita lebombo lodge, safari, exclusive, giraffe crossing



singita lebombo, game drive, exclusive, safari, lake, elephants crossing, wild life


Another highlight to mention was our evening game drive. They do an apero in front of a lake in totally wilderness. We watched elephants passing the lake with their little ones, while holding a good glass of South African red wine in our hands. An experience you won't forget in your lifetime. 

Speaking about the best time coming to the lodge - traditionally the dry winter months (April - October) are best for game viewing. We have been in December, so you see that it is a year-round destination.

As I think a video says more then thousand words and to give you an even better impression, besides my photos, please take a look at the video underneath.



Cheers,
Melaines-Insights