Adventure is out there.

I am going to continue the story from last post and a little update on the time in between and then hopefully we will be all caught up!

After the glorious wedding weekend, my dad, Colleen, Sandy, mom and Kiara (and Sig) all joined us on a week in the Greater Kruger. Sharon was incredibly generous to offer her beautiful family camp to us for the week.

Our first game drive out and we saw everything! It was one of those game drives people always expect on their first safari, but never actually happen. We pulled up to a dam and were greeted with white rhinos and elephants enjoying the mud and water on a hot afternoon.

Along the drive we also saw plains game – impala, wildebeest and zebra. We managed to spot a couple of lionesses laying “flat cat” in the tall grass where you could only distinguish them by an occasional swish of a tail or flick of an ear.

We decided to pull over at another dam for sundowners and as we approached Colleen shouted out “hyena!” and sure enough, there was a hyena walking through the bush.

During our sundowners, we saw more hyenas scuffling about on the other side of the dam and as we were loading back up into the game viewer we caught a distant glimpse of a leopard sitting and watching the scene. As soon as everyone was on board, a hyena walked right up to the side of the game viewer to check us out.

Since the sun had set and the temps were cooling off we went to go check out the lionesses to see if they had moved yet. As we came around a bend, there was one laying right in the middle of the road. She got up and greeted her sister, walking together through the bush just off the road.

It was an incredible first game drive for the American crew and I really enjoyed sharing it with my family. Once back at camp, we listened to the loud, thundering roars of lions walking by just past the gate.

The next day we headed into Kruger National Park and everyone enjoyed the large herds of impala, kudu, wildebeest, waterbuck and elephants – and of course all the birds!. We stopped at Letaba for lunch and checked out the elephant museum – always one of my favourites! We did such a fun loop from Orpen Gate to Satara to Letaba and then out through Phalaborwa Gate. It was a good day!

The next few days we took it easy, resting and relaxing at camp while watching various animals come to the little pan within sight of the camp. We went on a few more evening sunset drives and even an awesome night drive where we saw chameleons and even a genet (which is a super cool sighting that you don’t often see!)

Our final drive though was my absolute favourite as we were gifted with one of the most incredible black rhino sightings!

Black rhinos are critically endangered with only around 6,400 left in the wild. They are typically more elusive than the larger white rhino, preferring thicker bush over open veld. But when you do get lucky enough to spot one, you are in for a treat! While white rhinos always make me think of large, funny shaped cows grazing about, black rhinos are full of sass and confidence.

This sighting was extra special because it was two cows each with a calf! We even watched quietly as one of the calves nursed from her mama. Really really special!

Sadly, all holidays must come to an end and it was our time to head back to reality and go home.

Ellery picked up the kids on the way back along with a friend of theirs, Estian who joined with to spend the week long holiday with us. It was really special for me to see the kids spending time and interacting with my family, I am so happy they all got to know each other. Sandy became Schotia’s pretend horse doll buddy and even taught her how to make a delicious parmesan salad dressing.

Over the weekend we took dad and Colleen to the botanical gardens for a lovely lunch and walk around the gardens checking out the waterfalls. It was sad to have to make the trips to drop everyone back off at the airport. It really meant so much to me that they came out to visit and celebrate our wedding with us and that I got to show them around our new farm.

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our matriarch, Tivara. Tivara was our queen bee, living 13 years as the alpha of our pack. She was absolutely ball obsessed and when she no longer had interest in her ball, we knew it was time. Tivara is the mom of many working K9s throughout the Greater Kruger and Mozambique working alongside their handlers to protect endangered species and reserves from poachers. She lived a very good, long life full of so much love. Her final days were showered in extra cuddles and treats and the kids all were here when it was time to say our goodbyes. We buried her in the garden and planted a beautiful fever tree to always remember her by. I am going to miss my bear bear very much and her furry polar bear cuddles.

The rest of the week, I caught up on work and the boys did a ton of fishing down at the dam – I think they totalled something like 60+ fish throughout the week (though I can’t be sure it wasn’t the same dumb fish being caught over and over again). 🤣

Also, exciting news!! Cole officially moved in with us full time now!! He transferred to Nelspruit High school and started school last week. He is enjoying it so much so far, catching up with some of his old buddies from lower school that also go to Nels. Our first weekend after the twins left to go home after holiday, Cole and I had fun hanging out and watching movies. I am excited that we can finally go to some of his rugby matches!! It is really great to have him around more full time now!

On Saturday, Ellery and I took part of the Untitled firearm training course working on speed, safety and accuracy during high stress situations. It was a super fun course, and I learned a lot! I think I probably shot around 300-400 round throughout the day…

Wow just after telling you all how grateful I am for your support and following my blog, I abandon you for an entire month! I am so very sorry! But I do have a very, very good excuse – we got married!! March was absolute chaos month, with tons of preparations, trying to get as much work done as possible so I could take off for the festivities, spending time with amazing visitors and of course the big day (well weekend in our case)!

After getting back from my super brief America trip, it was then Ellery’s turn to travel. He had to go to Zambia for two weeks for his work and so I was left to hold down the fort at home. I did manage a quick trip up to Joburg during this time for my final wedding dress fitting and to bring my dress back with me. Sig the terror child, joined on the trip and had a great time overnighting at Kelly’s playing with her puppy, Finn. Once back home, the whirlwind really started all up. I did not realise how many appointments and such I had leading up to the wedding – hair colour, getting my eyebrows done because my sad eyebrows are very much a product of the 2000’s style of overplucking into thin lines, and oddly enough I had my face shaved! Haha it is called dermaplanning or something along those lines and basically, they shave your whole entire face of all it’s little peach fuzz to make it smoother for your wedding make-up application. I had no idea that was a thing but was pretty impressed how smooth my face felt after. So yeah, that happened. I also had lots of last minute decorations to make for the wedding since we decided to do all of the planning and decorating ourselves.

Around the 19^th our families started arriving. Mom and Kiara flew in from the Western Cape and on the 20^th my dad, Colleen and Aunt Sandy arrived all the way from the states! The Pollards also flew back from Zambia to pack the rest of their things and come celebrate with us. Ellery’s mates also drove down from Joburg on the 19^th to take him out for a stag party in town. Ellery then drove up to Hoedspruit to pick up the kids as well! We has such a gloriously full house and it made my heart so happy!! We also got some very exciting news, Ellery’s oldest son, Cole, is going to be living with us full time from now on! Cole has been wanting to live with us for a few years now and he finally got the go ahead! So amongst all the wedding fun, we also had to organise him transferring schools to Nelpsruit High School. It is so great to have him here with us!

On the 20^th, Ellery, mom, Kiara and I headed to Home Affairs to do the official paperwork and marriage license.

On the 21^st, we packed up the cars and headed to the venue, Badfontein Game Farm. We choose to make it a whole weekend of festivities since we sadly do not get to see most of our friends and families often and this was the first time we had almost all of our people together. Of course we wanted to spend as much time with everyone as possible! The venue was absolutely stunning! Badfontein Game Farm is a working farm just below Kewna Dam in the Lydenburg area. They have accommodation there on the farm so everyone could stay right at the venue for the whole weekend, enjoy the bush, fishing in the dams and hiking on the trails.

When we arrived we had to offload the vehicles and begin setting up all the decorations in the reception hall. Kelly is one of the most wedding-organised humans I know and helped me copy her wedding binder into an all things Worth Wedding guide which made set up super easy as everyone could just reference what page they needed in the binder and go to work. We chose to use the natural bush as much of our décor as possible, pulling in elements such a raptor feathers from the Dullstroom Raptor Centre, porcupine quills that I collected throughout my travels and from the farm, as well as grasses and lots of greenery.

We checked out the ceremony spot along the banks of the Crocodile River for a quick run through of the ceremony because let’s be honest, I had no idea where I needed to stand or do for it. Back at the main venue Drew manned the braais and we popped some homemade lasagnas into the self-catering ovens that Zoe had made and finally got to sit down and enjoy a meal with everyone. My dad and Sandy brought through some American marshmallows and real graham crackers. The kids had so much fun making s’mores for everyone and probably ate entirely too much marshmallows in the process, but they were having a blast all playing together and running around. It was really such an incredible evening chatting and catching up.

On the 22^nd our big day was finally here!! Ellery and I chatted over our last morning coffees before becoming man and wife how our hearts were full having such amazing people there with us. We truly are so lucky for everyone in our lives. Really you could not find a better group of people anywhere. We love you all so much! Shandin from Olive Block arrived around 6am to start hair and makeup for all of the bridesmaids. I have known Shandin for somewhere around eight years now, she is incredibly talented in her work but also so much fun to hang out with! I initially thought that each of the girls would come through the bridal suite, Mooi Nooi, just for their appointment time and then head back up to the deck to hang out for the day, but we all had so much fun together that we all pretty much stayed in the bridal suite the entire morning as everyone got ready sipping mimosas, laughing to the point of tears trying to figure out how the heck to use boob tape, and just sharing stories and good times. I do not have many girl friends, but I can say without a doubt that the ones I do have are the best! It meant more than I can put to words to have Zoe, Kelly, Jo, Kiara and Schotia with me that day. I think Schotia also had a blast hanging out with the ladies and getting ready, she looked like an absolute princess in her dress with her hair done up in a leafy crown! She helped Kelly to make the bouquets and was our number one model when Vossie came down for get ready photos. On another note – I am also grateful to Vossie and Kiara for being our photographers and capturing the whole weekend into wonderful memories and beautiful photographs!

The guys had a more chill morning (seriously, all they had to do was put on clothes), the boys went fishing and they all hung out until it was their time to go down to Ramkamp (the groomsmen get-ready spot in the bush), where they shared some nice whiskey waiting for the guests to all arrive at the ceremony location.

Before I knew it, I was climbing into my dress and we were heading down to the awaiting game viewer to take us to the riverside ‘church’, Boskerk. The guests took their seats to Storybook Love from the Princess Bride and the guys rocked out down the aisle to Dire Straights – Money for Nothing. The ringbearers, Donnacha and Mason, and bridesmaids all walked down the aisle to  Concerning Hobbits from the Lord of the Rings. I wase honoured to have my dad come out all the way from America for the first time to walk me down the aisle. We walked down to the Jurassic Park Theme song (which I was super chuffed about). Ellery had the most beautiful vows and there was not a dry eye (especially from me) as I blubbered my way through vows to the kids.

Ellery, Cole, Orion, Schotia and I each had a puzzle piece with our names on them that we put together into a ring as we joined as one family as part of a unity ceremony. With the exchanging of the rings and kiss to seal the deal we were finally married! Everyone moved across a bridge to a small island in the centre of the Croc River to the Cantina Song from Star Wars (now my nerdom is complete) where we enjoyed drinks and delicious canapes.

Kelly’s mom, Michelle, is an incredible cake artist and she made our idea come to life with the most incredible pangolin cake ever!! You could see how much time and love she put into each of the hand airbrushed 152 scales made from fondant. It was beyond our expectations and definitely the star of the canapes!

The bridal party loaded in the game viewer and drove out into the bush for some more photographs (I am still waiting on those but will post as soon as they are ready!)

As the sun began to set everyone made their ways back to the main venue area for the reception.

Kiara blessed us in the most incredible blessing ceremony, bringing in all the elements of nature and preformed an incredibly intricate and gorgeous fire dance in our honour (she is amazing!).

Mother nature joined in the blessing ceremony bringing a soft, light rain towards the end of Kiara’s show and by the time everyone had made it back inside the heavens opened up into an incredible downpour lasting only around 15 minutes, but it was glorious! Everyone had such a great time dancing the night away thanks to our wonderful DJs from Colourful Events.

I know I am biased, but it really was the best wedding ever! We had so much fun and it was incredible to celebrate with so many amazing people! A huge, huge thank you to everyone that came out, helped decorate, helped cooked meals and just helped to celebrate the most perfect weekend!! ❤ We love you! There were definitely a lot of people that were not there, and we would have loved to have had you there, but we know you were there in spirit, and we also thank you for your love!!!

This post is getting quite long and I really need to get back to work, so I will have to share our little safari adventure after the wedding in my next one and then I promise I will get back to my weekly updates again! Thank you for reading along and I hope you enjoyed the photos!

Venue – Badfontein Game Farm
Photography – Johann ‘Vossie’ Vorster and Kiara Worth
Hair & Make Up – Olive Block (Shandin)
Dress – Bridal Alchemy
Cake – Cake Dreama
DJ – Colourful Events

(not quite a Hobbit’s tale, but an adventure none the less)

And I am back in South Africa! Sjoe, that was definitely a whirlwind of a trip! I flew from Joburg to Dubai to Dulles and arrived in the arctic. Seriously, it was FREEZING there! There was even snow!

I landed Sunday, with my body having no idea what time zone it was in. I joined dad and Colleen to go to Colleen’s stables to meet her horses and help put rugs on them because no one likes this cold.

I completely did not think ahead and did not realise that Monday was a public holiday in America, so I had to scratch Monday off my admin list which meant I had a full open day. I called up Casey to see what she was up to and then was able to join her, Jessie and the kids for an afternoon at a local wine farm. It was so wonderful to be able to spend time with them and catch up on life. I had not seen either of them in nearly three years! We had a great time trying the different wine pairings, including a Girl Scout Cookie flight! Ah man, I have missed Girl Scout Cookies. I cannot say the wine was the greatest (South African wines have really spoilt me), but the company definitely made it a very special trip!

Monday evening, I went to West Virginia with dad, Colleen and her family for some snow tubing! Luckily dad and Colleen had enough extra winter gear that they were able to kit me out, otherwise I might still be a popsicle stuck to the hillside in West Virginia. It was a lot of fun though! It was a “disco night” at the slopes, so they had colourful lights and music going as we made our way up and down the tubing hill.

Tuesday was admin day and I must say, I was very impressed. After dealing with South Africa’s systems for the last near nine years, it was a breath of fresh air doing life admin in the states. We got to the DMV, waited for my number to be called, handed in my paperwork, did my eye test, took that damn expensive photo, and had everything done and out the door in under 17 minutes!!! That would take at least 4 weeks to accomplish in SA. AND my new drivers license was mailed to my dad’s house the VERY NEXT MORNING. Crazy. Systems that actually work. Who knew? On the way back dad and I stopped at the grocery store and I made him walk up and down every single isle with me while I gawked at all of the variety – you really can get anything in America. I also stocked up on Fig Newtons, Reece’s, Butterfingers and Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning.

I met up for dinner with Jackie at the Mexican restaurant in town. Jackie is one of the most amazing humans and my heart is always so full after spending time with her! It was also great to have some Mexican food again – SA does not do Mexican right.

On Wednesday, Alice came over and we went out for lunch at Locals. She has been my second mom for nearly my entire life and it was so great seeing her and spending time with her. Alice has one of the biggest hearts. I dearly miss her when we go so long without seeing each other. It is always so much fun to catch up and reminisce over old stories and memories.

Wednesday evening, I popped by to Rani and David’s to collect some more ranch seasoning (thank you, Jessie!!) and catch up with them. I found out that Rani is probably my biggest fan of this blog and I cannot tell you enough how chuffed I was to hear that she reads all my posts! (Hi Aunt Rani!!!!) To be honest, I just do this blog so that I can look back on it one day and remember, but always hoped I could use it as a way to keep up with close friends and family but was not sure anyone ever read them. Well, I was really surprised that someone out there actually reads these, and it truly made my day! ❤ Getting to spend time with family really made me realise how much I miss everyone! I wish I could have spent longer there, but my heart is so happy that I had the chance to spend the little time I had surrounded by love and family!

To everyone that I just was unable to see this trip – I am so sorry! The main focus was getting admin done and I promise the next time I visit the states I will make a proper trip out of it to try and see everyone!!

Thursday morning before dawn, it was back to the airport to start the long trip home. It was ridiculously cold, and they were calling for major snow Thursday morning. Luckily my flight was only delayed by an hour and half while they had to deice the plane before take-off. I had never seen that before, so it was kinda cool to see but it meant I was late landing in Dubai and nearly missed my second flight. Though I have to admit, Emirates is pretty incredible. When the plane landed, they had staff members waiting for everyone with close calls on their connecting flights and the guy waiting there for me rushed me through the airport skipping ahead of the queues at security to make sure I got to my flight on time. I did get super lucky though and both of my long flights, I had the whole row to myself, so I was able to stretch out!!

Instead of making Ellery drive all the way back to Joburg, I caught a quick 37 minute flight into Nelspruit and he picked me up from the airport Friday night. It is really good to be home again.

Saturday morning, I woke up (still having no idea what time zone I am in) to my birthday at home. The sun rose with herds of nyala and impala outside our house and I could hear lions roaring in the distance. Ellery joined me at the stables to go love up on Akira and apologise for not being around this past week. She was so excited to see me that she was nickering away from her stall as I made my way down the barn. I was spoiled with some of Ellery’s delicious homemade carbonara (my favourite!) and we both passed out on the couch watching movies together.

35 years old and I can proudly say that I am living my dream here in the wilds of Africa! ❤