After a few nights in Hermanus at Birkenhead House, it was time to head inland to Franschhoek. The wine valley! My people! We opted to stay at a property owned by the same people who run Birkenhead House – La Residence. Liz Biden is the designer at both properties and I love her style!
Babylonstoren is a Cape Dutch farm with vineyards and orchards surrounded by the dramatic mountains of the Drakenstein Valley. It has an exceptionally well–preserved werf dating from 1690. A fruit and vegetable garden of botanical diversity supplies a remarkable restaurant. Guests staying at an exclusive farm hotel enjoy access to the entire farm, plus facilities like a spa and gym. The aim is to have guests feel more comfortable, more alive among warm smiles and the simple daily rhythm of the farm.
After an incredible stay at Tintswalo, we packed up and headed down the road to Hermanus. Next on the agenda: move camp to Birkenhead House and find somewhere to watch the India Premier League cricket game! (I probably spent more time watching cricket on this trip than taking photos, which should be telling considering my camera has become an extension of my arm.)
Trapped in airports and on planes for an 11 hour flight from Los Angeles to London and another 11 hour flight from London to Cape Town, we finally arrived in The Mother City. It was cold, raining and Table Mountain was hiding behind a thick layer of clouds, the same way it was the first time I landed in Cape Town 3 years earlier.
After spending our first night at a nearby resort and not getting a wink of sleep from a incessant & loud generator, we found Hip Hotel… our glimmering oasis! Since we were looking for 9 nights on such short notice we had to move around every couple of days to the next available space, but that meant we got to experience a lot of the different rooms. We know this place inside & out!
Our annual spring trip off the mainland led us to Tulum, Mexico this year. We were looking for crystal clear water for snorkeling, a little history to whet our curious minds and … tequila. Copious amounts of tequila.
Always on a quest to find the best underwater camera, I decided to give the Nikon Coolpix AW100 Waterproof & Shockproof camera a try. I’ve had two separate Canon cameras and underwater housings that have worked really well, but since they’re very large and clunky compared to the all-in-one waterproof cameras I opted for the Nikon wildcard.
For the last three years I’ve been working at a web design studio in Santa Barbara and started out as a copy/pasting content migrator but worked my way up to lead designer/project manager/customer service manager. It has been a whirlwind of change, adaptation, getting over social anxieties and more, but I’ve learned so much there that I’ve actually outgrown it.
The last day of our visit, Christmas Day, we went on a hike on the Chuckwalla Trail to Paradise Rim. It was a fantastic scenic trail with lots of interesting rock formations, places to rock climb and my favorite: an arch! We hiked up to Paradise Rim and ate a sandwich overlooking the community below. We took our time coming back knowing it was our last day of hiking in such beautiful scenery for a while…
Mik’s dad is in his mid-70s, but is still a super thrill-seeker and an off-road maniac. We wanted to spend some time with him, so we let him coordinate some plans for all of us to do something together.
Snow Canyon, on the edge of town in St. George has Red Navajo sandstone and ancient lava rock as far as the eye can see! We hiked the Petrified Dunes trail, which is a really easy hike up on the slickrock. We had fun taking jumping & handstand photos and channeling our inner Ansel Adams.
