The Big Reveal: South Africa!

Remember how I told you earlier this year that I had won two round-trip tickets anywhere in the world from my employer? Well, after months and months of agonizing and countless trips to stare blankly at the travel section of Barnes and Noble to get ideas (let's be honest--pretty much everywhere in the world sounds amazing!), we have reached a decision: from December 8 to December 20, we will be in SOUTH AFRICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seeing a zebra in its natural habitat has long been on my bucket list. I am head over heels in love with their beautiful and crazy stripes. Every time I see one I am amazed that something like this exists in nature. And now I will get to see them in South Africa!

We are doing a tour with Gate 1 Travel, which includes: two nights in Johannesburg, where we will take a tour of the apartheid museum, a few days at Kruger National Park for the game drives so we can see the animals, a day spent sightseeing in Swaziland, where I am told there are some amazing handicrafts to be had, an estuary cruise in St. Lucia to see the alligators, and a domestic flight from Durban to Cape Town, where we'll spend four days seeing wineries, Robben Island, the Jewish museum, and so much more. If you like to travel, I highly recommend that you sign up to get emails about Gate 1's travel deals. They are really well priced and several people that have traveled with them loved their packages. I can also give you a referral code for $100 off your trip!

We decided on South Africa after it was suggested by many friends and co-workers who said it was their most favorite place in the world and because several people said to take a trip that you would never do once you have children. Voila! South Africa. Vetoed places included the Greek Islands (not the right time of year--but we will get here one day!), Argentina (cheap enough that we could do this on our own later and could take kids here), Peru (altitude sickness is a factor for Macchu Picchu but it also fits in the "cheap enough we could do this on our own later" category) and Thailand (sounded good in theory but we realized we weren't all that in love with the idea later on). South Africa fit all of our criteria, plus it just sounds amazing!

I am excited to spend the next few months planning, reading and gathering information!