Vanessa Kellner
Hi - we are the Kellners - a little family of four consisting of me, Vanessa, the love of my life, Jeff, and Deuce and Sadie, the most adorable pups on the face of the earth (if I may say so myself). We have been dreaming of big adventures every since we can remember and our travel list is very long and ever growing. However, we knew that before we started to expand upon our family we wanted to go on at least one big trip - to either Australia or Africa. After talking with people and exploring our inner compasses - it was decided, Africa was calling. So after many, many years of saving and dreaming, and a year of planning, our trip is finally almost here. And they went off to explore the world
Soon we will be departing on our next big adventure. So follow us if you like - amazing things are yet to come!
Travel Blog Posts
We are alive and well :)
Published: September 19th 2011Africa » South Africa » KwaZulu-Natal » Durban
September 19th 2011
Hello everyone from Durban, We realize it has been a long time since you heard from us - that is because we have been in some pretty remote places and have not had internet access since I last posted from Johannesburg. We are sitting in the airport in Durban now - getting ready to fly to Cape Town for the last leg of our trip. I have been writing for the blogs all along even though we have not been able to post them - and Jeff has all the pics almost ready to go - so the blogs should be all posted for your reading pleasure tonight - be warned - you will be getting a lot of information all at once! We are having an AMAZING time and loving every minute of our trip! ... read more
September 18th 2011
Sunday was quite different than Saturday – mainly because we spent all day being comfortably toasty and didn’t find it to be cold at all. After breakfast it was around 9:30 a.m. and we decided to take a walk before heading to the beach to lie out – we walked to the south of us and there is a beautiful rocky point that we explored there. We agreed that if it was at least 11 a.m. by the time we got back to the room – then we could start drinking without feeling bad about it :) Turned out it was past 11 so we popped open a bottle of sparkling wine, toasted a day full of nothing but beach and sun, and took the bottle and glasses to the beach to lay out. There is ... read more
September 16th 2011
The “roads” in Mozambique are more like simply driving on a beach – it was an intense four wheeling adventure to get to Ponta do Ouro – with us crammed in the back cab of the truck. Mozambique is beautiful! But there is one thing we were not expecting – the breeze / wind here is COLD! When we got here it was really windy – which made it pretty brisk, like brisk enough that you want to definitely wear a fleece or jacket. The beach here is ruggedly beautiful. It is not built up at all, which we love. And you have these big hills (like mini mountains) all around and then the beach at the bottom – really spectacular. Our hotel is right on the beach and in fact as I type I am ... read more
Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary
Published: September 22nd 2011Africa » Swaziland » Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary
September 15th 2011
Our destination in Swaziland was the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary – a beautiful retreat up in a valley in the mountains where you can sleep in traditional bee hive huts. We really had no idea what to expect in Swaziland as there was no real website for Mlilwane and it was not on trip advisor. So for me I was a bit nervous as I like to know what I am getting into ahead of time. Once again though, this place far exceeded anything we even imagined. Before reaching our destination, we first stopped at the Swazi Candle Factory – a little place very close to Mlilwane where they make candles by hand. It’s not really a factory like what we think of. It is more of a Candle shop. The man was sitting right there ... read more
Kruger National Park
Published: September 21st 2011Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Kruger National Park
September 11th 2011
After leaving Pezulu it was just a short drive to Kruger National Park. We took a slow meandering game drive through the park towards Skukuzu – the site where we checked in for our walking safari. The awesome thing about driving through Kruger is the excitement of never knowing what you are going to see. One thing we didn’t realize is that the animals come so close to the vehicles. We didn’t expect that at all… The thing is though – they just look at the vehicles as some big nosy other animal and don’t really pay them any mind. So you really get to see some of them so close- it is awesome! We saw so many animals in Kruger that it is hard to list them all – during the game drive that ... read more
Pezulu Tree House Game Reserve
Published: September 20th 2011Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Thornybush Game Reserve
September 11th 2011
Animal time!!! Soon after we left the mountains we reached the area where Kruger and the surrounding private game reserves are located. In fact, had the visibility been better in the mountains, we could have seen Kruger from some of the lookout points we stopped at. You basically come down the mountain, pass some farmlands, and then there you are surrounded by game reserves . Before we went to Kruger we did one night at the Pezulu Tree House Game Reserve. This place was out of this world!!! Because there are no big five animals (lions, elephants, rhinos, leopards, and buffalo) in the private game reserve that Pezulu is on – you don’t have to have fences surrounding your camp. So we were literally walking around amongst the animals. We saw giraffe, zebras, monkeys, warthogs, ... read more
September 9th 2011
After a great night’s sleep at Africa Sky we packed up, ate breakfast, and headed out towards the mountains. The drive out of Jo’burg was fascinating as Pete (our guide) told us a great deal about the history of South Africa. He also gave us the scoop on all the things / places we were seeing during our drive. We drove by a squatter village (HUGE areas where illegal immigrants from surrounding countries build shacks out of whatever they can find and create their own little village), free houses for immigrants (one of the South African government’s ways of dealing with said immigrants – they build them free little box houses so that they can move people out of the squalor of the squatter villages), gold mines, and all different types of farms… On our way ... read more
September 9th 2011
Goodmorning all, It's almost 7 a.m. here and I am up early so decided to add in a quick blip about our time here in Johannesburg. The purpose of our time here is more as a through way to various places and not as a destination in and of itself - but it has been a great and memorable part of our trip nonetheless. We have stayed at the Africa Sky Guest House twice now - when we first arrived to South Africa, the night before departing for Livingstone (Zambia) and then again last night. Both nights it has been the most wonderfully relaxing and pampered experience. The couple that owns it is very involved and so very nice! They actually upgraded our room this time around so we got the upstairs suite with the Jacuzzi ... read more
September 8th 2011
We continued our exploration of Victoria falls by going back into Zambia to see them from that side. We didn't think it could get any better - but it really was just as incredible from this other vantage point. Before entering the park to see the falls from this side - we first stopped at an outdoor craft market - with the intent to browse and shop around at our leisure. Silly Americans - we had NO idea... You do not browse in these markets - you get ambushed and attacked basically! Jeff and I were split up almost immediately and were each being talked up by at least two people if not more and then other people were trying to put things on us... It was wild. We did get to buy some things but ... read more
September 8th 2011
Hi and howzit (as they say in South Africa), We are back in Jo'burg now after a mind blowing experience in Zambia and Zimbabwe. I'll start with Zimbabwe - the first place from which we saw the falls... Victoria falls is more spectacular than we ever could have imagined from up above in the helicopter. The only word I can think of that even comes close to describing it is "majestic". There are so many things that contribute to it's splendor. First of all, they have left it completely natural - so there is absolutely no development around the falls. Zambia and Zimbabwe share the falls and have an agreement that no country can develop the area without consulting the other first. The result is that from both sides - it is truly a natural wonder. ... read more
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