Last night, in South Africa living a Travelife, I saw the most beautiful sunset over Northern Cape at the Mattanu Private Game Reserve.

It rained temporarily, just after I finished my quad bike safari game drive, and the presence of clouds over the horizon resulted in a most beautiful visual sunset.

My friend, who had earlier taken me into Kimberley in his helicopter for some curio shopping, offered to take me up as well on a short hop to see the sunset from up high.

What a beauty this sunset was.

Scroll down to read more…

And in between looking at the sunset, we flew low around the game reserve to spot all kinds of animals. So you might say we did a game drive — or rather, a game fly — by helicopter.

I spotted some big black bulls this way, as well as a host of other animals.

Then he set me down amidst the bushes in one corner of the game reserve.

Here, there was a lovely surprise dinner amongst the trees — a proper South African braai and a four-course dinner ever so elegantly set in the wilderness.

It was a most wonderful farewell dinner, on one of my last nights in South Africa, living a never-ending, and never-endingly eventful Travelife.

The post A most amazing sunset by helicopter over Northern Cape, South Africa at the Mattanu Private Game Reserve appeared first on TRAVELIFE Magazine.

from all of us at Travelife Magazine.

We wish you a year of happiness

and an amazing Travelife.

————————-

I took this from the deck of the Silver Shadow, as we sailed out of Hiroshima last April

A Franschhoek sunset

The sunset views from Table Mountain are very famous, and supposedly one of the most beautiful in the whole world — especially because of the panoramic view of Cape Town’s amazing coastline and the sprawling city below.

The view of Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain

That’s our favorite Mount Nelson concierge, handing over our picnic basket to take up Table Mountain.

The very grand Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town

A pretty nice way to tick off an item on our bucket list, and just another day in our never-ending, and never-endingly eventful Travelife.

FB.init(“d6b2d6569a5491d882e5b05c3089b336”);

The post Best of Travelife 2012: Sunset from Table Mountain in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa appeared first on TRAVELIFE Magazine.

Last weekend in Cape Town, living a TRAVELIFE, we decided to take a food hamper up Table Mountain at sunset for a little picnic while watching what is supposed to be one of the most gorgeous sunsets in the world.

Seeing the sunset from the top of Table Mountain has long been on my bucket list and I really wanted to be on top of the mountain at this very time, as everyone who has been to Cape Town has told me not to miss the sunset from Table Mountain.

I took this from the car from below the next day. But from the top of Table Mountain, you can see this mountain range in full glory.

Then The Boss had a very nice idea to order a food hamper from our hotel, the Mount Nelson, which is Cape Town’s most historic and famous hotel, and take it up Table Mountain. Luckily, the hotel could prepare a picnic basket with no problems.

They even had a proper menu from which you could order all kinds of easy-to-eat food for your picnic basket.

I guess many of the guests at the Mount Nelson — affectionately called The Nellie by the locals — like ordering picnic hampers for drives or even for boat rides as the hotel has all the paraphernalia for a fancy picnic.

I don’t know if any guest from Mount Nelson so far has brought up a picnic hamper to Table Mountain, but it’s hard to believe that no one else has done so, as it’s such a good idea.

The view of Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain

But the hotel driver who drove us from the Mount Nelson to the Table Mountain cable car terminal, you see, took one look at our picnic hamper when we got into the car and complimented The Boss on his great idea.

Then, as we made our way through Cape Town’s winding roads and up the mountain, the driver said: “I’ve never seen guests bring a picnic hamper up Table Mountain before.“

Well, if we were the first ones to do this, I can certainly recommend this as a Travelife way of enjoying Table Mountain’s sunset. It was so nice to find a spot to see the sunset and to have some food to enjoy the view with.

That’s our favorite Mount Nelson concierge, handing over our picnic basket to take up Table Mountain.

We’d ordered all the sandwiches on the picnic hamper menu for a traditional English afternoon tea — the Mount Nelson is famous for its afternoon tea — and a delicious Greek salad besides. The sandwiches included smoked salmon, cucumber and cream cheese, and chicken sandwiches.

The picnic hamper itself was beautiful — just like the old-fashioned picnic hampers that English people once brought along for a day of sitting by the Thames River, for example.

And when we opened the hamper on a bench, we certainly attracted a lot of attention.

Scroll down to read more…

A South African lady even came over to inspect the picnic hamper closely. She said: “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.” Indeed, everything was immaculate and so prettily prepared.

Then she asked us: “Where did you get this beautiful picnic basket?”

There were some people sitting around Table Mountain with bags of food as well, but no one had anything close to our beautiful picnic basket.

We answered: “From the Mount Nelson.“

The very grand Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town

That seemed to answer everything, as far as the lady was concerned.

“Oh the Mount Nelson,” she exclaimed. “Of course.”

Then she brought over a couple more people to closely inspect our picnic basket. I was certainly amused at the commotion, although a part of me, of course, wanted to be left to eat in peace.

But we so enjoyed this picnic on Table Mountain, gazing at one of the most beautiful sunsets in the world.

And when we finally got down from the mountain just as the sun had set, we headed straight for the very cozy but lively Planet Bar of the Mount Nelson with plans for a nightcap of champagne and oysters.

A pretty nice way to tick off an item on our bucket list, and just another day in our never-ending, and never-endingly eventful Travelife.

FB.init(“d6b2d6569a5491d882e5b05c3089b336”);

The post A sunset picnic hamper from the Mount Nelson on South Africa’s Table Mountain appeared first on TRAVELIFE Magazine.