With the birth of our daughter, our world changed completely. Regularity, tranquility and cleanliness won out over impulsiveness and thoughtless actions. But one thing remained unchanged, the travel bug! We wanted to keep traveling, discovering the world and gaining new experiences, but adapted to our new life, with a baby. For our first long-distance trip with our baby of 9 months, we were looking for a cool and adventurous destination, but with some comfort, tranquility and child-friendliness. The villas of Homes of Africa in South Africa turned out to be the place to be! And this is why…:
Ideal located in South Africa
We used to like to criss-cross a country with our backpack, but now we absolutely did not want this. We therefore chose Homes of Africa because the location of the holiday homes is really ideal. By car you can drive to both the Kruger Park and the Blyde River Canyon within 45 minutes. For us, these are the hotspots of South Africa. Because the houses were so centrally located, we had a perfect base to discover South Africa, but we could stay in one place for three weeks! A nice additional advantage is that the houses are owned by Dutch people, and you notice that. Everything is present in the houses for a top stay!
Everything you need (and more..!)
When booking we had of course already indicated that we are traveling with a baby and our host had taken this fully into account. A nice baby cot and high chair were ready upon arrival at Villa Blaaskans and there was even a present for our little girl :-). The house was nice and big, with a bath, microwave and of course the swimming pool. Since our daughter just started crawling, we had brought a foldable playpen. We found this ideal to put outside and prevent it from falling into the pool / veranda.
The locals love Toddlers and Baby’s
With our daughter we had a lot of attention in both the village and the restaurants. The South African people love children and everywhere we went our daughter could expect waving people or chatting women. This resulted in beautiful encounters and we really enjoyed all the attention for her.
With your baby or toddler on a private game drive in your backyard!
We chose to stick to our daughter’s sleeping rhythm as much as possible. Because of this we could not go out all day. What I liked about our villa is that it is located in the middle of a beautiful African game reserve (Zandspruit Estate). There are all kinds of (fortunately harmless) animals around the houses, so we could easily go out with the buggy for a nice safari walk on the estate between the naps. We regularly came face to face with giraffes, zebras, nihalas and other African animals, so cool and unreal!
Groceries
The Homes of Africa bush villas are located near Hoedspruit. We immediately felt at home and at ease in this friendly and cozy place. And luckily for a holiday to South Africa we didn’t have to carry half the baby layette with us. In the supermarkets in Hoedspruit you will find everything you need: from pampers to baby food and from bottles to toys, the choice is huge! Our daughter just started eating fruit. Along the way we bought delicious mangoes and other fruit, straight from the country and so tasty: highly recommended! We regularly took a nice lunch or dinner at one of the many restaurants. The service was always super helpful to make us and our daughter feel comfortable. (Tip: Not all restaurants have a high chair, we always took the high chair from the villa in the trunk when we went to eat, better safe than sorry!).
Swimming in your private heated pool
We stayed in Villa Blaaskans for three weeks and enjoyed the private swimming pool every day. Our host had turned on the pool heating, so that the water was at a perfect temperature for our daughter. While we enjoyed spotting the Big-5, hiking through the Blyde River Canyon and the amazing surroundings, I am convinced that swimming and playing in the pool was our daughter’s favorite activity!
Charity: from a mother for a mother
Through our host we heard about ‘The Baby Box Project’. A wonderful project in which African mothers who are very poor received a box full of necessities for their newborn. At the end of our holiday in South Africa we were able to donate some of our daughter’s things to this project and together with Samantha we were able to put together a beautiful box. I myself thought it was really nice to be able to help another mother who has it much less as a mother and to be able to mean something to the mothers in South Africa.
Bonustip
And one last bonus tip. In South Africa it is very early light every morning. For the first few days, our daughter was therefore wide awake at 4 a.m. every day. In the end we bought some construction tarpaulin at the hardware store
Conclusie:
We really enjoyed a holiday with our 10 month old baby to South Africa. The combination of a luxurious stay in a central location, adventure and tranquility were really perfect. As far as we are concerned, a holiday to South Africa is definitely recommended, with or without a baby! :)
Convinced? View our holiday homes in South Africa and book your dream holiday with your little one here!
