April 2013 brought about an amazing trip home to South Africa. Having been engaged for a few months this was our first trip to look at wedding venues and catch up with family. It was also really special because it would be the first time my partner and I would be in Cape Town together since 2004 when we were University sweethearts.

We had a tight schedule of meetings with venues, priests and vendors but it was more like a grand tour of beautiful places. We were able to appreciate Cape Town as tourists, dining on steak and seafood, taking in stunning views and soaking up the sunshine. We even spent our anniversary watching the sunset on top of table mountain. We revisited many of our old haunts and loved being back in the mother city.

Our next stop was Durban where we had quality time with family and took a short overnight trip to the family beach cottage in Southbroom. The cottage is always a great place to recharge and have a swim in the warm Indian Ocean.
That evening I took advantage of the clear night sky to attempt some star trail photography. You can read more about that experience here.

We rounded off our trip by spending a weekend with friends and family in Johannesburg. Once again I seized a photo opportunity and put my Canon 5D Mark III to the test with some high speed photos of my sister’s dogs shaking themselves dry after a swim in the local park’s dam.

This was the first of three South African trips in a 12 month period. A great way to kick them off.