Ultimate Bucket List Trip: South Africa

June 6, 2016 Rebecca Fernandez

If you could take one vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go? South Africa was my family’s top choice.

Because I have written a lot on the topic of once-in-a-lifetime vacations, adventures, and “Bucket List” experiences, I’ve been blessed to be able to visit some of the most interesting places in the world, from Ibiza to Dublin to skydiving and skiing in the Swiss Alps, and thinking about all of the places I’ve been, I realize how hard it is to top South Africa.

The main reason people tend to go on vacation to Africa is to go on safaris and see all the wild animals the massive content offers. But, South Africa offers far more to see and do than “just” safaris. In South Africa, you really can have it all – and with the favorable exchange rate and cost of living, it is a bargain, especially for food, drinks, and shopping! What was even better than all of this? The impeccable service. We stayed at the 12 Apostles Hotel and Spa during our time in Cape Town, and were treated like nothing less than royalty.

While the quality of wildlife might be equaled in other places, the quality of the experience is not: South Africa has by far the best collection of luxury safari lodges. We stayed at the private game reserve of Kapama Karula. We had our own personal waiter for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as our own game ranger and tracker for all 5 days!

Going to Africa was most definitely the best experience – and trip, I’ve ever had. There are not enough words to explain how incredible our two weeks in South Africa were, but here’s a recap video of our trip that could give you just a little glimpse. As well as the day by day itinerary we had!

South Africa from rebecca fernandez on Vimeo.

Thursday:
Dinner at The Harbour House in the V&A Waterfront

Friday:
Table Top Mountain
Abseiling 130 meters then hiked back up
Long Street & Kloof Street
Dinner at Azure

Saturday:
Breakfast at Old Biscuit Mill
The Winelands, Stellenbosch region
-Rust en Vrede vineyeard
-Delaire-Graff vineyeard
-Lanzerac vineyard

Sunday:
Great White Shark Cage Diving
12 Apostles Spa
Dinner at The Butcher Shop & Grill

Monday:
Cape Point
Cape of Good Hope
Boulder’s Beach- Penguin Colony

Tuesday:
V&A Waterfront
Dinner at The Test Kitchen
(7-course tasting menu and a wine pairing, #28 restaurant in the world)

Wednesday through Saturday:
Kapama Karula Private Game Reserve

RAY ALLEN’S “GROWN” MIAMI RESTAURANT

May 2, 2016 admin

Grown Miami from rebecca fernandez on Vimeo.

Former Miami Heat player Ray Allen, and his wife Shannon, opened Grown, a new fast-food concept in South Miami. Developed by the couple, Grown is said to be “real food, cooked slow, for fast people,” meaning it fuses a farm-to-table concept using organic, local, and nutritious ingredients with the essence of a fast-food locale.

COACHELLA 2016

April 29, 2016 Rebecca Fernandez

What do you get when you put hundreds of thousands of people clad in a mixture of boho chic and hipster attire in a desert over a two-weekend span to party to all types of music?

You get one of the most popular festivals in the world—COACHELLA!

This year was my first time going to Coachella. Although, I’d heard about how amazing the experience is, I had no real expectations when I first arrived in the desert. The less expectations the better, right? Well… it was even more than I could have imagined!

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Stiltsville

April 18, 2016 admin

“Stiltsville” is a village of sorts situated about a mile south of Cape Florida in Biscayne Bay. It’s an iconic Miami landmark, but somewhat hard to get to since it’s surrounded by water. These homes were built in the shallows on stilts starting in the 1930’s and the number of structures peaked at 27 during the freewheeling Stiltsville heyday. After many decades and a few hurricanes, there are currently only seven remaining wooden structures and all are now part of Biscayne National Park.

Not many people know about it unless they frequent Biscayne Channel by boat. These “shack-like wooden structures” just sit there, like monuments in the landscape, a landscape of ocean blue.

Stiltsville had a very colorful past, hosting fishing, drinking and partying clubs during Prohibition, the first of which was the Calvert Club, later followed by the infamous original Quaterdeck Club and Bikini Club, but now it offers boaters, and locals, a different view of Miami.

For more information about Stiltsville’s past and how to get there, visit here.

KOMODO MIAMI

April 7, 2016 admin

Komodo: a three-level, indoor-outdoor, Asian-inspired restaurant that seats about 275 people. This is the description of Miami’s newest hotspot that is not only a restaurant, but a lounge as well!

David Grutman, owner of mega-nightclubs LIV and Story, is the man behind the concept, along with Jeffrey Chodorow, who’s best known locally with his work with China Grill management. The menu is self-described as “Asian cuisine designed to take guests on a culinary journey of the Marco Polo trail.” Translation: expect dishes like dim sum, peking duck, tuna porterhouse, wasabi shrimp and of course, plenty of cocktails.

Grutman isn’t exactly known for doing things low key, and Komodo is no different. The three-story, 17,000-square-foot space features plenty of teak, 40-foot-high red ceilings, and lots of greenery.