78/365 – Birthday celebration at Forum Homini

We planned this weekend months ago with our friends Madi and Pierre.  You see Lance turned 40 last weekend, and Pierre’s 40th birthday is next weekend. It was the perfect excuse to go away for a night to Forum Homini in the Cradle of Humankind.  Yes, we’ve been there before, and we enjoyed it so much that we had to go back again

One night only, because it’s expensive… and your stomach would never cope with eating that amount of excellent food for 2 days in a row!

And on the subject of food… it was good, very good! Dinner was a 6 course affair with wine teasers chosen for each dish, and included a honeydew soup with truffle foam, deep fried risotto, rooibos smoked beef fillet and ended with blue cheese ice-cream with honeycomb.   Oh and then breakfast of course was just as filling with 4 courses including a frozen yoghurt and poached fruit with chocolate shavings… and then salmon frittata… before a full English breakfast.

Because it was their birthdays, when we got back to the suite after supper, there was an enormous bunch of roses on the table, and the bed had rose petals on it… very romantic:)


Pierre and Madi while we were sitting on the deck having drinks in the afternoon.

We took a walk in the late afternoon…

We were so very lucky to see the resident hippos! You get warned not to go walking after sunset because the hippos come out the water, and last time we went we didn’t even see them. We saw 3 this time… and they were watching us pretty closely so we didn’t want to get too close to them… I could have done with a longer lens actually.

This is the hotel, as taken from the bridge… the dam with the hippos was behind me at the time. Just beyond the small dam, you can see little pieces of wall… those are the suites that we stayed in… the hotel is built to blend into the environment and veld/grasses have been planted on the roof of every building.

Oh and then my favourites… the sunsets… the sky was absolutely magnificent last night!!

See the full set of 2010 photo-a-day photos on my Project 365 Flickr Set.

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phillygirl (20 comments.) - March 23, 2010 - 2:26 pm

Damn, I Love that place! And am completely jealous that you got to see their hippos. I’ve still never seen them :(

Eileen (11 comments.) - March 22, 2010 - 8:04 pm

WoW- Really beautiful images – loving them:)

Tanya (50 comments.) - March 22, 2010 - 6:50 pm

sounds like a magical place!! *make mental note to save for it*

your pics are awesome… the hippo ones are great, and the sunsets!! OMW!!! LOVE the silhouetted grass against that purple/blue/orange/pink/yellow sky… picture perfect!!

Gena @ Thinking Aloud (14 comments.) - March 22, 2010 - 12:06 pm

Ah such exquisite scenery! Wow jeannette you have done a marvellous job of conveying the beauty of the African bush and scenery out at the Cradle. Love the grasses, indigenous lilies and the thistle above all.

Gena @ Thinking Aloud

desi (85 comments.) - March 22, 2010 - 10:13 am

oooh jeanette! you got some really fabulous shots here!
very, very nice!

the place looks to die for.

Rachel (19 comments.) - March 22, 2010 - 9:41 am

Beautiful photos, can’t pick a favourite, but I do love the sunset ones! What lens did you use for the close up shots?

Cheryl - March 22, 2010 - 9:34 am

Even one night of spoiling in luxury does wonders for the body and mind!

Gilz (177 comments.) - March 22, 2010 - 8:46 am

The sunset pics are gorgeous!!!

Girish (78 comments.) - March 22, 2010 - 8:20 am

Beautiful shots. Good to see different shades of photography from you. Really you should have taken a better lens to get closer to the hippos, adorable animals they are.

Great sunset shots.

Corey~livingandloving (70 comments.) - March 22, 2010 - 1:32 am

I have never been somewhere so amazing. WOW! your photos are spectacular. Seriously……I wish I had been there snapping right along side you. :)

WackyMummy (30 comments.) - March 22, 2010 - 1:14 am

Really extraordinary sunsets! Wonderful captures. =)

Jientje (21 comments.) - March 21, 2010 - 11:44 pm

Your photos are amazing. Love the hippo!

Chantelle @ photo mommy (10 comments.) - March 21, 2010 - 10:24 pm

Cool shots of the hippos. =) I really like the sunset shots, too.

Michelle - March 21, 2010 - 10:18 pm

An amazing retreat & how could you not but have a fabulous time as well!!

Sarah (10 comments.) - March 21, 2010 - 9:45 pm

LOVE the big wide open hippo mouth!

cat@juggling act (222 comments.) - March 21, 2010 - 9:02 pm

Beautiful pictures – that bed looks wonderful. Love the third from the bottom pic.

Lotus / Sarcastic Mom (5 comments.) - March 21, 2010 - 7:40 pm

Second shot of the hippos really made me smile. And the sunset photos took my breath away!

Avril (Mom) (385 comments.) - March 21, 2010 - 7:16 pm

Oh wow – those sunsets are breathtaking! I didn’t have time to look at the sky last night!!!
Love that bed – so romantic!!! Hippos are so clear – you can see right inside that large mouth!! Fantastic photos .. all of them!

Wenchy (49 comments.) - March 21, 2010 - 6:45 pm

I took pics of the hippo’s at the very same spot as you :)

amy2boys (13 comments.) - March 21, 2010 - 6:11 pm

The sunset ones are stunning! And I love the hippos – cute (from a distance of course)!

Angel (192 comments.) - March 21, 2010 - 5:41 pm

Magnificent pictures Jeanette! The food sounds mouth watering…

Tara R. (59 comments.) - March 21, 2010 - 5:28 pm

Resident hippps? Makes our occasional alligators here in Florida seem tame. Absolutely gorgeous sunsets! Amazing colors.

[...] afternoon, after coming back from Forum Homini, Madi and I met at the Wimpy down the road, and the kids had a ball playing on the jumping castles, [...]

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