Hello dear reader,
Thank you for visiting Zeelandhuys. I am Astrid and I started writing a Blog in December 2005. This was the year we moved from the Netherlands to South Africa, to live out our dream. I started a Blog to keep my family and friends informed about us, but along the way it seemed that more and more people – that I had never met – became interested in my life.
As a Dutch immigrant it took me some time to get into that Western Cape local feeling, but there is and always will be a strong connection with Europe. Just in the moment that you realize I’ve got great friends, my life is organized I am settled… we decided to make a new move.
After 12.5 years living in the luxury part of South Africa, our son went back to study in the Netherlands, we realized that nothing could keep us back from following our first dream…Living in Africa.
And here we are in Lephalale, Limpopo living on a game farm, surrounded by wildlife and the most amazing view from our terrace, starting all over again.
In all these years I think that we have grown to learn what people like when they visit South Africa.
Often I get questions from friends and ‘friends of friends’ asking: “Please tell me which attractions we have to visit? What do you like to do? Where are the best spots for dinner, coffee, lunch and wine-tastings”?
Hence the idea to create this site, was born. Here I can combine the Blog and tell you what I like and where I like to go.
To begin, I would like to share what I love in life:
My husband, who I sometimes force to leave the house to spend some nice time out together.
Our son, who I like to spoil on every visit that he will come over to South Africa.
Our two dogs that we take on regular walks on the game farm we live.
My friends who I left behind, the ones that joined me to exhibitions, concerts, wineries, restaurants and city visits. The real ones that I hope that one day will visit this rural part of this beautiful country.
My family and friends who accompany me on trips in and outside the Winelands, but always in this amazing, majestic, scenic country that is full of warm, loyal and lovely people.
I love cooking and baking, lots of reading and mind traveling when I walk or just sit in the garden.
I love to meet people and that’s where hospitality kicks in… So we do invite you to stay over at your private guest accommodation Zeelandhuys OpiKopi, enjoy the sublime boutique wines and good food pairing on our ‘stoep’, start as strangers and leave as friends.
But most of all …. I am passionate about South Africa …. I love to write about this beautiful country… sharing stories, sitting together with a glass of nice wine, having something to nibble on and talking and laughing!
These days we can all use Google to gather all the information we need, but you can’t feel the atmosphere and I would love to try and describe that to you. I welcome you to my blog and I hope you will let me enfold you with my words and give you a visual and sensory taste of my African dream.
“Enfold me with words … so I can disappear in sentences and allude with text” Astrid
If you would like to book our accommodation, have more information, or if you just want to respond to or comment on what I write,
please contact me at astrid@zeelandhuys.co.za