BOBOS
Berlin is a post-bohemian city, its heart is a park studded by lakes and rivers. The Berliners leisurely pedal back and forth, from east to west.
COOL
The Berliners are as cool as their city. Berlin ist toll (super). Berlin ist cool. Cool because the variety of styles does not create conflict, merging with the greenery and charms of the city.
GIANT
Seven times the surface of Paris for just over 3 million inhabitants, Berlin a city of giant space. From the central Mitte, the famous boulevard Unter den Linden, stretches east, reaching the Postamer Platz (futuristic architecture: the DB building, the Sony building) to be admired from the Panorama tower, equipped with the world’s fastest elevator.
WEST
Garage: Ahornstrasse 2, métro Nollendorfplatz. J’y ai acheté un petit sac. The West used to be better known. The Kurfüstendamm is the Berlin equivalent of the Champs Elysées. Do visit the KaDeWe (the Harrods of Berlin) which accommodates the largest food department in Europe.
An interesting place not far from there is the famous "Garage": the largest second hand shop in the world. It’s been there for 20 years and clothes are sold by the Kilo.
Garage: Ahornstrasse 2, underground station Nollendorfplatz. I bought a small bag.
EAST
East Berlin is in fashion. Prenzlauer Berg still has beautiful classical buildings and many cafés. Cafés whose mixed lounges (very gemütlich) summarize the style of the new East.
EPHEMERAL
But what must be kept in mind, is that everything changes quite quickly in Berlin. The air is fraught with a cult of the ephemeral and it is certainly not by accident that Rei Kawakubo (Comme des Garçons) had implanted his first Guerilla store there.
The essence of a Guerilla store being ephemeral.
TO DO BY
AXELLE RED
Obviously - stay in the Kruger Park
Mpumalanga : The Blyde Canyon, one of the largest canyons in the world
The estuary of Saint Lucia, amongst hippos and crocodiles
Kruger National Park:
We stayed in a private reserve, Thornybush Game Lodge Luxury Collection, which is situated in the Sabi Sand area, in the western part of the Kruger Park, itself one of the oldest, largets and most famous game parks in the world, created in 1926, it covers an area of 20,000km2. They provide different lodges, most of which are composed of tents with outdoor bathrooms! The facilities are authentic, very well appointed and decorated, and remain very comfortable despite the precarious aspect of a camp in the bush. Charming and even exciting at first, but a bit boring at the end. Monkeys and other cohabitants in the shower is funny but not every day ....
Mpumalanga: The Blyde River:
Mpumalanga is a very lush, green and forested valley, located between Kruger and Swaziland, it is crossed by various water currents and a spectacular canyon. We discover the famous Blyde River Canyon, the stunning vision of the "Three Rondavels" and, further south, "God's Window" with a breathtaking view, we literally find ourselves in the clouds. Different villages and former mining towns are worth a visit, such as "Bourke's Luck Potholes" where the local legend has it that the site was named after a gold digger (Tom Bourke) who supposedly made a fortune by finding a massive gold nugget.
Once again, we come across many animals (elephants, antelopes, rhinos) and an exceptional flora. We stayed in a tent, certainly luxurious but perched on ten meter stilts, in the middle of a hundred hectare area, along a river: "Summerfields Rose Retreat and Spa". An elegant and perfect place for lovers, cut off from the world and... wifi. The closest neighbors are some hippos who come for a swim in the river (not the spa!) at the end of the day.
Santa Lucia Estuary, between hippos and crocodiles:
For the third step, we render ourselves at the east coast, north of Durban by the Indian Ocean, in Zululand, to discover the Santa Lucia Wetlands. This area known for its "water animals" and cruises watching hippos, crocodiles and a wide variety of birds. We stayed within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park in KwaZulu-Natal; a World Heritage Site and one of the few natural wonders. By safari requirements, we slept in a "hut" at the "Makakatana Bay Lodge”, which is situated on the shores of Lake St. Lucia, in pristine nature (the sole private lodge in the national park, managed by its owner). A cruise on Lake St. Lucia is an essential activity in order to observe hippops in their natural environment, excursions along the west and east shores also provide the opportunity to per chance spot whales, groups of dolphins and rhinoceros.
