Yes, it was indeed a galore ‘braai’ weekend, because we had a ‘braai’ on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Just a reminder: “What is a braai”?

The word ‘braai’ is an Afrikaans word, meaning barbecue. This means you grill or roast (mostly) meat over the open coals – something South Africans love to do (especially over weekends).

A (very LONG) weekend away:

This was a celebration of our 25th anniversary and of course, we could think of no better way of celebrating this wonderful milestone than in beautiful places next to a fire.

We have spent our first night in a wonderful hotel where we had one of the most delicious dinners ever prepared by a chef, but the rest of our 5-day trip was quality time for my husband and me next to the fire in nature. We will show you more of these places in future posts but now, it’s back to our ‘braai’ weekends.

  • Thursday – De Zeekoe Guest House Farm (Soetdoring Stone Cottages), Oudtshoorn:
Our stone cottage for one night

What an amazing place. We wish we had more time here – the views are spectacular and the cottage way too cute for words.

Amazing view over the mountains
View from the front door

We had a very simple meal, but then, it would have been very difficult to have a ‘braai’ that is equally as wonderful as our view. We’ve decided on a salad out of a bottle (yes!), the famous South African ‘braaibroodjie’ (that’s the melted cheese sandwich – you can read about it here) and a HUGE piece of steak.

Salad out of a bottle (green beans in a curry sauce) and super-size ‘braaibroodjies’
Sirloin steak on the bone from the local town (Oudtshoorn). This has been marinated in olive oil and Worcestershire sauce with a new favourite spice, Six Gun Grill

The setting for our first night’s braai was perfect. The farm is just 7km/4.3 miles out of town, but it feels as if we were far away from civilization.

Getting ready to ‘braai’ at Soetdoring
Spectacular sunset
Berto prepared our steak perfectly – medium and juicy
A simple meal, but so much happiness

After dinner, we sat next to the fire for a very long time. While sipping on a glass of wine, we felt blessed to have such a wonderful time together.

Our fire burned till late that evening
  • Friday to Monday – Die Stalletjie (Die Hel, Gamkaskloof):

Yes indeed, translated it means ‘The Hell’. Don’t miss our future posts about this trip to fully understand why this place is called ‘Die Hel’!

Our little house, Die Stalletjie (meaning ‘small stable’), was indeed an old horse stable that was renovated into a tiny holiday house. We were super impressed with this accommodation and very happy that we had the opportunity to spent three nights here.

Die Stalletjie – hidden between high trees and even higher mountains
How amazing is this – a small splash pool next to our ‘braai’

Friday:

We were tired (no, the right word is probably EXHUASTED) after a ‘hell of a drive’ to get here. So, once again, our ‘braai’ was pretty simple! For now, it was all about relaxing next to the fire.

The fire is lit and ready for another ‘braai’

Tonight, on the menu: Chicken, Angel kisses (remember those cherries wrapped in bacon mentioned in our braai post # 3), more ‘braaibroodjies’ and some of the leftover curry green bean salad of the previous night.

Chicken and angel kisses getting prepared on the coals
Three ‘braaibroodjies’ (tomorrow, we will share one for breakfast)
Delicious ‘braai’ meal after a hectic day on the road

Saturday:

After we’ve taken long walks in nature and exploring our surroundings, we were happy to make another fire for dinner.

We’ve started our Saturday fire quite early

We’ve found pork kebabs in the town we’ve left yesterday and they looked really tasty. So, tonight we will have them grilled on the fire. Berto also found a bag of (*)‘roosterkoek’ mix which we will enjoy together with the pork kebabs.

Pork kebabs – complimented with pieces of onion and green pepper

(*)‘Roosterkoek’ … what is that, you might ask. If you google this word, you will find the following: ‘Roosterkoek (literally grill cake – say “roos-stir-cook” and try to roll those r’s!) is the traditional bread to accompany a braai. The roosterkoek are simply balls of bread dough cooked on a grid over the coals and are best eaten piping hot and straight off the grill’.

Roosterkoek mix to which we’ve added a bit of salt and a packet of yeast
Pork kebabs on the coals
Roosterkoek in the making

We’ve decided that tonight would be a great time to start celebrating our 25th anniversary (it was still a couple of days before our actual date), but who’s looking at the calendar? We’ve celebrated with a well-known drink in South Africa … Amarula.

Amarula liqueur

Amarula is a cream liqueur from South Africa. It is made with sugar, cream and the fruit of the African marula tree (Sclerocarya birrea) which is also locally called the Elephant tree or the Marriage Tree … very appropriate, don’t you think?

This is what any South African will call, a ‘light braai meal’

Sunday:

Today was a lazy and relaxed day. It was quite hot and we’ve put our chairs under the shade of a tree close to the fire, got our books out and just enjoyed the moment. Berto was also making a delicious ‘potjie’ (the traditional South African dish cooked in a round cast iron black pot).

Our meat potjie is slowly cooking on the hot coals

This was our last day in ‘Die Hel’ and we’ve used almost all of our food by now. With the nearest town approximately 3 hours away, we could not pay a visit to the shop quickly. So, we had to make the best from what we had left over. A lamb potjie with sausage, carrots and potatoes sounded like a good idea.

Lamb potjie to conclude a great time at ‘Die Hel’
More ‘roosterkoek’
Our potjie was a great last meal for our (big) braai weekend

We had a such an amazing time – seeing new places and experiencing wonderful adventures. (Look out for our series of posts on this road trip where we’ve celebrated our 25th anniversary).

Cheers on a great getaway, plenty of ‘braai’ opportunities and being married for 25 years