Venue: The wedding will take place at the Olwandle estate which is located here in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. There is accomodation for a few folks at the venue. We've reserved these rooms primarily for those travelling from the furthest and have reached out to (we hope) most of you who will be staying there. BUT, if you are a USA friendling and haven't heard from us regarding accomodation, please do reach out to clarify.

Some of you, particularly those coming from Alaska, might think, holy moly, this is happening in AFRICA? In fact, this wedding will take place in South Africa, which is one of the only logically named countries in the world. If every place had a name that was as informative as South Africa, Max wouldn't be lost all the time! Max has some suggestions for new names for places e.g., Canada North North America, China Middle Asia, and Antarctica South World. But back to the issue at hand: AFRICA. You can see lots of beautiful photos of South Africa on this Instagram page, and these photos are important because they will convince you to come to our wedding so you, too, can see lions etc.

This cost, like, $20, including multiple glasses of wine.

The view from Emily's backyard. Jokes aside, this was at Simbavati, which we highly recommend. (All though there are lots of other great safaris too!)

Public transit in Africa is nonexistent so, we highly recommend renting your dream truck for the duration of your stay, e.g., here. Just kidding, there are normal car rentals from the airport. But chat to us if you have questions.

Where to stay: Olwandle Estate is roughly 15mins outside of both Ballito and Salt Rock. Both are fun beach towns chalk full of delicious food, beautiful coastliness, and lots to do. We recommend you stay in either of these towns (not in Durban) and rent a car so you can explore as well as attend the wedding. Vrbo and Air BnB are good options to check out. There are often really cute beach houses available (although December gets busy). We recommend taking a look at Petite Province B&B, this one random super cute Air BnB, Salt Rock Hotel (this option is more old school and the website doesn't always work on the first try, just FYI), Zimbali Lodge, or Canelands Beach Club. Notably, the Salt Rock Hotel has excellent curry. All of these options are right on the beach and highly accessible with great food nearby.

Travel: For foreign visitors (that means you, Americans) we suggest flying into King Shaka International Airport.¹ It's 15 minutes from Ballito. You will probably have to fly via Johannesburg or Cape Town first.

Things that we recommend doing near the venue include:

• walking or running the Ballito beach boardwalk;
• for the exercise enthusiasts, renting mountain bikes or trail-running at Holla Trails;
• early morning lap swims at Thompson's tidal pools;
• the Litchi Orchard markets;
• catch some waves at Ballito Surf School or drive through to Addington Beach in Durban (45min).
• book a microlight flights over the coastline. Great for dolphin and whale spotting;

Nearby food and drink favourites:

• breakfast or lunches at Waterberries or Concha Cafe;
• post-beach chocolate croissant and coffee at Salt Cafe (their pizza is also the best in town;
• early morning walks and surfs at Tiffanys beach and then coffee at Bench;
• eating at any of the restaurants or bars at the a Lifestyle Center in Ballito (Alchemy make phenomenal G&T's ;
• a local curry at the Salt Rock Hotel;
• also a fan of Burndale or Sage in Umhlali;

Nearby game parks: You are in AFRICA so you should go do "safari". A prime example would be going to a game park! Here are some very cool nearby game parks:

1. Imfolozi and Hluhluwe. For Americans: they are both pronounced as if you are bowing your nose and using the restroom at once. They are both about an hour away and you're highly likely to see the entire big five, modulo luck! The primary difference is that ... nothing, these are the same thing, flip a coin to choose which one you go to.


2. Pinda. This park has walking adventures! So, if your name is Cathy von Hippel, and you cannot stay still, this is the park for you! The chefs and rangers are amazing, and we highly recommend it.


3. Kruger. This is the biggest one by far ... it is 7,523 mi². For reference, Connecticut is 5,018 mi². So if you want so see some African critter it's probably in there. On the other hand, this is the most popular game park by far, so for a more niche experience, we recommend the other ones.

If you're staying a few extra days: Which we REALLY hope you do, there is so much to see. But here are our favourites:

1. if you're up for a 2/3hr drive, hiking in the Drakensberg world heritage cite (2.5-3.5hrs away) which has endless hikes through beautiful mountains riddled with cute cottages where you can spend the night. We will be spending a couple days hiking there between the wedding and Christmas
2. Additionally, if you have the time, we highly recommend visiting Cape Town (particularly if you can get there by driving the Garden Route), and Stallenbosch (particularly if you enjoy good wine and food). Emily has a looooooong list of things to do and see in the Cape Town area, so feel free to reach out to her for recommendations.
3. Lastly, if anyone really wants a cultural and scenic adventure, the Transkei. Known as the "Wild Coast".