In August 2015, we had a two-week holiday in Denmark, a favourite holiday destination for many Germans. The weather is not always favourable in Denmark, even in summer, but the coastal regions have some wonderful beaches.
We usually rent a house in Vejers Strand on the North Sea coast. The village has everything we need without being too commercialised, and most holiday houses have large gardens in which you can relax in peace and quiet and observe nature.
Most of November 2015 was spent with friends in South Africa. This was our second month-long visit, and as usual our hosts had some hugely enjoyable trips planned for us. Highlights included visits to Soweto, the Voortrekker Monument near Pretoria, and the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg.
We spent several days at the beach resort of Umhlanga, near Durban on the KwaZulu-Natal coast, and several more days in the Kruger National Park, wich provides a natural habitat for countless species of wildlife. This was our second visit to the Kruger park, which is always an incredible experience!
In December, we were back in Hamburg. The weather here was in stark contrast to the weather we enjoyed in South Africa, but at least we had Christmas to look forward to. As usual, we decorated the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve and took photographs.
I usually buy the Christmas tree a week before Christmas from a local vendor. Once decorated, it will stay in our living room until January 6th, when it is stripped of its finery and taken out to the street for collection. The Christmas trees are collected a few days later and taken to Hagenbeck zoo for the elephants!