Nicholas and I have decided to get out of the backpackers and out of the tent and use some hotel points a different change of pace. It has felt like pure luxury to have a proper bed, air conditioning (!!!), our own private bathroom (no more waiting for other people when you really have to go!), and actual, functioning Internet. It’s amazing the things you really start to miss.

With all of these wonderful amenities, however, come some restrictions. Namely, the presence of a kitchen and the ability to cook your own meals. The money we save by using hotel points would instead be spent eating out at restaurants for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Ouch.

We decided to get a little thrifty, and made it a goal to only have to pay for lunch at a restaurant (breakfast is easy in a hotel room, and dinner is more expensive in a restaurant).

For breakfast we’ve been making oatmeal using the coffee cups provided in the hotel room and boiling the water in the teakettle. We sweeten and flavor it with sliced, local (amaaazing) bananas and some honey.

As an appetizer, we have some olives, grapes and cheese and have been splitting a bottle of wine. We figured the R35 ($3.00) bottle of wine wasn’t going to break the budget, and it tastes like a $12 bottle at home.

We just learned that couscous doesn’t actually need to be cooked- just sit in water. So, for dinner, we make some couscous using the same method as the oatmeal. We take some seed wraps, spread some hummus on it, and add the couscous and some spinach. For dessert, we each have a piece out of the dark chocolate bar.

We make sure we have a big, filling lunch while we’re at a restaurant to make sure that these little wraps are actually satisfactory. So far, this is working pretty well for us! Our budget definitely approves.