South Africa -- Days 16 & 17

We woke up this morning, Saturday, for our final day in South Africa. We had some final errands to run this day and wanted to get started. We had breakfast of cereal, toast and (real) bacon and headed out the door. We were going back to Steven and Toa’s. Mom and I had been looking for fabric to take back with us for friends and had been largely unsuccessful. Toa said she knew some places she could take us. We got to their house, packed up baby Zawadi and were off. The first place Toa took us was to a very Black shopping section that had all kinds of hair stores and other such things. Mom immediately saw some fabric she liked, but it looked very expensive to me. When Mom went to pay, the lady informed us her credit card machine was down and we would have to go to an ATM to get cash. Thank goodness, because that bought me a little time to do the math in my head. Once I converted the rands to dollars, I determined that Mom was about to spend over $200 on fabric for a friend’s daughter. I know this was not what she had in mind. I let her know that, and she of course did not want to do that. She asked Toa if we could check out the other place. We drove there, and this place had much more reasonable fabric, and a lot of prints. We each picked out a bolt of fabric and were happy with it. Jess got a gold with brown in it and I got purple with browns, as well. We stopped on the way home to pick up some soup for lunch and made our way back to Steven and Toa’s house. The guys had gone out and run some errands, and then stopped by Hooter’s for some wings. So we had lunch of wings with lamb and lentil soup with crusty bread. After that, we had to get going, as our departure time was coming up.

Since we were on an international flight, we had to be at the airport 3 hours early for check-in for our 9:40 flight. We got back to Mart’s, finished up our packing and ran back out the door. We got to the airport right around 6:30 – perfect timing! One mishap in the airport. Mom’s carryon bag was a little overweight. My checked bags were under, so the guy said to put some of her things into there. Mart unzipped my bag, opened Mom’s bag and tried to find some things to move. She finally determined there was nothing she wanted to be without for the 17 hour flight, and the guy was like, OK, don’t worry about it. We loaded Mom’s bags back onto the cart, then mart went to load my bags back on, didn’t realize he had never zipped my bag back up and dumped my entire bag with all my clothes all over the floor of the airport!! Skivvies and all! We managed to smush everything back in and got into the right line and checked in. Mart headed out, Jess and I went through security and decided to go into the shops to spend our last few rand. She picked up some bracelets for the boys, and I found some great coffees and spices in a shop called Taste of Africa. We headed towards our gate. On the way, we bought a couple sodas to drink once we were on the plane. As we neared our gate, we saw a huge line. Here, since they don’t screen like they do in the USA at the South African security gates, they were doing all the screening here. Everyone had to line up, be patted down, have their bags checked and dump out all liquids! In line at the gate for the plane! Thank God we were early, because this was over an hour before boarding time, and the line was already incredibly long. We finally made it through the line and onto the plane about 8:30 PM. We then sat and talked for the next hour until takeoff time.

Once we were finally in the air, it was about 10:00 PM. I decided to watch a movie until I got a little tired. After that, I took my evening pills and settled in for sleep. I had a wonderful nap until about 5:00 when we stopped in Dakar again to refuel and change flight crews. We were off again shortly thereafter – I couldn’t wait to get home! Finally, about 13 hours into the flight, but what was only 7:00 AM US time, we started preparing to get home. We had some snacks, I put on another movie and we started counting down the minutes. Finally, it was time to land. We landed, got our things, and headed off the plane. I asked Mom if it would be inappropriate of me to drop to my knees and kiss the ground! I was so happy to be home! We made it through Passport Control and Customs, found our shuttle and headed back to my Aunt’s to pick up the car. We did the 2 hour drive home, Cyn met me at my Mom’s house and after downloading 800 pictures for her, we were on the road back to REAL HOME, MY HOUSE! Got there, dragged the bags into one door, then went in through the kitchen door. There, I was greeted by a big “Welcome Home” sign and a huge cake!!!! How sweet is that?!!!! I was so happy to be back home! We had an excellent welcome home dinner, I had a big gift-giving session (I think everyone liked what I brought home) and I literally crashed into bed. The adventure had finally come to a close!

This was a wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime trip and I am so blessed to have been able to experience it. I saw things I will probably never again see in my life. But the thing I am most grateful for is how much it makes me appreciate HOME. I love my country, I love my home, I love my life. We don’t realize how fortunate we are until you see how others live. It is hard not to take things, to take life for granted. But I will try very hard not to do that going forward. I am truly fortunate, truly blessed. I am grateful every day for my life.

South Africa -- Day 15

Today was Friday, only one day left before leaving South Africa. We got up in our little huts in Bongani, packed our belongings and headed up to the main lodge for breakfast. We had been invaded by baboons the evening before, we’re thinking because of the children that had recently checked in with their families and the thought that they might be deliberately or accidentally leaving food behind. Omelettes and eggs were had for breakfast, though by this time, I was longing for American breakfast. After breakfast, I was on the patio taking some last minute photos, Mart was also on the patio, reconciling the bill, and Jess was sitting inside the main lodge near the breakfast area. All of a sudden, we hear her yelling, “BABOON, BABOON!!!” I run in to see a baboon steal the croissant off of my plate from the table that had not yet been cleared, grab two artificial sweetener packets in each of his hands and run back out the window!!!!! The ladies came running from the kitchen, but they were too late, he was gone! We found this hysterically funny, as we could not figure out what he was going to do with the sweetener packets. Maybe sweeten up his croissant, maybe add it to his coffee, maybe save it for company! We finally got back on the road to head home. It was another 30 minute drive in the safari truck to get down the mountain, then another 40 minutes on the bumpy road leading out to the main road.

We headed home, but at one point, my brother had to stop to find a restroom. He spied a McDonald’s! I was leery, but he told me the whole concept of McDonald’s is that it is always the same, everywhere you go. I thought I would test the theory. He was right! The cheeseburger and fries tasted awesome and like home! We finished our lunch and got back on the road, getting home around 3:00 PM. Jess and I began unpacking from Bongani and re-packing for our flight home the next day. We rested for awhile, packed, watched some movies, packed some more and talked about dinner. Our first day there, Mart had taken us to a place called Rich’s, and he had ordered ostrich steak filets. We both tried it and liked it so much, we decided that is what we wanted for our farewell meals. So tonight, we went out for ostrich steak. They were delicious! They were served with a cherry port sauce, mashed potatoes and veggies. Very good. A nice ending for our final night in South Africa.

South Africa -- Day 14

Today was the earliest day yet, having to get up at 4:00 AM. We were going to Kruger National Park today. Hardy had packed us breakfasts in a paper bag that had been loaded into the truck for us. We had to meet our safari truck at 5:00 to drive us down the mountain to meet the  Kruger truck by 5:30. We had our bumpy drive down the mountain, followed by another bumpy drive out the next road, then onto the main road and to Kruger. Our guide’s name was Frankie. He took us to what was called the Melelane entrance to Kruger. The park is so huge, there are about a dozen entrances. The park is the size of a small state! Upon entering, we immediately see an elephant, munching by the side of the road. He is huge and beautiful. We stop for pictures and then move on. We see lots of impala, of course, which we find out they call the McDonald’s of the bush! We see tons of bright, beautiful birds – yellow-billed, hornbilled, some in the brightest mix of colors you can imagine. We see zebra, of course. At one point, we see a white rhino. He looks black, but Frankie explains he is considered a white rhino because of the way his horns are. The white rhino has a small horn in the back and a large one up front. The black rhino has two horns of the same size. We see some giant wildebeest and some giraffes. Frankie tells us that, surprisingly, giraffes, for as big as they are, don’t really weight too much, that they are just tall. We see some mongoose running across the road. They are much smaller than I thought, like little black rats.

Frankie also shows us some interesting plants, like the toothbrush plant (which women use the root of as it also colors your lips), the Guarri bush (which shows you where the water is) and the toilet paper plant (which is nice and soft)! We see an animal called a water buck that has a white ring around its butt. Frankie says this is from sitting on the toilet seats in the bush! LOL! What was neat about these guys is they run into water when in danger, even though there are crocodiles in the water. Apparently, the crocs don’t bother them in the water, as they emit some sort of scent/oil in the water that makes them unappealing. We saw a leopard tortoise, some birds called hammercocks that build HUGE nests. We saw one in a tree, it was about 4 feet across and about 4 feet high. Huge!  We ran into another giraffe, this one so dark, his spots were almost black. Another white rhino, as well. Frankie told us the rhinos can weigh up to 3000 kilograms (that’s a lot of pounds, over 6000)! We saw a tawny eagle, hanging out in a tree. They eat the dead carcasses of things, but also hunt things like mongooses.  As we were wrapping up for the day, we saw some beautiful mountains in the distance, covered in sugar cane fields. It was quite a view. So our morning in the bush ended with us seeing everything but big cats. That was a little disappointing, but we did see quite a few other things.

We headed back to Bongani around 12:30 PM. We were exhausted. I had done the first part of that safari with no coffee and that was rough! By the time we got back to the lodge, it was around 2:30. Jess thought she wanted to go out on the afternoon safari with our other guide, Simian, but once she sat down to lunch, the tiredness hit her, and she decided against it. Mart and I had already decided we didn’t want to go in the afternoon, that we were too tired. We had a light lunch of venison and rice and headed back to our rooms. As we sat there reading and passing the time, the heavens opened and it began pouring rain. Thank God we had not gone out on that afternoon safari!

When Simian and the folks that had gone out on afternoon safari returned, they said the rain was freezing and driving, but they did manage to see two lions. But they were soaked and looked miserable. Dinner tonight was a prawn and vegetable wrapped in phyllo dough concoction that was delicious. This was followed with filet mignon and pork chop with pineapple salsa. The best dinner I have had there since we came. We headed back to our rooms after dinner to get some rest. We were heading home the next day and wanted to be able to be up and on the road at a decent hour. What an amazing experience!

South Africa -- Day 13

We were up very early today for our first game drive. We were dressed and in the main lodge for morning coffee by 5:45. By 6:00, we were in the safari truck and headed out. Patrick was our guide for the day. Our first sighting was a big herd of water buffalo. It amazed me how the animals were totally unfazed by the big truck and its noise. We were told that they just think it is another animal, nothing out to bother them. Even the impala and antelope didn’t run from it, they would just stay right by the side of the road, eating grass! So the water buffalo were huge and there were a lot of them mixed with a few zebras. Gross fact of the day: in the opening on their head where the two horns meet, insects lay eggs and they hatch into worms and/or maggots. Then these poor creatures are tortured by these things crawling around in their heads. They ram their heads up against tree trunks trying to knock them out. Isn’t that horrible? Glad I could share! We were told that when an animal is scared, they will fight, flight or freeze. Sounds like people. We saw a giraffe at one point, as well. We then went for awhile without seeing too much. Patrick took us on a hunt for rhinos and cats, neither of which we found. We then went on a hunt for elephants, which we did find! We found a family of them on their way to the watering hole. There were two baby elephants playing in the bushes while Mom tried to herd them along. At one point, she squared off and stared at us so long and hard, we had to turn the truck around to have an escape route ready in case she charged us! But thankfully, she didn’t. She just herded her babies along and kept going to the water. We saw kudu (giant elk-looking things) and even more impala. At one point, we stopped and had morning coffee on a cliff overlooking one of the valleys on the mountain. It was breathtaking. And to be sitting there, having a cup of coffee on a cliff in the African bush – the reality of it was just overwhelming and awe-inspiring. We took lots of pictures, needless to say. We did a bit more driving and viewing of zebras and such before heading back to the lodge for breakfast around 9:30.

Breakfast was made-to-order omelettes and some sides like mushrooms and tomatoes. After breakfast, we stopped in the gift shop so my brother could buy a shirt, Mom picked up a verdite plaque of The Big 5 (verdite is a green stone only found in South Africa; The Big 5 are what you are supposed to try to get to see when you are here on safari – buffalo, rhino, elephant, leopard and lion). We explored the grounds a little, found the beautiful infinity pool and a second pool. The view from the infinity pool was amazing. It was set high on a cliff overlooking a green valley with a small watering hole for the animals. I can imagine spending hours up there with that view. After this, we headed back to our rooms. With no television, no internet, no radio, we were at a loss. It was too cold to go to the pools, like I wanted to do. So, Jess broke out her book, I took out the eReader and we read. And eventually took naps. And then read some more. Soon enough, we decided to go up to the bar in the main lodge and just hang out till dinner. All they play on the television in the bar is sports, so I found a British gossip mag to read. It is interesting to realize the people that are *not* celebrities in other countries that seem so big at home. Anyway, dinner was finally ready. The chef had come to talk to us earlier about what we wanted him to prepare for that evening, so we had rump steaks with mashed potatoes and vegetables. There was also chicken and lamb, and a mixed green salad. Dessert was some sort of date and peach concoction. Very gourmet-y. After this, it was back to the room. Jess had finished her book, so I gave up my eReader and started her on a book on that. That left me to play on the computer with no internet. So I organized my photos and listened to some music. We had a 4:00 AM wakeup call for the next morning to go to Kruger National Park, so we turned out the lights about 10:30. I couldn’t manage to get to sleep until after midnight….

South Africa -- Day 12

This Tuesday morning was an early riser to get up and out of the house by 7:30 AM. Mart had a doctor’s appointment we needed to get to before starting our journey. When that was complete, we went to the Rosebank Mall for breakfast. We were also going to stop by the rooftop market and see if we could find the people that ripped me off of some merchandise on Sunday. They charged me for something, but didn’t put it in my bag. Unfortunately, we forgot to do this in the hectic-ness of trying to get on the road. We picked up some electronic mosquito repellent (we already had our pills and sprays and lotions). We got on the road.

About an hour into the drive, my brother checked the GPS. Thank God! We found out we were going the wrong way! We turned around and drove an hour back the same direction we had just come from and finally started heading the right direction. We had been hoping to get there in time to do the afternoon 4:30 game drive, but that wasn’t looking promising. We finally arrived around 5:30 PM. To get to the place, you turn onto this horribly bumpy road that you kinda need a 4-wheel vehicle to drive on. My brother’s C320 didn’t fare too well on this road. He had kind of been expecting it having been here before and had contemplated renting a truck just for this mile-long part of the drive, but decided against it. I’m sure he was regretting it after the 4^th or 5^th ravine. We finally made it to the car park, where you leave the car and the get into a safari truck for the 30 minute drive to the lodge and resort. We piled in with all our luggage and we were off. The views were amazing as we climbed this mountainside. At one point, our guide Patrick pulled over and pointed out Mozambique and Swaziland, which borders Bongani. Great pictures.

We finally arrived at the camp, where we were greeted with champagne and juice cocktails in reception. We were taken to our rooms by Security, as you are not allowed to walk around after dark by yourself. We got to our rooms and had our luggage brought in. It was at this point that my brother realized he had forgotten his suitcase! He is pretty sure he never brought it out of the condo. We went into our rooms and boy were they rustic! We realized we were really in the bush. The resort is beautiful but you are in the bush. We had our obligatory mosquito nets around our beds, but the beds looked amazingly comfy. We are in a thatch roofed hut adjoined to my brother’s room by a beautiful viewing deck. But we couldn’t see anything, as it is pitch black out here at night! No stars, no lights – nothing but night… and animals. We got unpacked and called Security to walk us back up to the main lodge for dinner. The chef, Hardy, came out to greet us and tell us about the menu. Currently there was an Indian family staying here, so dinner had been prepared for their taste, a spicy chicken curry and a lamb curry, along with pita, veggies, salad and desserts. It was delicious. After dinner, we sat in the bar for awhile and chatted, called my sister and eventually headed back to our rooms, but I let Security know I would need an escort back up in about an hour.  I wanted to try to get online, as they claimed there was WiFi in the bar. About an hour later, I called for Security again and had them walk me back up to the main lodge. There was no one up and about but me and the staff! I was unable to get a wireless connection, but I did manage to finally get a signal on my phone and called home. I talked to Cyn for a short while (couldn’t talk for long at $3.00 a minute) to let her know I was alive and in the bush and had not yet been eaten by anything! After my call, I packed up my computer, as it was obvious they had no signal and called for Security again (I think they were getting tired of me!). He walked me “home.” By the time I got in, Jess was covered in her mosquito net and snoozing. I showered, as we were told the itinerary for the next morning was wakeup call at 5:30, in the lodge by 5:45 for coffee and head out on our morning game drive by 6:00. I wanted to be ready to go in the morning for the big day!

South Africa -- Day 11

This morning, my brother had to get up and head into work. Jess and I got up and dressed and headed over to the mall to the Mugg and Bean for a cup of coffee. We were supposed to be meeting up with my brother later to go into his job and meet some of his employees and coworkers. We walked around the mall a little bit and window shopped. We finally headed back over to the condo and waited for him to call. He finally called to say that he was having a crazy day at work and we wouldn’t be able to get into the office today, but that our afternoon plans were still on – Lion Park!

We drove out to the park and got there just in time for the final drive of the day at 2:30. We bought our tickets and hopped on the safari truck. We drove through the park and saw zebras and springbok and giraffe. We found out some interesting facts about zebras. Their stripes are like their fingerprints, no two are alike. And you will never see a skinny zebra. This is because their stomachs are actually filled with gas and when they get frightened by a predator, they run away, leaving gas behind them. The smell is so bad, it deters some of the predators from following them in chase. We saw ostrich, who we found out their eyes are bigger than their brains – their brains are only the size of a teaspoon. We went into the Lion Camps and the lions are so used to the trucks, one of them walked right up to the truck to greet the driver! I got some amazing pictures of them, up close and personal. Here, we learned that the more black in their manes, the more aggressive they are and the more appealing to the females. This explains why Mufasa’s mane was black in The Lion King! OK, they didn’t tell us that last fact, but I deduced it based on what we’d learned. We learned that lions like to sleep 18-20 hours a day, which also explained a lot about me, based on my zodiac sign of Leo! On the lions, their whiskers are their fingerprints. The average life expectancy of the lion is 10-12 years in the wild, but jumps to 15-25 years in captivity. We then moved on to see the wild dogs. These guys are not strong enough to take down their prey, so they stalk their prey by running them down, diving and taking a big chunk of flesh out and then waiting for them to die of blood loss and/or shock. Gross, huh? Whereas you can domesticate the lions and other animals, you cannot domesticate these guys, even if born and raised in captivity. They will turn wild at about 4 months. Some people confuse wild dogs with hyenas, but these are dogs, and hyenas are actually cats.

Next, we saw cheetahs, which we found out are solitary animals, they do not roam in packs or prides. They hunt in the heat of the day and are the fastest animals in the world, but only for short bursts. They can get up to 60 miles/hour for about 400 meters. Next, we saw a very tame giraffe that came up to the truck to greet us and almost licked me! Her head was huge! Her name was Purdy and she was very friendly. After this, we headed back to the main lodge. Our next stop was the baby lion cub area. We headed in here, where we got to pet and take pictures with baby lions. They were so adorably cute, but boy did they have big paws and sharp teeth! We took a few pictures of us with the lion cubs and then hit the gift shop (of course). We found some cute things, grabbed some Coke Lights and sat down to wait for Mart, our ride. He finally got out of his meeting and came to pick us up.

We went to an Italian place in the Eastgate Mall for dinner called Piatta’s. We were all so hungry that our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. We started with a garlic and basil flatbread brushed with butter. We then each ordered an appetizer – Mart had wings, I had halloumi cheese and Jess had a mushroom stuffed with spinach and cheese. At this point, Jess and I were done and we hadn’t even gotten our dinners yet! Mart managed to finish his pasta, I got through a bit of my ribs and rump and Jess had her fillet and pasta wrapped up without even seeing it. We, however, knew we were leaving for safari the next day, so we had to find someone to give it to. Now any other night, we would see a bunch of people we could give it to, but we were so close to home. What’s different about this country and our own is that when you see the people on the streets, they are very grateful to get just food. It is tough to see how hungry some of the people are. Thank goodness we did find someone to give the stuff to, because that would have been truly wasteful.  

We hit Woolworth’s for some groceries to pack for lunches on the road tomorrow. We came home and made lunches, packed clothes and got ready for bed (after a Skype home). We had an early morning the next day to run a few errands then head to Bongani and Kruger National Park for safari!

South Africa -- Day 10

This morning, Sunday, was our dedicated shopping morning! We rose, got dressed and went to Fournos for breakfast. My brother dropped his car off to be washed while we were having breakfast. I was teasing him about getting it completely washed, inside and out, trunk, tires and all every week, until he told me all that was done for the equivalent of about $8.00! How jealous am I about that?! I had three cappuccinos at breakfast and that just about woke me up. We were off to shop for the day.

Our first stop was at the recommendation of Mart’s friend Lufuno, a place called the Burma Market. It was like a giant indoor flea market, the type you see even in the States. We looked around, but it wasn’t what we were looking for. These were mostly things we could find at home. I did manage to score a cute dress, though. We left there and headed back to the Rosebank Mall to go to the rooftop African Craft Market. We synchronized watches and split up, as my brother did not want to be stuck doing the hardcore shopping with Jess and I. He headed off to get a Thai massage (hopefully without happy ending!), and Jess and I headed off to shop. She found her lady from last Sunday and bought the bracelets she had been looking all over for. We then asked the lady where we could find fabrics and she said, “Oh you need to go downstairs in the African Craft Market.” We were like, we thought we were in the African Craft Market? Apparently not! We followed her directions and found a whole other marketplace with even more real and authentic stuff. We got all kinds of great things – sculptures, jewelry, trinkets. On our way back to meet Mart, I found my score of the trip – a beautiful wall hanging for the house. I would describe it here, but I know Cyn is reading and I don’t want to ruin the surprise. But it was beautiful and perfect. We even met a couple while the salesman was wrapping my purchase that were from the States. The girl was from Virginia and the guy was from Philadelphia. They were both in South Africa for work. I was so concerned that we were late to meet back up with my brother that I didn’t even think to ask them for a card or something.  We met back up with Mart and headed home.

We had dinner plans with friends this evening. We were running a little late coming home, so we stopped back by my brother’s house to just change into nicer clothes real quick and run back out the door. I decided to wear my new dress. We headed into a ritzy section of Johannesburg to meet Steven, his wife Toa and the family. Her mom was there, as well as her sister Inunge and their baby Zawadi. Also, her stepson. We chatted around the pool and grill outside before sitting down for an amazing dinner – rump steak, lamb, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, spinach with garlic, cauliflower and salad. It was a wonderful feast. Steven apparently came to South Africa on holiday 12 years ago and never left. They have a beautiful family and a very nice home. We stayed and watched some of the Masters for awhile before returning home for the night.