Okay so I know it is totally lame to quote an Outkast song from like 2000, however, I feel for my fantastic vacation with the parents this is totally appropriate because I did feel so fresh and so clean the whole time. I seriously bathed like 2 times a day every day. My hair was smooth as silk, my skin was clean, and I didn’t have permanent mascara circles under my eyes. But back to the title, I really don’t think I can do my trip justice with just any title, it was just that fantastic. Not only was I outside of Lesotho, but I was in nice places on top, with good food. So we will start with the beginning of the trip and trace our way back to me right now, alone in my home typing on my computer at 9:30 pm listening to the “Mamma Mia!” Soundtrack.
So I was slightly worried with meeting my parents in the Jo’burg airport, there were a million factors that could throw things off, mainly my dad’s international phone not working once in South Africa. However, my parents were a ‘thinkin’ (I knew I got my smarts from somewhere) and met me at my domestic arrivals gate and mom only cried a little bit, probably more because of my haggard appearance and ill looking clothing than out of joy for seeing me. So we get to the first of three schwanky hotels. We then go to dinner and I begin with my first of a non-stop stream of Diet Coke and my parents discovered Castle beer, Africa’s equivalent of Budweiser. The night was nice, I got some gnocchi and talked my parents’ ears off all about Lesotho. We retired early because we had to get up at 3 am to board our plane to fly off to Krueger.
So let me preface my first views of Mpumalanga (the district in South Africa that Krueger is in) by saying before this all I have seen of Africa has been Lesotho, Durban, Ladybrand, and Ficksburg. Not exactly all encompassing examples of the whole of Africa. So we get there and it is like a jungle, it was so cool, fields of banana trees, lush green tropical plants everywhere. It was like you would imagine Africa would be. So pretty, however, I fell asleep on the ride to Krueger and missed most of it. Anywho, so we get to the safari lodge, which takes you out early morning and late afternoon for game drives. We get there in time to relax and nap, snag a little lunch and then be ready for the late afternoon game drive. And let me just tell you this, the accommodations were outstanding, we had our own personal bungalow with air conditioning, T.V., DVD player, mini-bar, 3 different bathing options (bath, shower, and outdoor shower for those wanting a more rustic experience, I however did not), a hair dryer, spectacularly comfy bed, AND consistent electricity! I was like see you later, mom and dad were soaking up the nice African sun and taking in the view while I was in the bungalow watching T.V. and lounging in the air conditioning, sipping a little complementary wine. Okay so enough about the accommodations, which for me was mind-blowing. So the first drive, was spectacular! I took a total of 400 pictures this drive. At first we weren’t really seeing much and then I hear our guide talk to someone along the road and he said something in Afrikaans that I didn’t understand and then he says “I have something really nice for you in the trees up here.” And I’m thinking, well if it is another bird, buddy, that’s the one thing we have in Lesotho, and I’m not that impressed. But luckily it was my other guess, which was a leopard, which are so rare to see, it was so pretty, and might I say chubby as well. It must have just ate recently and was lounging. Then we left the leopard be after a while, then saw some smaller game like impala and kudu and more birds (there are a lot of birds in Africa, apparently). And next thing you know it we are like surrounded by vultures, a little bit of a more interesting bird, they were initially a little creepy, but then not really and I was kind of waiting around for them to start talking in English accents like the ones on the “Jungle Book.” So we moved on from them again and then BAM! Herd of African buffalo, and we could have not arrived a moment too soon, because we go to preview a little African Buffalo love-making. And yes it was awkward to watch two African Buffalo get it on while on safari with my parents and I did get a picture, and yes I will post it. Okay so awkward moment aside, driving a little more then, as luck would have it we came upon a whole pride of lions, just lounging on the road. It was unbelievable, although I think I should mention that to see these animals in wild-life is something else, not that I felt dangerous or adventurous or anything, but they are just so beautiful and so peaceful on their own. It was a pride of about 10 lions, one male, some females, and some little guys too and I just wanted to jump right in and play with them, they looked so happy and cute. However, their gigantic fangs eventually deterred me from such an action. So we leave the lovely lions (like that alliteration?) and what would you know it another leopard in a tree, super lucky! And then we are on our way back to the lodge and then a rhino decides to jet out in front of our land cruiser, we almost hit the darn thing. I didn’t get a picture and was super bummed because it ran away before I could, but hey Al don’t worry God served up a whole rhino family not 3 minutes later, and I got plenty of pics. The baby was so cute. Again I just wanted to hop out of the car play with the little critter. Okay so on our first drive we saw 4 of the big 5 (you know the BIG 5, the five hardest animals to hunt on foot, which are elephant, African buffalo, leopard, lion, and rhino). And bonus in the dark of the night on the way back to the lodge, giraffe and zebra. Well done, eh?
Unfortunately the rest of the drives weren’t as fruitful, but we did see some wild dogs which are pretty rare in Krueger and then plenty of elephant, giraffe and impala. On one of the last drives we saw this whole herd of elephants get all riled up by some mischievous baboons. Okay a minute to discuss the baboons. Now this is a little PG-13, but remember this is wildlife and they perceive us as threats. We didn’t get poop thrown at us but, I actually think this is worse. So, apparently, male baboons show dominance by giving themselves a little self love. It’s okay, go there, because it is nature and I think I’ve become a little immune to it after seeing about 10 male baboons enjoying some self-lovin’. Another wonderful awkward moment to experience with the parents. So basically every picture of a male baboon is doing just that, I may not post those. Oh and I almost forgot, we had hippo outside our bungalows in the river (Sabie River, I think) outside our door. It was so cool, there was a baby one too. I swear, every animal had a baby with them. Baby lions, baby elephants, baby rhinos, baby hippos, baby baboons (which with all the baboon self-lovin’ makes me wonder how any were ever conceived), I was starting to agree with the Basotho and wondering where my baby was. Then I came screaming back to reality. We also saw a kill. So there was this youngster male lion roaming around and he came up super close to the land cruiser, bent down, we heard a crunch and he came back up with something in his mouth. So basically our first and only kill, we saw was a lion killing a tortoise. But hey, it counts as a kill, right? This part of the trip was so good, my parents really enjoyed it, you get up early see some animals, lounge until 4pm go see some more animals and eat a wonderful dinner then hop into a huge comfy bed. I counted, they fed us 7 times a day, and I ate every damn time. And dad got so into it, he started to spot more animals than the guide at one point. But this part was short lived and after two days we were headed to Lesotho to see my site.
Well, most of you have read my accounts of public transportation here in Lesotho. No way in hell was taking my parents on that. No way. First of all I think dad is too tall for the taxi’s and they would steal mom. So we rented a car. Mind you, you really can only get manuals and they drive on the wrong side of the road here. So dad got quite the driving experience here. And I heartily applaud his performance. Well done pop! No major highlights in Lesotho, mom and dad saw the school where I am putting the library and the kids sang for them, which was really nice, then they met everyone at the clinic. I got sick which put me in bed at 7:30pm but I was fine the next day to commence the bulk of our trip in Cape Town.
So Cape Town is beautiful. A beach city, but with mountains in the background and lush flora. And super colorful buildings with character. It is such a nice city. I feel a little bad about this but the first part of our stay in Cape Town was my parents totally spoiling me by taking me shopping and to see a movie. This girl stocked up. And that was really like the first two days there. Then we went to Stellenbosch and wine country. It too is gorgeous. Wish you were there, like all the time, rows of vineyards again with the backdrop of mountains. We went to the Ernie Els winery, on dad’s request and sipped a few reds. Then we went to one other one, which I think is one of the older ones there, we were limited to where we could go because there were fires breaking out all over the wine lands area. Our tour guide was a heap of info and took us to some really pretty places in Stellenbosch and the wine lands. The next day we went to Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point which is the southern most part in the western part of Africa. We saw where the Indian and Atlantic oceans converged. Oh and we saw a penguin colony, those guys were too cute, I really think they may be some of my favorite animals. We also saw some sea lions, and dad bartered with the locals for some souvenirs (a.k.a. a sling shot and carved cow horn). Okay so basically everywhere we went was beautiful, but really this place was just gorgeous. You know a little preserved nature always looks nice. OH, my gosh I almost forgot one of the best parts of this small trip. The tour we went on was with 2 older Australian ladies, who had fantastic comments on everything, but I think the best part about them were their names, Mavis and Maud. Need I say more? They were great. They really had a lot to say when we saw some Cape Baboons gettin’ it on in the middle of the road. I swear there was more animal sex on this trip than on the Discovery channel. Things that make you go, “ewwwww.” The last day me and mom went to the top of Table Mountain and dad ran some errands, and then we went to the District Six museum, which is dedicated to explaining Apartheid and the forced evacuation of all colored (that is p.c. here, from what I am told) peoples from this particular district in Cape Town. Then we hit the beach for the rest of the day and had a wonderful dinner (I had a bellini, woo hoo!) And as all good things, they must come to an end so on Thursday me and my parents parted ways, me to Lesotho and the parents back to the states via a 20 hour plane ride.
The last few days back at site have been a little depressing, you know it always kind of stinks coming home from vacation and having to get back into the swing of things. Also I had another visitor last night, a thatch spider the size of my hand (I’m considering calling some fumigators, the spiders are starting to get a little ridiculous, not only in amount but in size as well.). So that fiasco cause me to lose some major sleep, fearing that it was still alive because I couldn’t see if I thoroughly killed it. And you know back to cold showers and no T.V. But I’ll survive I have a lot going on, especially in these next few months, not to mention I am starting to look into graduate school stuff, because with all these things to do I have a feeling this next year and 3 months are going to fly by and I’m going to need to have my stuff in gear to go when I get home.
So that was basically the trip of a lifetime and so incredibly enjoyable, if you ever have the chance to do anything like this, please jump on it and invite me to come a long! Also it is less than one hundred dollars for me to fly to Cape Town, so I have a feeling I will be back there in no time. So I hope you all have a wonderful day and a great week. Also I hope the weather there is getting better. It is starting to get cooler here, which means our lovely summer is coming to an end. So enjoy your nice weather, if you have it and until next time! Salang Hantle!
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