South Africa: Cape Town to JoBurg

I woke up at 5:30 this morning to go up to 7^th deck and see the sunrise over Table Mountain. When I got up there, the dawn sky was just breaking and it was incredible to see the entire sunrise process. Jeff, Danielle and the rest of the gang stayed up there until breakfast and then we made the trek to the incredibly busy dining rooms – so we waited and waited in the lines and got our mediocre food. After that we all went our separate ways until the consular briefing. The tag team of senior diplomats managed to not absolutely terrify us like the lady from Salvador. These guys were pretty upbeat and kept showing random pictures that only college students and their wacky professors would find enjoyable. Plus…the first guy waddled like a penguin for us. Haha

The consular general also spoke and then the Premier of the Western Cape came into the Union to speak. This is the equivalent to a governor coming on board, and he was great. He is a Muslim, and he spent a lot of his time speaking about the religious unity and disunity in Cape Town. At one point he pointed to Desmond Tutu and said that he has more in common with the archbishop than with Islamic fundamentalists. He meant well, but the way he said it kind of seemed like he was puffing himself up a little bit, but overall, he was an excellent speaker and I can certainly see him winning political office!

At that point we were cleared to get off the ship. Jeff, Brianne, Ashley, Janet, Jika, Cristie, Jen and I took off for Robben Island hoping to get tickets for the day. However, they were all sold out. Jeff then remembered that an SAS trip was leaving the ship for Robben Island at 12:15 and we decided to try to crash it. People kept trickling into the Union and then two other people showed up trying to crash the trip. In the end, more people showed up with tickets than who were even supposed to be on the trip, so we definitely did not get in!

The five of us packed up our bags and headed off ship. Jeff and Jen went and climbed Table Mountain and I didn’t go because I wouldn’t have made it back in time to meet my group for my safari. Evan from Penn State and Kristen from Texas and I headed out to find lunch and some drinks. We found a group of people going skydiving and the RD Drew was one of them. He pulled me aside and asked me what I was doing on Sunday. I told him I was going on my safari and then he said if I was in town he was going to invite me to go to the Archbishop’s church with him. WHAT THE HECK! I was crazy upset!

We then went to this great little restaurant and got sandwiches and a couple drinks…the panini was excellent. We went wandering in the enormous mall right in the Victoria and Alfred Wharf and we came upon a bar where there were a lot of SASers wandering around and Evan wanted to go in. We got what is called a “Jam Jar” which is a mason jar with fruit juice and rum…I was expecting it to pack a punch, but it was incredibly weak and was like drinking pineapple juice by itself. It was close to time for me to head back to the ship, so we wandered through the parking garage encountered a brick wall and then a metal fence. We finally found the opening to the road and they dropped me off at the ship and went to drink some more.

We were meeting up at 4:30 and Regina didn’t come until 4:50…We were honestly about to go, because we weren’t going to risk missing our flights if she didn’t show up at 5. The taxi to the airport took about 45 minutes, but our driver explained a lot about the differences between the townships and about where he lived. We arrived at the airport and headed to check in…we got that done and then hoofed it to our gate to make sure it wasn’t boarding yet. It wasn’t, so we grabbed some chocolate milkshakes which were different, but quite good. We had to board a tram to take us to our plane, and then boarded it…but it wasn’t quite as fancy as the Magic Flying Carpet in Brazil! I had the window seat in my row and no one was in either of the seats in my row, which was nice because I could spread out a little bit. The flight was uneventful and included wine and decent food. When we arrived in JoBurg we asked the baggage claim guy to call our hostel for us and he arranged for us to be picked up.

Then…we saw our new home for the night. At first it was very nice, but then when we moved the one towel, a rather large bug scurried out…all of you at home should know how much this excited me! We tried to use the internet but it was not working, so we sat down with girly magazines and watched television. It was so nice to relax and drink some hot tea. You would think it wouldn’t be a huge deal to watch TV since we do have some movies playing on the ship, but it was just nice to see real shows, even if they were South African shows that we didn’t know…we did watch part of Armageddon..haha

After I sat on the couch, I noticed the ants. And then they were on my bed. And in the bathroom. And on my bed. And everywhere. You will all know how much I loved that too… Before we fell asleep we heard that Victor and Jayme’s group was staying in the same hostel but they were in the dormitory area and we had one set of bunk beds and a king size. The sleep was not very fitful, mostly because the bugs caused nightmares of scorpions and huge bugs…haha but I slept a little.

Day Two: Safari at Kruger!

This morning we woke up at the hostel at around 730 and ate breakfast with the other group and we had Nutella! Matt came into our room after breakfast and said that we owed 288 rand…I booked the hostel with my debit card at Hostel World, and it said the rest of the money would just be charged to my card after our stay…well this guy said no when I brought my card in to him. I felt so stupid! Luckily, Regina had a lot, so all of us put together what we had and paid the bill. We all got on the hostel’s bus that took us to the airport, and then we waited close to 45 minutes for the Siyabona bus to arrive..we were supposed to leave at 9:00 and didn’t pull out until around 10.

We were all packed in like sardines in the bus and we had an insane French woman in the front seat. The drive was about five hours, but I slept for most of it. We stopped one for toilets, ATM stop and snacks. I got Salt and Vinegar chips, and it was incredible. I haven’t had those in about 8 weeks, and they were fabulous. 45 minutes before reaching the gates of Kruger we stopped for lunch at the Siyabona offices. We had an amazing fruit salad and best of all? IT WAS NOT SHIP FOOD! South African sandwiches all have butter on them instead of mayo or mustard or anything, and it reminds me so much of Ireland!

We arrived at the Pretoriuskop camp around 3:00 PM and were shown to our bungalows. They are simply fabulous! We have air conditioning, hotel like showers and amazingly comfortable and fluffy beds. Regina and Liz are staying in #14, (the bigger one!!) and Matt and I are here in #15. Regina has two beds put together and she is quite excited haha We relaxed for a short time, but we soon had to go on our first safari drive! We met a couple from Boston on a vacation and then the other huge group of SAS kids showed up – it was Princess and Carl’s group of about 20.

Regina, Liz and I sat up front and had a great view of everything. We saw baboons everywhere, a group of rhinos, some impalas, some kudu, and the top of a hippo bathing in water. Toward the very end we saw a giraffe! It wasn’t very close though, so none of us got a very good picture of it. It was exciting to be seeing these animals up close. At some points it just seemed unreal. Every port so far has contained some moments when I had to pinch myself to make sure it was actually happening.

The gate to Pertoriuskop closed at 6:00 pm, and we did not arrive back until 6:10, so our guides had to pay a small fine to get back in, but luckily we were only 10 minutes late because the fines are more depending on how late you are returning home. Dinner was not until 7 so we stopped by our bungalows and then went to the gift shop. There is so much in there I want to buy for my friends and family back home! Every time I see an elephant, I want to get it for Kimi! Don’t worry x-roomie doomie: you have got a special African surprise! I am really considering buying a great coffee table book they have with pictures of the animals of Kruger. I did buy some chocolate though because I am craving it! I bought “elephant droppings” which are chocolate covered marshmallows.

Dinner tonight was with the whole gang of SASers and the couple from Boston and the meal was authentic and delicious. We had salad, mashed something, minced meat stew, corn in squash and this amazing garlic bread made in Kruger. Now I am back in my bungalow about to go to bed! We have to be at our game drive location at 5:15 tomorrow morning!

Day Three: The Early Rise

I slept like a baby last in my comfortable, fluffy bed last night. We had the air conditioning on high and we were all cuddled up in our comforters. Part of me feels like I am not fully living into the safari life, but then I see the other people sweating their brains out in their tents and I fall in love with my bungalow all over again. I woke up at 5:00 am this morning and headed down to the camp at 5:15 for tea and biscuits before our morning safari drive. We saw so many animals this morning! It was probably the best drive we had the whole time!

We began with the usual kudu and impala and we saw the most amazing moon! There was a lunar eclipse last night that we didn’t know about, but this morning it was still this dark orange red and we got a few good pictures. I heard that one of the other people got a great picture of the eclipse, so hopefully I can steal it from the intranet!

We saw a rhino at the side of the road and then an elephant was right in the middle! It danced backwards a little at the sight of our vehicles, but I didn’t care because I was taking a zillion pictures hoping one would be good enough to blow up and frame for the x-roomie. Haha Kimi: I basically thought of you the entire time I was on safari!

***GOOD PART!*** After a little more driving, three safari vehicles happening upon a sleeping momma and baby rhino at the same time. We began taking pictures and then they woke up…never good! They were not very happy! They began to stamp their feet and start to charge forward a little bit. I was in the front left seat in the vehicle and they were just in front of our vehicle on the left. I would have been the first to be impaled! Haha They crossed the road several times and kept stamping their feet…definitely a tense moment…even the safari drivers were talking to each other about how to get out, because one vehicle was blocked in! That said…it was impressive to see their huge horn…it is beautiful and literally awe-some. They can do some serious damage with that thing. My first thought when they began to stamp was: Please don’t impale me!!

The next big excitement came when we saw a lone zebra surrounded by a large family of giraffes. They were so elegant…perhaps the better word in graceful. As they lumber on, they seemed to walk in a perfect harmony, and delicately reached their heads up into the trees for a bite. We proceeded on to a little lake where the excitement was supposed to be the rhino bathing in the water, but the REAL excitement turned out to be the crocodile and two ducks heading on a collision course for each other. We’ve all been really wanting to see something get eaten, but every time the croc would get close enough to make the kill, the two ducks would scatter. I videotaped it, but the croc just wasn’t skilled enough! As much as I hate everything bloody and violent, it would have been unique. We saw another family of giraffes and then another highlight came with a family of zebras and there was a baby! It was snow white and jet black and just a little skittish, but curious enough to try to come closer to our vehicle.

We arrived back at our camp around 9 and ate a breakfast of cereal, fruit, eggs, sausage and just about everyone except me had the beans! Please don’t make any of us return back to ship food! There was nothing to do until lunch at two so the four of us headed back to our bungalows. I showered and man did it feel good! The water pressure was fabulous! Then…we all went to sleep! At around 1:00 pm I went to see if Liz wanted to go to the shop like we planned, but she was still sleeping, so I went back to bed and she came and got me at 1:30.

I am basically done souvenir shopping after the safari shop for people back home…granted, I find something to buy my mom at nearly every place I go. I did buy myself that coffee table book, and then I got the grandparental units something as well. Lunch was sandwiches and I am getting a little sick of the butter on the sandwiches, as much as it does remind me of Ireland…I scraped it off there, and I am starting to scrape it off here!

Before our afternoon drive, I made a “Thank You Mom For The World” sign, hoping that we would see something great where I could get a picture of me holding that sign. Well…it was perhaps the most boring drive of our stay. Haha Regina busted out her camera and we all took silly pictures, and Lamer, Zeke and Shawn fell asleep. We all ended up talking about life which was fun, but animals would have been preferential!

Before dinner we went back to the shop and I bought some kudu beef jerky which is pretty good…dinner was also amazing! These people know how to cook over an open fire! It was sausage, chicken, salad and a glass of wine! One of our guides, Elton, sat with us tonight and we were all trying to ask him questions for our classes…I asked him about religion and I found out that his church is Christian, but still has a lot of African influences in every area, which is pretty cool. He didn’t seem to really want to talk about it though, so I will have to find some other people to talk to for class! Tomorrow is our last day…I can’t believe it! Then it’s just praying that we make it to our flight on time!

more to come as i finish typing!

and thanks to anna and wayne! they were the last card i forgot yesterday!