South Africa Safari and more!

Day 1: It seemed like it took forever to get off the ship, I was finally off by 11AM. The waterfront known as the VA Waterfront is one of the nicest waterfronts I have ever seen. First thing first, Apple store. For those that don’t know my iPod shit the bed on the way to Brazil. I can’t even begin to explain how upset I was. I walked into the Apple store and ill make a long story short; they gave me a new one. So if you’re thinking of getting an Apple product, just do it. They have amazing customer service. So I decided to use my strong American dollar at the outdoors store in the waterfront. I purchased a Deuter (German made, better then North Face) 60 liter backpack that I could use for everything and even back packing through Europe… or South Africa again in 2010 for the world cup… cough cough… hahaha. I ended up getting my taxes back on it and it cost me $100. The rest of the day was spent checking out the Long Street shops and grabbing a nice dinner.

Day 2: I had to get up at 4:00AM for my two hour flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg. Once we arrived at the air port it was another five hour drive to Kruger National Park. We arrived to our camp known as Pretoruiskop just before dusk. Quickly greeted by our team of guides, throwing our packs into our tents and jumping into the Land Rovers for an afternoon game drive. At this point I was pumped and ready for stuff to start happening. We drove along a dirt road and finally started to see some animals. We saw Elephants, Rhinos, Giraffes and other smaller animals, This was a shorter game drive and we arrived back at camp to dinner being cooked over the camp fire. I have to give credit to these African Native guides, they can cook. Coming into this trip I was intimidated by all the different foods. But I must say I have tried everything and by far African cuisine is amazing. Now the fun part, guess who likes to wonder around the campsites at night and throw anything they can get at our tents? Baboons. They are so furry and cute, but they will literally rip your face off if you contact them or approach them. So our guides warned us to just sit in our tents and mind our own business. They just see the tents as one large object and usually move on. I’m sleeping minding my own business and I wake to baboons flying past my tent throwing stuff all over. I wasn’t scared, I thought it was cool!

Day 3: We woke up at 4:15 Am for an early morning game drive. This is why I love Africa; cool in the morning to the point you must wear a fleece. But come day its 110 degree heat with no humidity. Today we saw everything from before with the addition of Lions, Zebras and a Black Mamba snake. The snake was actually my favorite of all. It was lying in the middle of the dirt road and as we approached it started to move. Getting closer to it, it raised up off the ground. Imagine a six foot snake extending up four or five feet in the air and jumping five feet in the air horizontally to the bushes next to the road. It was amazing to see, just one of those things you have to see in person. We headed back to camp for breakfast after a three hour game drive. BACON!! BACON!! I love South African Bacon! It’s thick, meaty and tastes like actual meat. They got America beat here in South Africa. Again breakfast was cooked over the camp fire and the best bacon of my life was devoured with eggs and fresh fruit. The day was ours so Garrett and I decided to explore the camp and check things out. We found a cool store they had at the camp and we decided to go in on a bottle of wine with Carl. Once we figured out we could buy South African wine at the price of bottled water back home, we all got a bottle. We relaxed and drank some amazing wine while playing cards. This after noon was really memorable because the wine made it that way. For those back home, please run out and grab a bottle of red South African wine, its amazing. We ate lunch around 2:30PM and headed out for an afternoon game drive at 3:30pm. Again I don’t want to give it all away, but we saw…. Yes more animals again with a little addition. Driving down a dirt road we came across an old women who looked very confused and distraught. The reaction from our guides was in disbelief of what they had in front of them. This women some how wondered from her village on the other side of the park. The size of Kruger is about the size of Belgium. She is lucky someone in a pickup was able to bring her back, she was wondering through cougar and lion infested land.

Day 4: One last morning game drive and breakfast. We stared our five hour journey back to Joburg for our flight back to Cape Town. Driving through the small towns and Savannah landscape provided for the most amazing scenery in the country. Once back to Joburg I can note two major things I saw. First is that the entire country is gearing up for the 2010 world cup, but Joburg is the hub of it all. It’s amazing what this place will be like in 2010, it’s already amazing! Second is that Nokia, yes Randy, NOKIA owns. I have never seen so many Nokia billboards, statues of hands popping out of the ground holding Nokia cell phones. Let’s add to that, every person on my plane was rocking a slick Nokia phone. I want one, I need one. For once in my life; EVERYONE had a better phone then me. I got back, my friend Jen was back on the ship, so we decided to hit the waterfront and grab a bottle of South African wine. Yes, it’s the social thing to do here, chat over wine.

Day 5: I got together last minute with a group that hired a taxi driver to drive us all over the Cape Peninsula. Ill have stories when I get home. We did a lot and saw a lot for only one day. But in short I went to the South Western most point in South Africa called Cape Point. Our taxi driver was amazing to talk to about his life. He was in prison during the Apartheid and was one block over from Nelson Mandela. We questioned his tattoos he received in prison and those stories will remain with me for the rest of my life.

Day 6: Went all over Cape Town, explored, explored, explored.

Day 7: Now comes the most amazing part of Cape Town, the townships. I will explain more when I get home but heres a brief overview. During the Apartheid the government relocated mass amounts of the blacks and colored to areas outside the city limits called townships. These townships still exist today and provide for a first hand look at what government is capable at doing. Do you really think that our segregation in the 1960’s was bad? Try living in South Africa and being black or colored from 1947 to 1994. I have added a few photos and wish to tell my story when I’m home and can talk about it in person.

**I’m sorry for not writing details but I need something to talk about when I get home. I fell in love with South Africa for many reasons. The scenery, the townships, but most importantly, the people.