Safari!

Sorry this has taken me so long to post, but things have been crazy around here! I just had my Global Studies midterm this morning (I think I did all right!) and handed in a term paper this afternoon…so now that those things are out of the way I have some time to sit and type this! Ok so backtrack to….September 29th..or somewhere around there.

Our flight left Capetown somewhere around 5am and I kid you not as soon as I sat down I was out like a light, and I didn’t wake up until the plane landed- I don’t even remember take off! So that was a great flight, then we got to Johannesburg around 8am, and had to wait around/eat some breakfast before we were getting picked up by Viva Safaris at 9am. Little did we know that we had a 5 hour drive ahead of us in a van with all 13 of us and our bags…it was quite cozy as you can imagine. In total it took about 7 hours, with stopping for lunch and a few other times- thankfully I was tired enough to sleep the majority of the time! We finally made it to Trumasani Game Reserve, which is not part of Kruger National Park, but where a lot of the lodging and accommodations are. So we went out for a sunset drive, which was about 3 hours total. Right away we saw giraffes up close and personal. They are such beautiful animals- and we were pretty close to them which was cool to see them eat and walk around- they are HUGE. Our guide spotted some rhinos really far away, but none of us could see them- our eyes weren’t trained he said. We saw a lot of the common wildlife, like impala (which are a type of antelope) and monkeys and some wildebeests, which are pretty ugly looking. We were able to go to this little hut by a watering hole to watch the sunset which was absolutely gorgeous- just what I would expect an African sunset to look like- it was perfect. Mind you, after the sunset we still drove around for a good hour, and I definitely dosed off a few times because I was so tired…but as soon as a branch hit me in the face it would wake me up. Then we were on the trail on the way back to the lodge, and RIGHT in front of us was a HUGE black rhino. They are nocturnal and live in solitary, so he was by himself just milling around. But as soon as our car headlights shined on him, plus we had a huge search light he was so disoriented and had no idea what was going on (plus they also can only see 10 meters in front of him) so he was really confused. We didn’t bother him for too long, plus there was the chance that he would charge, but he was really cool to see SO close. And that definitely woke all of us up! So when we got back to the lodge the other car (our group was split in half) had only seen one giraffe from afar the whole time- so we were the lucky ones!! From Trumasani we made our way to our lodges, called Mark’s Treehouse Lodges. And as we pulled in the gate, there were at least 20 water buffalo just sitting there hanging out! It was so cool- so I already had 2 Big 5 sightings in the first day! Literally, treehouses on a game reserve where they had rhinos, water buffalo and cheetahs (3 of the Big 5- elephants, rhinos, water buffalo, lions and cheetahs) plus other wildlife. So they were pretty cool- Lacey and I were roommates!! We had a big bed to share in the middle of the tree house with a big mosquito net to cover us (even though the mosquitoes weren’t bad at all- it was the other animals that freaked us out a little bit, like scorpions and spiders…) After dinner @ 8pm that night, we sat around the campfire for a little while but we were all so tired that we just went to pass out…which is exactly what we did! Then we woke up at 545am for the bushwalk- an hour long walk through the reserve with a guide who describes the land and the plants and all of that fun stuff- and he originally told us not to expect any animal sightings, but if we are lucky we might see some. SO low and behold about 5 minutes in we saw two giraffes up really close which was cool, then Toby (our guide) found a Warhog in a hole that was sleeping. So it was pretty informational, and just as we were about to finish up, we saw a heard of water buffalo that was pretty close…about 100/150 meters away. And then we realized there were two rhino there also!!! So Toby stopped us and said, “Walk very slowly and very quietly. They know that we are here because they can smell and sense us, but if we don’t pose as a threat then they shouldn’t charge. If I say run, you do that and climb the first tree that you can.” Thankfully he had a rifle with him, and thankfully they didn’t charge, but it was pretty crazy being so close to them on foot. He said that was the best animal sighting that he has ever had on a bushwalk!! Lucky us!
After that we had a delicious breakfast of eggs, muffins, bacon and fruit and the monkeys joined us! I don’t know what kind of monkeys they are, but they are ALL over the reserve, and they are not afraid of humans at all. As soon as we were up from the tables, they scrambled on to the tables and grabbed everything in sight and stuffed their tiny mouths- I have video of it- it’s absolutely hysterical. So after breakfast we piled into the van to go to Kruger, about 20 minutes away. Once we got there we split into a couple different cars that we would be in for the entire day. My friends Andy and Jonah were staying at a different lodge but also on an Independent Trip, so I joined in on their car, which also had a Xhosha family (indigenous tribe of Africa) and a couple from Australia who had been traveling around Africa for 4 months! So it was a fun ride, and I had the same guide from the sunset drive the night before. So it is kind of tedious to go through everything that I saw…so I’ll just summarize. LOTS of impala, waterbuck, wildebeests, monkeys, giraffes, elephants, zebras, baboons, some alligators and hippos, and a pride of lion, which was a difficult sighting. Besides that pride, we only saw a few other lions. Unfortunately we had been about an hour late to the attack of a zebra, which would have been something to see. But we did see them eating the carcass and at one point our guard told us to be completely still and silent…and he started imitating a sheep call, and two of the lions actually came pretty close to the car which was awesome/frightening at the same time. Basically it was awesome and again the African sunset was beautiful. But it was a LONG day and a HOT day…in the high 90s for sure and we were out from 9am-5pm with a lunch break. We got back to the lodges with enough time to shower before dinner, and then we again hung out by the fire for a little while just relaxing and chatting with our guides before hitting the hay again. The next morning we did a bushwalk, not nearly as exciting as the morning before- only one giraffe, then it was time to load back into the van for the several hour long drive back to JoBurg. We did stop at a canyon on the way back, and I forget the name of it, but it is the third largest one in the world! It was gorgeous and just absolutely huge. We got to the airport to find that our flight was delayed about 2 hours, but there was another flight leaving within a half hour- so everyone from our group except for Ben, Lacey and myself paid to get on that flight, but we were really in no rush. It gave us the chance to find a World Cup 2010 store, which we were looking for! And I also got to buy a calling card to make some calls! (It was Mom & Dads anniversary a few days prior to that so it was nice to get to cal them and talk to them for the first time in a month!) So we just relaxed- met up with Jonah and Andy and our flight home was fine- the one that they paid to get on actually wound up being delayed too..and when it was all said and done we got back to the ship right before midnight. I thought about going out, but a shower and my bed sounded much more enticing, so I stuck to that!
I woke up pretty early in the morning to meet my friend Marissa to walk around the Waterfront and go to the mall to get a few things- then we met up with Sam and went down to Green Market, which has every African handcraft, painting, artifact, one would ever imagine. So that was fun and we grabbed lunch at a little café on Long Street before making our way back to the Waterfront to see a musical performance by a Township Choir and then getting back on the ship before all of the SAS Safari trips get back! (We have to be on ship by a certain time, and if you swipe in after that you get dock time, meaning you have to stay on the ship for X number of hours once we get to the next port…but if you are on an SAS trip it doesn’t count) so we had to be sure not to get stuck behind them going up the Gangway…plus it gave me time to write some postcards before departing!!
So THAT was South Africa. It came and went by so quickly, but it was a beautiful place, somewhere that I hope to visit again someday. Capetown really didn’t feel like Africa at all, I felt like I was in the States- it was so modernized and western culture is everywhere- from the music to the food to the fashion. But the people were very friendly and the sights were beautiful. There was all of this talk about how dangerous Capetown was going to be, but not once did I feel unsafe at all. Granted, we walk around in a sizeable group and don’t carry bags or valuables on us at all because that is just asking for attention. And the safari was an experience that I may never have again- even though I didn’t see a Cheetah, I felt thoroughly satisfied with my sightings!
Now that we are back on the ship, well as I post this we are only a few days from India- but things have been busy. The night we were back on the ship and going around the cape it was rough as could be, so Dani and I went to bed around 9 because we were not feeling well. And we have avoided pirates thus far through the Indian Ocean…apparently when they claim to have “stargazing” on the 7th deck it is really because they need to turn all of the ship’s lights out to avoid being seen…not sure if that is a rumor or not though.
We did have the Sea Olympics two days ago which was a huge success!! I was so so so busy that day it was craziness. We got up at 630am to begin setting up and I had about 15 minutes to sit down around lunch time to have a quick bite, and was back at it until at 7pm. I participated in Pictionary…unfortunately we got 5th place and didn’t place (we got out on artificial heart- SO HARD!) and then I hosted Tug-O-War, Flip Cup, Hot Dog Eating Contest and Paper Boat Float. My sea (the Red Sea) placed 5th overall out of 10 teams. We were obviously not happy about that, but satisfied- all in all it was a very fun day and extremely exhausting. Stephanie (my good friend who was also on the committee) popped in an episode of Grey’s Anatomy at 9pm and were in bed by 10pm- it was lovely! Now it is midterms time…so everyone is stressed/tired—but we will be to India in two days!! I will doing a homestay there, meaning me and another SAS student will be staying with a family for 3 days and 2 nights- one of the most highly recommended things to do by past SAS students because it is truly an immersion into the country and a realistic way to get a sense for the culture.
Hope all is well back in the States- well, thankfully they do keep us informed here about what is going on- so we are not totally out of the loop in the economic crisis, and we were able to watch the Debates the day after they were aired, which was great- there have been some pretty heated discussions among students- so we aren’t totally out in left field as we cross the Indian Ocean….
Asia will fly because we only have 2 or 3 days at sea between Malaysia, Vietnam, China & Japan…but I’m REALLY hoping to get on an internet café so I can send out more pictures!!! PEACE FROM THE EAST.