SOUTH AFRICA: Tuesday, February 14- Monday, February 20

I did not really know what to expect of Cape Town, but I now have a new favorite city. It’s absolutely beautiful, very clean and the people are so friendly. The city is set among a small chain of mountains including Table Mountain and Lion’s Head. The port area is very wealthy with lots of local musicians playing all times of the day. Oh yeah, and there are a bunch of seals and sea lions lying on the docks which is adorable. I think this is going to be the safest port area that we go to the whole time. There is a whole lot of nice dining and shopping here, too, but not as much of a bargain as I hope the other ports will be.

I visited Robben Island (the prison where Nelson Mandela, among others, was held during apartheid) the first day. Our guide had been a prisoner on the island and shared incredible personal stories with us that were very moving. It’s hard for me to believe that all that cruelty and injustice went on while I was growing up and I never heard about it once. It’s even more difficult to believe that South Africa is the only African country that got through this time of difficulty to find some level of peace. After spending 17 years on the island, Nelson Mandela left without an ounce of anger. My guide had the same view on leaving without anger in his heart even after being stripped of his freewill and his youth. He knew that violence, hatred and racism only worsen situations and that forgiveness is the only way to move on and create a better world.

Kruger National Park:

I went on a four day safari to Kruger National Park with a group of nine people. Our group got along great and we didn’t have any major sicknesses/problems which is more that I can say for a lot of the groups. We went with Siyabona for our Safari and stayed in the Southern part of Kruger for the whole time. Since we were camping, I expected to rough it a little, but they did a lot more for us than I expected. Every meal was slow cooked over the fire and amazing- the best food I’ve had since the beginning of the trip by far. Our safari vehicle was a new Land Rover and we slept in two-man tents (I got my own by some luck). Every night, the group of guides got together and sang us local African songs, which blew me away as they were all great singers and it really felt like Africa then with the local music.

We got very lucky on our game drives and saw almost all of the big five (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant) minus buffalo, which are apparently the most common to see. Not only did we see elephants, but one didn’t like us very much and charged our car twice, which was scarier than a lion since the elephant could have snapped our car in half. We also lots lots of Impala (small antelope-the McDonald’s of the bush because they are everywhere), Kudus (large antelope), wild dogs (which are greatly endangered and we were very lucky to see them), hyenas (including one five feet from my tent- don’t worry mom, I’m still alive), warthogs (ya know, like Pumba in Lion King), giraffes, zebras, and tons of birds/amphibians/insects. On my one night drive, I even saw a whole family of lions including one male, two females and four little cubs- it was awesome. They were lying in the dirt road to stay cool, and stayed in front of our truck for a good five minutes before they felt threatened by us and walked about five feet from us to head back into the bush.

The safari was incredible as was my whole time in South Africa. This is a place that I would not only like to come back to visit, but I would consider living here as well.

I know, such an amazing country, so much time spent there, and my writings get shorter every time… sorry I’m getting kinda lazy, but I guess you’ll all just have to check out South Africa for yourself if you want more…