26 September 2010

I'm brushing up on looking down I'm working on my roar

Last weekend the girls and I took our first ever big road trip together. Our boss April came from the states for our last site visit and the office kindly took us on a trip to a game reserve near the baorder of Botswana.

We estimated our trip would take 10 hours so we had an early start. Sinead kindly set up the ipod and speakers to play our favorite community song "Alejandro" which came bumping through our house at 2am Friday morning. I couldn't help but laugh as Mary-Kate and I silently laid in bed and took turns echoing various combinations of "thats loud", "thats so loud". We collected our things, packed our bags and at 3am embarked upon our trip.
Our 6am breakfast of PB/Honey and Bananas on toast

After 12 hours of rotating through our various cd’s, seeing outrageous signs including a warning for Owls for the next 5k and a HIJACKING HOTSPOT FOR THE NEXT 6K (see below) stopping for a few bathroom and coffee breaks, and one minor “detour” we arrived at Mosetlha bush camp. During the ten minutes it took us to drive from the main gate to our bush camp we saw elephants, zebra and giraffe – a promising start to a fantastic weekend.




Our weekend included two night drives and a full day drive, many scrumptious traditional Zulu meals and “Sundowners” – South Africas version of happy hour where we got excellent drinks and a beautiful sunset!

The game drives were incredible; we saw everything- lions, rhinos, elephants, monkeys, baboons, zebras and giraffe.
The first evening game drive we crossed paths with a gigantic giraffe


as well as two very casual lounging lions. We were at most 10 feet away from the pair who languidly looked us up and down and returned to their naps. During the day drive we saw a pregnant giraffe, numerous Zebras and more lethargic lions. The second night drive we were blessed to see a mother Rhino followed by the smallest yet fattest baby rhino running, closely being followed by two lions in pursuit.

As we headed back to the camp we stopped by a watering hole and emerging from the pitch black night came the outlines of elephants. Not one or two, not twenty or thirty, but close to 200; bathing, drinking water, playing and splashing, itching themselves on trees. It was something that no words or pictures could do justice. The eight of us in the rover just sat in silence mesmerized.

After our first night game drive we got back and they had set up lanterns leading down the various paths – a beautiful scene. The bush camp we stayed at was very primitive it had no running water or electricity, a lesson in really living simply. The huts that we slept in had a roof and two walls – the other two were partially covered in somewhat of a cabana style. Sleeping in the fresh air was amazing, probably the best two nights of sleep I’ve had since being here.

To take a shower we each got a bucket of water which was poured into a metal contraption that used a fire underneath to heat the water. Once heated and mixed with a portion of cold water you put the water into a second bucket in the bathroom and used a pulley to hoist the water above your head. An off on lever allowed the water to be turned off between latherings, something which really made me realize how much water I waste on a normal basis. One bucket lasted me through shaving my legs, washing and conditioning my hair and face and I even had some left over.

Our weekend safari concluded with a night stop over in Johannesburg which is about half way from where we were to home. We spent a day at the Apartheid Museum which was both educational and overwhelming. An experience that I would relate to visiting the Holocaust Museum. It was important yet very hard to witness the separation of a country, the harsh reality of a group of people that I have come to love and the brutality of mankind. I was certainly taken aback, but I think it was really beneficial for us to visit the Museum. It’s difficult to believe that Apartheid occurred so recently, that many of the older individuals we come in contact with on a daily basis actually lived through it.

After the museum we were blessed with hospitality and kindness from my extended family members who opened up their home to us. We spent our evening in Joburg driving around (getting lost in ehhh) and finding the Airport to drop April off. The following day we enjoyed a delicious breakfast with Leon and Charlotte and then made our way through the city. Our day in the city was filled with wonder and excitement; we wandered through bookstores, cafes, clothing stores and antique dealers. We ate lunch at a funky cafĂ© and were able to visit an orphanage and meet a friend of Mary-Kate’s.

I wish we had more time to explore the city; Joburg is somewhere I need to return to – if not during this year then sometime in the near future. Its rich history is abundant and the progress it has made is evident.

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