Day 6 & 7 - African Safari!

We were all very excited as we loaded up the car for the couple hour drive to basically the middle of nowhere Swaziland to meet our personal guide who would take us another 45 minutes from where we parked our car to the camp that we would call home for the next 2 days.
The private game park was called Mkhaya and had all but the carnivorous predators. But since it wasn't as large as the Kruger National Park, we were pretty much guaranteed to see lots of animals up close and personal - which was really cool. Our guide, Patrick, was the oldest (meaning he had been there the longest) of all the guides and very knowledgeable. He took us out on 3 game drives while we were there - one the 1st afternoon we arrived, one very early the next morning as the sun was coming up and the last one around noon before we left. This was our safari-mobile.And here is just a sampling of what we saw while on safari.





















The camp we stayed at was supposed to be a luxury camp since it did have running water, but to me it was VERY rustic as it had no electricity. Here is our little open air hut we stayed in for the night, the bed we slept in, and some other areas of the camp.





















I think that the stay would have been made more pleasant had it not been over 100 degrees F. Honestly, I have never been so hot in my life, and I have been in some really hot places before. But, literally, it was so hot that I couldn't wear make up because it would just drip off my face, and the only way to stay cool was to take a shower, but as soon as we got out and the water dried, we'd start sweating again. I don't think we slept too well either because under the mosquito net it was VERY hot and also just being out in the wild with HUGE bugs and hearing animals, knowing all we had to keep them out was a little gate.

It would really be impossible to recount our entire time on safari, so I will just hit the highlights.
After arriving at our little hut, we showered (to cool off again) and joined a few of the other groups for a gourmet dinner by candlelight (because of no electricity). We had first class service and a 4 course meal, with kudu (a type of antelope) stew as the main course. It was delicious. After dinner we all sat around the campfire to watch the native Swazis perform authentic African dances and songs.By the time we were ready to go to bed, we had to take another shower, but this time we discovered that we weren't alone in the shower. A little black scorpion had decided to take up residence in our shower for the night. David refused to shower while the scorpion was in there, but I was just too hot not to. So I had David shine a flashlight on it to make sure it didn't move while I showered, then he was brave enough to have me do the same while he showered. Luckily it didn't move. When we were finally ready for bed, we discovered that instead of keeping bugs out, our mosquito net had trapped some in! We must have looked like such silly city-folk trying to get the bugs out, because neither of us were going to sleep with them inside. Finally we devised a plan that consisted of me lifting up the net for David to crawl under with a glass and a piece of paper to trap the HUGE moth. After he got the biggest one out, I had him go back in and get the other couple of little ones as well. After slathering ourselves with insect repellent, we did our best to get some rest before rising early for our game drive and then breakfast.

By this time we had already seen rhino, hippo, elephants, giraffe, zebra, warthogs, water buffalo, wildebeest, and various types of antelope. We even got out of the jeep and walked up to (several yards away) a mother rhino and her calf! We had seen practically everything there was to see except a crocodile. Before our last game drive, I had seen a girl from another group in the bathroom who told me that their guide had taken them right up to a crocodile. As we were embarking on our last drive, I asked our guide if he thought we would see one, and he said, "maybe, uh, probably not." Then I mentioned to him that the other group's guide had taken them right up to one, and that did it. Our guide would not be outdone. Without saying a word, he took us off the beaten path and all of a sudden just stopped the jeep and told us to wait there as he disappeared down a hill into the woods. About 5 minutes later he returned saying he had found one and to follow him. We still weren't sure what we were going to see this time, but he led us right up to this!
Yes, that is a huge crocodile, and that is the guide's shirt on the left, so you can see how close we were to it. Well, since the huge reptile wasn't doing anything, our guide proceeded to throw rocks at it to get it to move. About this time, we were all contemplating how quickly we could get back to the vehicle and if we would be able to find our way back to camp if our guide was eaten by the crocodile. Luckily, we didn't have to act on any of those mental plans since it never even flinched with the rocks pelting it. So we just turned around and headed back to the jeep. But although we didn't see it, we HAD disturbed the crocodile, and from the safety of the jeep, this is what we saw coming up the hill in right in front of us!He HAD been following us! Wow! What a close call! After that, we were ready to be done with the safari and pack up for the 45 minute jeep ride back to our car. Again I will mention that on that jeep ride, I have NEVER been SO HOT in my life! I could literally feel the sun burning and blistering my skin. But even with the tremendous heat, huge bugs, and close call with animals, I can still honestly say that it was worth every minute of it for the experience, and I'm so glad we did it.

Day 5 - Candles and Crafts

The first day we arrived in Swaziland, the guys took off to see about booking a safari for us, while Mom and I stayed and unpacked and visited with Ann. The men came back later with the good news that they were successful in booking a two day safari for us and that we would leave in two days. We knew we were going to need to bring back some authentic, handmade African souvenirs for lots of people, so the next day we went up to a place called the Candle factory where they sold hand made candles and lots of other crafts too.
The candles were amazing! The women would shape and form the wax into figures of animals and all kinds of other things. Some of them used brightly colored and patterned wax and some were just plain looking, but they were all so well done. Here are a couple of pictures of the beautiful candles.We also looked around the craft market where vendors were not only selling but still making their crafts. In this picture, this man is hand-painting a giraffe he carved, and in the back ground you can see some of the batiks (material that has gone through an extensive dying process) as well as a few other craft tables behind him.After "shopping" out in the African heat, we had to stop and get a drink at this cute little cafe. You can also see one of their other famous crafts on the tables - hand woven mats. We actually did come home with candles, giraffes, batiks, mats, and other crafts as well.

That night we packed again, but this time for 2 days only, heading to the lowveld for our REAL safari!

Day 4 - Arriving in the Kingdom of Swaziland

We left bright and early to follow Grandpa to his new house a few hours away in the kingdom of Swaziland. That was all of our first time traveling to what Grandpa calls the "Switzerland of Africa". It was a rather uneventful trip other than the gorgeous scenery along the way, and the beautiful views from Grandpa and Ann's (his fiancee) community in the Ezulwini Valley, just outside Mbabane, the capital of Swaziland. Here are some of the pictures that I just love!








Before I move on with the adventures of the next day, I just want to mention a little bit about how the kingdom of Swaziland, the only kingdom in Africa, is ruled. First of all since it is a kingdom, it is ruled by a King and Queen. However, the the King and Queen are son and mother not husband and wife. The current king is allowed to choose a different wife every year, but the new wife must be of a different tribe than the king. The new king is then chosen by the tribal council from one of his wives who had an only son. That way there is no sibling rivalry, and the king is from a different tribe each time. The current King and Queen have multiple residences in the country. The one that we passed had a rock carving at the entrance with a lion to represent the King and a she elephant to represent the Queen.

Day 3 - Jo-burg Tourists

The next day we slept in a little and just enjoyed being on vacation with no real agenda that day. About mid-morning we decided that it would be a good day to go into downtown Johannesburg and be tourists for the day. My parent's didn't really care to go this time, so it was just us cousins and my Uncle William who took us. We ate outside at this little cafe overlooking a large square near the museum. Everything about being in that location reminded me of Mexico for some reason - the climate, the trees, the architecture, the big square (like the Mexican Zocalos). Here are a couple of pictures to show what I mean.









As we walked back to the car, Uncle William pointed out the DeBeers Diamond Building and explained to us that they have a monopoly on all the diamonds in world and diamonds are not as rare as we think they are. They have thousands of tons of diamonds in vaults there that they only release a certain number of a year. Also they own the entire west coast of Africa called the skeleton coast and they have guards posted there to keep people from collecting all the diamonds that scatter the beaches. That was very interesting to learn.
As we drove through the real downtown Jo-burg, I was starting to feel a need to be more cautious and I was really glad we had Uncle William with us. I would say that that was the most "unsafe" I felt on the whole trip. It felt a little bit like we were driving through the Bronx. We didn't stay downtown too long, and we never got out to walk on the streets (we would have stood out like a sore thumb if we had). Instead we parked in a parking garage and went up to the 50th floor of what used to be the tallest building in Africa, The Carlton Center. It had windows all the way around and you could see the whole city from every angle. It's a pretty big city - about the size of Chicago.On our way back home, Uncle William drove us past an even poorer area so we could see the contrast of lifestyles. This is a squatter camp. It is formed of little shacks thrown together with no electricity, running water or trash pickup. You would think that the people who live there have no work and are dirt poor, but that is not always the case. Some people were arriving home in suits heading back from their "white collar" jobs, but this is all they have known, so they are quite content to live this way. Seeing this area made us realize even more the large gap between upper and lower class in this country.

That evening after dinner we packed up our things, getting ready to leave that country and spend the week in Swaziland.

Day 2 - Lions and Tigers and - oh wait, no just lions...

The next day, Sunday morning, we went with my Aunt and Uncle to their church that they pastor. Since my dad and brother are so musically talented and since I sing, they both alternated playing electric guitar and bass, and I sang with some of the other women in a little choir. We had had a quick practice the night before to learn the songs, but were able to pick up on most of them pretty quickly, even some of the ones in Zulu. After church we all went out to an old classic little restaurant in Benoni, called Peoples. On the back wall of the restaurant, they have a mural of all the famous people that came from Benoni. If you look closely in the picture below, you can see the actress, Charlize Theron (second from the left on the bottom row in the mural). After lunch, we drove just a little ways out of town to the Lion Park. I had remembered going there many years ago and holding baby lion cubs, so I was excited to bring David this time and do that again. This time, the cubs were a little larger so we couldn't really hold them, but we did get a chance to go in and pet them. This one, that Jessica and I are petting, was so sweet! It just purred loudly and kept licking my hand.
One quick funny story about going into the lion cub cage...While we were waiting in line a bratty little Indian boy (about 4 years old maybe) was pitching a fit, screaming and trying to get in the gate where the lion cubs were. His little sister (probably about 12 years old) was nicely trying to restrain him. But he was just getting madder and louder and was starting to annoy the people (including us) standing in line - to the point where we were all muttering under our breath, "Just let him in if he wants to get in that badly". Finally it was our turn and we didn't pay that little boy any more attention until afterwards. As we were leaving, they were just getting a chance to go in. As soon as the little boy walked up to one of the lion cubs, it jumped on him and knocked him down. You could almost hear the quiet cheering of everyone who had been subject to his little temper tantrum earlier saying, "Yeah! Serves you right! You got what you deserved for being such a brat!" It was actually quite funny that everyone was happy he got "attacked" by the lion.

Anyway, moving on, we got in our car drove slowly around the rest of the lion park, taking pictures out the windows frequently. Here are a few of the best ones we got.On our way home from the Lion park we went to a "Vegas Style" casino with shops and restaurants etc... to meet my cousin, Michelle, and her husband, Richard, and 2 kids (who I had never met before) Rebecca and Noah. Unfortunately none of the pictures I took in there came out well, so I don't have any to show. But the place was really cool. Inside, the ceiling was painted like the sky and lit up. Plus the front of the shops looked like the outside of shops and streets in old world Italy. There were also live trees, lamp posts, fountains, and a stream that ran through the inside of this place. We ate at a nice italian restaurant there and had a wonderful time catching up with family. My dad also had arranged to meet an old friend of his who he hadn't seen in over 40 years, so he enjoyed catching up over dinner as well.
We went to bed that night knowing we would have one last day in Johannesburg before heading over to Swaziland for a week.

I'm Back! - Believe it or not

Well actually I never really went anywhere physically, but I just took a little sabbatical from my blog. No real reason other than I was just overwhelmed with the number of posts that I knew I needed to catch up on from our trip at the beginning of the year. But I'm not going to apologize this time or feel bad about leaving you all (however few it may be) hanging for nearly 3 months now. I am just going to jump right back into the South Africa trip recount and finish it all in 1 sitting so it's done. But I won't overwhelm you with one REALLY LONG post, so I will break it up by the days I have left and schedule blogger to post one each day. Then I will be caught up to the present and be able to post things as they occur at my leisure. So here goes...