Kruger/ Tshukudu

Ok, so we are now done with our South African bush adventures, which were great! I actually have been able to access email and internet, but I decided not to do any updates and just enjoy the time. I guess I will start at the beginning and just work through our few days in the bush!
We drove for hours to get here (near Hoedspruit if you want to know) from Joburg. We got to the place in the evening and met ours rangers, Jakes and Ian (one of the brothers that run the place). The very first night, after only a few minutes in the camp, they took us out for a drive, and it was one of the best of the stay! We saw elephants, lions, cheetahs, and I don't know what else. It was dark out, too so it was even better with just the truck headlights and a hand held spotlight. Now I will mention the food at the bush camp. It was awesome! It was all homemade, and everyone has pretty much decided that it was the best food of the trip.
Our sleeping situation was very rugged. The male students all slept in bunk beds that were above the bathrooms, with short walls that didn't reach the ceiling. There were only nets to close the gap. At night we could hear lions, monkeys, hyenas...
The first morning, we met Ikillyou (that's how they said it was spelled, pronounced akeelah). She was a very big, 2 year old lion. We walked around in the bush with her. Ian and Jakes were even playing with her! At one point, she ran through the group of us, which was pretty exciting. We got to touch Akeelah if she went by, so now I've touched a lion! We went for some more drives, and saw hippos, rhinos, buffalo, wildebeest, as well as many antelope type things, like impala. We learned a lot about the bush and how to survive, but most importantly, how to spit poop. (The action should rhyme, but I'll skip that) Some people tried the giraffe poop and failed miserably. Later, though, on one of the roads, Ian found a pile of impala poop with a few giraffe pellets. He drew a line while jakes marked out the record, and we had a competition. I tried 3 times, giraffe, impala, impala, and won! I even beat Jakes's one try! So I got a free fanta as a prize. By the way, the pop cans in SA are bottom heavy! Oh, and I was the one to spot the only rhinos that we saw! I actually became one of the best spotters, if I must say. Later that day, we met Savannah. We had seen her in a video already, lounging by the lodge pool. We also met her three cubs. These cheetahs were very, very fun and nice. Everyone touched her, but we weren't to touch the cubs. Not because Savannah would reject them or anything, but because we might give them cat flu from domestic cats. Later we got to touch a cub at Ian's brother's house. Near the cheetahs' enclosure was a lion in another, a wild dog, and a leopard in each their own. Also that day we saw more elephants, and they put on a great show, posing and even coming up to the vehicle allowing us to touch them. Elephants feel weird!
The last full day we got to experience something very unique. We were able to assist in a leopard release! They first darted her, which didn't really work, so they ended up giving her about 3 or 4 shots of the stuff, which doesn't hurt, only lasts longer. We got to touch her, and I helped carry her out of the enclosure to the release spot. Also yesterday, we saw giraffes finally, also a caracal (look it up, it's cool). The best thing was when we went to the lion breeding project that they have and listened to lions roar. The lion was right up by the fence probably less than 2 meters away from the truck! It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen, and is such a unique sound that no recording device could do it proper, especially with the echos by other males and nearby females. Another male we saw started getting mad at the few people up by the fence, but it was pretty exciting. On our last drive last night, I was holding the "torch", and we saw some elephants in a clear area. It was really fun when Jakes started irritating the bull, and because it was dark, I was to keep the light on it to make sure it didn't charge us. At the same time, a female and baby were at a distance, on the other side of the truck! I forgot, one morning we walked with two very large nine month old lion cubs, the same way we did with akeelah. And got to touch them.
I am probably forgetting hundreds of things, since we did so much, so if I happen to remember something, I will add it. This trip has been great, but I can't wait to get home and eat normal food, sleep in my bed, and have my cell phone back in my right pocket where it belongs. So many times on this trip I have gone to my right pocket just out of habit, only to realize that it isn't there. I already remembered something... I am wearing a bracelet that I made out of the fibers from a plant called something like mother in law's tongue. The fibers are incredibly strong, and they said it's great for bush ropes. I also have a bracelet made of the hair at the end of an elephant's tail, although Jakes was trying to tell me that it's actualy giraffe. I confirmed with Ian that it was in fact elephant. Giraffe is thin, but the elephant is about 2 mm thick, and feels like a plastic wire. Ok, done for now

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Crap shoot

I beat everyone in a poop spitting contest today, even the South African. I'm sipping my prize fanta now.

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I thought I was done learning once school was out!

Well I just made up the post about yesterday, because I went to bed right away last night, so here is what we did today.
This morning I felt a lot better than yesterday. We first went to the Apartheid museum, and for everyone who isn't sure how to pronounce Apartheid, the way they say it in South Africa is apartaid. It was very interesting to see. I learned a lot throughtout the trip from our guides, so I already knew way more than I did before coming, but the museum was good to put it all together. Mostly I enjoyed the pictures! One thing that reallt stuck with me was the fact that the separation was part of every tiny detail of daily life. It was highlighted by a collage of pictures of signs of different things like stores that were one color, beaches, train stations, everything. It is almost ridiculous. It also surprises me that a government would spend so much money and time holding over 90 percent of the populatoon from advancing in any way at all. It just amazes me that a system like that would last at all! Hitler's Nazi party was at least a somewhat majority, and they had control, while in South Africa it was total white domination while creating slums and simply holding back a huge majority of the people from advancing!
After the museum we went to the old Mandela home at 8115 Vilakazi(?) St. In Soweto. It was really small, as all the homes were, and there wasn't a whole lot to look at. The interesting thing was the bullet marks on the outside. They also told us that Nelson's wife, Winnie put up a bulletproof wall at one point so that the kids could go behind it to escape shooting when it would occur.
One of the most exciting events of the trip was the Masibambisane center, where kids go after school. The kids are pretty much all affected by AIDS, either having it themselves or family members, and some have been orphaned due to AIDS. We first toured the place, and saw the daycare area for little kids, the garden, playground, kitchen, and computer lab with just 4 computers. Then we got the chance to talk with the kids while they finished up some lessons. One mission of the center is to teach the kids hygiene, and the group of 6th graders (I think) that I met with were learning just that. The kids were very interested in the US and one girl even wanted to visit very badly. Once they finished, they cleared away all the tables and chairs, and we began a session of singing and dancing games. I was lucky that I had made friends with some kids already, and they helped me to learn the games very quickly! One game we had to "introduce ourselves", one was a succession of different motions, adding one each time. One game we even kept playing once the kids left, called big booty! I think everyone enjoyed the place a ton. For dinner we went to Wandie's place. Not much to say about it. Tomorrow we are off to Kruger, so don't expect any updates for a couple days!

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Not my favorite day of the trip...

Yesterday I did not feel good all day, which was very unfortunate, we had a really exciting evening. In the morning we went to Sterkfontein caves in the Cradle of Humankind. I threw up on the way to the caves, though, so I missed out. We then went to Drimolen cave where we met Dr. Colin Mentor, a paleoanthropologist. He has been working at the site for over ten years. The Cradle of Humankind contributes to about 30-40 percent of all the knowledge we have of pre-human ancestors, I believe. I could be wrong with the numbers. It's a lot though, but often gets overlooked due to finds like the famous Lucy. The area near Joburg has given some very important fossils that truly help scientists.
After Drimolen, we went to Lesedi Cultural Village, where we learned about the different cultures of the Xhosa, Pedi, Sotho, Ndbele(maybe wrong spelling), and Zulu peoples of southern Africa. At the end of the village tour, they did a song and dance, which was really cool, and Daniel even got the chance to "fight" a Zulu "warrior". Then dinner was an event all its own. The menu included ostrich, crocodile, venison, and many other things, even "beans that thunder the buttocks". I only had some bread and ostrich soup, though, as my stomach couldn't handle very much. By the way, it was nice to have Stacey around to be my mom all day!

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Last day in CapeTown, but exciting!

We had an incredibly busy day today, and ended up in Johannesburg at the end of it. Breakfast was great at the Breakwater Lodge, and then it was off to see the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. Both places had awesome views of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, False Bay, and all the mountains surrounding False Bay. It was very cool to be there, where explorers first set foot on the southern tip of Africa. While in the nature reserve we saw Chacma baboons, an Eland, and two other types of "boks" or antelopes. The road into the reserve went right past an ostrich farm, so in total we saw many species that I've never seen or will see. But the animal spotting wasn't over when we left the reserve. We then followed the bay side of the peninsula/ cape to Boulders Beach, where there is a large colony of African penguins. After seeing the penguins in their natural place, we headed to SANCCOB, which is a rehabilitation center or hospital for sick or injured sea birds, mainly penguins. They are the ones that clean the oil off of birds after an oil spill. To get there, we followed the bay and saw some really cool towns, beaches, houses, and the view of the rest of the bay was again, amazing. At SANCCOB, we got to meet the penguins Rocky and Columbine. They were both very nice penguins and were very willing to let us all pet them and hold them. Those two penguins, along with a few others and some birds of other species, are permanent inhabitants at the center due to injuries or maladies that prevent the keepers from returning them to the wild. Many birds only stay for a little while, when the workers clean them or treat whatever is wrong. There is even an ICU for the sickest birds! We got to se some volunteers feed some african penguins. Some penguins take the fish from the feeder- "free feeding", while some must have the fish put down their throat- "force feeding". The penguins get fed twice a day and eat about 3 or 4 fish each time. They are able to digest every part of the fish. After they ate, as demonstrated by Columbine, the penguins shiver to settle everything in their stomach.
After SANCCOB, we said good bye to Cape Town and our wonderful guide Thabi, whose name I am spelling by guessing, as I never saw it written, only said. It is pronounced like tahbee. I put the th in, because she is from Lesotho, pronounced lesootoo. She tought us how to make the three click noises used in african languages, and some of us got ok at it, while others struggled. I think I am able to say Xhosa, the name of one of the languages that uses the clicks, and is Nelson Mandela's original tongue. Our flight to Joburg was very interesting, with a flight crew that had a sense of humor. They told us if we didn't like the person we were sitting next to, that we could move, something about ass-ets, that we will be searched for weapons on the way out, if we didn't have one, we would be issued one (making fun of Joburg's crime I believe. On the way out of the plane she told us that if the person in front of us was moving to slow we should just push them!
So today was quite exciting, but tomorrow we have the Sterkfontein caves, as well as others, and will surely have a busy day again, just in a new place.

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And we can't forget dinner!

I was thinking so much about the sharks that I forgot all about our dinner on the way back o the hotel. We stopped at Sharon's house, where we first participated in a fun drumming event with Jembe drums. The three leaders were very good. Then we sat down for a home cooked south african meal. All of it was very, very good. The dessert was enjoyed by all. It was some sort of "pudding" which actually looked more like a bread or cake, but was really good. Our guide Alan said we will probably have it again sometime, so I will figure out exactly what it is then if possible. Then we came back to the hotel and now I'm going to bed

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When the shark bites...

Today we finally got to see the sharks that everyone has been waiting for. Yesterday we did the scuba training just incase we wouldn't have been able to go out on the boat to see the sharks. However, we did get to go, and it was a lot of fun.
It took about two hours to drive from Cape Town to Gansbaai, where the shark diving company is located. The drive was very scenic, with mountains, vineyards, and ocean! When we got there, they served us breakfast, and then we went up the street to hear a presentation on the great white shark from a local marine biologist. Then we got on the boat for an approx. 15 minute ride out to the dive spot. Where we dived is called shark alley, and is with two islands, Dyer island and Seal island(I think it has another name). Penguins live on Dyer, and on seal island, there are about 60,000 cape fur seals. These two animals are good fod for the sharks, making it probably yhe best place to view great whites in the world! What happened was that you got into a wetsuit and then they put soapy goggles on your face and you got in the cage. Whenever a shark would come by, a crew member, or all, would yell in their South African/ Afrikaaner accents, "get down, down, down! Shark on the left on the left, down down!" Then you were to take a breath and pull yourself down to the viewing window. I went in the cage twice. The first time was uneventful for a long time, but then it picked up and was pretty good. The second time I went was even better, with two or three sharks hanging around in the area. There was one shark that was enormous! When I was changing out of my suit, I heard a bunch of commotion and later saw on video that one of the sharks went for the bait heading right at the cage. It took the bait and turned to the side, but it then hit the cage with its side. When it started swimming away it was near the surface and splashed the divers with its tail fin. It was a reallt cool experience, and probably something that I won't ever get the chance to do again. I can't wait to see how all the pictures turn out, and see the video that DSA took, above and below the water. It should be pretty good. We're taking a break from group blogging and photos today, so keep checking, and they'll be there eventually. Tomorrow's plan is to see the african penguins at SANCCOB and possibly go to table mountain, then cape of good hope, then to the airport to fly to johannesburg.

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