oh what a beautiful safaaaaaaaaaari!

Oh where to begin.

I just had the best experience of my entire life! Now, I’m back in school and missing the laid-back vibe and general glow of happiness that comes with safari-ing (well, at least for me).

So, we flew to Johannesburg on a Tuesday night and the next morning a bushman (Alf) came to pick us up in a khaki-coloured shirt and a long goatee. He played the part to a tee for about the first two days. Then he showed us the real Alf and he turned out to be a really laid back and cool guy with amazing stories.

We headed to Kruger where we saw lions, elephants, zebras, wildebeests, giraffes, buffalo, hippos, warthogs, tons of birds, one cheetah, two leopards, and lots of game-y animals (kudu, springbok, impala, etc – they look like deer). What a thrill to see these animals in their natural element. A lion walked right by our covered vehicle on the night game drive. It was scary and exhilarating and amazing…

From Kruger, we headed to Zimbabwe where we toured the Great Zimbabwe Ruins, stayed overnight in a wildlife orphanage, saw Victoria Falls, and met all kinds of people. Zimbabwe is a heartbreakingly beautiful place. The people we met were so friendly and open and the country itself is breathtaking, but the country is crippled with poverty right now. Merchants on the street offered us loads of goods for our t-shirts or a pair of shoes. One US dollar is worth 10,000 Zimbabwean dollars. It’s just unreal… and sad. But… we honestly (and I feel somewhat guilty) had loads of fun, too. At the Chippengali Orphange we got to babysit a three-month old lion cub named Mischka. We also made friends with Bulayka (a black rhino – and the only big 5 animal we hadn’t seen yet). We watched the lions feed and got to pet them (post-feeding). We pet vervet monkeys and Jo and Chris held a cobra snake (which peed on them and tried to bite me! I had the most hysterically awesome look-of-fear of my life!.. so I’m told). We had dinner and drinks on a “booze cruise” on the Zambezi River where we got up close and personal with hippos and by the end of the night Annie was puking her life out in a dirty Zimbabwean toilet and I was crying over a Zimbabwean prostitute… long story. We went gorge-swinging at Vic Falls. Basically, you jump off a cliff and a rope catches you and you swing through a gorge. It was the most frightening experience of my life. I screamed and then it was like the breath was sucked out of me and I couldn’t even scream. I was just terrified. But the view was spectacular! We also flew on a zip line and crossed into Zambia… HA! And I didn’t’ even have to pay for a visa! We toured the actual falls, but me and one of the other girls (Jo) pooped out early because we were FREEZING and you couldn’t actually see the falls that well due to the mist.

From Vic Falls we headed into Botswana and enjoyed a sunset cruise where we saw 32 elephants bathing themselves in the river. We also saw tons of hippopotami and some giraffes. The sunset was spectacular and the company grand. The next morning we went on another game drive (half-asleep) although Chobe National Park was much more touristy than Kruger and I didn’t enjoy it as much. Then, we headed back to Jo-burg. We stayed for a couple of nights and ended up meeting a bunch of cool travelers and we took one home with us (James - an Englishman – He stayed with us for the next week)!

Then ERICA CAME! The weather was kind of shotty, but we toured Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens (where we found an Erica Garden, no joke). Then, we rented a car and took the Garden Route along the southern coast of South Africa. We stopped in Oudtshourn (pronounced Oats-wooorn) and “played” with some ostriches. Erica rode one! One tried to eat me! We watched a beautiful sunset at Plettenburg Bay and got to feed elephants at Knysna Elephant Park. Before I knew it, she was back on plane and I was back at school. So goes my 2 ½ week holiday! Again, I had the most amazing experience of my life. I laughed more than I have in a year and made at least one true friend. I say goodbye to Africa in just over two weeks… I can’t believe it. I’m excited to come home and see all my people, but I will miss it here. Guess that’s life…

No pictures yet, but I will have some up soon. For those of you on facebook, I’m already tagged in some pictures from the other safariers…so check them out. LOVE!