Kitty

So one day this little kitten showed up at our house and she was meowing and seemed rather hungry. Avoiding the huge signs posted all over our house by our landlord June, that read ‘No pets allowed,’ we started feeding her and let her sleep inside. We decided we could keep her at least for a couple of weeks while they are out of town in Joburg. We haven’t thought it out what we will say if she catches us or what we are going to do with her when they are home, but we will figure that out when the time comes. She is way to cute to not keep. We had her for a couple of days, told some people that we had found a kitten and then one morning she took off. We thought we might not see her again and it was a bit awkward when the owner came by and asked if we had seen a gray kitten. Ok, so I didn’t lie but I said that we had seen her around but that we hadn’t seen her that morning because that was the morning she peaced out. It took kitty (which we have yet to name – but little kitty seems to be what we have settled on) a day and a half to make her way back – but she did. And you better believe that we were the happiest parents in the world. The only bad thing about her is that she is a little bit crazy and she eats us out of house and home – and of course she only really likes to eat meat and not anything cheap. As I am writing this she is standing on my desk and batting everything off of it. Then she proceeds to bat it around my room. I am blaming her for the condition of my room right now. But oh well, it is worth having her around. She is an excuse for me to stay in and do nothing. Although it gets me the title – crazy cat lady – but I don’t even care. 

Addo Elephant Park and the Cheetah Farm

Addo Elephant Park

near Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

(Really enjoyed renting a car and getting to drive around at our own pace searching and looking for wildlife. They also offer tours, if you would rather go that route! All in all it's a pretty good park and a great place to see some elephant!) 

Elizabeth and Vanessa (girls from California living in the bantry) came and picked me up in the car around 5:30 in the morning! It was still pretty dark out but the sun was just starting to rise over the ocean as we were driving by. So of course we had to stop and take a picture of this lovely sunrise and of the pier in P.E.

We only had some directions that Elizabeth had looked up online that were not very specific. So of course we got lost. First of all we had gone the long way around, it took us almost 2 hours to get there when it could have taken us 45 minutes. But we got lost and missed the turn so we had to stop and ask someone. The thing was finding someone. We were lucky an older man was walking down the lane that we pulled into. He told us where to go, so we turned around and headed back the way we came. We finally made it to Addo Elephant Park. We paid our 35 Rand, got our map and started figuring out where we wanted to go. As we stated driving we didn’t see much, just some pretty scenery and maybe some kudo, which we had seen a lot of.

This park had so many rules.. no getting out of the car.. no running over poop or dung beetles because they are protected there! So you have to watch for massive elephants and also small little black bugs!

We turned around a corner and I spotted some Zebra. So we sat and watched them for a while and then moved on. We saw lots of other things, some wart hogs and more kudu and other deer.

However, we hadn’t seen an elephant until we hit this one area where there were about 10 other cars and safari trucks (that's always a good hint)! There were some hiding in some bushes and we could barely see them so I tried to stick my head out of the window but was standing inside the car. We weren’t allowed to get out of our car, but I wasn’t technically out so I thought it was ok (foreshadowing...). We drove a little farther and found a huge herd of elephants. I was still kind of hanging out of the car at this point because I was trying to get the best view of the elephants. It was my first time seeing elephants in the ‘wild’ in South Africa. I feel as though it wasn’t much of the wild – since there were paved roads and fencing, but for me it was close enough to the wild ! 

I was minding my own business, taking pictures when a safari truck reversed quickly and pulled up right next to me. Mind you he had a truck load of tourists. He said firmly yelling through the window on the other side of the car, ‘Ma’am that is an 800 Rand fine.’ I sat back down and said, ‘What?’ He said, ‘You were out of your car and that is a fine.’ I explained to him that I didn’t think leaning out of the car technically meant that I was out of my car. I really honestly didn’t know other wise I wouldn’t have been doing it. He said that an elephant could charge and kill me, that it was for my own safety. I was freaked out the rest of the time because I thought they were going to make me pay. The guy said he had my picture and our license plates. I tried not to let it ruin my day.

I decided I would drive, to keep me from getting into more trouble or having to pay more fines! I was having a bit of trouble, then we found out that the parking break was still on! That was the issue. I did much much better after that. It was a pretty easy route. There were not to many cars so it was perfect. I don’t even think I stalled it when I was stopping and going. The only time I did was when I was trying to turn around. I got nervous because there was a car sitting and waiting for me! But I managed to do it. I got it turned around and got out of there. I don’t think I did to bad of a job. Maybe? I guess you'd have to ask my passengers! 

We got out of the park with no problems. I wasn’t on a wanted list or anything so I felt much better! Then we headed into town so we could get some food. It was a small little town with not to many choices especially on a Sunday. We finally found a restaurant as part of a hostel. I got a burger and some ice cream for dessert. The burger was amazing – it had pineapple and a sweet sauce. I loved it!

Daniell Cheetah Farm.

(A very nice little farm. The tour guide was very knowledgable and I felt like I was in his backyard! We even chatted about my 800 rand fine scare. We got to hold and pet and touch all the animals -- the ultimate petting zoo! I would highly recommend going here!)

Then we headed back to Daniell Cheetah Farm that we had passed that morning. We paid 50 Rand to get a tour and pet cheetahs and lions oh as well as some house cats. We learned that cheetahs can run around 100-120 km per hour! They also have claws like dogs, non-retractable. The cheetah we met was a 5-year-old female. She was so patient and purred so loud, like if a cat would be compared to a small electric car then this cheetah would have been a semi with no muffler! It was amazing to be so close to such a large and endangered animal. We learned that they don’t have a very high survival rate in the wild because after they catch there pray then have to wait about 15-20 minutes before they can start eating it because there body is so tired. That is usually when the food gets taken and sometimes their life as well.

After seeing the bigger cheetahs we walked by the babies. We weren’t able to play with him because he was to big and would probably end up hurting us. Not that they were mean but it would probably happen in them trying to play! 

This would be Mr. Timon and his little family!

And this is Pumbaa... 

'ummmmm, you know when we do this it makes you look like an alien with one eye, right? You look so silly!'

And this would be (a cat thing of some sort).

'Hey guys I can totally see you in there eating tuna and drinking milk without me. I see how it is... just ignore me and pretend like you can't see me! But I'm still here!'

Then we headed over to the lions. They had 1-month-old baby lions that we were able to hold and play with. It was like playing with a kitten (except they were much bigger and dirtier). We got tons of pictures and had to be told to leave.

We finally left the farm after seeing lots of different types of cats, returned the car returned and made it home. I had a pretty interesting story to share and tons of great pictures to show for it! I am glad I finally made it to Addo and got to travel with those 2 girls. It was fun being with a different group!

And how hilarious is this? The house cat was totally unfazed about be stalked by a lion, even took some time to rub it's nose on this fence. I bet this might be a different story in a month or two when the baby lion is 3 or 4 times that big!

Victoria Falls – Zambia and Zimbabwe (May 12 - 15)

Flying in to Livingstone, Zambia - the white is all the mist from Victoria Falls.

Mosi - the local beer.

Bridget and I before the booze/dinner cruise

From the dinner cruise

one of the little girls at the Local Cowboy School we visited in Livingstone

Spices and grains in the local market

Cooking peanut like nuts (ground nuts I think). She is wearing a chitanga (a piece of cloth tied around the waist) - something all women in the market wear. So we of course had to get them as well. The people loved that we were dressing like them  and complimented us!

Victoria falls from the Zambia side - this is the side we got wet on (torrential downpour in one part!)

V - for Victoria Falls (on the Zimbabwe side)

Zimbabwe - breath taking view 

Zimbabwe as well - I would have to say I might have liked this side better but I am glad I did both sides

 The day started off with me waking up at 4:10 in the morning so that we could leave by 4:30 and get to the airport in time for our 6:20 flight. I am not very happy in the mornings especially at that time but I got up and was making sure I had everything, hoping that the Annies Cove people wouldn’t forget me! Shawn, Alyssa, Patrick, Sarah, Hannah, Bridget, Coleen, and I went on the trip. We all got to the airport and made it through security. So we waited and waited and finally got on the plane to head to Joburg. We sat around in that airport and waited for our plane to Livingston. We got on that plane and headed for the falls. When we got closer we looked out and could see the falls from our plane. It was an amazing view of the 7^th wonder of the world! We were so excited to see them from the ground. We landed around 1:30, filled out the visa form and waited in line. We had to have US dollars to get it (which was a little strange) but Hannah, Bridget and I didn’t have dollars so we had to go exchange Kwacha (which we got out of the ATM) for dollars. We needed 80 dollars for the visa, which equaled about 400,000 Kwacha! It was so scary taking out that much money – even though it wasn’t that much. However it was pretty cool being a millionaire while I was there! We finally got it sorted out and were able to pay for the visa, which it turned out we probably could have gotten away with out paying. This was because they took all of our passports and stamped them and gave them a receipt before 3 of us had paid. Patrick told us this afterwards. But I still don’t think I would have not paid – I wouldn’t want to be stuck in Zambia jail for the rest of my life! (Although it was a gorgeous country with spectacular people!)

We made it to our hostel – Jolly Boys Backpackers – and got settled into our rooms. We paid for the room (which could have been paid in Dollars, Kwacha or Rand – mass confusion I tell you!). But I must admit I got pretty good at math and figuring out how much things would cost in all the different currencies. However, at first we were so confused by the money we would just set out what we had and le the people take what they needed. Good thing they were honest – at least we hope! We also booked and paid for a booze cruse that we would be going on that night, which we left at 3:30 for. We got down to the Zambizi River and waited for the boat to get ready for us to storm onto it. After we were all on the bartender opened the bar and it was all you can drink and then later all you can eat! Not a good idea to let college students have an all you can drink bar! They went crazy – well except for Coleen and I. I tried a sip of the local beer – Mosi – just to say I had it and to compare it to the local beer of Mozambique (which I think I liked better!) We rode on the boat and looked for animals, which we ended up seeing hippos and a crocodile. Just before the sun was about to set they served us sausage, chicken, coleslaw and a roll. It was so good and you better believe that I ate a lot – had to get my moneys worth (my mom has taught me well). Watching the sunset over the river was spectacular – so worth the 40 dollar price of admission. We were in ZAMBIA and it was amazing. I was with some of my really good friends here and we had a great time taking pictures, eating, drinking and of course there was lots of laughing. When we got off the boat we hung out in a little sand bar on the shoreline. We had the whole dance floor to ourselves. So we took advantage of it and danced for a while under the disco ball with our shoes off and feet in the sand! It was amazing – everyone was crazy and dancing and snapping pictures. I am pretty sure the few locals who were sitting at the bar were entertained! Everyone was drunk at 6 so you better believe that we had an early night. We went back to the hostel, sat around for a little while talking and people were drinking more. Then 9:30 hit and we were all in the room ready for bed.

The next morning the Chobby National Park people left around 7 to head out for their safari trip. Hannah, Coleen and I decided to hang back and see what we could do in Zambia for the day. I kind of wanted to go but I had already seen most of the animals (except for Cheetahs and Elephants, which I can see really close to P.E.) so decided I would try to find something else to do for the day. So we got up around 8, got breakfast and decided to go on a bike tour of Livingston. We left at 11, with the Local Cowboy (or so he calls himself). He was a skinny black man wearing a cowboy hat! He also brought a helper along as well to help carry things and make sure we were on the right path. We discussed where we wanted to go and decided to see the school that he started down in the small village just outside of the main town – it was pretty similar to the townships around here. So we got down to the school where we were greeted by lots of small children. One of the teachers showed us around the 4-roomed school and the kids wanted us to take their picture! Then didn’t understand that they need to stand back in order for me to get them in the frame but you better believe that after I took a picture they ran up to me so they could see it! It was such a great experience seeing the school that these kids go to and getting to ask the teachers questions.

We got back onto the bikes and headed into the township market. We were the only white people in the market, which had to be pointed out to me later. It is crazy how fast I am getting used to being the minority. When someone asked if I realized I was the only white person the whole day, I thought back no that couldn’t be because the teachers were white.. no wait they were all black.. oh there had to have been at least one.. but I don’t think there was. It just shows that people are people and it doesn’t matter what color of skin they have. God made them and loves everyone the same. I didn’t feel uncomfortable once or like everyone was staring at me.. well except for one instance. When we got to the market we started walking around the narrow isles filled with people (mostly women) and lots of fruit, vegetables, nuts, spices and even some chunks of special dirt that women eat when they are pregnant – interesting! We came up to one stand where our guide started speaking with her. As we were getting water he told us the lady had told him that we needed to be wearing chitengas (pieces of colorful cloth that the ladies would wear around their waist). Our guide, Local Cowboy, told us that the bottom half is what needs to be covered, that the top half doesn’t matter as much. However, for us in the Western world it is the opposite I feel like. As we were walking to the shop selling the chitengas, I started to notice a lot of people staring at us and they viewed us as outsiders. However, when we bought and put on our chitengas for 15,000 Kwatcha – the women in the streets all told us how wonderful we looked. They smiled at us – we had become like one of them. We walked around for a while buying produce, not that we really needed it but it was great to help out the locals. We bought tomatoes, okra, onions, and even a weird fruit that you crack open and there a little white dried up seeds that I later found out were essentially baking powder (I think). My favorite was when I went up to a young lady selling bananas. I asked her how much and she said 2,000 Kwatcha for 4 bananas. I gave her my money (which equals about 50 cents) and she had me pick out 4. Then as I was getting ready to leave she grabbed one more and shoved it in the bag. She handed me the bag and said have a nice day. I thanked her and walked away. It was amazing to see someone who has so little giving me some of what they had. I wanted to give her a hug and give her something more of mine, but instead I just accepted the kind gift and walked away. I will never forget how warm and loving the people in that small township in Livingston were. As we were getting ready to leave we stopped by one more shop and tried another local food. It was essential a doughnut – a fried ball of sweet dough. It was delicious.

We finally made it home after having to walk up the large hill to get back to the main town. It is so interesting to me how in almost every city I have been in – the rich live on the hill and the poor live below. It shows symbolism in that the rich feel as though they are above the poor. I just wonder how this all came about. Anyway we made it back home and told our two guides good-bye. It was such a wonderful experience and I felt as though the people were nicer and friendlier towards me. They didn’t seem shy or timid towards us, even though we were white. It doesn’t seem that way in South Africa. I feel as though a lot of the blacks are not as friendly towards me but I feel that comes from the Apartheid years. Don’t get me wrong it is not as though they are mean or anything – they just don’t seem as friendly and warm towards me.

The rest of the day we spent swimming and laying by the pool. It was a perfect end to a hot day riding a bike. That evening we hung out as a group and were in bed by 9:30 – man we were like old people. Haha

We woke up on Saturday fairly early to eat breakfast (I had my usual – a museli parfait – which was plain yogurt, museli (essentially granola – soooo good) bananas and honey. It was bomb. Then we got ready and jumped on a bus headed to the falls at 10:00. We got to the falls, paid to get into the park on the Zambia side and started down one of the trails. We couldn’t see much from the trail but when we could see part of the falls we were so excited. Even though we could barely see the falls we could still feel the mist and it was crazy to see the difference in the terrain between where the mist fell and where it didn’t. You better believe that one half was dead and the other was living and green! We turned around and headed back to try a different trail – this time we were headed straight into the falls. We started our hike and were staying fairly dry (which was important since we all had our cameras with us). However, then we reached a point where they were renting ponchos out for 1 dollar. I had a rain jacket so I put that over me and my book bag hoping I would stay dry – not a chance. We walked down the trail and the rain started and it got harder and harder to a point we could barely see anything. We decided to turn back and come up with a new plan. There was no way we wanted to take our cameras in fear that they might get ruined by the torrential downpour. So half of us stayed back – Colleen, Bridget, Sarah and I. The rest went in. They were so wet when they came out even though they were wearing ponchos. It was our turn. We first had to climb up a slippery ramp in the pouring rain with the falls crashing bellow us and to our right. We made it up with out slipping or dying, success! We continued our journey of getting drenched and not seeing much most of the time. However, there were a couple of points where if we waited long enough the mist from the falls would evaporate and we could see the falls. It was beautiful. We also saw some rainbows and I have to admit it was pretty fun walking out next to the falls and getting drenched. We finally made it back to the group feeling like wet puppies. My underwear was soaked but I was prepared and had brought extra shorts. Thank goodness because my biggest pet peeve is wet underwear!

We then walked up a trail to see where the falls started. We could see the large river and the water falling over the edge. We all had to get out on the rock and get our picture taken with the rushing water behind us. Mom would have been freaking out.. one wrong move and we would have been over the falls! (well maybe not but probably). Then we decided who was going to the Zimbabwe side and who wasn’t. There were 6 of us going and 2 stayed back. So Patrick, Bridget, Shawn, Alyssa, Colleen and I headed to the border. We walked and got stamped out of Zambia. Then we walked a while to get to Zimbabwe where we had to fill out paper work (like when entering any country) so that we could get our visa. We stood in a long line and when everyone was finally done we made our way across a huge bridge (which gave a us a great view of the falls) and then we hiked another mile or so up the hill to the town of Victoria Falls. Mind you it was about 1:00 in the afternoon and we were hot, wet, tired, and hungry! So our first stop was to get money out of the ATM (which gave us dollars because Zim uses US dollars!) and then we looked for food. We found a place with different fast food places. So I got a medium veggie pizza with pineapple and the works and finished it.

We then looked around the markets where I bought a couple Nyoni’s (something like that), which are little dragons that have some story behind it but they bring good luck. We headed down to the falls and paid 30 dollars to get into the Zim side. We walked into the park and started out on the trial. We immediately stopped and figured out all the money we paid to get there was worth it. We could see all of the falls and there was a double rainbow. It is hard to describe and the pictures don’t do it justice – you will all just have to make it there someday! It is truly amazing – we were there during the winter when the water is falling the most. During the summer here the water only trickles. The sound of the crashing water and the beauty of the water and mist was unreal. I loved every minute of it. We took a walk and were almost running because we were so excited to see more of the falls. We kept going to the different look out points and we would take pictures – trying to keep our cameras dry. We spent an hour and a half maybe in the park – I could have spent all day but it was going to be getting dark soon and we didn’t want to get stuck in Zim or be walking around at night. So we headed our of the park, picked up Colleen (since she didn’t go in) and this is when the money started leaving my pocket. I felt like Andrew – it was burning a hole. I walked out with a lot of souvenirs and not much money.. but it was a great day in Zimbabwe.

We made it back that night and chilled at the hostel, ordered food, and I made some of the food we had bought in Zambia. We played a game or two and were in bed around 10. We got up the next morning, packed our things and headed into the market in town to find more chitangas. A few of us decided that was how we were going to spend our remaining Kwatcha. The town didn’t have much so we decided to head into the township where we knew they would have them! We found a shop selling them for 7,500 kwatcha – which we tried to bargain down to 5,000 since we would be buying somewhere around 30 however he wouldn’t budge any lower than 7,000. It took us a while to pick out our favorites, but we finally got all that we needed and headed back to the hostel. We sat around for a while before we left for the airport, which we arrived way to early. But I guess better early then miss the plane (although I wouldn’t have minded staying in Zambia for a couple extra days! The airport was super tiny and it was funny to see how little they cared about security (or so I thought). But as we waited we sat around and played with the airport cat! (yup a cat roaming around the airport) such a funny site! Then we started boarding the plane. And when by bag went through they wanted it to go through again. So I put it back and she told me I couldn’t have the scissors that I had in there, which I have had in my bag since who knows when. So I had to dig around and find them and give them to the lady. She also made Sarah take out a metal spoon that she had in her bag. I decided that they lady just picked out thinks she needed and told us to give them to her! Haha.

We boarded and headed to Joburg, which we got business class again – nice big seats and at the front of the plane so we could get off faster! We felt pretty cool. They fed us and gave us free drinks – all that we could hold. The sandwich was amazing and so was the mango and tomato juice. I also got some wine to try but then give to everyone else since wine is really not that good! We made it to Joburg, sat around their for awhile and boarded our next plane to P.E. No business class on this one but we did get an awesome meal of chicken, noodles a role and some cheesecake with a beautiful sunset happening outside. I wasn’t complaining at all! We made it to P.E. in about an hour and a half. I watched out the window as we flew out over the ocean so that we could turn around and land at the airport. I could see the college and recognized a lot of the buildings. We made it home about 8 and I slept like a baby. It was such a great trip, nothing bad happened and we all got along great. I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend!

Easter Break – Pongola/ Mozambique and Durban

So now that you know the story about the SA roadlink bus – you know how my trip began. So I guess you could say only uphill from there.. and it was. We got to Pongola about 11:00 on Friday and met the family. We got some food, rest and a shower. Then we went on a game drive where we saw lots of Impala, Giraffe and other African wildlife. We also got a tour of the game lodges and got to see where they were putting in a new swimming pool. It was fun to listen to the kids describe everything and point this out. Beyonca (11) was a little tour guide barbie and Dylan (5) was just running around doing whatever little boys do. Merinda was super sweet and took care of us and introduced us to the people working. We sat around and chatted for a while – they mostly spoke in Afrikaans but sometimes one of them would translate to us so that we would know what was going on! We headed back that night and ate an amazing lamb that Merinda made and hung out with the family. After dinner we got the Implala ready for the braai that would be happening the next night at their hourse. There were two sets of hind legs and tail that we had to inject with marinade and pig fat. We first had to cut a hole into the muscle – then we stuck our finger in to open it up so we could get the fat and marinade in. It was actually a fun but messy process.

We went to bed early and got up the next morning and hung out with the family and went on another game drive with Brian. We didn’t see to much in the morning but after lunch we went back out with the whole family and we got to see much more. We also went into town with Merinda that day and got to see the happenings of Pongola. It was a cute little town where everyone knows everyone. I really enjoyed being in a small town again. It felt like home. On the way home we drove by all the sugar cane fields – which is a huge part of what they farm up that way and apparently Breana and I (along with lots of people) are very allergic to it. Good think I was on my allergy meds but I could still feel it. Funny thing how I am allergic to sugar cane – good think I am not allergic to the product.

That night was the braai for one of their friend’s birthdays. It was so fun to get to meet a lots of people – even though they were much older. We got to try the meat from the back of the Impala, which was very tender and amazing. (almost as good as ostrich steak – which I love way more than beef steaks! Hopefully they have them in the states!) We also tried bacon and cherries – which was great as well. Then we filled up on more meat, veggies, bread, and salads and then came the dessert – rich chocolate balls. I may or may not have eaten about 8. I hadn’t had good rich dessert in so long – it was amazing. The rest of the night was spent sitting around the fire and one of the guys played some songs. We knew a few of them and if we knew them they wanted us to sing out and they thought that we should know all the words and be able to help them out… however they were disappointed because I barely knew any of the words! They even have a version of froggy went a courting in Afrikaans and they were surprised that we had it in English

We got up the next day (Easter actually) and hung our for a little while. It is interesting to me that they don’t really do much for Easter her in SA. They didn’t hide eggs or get candy.. I guess it just shows that we are just crazy, fat Americans who need excuses to eat excesses amounts of candy. We instead got the boat ready and headed out to a nearby lake for the afternoon. I hadn’t been on a boat in a while so it was great to be back on one. We got to see some hippo and lots of different birds but the best was when we got to see the Rhino. We were really lucky to see them I guess and I think we are the only ones out of our group to see them. It was a dad, mom and baby bull who came down to the waters edge to get a drink. They moved so slowly. We just kept getting closer and closer. Bryan said that the wind was just right so they couldn’t smell us and they have such bad eyesight so they couldn’t really see what we were. We just watched and watched as they drank water and sat in the mud hole. Bryan also pointed out that the mother was pregnant. It was funny because at one point the mom got angry with the dad for trying to get into the mud. We all said – don’t mess with a pregnant woman. It was awesome just to watch them and be able to take such awesome pictures. The lighting was perfect and the subjects were amazing and unusual (they are hard to find and see esp for that long). We headed back off the lake and made it home that night for another amazing meal. They fed us so much there I think I gained at least 5 pounds! – but I didn’t care.

It was so fun to hang out with the family and get to know Beyonca and Dylan. They reminded me a lot of my siblings and it was great to be around little kids again – I was kind of missing it. They would teach us how to play games one their DS or they would teach us Afrikaans or watch some T.V. with us. It was such a relaxing vacation. It was like I was at home in a way – just hanging out with family and friends. I was so happy that they let us stay with them and they were so accommodating. They were amazing hosts and they showed us so much of SA and so many different animals.

The final full day there we decided we wanted to go to Mozambique. So we got up early and headed towards the boarder. We paid for our visas (415 Rand) and got them stamped then headed into the country. We quickly found out that there are not many really roads in Mozambique and where we were there were none – only sand roads, which are really hard to drive and maneuver on. We finally made it to the town of Ponto De Oro and we drove right to the beach. The beach was gorgeous – nice sand and nice big waves – which I must say were better to look at then to swim in. The water was so warm – much more comfortable to be in than the water in P.E. (which is frigid). We hung out at the beach, swam with the kids and laid out to get a tan for a bit as well. Then we headed to a restaurant to get some prawns and seafood. Brian and Merianda treated us and it was wonderful. We even got to try the local Mozambique beer (DM), which was actually kind of good – first time I have sort of liked beer. After we walked around the town buying things – I got a wrap and Breana got a shirt, we went to a local bar to try some R & R (rum and raspberry). I tried some and it tasted like cough syrup so I decided to just stick with the raspberry side of it. After hanging around for a bit we hopped back in the truck to head for home. Breana, Beyonca and I sat in the back and Dylan sat on Merinda’s lap. It took us about 2 hours to get home.

We were exhausted so we went to bed early so that we could get up the next morning (Tuesday) and head for Durban. We left around 10 to head to Durban and arrived there in the afternoon. Brian drove us the 4.5 hours down there. He was so nice and I was so glad that they let us stay with them. We tried to give him some money, but of course he wouldn’t take it. We said good-bye and thanks and then headed into the hostel (Anstey’s Backpackers) to get settled. We got into a 4 person room but we were the only two there. As we were checking in we noticed Marie (a Norwegian girl) who was also staying at the hostel. They invited us to go to the mall with them and to the movies. So we grabbed a cap and headed into town. We hung out with Marie and Vivi. We shopped for a bit before the shops closed at 5 (which was really weird to me – so early!) and then caught a movie at 6 – Just Go with It. It was a really funny movie. We headed back to the hostel and mingled a bit with some people at the hostel and then headed to bed.

The next day we decided to go back into town and check out Ushaka (a water park and aquarium) and also the Indian Market. We ended up not going into Ushaka that day – instead we just walked around the beach and the shops down there. Then we headed to the Indian Market where I got a lot of souvenirs and some people got some jewelry and curry spices. Then we headed to get some food – we decided to get some Indian food since Durban has a large population of Indian! I had never tried Indian food before so I had no idea what to order. The waiter recommended some things and I picked something with some chicken and vegetables that wasn’t too spicy. It comes with a large piece of fried bread (which was amazing – I think it was my favorite part!). I immediately fell in love with the food and wanted it again! That night we hung out with some guys at the hostel (Tom and Matius) two guys traveling South Africa from Europe. They were really nice and taught us some new games – jungle speed and a couple other card games. They were a lot of fun – that is why I like hostels – you can meet people from all over the world.

The next day we decided we would just lay around the beach for the day. The waves were huge and the weather was perfect. It wasn’t windy like P.E. and the sun felt so nice. We relaxed most of the day and later in the afternoon we walked into town to head to Spar and the spa that was there. Vivi, Marie and Breana were looking into waxing at the spa and getting pedicures. I am not so into that (although I did my first pedicure done in P.E. down by pick and pay and I have to say it was pretty nice!) We hung out there for a little bit and then decided to grab some food. We found an Indian place and I was all for it – since when I head back to the states (Iowa) I probably won’t be able to find it! So I got something different – chicken and some spices and veggies maybe and it came with the amazing bread again. That night we hung out with Tom and Matius again as well as a few boys from all over who were in SA volunteering at Hands at Work up near Pretoria. Tommy and Dave were from England, ? was from Canada and Josh was from South Africa. They were fun to talk to and we watched them play pool for a while. Then a few of them left but Tommy was still around the hostel. I ran into him later and he was talking about going to UShaka in the morning. I said that I thought we wanted to head back into town that day as well. He said that we might be able to squeeze into their car. So I told him that would be great and that we would meet up with them in the morning.

The next morning they were around packing their things. Tommy came up to me and asked if we still wanted a ride. I said that would be great if they were sure they had room. He came back and said that we could squeeze – it would be 6 people and lots of stuff in a fairly small car. But we did it. So we all headed into town and finally made it there – we might have gotten a little lost but of course the driver, Josh, would never admit that. He is a male, which means he automatically has a sense of direction. Breana and I had planned to maybe go surfing or diving that day – we didn’t really expect to hang out with them all day but when we got there we found out they had different plans for us. We started to walk away and they said. “wait you guys aren’t going to UShaka?” We told them our original plans but they convinced us that it would be more fun to hang out with them and go to the water park. So we changed our plans and headed to UShaka – which was probably the best idea and choice we could make. We got in and headed right for the slides. We went down pretty much every slide (even the ‘biggest slide in Africa’ – which was probably as big as most slides in every water park in America!) We made sure and made fun of that for a while. The guys decided it would be fun to do illegal things on some of the slides. So they would stop themselves and then wait for us to run into them in the middle of the slide. It was awesome – we were playing around like little kids again! We ran round the park all morning – going on the lazy river and slides, and then headed to get some lunch and watch the dolphin show. I love dolphins so I was all for this decision. It was like sea world! After the show we walked around the aquarium a bit and Josh had never seen a penguin in real life so we had to go see them. It is crazy to me that he was 19 years old and had never seen a penguin – I think I have seen them like at least 5 times at many different zoos.

After UShaka we decided to head down towards the beach to chill there for a bit. The guys were supposed to leave early afternoon to head to St. Lucia but we were just so amazing that they decided to stay and hang out with us instead of leaving. We got to the beach and first grabbed some ice cream.. which made my day. Then we started playing some rugby and Frisbee on the beach. Breana went swimming but I just decided to stay dry and play with the guys. After a bit we decided it was time to get going. The guys were like ok well you need to get a cab now because we are heading the opposite way. So we started to say bye when they said just kidding get in the car we are taking you home. The traffic was horrible but the car ride was rather enjoyable. I was sitting on Breana’s lap, sticking my head out of the window and sing to the radio. We finally made it back to the hostel and we got their names so we could add them on facebook! We had such a fun day and were sad that they were leaving and that we hadn’t met them earlier. It was crazy that we had only met them that day – but we just clicked – it was like we had been friends for years! They told me lots about their volunteer program (Hands at work) and I am really looking into doing it sometime in the next couple of years. I know that I will get bored in the states and want to get out again!

That night I hung out, watched some T.V. and chatted with some peeps. Breana and I went to dinner that night at the Green Dolphin and I got some calamari (which is really good and cheap here!) I ended up chatting with some little girls that night for a while because the rest of the people that I knew had either left or went out. Elizabeth and Inez (from Cali and Germany – who are in our program in P.E.) were also staying at our hostel for a few nights. They went into down on Friday night as well. So like I said I talked to some girls who ended up calling me a cereal killer because that is pretty much all I ate. It was quite funny and they were fun to chat with. I went to bed early that night since we had to get up at 5 so we could make it downtown by about 6 for our 6:30 bus ride back to P.E.

The ride home was much better than the ride there. We arrived a bit late into P.E. but we didn’t mind because we had made it. We caught a cab home and went to bed. It was a great vacation. We met some wonderful people and got to see Mozambique as well as a part of South Africa that most of the international students didn’t get to see! I am so glad that Breana and I did our own thing and didn’t follow the crowd to Cape Town. Thanks Breana for the wonderful vacation and thanks to her parents for setting us up with Brian and his family!