Safari

It is very nice to have the weekends off and be able to enjoy and experience South Africa. Today, myself and 5 of my house mates went on a Safari. It was incredible! Our driver picked us up this morning at 6:00 am and we traveled two hours via the scenic Du Toitskloof Pass and through endless wine lands to the Aquila Private Game Reserve. Once we arrived we were served a buffet breakfast. The food was delicious and plentiful! There were some traditional and not so traditional breakfast items, but it was all lovely!

We then were escorted to our safari vehicle and climbed aboard! The game reserve is 4500 acres of pure beauty. It starts on the ground and goes up through a mountain. Our safari vehicle was covered, but open so it was pretty dusty, but it was awesome. We saw Hippos, Rhinos, Zebras, Water Buffalo, Springbok, Ostrich, Giraffes, Elephants, Wildebeests, Lions, a Cheetah, and a Leopard.

We had a Water Buffalo preparing to charge our vehicle! The Hippos were in the water with their babies! There were a few baby Zebras and we were fortunate enough to see quite a good sized herd. There were a lot of Springbok and I was amazed to find out how small they are! I thought they were the size of deer, but they are much smaller. The giraffes were pretty far away so we didn't get to see them too well. The cats were under bushes and whatnot, and in a fenced area, so we didn't get close to them either. They did have a few cats in a different area that were captive. The leopard, cheetah and a male and two female lions....but it wasn't much different than seeing them at the zoo, so I really didn't care for it too much. It just made me feel bad that they were being held captive and didn't seem to have enough space to roam. The rest of the animals were free roaming and it was so neat to see them in their natural environments and it was really cool to get so close to most of them. The safari lasted about 3 hours.

After the safari we were served a buffet lunch. Again, tons of food of all types. They had dishes made with chicken, beef, springbok and lamb. Lots of side dishes and a traditional African dessert. It was similar to bread pudding, very sweet with a warm custard sauce. We enjoyed lunch...me only chicken and side dishes...no lamb, springbok or beef (as I'm not really sure it's beef) :) After lunch we just relaxed and talked for a while and then loaded up for the two hour drive home.

While traveling through the winding roads we came upon a group of baboons...oh I don't know maybe 10-12 little critters....just sitting on the side of the road, watching the traffic and a couple crossing the highway. It was funny to watch them. I asked our driver if there are many baboon strikes on the highway and he said, not normally. He said they are pretty smart and can move very quickly to avoid the cars. I suppose the locals know where they sometimes roam and are aware. It was just odd to be driving down the highway and see both sides just littered with those cute little creatures.

It was a really great day. It was awesome to get so close to the animals.

Tomorrow is back to the creche! I have missed the children and am looking very forward to getting back there. My plan is to help out in the classroom with the 5 year old kids this week! I want to work with Ellen and Ethelina, the teachers I worked with last time I was here. Mainly, there are a few kids in that class that I worked with 2 years ago! I'm anxious to see how much they have grown and progressed.

So, with that being said, time for me to get off of here and start planning my activities for tomorrow. Songs, crafts...oh and I need to make a cheat sheet of some of the important Xhosa phrases so I can communicate better with the kids. Important phrases....like; sit down, quiet down, come here, what's your name....etc. :)

Well I'm off. Go Colts!