Here are some pictures of our rooms. I'm sorry the pictures are so far and few, we're having a hard time uploading them here. I think the connection is slow!!!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Our rooms at Phinda
Here are some pictures of our rooms. I'm sorry the pictures are so far and few, we're having a hard time uploading them here. I think the connection is slow!!!
Monday, December 7, 2009
More on the safaris… as Corrine said – it is hard to describe. Just amazing. On our first game drive, our ranger, Philip (whom I love by the way) asked us if there was one particular animal we HAD to see. He wanted to make sure we saw it. But none of us could pick just one. He said he would do his best to find them all for us, and we ended up seeing more than we expected.
By the time we finished our fourth and final game drive this morning, we had been through deep woods, sand forest, mountain tops, open meadows and marshy lands. As we were driving, he would tell us what animals are typically in that area and tell us to keep a look out for them. You would think that a tall, patterned giraffe would be easy to spot. But more than once we were almost right next to them before was even saw it! They really do blend in completely with the tall trees and sticks. Amazing. They were so cute because they would see us, grab a mouthful of leaves and stand there chewing while staring at us. Then they would watch us drive away. Sometimes there would be groups of them together. So cool. Unbelievable.
Then there were the zebras. Black and white stripes. Must be easy to spot, right? They too just blend right in! They were particularly impressive to me the first time we stumbled upon them, just because they are so unique looking. We would see more and more of them throughout the trip as they go pretty much anywhere. One time we were driving along the edge of the woods, and 3 of them came running out of the trees, right next to us! Amazing. By the end of our last drive, we would simply point them out, smile, and drive on by. It was like seeing cows back home. Only not =)
We had a really neat experience with the lionnesses. Our ranger got a tip that the lionnesses had been spotted in a particular spot, so he headed in that direction. When we got there – one of the other groups had found them, and the two lionnesses were sitting along the road about 20 feet from their vehicle. We parked a little farther down from them. We watched them for a while when they got up and started walking again. They walked directly toward our car, stopped and looked at us, and walked on by. They were much larger than I expected. When they started moving towards us, Philip told us to just stay quiet. He didn’t need to tell us that. I think we were all frozen. It was awesome. We followed them a while, and then moved on. Then on last night’s drive, they were spotted again. We caught up to them and followed them as they were on the prowl. It got dark while we followed, but we managed to keep up. They had their eyes on some wilderbeasts. As we got closer, we saw a couple of Jakal stalking the wilderbeasts. We shut off the car and lights, and listened. Philip said we would either hear a warning call if the animals noticed the lions, or we would hear the running hoofs. We ended up hearing a warning “grunt”, and the wilderbeasts moved on. It was pretty amazing to see what we did though. And I was really rooting for the wilderbeasts anyways.
My favorite sighting was probably the cheetah. Thought of you Becca. We got a tip that another ranger spotted the Cheetah, so we headed over. We got there and he was so far away, I could barely make him out. Lying there. Alone. In a field. He moved around a bit, so I took some video. It’s easier to see in video since he was so far away. While I was taping, he got up and walked along the dam towards us. Then he kinda hung around a tree for a while right by the road we were on. Then he crossed the road, and sat there. Right next to us. Rolled around. Scratched. Then got up and went on his way. He was BEAUTIFUL. So incredible. I will try to post the videos, but we have been having trouble getting them to upload on this connection.
Today we set out to find an elephant. The only animal we really wanted to see that we hadn’t seen yet. Philip said it was gonna be tough, but we would find them. It rained a lot last week and the area where they are in summer was difficult to get to. But we were gonna try it. We drove through all kinds of crazy roads, up and down rocks and rivers – it was a little scary at times! But Philip is a good driver. He got a tip that there was elephant activity in a certain area and we headed over. He was told it was likely two bull elephants to watch for. As we got to the area, we turned a corner and YIKES there he was! Right there next to the road! Just as we got to him, the other one came out from behind the trees next to us! WOW! It was amazing! Then off in the distance were two white rhinos! The amazing Philip guessed that they were heading to a nearby watering hole so we went there to wait for them. Sure enough, one of them came over the hill, towards the water and when he spotted the water, he kinda skipped a little faster. We watched from the other side as he drank and splashed water (and pooed and peed, much to Corrine’s amusement). Then the other one followed. It was awesome. I got video. I’ll see if it will post. Hopefully photos at least.
The flat tire picture in the last post was on our vehicle. We got it just as we came upon two crocodiles and hippos in a small pond. We all had to get out so they could change the tire. So we stood there. Thinking about the crocs and hippos. It was pretty fast as both Philip and Zekele had done it before. We were in good hands.
There’s more, but I could go on and on for hours. I need to get to bed. Up at 5 tomorrow to head out to Drakensberg. Who knows what the day will bring.
By the time we finished our fourth and final game drive this morning, we had been through deep woods, sand forest, mountain tops, open meadows and marshy lands. As we were driving, he would tell us what animals are typically in that area and tell us to keep a look out for them. You would think that a tall, patterned giraffe would be easy to spot. But more than once we were almost right next to them before was even saw it! They really do blend in completely with the tall trees and sticks. Amazing. They were so cute because they would see us, grab a mouthful of leaves and stand there chewing while staring at us. Then they would watch us drive away. Sometimes there would be groups of them together. So cool. Unbelievable.
Then there were the zebras. Black and white stripes. Must be easy to spot, right? They too just blend right in! They were particularly impressive to me the first time we stumbled upon them, just because they are so unique looking. We would see more and more of them throughout the trip as they go pretty much anywhere. One time we were driving along the edge of the woods, and 3 of them came running out of the trees, right next to us! Amazing. By the end of our last drive, we would simply point them out, smile, and drive on by. It was like seeing cows back home. Only not =)
We had a really neat experience with the lionnesses. Our ranger got a tip that the lionnesses had been spotted in a particular spot, so he headed in that direction. When we got there – one of the other groups had found them, and the two lionnesses were sitting along the road about 20 feet from their vehicle. We parked a little farther down from them. We watched them for a while when they got up and started walking again. They walked directly toward our car, stopped and looked at us, and walked on by. They were much larger than I expected. When they started moving towards us, Philip told us to just stay quiet. He didn’t need to tell us that. I think we were all frozen. It was awesome. We followed them a while, and then moved on. Then on last night’s drive, they were spotted again. We caught up to them and followed them as they were on the prowl. It got dark while we followed, but we managed to keep up. They had their eyes on some wilderbeasts. As we got closer, we saw a couple of Jakal stalking the wilderbeasts. We shut off the car and lights, and listened. Philip said we would either hear a warning call if the animals noticed the lions, or we would hear the running hoofs. We ended up hearing a warning “grunt”, and the wilderbeasts moved on. It was pretty amazing to see what we did though. And I was really rooting for the wilderbeasts anyways.
My favorite sighting was probably the cheetah. Thought of you Becca. We got a tip that another ranger spotted the Cheetah, so we headed over. We got there and he was so far away, I could barely make him out. Lying there. Alone. In a field. He moved around a bit, so I took some video. It’s easier to see in video since he was so far away. While I was taping, he got up and walked along the dam towards us. Then he kinda hung around a tree for a while right by the road we were on. Then he crossed the road, and sat there. Right next to us. Rolled around. Scratched. Then got up and went on his way. He was BEAUTIFUL. So incredible. I will try to post the videos, but we have been having trouble getting them to upload on this connection.
Today we set out to find an elephant. The only animal we really wanted to see that we hadn’t seen yet. Philip said it was gonna be tough, but we would find them. It rained a lot last week and the area where they are in summer was difficult to get to. But we were gonna try it. We drove through all kinds of crazy roads, up and down rocks and rivers – it was a little scary at times! But Philip is a good driver. He got a tip that there was elephant activity in a certain area and we headed over. He was told it was likely two bull elephants to watch for. As we got to the area, we turned a corner and YIKES there he was! Right there next to the road! Just as we got to him, the other one came out from behind the trees next to us! WOW! It was amazing! Then off in the distance were two white rhinos! The amazing Philip guessed that they were heading to a nearby watering hole so we went there to wait for them. Sure enough, one of them came over the hill, towards the water and when he spotted the water, he kinda skipped a little faster. We watched from the other side as he drank and splashed water (and pooed and peed, much to Corrine’s amusement). Then the other one followed. It was awesome. I got video. I’ll see if it will post. Hopefully photos at least.
The flat tire picture in the last post was on our vehicle. We got it just as we came upon two crocodiles and hippos in a small pond. We all had to get out so they could change the tire. So we stood there. Thinking about the crocs and hippos. It was pretty fast as both Philip and Zekele had done it before. We were in good hands.
There’s more, but I could go on and on for hours. I need to get to bed. Up at 5 tomorrow to head out to Drakensberg. Who knows what the day will bring.
Safari
We made it back from the Safari!!!
I know that no matter what I write or what we tell you in the future will ever come close to showing you how amazing this experience we just had really was! The last two and a half days just seem so unreal because of all of the things we saw and experienced.
Our day on Saturday started out with a three and a half hour bus ride north to the Phinda Game Reserve. It’s a conservation area that is privately owned but is a non profit organization because all the profits made are directly pumped back into the community. The drive there was interesting because we had a Zulu bus driver who told us about his culture, religion and history. The houses we saw and the people we came across were exactly what we see in photos or on T.V. The poverty of the people was horrible. Life is different here to say the least. One thing pictures or the T.V. can’t show you is the spirit of the people. Even though children were lined up on the side of the road and people were sitting outside their houses that had roofs held on with tires EVERYONE waved and smiled at our bus as it passed by. They must have known we were people going on vacation- something I’m sure they will never do- and they were happy to see us and seemed happy in general. They work hard and have little but are happy and friendly. People in America don’t want to work, feel entitled to the best of things, and resent others who have what they don’t. We could learn a lot from them.
When we got to the reserve the rangers and trackers met us at a gate that looked like the opening of Jurassic Park. We hoped in a Land Rover with no roof and sped down a bumpy dirt road to the Lodge. When we arrived they had a few workers with a damp hand towel for us and a glass of juice. We were so spoiled. Everyone at the Lodge worked together. They all had their different jobs, but the ranger’s unloaded luggage, the massage therapist waited tables and the gift shop girl did monkey duty. They had a real sense of pride in their jobs and everyone really loved what they were doing. Every time we said thank you they would say “Pleasure”!
Our first game drive was that evening. We had 4 all together. They lasted three and a half to four hours each and there were 6 of us together. The 4 of us rode with Jessica and Mak from Colorado, a very nice couple who were super excited for the adventure and had all the equipment needed. A BIG SHOUT OUT TO TONY FOR THE BINOCULARS!!!! Without them we would have been lost and they worked WONDERFUL!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Our rangers name was Philip and he was amazing. He was the head tracker, though he couldn’t have been older than 30. The tracker’s name was Zekele, he was a Zulu and he rode on the very front of the car and could spot tracks from and animal and tell us when they were there and where they were going.
We saw all of the big 5 and Hippo, crocs, Cheetah, Giraffe, Bush Babies, Warthogs. The list goes on and on. It was hot, cold, drizzled and REALLY HOT too. OF all the places I’ve been and all I’ve seen this was the best. Hands down!
Tomorrow we go to the Zulu caves and Mountains! Miss you all and thanks for checking in.
P.S. My blood clot never developed. I know you were all worried….
I know that no matter what I write or what we tell you in the future will ever come close to showing you how amazing this experience we just had really was! The last two and a half days just seem so unreal because of all of the things we saw and experienced.
Our day on Saturday started out with a three and a half hour bus ride north to the Phinda Game Reserve. It’s a conservation area that is privately owned but is a non profit organization because all the profits made are directly pumped back into the community. The drive there was interesting because we had a Zulu bus driver who told us about his culture, religion and history. The houses we saw and the people we came across were exactly what we see in photos or on T.V. The poverty of the people was horrible. Life is different here to say the least. One thing pictures or the T.V. can’t show you is the spirit of the people. Even though children were lined up on the side of the road and people were sitting outside their houses that had roofs held on with tires EVERYONE waved and smiled at our bus as it passed by. They must have known we were people going on vacation- something I’m sure they will never do- and they were happy to see us and seemed happy in general. They work hard and have little but are happy and friendly. People in America don’t want to work, feel entitled to the best of things, and resent others who have what they don’t. We could learn a lot from them.
When we got to the reserve the rangers and trackers met us at a gate that looked like the opening of Jurassic Park. We hoped in a Land Rover with no roof and sped down a bumpy dirt road to the Lodge. When we arrived they had a few workers with a damp hand towel for us and a glass of juice. We were so spoiled. Everyone at the Lodge worked together. They all had their different jobs, but the ranger’s unloaded luggage, the massage therapist waited tables and the gift shop girl did monkey duty. They had a real sense of pride in their jobs and everyone really loved what they were doing. Every time we said thank you they would say “Pleasure”!
Our first game drive was that evening. We had 4 all together. They lasted three and a half to four hours each and there were 6 of us together. The 4 of us rode with Jessica and Mak from Colorado, a very nice couple who were super excited for the adventure and had all the equipment needed. A BIG SHOUT OUT TO TONY FOR THE BINOCULARS!!!! Without them we would have been lost and they worked WONDERFUL!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Our rangers name was Philip and he was amazing. He was the head tracker, though he couldn’t have been older than 30. The tracker’s name was Zekele, he was a Zulu and he rode on the very front of the car and could spot tracks from and animal and tell us when they were there and where they were going.
We saw all of the big 5 and Hippo, crocs, Cheetah, Giraffe, Bush Babies, Warthogs. The list goes on and on. It was hot, cold, drizzled and REALLY HOT too. OF all the places I’ve been and all I’ve seen this was the best. Hands down!
Tomorrow we go to the Zulu caves and Mountains! Miss you all and thanks for checking in.
P.S. My blood clot never developed. I know you were all worried….
Friday, December 4, 2009
A Van, Two flights, A bus and an Elevator
Our journey started at 2:45 Thursday morning, we woke up, took a quick shower and headed out in my grandparents big sea green conversion van. We were at JFK by 6:30 and lined up behind a group of about 25 people wearing convention badges. Over the next half hour or so while we were waiting to check in more and more delegates began to show up. They were all pretty envious of the fact that we lived so close to the departure city, most of the others had flights overnight to catch the one this morning. 10:30 came and we got on the plane.
15 hours. 15 long hours. 4 filled with turbulence. Lots of people got sick. The flight attendants got sick. Most of us couldn’t sleep. My mom had a hard time. Even with the rocky weather it was one of the best flights I’ve ever been on. The food was really good (we got three meals) and the staff was super helpful. There were about 25 movies to watch and music and TV shows. For an amazing hour I listened to the new Dave Matthews CD while playing another passenger in Chess. Time well spent.
When we got off the plane in Johannesberg it was 8:00 there time, 1:00 at home. We sailed thru customs and met some brothers and sisters and checked in for our flight to Durban. Three hours and one subway sandwich later we were headed out again. I have to admit; I really didn’t want to get on the plane. Because of the bad weather on the first flight we were confined to our seats and couldn’t walk around. My legs were achy and swollen. It was quite a sad sight, and I’m now convinced I have a blood clot (I’ll keep you posted on its progress =)). The plane ride was really smooth though and we got here with no problems. All of our bags made it out quickly, local brothers met us again and we hopped on the bus. Everyone is really nice and easygoing. We have 33 people on our bus and our bus captain is a really jolly fellow from Texas.
The hotel is in the heart of the city, and it’s really nice. The travel company is here to help us and answer all of our questions and the staff is super helpful. Katie keeps saying everyone’s accent is “so beautiful”. We got to the hotel at 3:00 our time. So, we were traveling about 28 hours all together. We leave in the morning for our Safari. It’s going to be AMAZING!
One little funny nugget for you- when we got to the hotel we had to wait in line to check in. Then we had to wait in line for the elevator. When Katie and I finally got on the elevator we got off on the 1st floor instead of the 15th floor (don’t ask me why it’s still a mystery to us both). Then we had to wait for another elevator and finally caught one, but were trapped in the back by an older couple who we were behind in the check in line. When we got to our floor we were so trapped by the luggage that I narrowly escaped through the doors but Katie was caught away. I tried in vain to pry the elevator doors open with my pointer finger while she stuck her foot out to stop the doors from closing. The older couple was oblivious to the commotion while a couple from Kansas witnessed my panic. She survived.
Thanks everyone for checking in!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)