and there was one..

managed to get a good night's sleep, which only seems to occur on the rare occasion, but still woke up early. took a really long hotshower, since not sure when i'll be getting one of those again, then managed to snuggle back under the covers while jeff was getting ready. attempted to watch a cricket match and nearly poked my eyes out. found a rugby game instead and though i don't understand everything, it's a lot easier to follow. plus, will hopefully make it to the rugby world cup in new zealand in 2011 (fingers crossed!) so need to work on my knowledgeof the sport - go all blacks ;o)

checked out of our lodge and made our way to the border at oshoek. it was much more formal than what we had experienced at jeppe's reef; we still had to get out and stand in odd lines, but it seemed more official somehow. everything was going smoothly until a guard wanted to check our trunk. i wasn't sure if he was concerned we were trying to smuggle something in or out, or if he just wanted to check out the "nice car". he kept asking me about it, like how much it cost and whatnot. i was like - dude, i don't know, it's a rental. not in those exact terms, mind you. goodbye swaziland, and hello again south africa.

we were dumped onto the N17, which should have taken us directly back to jo'burg. what we didn't know was it was completely under construction, full of one lane closures, horrible pot holes and wild animals, all of which slowed us down considerably. the N17 also goes through a bunch of little towns, and fails to inform the driver it is turning. several times we found ourselves on the wrong road and had to completely backtrack. a 4 hr journey quickly turned into a 6 hr journey, which isn't awful, except when you anticipate 4 hrs and you go 6 and you have to pee really, really bad.

to make matters worse, the directions to the hostel weren't great (surprise surprise). they just said "exit the highway" but didn't indicate where or when. so we took a lucky guess and i pulled into a gas station to ask. no wasting time here. fortunately the attendant had an idea of where we were trying to go and gave us semi-cryptic but semi-useful directions, and we found our way to mbizi backpackers. at this point i was quite grumpy and irritable thanks to a ridiculously full bladder, so when i couldn't open the gate to the hostel, i nearly started to cry. jeff fortunately was in better spirits (well, he got to nap during the 6+ hrs of driving and did not have an exploding bladder) and was able to figure out the padlock to the gate. we walked into the hostel and didn't find anyone except for 2 guests who showed me where the toilet was. sweet relief!

made our dinner of pasta, and the owner showed up so i could settle the bill. he was confused at first by seeing jeff, but i explained i was taking him to the airport tonight and it was indeed just me staying. asked about laundry since it was advertised, but was told the dryer wasn't working well. desperately needed to do a wash before the next leg of my trip but also didn't want wet clothes for tomorrow's flight. keeping fingers crossed will have a chance at the next accommodation, otherwise i'll be very dirty girl. eventually it was time to take jeff to the airport. didn't want to have to take him so early, but also didn't want to drive by myself, in jo'burg, at night. despite our fights, it was still sad to see him go. managed to find my way successfully back to the hostel without getting lost. did some major reorganizing for tomorrow's flight, and though was invited to "the pub" (not sure which) to watch "the game" (also not sure which), called it an early night since had to be up so early the next day.

polygamy, jealousy and poisoning - oh my!

woke up to rain on the roof, but the gross weather wouldn't stopus from exploring swaziland. it was my one day of not driving, so a bit disappointed couldn't really get many great pictures thanks to rain and fog, but what can you do? made our way to swazi trails, as it was just up the road from our lodge, and browsed the shops while we waited for our guide to arrive. his name completely escapes me, which is unfortunate, but eventually he arrived and away we went. rather than taking ourselves around, i decided to book a full day drive so wecould not only see the sights, but alsolearn about swaziland from a local's perspective. it's almost always more informative and interesting than what you can read from a book.

our first stop was ngwenya glass factory. it was actually pretty neat, and though we didn't get to see anything being crafted as it was a sunday, the souvenir shop was open haha. the concept was a good one - everything they make is made from recycled glass. picked up a couple items and browsed some of the other shops. next up was a stop at ngwenya mine, now abandoned, home to the one of the oldest known mines in the world (lion cavern - dating to 40,000 BC whaaaat) as well as some of the oldest rocks in the world. they primarily mined iron ore as well as hematite, which people once used for makeup. the views were outstanding, though partially obstructed by the foggy weather.

onward to sibebe rock. made of granite, it's the largest exposed granite dome in the world, and 2nd largest rock in the world (ayers rock in oz has it beat). people can climb it on good days and look over the valley. we skipped that, obviously. along the drive, passed by several palaces and learned a little about the kings of swaziland. traditionally, he has several wives but also keeps a girlfriend to stay with so the wives don't get jealous of one another. HA. the current king has 40 wives and has fathered over 200 children. he's a busy guy. i couldn't help but ask about all the billboards along the highway promoting monogamy; i guess in swazi culture polygamy is expected, but as it becomes more exposed to the west, some of these ways are changing. our guide said his father had 3 wives, and he has 20 some odd siblings. he said all the siblings get along, but the wives don't talk to each other out of jealousy. interesting culture..

next up was mdzimpa mountain, one of the sacred mountains b/c its where the kings and queen mothers are buried. another interesting fact: the next king is not named until the current king dies. then the king's council looks among the candidates, and usually it is the most educated wife whose son is chosen, but not always. reason? to prevent jealousy and people from poisoning one another haha. drove by parliament and eludzidzini, where the queen mother lives. she actually rules with her son, which prevents the king's wives from becoming jealous of one another. noticing a theme?? the king also choses his prime minister and his cabinet, but the rest of parliament is elected, and the king has the final say. there are no political parties in swaziland, which means things actually get done in government (ha) but it's not all sunshine - there's a 25% unemployment rate and lots of illegal immigration from mozambique. guess every country has it's share of problems.

we made a stop for lunch, and got a couple pots of tea b/c it was so cold. we were literally shivering. got a pita with grilled veggies. then walked around the shops, including the swazi candle factory. didn't get anything though, but made our way to the mantenga swazi cultural village. b/c it was still raining and so cold, they didn't perform outside but instead inside the restaurant. i felt so sorry for them, but i guess they are used to it. it was interesting to watch, they even pulled me up to dance at one point haha. gave them a R20 tip, which wasn't much at all, but all we had. then we got a tour of the village, and all the huts and areas were explained. each wife had 3 huts to herself; there was a men's only and women's only area; a medicine man hut; a grandparents hut. i think that's all. it was interesting, plus the little monkeys jumping around and warming themselves on the huts were adorable.

back to the car and the craft center. said our goodbyes and thanks to our tour guide and browsed the shops a bit more. definitely been spending way too much money this trip, but whatever. i'll deal with that later. back to our room to warm up and rest before dinner at the lodge's restaurant again. got a grilled ham and cheese sandwich as wasn't particularly hungry. missed G a lot this day, don't think he'd really enjoy all the touristy stuff but still just wanted to be able to talk to him. it's been so long! not sure where the relationship will go, but determined not to make the same mistakes i made in the past and have to live with the regret. lessons have been learned, and that is a good thing.

goodbye kruger, hello swaziland

another early morning. but instead of the game drive, we did a morning walk. talk about a thrilling experience! i mean, theadvantage of the drive is that you cover more ground, therefore are more likely to see the coveted animals. BUT. walking thru the bush was way cooler, even if you don't see as much. it's more about the journey than the destination, so to speak.

we arrived early (again, what's with us?) and our guides were jan from yesterday's night drive and another ranger, evan. at first i thought it would be just jeff and myself, which would be awkward, but fortunately a couple from the netherlands showed up. the man spoke very good english, but his wife did not and so the man had to translate nearly everything for her. the rangers, both being white south african from dutch (rather than british) decent, also spoke some crude dutch, so tried to include her as much as could. overall, it was a good group. jan noted that he wished more visitors would come on the walks, but b/c most people just care about seeing the big 5, it's rather unpopular. stinks for them, i think. jan also told us about some of the longer wilderness trails as well as the backpacking trail through kruger. i'm sensing my next adventure...

anyway, we loaded into the smaller safari truck and drove out of the camp. jan and evan consulted the maps and researched where game had been observed in the previous few days before deciding our ultimate destination. once we arrived, we sat in the truck while they loaded their rifles. those were some big guns! once they were done, we were allowed to get out and stretch, but they were still waiting on the sun to rise a bit more before heading out. though it appeared to be bright to my adjusted eyes, our rangers insisted that animals could still be hiding in the unseasonably tall grasses and we needed to wait until it was lighter out. jan left to scout the area with his binoculars while evan gave us the "rules". no quick sudden movements. walk in a single file line. no talking while walking. no taking photos until given the go-ahead, and even then - no taking too many b/c the sound can be distracting. crouch while walking if told to. "tip toe" walk if told to. switch order in line every time we stop so the same person isn't in the back every time. and most importantly, get ready for a good time. got it? good.

we headed out, and i wondered what in the world i had gotten myself into. i'll admit, i was a bit nervous, but felt jan and evan were pretty competent people and would protect us as best they could should something happen. we walked with both rangers in front. to the unskilled person, it seems like it would be best to have one in front and one in back. but after they explained how quickly things can happen (lions run at 22 m/sec!), and most charges and attacks occur from the front, it made sense they'd both be ahead of us.

we didn't have to walk far before we came across a large bull elephant, and in a few mins they spotted another in the distance. we stayed very still so they could determine if there might be more than we were initially aware of, which could be dangerous. one elephant eventually moved on, but one lingered. we watched him for a long while. it was really neat to listen to all the birds, as well as the impalas snorting, which was their way of letting "the predator" (us) know they see us and so can't surprise them. unfortunately it also alerts the elephant that something is not right. waited a long time before they stopped and we moved on to the next tree so we could follow the elephant. amazing how close we were to such an enormous animal, with no protection. such a different experience compared to the drive!

after about 45 mins we moved on. came across a massive spider web thing, and while jan again scouted, evan explained all about them. he poke at the web to agitate the spiders so we could see them. of course that was before mentioning they could jump 3 meters. yikes! i nearly had a heart attack. moving on. saw a huge herd of impalas in the distance, and a male and female elands amongst them. they were massive! next were some buffalo tracks - one had stomped on its own poop to mark territory.

we finally came to a lake/pond area. our rangers spotted some hippos in the distance, so evan had us stay back while he threw some rocks into the water to see if there were any closer - which would be incredibly dangerous. they were worried b/c there was a lot of moss covering the water and obstructing their view. but after some time, they came to the conclusion that the hippos were not a threat, and we had our picnic breakfast of dried jerky, crackers, cheese, nuts, cookies and juice boxes. yum. moved on, and came across some rhino tracks so learned all about them. finally, it was time to head back to the truck. did not want it to end, but i guess all things must eventually come to an end. back at the camp, said our thanks to jan and evan - really great people - checked out of our bungalow, and said our goodbyes to kruger.

made our way to swaziland, and thankfully the roads were very well marked. crossed the border at jeppe's reef. what a funny immigration process! went thru a gate where a guard wrote down our license plate number and gave us a ticket. then he told us to park and go into 1st building. we poked our heads in b/c weren't sure if it was the right place. it was. started to give our passports and ticket to one of the officers, but she only wanted car info and to declare any valuables. gave what car info i knew, and she filled in rest. okay.. all the while she was like "i love usa, usa my country." she was all smiles, which was in direct contrast to her partner officer who was all ms. grumpy pouty face. the nice lady wished us a good journey and told us to go to the 2nd building. so we crossed the street, and that's where they checked our passports. got them stamped and our ticket stamped. back in the car, where we encountered another gate and another guard. gave him our stamped ticket - and then it was into no man's land.

onto the next gate, where a guard directed us into "light vehicles" parking, whatever that means. repeated process of parking, getting out of car, going into immigration line and getting stamped, then into customs line. we didn't have to declare anything, but we did have to pay R50 to enter the country. maybe it was b/c we had a car? didn't ask, b/c we made it to swaziland!

there was only one way to go, so we went that way. all of the roads were dirt roads, and knew we would be driving on a highway, so didn't bother turning onto any of them even though there weren't signs initially. we did eventually see a sign for the MR1 which would take us to mbabane, so knew we were going the right way. then saw signs for MR3 towards ezulwini valley, so took that. the landscape was just gorgeous. didn't realize it would be so hilly. it was interesting to see such nice houses right alongside huts and shacks. the funniest (and scariest) part was the cattle and goats and chickens roaming the roads all willy-nilly. and the people drive so fast! i know they're familiar with the roads, but all i needed was to hit a cow and kill the car and be stranded in swaziland. no, thank you. it took us about 2 hrs to reach the MR103 from the border, b/c even though the distance wasn't long, the roads were so windy it really slowed us down. but we weren't in any particular rush. eventually found the cutoff for mantenga lodge, checked in and were shown to our room. a quick dinner (beef burger this time) before heading out again.

what a crazy night it turned out to be. we were headed to the bushfire festival. so random it happened to be going on the same weekend we were there - couldn't have planned it better. the lady at reception said we should take a taxi, but our waitress said we'd be fine driving ourselves and gave us the usual cryptic directions. parking ended up being a disaster, which we found out too late. as we slowly crept up the unmarked and unlit road (ahem, safety in numbers?), most were just giving up and parking on the side of the road. i wasn't keen on that as it was unsecured and an undetermined distance from the festival, so onward we moved. we eventually came to the parking lot and were directed into a slot. crossed the street, got our tickets and wristbands. bushfire 2010, we have arrived.

it was a bit overwhelming at first, there were so many people. and, of course, we were the minority as white folks. i'm sure it was all over our faces, but tried our best to act chill. game plan was to make our way around the perimeter and check out what was there - lots of different craft stands and food stalls. ended up purchasing a bushfire t-shirt and a handmade clutch which i loved. jeff also picked up a few things, including a CD of one of the bands we heard - freshly ground. they were a lot of fun. saw some fire dancers and some more music acts. would have liked to have stayed longer, but we were pretty zonked from the full day of activity, and were worried that leaving would be more of a problem than getting in. we were right. it took about 45 mins just to make it out of the parking lot, then another 30 mins to get home. there were officers attempting to direct traffic, but it didn't help much.. people were parked in the driving lanes, and others were driving the wrong directions up the street - which made it even more difficult to navigate the very crowded streets. ah well. we eventually made it home. what a great day!

safaris are awesome

if dawn does have a butt crack, we saw it. got up at scheduled time and made it to the designated meeting spot with 10 mins to spare. first to arrive - that's a first! 8 other people showed up, as well as our driver/guide mos, and we all packed into the truck. because there were so few of us (sunrise game drives are not the most popular options), we could all spread out and get "window" seats in the open air truck. and my goodness it was cold, despite my multiple layers. glad there were fuzzy blankets to huddle under!

we started out in near-pitch darkness. there were 3 spotlights we could use to help illuminate the terrain. mos explained we'd see the eyes first, then should move the light to the animals body so we wouldn't blind it. other rule: keep arms inside vehicle at all times, and hopefully no one will get hurt. ha. one of the first animals we saw was a giraffe - let the checklist begin! then a zebra. some warthogs. and finally some white rhino. we saw a beautiful sunrise. unlike back home, where it's dark then all of a sudden light, there are lovely colors in africa.

in full light we could switch off the spotlights and use the increasing brightness of the sun. soon thereafter we came across a family of giraffe - so cute! but next came one of the highlights of my entire trip. a female lion came running at full speed behind our truck, and shortly after her, 2 males! they were apparently chasing her but she was long gone, and they stayed by our truck for quite a while. it was incredible how close they were, i even managed to pick up their growling on my video camera. so regal looking, and exactly like you picture in your head.

could have watched the lions all day, but they eventually moved on to continue their search for the female. we also moved on to a lake where we managed to see some hippos in the distance. this is where we learned hippos can't swim (makes sense) but instead walk on the bottom of the lake, and they can hold their breath for 7-8 mins at a time. one started to come closer (it was still very far away) and a fellow passenger totally freaked out. he knew hippos were among the most dangerous animals and was concerned the hippo would jump into the truck. seriously? hippos can't jump dude! and we just had lions all around our truck! people never cease to amaze me..

continuing along our journey, saw more giraffe, zebras, warthogs, guinea fowl, elephants & waterbok (massive!). managed to see a herd of buffalo defend themselves against a pride of female lions.. seems they were chasing the buffalo but then the buffalo started chasing the lions! everything was so surreal, and never expected to see the lions (3 out of the big 5). back at satara camp, thanked mos for an excellent drive and made our way back to our bungalow to pack up and head to lower sabie camp. jeff managed to fall asleep several times along the drive - seriously dude, we're in africa! ah well, some things never change.

along our way we saw tons of pretty birds, giraffe, water buffalo, grazers, a rhino & a massive baobob tree. pit stop at orpen dam before climbing in elevation and then descending again. crazy how on the other side of the hill (as we continued south thru kruger park) the landscape changed. there were less trees and more grasses - how i pictured our safari would be. we managed to come across another large herd of elephants in the distance. but as i turned down the dirt road towards lower sabie, realized there was another herd (very close this time) blocking our path. not about to come between a family, put the car in reverse and backed away slowly. very slowly. guess we'd have to find another way, since they didn't seem to be moving anytime soon.

back on the main road detour, came across some very irritated-looking birds. they were very mean looking and walked down the road 3 across like they owned it. i was actually more frightened of them than the elephants! crossed the lower sabie river and arrived at our camp. since we were so early we managed to grab some lunch (chicken burger this time), check in and move our stuff into our bungalow. not as cute as satara's, plus i managed to bang my head really hard into the AC unit outside. it hurt bad! and wouldn't stop bleeding. ugh. i probably have a disease now.

eventually it was time to head to our 16:30 sunset drive. and wouldn't you know it, we were met by a bus load of obnoxious american tourists. double ugh. jeff and i sat next to each other; i took the window first and we switched halfway. jan was our driver/guide this time. he had a thick south african accent, and was actually really funny but his delivery was so dry, you'd miss the joke if you weren't listening closely enough. jeff and i cracked up several times, but it went totally over the heads of most of our fellow passengers.

right off the bat we came across a lone bull elephant and learned that they're kicked out of the herd between the ages of 15 and 25 b/c "they're naughty". also saw more warthogs, storks, zebra and impalas. the sun began to set, and again saw some just gorgeous colors. soon it was time to pull out the spotlights again.

almost immediately we saw a hyena. it hadn't occurred to me we'd be seeing different animals at night (duh). i just wanted to see a sunset! jan made a joke about seeing the world's only vegetarian hyena, as he was much more interested in the grasses then the herd of impala just 20 meters away. more giraffe, buffalo, bush babies, and birds. besides the hyena, our night drive highlight was a herd of hippos on the side of the road. we were so close! eventually it was time to head back to camp, where we showered and got ready for another long day.

highway to the danger zone

despite the tire debacle, we eventually made it to kruger. after an initial morning set back that involved jeff misplacing my luggage lock i let him borrow (not super big deal), and then his passport (whoa, nelly), both items were located and we were on the road again. tzaneen is actually quite beautiful during the day. it's called "the fruit basket" and it's easy to see why - it's surrounded by all sorts of farms growing tropical fruits. yum. though i still wished we could have experienced the night astronomy safari, my year-of-thinking-positively experiment makes me see this silver lining: it's a part of the country we wouldn't have experienced had our tire not blown. satisfied, karma?

anyway, we drove the remaining kilometers and entered kruger through phalaborwa gate. stopped at reception to check in and use the toilets, and also the gift shop, where i managed to find my kruger keychain.

we entered the park and began our drive towards oliphants rest camp. even though we weren't going to stay there, we wanted to at least check it out since it was supposed to be beautiful. o.m.g. we saw the most massive poops in the road. seriously thought i was in jurassic park for a minute. there must be some crazy big animals around here! and no joke - "highway to the danger zone" by kenny loggins seriously came on the radio. okay, i know what you're thinking. yes we listened to american pop in africa. but it was only because the other stations were mainly talk radio in afrikaans or zulu or xhosa, which (if you didn't know) i am not fluent in. plus, it's not every day that you can rock out to miley cyrus's "party in the u.s.a" every hour, on the hour, during your african safari.

since we arrived around 11:30, i thought the animals would be resting and not too active. i was wrong. we were not even 20k into the park when this elephant came running across the road in front of us, followed by several others, including calves. they seemed somewhat frightened - which frightened me. i know moms can get aggressive if their young are around and they feel threatened. but i soon learned why - an bull soon came running after them. it looked like a house on legs. i never saw anything so huge before, and it reminded me of the time i saw my first moose. we crept along, all the while wondering how close really IS too close and really really wishing i had a dslr. soon came across another herd, just chilling and eating on the side of the road. i couldn't believe our luck; we weren't even in the park 30 mins and we saw elephants, my favorite land animal! those moments are seriously some of the top in my life.

drove along and took an (unpaved) road towards oliphants rest camp. around the first bend saw our first zebra! and a little while later, a lone impala. took like 1000 photos of it, only to come across an entire herd just down the road haha. there were so many! and they just stared at us, wondering what our next move would be. it was hilarious.

drove onto oliphants. it had a great entrance, and as described, a great overlook of oliphants river. stopped at the gift shop, then had some food (fish burger). saw a bunch of monkeys playing around as well as some really cool birds. could have sat there all day listening to the sounds of the animals and the river. so peaceful. but alas, it was almost 16:00 and we needed to get going so we didn't miss the gate closing at our next camp, satara.

along the way saw a bunch more impalas, and some really funny birds that ran all zig-zaggy down the road. i was afraid i'd run them over, but then this big truck went flying by me and they scattered everywhere. saw some amazing sunset views, and more zebra. then out of nowhere, another elephant. this was a lone bull and we were so close to him! it was starting to get dark and just then - a buffalo! we took some hurried pics b/c was really worried we'd miss the gate closing, and sure enough, pulled in at 15:29 - 1 min to spare. but wow - we saw 2 of the "big 5" on our very first day. pretty successful, i'd say.

checked in at reception and, after a couple wrong turns, made our way to bungalow e135. it's amazing how dark it gets so quickly without city light pollution. early to bed, since very early day tomorrow. we have to be at reception at 4:45 for our sunrise game drive, and that means jeff wants to get up at 3:45. really, jeff? you need an hour to get ready, even though you showered tonight? you more of a girl than me ;o)

oy vey

sooo, every trip has its bumps, right? mix ups and mess ups that - at the time - are minor or major annoyances, but later you can learn to appreciate them as "part of the journey". well, day 3 brought our first. now, i do realize things can always be worse and i shouldn't really complain. but this one was a real doozie.

woke up on a sour note.. only slept 2 hours. i thank the drum circle outside my room and jeff coming in and out 3 times during the night. as well as the m & m's i had at bedtime to make sure i had "food" with my malaria pills. plus, well - it sucks to be a girl sometimes, and i'll leave it at that! checked out of our hostel and got directions from the same guy that tried to direct us to dinner the first night. well, you can imagine how that turned out. drove for a bit but eventually made the wise decision to pull into a petrol station and ask. we weren't that far off, and the pump attendant was much more precise: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Left. 1, 2, 3, 4 Right." ok, on our way.

or so we thought. my god - the traffic was insane. and i thought jersey was bad! sure, the city is congested anyway, but add to that the million more here for the world cup, plus all the construction in preparation for the games. we weren't going anywhere fast, and it was 8:15 before we even really got on the highway - almost an hour later than i had planned. all i could think about was how we couldn't miss the gate closing at kruger. eventually we got out of the craziness of jo'burg, and we began to cruise along nicely. found an african pop station to keep me awake.. jeff fell asleep of course.

then BANG! out of nowhere this metal spike in the road hit my left front tire. i was already riding on the rim by the time i managed to pull off to the side. the tire was completely blown. and we had no phone! not knowing what else to do, we frantically tried to wave down someone to help. no one stopped. one guy even waved back.. thanks buddy. after about 10 mins - which felt like an eternity - someone finally stopped. we explained what happened and asked if we could use his phone to call europcar for help. then - it occurred to me - i didn't even check to see if we had a spare! duh.

gave jeff the keys and he found the spare. but thanks to my dad never teaching me how to change a tire ("girls don't need to know, that's what AAA is for!"), i had no clue where to begin. neither did jeff, and he's a boy! so the kind stranger proceeded to help us, even saying "okay, here's your lesson." it took all of 10 mins. asked if he knew how far we could travel on a spare, and he suggested continuing to pietresburg (rather than backtrack to jo'burg) as they would have a europcar branch. we thanked him profusely and parted ways, his final statement to us being "welcome to africa."

so away we went again, but it felt like we crawled to pietresburg (or polokwane, as it's now called) since we were driving well under the speed limit to protect the spare. drove directly to the airport, thinking that was our best bet to find a rental car branch. once there, jeff ran inside to explain our situation and came back to tell me they were just going to switch out the cars. sweet! so we unloaded and went in to do the paperwork, but that's when they realized it was an automatic. all they had were manual transmissions. friggin' a. they called several other branches but no one had an automatic, not even in the next few days. eventually decided we would just have to replace the tires, which would take 30 mins. super. so we went to the terminal (which consisted of 1 gate, 1 cafe, 5 tables and a few benches) to grab a bite to eat and rest.

well, once again - cultural differences. "30 mins" ended up being 3.5 hrs. and that meant that we missed the first night of our safari. no oliphants rest camp or elephants or astronomy game drive. i was so so bummed. i mean - there's nothing that can be done, and i can just hear G in my head saying "don't worry about it". but come on, it was the one rest camp i was most looking forward to since it was far from the touristy areas, plus elephants are my favorite land animal AND i love astronomy and was excited to attend an informal lecture about the southern sky. ah well, such is life. staying positive..

we finally got the car back around 16:00 and hit the road. saw some beautiful sunsets over the mountains, but the winding roads prevented us from really getting anywhere fast. it was already getting dark at 17:30 when we reached our halfway point of tzaneen so we just decided to stop. tried to find our way to the backpackers, but it was off the map we had and we got lost. so just pulled into arborpark lodge and fortunately they had rooms - for less than the night stay at the rest camp. sweet!

booked a room, and jeff wanted real food for dinner, so we set out to find something warm. unfortunately neither of us had our glasses and it was tricky to navigate around in the poor lighting. i was way cranky on only a couple hours sleep, and jeff was not making navigation decisions fast enough for my liking. finally i just said let's go to the pizza place we drove by like 80 times, and that seemed to satisfy him. maybe our brains weren't functionally well enough at this point, but i swear we ordered 2 slices each - though we both got 2 small pizzas each. ugh. couldn't eat most of it so threw it away b/c our hotel room had ants. at least we had a place to stay. so much for kruger day one!

i heart soweto

woke up early, but snoozed since we had showered the night before. got a call at 8am from soweto backpackers that our ride would pick us up around 9. today was our bike tour of soweto, the most famous of the black townships. it's full of history and culture, and i could think of no better way to tour it than by bike. sure, we could have joined a bus group or driven ourselves. but a bus doesn't allow you to interact with the community in the same way, and let's face it. despite being the richest township in south africa, soweto is still incredibly poor, most people live in poverty, there's crime and rampant disease. and i wanted to hear the people's story from them directly, not a canned narrative.

we had several choices of tour lengths through soweto bicycle tours. i wanted to get in as much history as i could on my trip to mandela land, so opted for the full day. jeff didn't seem to care either way, but i think in the end he was ultimately pleased with our choice.

so around 8:45 we decided to go and wait outside our hostel, since it was very easy to miss. and we waited. and waited. and waited. finally around 9:20, i called the backpackers to see what was up. the girl i spoke with laughed at my concern for timeliness - or lack thereof - and assured me the driver would be there soon. i accepted her answer of "soon", but soon realized cultural difference #5: time doesn't matter. around 9:45, one of the hostel owners approached us and said we had a call - the driver was outside in a blue van. well - there was no blue van. back and forth they went. the conversation went something like:

driver: "i am outside in a blue van"

hostel owner lady: "there is no blue van"

driver: "yes, i am here!"

lady: "you are not here, i see no blue van"

driver: "how can you not see my blue van, it is outside"

lady: "i am outside, and i see no blue van. you are not outside"

it was actually very funny. eventually they figured out that the driver was at 447 jan smuts, not 477. same mistake we had made other day. so in a few mins, our driver did appear, outside, in a blue van. with that, we were on our way from jo'burg to soweto, and with every mile you could see a definite difference. got a little uncomfortable and wondered if we bit off more than we could chew with this one. no going back now. arrived at the super cute backpackers, checked in and met our tour guide, philip, who was much younger than i anticipated. i was initially disappointed b/c assumed a lesser quality tour would transpire, but philip well surpassed any expectations i had. from choosing a bike onwards, i just tried to be fully open to the experience.

i think jeff and i were both a bit timid at first. it was just us and philip (apparently most people do the shorter tours). but we warmed up quickly and grew to appreciate our private tour. i came to be glad philip was our age; here is a kid in our same generation who grew up worlds - literally and figuratively - apart from us. while an older guide could have given us a more historical perspective (which, i'll admit, i usually prefer), we were able to connect with philip on a more personal level.

we saw tons! never realized how large soweto was. and we stopped frequently, which my thighs quite appreciated. saw east orlando stadium and the cooling towers (i'm certain were featured in andrew zimmern's bizarre foods). learned when soweto got electricity (to enforce curfew). visited a shebeen (once illegal drinking establishments for blacks), where we had home brewed beer (made from wheat, cornmeal and yeast) and a sweet drink (made again from maize meal and bananas).

walked around a hostel, which was the most interesting portion of our tour. they were originally built to house male migrant workers and were made up of 2 units (holding 8 men each) with a shared kitchen in between. most are now 'upgraded': individual units made of 1 bedroom and 1 kitchen. parents will sleep in the bedroom and kids on the kitchen floor. there is limited electricity and no water. they must walk a ways with 25L jugs to fill at the community tap. there are shared toilets - each is locked and only a few families have the key, helping sanitation. did see plenty of chicken carcasses hanging from doorways - which apparently protects your house from evil spirits..

and some humor: usually, small children frighten me. but i've said it before and i'll say it again - little black baby boys are the cutest kids on the planet. period. one kept holding onto my finger and wouldn't let go. i almost (*almost*) could have taken him home.

it was still astounding to see the amount of garbage everywhere; it made me sad to think people live like this. i was pleased to see the government was building permanent housing - complete with running water and private toilets. but i wondered if rent would go up. people now pay R45 - less than $7 - a month, as well as R125 ($18) per kid per month to send them to school. it may seem like a lot in comparison to rent, but considering it guarantees education as well as 3 meals a day, the cost is worthwhile. but they can't afford much more. i also wondered what would happen to the community atmosphere once everything moves indoors. time will tell.

next up was the meadowlands, more of a permanent, middle class part of soweto that's largely supported by the ANC (african national congress). stopped at an outdoor kitchen and had a local delicacy: cow cheek, and a more solid form of maize meal. this while staring at the cattle carcasses strewn about the ground.. ha. though it was tasty. learned about the mine dumps (HUGE mounds of dirt, soil and rock piled up from mining for gold). the locals call them 'blind windows' b/c it keeps soweto out of jo'burg's site. you wonder how intentional that was..

saw a public school that guaranteed an education through high school, regardless of ability to pay. the kids wear uniforms so it's not apparent what their socioeconomic status is. learned most kids from townships don't go to university b/c they can't afford it and don't have same opportunities as kids from the cities. which is also why they cannot better themselves and remain in blue collar jobs - or, more frequently, unemployed. philip is a living testament that there is hope for soweto's future generations.

next up was the albertina sisulu center - a school for disabled kids. learned about albertina and winnie mandela's role in apartheid resistance. saw the only women's hostel in soweto, and the klipspruit river, which used to be used for baptisms and other such rituals. it's now against the law b/c the current is too strong, though there are still no protective fences to keep people out.

from there, we moved to the wealthier part of town, which looked like it could be anywhere in the western world. what a difference from just down the road. learned about lilian masediba matabane ngoyi, who was put on house arrest after a women's rights march. visited the hector pieterson memorial and museum, which tells the story of the 1976 student uprising. the students marched peacefully to demonstrate against afrikaans being made the official language in schools - and 100s were killed and wounded when police fired into the crowd. in his death, hector came to symbolize the movement and attract international attention when a journalist took a photo of him being carried in the arms of another. so sad, but so necessary for the world to finally acknowledge.

of course, museums always end in gift shops - and this was no different. except the gift shop was a street lined with hawkers selling "handmade goods for pretty white lady". didn't feel up to bargaining but knew jeff wouldn't have many opportunities to shop, so browsed for a bit. found a wooden salad spoon/fork set with elephants carved at the top. probably not handmade by the vendor, but it still helps support the local economy, which needs all the help it can get. made our way across the street to a restaurant for our included meal. we had "bunny burgers" - i don't think there was actually rabbit in it, but it was tasty nonetheless. washed it down with coke with real sugar. philip couldn't believe we don't use real sugar in america.. oh high fructose corn syrup, thanks for not corrupting everything.

our last stop was vilakazi street, home to 2 nobel peace prize holders - nelson mandela (one of my heroes) and archbishop desmond tutu. mandela's home was made into a museum, which due to time constraints we didn't get to go into. bummer. philip says he has seen desmond tutu 3 times in his 1.5 years of being a tour guide. pretty cool. got bombarded by a group of little boys who ran after us blowing their vuvuzelas. world cup fever is everywhere! at this point it was getting dark, and we were pretty far behind schedule, so it was a direct and quick dash back to the backpackers. yes, thighs and blisters, i hear you loud and clear! fell asleep in the van back to our hostel in jo'burg. quickly checked internet (no message from G.. sad), and showered before planning our route for tomorrow. kruger national park, here we come!