It's been three days since I arrived back in the States and through serious jet lag and a horrible cold, I've managed to bring you my first post
about my African adventure.
On May 23rd, I flew from Cleveland to NYC and then I boarded a South African Airways flight to embark on my 14 and a half hour plane ride to Johannesburg.
Arriving in South Africa!!!
On the 24th, I arrived in Joburg around 8am, about 2am Ohio time due to the 6-hour time difference. From there, I exchanged my U.S. dollars for South African Rand, which has a fantastic exchange rate (for my pocket at least) ...nearly 13 Rand to 1 U.S. dollar.
From the airport, my ISV (International Student Volunteer) group of 30 people and I traveled nearly two hours to Bela Bela where we stopped for snacks. It was another hour and a half drive to Shingwedzi, where we'd be staying and volunteering for the next two weeks.
When we arrived, we were filled with lunch and then shown to our chalets...our homes for the next two weeks. There are three chalets: Noko, Thutlwa, and Kolobe. I was put into Noko (pronounced Noku in the Zulu language) with 11 other volunteers.
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| My humble abode. Each chalet has a kitchen, a patio/bonfire area, and a pool! |
That evening, we had our very first South African Braai, or cookout as we'd call it in the U.S.
Braais consist of a lot of meat and socializing...that's kind of the key to a braai.
At our first braai, we ate ribs, chicken, beet roots, scalloped potatoes, and rolls.
However, we were all kind of exhausted from more than a day's worth of traveling, so I don't have much else to say about it...because I was practically sleepwalking through it.
The next day, we toured parts of Shingwedzi.
We also learned about an interesting tree called the Buffalo Thorn,
that has branchlets with straight and curved thorns.
It is said that the straight thorns point towards the future
and the curved thorns curve to the past.
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| From Google images |
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| A skink |
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| A snakeskin we found in the plains and Tasch, one of our project leaders. |
Out in the plains, we played an ice breaker to try to learn everyone's names
(YAY RA STUFF!)
Then this is where the cheetahs come in.
Our first major encounter with a cheetah involved Midget. He's a young-in who is used to show the speed and agility of his breed through the running course. He also loves to lick you through the fence!
Therefore, we got cheetah licks on only our second day at Shingwedzi! :)
Needless to say, I was satisfied with life in that moment.
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| Midget the cheetah! |
On our walk back to Noko, we encountered 3 zebras, literally in what felt like our back yard!
I had a mini heart attack from pure excitement and
then managed to get an exorbitant amount of photos.
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| My zebra buddies! |
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| The view from the lookout at one of the other chalets. |
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| We made chalet flags...and since Noko means porcupine in the Zulu language...well, you can see where we got our inspiration. :) |
We ended day two with another South African favorite...or maybe just a Shingwedzi favorite... A Sundowner.
You basically take some alcohol (because the drinking age is 18 in South Africa) and your friends out to the plains and watch the sunset while you socialize, take pictures, and have a good time!
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| The beautiful African sunset |
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| Noko housemates! |
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| Our safari truck and transportation for the two weeks! |
My first couple days in South Africa were tiring, exhilarating, and
I couldn't have asked for anything more. Surprisingly though, the trip got even better.
I'll make sure to post Part 2 of my African Adventure soon, and be prepared, it will feature much more cheetah love that will be sure to knock your socks off! :)
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| The sun quickly tucked itself behind the mountains, around 6pm! |
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