Kruger Part 1

So, I know I haven't posted in a while, but there hasn't been much to write about, then this weekend was crazy. So, last week was a lot of work, and the weekend was a wash due to bad weather and a broken boat. I shopped and bought a lot of presents (for other people and for myself... :) ) So that was fun, and useful. We went to see the new James Bond movie, and its nice because a movie plus a medium popcorn and soda is R50. Sweet deal. Thats cheaper than JUST a movie in the states, and the theatres are pretty nice.

This week we finished up our first draft of the Atlas, and just received comments from our advisors today. That will be interesting. We also worked on Endlovini TV (Endlovini meaning strength in Xhosa) which was basically Oprah in Monwabisi but it was popular with residents, mostly, I suspect, because people like seeing themselves on TV. But they talked about important issues on it, such as safety in the community, why they moved there and teenage pregnancy and its problems. So, thats interesting. Its a lot of work though, but its filmed and written entirely by community members, so there is definitely a knowledge exchange, they are learning about the video equipment and techniques, and we're learning a lot about their culture.

On Tuesday, we left for Kreuger national park, and our safari. Ten of us went on the trip, and we flew to Jo'Burg on Tuesday night and stayed in an airport lodge. We got upgraded from Kulula to British Airways, which was much nicer and included dinner. I was surprised at the lack of security and precautions taken on the flight. We were allowed to bring basically anything in our carry ons, and they only checked our passports once when we bought our tickets, not at security. The airport lodge was decent, nicer than St. Johns, and in the suburbs of Johannesburg near the airport.

Our safari bus picked us up at the lodge at 6 am and we drove the 6 hours to Kruger. We stopped at several attractions and for food on the way. First was God's Window, but it was really foggy there. Its a rainforest area, so it generally is, but its in the mountains, and when clear offers great views of the valleys below. There were lots of interesting plants and loud insects there. After God's Window, we visited the three Rondevals which are round pieces of land sticking out of a the third largest (and worlds greenest) canyon, and the pot holes which are wierd sinkholes in the ground that are huge. It was all very beautiful, and I've never seen anything quite like these places. Rondevals are the traditional houses made with thatched roofs, and you can see in the picture that the land looks somewhat like them.

We spent our second night in the lodge outside Kruger, and spent time in the pool there, and ate a delicious dinner. There was a crazy bar tender who told the most ridiculous dirty jokes, which was entertaining, and there were children who came in and did tribal dances and encouraged all the guys to dance as well, luckily for me it was only guys who were encouraged to dance and I didn't have to.

And the internet is not letting me upload more pictures, so the safari itself will come tomorrow.

Pictures from top to bottom: Three Rondevals, Potholes, God's Window, Sunset from the jeep