First Impressions

Wow! The past few days have been a crazy whirlwind of sight-seeing, long bus rides, and learning tons of new information about this beautiful country. This is actually the first time we’ve had internet since landing, so I apologize for being a bit out-of-touch. I’ll try to give a brief overview of what I’ve done so far.

Margo and I at our hotel in Pilgrim's Rest

On Monday, we drove. A LOT. First, we rode through Pretoria. It’s one of the three capitals of South Africa and means the “City of Roses.” It is also the largest city geographically. Apparently you can drive somewhere around an hour and a half to get from one side to the other. We made another stop in Dullstrom for lunch. This was a city famous for fly fishing and drinking, although we didn’t see any of that during our short stop. Finally, we made it to our destination of Pilgrim’s Rest in Mpumalanga. This is an old gold mining village and really looked like a movie set for an old Western film. Everything is preserved as it was originally. It had an old post office, gas station, general store, and lots of churches. The most interesting thing was the cemetery. It was up on a hillside overlooking a gorgeous view of the mountains of Mpumalanga. There was a specific grave of a thief called the “Robber’s Grave.” While all the other graves are facing east and west so that the person can see Jesus’ return, this grave is facing the opposite direction. The idea is that he cannot be resurrected. We stayed at Royal Hotel, which was very old-fashioned. We were greeted with a welcome drink, then escorted to our rooms. It had a bathtub (no shower) and a lot of candles. These were helpful, since the power went out constantly! Next to the hotel was a church that had been converted to a bar. It is tradition for every visitor to have a drink, so we stopped in for a beer before dinner.

God's Window

The "Three Sisters"

Tuesday, we saw a lot of the must-see natural attractions along the Panorama route in Mpumalanga, which means “place where the sun rises”. We first stopped at God’s Window. The view was absolutely breath-taking. Then, we went to a lookout over Blyde River Canyon. It has three mountains that are commonly referred to as the “Three Sisters,” with a traditional folk story behind the name. Finally, we visited the “Potholes.” There were many pools and waterfalls in the canyon. This is a special place where the Africans go to communicate with their ancestors. To do this, you throw a coin off a bridge into the water, and if the coin spins on its way down, your ancestors are pleased. If not, they are unhappy with something, and you must try to fix it. Mine spun, so I guess everything’s well! That evening, we went to an elephant interaction. We got to learn all about the elephants, feed them, and ride them. It was one of the coolest things I’ve done! The animals were so magnificent and extremely smart! Plus, the guide knew a lot about the physiology and anatomy of the animal, which, obviously, Margo and I loved!

Feeding the elephant!

Giraffe!

Zebra!

On Wednesday, we woke up to a knock on our door at 5:00am to get ready to go on a safari in Kruger National Park that lasted from 6am to about 3pm. This is something on my bucket list, so I was so excited to finally be doing it! However, when I imagined this experience, I never thought I’d be so cold! I had on a sweater, sweatshirt, and my winter jacket, as well as a blanket. I was still freezing when the car was moving! The sunrise made the cold worthwhile. You see pictures of African sunrises that are so beautiful that you couldn’t imagine it looks like that in person. It did. The sun was a gorgeous bright orange-red, and all the trees and giraffes were just black silhouettes. We saw a giraffe within the first five minutes. They were so graceful and beautiful. Throughout the day, we saw rhinos, elephants, a lion, impalas, waterbucks, hippos, baboons, zebras, kudu (an antelope), warthogs, endangered wild dogs, and many different birds. Our guide was very funny, and he grew up right outside the park, so his knowledge of the animals and plants was firsthand, rather than something he learned for the job, which made it even more interesting. For instance, he showed us a bush that he had used the branches as a toothbrush, as well as a plant that their traditional healers use to treat upset stomachs.

Elephant approaching our vehicle

Dancing with the Swazis

Today, we went to Swaziland, a landlocked country in the middle of South Africa. We drove there first thing in the morning, and got our passports stamped at the border. Then, we went to a Swazi cultural experience, where they explained Swazi customs, we toured a traditional village, and we watched and participated in traditional dances and songs. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen or experienced, and it was so beautiful. We then drove through the country for a while, while our tour guide explained a lot about the history of the country and Swazi people. We then went to a memorial for King Sobhuza II. It was very interesting to learn more about how the king is chosen and how King Sobhuza ruled the country. There was no apartheid in Swaziland, because the King valued racial harmony. He said that just like you need both black and white keys to make beautiful music with a piano, you need all races living together peacefully. Also to represent this, the white portions of the Swaziland flag have black spots and the black portions have white spots. There was also a glass building at the place where King Sobhuza died. This place is held sacred because it is where all the tears of the people were spilled mourning over the death of the king, and a piece of his spirit remains there. Therefore, you cannot touch the building or take photos of it. The guide would not even point at the building with his index finger, as a sign of respect. It’s constantly guarded, and there is a changing of the guard every few hours. Then, we went to a museum to learn some more about the history and culture of Swaziland. I absolutely loved it!

At the Swaziland border!

Ok, now for some final thoughts about the country since I’m caught up on my travels thus far. The food hasn’t been extremely different from the US. However, there is a huge emphasis on game meat. The only unique things I’ve tried so far is kudu, which just tasted like steak, and ox tail, which tasted like ribs. We also tried amarula, a type of liqueur made from morula berries. The bottle has an elephant on it, since elephants love to eat the berries. The wine is also delicious and very cheap. I’m definitely looking forward to the wine tastings we have scheduled later in the week. Also, it’s amazing how many languages the people here speak! I’ve heard so many—most of which I don’t recognize. Our tour guide speaks 20 languages himself! Crazy. I even heard some Spanish in Kruger National Park, which made me happy.

I’ve loved my time here so far! Everyone is so nice and welcoming, and the country is gorgeous! I am looking forward to being settled in Bloemfontein though, so I can stop living out of a suitcase and constantly driving from place to place. My only complaint so far is that my camera is not working. Thankfully, Margo is with me, so we can share! I don’t know what I’d do otherwise! But, that being said, I won’t be posting much to facebook, so you can check hers for more, and I apologize for any duplicates of pictures on our blogs if you are following both of us. Haha. 

South Africa has been called a “world in one country,” and I am definitely starting to understand that. We’ve seen canyons, jungles, grasslands, and mountains, and met people from such diverse backgrounds. I can’t wait to see what more my time in South Africa has in store for me.