The end

This will be my last blog post about the trip! First of all, I just got home. It's 8:18 in the morning but it feels like its 2 in the afternoon to me, plus i didn't sleep much on the plane so i'm very tired! But I have to stay up until tonight!

Wednesday night (after i wrote the last post) we ate outside. There were heaters and blankets but it was still very cold, probably about 30 or 40 degrees. I'm blanking out on what we ate, but I know it was amazing. At the beginning of our dinner JR came out and told us some stuff about the stars. I had no idea that you see different stars in the Northern and Southern hemispheres! So it was a very cool experience! He had a super laser that literally could point directly to a star- he said it had the capability to blind a pilot so you had to have a license. After dinner we went back to our rooms and I took a hot shower which felt amazing after a day of being in the cold! Then it was bedtime.

On Thursday we had the same routine and woke up early for a safari. We went on 5 different trips so i'm having trouble remembering what we saw on this one, but that day we saw 2 female lions with 4 or 5 cubs! They are very relaxed animals and try to save their energy for hunting- so we got really close! This was so amazing! It's astonishing to me how much animals parallel humans- the cubs were so playful like kids and we couldn't stop the whole time we were at Jamala making little conversations between the animals based on their behavior.

We also saw a leopard the day before which somehow I forgot to write about! It was literally in the open in a clearing- Lucky said this was extremely rare for a leopard as they are usually hidden in the bush. He said he had never seen anything like it! We got extremely close to it as well.

That day we also got to see 4 cheetahs! These only sometimes are in the area they venture to, so it was a rarity and these beautiful creatures were also very relaxed, allowing us to come up about 10 feet from them! We have some amazing pictures! We also got pretty close to some elephants that night, which was great. They are so fun to watch drinking from a watering hole and I could have done it for hours!

That night we had beef fillets and sweet potatoes and steamed vegetables, followed by a delicious dessert! The food was so good there.

On the morning safaris we would stop for a snack and coffee and then in the afternoon for cocktails around sunset time. It's going to be weird to just not be able to get an alcoholic drink whenever I want anymore- and I am going to miss Amarula! There is a tree with fruits called the marula and mixed with cream it's an amazing drink that you can have plain or in hot chocolate or coffee. It tastes kind of like butterscotch! We brought some home but it's doubtful my parents will let me enjoy it :P

Friday morning we decided to sleep in and not go on a safari because we had literally seen every single animal, and the more common ones on many occasions! They provided a "safari checklist" which i'll post a picture of in my album on Facebook. We saw literally everything you would want to see!

OH! I figured out the Big 5 which I couldn't remember earlier- they're rhino, elephant, leopard, buffalo, and lion.

On Friday after breakfast we said goodbye to everyone (which was very sad) and then drove to the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. Honestly, this wasn't very much fun for me as I had already learned much of the info in my Colonial African History class, and one time is one too many for me to learn history! It's just not my thing.

We then went to the airport and had our 16 hour flight back to Atlanta, which actually felt way shorter than before. I watched a few movies and slept a little bit, but definitely not enough.

I'm about to post pictures and hopefully do laundry and other things to keep me occupied all day. I might have to make a Starbucks run to keep me awake :)

Thanks for reading guys, hope you enjoyed!

-Anna

Incredible

Today was outstanding! We got woken up at 6 am gently by our doorbell. We then quickly got ready and headed to the main lodge for coffee or tea before our safari. 

When we got into the jeep, there were blankets and hot water bottles to keep us warm. (Oh and when I got into my bed last night there was one in there too!) We journeyed out and saw giraffes, zebras, impala, elephants, wildebeest, and warthogs! It was freezing but so worth waking up early. We came back and ate an amazing breakfast and then chilled out for a couple of hours. Then we had high tea at 3 with cake and sandwiches and salads. We went on our next safari and saw rhinos and more of the same things we had already seen! Oh and we also got a glimpse of a lion and two cubs!! But it was night so the view wasn't great. 

We're hanging out before dinner which I'm sure will be amazing and then I'm going to take a hot shower and get into bed! This is the life!

Right off the deck here there is a watering hole that is frequented by elephants, giraffes, zebras, impala, and wildebeest. It's unbelievable! 

Until tomorrow,

Anna

Coastline/The Beginning of Safari Adventures

Once again too lazy to write yesterday. Actually ill be posting this tomorrow since I don't have wifi right now. So two days late. 

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. We ate and then drove to Boulders Beach to see African penguins which was cool. We then continued around to Cape Point, the tip of South Africa where the Indian and Atlantic oceans come together. We continued along the coast (stopping for lunch at a completely random place, which had won a ton of awards and also Oprah had been there a few months before) and stopped at some places to take pictures. We ended the night having tapas at another award winning restaurant that was fancy schmancy. They were so delicious. 

Today was amazing. Except for the long travel. We woke up at 6:15 and headed to the airport for our 8:50 flight back to Johannesburg. We drove (following extremely hard to read directions) for about 4 hours until we reached the Madikwe Game Reserve: Home of the Big 5. I've been told the list so many times but can never get it right. Haha. We drove a bit further until we found our final residence: Jamala Madikwe "Royal Safaris". Guys. This place is the nicest I've ever been. We arrived and literally the whole staff came out to greet us. The whole place can only hold 10 people, we're 8 so we're the only ones here. There is a main lodge (with a view to a watering hole frequented by wildlife) and then 5 smaller lodges. We were greeted with towels and champagne, and they took our luggage to our respectable lodges. 

Then it was time for our first game drive!!! We got in an open jeep type thing with Lucky and JR our guides. And man were we lucky. We drove around and they talked about the reserve and about how much of a poaching problem there is here. There are electric fences all around the reserve to keep the animals in and hopefully safe.

First we came upon 2 rhinos that literally walked 15 feet from the car. Then we went to another watering hole and there came a whole other group of rhinos including a baby! Oh and before this we saw a few monkeys with a baby! Then a HUGE group of probably 10 elephants walked by. Like 30 feet from our car. No kidding. There were a few babies too and I was melting. We watched them for a good 30 minutes and then started back because it was dark. JR and Lucky shined lights looking for wildlife, and suddenly JR told Lucky to reverse. He saw two leopards and we got a glimpse of one!! Then we kept on back. 

We arrived greeted again with hot towels and a "Springbok Shooter": mint liquor with cream to help warm us up! (Oh and also there were blankets on the jeep). We walked inside and sat down for dinner: spinach and feta soup followed by elond (a type of animal) on truffle mashed potatoes and chili broccoli followed by a dried cranberry enhanced brownie with homemade vanilla ice cream. One of the best meals of my life. The staff is so nice and they ask you by name if you want a drink or anything. 

We came back to our lodge to see our beds turned down, netting around it, and a hot soapy bath in the bathroom. Oh and there were truffles and a note on our pillows, stating the weather and sunrise/sunset times for the next day. 

I feel like a celebrity. This place is unimaginable. Tomorrow they're waking us up at 6 to go on another game drive. I cannot wait to see what tomorrow holds! I wanna see more elephants!! :))

Anna

A tad late

Sorry, y'all, I was too tired to write last night so I'm doing it at breakfast for yesterday. 

We woke up and ate as usual and then drove over to the base of Table Mountain. In any pictures of Cape Town, you will see a huge flat top mountain in the background. This is it. We got in a huge cable car (in which the floor rotated, very cool) and headed to the top. The views were unbelievable and I took so many pictures. Some cool things about Table:

It just became one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the world, along with Amazon rainforest and Iguazu Falls. 

Also, there are more species on the top of Table Mountain than in all of Great Britain! It's extremely biodiverse. 

We walked around up there and took pictures and then headed down. We then drove to Mt. Nelson hotel, one of the most famous in South Africa, for afternoon tea. There was an endless buffet of cakes and sandwiches and cookies, along with a large selection of teas from around the world. I had green tea from China, it was delicious. We sat around for a bit and ate and chatted and then a bottle of champagne came! (Thanks, George, if you're reading this :) )

We headed back to the hotel for naps and hanging out for the rest of the night. Today we are driving around the Cape and also seeing penguins!!!!

Anna

Free Mandela!

Today was our first full day in Cape Town. We woke up and had a really good typical breakfast at the hotel. We were running a bit late on our 8:10 am departure (i know, early) to make our ferry for Robben Island, so we rushed out and headed to downtown Cape Town. 

We arrived early surprisingly and boarded the ferry to Robben Island. This is the place off the coast of South Africa where political prisoners (and convicts), including Nelson Mandela, were held during apartheid (similar to segregation in the United States). After the quite bumpy ferry ride we arrived and got on a bus with a tour guide who drove us around the quite large island and told us about various sites. 

There were a few parts that stood out to me, first of all, ex-convicts are employed by the Robben Island now museum and especially help give tours of the prison (which we did later). The workers and their families are allowed to reside on the island. There was even a school there up until 2011. Basically, the conditions of the prison were horrible and it was known as the "hell hole of South Africa". Most of the prisoners didn't even know what the island had because they were very restricted in which areas they were allowed to go, mostly just from their cell, to do hard labor, and back. I was interested to hear that there were plans of escape but no one actually attempted it, due to the distance to the mainland, the extremely high security, freezing cold waters, and of course, the great white sharks. 

The island is home to a lot of wildlife including tons of seagulls and many springbok (like an antelope, which I actually at the other day). We saw a few while driving around. There are also a lot of ruins from the Second World War which were cool to see as well. 

We got off the bus and entered the prison to be greeted by an ex-prisoner. He took us around the prison and showed us the different areas, explained to us what occurred there, and even showed us the individual cell in which Nelson Mandela last stayed in! It's so cool that they have people that have actually experienced the terrors that occurred to tell them to the public. Oh, also something else interesting: the prison didn't actually close until 1996, and became a museum open to the public in 1997. Kind of recent if you ask me. I also still can't believe that apartheid didn't end until 1994 officially (i believe). I was alive then!

The experience was wonderful and after 3 hours of this, we headed back to the mainland for lunch. We ate at this "authentic African restaurant" which in my opinion was very catered to tourists but it was good nonetheless. They even painted my face with "authentic African face paintings". If there's anything I can't stand, it's being treated like a tourist! 

We walked around the waterfront for a bit on the harbor which basically just has shopping and stuff, and then headed back to the hotel for a nap. A much needed one at that!

After that we woke up and drove to dinner at the Harbour House, which has fish caught the same day! I had some that was amazing. It was a very fancy place and probably would have costed way more in the states.

I am very ready for bed but luckily we get to sleep in tomorrow per the dads' requests. I mean, it is Father's Day tomorrow! We're going to Table Mtn and then to afternoon tea at some famous place called Mt. Nelson to celebrate. 

-Anna

Exhausted.

Today was longggggg. 

I know I've already posted twice today I just can't help it! Here's my official one about our whereabouts and such. 

We woke up and left Mosaic Farm about 30 minutes later. It was hard to say goodbye but who knows, maybe ill be back in Stanford one day :)

After a two hour drive through gorgeous landscapes, including fields of sheep and cows, forests, and mountains (pic attached), we arrived at a small town nestled in the mountains called Franschhoek. It's a small Dutch town including tons of Dutch architecture and cute shops and restaurants! We asked a shopowner for a recommendation and ended up at French Connection, supposedly where the locals eat. I had tomato soup and a goat cheese and caramelized onion tart. So delicious! Afterwards we walked down the street to a famous chocolate shop, and then went in a couple of stores. 

We left the town and continued our beautiful drive an hour and a half to Cape Town. (I wrote the post about reflections on this leg of the trip). The beach appeared and was beautiful but it was also sad to see the shanty towns. 

The hotel we're staying at here is called Colona Castle, it's like a few very old buildings that are furnished kind of old fashioned but it's so pretty! And the hospitality here is impeccable. 

We hung out and then a few of us went to the theatre because Scott wanted to go see a ballet show, based on Elvis Presley's life. I know, it sounds odd, but it was actually really good. There was a restaurant at the theater that served really good Indian vegetarian food which was great to have before. 

We've been going all day and have another huge day tomorrow including Robben island, the waterfront, and Table Mountain. Can't wait to see what it holds for us!

Anna

The sad truth

On our long day of traveling to Cape Town today I've been reflecting a lot about South Africa and how it makes me think about and appreciate the life that I have. For example, we just drove past a community of houses that are literally just four sheet metal walls and a roof that is literally less square feet than my room. A lot of these communities don't have any electricity in their houses, nonetheless street lamps to help keep them safe at night. Beauty's community just got street lamps recently and she seemed happy that these were put into place. I couldn't believe how many minutes we were driving continuously seeing these houses, only feet apart, when we came to a slope and could see how far back from the road they were too. I would say at least a mile, curving around a mountain as well. That was on our right, while on the left was the beautiful coast. 

I could never imagine living in a house like that and it makes me so thankful for what I have. I think everyone should come to a place like this at least once in their lifetime to help them gain perspective on themselves and the world. South Africa isn't even third world but second, so I'm sure there are worse situations in many places in the world. 

There are also so many people walking around without shoes on. Being familiar with the TOMS idea and their motives, i know you can get many diseases just through not having shoes. It's something that we take for granted each and every day and even most of us own multiple pairs. 

Can't wait to see what Cape Town holds for us, we've just arrived! Attached is a picture of our view from our hotel. 

Anna

Observations

6-14-13

There are a few distinct things I've noticed about South Africa that I'd like to share:

First of all, everything is extremely cheap compared to the US. For example, that wine tasting I was telling you about was literally $12 a person for the food and probably like 2 or 3 full glasses of wine. 

Secondly, and I think this is the same In a lot of countries other than the US, people are so much less concerned with safety regarding waking on the roads. There will be children who cross without looking, people walking in the middle of the road at night, and children playing in the street. In the United States this is completely unheard of, and one of the first things we're taught as children is "stop and look both ways". 

Also, people are not afraid to ask for tips.  They will do something for you even if you don't need it, like lead you where you need to go in the airport. You don't really have a choice when they ask you for money after the fact. This is confusing but eventually we've learned to just try to avoid those situations! People are just a lot more open to asking here, where on the US it would be considered rude. 

A great ending

Today was an extraordinary day! We woke up late and ate lunch and then got another chance to go on the ATV's which was great again! We tried to go up to the beach but weren't allowed. 

We came back and then got ready to get in the car with Katherine Johnson, the owner of Mosaic Farm who is really active in the local Rotary club and does a lot for the community! She's the one that connected Beauty with the ULS and created the opportunity for her to go in 2011. 

We first went to a local preschool started just a few years ago. The problem with education here is that there is no pre-primary schooling, so when children enter primary school they don't know any English and any simple skills so they are already disadvantaged and fall behind easily. Someone was fed up with this and started an amazing preschool. We brought them some fruit and things for the school as a donation because they have a seriously small budget. The kids were so adorable and so sweet, even though we couldn't communicate with them through speaking very well, it was amazing how excited they were to hang out with us! I was really touched and inspired, I'm actually brewing ideas in my head of doing some sort of Odyssey project with them!

Next we went to pick up Beauty. She comes from a very disadvantaged area and doesn't even have electricity in her house. Her family can only afford "pap" which is like corn meal to eat. She was so excited to see us, especially Scott! She's a great leader in her community and so inspiring. She wants to be a dentist when she grows up and definitely knows her potential! 

We then drove to a local church where Scott was going to give his talk, about the Mindsets of course! Tons of teens and a few educators Showed up and the room was full. They really seemed to be soaking in what he was saying even though he didn't have long to speak. A couple of the boys stopped to talk to him after and said they would contact him because they were very interested in what he had to say! It's so admirable to me that students are willing to step way out of the norm here and be so open to change. I hope they might get a chance to come to ULS someday!

After we dropped Beauty off, we went to dinner with Katherine in Stanford, the little town near Mosaic Farm and had pizza again which was really really good!

Now we're back making fires and I think we're all sad to leave in the morning but excited to move on to the next stage in our trip! We go to Cape Town tomorrow for the next 5 days I think! 

Later, y'all!

Anna 

Wine and dine

Today was a super cool day. We woke up and ate and then drove about an hour to a valley (which I forget the name of) that has a ton of vineyards that make famous wines from South Africa. On the way, we passed a TON of baboons including babies which were adorable!! They were just hangin out on the side of the road. We finally arrived at a vineyard called Creation, which was recommended to us by the owner of Mosaic Farm where we're staying. The view was amazing. We went inside to have lunch and most of us decided on the wine tasting with food: 8 different wines to taste with complementing little tastes of food. These were all amazing!! What a cool experience. And all while looking at the view that is attached. We were there for a while and then took a tour of where they make the wine and the cellar, which was in the same building. They said that they sell about 3 million dollars of wine a year! I don't know if that was in US dollars or SA rand, but I think dollars. We left and drove to one more winery to take a taste and take pictures of the amazing landscape. We passed more monkeys on the way back, and then stopped in Hermanus for pizza and grocery shopping. The pizza couldn't compare with Mellow, obviously, but it was still pretty good :) we arrived back at the house to realize we were out of fire starters and so we had to burn some paper in order to get the fire started, but eventually got it! It's not as cold here tonight, luckily. 

Tomorrow I think we're hanging out and then going to see Beauty who attended the 2011 ULS. I hope you all got to meet her if you were there that year! Scott's going to do a talk also, I'm pretty excited for that! One more day here at Mosaic Farm and then we go to Cape Town on Friday! 

Anna

Fireside

So im sitting by the fire in our house, there's no central heating so we have to make due! It's nice and cozy. At night with a big blanket it's ok that it's like 60 degrees!

Today we woke up and ate like usual. Then we went over to the main house at Mosaic Farm and learned how to use the ATV's! Pretty simple. We had a guide, Octavia, take us all around the Mosaic Farm grounds and beyond. We went through dunes, by the lagoon, and over hills. It was a bumpy ride, but seriously so much fun, that I went again with the second group!

After that it was late so we ate lunch and hung out. We then prepared to board the open car with a couple from England and head to a private beach that we had access too. Octavia took us there too and taught us about various plants and animals along the way. He's awesome! 

We drove over huge sand dunes and eventually came to a FANTASTIC beach...I cannot wait to post pictures. There were huge waves and the sun was on its way down. We stayed to watch the sunset and they brought drinks and snacks for us to enjoy. After it got dark we got back in the car for the bumpy ride back home. 

Now we're all just chilling out waiting for dinner. Tomorrow we're going to some local vineyards! 

Later!

Anna

Soooooo this is what I did today...

SHARKS GALORE

Holy crap. What a day. We woke up to another amazing breakfast bright n early. Fruit, eggs, more amazing bread, yogurt, and granola. Then it was time to drive a short hour to Gansbaai, literally the great white shark capital of the world! At this point, I was feeling terrified and not even sure if I could follow through with it. We arrived to warm welcomes by the workers and then headed upstairs for our debriefing. They showed us a video which talked about myths of sharks, and the difference between real life and movie ones. Did you know that there are only 4-10 fatal shark attacks in the world per year, but 40 by domestic dogs in the US ALONE, and 400 by toasters in the world. We were notified that the most dangerous part of our day was the drive there! I felt a lot better after this, including the video showing what we would actually be doing. We also learned that our boat was the only one in the industry that was specifically built for shark cage diving.

We began our short walk down to the harbour to board the boat. After about a 10 minute ride, we anchored, and immediately we saw sharks!!! At this point, we couldn't believe that we would be getting in the water with them. The crew urged us all to hurry and get on our wetsuits. Those are extremely difficult to get on, by the way. The first group of 8 got into the cage right off the edge of the boat. Two men tried to get the sharks to come, one had something that resembled the silhouette of a seal, and one had pieces of meat tied to a rope. They also used chum: a mixture of fish oil and fish parts which they put into the water and the smell attracted the sharks.

They stayed in for about 30 minute, and then it was our turn. We zipped up, put on some boots, and put on our masks. We one by one entered the cage, which I will post a pic of. That's not us in there, but it was the same situation. The two men attracting the sharks would yell "DOWN LEFT!" "DOWN RIGHT!", or "DOWN FRONT!" So we would know where to look. I cannot believe how close we were, probably about only a foot or less away at times. Some of the sharks were 13 feet long! I am so happy that I conquered my fear and did it.

Our guide said we had a very lucky day, as the group befor us had to wait 45 minutes to see any sharks at all. We saw 12-13 sharks total, and probably at the most 3 at one time by the boat.

After 2 more groups went after us, we took the boat to Shark Alley, Which our guide called "the shark's McDonald's". Apparently, people from national geographic and other major photographers and stuff come there every year to get a look at the sharks! Oh yeah, this little island is covered with about 60 thousand seals. There's the explanation!

We're now back at our houses preparing dinner. Tomorrow I think we're just going 4 wheeling and hanging out. Pictures to come of everything! Hope you all are enjoying!
-Anna

Travel travel travel

Today we woke up and had a to die for breakfast of crumpets and cream, fruit, and eggs at our hotel. Then we went back to the airport and took a short two hour flight to Cape Town- I seriously love South African airlines. So nice. 

We arrived and got our rental cars and then started the route to the place we are now- called Mosaic Farm. The views on the way were amazing! (The pic with this is what we saw). The place we are at is kind of In the middle of nowhere, on the Hermanes Lagoon. We arrived as it was dark so I don't have any pics yet! We have two cottages that are adorable.  We had a dinner waiting for us including some South African wine! We just went outside to look at the stars- there appear to be so many more when you're not surrounded by lights. Tomorrow we're waking up early and going to get into cages in the water with sharks. Terrifying but exciting. 

Can't wait to show y'all pics of this amazing place!

Anna

The kids

Can't believe I forgot to mention this: we go outside to find our shuttle to take us to the airport and there are a bunch of kids, probably aged 10-17 all in school uniforms. They started talking to us and were so interested in us because we were from so far away! Then they wanted to take tons of pictures with us- it was so funny. When we asked why they were there, they said they just felt like visiting the airport!

Later!

HEREEEEE

After about 16 or 17 hours of flying, we are FINALLY at our hotel in Johannesburg! The flight was extremely tiring, especially since I got about 2 hours of sleep. It's 6:42 pm here, 6 hours past EST. but my brain thinks it's the middle of the day. I'm already ready for bed! The airplane food isn't making me feel so good, we're gonna eat some real dinner and then get in bed for the night. Tomorrow we have a short flight to Cape Town and then a drive to our first destination!!!

So excited to be here!

Airport!

I can't believe it's finally here! Our flight boards in about 15 minutes and leaves in about an hour. Atlanta recently got a terminal just for international flights and it's beautiful. I feel like a celebrity with all the high class stores haha. Our gate is full of about 200 people. I can't stop imagining why each one of them is going to Africa- I'm not sure who are natives going home or if Americans are going to just travel, to study, who knows? There are quite a few families similar to mine as well. I can't believe I'm about to go to Africa- how amazingggg! I am so excited and don't really know what to expect, which is terrifying and thrilling but in a good way. Still so thankful for this opportunity- hopefully the next time ill be writing it'll be from Johannesburg! 

Love,

Anna

3 days!

Hi guys!
Just thought i'd do this BEFORE I actually board the plane to Johannesburg...
It hasn't really hit me yet that i'm actually traveling to Africa in just a few days- a continent I have never had the privilege of visiting until now. It still hasn't hit me that i'm actually going- it's always seemed so far in the future, and now it's almost here!

To clear something up: the first question I get when I tell people i'm going to South Africa is "WHY?" I know that going to Hendrix makes it typical to hear about people's Odyssey trips in which they are doing something groundbreaking and life changing, and this actually isn't that. My family is simply taking a vacation to South Africa. Instead of my brother and I receiving brand new cars at age 16, or getting anything we want from our parents, they instead decide to use the money that they earn towards life experiences such as taking us on amazing trips! I am so grateful and lucky to be able to do this!

(oh and in the next few years, there will be something on this blog about some cool Odyssey project i'm doing, I just haven't gotten to it yet :) )

This blog is actually kind of a toss up, because there is no guarantee i'll have Internet access, although it's not like we're staying in tents or anything, so I think it's likely that there will be at the various places we are staying.

On Friday, June 7, my grandpa is taking us to the Marta station (Atlanta's train system) from where we will go to the airport! We then have to take a shuttle to the international terminal, a new addition to Hartsfield-Jackson. I'm excited to see it! That evening, we board the DIRECT flight to Johannesburg- about 14 hours. I am absolutely praying that there will be those cool screens in which you can choose movies to watch and stuff, no way is my iPhone going to last that long! Hopefully i'll be able to sleep since it's an overnight flight, but i'm also prepping with books and such.

I'll write as soon as I can after we arrive! After spending one night in Johannesburg, we are taking another plane to Cape Town where we will spend the following few days.

This is making me more excited, hope you all enjoy reading about my travels! Hopefully i'll be able to post some pics along the way too! :)

Anna