Amanda in South Africa!

The End

2010-01-18T19:39:00.001-08:00

I had a wonderful time living and teaching in South Africa for the year. I hope that you enjoyed seeing all of my pictures and getting a small experience of life on the other side of the world. Have a great and exciting 2010!

Last Trip to Hluhluwe

2010-01-18T19:27:00.001-08:00

One of my favorites, Burchell's Zebra

This one looks pregnant...her stomach is so lopsided!

A giraffe peeking through the trees

Warthogs

Blue Wildebeest

Impala

A croc--the only predator we saw one day.

And last but not least...guess what was hiding in the tree?

A leopard! He was amazing! He had killed an impala, drug it up the tree, and was feasting on it.

Ubizane Game Reserve

2010-01-18T19:16:00.001-08:00

We started off our game drive experience at the 'Safari Lodge.' We spotted some awesome animals! We saw a family of rhinos

Here is the son and father
We got really close, he was awesome!

Rhino's can't see very well, but they have a great sense of smell.

Here are some zebras chatting to each other

A TALL giraffe!

Last Trip to Cape Town

2010-01-18T18:53:00.000-08:00

Here is a view of the bay from Chapman's Peak Drive. This is the first time that I was able to drive that way, the other times were all too windy.

There were baboons everywhere. I don't see any in this picture though.

This is the only zebra that would hold still long enough to get our picture taken with it.

It was near Simon's Town on the way to the Cape of Good Hope.

Boulder's Beach, known for its African Penguins

They have signs for everything!

Apparently they need them...in case some people couldn't figure it out on their own.

Cape Point--right by the Cape of Good Hope

This is Danger Point, there was a light house for all of the ships that pass by. It was super windy and misty--it looked pretty dangerous out there in the water.

The Apartheid Museum

2009-12-06T02:22:00.000-08:00

We went to the Apartheid Museum in Joburg. We learned a TON about what South Africa was like before, during, and after Apartheid.

Apartheid: The system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race in force in South Africa. 1948-1991.

Apartheid ended in 1994...only 15 years ago. The country has come a long way since then.

"To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that enhances the freedom of others." Nelson Mandela

There was a Nelson Mandela exhibit there too. It gave the life story of Madiba including all of the triumphs and tragedies.

Dance Contest

2009-12-06T01:52:00.001-08:00

Abbot Laboratories hosted their year-end party with a dance contest by its Humira patients. There were 6 contestants, 3 from Cape Town, 1 from Joburg, 1 from Pretoria, and 1 from Durban (me!)

John and Tasha arriving on the red carpet.

The band that opened the show and ended the party. They were great!

Emcee Darren Scott from East Coast Radio

His co-host and judge ''Beauty"
My dance!

I didn't win, but I had lots of fun!

Me and my dance partner, Armand
All of the participants doing the Humira Dance--'Are we human or are we dancer' by the Killers.

John, Natasha & Amanda

Twins? No, just sisters.

The beautiful flowers I got.

I was so glad that Tasha and John could come and watch!

The Garver's Arrive!

2009-12-06T01:42:00.000-08:00

After 24+ hours in transit, John and Natasha arrived in Joburg! We had lots of fun at the pool, the casino, and at the dance contest. I'll meet up with them again in Cape Town next weekend. I hope that they aren't too afraid of travelling around Africa by themselves!

Thank You Party

2009-11-29T10:10:00.001-08:00

Rick, Rebekah, Daniel

& Keira

Maureen & Lynne
Shannon & David

Clive, Duncan, Richard, Kevin & Kathy

Len & Elaine

Jacqui & John

N'im & Deen

Kathy & Jaan

Matt, Tracey & Hannah

Ryan, Chris & Megan

Pam & Barry

Rob & Suzanne

Cynthia

Bev, Nicky & Roxanne

Sean, Jane & Julia

Thanksgiving #2

2009-11-29T03:04:00.000-08:00

Kathy, Maureen & Clive

Duncan, Richard, Shannon, David, Kevin & Lynne
Another wonderful Thanksgiving. I was stuffed again!

Escargot Anyone?

2009-11-28T02:33:00.001-08:00

Here is my new friend...the 5 inch snail. I found him crossing the lawn yesterday morning.

I'm not sure where he was going or where he came from...I am miles from the beach.
Escargot? He would definitely take more than one bite.

Thanksgiving #1

2009-11-28T02:20:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving at the Rencken's home. We even sat around the table and told everyone what we were thankful for.

Theo carving the turkey. There was tons!

Shelley getting ready to roast the spuds

Kirsten, SA's own Betty Crocker!

Megan and Nicola

The pudding---we call it dessert. Chocolate pecan pie, pumpkin pie, ice cream and cream. YUM!!

The goods. I was so full!
Theo, Shelley, Ryan, Megan, Chris, David, Nicola, Amanda, Kirsten & Morne.

Happy Birthday

2009-11-07T07:48:00.000-08:00

My 11th graders brought in snacks for my birthday.

My students made me cards and bought me some presents. They were all so sweet!

I went to dinner at the Rencken's house. Talk about lots of good food! The cupcakes were the best!

Blowing out my candles.

My birthday present that was waiting for me at home.

Another birthday dinner at Taco Zulu, I needed some Mexican food! It wasn't that great...I need some Taco Bell!

My birthday margarita...in a wine glass. This Is Africa.

My birthday present from Morne. Sorry about the sideways video, I wasn't able to turn it. What a MAN!

The South Coast

2009-10-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the South Coast. It was pretty windy and the water was really rough. Here is a picture of the tidal pool.

Nicola & Kirsten

There were tons of bananas down here. They put blue bags around so they ripen quicker and to keep the monkeys away.

Here is a weaver bird. The males weave nests with palm fronds and if the females don't like them they rip them down and make them do it again.

Amanda, Nicola & Kirsten

We spent a lot of time beading Kirsten's wedding dress. It is so pretty!

Daniel Rhyddid

2009-10-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

Bex and Daniel

Keira and her baby brother, Daniel. She loves him to bits!

Dance Winner!

2009-10-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

I was invited to participate in a dance contest sponsored by Abbot Laboratories for the drug Humira. We trained for about 10 weeks and had the final contest today in Durban. There were 4 of us competing for the top prize of continuing dance classes and dancing in Jo'burg in December.

Here is our teacher, Chantel

The competition--Cornelia, Nerisha & Adele

The dancers and our instructor

This is Harold Van Buuren, the choreographer and professional dancer & judge. He is a South African celebrity! He judges the South African reality dance shows--apparently he criticizes similarly to Simon on American Idol. (Watch the hand buddy!)

My trophy and certificate.

St. Lucia

2009-10-10T12:15:00.001-07:00

We went on the hippo and croc tour in St. Lucia in the pooring rain.

The baby loved to get his picture taken, he smiled for the pics.

Here is a fish eagle--similar to the bald eagle, but the white on is head extends further down his body.

This croc is around 12 feet long.

He looks mean and hungry.

Zulu Dancers

2009-10-10T12:02:00.001-07:00

Our hotel had Zulu singers and dancers for the evening entertainment. I had to go up and dance with them for part of the show!

This 'little' guy was the man in charge. He was posing for this pic--I am not really sure what it in his hands.

He was a dancing all over the place!

This guy let you take a picture with him for a small tip.

Here is the mailbox at the hotel...no big blue box like at home. But at home, the mail always makes it to its destination unopened--I can't say the same for over here.

Hluhluwe-Imfolozi #3

2009-10-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of me at the entrance to the game park. I tried to get a 'local' rate, but since I don't have a South African ID I had to pay the international rate.

A map of the park

I love those stripes!

Yes, it was that cold...I did need a hat, scarf and gloves to keep warm!
There is a lion hiding in the bushes. Can you see him? Neither could I.

This giraffe is checking out the zebra with the huge white stripe. Supposedly a lion attacked the zebra but not enough to kill it. So, they called in a vet to keep the bugs from eating up the wound. They usually don't call in vets, they let nature run its course. I am not sure why they did in this case.

Buffalo
Here is a male and female buffalo. The males have thicker horns and the females have thinner ones.

Here is a pregnant baboon. The hemorrhage while pregnant because the baby is using up all of their internal space. It looks disgusting.

Here is a picture of a hyena. It was getting dark so the picture didn't really turn out. They are very strange looking in person.
We saw tons of rhinos.

We even saw a rhino giving birth (not this one.)

A dirty warthog

Spier Winery

2009-10-10T11:14:00.001-07:00

There is a Cheetah Outreach at the Spier Winery in Cape Town.

The cheetah is the world's fastest animal. It can go 0-80 km/hr in 3 seconds (equal to the speed of the Formula 1 Ferrari in 1999.) Their top speed is about 110-120 km/hr.

The cheetah has a stride of 7-8 meters

An adult cheetah has over 2000 spots

The oldest cheetah fossil remains have been found in Wyoming, Texas and Nevada

This baby cheetah has the King Gene. It is a recessive trait that makes their spots bleed together.

Me petting Joseph, the cheetah

Family friends Anita and Charlene

Boulder's Beach

2009-10-10T11:04:00.000-07:00

Driving to the Cape of Good Hope, we stopped at Boulder's Beach. We could see whales off shore, none coming out of the water--we could only see their spouts.

Who would have thought you would need a sign for this?

The Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point

2009-10-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

We drove to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope on a cold, windy afternoon. The waves were huge!

We saw lots of ostriches on our way...it seems strange to see ostriches near the ocean.

Cape Town

2009-10-10T09:52:00.001-07:00

I went to Cape Town during the spring holiday and met up with Charlene and her sister Anita. We had a great time despite the rain, cold, and windy weather.

Here is a picture of Table Mountain from the Waterfront.

This stubborn giraffe wouldn't move!
Our condo overlooked the harbor, which was very cool to see. However, it was not so cool to hear them loading and unloading goods at 3 in the morning!

Here is a fat seal that we saw at Hout Bay.

Civies Day

2009-10-10T08:40:00.001-07:00

The day before our 'Spring Holiday' was civies day, the day where students could pay R10 (about $1.50) to wear their own clothes to school. Some students went shopping for a new outfit, and some weren't going to pay to wear their own clothes. Everyone was excited not to wear a skirt and tie and to be able to wear make-up and their hair down.

Grade 8B

Grade 8C

Grade 10P
Grade 10Q

Grade 11Y

10-Pin Bowling

2009-10-07T11:52:00.001-07:00

My friend Nicola teaches PE at Girls' High and recently got a promotion to teach at a private school next year. To celebrate we went 10-pin bowling.

Nicola and me

Nicola with her twin sister Kirsten

Nicola and her brother David

Kirsten and Morne

New Friends

2009-10-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

This guy was found outside on the wall...I hope that he stayed outside!

This guy was found inside, he has lots of brothers and sisters that I have also found.

After this picture he took some swimming lessons.

Softball

2009-09-19T07:32:00.001-07:00

Girls' High made it to the finals, and they played Westville Girls' High.

Here is Durban Girls' defense.

Here is Durban Girls' offense.

The pitching is a lot slower than our 'fastpitch' softball.

Durban Girls' High lost to Westville...the first lost in 7 years!

Keira's 2nd Birthday

2009-09-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

Today was Keira's 2nd Birthday!

She had a Winnie the Pooh cake that her Granny Jacqui made.

Kiki in the blue boat pool.

Kiki and cousin Rachel.

Castleburn #2

2009-09-16T10:53:00.001-07:00

I was able to go to the Drakensberg Mountains with Maureen and the Hill family for a second time. It was beautiful! The days were very warm and the nights were very cool. We went on a hike, played tennis, relaxed and ate a ton.

Here is a picture of the lake with the mountains in the background.

Here is the nice house we stayed in. Kathleen is at the front door.

Egyptian Geese are everywhere. They like to sit on top of the house and wake you up in the early hours of the morning.

One tried to come inside the house to find some eats.

Here is Maureen and Kathleen at our normal spot for morning tea.

Maureen, Richard & Kathleen in front of the Vito. We had a nice weekend at Hillroc--I wish I could have stayed longer!

Friends at School

2009-09-16T10:44:00.001-07:00

Here are some of the people I teach with at school. The pictures were taken during our morning tea break.

Tracey, Roxanne & Joelle

Nicky, Claire & Nicola

Karyn & Angie

Bev & Kathy

Hannah's Birthday

2009-09-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

I went to Hannah's 1st birthday party a few weeks ago. I teach with her mom, Tracey. She is so cute!

She was into sharing all of her food, even her cake!

Me At School

2009-08-23T03:39:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of me outside of my school. Only about 3 months left!

Sports Day

2009-08-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

Today was Sports Day at Durban Girls' High. The students had a standardized test for the first hour of school, a 30 min break, and then we started sports day.

Here is a picture of the track. A nice turfed track, 212 meter long.

The field events took place yesterday after school, only running events were today. Notice the straight lanes.

Here is a picture of the entire student body, with the students are separated by houses. There are 5 houses, Selborne, Connaught, Milner, Buxton, and Athlone. All competitors had to wear their house color, purple, blue, yellow, green, or red.

My house is Connaught, not to be confused with cannot (even though they sound the same with an english accent.) Our cheerleaders are in front, we won the spirit award this year.

Here are the competitiors for the 1500 m race. Most runners don't wear any shoes...for any event.

Here are the Drum Majorettes or 'Drummies.' They took 1st place in South Africa in 2008 and 1st place in KwaZulu Natal (our province) in 2009.

Ha-Di-Da's

2009-08-07T07:14:00.000-07:00

There are these awesome birds over here in South Africa called Ha-Di-Da's. Formally an Ibis, they get their nickname from the noise they make. They are the loudest birds that I have ever heard in my entire life. They like to camp outside my window and give me my very own personal wake up call.

I don't mind the rude awakening in winter time which is usually around 6:00 am, but when summer time rolls around and it starts to get light at 4:30 am...that is a different story. Take a listen for yourself!

Africa Cold

2009-08-02T10:54:00.001-07:00

When the weather is really hot we sometimes say that it is 'Africa Hot.' Well, not too many people have ever really heard of Africa Cold. It doesn't snow or even frost in Durban, but it does snow about an hour away towards the Drakensberg Mountains. Africa cold is when it gets to about 40 degrees and there are no heaters anywhere in the entire province. It is when your house is made of brick and cement (to keep it cool) and it is that same temp inside as it is outside. Try going to sleep when your house is about 40 degrees and your entire body feels like ice.

I was told that the weather is tropical and that everyday gets to about 80 degrees. That is close to true, but they left out the fact that it can get to 40 degrees at night. The warmest piece of clothing that I brought was a hoodie. I had to buy a beanie and my mom brought me a scarf from home. I have resorted to sleeping with two shirts, socks, pants, and a donated electric blanket. I never thought that I would say it, but I hope that it warms up soon!

What am I?

2009-07-27T11:15:00.001-07:00

I have a dirt clot for an outer shell and I am wormlike on the inside. I am about an inch long and I use my tongue to crawl along the walls and floors. What am I? Am I poisonous? Is the sole reason for my existence to pester Amanda?

The Big Walk

2009-07-27T10:59:00.001-07:00

This year at Durban Girls' High School was the 127th Annual Pixie Hardman Memorial Big Walk. The theme for this year was 'From the ridiculous to the sublime, we shine in 2009.' So, the girls were supposed to dress up either ridiculously or sublime. This is what they looked like:

Felucca Ride on the Nile

2009-07-25T05:09:00.000-07:00

We decided to take a felucca ride on the Nile while we were in Luxor. There were tons of boats but not many customers since summer is the slow tourist season.

Here is our captain, Mansour, and his crew aboard the 'Humpty Dumty.' Misspelled, repainted, and still misspelled.

There wasn't enough wind to get us sailing, so we had to hitch a ride from the tug boat.

So did these other boats...there were 3 of us in tow at once.

Mansour and the other captains all love Bob Marley. The feluccas all had a Bob Marley flag or a picture on the sail, and they sang some tunes along the way.
We floated to Banana Island...we didn't get off the boat, I am sure that would have been an extra charge.

The Karnak Temple

2009-07-24T06:19:00.000-07:00

The Karnak Temple was built 1300 year ago and is the largest pharaonic monument in the country after the pyramids.

Lining the road are more sphinxes with ram heads and lion bodies, a symbol of the god Amon.

This is a huge wall at the front of the temple. People have carved their names into the side of it--some appear 1/2 way up the wall because that is where the sand level was at the time.
The temple was left unfinished for some reason. you can see how they took the rough stones and put them in place and then carved them into smooth pillars.

The hypostyle hall has 134 giant columns. You can still see some of the colors of the heiroglyphics.

This is a picture of the sacred lake.

During the height of Theban power, Karnak was the most important place of worship. Here are some of the columns and you can see an obelisk in the background.

This is a statue of a giant scarab beetle. You are supposed to walk around the scarab 7 times for good luck.

The Luxor Temple

2009-07-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

This is the Luxor Temple and it is over 4000 years old. It is also known as the ancient site of Thebes.

Here is one of the obelisks

Here is a statue, I think it is Ramses II. You can see his wife in the lower left corner.

Here is a Muslim Mosque that was built inside the temple. It was built when sand covered most of the lower portion of the temple. You can see where the bottom of the building was and where it is now that all of the sand has been removed.
All Egyptian statues either have the feet together or the left foot forward. It is to signify one step towards heaven.

The Luxor Temple at sundown.

Sphinxes used to line the road from the Luxor Temple to the Karnak Temple. Now, a row of them remain with local roads cutting through the middle of the temples.

You can see the sphinxes lining both sides of the road.

The Valley of the Queens

2009-07-23T10:47:00.000-07:00

This is the Valley of the Queens...very similar to the Kings, but this is where the wives, sons, and daughters were buried. Still the same desert, still very hot.

I was able to see the tomb of Ramses II's 9 year old son and a 5 mo. old fetus mummy. The bones were still mummified-it was very interesting and morbid. The tombs were very colorful and had lots of heiroglyphics on them. They were much brighter in color than the Kings tombs.

The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

2009-07-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

This the the temple of Queen Hatshepsut and it lies between the Valley of the Kings and Queens. She built the temple for herself, and no one was ever buried there. There are lots of caves dug all around the mountain, but supposedly nothing is in them.

Hatshepsut ruled Egypt for a while and was buried in the Valley of the Kings. Towards the end of her reign she changed her appearance to look more like a man. Weird. Here are some of the painted/carved walls outside of the temple.

A bird sculpture outside the temple.
A guard, perhaps.

The Valley of the Kings

2009-07-23T08:43:00.000-07:00

We took a night train from Cairo to Luxor...sleeping sitting up (again) for 4 of the 6 nights of the trip (not the best idea...neither is going to the Sahara Desert in the middle of the summer, but we all learn our lessons sometime.)

The Valley of the Kings was built after the pyramids, but they still used the 'natural' pyramid formation of the mountain.

They buried their kings and treasures here, camouflaged inside the mountain, so that thieves wouldn't detect the tombs as easily as they did the pyramids.

There are 64 tombs that have been discovered here, the most famous is that of King Tut in 1922. It was found untouched and with all of its treasures still inside. The goods have since been removed and placed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. It would have been wonderful looking at all of the stuff, but the museum had no AC and it felt like it was 500 degrees inside. There were around 74 kings during this time, so there still might be a few tombs that haven't been discovered!

King Tuts tomb was closed for 'research' so we couldn't go inside. But, I was able to take a picture by the sign with my sweet tour group shirt on! Our leader made us wear them, it was a little annoying and I felt quite dumb.

The Pyramids at Saqqara

2009-07-22T10:35:00.000-07:00

Here is the first pyramid every built. It is a step pyramid with 6 steps that lead towards heaven. (Only 5 steps can be seen from this pic.)

The city in the background is Memphis, it used to be the capital of Egypt and it is the oldest imperial city. The west bank was used for the pyramids and cemetaries, and the east bank was where people lived. You can see the Nile Valley in the middle.

The pyramid on the left is the bent pyramid and is 97 m tall. It was built at an angle of 54 degrees and proved to be too steep. So, they changed the angle halfway through so that it wouldn't take forever to build. The pyramid on the right is the red pyramid and is 101 m tall. It is said to be the first perfect shaped pyramid built at an angle of 52 degrees.

There are over 100 pyramids in Egypt. From Saqqara you can see a lot of them--faintly on the left side you can see the pyramids at Giza.
Here is the entrance to the pyramids at Saqqara.

The Pyramids at Giza

2009-07-20T10:53:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the 3 pyramids at Giza, they are the most famous ones. The middle pyramid is the only one with the smooth surface still in tact--it is towards the top.

The Great Pyramid of Khufu or Cheops--it is 137 m tall (used to be 146 m) and weighs over 60 million tons.

They began building The Great Pyramid in 2570 BC and finished in 2589 BC--it is over 4, 500 years old! The entrances to the pyramids are all on the north faces. We were able to go inside the middle pyramid and see where the treasures were burried. No treasures remain, they were all stolen by tomb raiders thousands of years ago.

The middle pyramid is The Pyramid of Kahfre or Chephren and stands 136 m tall. The smallest pyramid is the Pyramid of Menkaure and is only 62 m tall. This probably signified weak pharonic power.

They pyramids look small from afar...until you walk up next to them and see how large the stones are! This is a huge trench on the east side of the pyramids. It was used to bury the kings boats for use in the after life.

These 3 small pyramids (mounds) are the tombs of Khufu's wife, mother and sister.

Camel rides are a must at the pyramids--there are tons for hire. I was able to sneak a quick picture before the owner saw and demanded payment.

The Sphinx is located directly east of the middle pyramid. It has a lion body and a human head of Chephren. It was built to protect the tombs/pyramids and was also defaced by some bad guys along the way.

Maybe he spent too much time picking his nose and it eventually fell off?

Cairo

2009-07-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

For the 3rd week of my 'winter holiday' I traveled to Egypt. Cairo is a huge city with lots of people, traffic, and trash. There are about 80 million people that live in Egypt and 70 million (I think) of them live in Cairo. On our first day in Cairo we ventured into the middle of town to see what we could find. A local man helped us cross the street, since you just jump out in front of the cars and hope that they will stop for you.

We took a local transport boat on a short ride down the Nile. A felucca boat owner tried to give us a ride but as it turns out he was quite expensive. The Nile in Cairo was very dirty and gross.
Here is a picture taken near the pyramids, there is a fancy golf course on one side with housing units right next to it. Most of the housing buildings are unfinished and look vacant. They are left unfinished on the top so that extended family members can build on top and they all live together. Most look empty but at night you can see that they are all occupied. If you look closely, you can even see satelites on the tops of some roofs...the must get great satelite TV.

Have you ever seen Pizza Hut or KFC written in Arabic? The food chain is all over the place, so the people there must love the Colonel. I have to admit that I did eat at KFC--it was the only thing that looked somewhat familiar in the uneasy city on my first day. Don't worry, I did try the local fare at all other meals.
Across from the pyramids is the Hard Rock Cafe...not really what I expected. Where is the guitar?
Here is a picture of the market in Cairo. It is HUGE. We had 2 hours to spend there and only made it down a couple streets. They were selling a lot of junk and souvenirs made in China. I didn't even find anything worthwhile to buy--and I call myself a shopper!?

Last Dinner Together

2009-07-13T02:20:00.001-07:00

Before my family left, we had dinner at the Berman's home. They have been great friends and have made me a part of their family while I am in South Africa. Here is a picture of all of us together.

Sunset Cruise

2009-07-13T02:03:00.001-07:00

We also took a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River. Same captain, same boat, same engine issues--but lots of fun! There were lots of small islands in the river just above the falls. There weren't any human inhabitants, just lots of wildlife.

Here is a view of the river with the misty falls in the distance.
We found some elephants treading in the water with some hippos closely watching their every move.

Try not to get your tail wet--and keep your snorkel stretched out in front!

Finally, the sunset.

Fishing on the Zambezi

2009-07-13T01:45:00.001-07:00

We took a fishing trip on the Zambezi River above the falls. Here is a picture taken from the Zambia side of the river just above the falls--you can see the mist of the falls in the background.

The river was fast flowing and our boat had some motor issues. When Future, our captain, killed the engine at a fishing hole it took a good 5 minutes to get it started again. Luckily Future always got the engine started before the S.O.S.

We were fishing with spinners for Tiger Fish. My dad and aunt were lucky enough to catch one!
They are fighters and have huge teeth. Future said that they taste really good but they have a lot of bones. He ate this one for lunch.

On our trip we also saw this lonely elephant. He swam out to this island by himself and was probably there because he was sick and ousted from the herd. When he dies, poachers will come and take his tusks and vultures will eat the rest.
We also saw hippos--we woke these two up from their early morning nap.

Victoria Falls

2009-07-13T00:56:00.000-07:00

We stayed on the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls, and I must say that it is one messed up country. Their currency isn't worth the paper it is printed on, but the locals are sure to sell you some as souvenirs. They charge a pretty penny for their worthless money, but we were able to get a 100 trillion dollar bill. They except US dollars and South African rands, but their concept of the value of the dollar isn't quite right. One restaurant was serving an 'Elephant Turd T-Bone' for $20. I am not sure what it was, but I am pretty sure that I wouldn't pay $20 for it!

Here is a statue of David Livingstone who discovered the falls. There is a Livingstone Hotel on the Zambia side of the falls which is very nice (and expensive.)
Here is the 'Devil's Cataract' of the falls. Huge rapids, huge drop.

Devi's Cataract looking all the way down.

There are 73 slimy, wet steps down towards the bottom view point of the falls.

Here is a side view of the main falls--water coming down the left side, viewing from the right side.
It was very rainy and misty at the falls. I was soaked clear through even with my rain coat on. I do suggest renting a full slicker that the venders have out front.

The falls are about 93 meters from top to bottom.

Here is a view of the gorge past the falls.

Here is the bridge over the gorge just past the falls. It connects Zimbabwe to Zambia. For $20 we walked across to Zambia--it is a lot different than Zimbabwe. People were bungee jumping off the bridge and locals were selling copper bracelets. If you didn't want to buy anything, most locals (in Zim and Zam) wanted to trade their goods for your tennis shoes, clothes or hats. I probably could have brought home 5 soap dishes, 10 wooden elephants, and 500 trillion dollars in exchange for my shoes and clothes.

Whale Watch

2009-07-12T12:31:00.001-07:00

We went on a whale watch in the Indian Ocean. These Humpback Whales come up to the KwaZulu Natal area during the winter months to have their offspring. The ocean here is very warm compared to the antartic waters where they live the rest of the year.

This whale was waving to us--he kept slapping is fin on the top of the water.

A nice pic of the tail--each whale has a different pattern on its tail. It is kind of like human fingerprints. One whale slapped his tail on the surface about 6 times before going back under water.

My aunt got a great picture of a double breach. It was amazing. The whales swam pretty close to the boat, but the jumps were pretty far away.

We did see a lot of breaches, there were tons of whales in the water. They breach in order to remove parasites from their skin. After they dive back into the water birds feast on the parasites that the whales left behind.

St. Lucia--Hippo and Croc Tour

2009-07-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

After the game park we drove to St. Lucia and the Isimangaliso Wetland Park. We took a river cruise on Lake St. Lucia and saw lots of hippopotamus' and crocodiles.

Here is one hippo floating in the water. They aren't able to swim, so they go under water and walk on the bottom to move. I am not sure how the 2000+ pounds can float and keep its head above water.

Here they are all basking in the sun. They usually keep the baby hippos in the center of all the adults for protection.
Here is a group stading in the shallow water. They are grazers so they eventually have to get out of the water to eat. They don't eat fish or anything that comes from the water.
Me with a hippo skull! Hippos kill more people every year than any other animal. They don't eat them, they just trample over them if they are in the way.
We also saw lots of crocs.

There weren't any huge ones (I assume that they have all been made into belts and purses,) but there were lots of little ones.
Here is a view of the lake towards the ocean. The 'mountain' in the back is the tallest vegetative sand dune in Africa. That just means that plants can grow all over the sand.

Here is a view of the dunes from the ocean. You can see the sand and the vegetation from this picture.

Here are some native Zulu warrior dancers. They greeted us as we got off the boat. There were some really little guys, and they sure could dance!

Hluhluwe-Imfolozi #2

2009-07-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

On my second trip to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve I saw lots of cool animals. Most of them are the same that I saw on my first trip but I was able to see a few new animals too. I still haven't seen any lions or leopards (to finish out the Big 5 count) but hopefully I will on trips 3 and 4. Here are some of my favorite pictures.

Here is the buffalo. Still mean, still aggressive, still ugly.

Here is a good picture of the blue wildebeest. The story is told that as God was creating all of the animals he used the 'leftovers' to make the wildebeest. He used the horns of the buffalo, the stripes of the zebra, and the body of the hyena. However, He forgot to add brains into the creation--wildebeest are said to be very stupid!

One of my favs--Burchell's zebra.

We were able to see lots of elephants this trip. This is the dominant female, the matriarch, leading the pack.

The rest of the group, crossing the road. What a cute baby!

Everybody loves a little piece.

Here is the Waterbuck, a new animal to see. They are able to swim and always retreat to the water when they are threatened. They emit a horrible oily mess from their skin when they are in the water which even deters lions from killing them.

Here is the story...one day the baboons were repainting their house and the waterbuck stopped by. The baboons had just finished painting the bathroom (toilet seat included) when the waterbuck needed to relieve himself. Sure enough, he sat down on the freshly painted toilet seat and was scarred for life with a white toilet seat ring around his hiney.

We saw a bunch of baboons playing in the trees and along the road. These two were perched in a tree eating some sort of green fruit.

Zululand Game Drive

2009-07-11T12:41:00.000-07:00

Our lodge offered sunset game drives around the property. They have mostly 'non dangerous' animals except for the occassionaly rowdy white rhino. We were unable to find the pair of rhinos, but we did stumble upon some new animals.

Here is a wild ostrich, I am not sure how he got his neck to do that. I hear they make great biltong (jerky) and their hollowed out eggs are souvenirs in just about every shop.

I think this is a Bontebok-at least it is the closest thing I can find in my book to a Bontebok. I haven't seen anything like it in the game park, so it was pretty cool to see one.

We saw a few giraffe on the drive, here is the big male.

Here is the female and the baby.

This is a Fever Tree. Long ago people would sleep under the fever trees at night and somehow they always ended up with a fever. They blamed it on the trees, when in fact it was the mosquito bites that they got near the wetlands (where the trees grow) that caused them to get sick. The trees are yellowish in color which does make their bark look a bit feverish.

This is a pic of the fever tree at night, I think it looks pretty cool!

Zululand Tree Lodge

2009-07-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

This trip we stayed at the Zululand Tree lodge. It was very nice--we slept in netted beds to prevent us from malaria infested mosquito bites. In the winter the weather is cool, so mosquitos aren't really a problem. It was still kind of cool to sleep in nets though.

This is a huge termite mound. I am not sure what is going on inside this mound, but I am pretty sure I don't want to know.

This is a vervet monkey. They are everywhere in Southern Africa and quite cheeky. My dad was taking a nap one afternoon and my mom left the sliding glass door open to their deck. About a 1/2 hour into a deep sleep, some monkeys invaded the bedroom and were later chased out with some loud shouting. It was pretty funny to watch the monkeys scurry off the deck into the trees.
Nyala and Impala were all over the place at the lodge. Here is a picture of a male Nyala.

A male and female Nyala. A whole herd of them were grazing underneath our deck.

The Dyers

2009-07-11T11:32:00.000-07:00

My exchange partners parents, Len and Elaine Dyer, invited us to their home for tea. We had a nice visit and walked around their retirement village.

Here is a picture of a pair of black swans at the village. They were really noisy!

They also have a pair of white swans, they are very pretty.

Howick Falls #2

2009-07-11T11:26:00.001-07:00

In February I went to Howick Falls with my school (you can look at past pics and see how the water level has changed...barely any water is coming over the falls now!) We saw the falls and did a little shopping in the Midlands Meander.

The water level is low, but perfect for washing clothes. If you look closely you can see people all around and all of the laundry drying on the rocks.

My Family!

2009-07-11T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hello! It has been a while since my last post, but my parents and aunt came out for a visit. We traveled around South Africa and parts of Zimbabwe and Zambia. I have lots of stories and pictures, so here goes with all of the updates...

Insect or death trap

2009-06-24T11:29:00.001-07:00

Is this a 'tiger moth' or malaria stricken mosquito? I am not sure what it is but I want it to leave the front of my house!

Mail

2009-06-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

It takes about 2 weeks to send/receive mail from the States. It isn't too often that I get mail, but the last two letters that I have gotten were opened. The first was a card from my mom--it was ripped open and then glued shut. Since there wasn't any money inside, I think the mail theives decided to send the letter on. The second letter, below, was opened and then taped shut by the post office. When are the theives going to reallize that you don't send cash through the mail!

Essenwood Market

2009-06-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

On Saturday mornings there is a great market on Essenwood road. They sell just about everything you could ever want, need, and think of.

Here is a picture of the wire/bead things that many people make. They make key chains and animals out of twisted wire and string beads on them to make them colorful. In the background there are lots of paintings. Most of them are in bright red and orange colors.

Here are some pretty pillow cases made from designer fabric (or so they say.)

Here is a video of the gumboot dancers. They put on a pretty good show.

Roommates

2009-06-04T09:49:00.001-07:00

Here are some of the great friends that I have met while I have been over here. Jacque, in the middle, works at the pharmacy as a nursing sister in the shopping center near my house. She invited me over for tea the first week I was in town and has let me become part of the family. I have become good friends with her daughter Rebecca (Bex) and the rest of the family. I am not sure what I would do without them!

Here is a picture of Bex and Rick, they came to stay with me for two weeks with their daughter Keira. Rick is in the process of renovating their house and they were going to be 'homeless' for a little while. They moved in and kept me company, it was nice to have some visitors.

Here is a picture of Keira, she is so cute with her blond curls! Bex is also pregnant with a baby boy and is due in October. Keira likes to play in my backyard and she loves the neighborhood cat.

My Students

2009-06-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of my students. These girls are in the summer uniform which consists of a short sleeved shirt that is white with green trim, a navy blue skirt, white socks and black shoes. They must wear their hair pulled back with a blue or black tie, no make=up is allowed (especially not shiny lips) and their socks must be folded down to a width of three fingers (not rolled.)

I wish they always studied this hard during class! This is one of my grade 10 classes.
Here are two students in my grade 11 class. They are modeling their blazers, with all of their badges and patches. The have name badges, and then pins for being mentors, captains and vice captains for various clubs/activities, and they have a green trim around their blazers signifying academic honors. I guess that it would be similar to a letter jacket, but not quite the same.

The name badge must be worn on the left side of the blazer and all girls must carry the blue duffel bag with their books in them. No other bags are allowed to be carried in the school.

Here is a picture of the winter uniform. Students must wear a long sleeved white shirt, blue and green striped tie (that has at least 6 green stripes showing...some girls try and wear their ties about 3 inches long,) a navy blue jersey (sweater,) a blazer, and black stockings (you can also wear the 'summer' socks.) If you wear your jersey, you must wear your blazer over the top of it when you are outside school grounds. You also cannot eat any food when you are in your uniform outside of school grounds unless you are at a proper sit down restaurant.

My grade 11 class--great students.

Volleyball

2009-06-01T10:44:00.001-07:00

I am the teacher in charge (not coach) of volleyball for the term. Here is our practice field, they play on grass and not indoors. Before the season started they had to flatten out a mole hill before the girls could play. The coach and I played against the girls a couple times, two on six. It was a lot of fun and a great work out! We also beat the team of 6, so that was even better.

Here is a pic from our first match at Westville Girls High School. It was nice because it was very close to my house. The seniors (10-12th graders) won in two matches, and the juniors (8-9th graders) lost in two matches. The girls do not have uniforms for games. They wear their 'PE Kit' which consists of a Girls High t-shirt and shorts. When it gets cold they will probably wear their 'track suits', which would be like our warm-ups. I am pretty sure that 70 degree weather is not cold enough to warrant a track suit, but when you are used to 85 and high humidity it does feel a bit cool!You have to be careful when hitting the ball--if you get a wild hit the ball lands in the pool! Over here volleyball is typically and Indian sport.

The South African Superbowl

2009-06-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday night was almost the equivalent to our Superbowl. I went to Waxy O'Connors, the Irish Pub on the corner, to watch the Super 14 Championship rubgy match. The Super 14 consists of teams from South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. It was between the Pretoria Blue Bulls (Blou Bulle in Afrikaans) and the New Zealand Chiefs.

The place was packed, we called ahead to get reservations so that we could sit outside and watch the game on the big screen. They previously had a nice flat screen tv that they carried in and out everyday so that no one would steal it. The big screen was nice and much easier to see than the tv.

The Bulls won 61-17, they killed the Chiefs! It was a blowout! Everyone was cheering for the Bulls, they beat the Sharks (Durban's team) two weeks earlier. The Bulls beat the Sharks in the finals last year.
I did order some wings to eat, but they weren't nearly as good as Coach's. They don't have ranch dressing to dip them in either...or blue cheese. I was able to enjoy a nice American brew...MGD--it's as close as you can get to a Bud Light.

The Cavern

2009-05-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

This weekend I took a trip to the Northern Drakensberg Mountains to a resort called the Cavern. I met 10 other ladies there...only knowing one of them at the beginning of the trip. We ate, went on a long hike, ate, relaxed, ate, played 'bowls', ate, saw some singers and gum boot dancers, and ate some more. It was a lot of fun, and I definitely don't need to eat for about a week!

Here is what the resort looked like. It was very pretty and the rooms were very nice. They had tons of aloe plants (that are really big and get an orange flower on them) and fern trees...even fern forests nearby.

On Saturday morning we went on a long hike up to Cannibal Cavern. Here is a pic looking down towards the resort as we were hiking up the hillside.

This is Madumbe, a dog that went along on the hike. He fetches stones...not sticks. His name means sweet potato in Zulu.

This is the actual Cannibal Cavern. People were hiding out here from King Shaka and eventually resorted to cannibalism. We stopped here for tea and crunchies (ironic), which are like granola bars but a lot harder. They are great when dunked in tea.

Here are some rock paintings found near Cannibal Cavern. There is a big buck and a small buck--they are the only paintings that are currently visible.

Here is a picture of my friend Cal and I on the hike. It was so nice of her to invite me on the fun weekend!

Here is a short video of the singers--the night time entertainment. They sound much better live than on a video. I also took some longer videos but they take too long to download. They sounded great and are very 'Africa' according to the natives.

Before we left on Sunday we played Bowls. It is kind of like shuffle board but on a bowling green (or brown in this case.) I almost felt like an 80 year old in a retirement center in Florida...don't they play games like this?

Today was also the Comrades Marathon. It is an 80 km race from Pietermartizburg to Durban...twice a normal marathon, about 52 miles! The male winner ran the race in about 5 hours and 20 minutes. The female winner ran it in about 6 hours and 12 minutes. I think that they must be a little crazy!

Castleburn

2009-05-05T10:39:00.000-07:00

I had a three day weekend because Friday was 'Workers Day' in South Africa. I am not really sure of the significance of Worker's Day, but it was nice to have the day off. I spent my weekend at Castleburn Lake in the Drakensberg Mountains. It is in the southern part of the mountain range which they call Underberg.

The mountains don't really look that similar to our mountain ranges, but the scenery was still beautiful.

The mountain off to the right in the picture is known as Castleburn because it looks like a castle. The Zulu name for the mountain peak means 'rotten teeth.'The weather was very nice during the days and the evenings were cool. The house where we stayed had under-floor heating, so it was warm and cozy. We stayed in a very nice 4 bedroom home that was right on the lake. We took hikes around the lake, went out on the boat, and just relaxed.

On Saturday we went to the Drakensburg Gardens, a World Heritage Site, and hiked around the mountains for about 2 1/2 hours. Inside the park they had a golf course, cottages, a lake and lots of hiking trails. It was very pretty too.

On our hike we stumbled upon a huge group of baboons. We were all quite nervous at first as the baboons can be quite aggressive, especially the alpha male. I guess that they have been known to attack humans. There was a story in the newspaper today about a baboon in Cape Town that walked right into a house, opened the fridge and took food, went after a few people in the house, and then walked out the front door. They are a 'protected' species, but supposedly you can kill them in self defense. Definitely a different kind of robber than you usually hear about. As we walked by, the baby baboons ran off down the hillside into the small forest. This one stayed and watched us walk by. I'm not going to lie--I was a little nervous.

Funny

2009-04-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

On my way home from visiting friends on Sunday evening, I got stuck in my first ever DUI checkpoint. I had spent the day at church and visiting in Hillcrest, a town about 12 miles north of where I live. At about 5:00 pm I was headed home and when I was about a 1/2 mile from home the traffic came to a hault. When I got to the front of the line the police officer asked if I had 'had any ciders this evening.' I had never heard that before, but I was able to spit out a 'No Sir.' Luckily he let me go, but it was pretty interesting to have a breathalizer test--thankfully the only thing I had had to drink was a diet coke and some tea! It just makes me wonder what kind of place they would throw an American with a DUI.
It seems like every road over here is being dug up. I guess that they are laying new phone lines and water pipes, so all they do everyday is dig. I think that the process would go a lot quicker if they used some heavy machinery, but they only use manual labor. Well, it just so happens that they are digging right outside of my housing complex. Of course they happen to burst a water pipe so I haven't had any water in the house since I got home from school. I think they are fixing it...so hopefully I will be able to shower tomorrow before school!

Sharks Rugby

2009-04-20T09:40:00.001-07:00

I went to a Sharks Rugby game at Absa Stadium. There were tons of people and everyone was braai-ing (our word for bbq-ing). We braaied before and after the game, there were huge fields/parking lots and everyone was eating, drinking and having a great time...it would have been even better if the Sharks won.

Here is a picture of the inside of the stadium just before the game.

Although a bad picture--this remote control dump truck delivers the field goal kicking tee. It drives out onto the field and lets the kicker select the tee and then drives off. I think it is a pretty cool idea.

Blue Balls

2009-04-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a smaller Vervet Monkey, she is one of about 5 that were surrounding my house. I was afraid to leave the door open while trying to take their picture--I didn't want them to sneak inside!

The males have blue balls...I am almost embarrassed for them!

Tick-Bite Fever

2009-04-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

Lucky me! After a wonderful week off from school where I was able to travel and see the country, I come home and find that I have been bitten by ticks. I have 3 bites so far, I hope that no more spring up. They are sore, painful, cause a horrible headache and leave your neck and back in pain. I was told that I could get medication or just wait it out which would make me immune to any future tick bites. I decided to go for the meds, hopefully they start to work soon!

Happy Endings

2009-04-13T11:49:00.001-07:00

African Sunsets

2009-04-13T11:42:00.001-07:00

Here are some of my favorite sunset pictures. Two taken at Camp's Bay in Cape Town and two taken in Hluhluwe.

Robben Island

2009-04-13T11:24:00.001-07:00

We took a boat ride to Robben Island, it took about 30 minutes to get there from the water front.

Here is the entrance, now it is only used for tourism and for 'team building' camps for students.

We took a bus tour around the island and then toured the prison on foot. There are about 120 people that currently live on the island. There is a primary school there with 7 students, 2 teachers and one principal. Anyone can send their kids to the school, but they would have to take a boat to the island everyday.

This was Nelson Mandela's prison cell, cell #7. They were given three blankets and a bucket. Mandela was imprisoned here for 17 years and then was transferred to two other prisons after that. The cells were recently painted to help preserve them. It is amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do to a prison cell.
This is where they would S, S & S.

This is where some of the inmates would stay. I think that there would be about 100 inmates in this room. The bunks weren't there in prison times, but they are there now for the student camps that attend the island. The inmates were given two pieces of carpet to sleep on at night.

The Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point

2009-04-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

We started our drive around the cape and our first stop was Hout Bay. It is a big fishing area and famous for its Fish & Chips.

Here is some of the local restaurants 'main dish' for dinner. They threw the frozen fish in the back of this pick-up. Yum!

Here is a picture of one of the light houses in the area. I forget where this one was.

On our way to the Cape of Good Hope we saw some wild ostriches. I am not sure how 'wild' they really are, but they seem to produce about 5 billion eggs that people can buy as souvenir's.

Here is the Cape of Good Hope.
I am not sure why the Cape of Good Hope is significant other than what it says below. It was really sunny, it was hard to keep my eyes open for the picture!

This is Cape Point. It is different than the Cape of Good Hope--again, I am not really sure of its significance. Some people say that it is where the Indian and Atlantic Ocean's meet, but my travel book says that isn't true. But it is very neat looking--and so they made it into a tourist trap. Our next stop was Simon's Town. They are known for their African Penguin population.

These penguins are only found in Africa, and they were originally called Jack Ass Penguins because of the donkey sounding noise that they make.

They look basically like normal penguins that we see at the zoo, but they have a pink splotch around their eyes.

Shark Dive

2009-04-13T10:15:00.001-07:00

We took a two hour taxi trip to Gansbaai for our shark dive. They have custom built boats with shark-dive cages that attach to the side of the boats.

On our way out, somehow they caught an octopus. Pretty cool to touch, they have some pretty strong suction things on their legs.

This is Dyer Island--there are two islands, one with seals and one with lots of birds and a research station (I am not sure which one is actually Dyer Island.) There were tons of seals on the island and playing in the water.

This is the island with all the birds and the research station. I guess they have people that scare the seals away from this island so that they don't smash all of the bird nests--which is why all of the seals are on the other island.

The water in between the two islands is known as Shark Alley. So, that is where we anchored and waited for our sharks to come.

They attract sharks with some tuna as bait and a 'dummy' seal made from a kick board. They also have a guy in back mixing some 'chum' that is made of blood and guts of fish. I hope that guy gets paid well, it smelled disgusting. You can see a shark fin just above the dummy seal.

Once the sharks are attracted, you put on a wet suit and mask and jump in the cage. The cage can hold 7 people at a time. The cage is 1/3 above the water and 2/3 under water. When the shark spotter see's a shark he hollars and you go under water holding your breath to see the sharks. That day you could see about 3 meters into the water, which some said was pretty good. Here a shark came up close to the cages.

The shark spotter said that we saw three 3-meter sharks and two 2-meter sharks. I guess that is pretty good for this time of year. They said that May is the best month to see sharks in this area.

Remember to keep your fingers and toes inside the cage at all times! Here the shark is attacking the bait right by the cages.

Table Mountain

2009-04-13T09:54:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of Table Mountain from Robben Island.

This is a view looking up at the top of Table Mountain. We took a cable car up to the top and then hiked our way to the bottom. Yes, it was a rocky steep trail all the way down. My legs were killing me!

Here is a picture of part of the city below, I believe that it is Camps Bay--there was an awesome beach there.

This is a picture looking across Table Mountain at Devil's Peak.

Here is a picture from the top of the harbor and the city.

This is a Rock Dassie. They say that they kind of look like rabbits, but they look like big rodents to me. Their closest living relative is the Elephant, and I am not joking. They have collapsable rib cages that help them squeeze into tight spaces.

A picture of me at the top of Table Mountain.

Cape Town

2009-04-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

Next we flew to Cape Town, about 2 hours away by air. I guess it can get pretty cold and windy this time of year, but the weather was great. We were able to go to the top of Table Mountain and we hiked our way to the bottom. My legs were so sore and tired for about 3 days afterwards. We went on a shark dive and saw great whites, we drove around the cape and saw lots of cool little towns along with the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point, and we toured Robben Island. We also got in a lot of shopping along the water front--I think I have seen every souvenir ever made.

More Animals

2009-04-13T05:08:00.000-07:00

This is the Thicktailed Bushbaby that we saw at our lodge. He comes with his mates every night for dinner. This night they fed him some apples. One night they accidently had some leftover lemon meringue on some plates and the bushbabies went crazy!

Here is a male impala. He was followed by his harem. There were tons of them--I suppose they would be like antelope to us.
The female impala.

This is a Chacma Baboon. There were about 10 of them, adults and babies, playing in the road on our way out of the park.

Here is a warthog. Pig-like but with horns and warts. The males have two sets of warts and the females only have one set of warts.

The dung beetle--sick really.

Nyala

This is the Forest Cobra, he is slithering along the tree. We accidently ran into this guy on our walk at our game lodge. They are pretty dangerous, luckily we didn't know what he really was until afterwards.

Buffalo

2009-04-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

Here is the buffalo, one of the meanest of the 'big five.' They do travel in herds, until they get old and then some of the males travel alone. They are kind of like grumpy old men that you don't want to mess with.

We saw a few herds on the mountain side and quite a few loner males.

Burchell’s Zebra

2009-04-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

These were the first zebra that we saw on our game drive. They were checking us out.

I think that zebra might be my favorite. They are a lot smaller than you would think, much smaller than a horse...probably about the size of a small pony that you would get to ride at the county fair.

I think that this one was pregnant. She looked a little lopsided in real-life.

Their stripes amaze me-they are like finger prints, each one different on every animal. They look like they are painted on, especially on their faces.

African Elephant

2009-04-12T11:58:00.000-07:00

Another car told our ranger that their was an 'angry elephant' ahead, so we decided to go and check it out. You are not supposed to run away from elephants, so that they don't get used to chasing cars. This elephant, however, was masting (in heat) and was looking for a mate. We didn't want to have 'relations' with this elephant, so we decided to let him be...he did somewhat chase our vehicle for a short distance.

When elephants get mad they flare their ears out...he looked pretty ticked off.

Still pretty amazing to see an animal this big, I wouldn't want to be left alone with this dude.
This guy was with a whole herd of elephants that passed in front of and behind my little car. I think that the took a bath in a pile of mud-that is why he looks reddish in color.

White Rhinoceros

2009-04-12T11:50:00.001-07:00

My favorite rhino picture...you wouldn't want to mess with him.

We got to see one white rhino. You can tell that he is a white rhino and not a black rhino (since their coloring is pretty much the same) by their mouths. White rhinos have a wide mouth and black rhinos have a pointed mouth.

This picture shows the birds that sit on the backs of the animals. I think that they eats bugs off them and warn them of danger. This rhino had just marked his territory, stepped in it, and then was going to walk his boundary to keep other males out. You can tell that he is a male since his horn is short from fighting (they apparently get worn down or broken.) The females usually have longer horns since they don't fight.

Giraffe

2009-04-12T11:37:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the wildlife at our 'hotel.' Pretty cool to get them all in one shot.

This picture was taken as were were driving out of Hluhluwe park. The giraffes stopped for a bite to eat right next to the road.
I think that this is my favorite giraffe picture. This guy was hiding in the trees for quite a while and then came out to see us walking by.

April Holiday

2009-04-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

This past week I was on my April holiday break. I have had about 10 days off and I have enjoyed traveling around South Africa. I was able to go to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve and to Cape Town. I will tell the stories and show pictures of my adventure. We started off by driving about 3 hours north of Durban to Hluhluwe where we went on a walk in our own 'nature reserve' at our Bushlands hotel (more like a lodge than a hotel, since giraffe's could peek in the windows if they wanted.) We were able to see giraffe, zebra, nyala and impala on our walk. We got about 30 feet from the giraffes. It was amazing.

In the morning we went on a game drive in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi park from about 6:00-9:00 am. The park is about 96,000 hectares or about 211,000 acres (if I remember correctly.) You are only allowed to drive on the paved and unpaved roads, there is no off roading through the bush, and you must stay in your car. There is one picnic area where you can get out of your car an eat...as long as you eat fast enough not to be a meal for another animal. The park hours are from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm. You must be out of the park by 6:00 pm when they lock the gates.

We saw a ton of cool animals and went back in the afternoon for our own game drive in the tiny car. We didn't get stepped on by any elephants, but we did see a herd crossing the road in front and behind us. I was a little freaked for a minute. I will show all of the pics of the animals...I took a ton of them. I will try and pick out my favorites.

While we didn't see the 'Big Five', we did see three of them...buffalo, rhino and elephant. We did see a lonely wildebeest running by himself but didn't get close enough to take a picture-they are supposedly some of the stupidest animals. I didn't get to see any lions, leopards, cheetahs, or hyaenas--hopefully I will on a future trip!

Stella Pre-Primary School

2009-04-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

I attended the Stella Pre-Primary School today with students from Girls High. There are 78 kids age 2-6 who attend the school. Many of the students are orphans or are raised by their granny’s (some with both parents deceased or they ran off when the kids were born.) The kids receive a healthy breakfast, snack, and lunch so they don’t require much food once they leave school (often times families don’t have enough food for all of the children.)

ThunderRidge High School’s Interact Club donated $500 to the Stella school. They are not sure how the money will be spent yet, perhaps on renovating parts of the school, taking the students on an outing to uShaka Marine World, or to provide food for the students. The kids loved the Girls High girls. They played, sang songs, and ate.

Open Air School

2009-04-02T10:47:00.000-07:00

I went to the Open Air School near Durban Girls High School. It is a school for physically disabled students, and some mentally disabled students. Students from Girls High and Glenwood Boys High came had wheelchair and crutches races around the school. Non-disabled students were able to see how hard it is to do daily activities when you are physically impaired. The students had snacks to eat and then played basketball. Most of the students at the Open Air School do not live nearby, so they end up living together in a hostile. Some of them are able to go home for holidays, if their parents have enough money for them to take a taxi or bus home. The students enjoyed the interaction with the other kids since most of the time is spent with the same people at school and at ‘home.’ Recently, the bus system in Durban shut down so many of the students who attend the open air school were not able to find transport to school.

There are some albino students at the Open Air School because they often have vision problems (their eyes are almost white or red.) It is perceived in the black culture that it is worse to have a white child than to be infected with aids. Many albino children are often abandoned because of it.
Here are some Hot Cross Buns, a traditional thing to eat around Easter time. You can buy them at just about any grocery store and they taste pretty good. Don't mind the flies, they don't eat much.

uShaka

2009-03-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

Today I spent time at the uShaka Marine world. They have a Wet 'n Wild Park and an Aquarium. They have about 7 water slides and a lazy river. I supposedly went down the 'tallest water slide in Africa.' The aquarium was also very cool, they have a lot of tanks with all types of fish. They have a huge shark tank and I was able to see them feed the sharks. It was a little disappointing, as it was not like Shark Week on National Geographic. The sharks just swim up and eat the fish off of a skewer--there wasn't any bloody meat ripping fight for the food.

The park is right on the beach and there are tons of shops and restaurants there. You can even have drinks at the end of the pier. I hope to go back sometime and look in the shops and wander around.

Other Schools

2009-03-16T11:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of what the schools look like in the towns. They are very different to the schools in the city, and especially to the US. They are quite small and can hold about 700+ students. They usually group a couple grades together in one room.

The Drakensburg Mountains

2009-03-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of the Drakensberg Mountains. They are not quite like our mountains, but pretty just the same. This area is more of a valley with a river flowing through the middle.

The Mondi paper company has purchased much of this land and planted pine trees all over to use for paper. Since the trees are not indigenous to the area, they drink up too much water and ruin the soil. Here, the trees were recently cut, the land burned, and new trees were planted. They will re-harvest these trees in about 12 years. There is a wasp that has been killing some of the pine trees, so most of the trees that were cut are not suitable for paper. They used most of the trees in this area to make pallets.

Off in the distance there is a small village. We got to go into the village and see what it was like…of course I didn’t bring my camera on that trip. There were quite a few people that lived in the village, even though it looked really small. There are about 700 1st-7th graders that attend the school. If the kids want to go to high school they must walk about 3 hours (one way) to where the nearest high school is. So, not many kids go to school beyond the 7th grade unless they are very determined. The grandparents usually farm and take care of the children during the week while the parents work in the cities and come home on the weekends. There would be about 4 houses/shacks in a row that were occupied by a family. Each family had some chickens or goats, some corn and other vegetables. They had to raise enough crops for the entire year to survive. It was very interesting to see.
Here is a picture of the National Flower of South Africa--the Protea. It grows on a tree.

Reminders of Home

2009-03-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

I finally found some small reminders of home on our way up to the mountains. I saw a feed store, a chicken farm, and a dairy along with some corn fields and cattle. At the camp where we stayed, the owner has a herd of Nguni cattle. They are native to the Zulu area and have been bred to withstand certain diseases, they are low grazing, and they can survive on small amounts of water. There are three colors and their hides are symmetrical.

Midmar Dam

2009-03-16T11:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a pic of the Midmar Dam. Every February (I think) there is a big swimming contest at the Midmar Dam. People come from all over to swim the Midmar Mile.

Howick Falls

2009-03-16T11:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Howick Falls. We stopped at there on the way up to the Drakensberg Mountains--I was with 2 other teachers and 64 11th grade girls. The falls were beautiful, and the town looked very charming. There were lots of little shops—I hope to drive back there soon and check out what they all have to offer.

Seula

2009-03-05T09:46:00.000-08:00

I went away to Seula for the 8th grade retreat. Girls did team building activities such as rock climbing, building a raft (which they couldn’t sail because the river was too high), a ropes course, absailing (we call it rapelling) and some other activities.

These girls ended up having a huge mud fight...I am just glad that they didn't come and attack me! That mud smelled disgusting--they call the mud pit the hippo pond.

There was also a swimming pool that we used to cool off from the heat. It was great!

Here are girl is rapelling down the cliff. Below her is the river, some girls were too freaked out to do it.
This picture was taken on the morning we were leaving. Out of no where, a zebra is just chilling on the hill side. It wasn't a big deal to the girls, but I have never seen a zebra out in the wild. I guess that it would be similar to seeing deer or antelope on the side of the road. I can't wait to see more wildlife if the game parks!

Monkey Business

2009-03-05T09:40:00.001-08:00

I finally got a picture of a monkey. I have seen them quite a few times (none this close to my house) but never had a camera. Here is a monkey that is contemplating whether or not to sneak into my house and see if there is any food to steal. Friends have had them open windows to come inside and eat bananas, fruit, bread, baby formula, and eggs. Here, people don’t put their eggs in the fridge, so the monkeys come and drop the eggs on the floor and eat the yokes that have spilled out. I guess they are quite messy and leave smashed bananas and broken eggs on the floor. To deter monkeys from coming inside, people keep plastic snakes near the windows and squirt them with water. This monkey must be female since the males of blue balls. (and I am not joking about this one...I’ll try and get a picture to prove it!)

Look at how sneaky...trying to hide behind the leaves...I think that my big muscles scared her away.

Not the most 'lady like' picture for a girl. Did her mom not teach her any manners?

Tea Time

2009-03-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of ‘tea time’ at school. We have it every day for 30 minutes. There are 4 different pots all covered with nicely crocheted covers. The tea pots are super hot so you need the covers to be able to pour. There are two pots with tea, one with hot water for instant coffee (no coffee pots here) and one with Rooibos tea. Rooibos has no caffeine and has lots of antioxidants (supposedly much better for you than regular tea.) There is also full cream milk and low fat milk and sugar all available to put into your coffee or tea. No one here drinks tea or coffee without milk and sugar!

Here are some of the teachers sitting at tea break. Each teacher has their own chair, and you are looked at funny if you sit in the wrong chair. People say they don't really care, but secretly they do. We are all creatures of habit and don't like change...we like our own chairs. They had to find a chair for me when I came since I was new and I didn't sit where Glenda usually sat.

National Anthem

2009-02-24T09:28:00.000-08:00

This is the South African National Anthem. The first two verses are in Zulu, the third verse is in Afrikaans, and the last verse is in English. I guess that the National Anthem used to be in Afrikaans, and then they switched it to this:

Nkosi sikelel’ iAfrika
Maluphakanyisw’ uphondo lwayo,
Yizwa imithandazo yethu,
Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo.

Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,
O fedise dintwa le matshwenyeho,
O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso,
Setjhaba sa South Afrika – South Afrika.

Uit die blou van onse hemel,
Uit die diepte van ons see,
Oor ons ewige gebergtes,
Waar die kranse antwoord gee,

Sounds the call to come together,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom,
In South Africa our land.

Pietermaritzburg

2009-02-22T10:38:00.000-08:00

Today I went to Pietermaritzburg with the Dyers, Glenda’s parents. We drove for about an hour to their nephew’s house. They have a nice plot of land, I think about 4 acres, and have a pool, and small damn for paddling their kayaks, and a lot of old cars. Wayne’s newest purchase is a double decker bus from London. It is apparently gross and disgusting inside from vandals before he got it, but it still runs and occasionally the brakes still work. We had a wonderful lunch with the family and then drove home. Pietermaritzburg is very similar to other towns in Durban, just a little cooler since it is further from the coast.

One thing that is great about living in a different country is meeting different people. I think that one of the best ways to see what it is really like in a foreign place is to meet people and see how they live, what they eat, and to spend time with their family. All of my experiences so far have been great and I have met a lot of wonderful people.

Too Hot!

2009-02-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

I think that I am in hell—and they don’t have ice water. They don’t even have Diet Coke. They have Coke Light, but it just isn’t the same. It is so hot and humid. I ‘had’ to go to the mall just to walk around in the air conditioning. I was just commenting the other day how the locals said that February was the hottest month and it really hasn’t been that hot. I should have knocked on some wood or a tree or an entire forest, because now it is incredibly hot. And now, the locals say that February AND March are the hottest months. Who are they to just add on months of hotness? I didn’t think that I would say it, but I wish I could be in the snow!

Hockey

2009-02-16T10:00:00.001-08:00

I think that Coach Bradley must have told Durban Girls High School about my basketball duties because I am now in charge of U14 indoor field hockey. I don’t have to coach the girls, which is good because I know nothing about the sport. I have gotten the jist of the game fairly quickly since I went to a game and a practice, though. The girls have practice on Mondays for about 45 minutes at a field house about 5 minutes from school. Most of the U14 girls have never picked up a hockey stick before in their lives, so there is a lot of ‘learning’ going on. Their games are on Saturdays and last about 30 minutes (they play two 15 minute halves.) Since I am required to do some sort of extracurricular activity for at least 2 hours every week after school, I figured that hockey wasn’t a bad deal. They have about 5 weeks left of practice and only 3 games. The entire indoor field hockey club at the school consists of about 9 teams. They have a few ‘Open’ teams which are mainly the Juniors and Seniors, a few U16 teams, and a few U14 teams. Only the top two teams from each age group get to compete, so the coaches pick the top girls after practice and those are the ones who get to play in the Sat. game. During the following terms I will coach softball and possibly help out with outdoor hockey or basketball. I am not sure what I will do during the 4th term yet—but hopefully I will learn another sport.

Here is the indoor practice facility. Games are played at a school in a different town.

Here is their version of dynamic stretching.

More on School

2009-02-16T09:54:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more pictures from school. This is a picture of the gymnasium. There are no bleachers for spectators, so they must play all sporting events elsewhere. I am not sure what the wooden ladder type things are on the side of the wall, a former student told me that they were really old and they never used them when she was in school. She didn’t really know what they were either, she thought pull-ups or something. This is not quite like the Grizzly Den…but come to think of it I am not sure if they even have a mascot. Here are two of the gates at school. Yes, the students and staff are actually locked in during the day! This is the main entrance to the school with the two 24 hour security guards. The gates are opened at about 6:30 am and are closed soon after. There is an intercom that buzzes the main office if you are a visitor and security needs to double check that you are allowed to come in. There is also a ‘door’ entrance to the gate for foot traffic in the morning when kids come to school. This gate is where I park my car. The gate is opened at about 6:30 am and is locked for the night at about 4:30 pm. So, I must leave school (or at least move my car) by 4:30 pm otherwise I will have no way to get home and I will have to spend the night there.