July 1-7, Independence Week/Safari

Monday morning, instead of class we went to Auntie Shereen's house for cooking lessons. Shereen lives next door to our director and has made of all the food that he has brought over for Monday classes. While there we learned how to make different curries and malva pudding. At the end we were able to eat all of the food she taught us to make, and of course it was so delicious. We came home for the rest of class and played out our mid-term assignment. The rest of the week went as normal and we were all preparing for Thursday, our Independence Day. Thursday I was lucky enough to get off work because I had to get my stitches out. Finally I was going to be fully recovered from the surgery and I was so happy that it happened on one of my favorite days of the year. Later that day, Boyd and I walked to the grocery store to buy food for our evening braai. We made hot dogs, hamburgers, sausage and bought coleslaw, chips, and salad. It was so nice to eat an American dinner, or the closest we could get. Even though my 4th of July with my little family here was fun and homey, it still wasn't home and I felt sad that I couldn't be with my family watching fireworks like I had always done in the past.

Friday I woke up and went to work. Sadly the internet wasn't working so Boyd and I really had nothing to work on since all of our work required internet. They told us we could go home and I was happy we got home in time to go hiking with the rest of the group. We decided to go hiking up Lion's Head, which I was looking forward to more than any other hike. I had heard that Lion's Head was like no other because of it's 360 degree view. I couldn't wait to say the least!!! We got ready and headed toward the mountain. When we arrived, the hike immediately began. The first part was mainly just a path that winded around the bottom of the mountain. As we started getting closer the top, the hike got a lot harder. We had to literally rock climb to get up the 90 degree angle. We were climbing ladders and pegs that stuck out of the side of the mountain. I was extremely frightened and am pretty proud of myself for accomplishing it. If you knew me, I'm the last person to do anything involving heights. Since I've been here I've probably done more things involving heights than I ever have.

 

Once we reached the top I was relieved. The view was absolutely beautiful and you could see for miles and miles. The only downfall to this hike was that it was freezing cold at the top, and so windy I thought I was going to blow over. After taking many pictures and admiring the view, we made our way down. The hike down was a lot harder than the hike up and I knew that I'd be feeling it the next day. We went home for a relaxing night to prepare for our exciting adventure at Buffelsfontein the next day.

 

Saturday morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to get ready for Buffelsfontein...SAFARI!!!!! This one the number one thing I had planned on doing when I came to Africa. Buffelsfontein is a family-owned reserve in South Africa, like many others, that are home to amazing African wildlife. The only animals kept in true captivity are the cats (lions, cheetahs, and lynx). Their enclosed areas are actually really, really large. Only Allison, Jenny and I decided to go on the safari and in all honesty, I'm happy that it was only a few of us because we got to do and see things that big groups never would have been able to see or do. Our driver, Frikkie, picked us up around 7:30 and we headed to Buffels. The ride there was beautiful and I got a true idea of Africa. It was rural, with barely anything around and all of the plants were native. It was peaceful. When we arrived we were taken into the restaurant, where we got an amazing breakfast in peace by ourselves. Our guide, the ranger of the reserve, came to retrieve us and we headed out on our first half of the game drive. We first got to visit an ostrich who lives with one of the reserve keepers. After letting her peck us for awhile, we headed over to see the lions. I've seen lions in a zoo before, but never close enough to actually experience their size. These lions were HUGE! The male lions had heads as big as my torso. One swing at me and I'm sure I'd be dead. We got to see some 6 month old lions which were already almost full grown. All together there were 7 of them. We left the lion's area and began searching for the rhinos. Our guide told us that we'd be lucky to see them mainly, because they liked to hide. The rhinos are critically endangered, so I was definitely looking forward to seeing them. We came across a herd of wildebeest and zebra, which included a baby zebra. After riding around the reserve for awhile, our guide decided to take us to one of our surprises. We stopped in front of this massive caged in area and he led us in. He said to us, "if you are afraid, whatever you do, do not turn your back and run." That frightened me a little bit but I went with it. We walked through some trees and bushes and there in the middle of the grass was a cheetah. We were able to get about 10 feet away from Tola. He was magnificent. Once we left Tola, we headed back to the main building for lunch. One our way back we ran into the rhinos!!! Our guide said we were lucky charms.

 

 

 

At lunch we got a delicious traditional South African meal, bobotie. After resting for a bit, our guide came back in to take us out for the second half of the game drive. We drove for quite some time and came around a huge bend to see at least 12 giraffes, including a baby. They were a little timid, so we couldn't get too close. We were able to get close enough to take some amazing pictures though. Our guide said he had some more surprises for us, so we headed to the second one. We pulled up to another fenced in area, but this once was smaller. We walked up to the fence and two lynx came right up to the fence. One by one we were brought into the fenced area to touch the lynx. They were so cute and very affectionate. Our final surprise was back by the lion's area. We headed into a building that had cages lined along the walls which led outside. We walked to the corner cage and sure enough there was about 4 lions; 3 of them were the babies. We played with them a little and then heard another lion come into the next cage over. Simba, the king of them all, walked into the cage and started roaring. It was so loud that the ground was shaking. It really scared Jenny and I. After seeing the lions for a bit longer we headed back to the main building to head home. The safari was by far the most amazing adventure I've had on this experience so far. It exceeded my expectations, and I suggest that if you're ever in Cape Town you make a visit to Buffelsfontein.

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After a long day at the reserve we came home to take a nap before dinner. We chose to go to Sea Point for dinner at La Boheme, a wine bar and bistro. The food and wine there was absolutely delicious and cheap. I got some Sauvignon Blanc, tomato and roasted red pepper soup, and a chicken and mushroom gnocchi dish. The day couldn't have gotten much better! I definitely will go back to the Sea Point area for dinner again.

Sunday we woke up and got a late start to the day. We decided to go see Despicable Me 2. After the movie we went to Primi Piatti for dinner and hung around Waterfront for a while. It wasn't a very eventful day since we knew we had class the next day. It was nice to just have a day to relax though, especially since we've been so busy and always on the go. The fun's not over yet though. We still have 3 more weeks to go.

xoxo,

Alexandra