Oh my…where to begin? I suppose I’ll begin with this… “South Africa Was Amazing”.
Going into this trip, I really didn’t have any expectations. Naturally, I had a general idea of what we would do…i.e. a few days in London (which was an extended lay-over), a week in Cape Town (where I knew I’d see city, mountains, ocean, and some Nelson Mandela “stuff”), and a safari (where I knew I’d see wild animals). However…even if I had expectations…they never would’ve measured up to the actual experience(s). This was one of those trips that just kept getting better and better. I’ll even go out on a limb and say it was a perfect trip.
London was great, but I’m not going to write much about London…partly because those crazy Brit’s have the Euro which makes everything stupidly expensive…and that makes me bitter. The VERY brief summary is: arrived at Heathrow at 10 a.m. “ish”, had long day of walking/sight seeing, saw “Stomp”, took a river cruise, purchased and ate some hot-nuts from a street vendor, walked through the art-district, went to Ryanne’s (my travel buddy) old youth pastor’s church, had dinner with people in his small group, more walking, went to Buckingham Palace, had a good (and fun) “progressive lunch”, went to Harrods, walked around St. James Park, and pretend petted a crazy big stork-like bird (side note: I hate birds and think they are totally disgusting…) In summary, it was a great time and a perfect way to get used to the new time-zone.
Why South Africa? As you may’ve read in one of my first blog entries, when I originally put this non-bucket list together I had 15 categories. One of the categories was travel. Originally, I “surveyed” people to get suggestions on things to do in each category. To make a long story short, multiple people mentioned South Africa…and when I learned Cape Town had mountains, city, and beach AND the USD was strong…I decided S. Africa was the place for me! I wish I could say I had really researched this and as a result had a more meaningful reason to go…but alas…I didn’t.
Because there are SO many wonderful things about South Africa, I’m just going to bullet point some of my favorite/most memorable things…I’ll expand on them later:
--#1: The people (cab drivers, service-lady at airport, the market, Heritage Day, safari)
--Amazing scenery (table mountain, Kirstenbosch Gardens)
--The wineries
--Tours (Bus Tour, Day Trippers)
--Safari (animals, people, food, lodge, staff, Martyn and Vivian)
The People: Turns out…I love the spirit of the South African people. The apartheid wasn’t long ago…and it’s easy to pick up on that…however…black or white…South African’s take great pride in where they’ve come from…and where they are. They’re pleased when people visit their country and they authentically want tourists to enjoy their time in South Africa.
We visited over a National Holiday: Heritage Day. Like the United States, South Africa is a bit of a melting pot. Heritage Day provides South African citizens an opportunity to celebrate their own roots/heritage while simultaneously celebrating the fact they’re all South Africans. It makes me think the US should have a holiday like that…maybe I’ll text that idea to Obama.
You may’ve noticed I typed “cab drivers” in the above list. Perhaps I'm amused much too easily, but I had lots of of fun interacting with our cab drivers. I liked them for multiple reasons: 1. I think they were the first group of people that helped me to see South Africans are proud of their country and very service-oriented 2. They were entertaining…or a little scary depending on the driver… 3. They made the world seem smaller (I’ll get to that later).
When Ryanne and I landed in Cape Town…we met a lady in the bathroom (she was in a uniform and had a clipboard so we figured, at least hoped, she was legit…). She claimed to have a “hookup” for the cheapest cab driver in town. She spent at least 10 minutes escorting us throughout the entire airport, she showed us where to wait for the driver (which is in a section suspicially far away from all the other cab drivers), she decribed us to him as "two cute blonde girls", she gives us her cell number and goes on her way. As we wait for our driver to arrive, Ryanne and I find ourselves getting skeptical. For all we know, we are walking right into the middle of a trap, which would find us sold into the sex-trade. Anyone seen the movie “Taken”? Needless to say, even if Waheed (our driver) was involved with some aspect of human trafficking…Ryanne and I were not affected. Whew!
As for the “entertaining” cab drivers…there was one cab driver who…if I was a doctor…I would totally diagnose with ADHD. He had a thick accent, talked a mile a minute, and laughed at everything
he said. Mid-drive he pulls over to get gas, we ask, “um, do you plan on stopping the meter??”. He makes no effort to turn the meter off…so we proceed to get out of the car. That doesn't make him happy. To the point where he physically shuts the door on Ryanne. To make a long story short, he finally clears the meter and takes us to our destination…laughing at his own stories along the way. We did learn one thing from him…”koolu koolu” (not sure how to spell that...) means “crappy car” in some form of African. And yes, his car was a total piece…
One other entertaining cab driver story worth mentioning…on the way to the airport…our cabbie decides it is a good idea to drag race with a man who honked at him. Sufficet to say, we were relieved when we finally made it to our destination accident free.
How did cab drivers make the world seem smaller? I won’t bore you with all the details, but the only expectation I had going into this trip was I hoped to leave with a greater appreciation for how big and diverse the world is…BUT…I also wanted to come home feeling like the world was small. I loved the fact that the same things that make my friends laugh in St. Louis, MO…were also some of the same things that made the Cape Town cab drivers, merchants at the market, or people from the surrounding villages at our safari lodge laugh. Again, I could go on with other examples/thoughts, but if I do, this blog entry will be entirely too long.
As for the “amazing scenery”. You’ve probably heard the phrase “where the mountain meets the sea”. That is a common sight in Cape Town. It’s also one of the things that initially drew me to this city. I’m not sure what I love more…the mountains or being on the water. Cape Town offers both. If you ever have a chance to go to Cape Town definitely take a trip to the wineries…even if you’re not a wine drinker. And be sure to take the scenic route and give yourself lots of time to drive slow, pull over to take pictures, and (this is going to sound very pot-smoking and tree hugging) just “chill out” as you look at how beautiful and diverse God’s creation is. It was actually pretty cloudy and gray during our time in Stellenbosch and Franschhoek…but the thick clouds that settled mid-mountain ended up complimenting what was already a spectacular setting.
Oh, one side note: Spier, one of the wineries we visited, had a cheetah outreach program. Ryanne and I got to pet a cheetah. That was neat.
If you’ve read this far …I hope that means you’re not totally bored with this blog entry…I feel like I’m getting a little long winded. This next section will be short…I hope.
We took two tours. Our first full day in Cape Town we went on bus tour of the city. The double decker bus was perfect because it provided an opportunity to get the lay of the land, learn about the culture and history of Cape Town, go to the top of Table Mountain, and spend time in Camps Bay (where the celebs feel at home). We booked our second tour through one of the hostels with a company called Day Trippers. The tour originally interested us because it offered a 2 hour-ish bike ride as well as an opportunity to meet some other people. Well…turns out it was freezing and rainy the whole day (which meant no bike ride)…and no one else signed up for the tour. Luckily, Kevin (our guide) was really personable, so although the day was a little different than what we expected, I think we all still had a good time. As for the activities of the day: Kevin took us on a boat out to a little island covered with seals. We saw a section of a beach full of penguins (p.s. they were stinky), we attempted to whale watch…but we only saw a big splash. We drove through a really big national park and saw an ostrich, some baboons, a variety of flowers, and some animal that I forgot the name of. The day ended with a very wet photo at the infamous “Cape of Good Hope”. Correction…the day OFFICIALLY ended with a few bottles of South African wine recommended by our tour guide as well as me learning a new card game.
After mentioning all those animals…I have created the perfect segue for me to start talking about my safari.
Where to begin?? The safari was AMAZING!! Oh, and for those of you wondering (this question has come up a lot…) NO…we were not
hunting animals! We just drove around in a jeep looking for (“tracking”) animals.
Though we did see the “Big 5” (lion, elephant, cape buffalo, rhino, and leopard) seeing wild animals was only one contributing factor to what really was an incredible experience.
I’ll to my best to keep this as focused as possible…yet still try to give the whole picture.
It's a 3-hour drive from the airport to the lodge. At first 3 hours seems annoying…but honestly…my 4 days at Ngala would’ve been completely different had we not spent that time talking with Elvert (our driver who grew up in one of the villages) as he drives us through the various townships. In fact, that three-hour window was so meaningful, that I found myself taking notes…I’m such a weirdo.
In a nutshell—the townships/villages take up a HUGE part of the countryside (they probably made up 60% of our 3 hour drive) and there is a lot of poverty. Homes without windows…some without a full roof, lots of people walking without shoes, just horrible living conditions. As we drive to the lodge, Elvert talks about how Nelson Mandela’s leadership provided so much change, freedom, unity between races, and mainly “opportunity”. Elvert was so positive that I found myself thinking, “Am I missing something? Nothing about this life seems good to me…” Elvert was
so proud of the fact that (post-apartheid) any black person could now start up a business. I was so confused…I didn’t see any businesses. It became apparent to me that him and I saw things from very different perspectives. For him, this fantastic “freedom” means anyone (a “business owner”) can sell mangos on the side of the road or repair shoes. Aside from one or two of the bigger towns with restaurants, grocery stores, maybe a hair “salon” (in a trailor), and some transportation services…I didn’t see any businesses. If you know me well, you know I like to ask lots of questions. So in trying to understand their economy, I keep asking about other kinds of jobs.
Unlike the US, there isn’t an Edward Jones office at every corner, I don't see any “for-sale” signs in front yards indicating real-estate agents, no franchise owners, no “traditional” small-businesses (dry-cleaners, coffee shops, etc.). I learn jobs are pretty basic: a schoolteacher is a good job, the government provides a decent number of jobs, larger corporations hire fruit/vegetable pickers, etc. The safari lodges also provide a number of jobs (2.5 staff people for every 1 guest). I’ll talk more about that later. If I had to "bullet point" the drive I'd say, "I left my drive with Elvert impressed with how positive and proud he was of his country, his life, his culture, even the government that he was skeptical of. I was also humbled by how much he appreciated life...both the big and small things."
When we arrive at Ngala, we are warmly greeted by name. Herbert (the hospitality host/manager) and Norman (our butler) introduce us to “Mama Connie” who greets us with a hug and shows us to our rooms. The rooms are beautiful, clean, and filled with all the amenities. A huge stone shower, big bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body scrub, soaps. a big bathtub with more soaps, complimentary laundry services, and the list goes on. It is perfect.
The beauty of the lodge, the fact we are treated like queens, the amazing accommodations, Mama Connie’s hug, all coupled with the fact that we just spent three hours driving through probably the most impoverished communities I have ever seen literally brings me to tears. I am not a crier, and I can’t totally articulate why the tears came other than I was humbled by the way we were so authentically welcomed and treated. It’s vague, and I alluded to it in the beginning of this blog, but at that point I was overwhelmed by the beauty and the spirit of the African people.
Obviously, the reason we are at Ngala is to go on a safari…so that seems like a good place to begin. Each day we go on 2 drives a day. The day begins with a knock on the door at 5:00. At 5:30 everyone (there were about 40 guests staying at the lodge) gathers together for tea, coffee, and scones. At 6:00 we hop in the jeeps and head out.
Before I go any further, I’m going to “introduce” you to our jeep:
Ranger: Megan
Tracker: Norman
Guests: Martyn and Vivian (one of the coolest couples I’ve ever met…I’ll talk about them later…They were from the Grand Cayman.)
Some young Italian couple...they were really only there for one of their drives.
Craig and Ana (a young newly wed couple from the UK, they came a few drives after the Italians left. They were a good addition, but I don’t have much to say about them…).
First of all, I’m convinced that never, in the history of Ngala game drives, has a group of total strangers (from different countries, stages of life, ages, etc.) been more perfectly paired.
We all agreed, our jeep had the best ranger at the lodge. Not only was Megan, personable, knowledgeable, laid back, and great behind the wheel…but she also took special care to point out the “little’ things like certain bird noises, unique flowers, or constellations in the night-sky. Norman was also great. He is from one of the surrounding villages, has a thick accent, and a dry sense of humor. You’d have a much better picture of him if you and I were talking in person because so much of Norman’s charm was his thick accent. My favorite phrase of his was “oh my gosh”…which sounded something more like, “uuuuh maah gaaassh”
As for Martyn and Vivian, they are easy to talk to, interesting, high-energy, authentic, and tons of fun. Interestingly enough, when Ryanne and I were at the airport on our way home, we each came up with the “Top 5 Highlights” for our time at Ngala…Martyn and Vivian made both of our lists. I’ll share the list later...so sit tight.
Never have I seen a couple more in love. I believe they have been married for about 15 years (they’re mid-60’s now) He is from England and she is from Ireland, however they met in and currently live in the Grand Cayman. They met around 40 yrs old and married at 50 (this was his first marriage). Their lifestyle (and rightfully so considering they are in their mid 60’s and didn’t have any children) is quite different than mine and Ryanne’s. He is the owner of a very successful construction company, she was the president of a bank. It's clear they are well off and extremely well traveled…as in they very well may travel 75% of the year.
On the surface, one might think they would be detached from reality. Not so. In fact, they are quite the opposite. One thing I really appreciated about them was how inquisitive and sincerely interested they were in the lives of those around them. I often observed Martyn in a thoughtful conversation with one of the lodge staff. Nearly every time I turned around (if I wasn’t already talking to her) Vivian was smiling as she shared stories with someone at the lodge (staff or guest). Obviously, words can only go so far in describing situations or people, so instead of attempting to capture their charm with lots of stories and adjectives instead, I’ll just bullet point some of my “take aways”:
1. One of the first things Martyn shared with me was he married at 50. Lord knows I hope to marry before 50, but I appreciated the fact that he didn't prematurely commit to something (or someone) before he was ready. On the other hand, Vivian wanted to be certain of Martyn’s authentic pursuit of her, so she was intentional about not pressuring him into marriage. She knew if/when the time was right he would know what to do. In my mind and heart, I’ve always believed that if someone is interested in me, he’ll take some intitative and do something about it…without me pushing something along. So, I was encouraged to see this play out in their relationship. When Martyn did finally propose (10 years later) there was no question in Vivian’s mind that Martyn wanted Vivian. I think this set the foundation for a really great marriage. It is quite obvious how much Martyn adores everything about Vivian -and- it is also evident how confident and secure Vivian is in his devotion to her. As a result, the two of them truly adore one another.
2. I want to be Martyn and Vivian when I grow up…so to speak. :) Whether I’m 30, 40, 50, 60, 70+ years old. I hope I have a zest for life that keeps me asking questions, learning, exploring, traveling, joking around, etc. Luckily, both of my parents are people who like variety (even if it’s simple things like karaoke or tying a new restaurant) and though I’m pretty laid back…I get “bored” if life becomes TOO routine. So, hopefully the cards are stacked in my favor and I’ll continue to be a person that, like Martin and Vivian (and my parents), finds myself doing new things throughout my entire life.
Alright, I’ll stop there, if I type anymore about Martyn and Vivian I may come across as a stalker…
Back on track…the animals. Some of the coolest animal sightings were as follows:
1. Our first full day, we found ourselves about 30-50 feet from a Pride of lions with their recent kill (an impala, which looks like a deer). Interestingly enough, the lioness does the hunting and killing. They all feed off the kill for a little, but then the lion takes over and guards the kill. Poor lionesses…they do all the work and reap limited reward…
2. Coolest sighting EVER was this watering hole surrounded by over 200 animals! Approx 75 zebra. 125 impala. 10 water buffalo. 5 wildebeest. Birds flying around. SO awesome, like something right out of The Lion King. All these animals were harmoniously drinking water out of the pond, skipping around, flying, playfully fighting in the background…the only thing that would’ve completed the picture would’ve been God playing “Circle of Life” from the heavens.
3. One day after lunch, back at our lodge, Ryanne and I decide to finish our wine on the couches that overlook a watering hole (maybe 100 feet in front of us). As we sit there with good wine and better conversation, half joking, Ryanne says, “How cool would it be if elephants came up to this watering hole right now?” Well, you guessed it, about 5 minutes later 12ish elephants (adults and babies) come up to the watering hole and start drinking and splashing around. SO cool. It couldn’t have been a better setting!
4. One fun thing about our game drives was they included a “snack break” where Megan would stop the jeep in some picturesque setting like the middle of a dried up river bed or at the top of a hill where we could watch the sunset as her and Norman set up a table (with a cute little table cloth). In the morning we enjoyed coffee, tea, and scones (and...not gonna lie...sometimes a lil’ Baileys) and in the evenings we snacked on wine, beer, nuts, and kudu jerky. One evening, Martyn and Vivian surprised us by bringing out a bottle of champagne. That evening, Ryanne and I plot how we might “one up them” so we ask Herbert to put Mimosas in our cooler for our morning drive. The next morning, Megan successfully “one upped” all of us. We were all getting cold and tired and ready to get out of the jeep for our morning snack. We drove into this dried up riverbed, only to see an old pick up truck in the spot
we want to park our jeep. We were disappointed we needed to find a new place…UNTIL…we realize the man standing next to the truck is making pancakes…for
us! Hooray!! The night before, Megan arranged for as staff memeber to set up one table with a pitcher of warm water, soap, and towels and the another table was set up with all the pancake toppings: chocolate chips, whipped cream, fruit, jams, etc. So fun! Not only that…but as we stand there enjoying our hot freshly-made pancakes…we see a little family of baboons playing in the river bed. Then we look further down the river only to see three giraffe slowly walking from one side of the bank to the other. It couldn’t have been any more perfect!
5. I could tell other stories…lots of other stories…about our adventures 4 wheeling and tracking and seeing rhino, leopard, more elephants…even birds…which I think are disgusting. BUT this blog would be much too long. So hopefully I won’t forget my stories and you can ask me about them in person.
Instead of another animal story…I will leave you with this big picture “take away” (I always love a good take away...). Since Megan was so informative and our jeep asked so many questions, we learned lots of new things. I often found myself, thinking about how there is so much order to everything, to the point where I left all the more confident there is a divine creator. There is no way that kind of order can just evolve, no matter what them fancy schmancy scientists may say. Nothing in the bush goes to waste. The lions and such make their kills, what they don’t eat, the scavengers eat, the hyenas even eat the bones. The rangers take special care not to drive over piles of poop because different animals and insects live and feed in those piles. (yuck!)
The other thing that proves to me there is a divine creator, interestingly enough has more to do with people than animals (but being around the animals just reinforced this…) I’ve always been fascinated by how orderly nature is…but what fascinates me even more is human beings are the only part of creation that has cognitive thought. No other species types long-winded blogs, works in an office, travels to exotic places, goes to church, prays, celebrates birthdays, waits 10 years to propose to a girlfriend, articulates feelings of happiness, sadness, anger, hurt, etc. So then it becomes a question of, "what am I going to do with that?" Because if it’s true God exists, and if I’m a part of the one part of His creation that has cognitive thought… then just like I want to learn about other people and cultures and experiences…it only makes sense for me to do the same with God. So, maybe my biggest take away is, just as I asked questions of my cab driver to learn about the South African culture and listened to Megan describe the order of bush…I think it’s also important for me to ask questions of God, and "listen" to how he wants me to respond to what I learn about Him in the Bible. Who is he? Who does he want me to be? How does his existence impact my life?
Does his existence impact my life?
Hmmm, I got all deep there, not sure where that came from…but it’s probably a good place to end….even though I still have lots more to say especially about the &Beyond (the holding company for Ngala) and their non-profit work in the surrounding townships. But, this is really getting long. Here's their website, maybe you can learn about them there...
http://www.andbeyond.com/ (you can find more about the &Beyond Foundation under the "Sustainability" tab).
So, before I officially wrap this up, as promised, below is the Ryanne/Holley “Big 5 Safari Memorable Moments”. There are actually 7 things on this list because the two of us had some cross over. R=Ryanne H=Holley RH=A memorable moment for both Ryanne and Holley:
RH: Watering Hole (with the 200+ animals)
RH: Sitting on the couches at the lodge, drinking wine, having good conversation, and watching the elephants at our watering hole
RH: Martyn and Vivian
H: Meeting Mama Connie
H: The 3 hour drive from the airport with Elvert
R: Our gourmet dinners on the patios at the lodge (delicious food, great service, fairy tale atmosphere…always fun).
R: Tulee (I didn’t mention her…but I need to now…only because she is probably the best example of the amazing and authentic service we rec’d at Ngala. Tulee worked at the front desk. Our first day, Ryanne went to the front desk asking for an clock for her room. Tulee wasn’t able to find her an alarm clock, instead, she gave Ryanne the watch off her wrist…to use for the 4 days we were there.)
Truly beautiful people and a truly amazing experience. I’m so happy this trip happened!!
FYI: If you want to see any pic’s they’re on Facebook.
Thanks for reading. And yes...I do realize this was REALLY long... :)
