Girl's Weekend in SA

Since Doug has been leading a 10-day Teen Leadership Training at Hawane Resort in Swaziland, I jumped aboard Stephanie and Michelle's trip to South Africa this past 3-day weekend (yup, another one...this time it was in celebration of 'Flag Day'). It was a potpourri trip of sorts as we went to Melalane, Nelspruit, Hazyview, and Kruger National Park.

We left on Saturday afternoon and made it to Malelane where we stayed at a nice guest house called, River Cottage.

Dining Room

Palm tree huggers

Pool

Lookout - since the guest house borders Kruger National Park, there is a lookout point for guests to look for game

We had dinner at a place called, Hamilton's, which came highly recommended by our friends Jason and Fiona. It didn't disappoint. As a starter, we had a papaya, goat cheese, and duck salad (in Africa???). Crazy, I know.

Then, on Sunday morning we got up (what we thought was early) as we intended to drive through Kruger National Park on our way to our second stop, Hazyview. Unfortunately, due the fact it was also a 3-day weekend in South Africa (Bank Holiday), Kruger had already met its quota for 'day visitors' and the park was closed to any further traffic. We were a little sad that we weren't going to see any animals on a scenic drive through the park, but, given our new knowledge of the 3-day weekend, we were also concerned about whether the shops would be open on Monday in Nelspruit (which was what really motivated our trip...Stephanie and Michelle were in need of some camping gear for their upcoming trip to Namibia and the closest 'mall' with such a store was in Nelspruit). So, since Kruger was a no-go, we had a little extra time to drive into Nelspruit to assess the situation for the following day. While we were in town, we were able to pick-up our World Cup 2010 tickets at a satellite sales office - which was awesome to finally secure the tickets and to have them in our possession!

After our side-trip through Nelspruit, we continued on to Hazyview and checked-in at the Gecko Lodge through which we had also booked an afternoon zip line tour.

Gecko Lodge

Our tour left at 1:00pm and as we were kitting-up and signing waivers, we met the family that would be joining us on our zip line tour.

Safety harnesses - check.

We decided it couldn't be that scary if a 5 year old wanted to do it...Granted, she did pee herself before the tour's end...

Here's a picture of the first cable line. It's hard to capture the vastness of the area we were zipping over and through, but I tried.

And off the platform I went

Through the air with the greatest of ease

My face at the end of the first cable. I liked it.

Stephanie getting hooked-up

Michelle getting ready for her first turn

All smiles

Crossing the bridge from one platform to the next

We had to get at least one picture of the 5 year old

The course included 10 cables and after the first 3 wide-open ones, the rest wound through the woods and along a river

We had another tasty meal on Sunday evening and turned in early to give Kruger another shot on Monday morning. Fortunately, we arrived at the Phabeni Gate at 6:45am and made the visitor cut. We took a scenic tour through the park and saw zebras, giraffes, and elephants before stopping at a 'bird hide' to do a little birdwatching on our way out.

The cool thing about Kruger is its size...because it is so many hectares in area, large groups of animals live together. While this is just a snapshot of the herd of zebra, I stopped counting at 75...

The underbrush was so GREEN

Bird hide view

This little guy had the world's longest toes...they were awesome for walking on the lilypads

Egyptian Goose

Flying away

Finally, we began to make our way to Nelspruit for a little shopping.

Along the way we stopped at a fruit/vegetable stand to stock-up on fruits/vegetables going out of season in Swaziland. Here's Michelle negotiating the price of mangoes, papaya, and avocados.

Besides fruit/vegetables there were also a couple of craft stalls. This guy was pretty creative in how to secure his carvings in the wind.

And finally, the mall. I have to admit, it was a strange trip to the mall. I stood in the middle of an 'intersection' in the mall for about 10 minutes simply staring in every direction. It was like 'stuff' overload. All of the things that are not available in Swaziland were suddenly surrounding me! At first I wasn't sure what to do or where to go - but, I grounded myself with my 'list' and made my way around the mall. Surprisingly, for all of the things that I 'wanted,' I really didn't buy much of anything. Every item I picked up seemed like such a waste of money since I have lived without it for the past 9 months. However, the one thing that I was thrilled to get was a blender/chopper/small appliance thingy. And a sweater - since it is quickly becoming winter! Finally, I'll be able to blend my homemade soups!

We finished off our outing with a quick lunch and then it was back on the road to Swaziland.

It was a really fun weekend and I really enjoyed getting out of town for a couple of days.

Phophonyane Falls

Two weekends ago, Doug, Stephanie, Michelle, Nick, Ali and I went hiking with the National Historical Society (NHSS) of Swaziland in Pigg's Peak. The NHSS does a monthly hike and while this was our first time, there were many, many 'regulars.' Because it was the King's Birthday and therefore a national holiday, we had a 3-day weekend which I thought brought out additional hikers. All told, there were 20+ of us! The hike was about 4 hours round trip and was along the ridge of a mountain range. It was a 'hump-to-hump' route as we walked along the spine of the mountain across a series of 4 smaller 'humps.' Most of my pictures are of the spectacular scenery...

Hiking up to the 'first hump'

Views from the top

How did I get that butterfly in the picture, too?

Ali and Doug on top of the first peak. Ali is a 'Visiting Scholar' for one month at the Baylor Clinic in Mbabane. The 'small world' fact about Ali is that he was best friends with a guy named Kamran in medical school in Texas. And then, Doug became good friends with Kamran during his residency at CHOC in California. And now, Ali and Doug are working at the same clinic and are standing on top of a mountain together in Swaziland. It is a small world.

Hiking from one hump to the next

Views from the saddle

Upcoming humps

The falls

Michelle and Steph braving the cold, run-off water

Nick and Doug swimming in the even colder pool at the bottom of the falls

Where's the photo of me swimming in the falls, you ask? Well, let's just say I was the only SANE member of the group and was not interested in swimming in the arctic water. Phophonyane Falls were awesome and it is safe to say that the surrounding mountain range will definitely host us again for another Sunday hike. Swaziland is beautiful.

Two Moms

At the end of March, my mom (Liz) and Doug’s mom (Leta) met in Atlanta and traveled together to Swaziland. ‘The Moms’ (as they were endearingly called) took Southern Africa by storm. They came, they saw, they bought it all (souvenirs, that is). Prior to their arrival, our friends were speculating about how well The Moms would get along since the sum total of time spent together beforehand was probably around ~30 hours (and that was as long as their flights over). But, The Moms got along splendidly and we all had a genuinely fantastic time. Their trip was in three major parts: Swaziland, safari, and Cape Town. They were very eager to see our ‘real lives’ as well as to enjoy the tourism opportunities in the region.

Because we had many mini-trips planned during their stay, we had to squeeze in an opportunity for them to meet all of our friends; which happened to be on the very same day they arrived. We hosted a BBQ/pool party in their honor and grilled burgers, like real Americans (usually it’s called a ‘braai’ and boerwors replace the burgers). We also held a ‘Swazi Hole’ tournament. Swazi Hole is a lawn game that Doug built. I sewed the bean bags by hand. The game represents one of our many ‘Little House on the Prairie’ projects in Swaziland. It’s amazing what you’ll conjure up for entertainment when you don’t have a TV.

I was busy hosting and grilling, so I didn't take many pictures at the BBQ...but, here are a few: Doug and his mom

PAC Doctor, Terri, and her son, Solomon

Swazi Hole Teammates, Tini and Simon (with my mom giving them 'bunny ears')

Our friends Yael/Shake's son, Tal with his Swazi Hole Teammate, Solomon

Tao (Swazi/Computronics) and Alison (Clinton Foundation)

Next up, we took The Moms to Mkhaya Game Reserve for a 2-day safari. Leta had been on safari in Kenya years before, but it was the first time for my mom, which was fun. Doug and I had been to Mkhaya in late January in celebration of my birthday, so you’ve seen pictures of the facilities, before. But, I’ll share some of the highlight photos as we got to see many, many animals while on foot during our walking safaris.

Here we go!

Our guide, Patrick

Herd of elephants

Wait for me!

Getting a drink

Sniffing

Eating

Watching

You know it is a big spider when you can see it in a picture!

There is no way that you could sneak up on us...we're tush-to-tush and watching you...

Snoozing (again, covering all angles)

Buffalo...

Hey, buddy, you've got a little food hanging from your lip

Warthogs fighting

This is a Fish Eagle with his prey. He's caught a catfish from the hippo pond, but it is too heavy for him to carry. We watched him for a half an hour trying to fly with the catfish.

Giraffe are loners, so this was an unusual find to see them in a group

Strolling by

Zebras grazing

Blue-spotted guinea fowl

This rhino was trying to cool down in the midday sun

And then a bunch of buffalo joined him

How close can we get to the rhinos?

Or rather, how close can the rhino get to our Land Rover?

It's got to be work for this giraffe to get down low enough to reach the water

You can tell it was a hot day, because everyone was taking a swim

What hole did you crawl out of? Oh, that one.

After Mkhaya, Doug went back to work for one day before we headed to Johannesburg to catch our flights to Cape Town. It was an exciting weekend to be in Cape Town because it was: 1) Two Ocean’s Marathon weekend, 2) the Jazz Festival, and 3) Easter. Here’s an overview of our itinerary:

Thursday – Travel, Table Mountain, Africa Café for dinner

Friday – Robben Island, V&A Waterfront for lunch, Market, Myoga for dinner

Saturday – Two Ocean’s ½ Marathon, Stellenbosch Wine Tour, Red Square for dinner

Sunday – Cape Peninsula Tour, Two Oceans Restaurant for lunch, Gelato for dinner

Monday – Lion’s Head, Royale Café for lunch, Travel

Truly, one of the highlights of our trip was the hotel. We stayed at the Vineyard Hotel and Spa in the Newlands and it was sensational. I highly, highly recommend it should you ever find yourself in Cape Town. The breakfast alone was enough to bring me back a million times over.

Lunch patio

Atrium dining room

Hotel grounds with Table Mountain in the background

More hotel grounds

Pool and fitness facility

Hotel's one-eyed cat

Hotel's tortoises...they were even allowed in the lobby!

After our arrival on Thursday, we were supposed to catch the 3:00pm ferry to Robben Island. However, we got a little lost on the way to the port and missed our boat! Therefore, we took advantage of the clear skies and ventured up Table Mountain, instead. The views from the top were magnificent - as seen below.

You can see the new, World Cup Stadium in this picture

Sunset on Table Mountain

On our first evening, we had dinner at Africa Cafe and the waitresses painted my face

On Friday we made it to the ferry in time and went on a tour of Robben Island. Robben Island is no longer in operation; however, it used to be an offshore prison for both political and criminal prisoners. Our bus tour guide had many interesting stories to tell as his grandfather had died on Robben Island. Additionally, our prison tour guide had been a political prisoner on Robben Island for 15 years and shared first hand accounts of life on the island.

The island also served as a leper colony. This was the leper cemetery.

Because the families of all of the employees lived on the island, there had to be a school. Currently, 18 pupils are enrolled.

Criminal prisoner block

Solitary confinement cell

Mandela's cell

Prisoners were discriminated against based on their ethnicity. The sign describes how much food prisoners were given, based on their ethnicity.

'The Yard'

Our ex-prisoner, tour guide

View of Cape Town and Table Mountain from Robben Island

After our tour, we went to the V&A Waterfront for lunch

And were highly entertained by the street performers

On Saturday morning, Doug and ran the Two Ocean's 1/2 Marathon. We don't have any pictures because the race started at 6:00am; so, we told the Moms to sleep in and that we'd meet them for breakfast at 9:00am. The course was beautiful, but hilly! Here's the relief map of the course...

After a shower, nap, and leisurely morning at the hotel, we took an afternoon wine tour to Stellenbosch.

And tasted lots of different wines

On Easter Sunday, we re-created the Cape Peninsula Tour that I had taken with Felicia and the Springbok Atlas tour company. Although, since we had a rental car and GPS we made our own way to all of the highlight attractions.

Before we left, though, we obviously had to partake of the breakfast extravaganza at the hotel. Leta decorated her sun hat for the occasion.

Our Cape Peninsula Tour started with a boat trip to Dryker Island to see the seals. This one was snoozing in the harbor.

Doug's 'titanic' moment

The sea was really rough and the wind was howling; so we had quite a few laughs on the boat trip out to the island. Here's a shot looking back into the harbor.

Mom

Chilly ladies huddled together

Seals

Playing

From there, we went to Table Mountain National Park, and to the Cape of Good Hope. My Mom was excited to be on the most southern and western point of the African continent.

We also saw baboons on the side of the road, but abided by the warning signs and kept moving

Warning signs...we decided Doug must be part baboon as he too, is attracted by food...

From the Cape of Good Hope it was on to Cape Point, Two Ocean's Restaurant, and the Lighthouse

Doug and I at the Cape Point Lighthouse

Leta at the Two Ocean's Restaurant

And Mom, too

And finally, we were off to see the penguins at Boulder Beach

On Monday morning, the day that we were set to leave, we took a walk part of the way oup Lion's Head to see the spectacular ocean views. The Moms were troopers on the hike, as it was straight up hill and then straight down...

My Mom overlooking Camp's Bay

And just before our flight, we stopped in Camp's Bay to put our toes in the water. All I can say is BRRRR!

Upon our return to Swaziland, The Moms had two more days to squeeze in one more adventure and a little more shopping!

The Moms had raided 'The Dollar Store' prior to their departure and schlepped over numerous teaching posters, flashcards, activity books, and supplies. These items were intended for the preschools in Pigg's Peak where I do volunteer teacher training. Since The Moms had brought over the items, I thought it would be most enjoyable for them to be the ones to deliver them to the school teachers and children. Here are just a few pictures from our day in Pigg's Peak.

This little one was THRILLED to have her hands on the candy...I also left the other little one in the photo as she was looking over her shoulder trying to get a peak at the goods...

Singing songs

One room school house

Preschoolers

It was an awesome trip and we were so thankful that our Moms made the 5-flight trek to share our lives in Swaziland! XO