FYI
-Tina
----- Original Message -----
From: Melanie Hoffert
Sent: Friday, April 03, 2009 1:08 PM
Subject: Mom and Mel in South Africa
Hi Everyone,
We are alive and kicking in South Africa, having a blast. Our first week has been incredible - exceeding all of our expectations. Almost every day we went out with our guide, Alan, in an open land rover to find animals. Over the first two days we saw hippo, rhino, giraffe, impala, nyala, wort hogs, elephants, water buffalo, gigantic spiders, monkeys, tons of strange birds; we've learned a ton about African plants too. Everything has been close, wild, and amazing! We spent all of our waking moments (game drives, eating, wine at night) with six other people with whom we bonded with instantly. Two of the days we set off on our own adventures with the group in our own cars to visit neighboring areas. One of the side-trips was to see lions. Our guides were determined to get us to the cats. We drove through extremely dense brush, completely off road, plowing over small trees and ducking from branches. They literally tracked the lions through the dense bush until we found them resting in the shade. After we watched them for a bit of time, the lions stretched, yawned, licked their fur, then got up and meandered by our vehicle. It was breathtaking to see two wild, large cats two feet from us with absolutely NOTHING between us except air. We were also told that lions had eaten a man the day earlier. However, at the end off our trip our guide, Sam, told us the real story was that a man had killed a wort hog to offer to the parents of the woman he wanted to marry. The lions smelled the blogs and hunted the man down. The lions attached and killed seven of the mans dogs, but he escaped up a tree and was rescued. He suffered from a bit to the leg, but otherwise was okay. On that drive we also saw cheetah and baboon.
We also took another day trip to St. Lucia to go on a river boat cruise to see hippos, crocks, and birds, then we continued to the Indian Ocean. The drive was gorgeous, with tall wispy lime/yellow colored grasses, windy gravel roads, exotic african trees, animals around every corner, and -- at the end -- the white sands of the warm turquoise Indian Ocean.....
This morning we checked out of our "safari tent" camps, which were canvas tents with screened in windows located in the middle of the bush. We decided to move from the lodge (which was wonderful), so we could remain with our friends who had also moved - and so we could experience nature for a few evenings. The sound of the African night was amazing - loud clicking and clacking frogs and crickets accompanied our dreams. Zebras and a large bull roamed freely around the tents. At first we were not too sure what to think about the many geckos who were running around inside all along the walls. When we asked if they could be removed, the man who came to help us smiled and said, "they don't bite..." with a snicker....so we slept hoping we would not be awakened by tiny little feet.
Last night was also our final safari. We had "sundowners" in the bush, then went looking for animals in the night with a big spot-light. Just when we though our adventures were over, our guide ran into a large ditch and tipped the ranger rover on its side - almost completely over! We had to get out, in the black of the night, while he tried to get out of the rut. We had been warned dozens of times about never getting out of the vehicle, so it was a bit strange to be standing in the black night not knowing what might be near. After a bit, he was able to pile enough large rocks to make his way out of the crevice.
Today we drove three hours south to Durban, which is where we will catch a plane in the morning to Cape Town.
We are glad to be safe. Aside from being chased by monkeys, getting strange bites and rashes, and getting lost, we have broken about every rule since we've arrived: we've eaten all of the food we were warned against, driven after dark (extremely dangerous...and a no, no...animals and people wander the freeways, people pass and drive into the other side of the freeway, etc), and now we are resting in Durban - which we were told not to go near because it is too dangerous. However, we are resting happily and wanted to take a moment to send our love.
Sorry we can't send pictues. I can't upload pics to my computer for some reason. We'll try again in Cape Town.
Hope you are all well!
Melanie and Kathy
We are alive and kicking in South Africa, having a blast. Our first week has been incredible - exceeding all of our expectations. Almost every day we went out with our guide, Alan, in an open land rover to find animals. Over the first two days we saw hippo, rhino, giraffe, impala, nyala, wort hogs, elephants, water buffalo, gigantic spiders, monkeys, tons of strange birds; we've learned a ton about African plants too. Everything has been close, wild, and amazing! We spent all of our waking moments (game drives, eating, wine at night) with six other people with whom we bonded with instantly. Two of the days we set off on our own adventures with the group in our own cars to visit neighboring areas. One of the side-trips was to see lions. Our guides were determined to get us to the cats. We drove through extremely dense brush, completely off road, plowing over small trees and ducking from branches. They literally tracked the lions through the dense bush until we found them resting in the shade. After we watched them for a bit of time, the lions stretched, yawned, licked their fur, then got up and meandered by our vehicle. It was breathtaking to see two wild, large cats two feet from us with absolutely NOTHING between us except air. We were also told that lions had eaten a man the day earlier. However, at the end off our trip our guide, Sam, told us the real story was that a man had killed a wort hog to offer to the parents of the woman he wanted to marry. The lions smelled the blogs and hunted the man down. The lions attached and killed seven of the mans dogs, but he escaped up a tree and was rescued. He suffered from a bit to the leg, but otherwise was okay. On that drive we also saw cheetah and baboon.
We also took another day trip to St. Lucia to go on a river boat cruise to see hippos, crocks, and birds, then we continued to the Indian Ocean. The drive was gorgeous, with tall wispy lime/yellow colored grasses, windy gravel roads, exotic african trees, animals around every corner, and -- at the end -- the white sands of the warm turquoise Indian Ocean.....
This morning we checked out of our "safari tent" camps, which were canvas tents with screened in windows located in the middle of the bush. We decided to move from the lodge (which was wonderful), so we could remain with our friends who had also moved - and so we could experience nature for a few evenings. The sound of the African night was amazing - loud clicking and clacking frogs and crickets accompanied our dreams. Zebras and a large bull roamed freely around the tents. At first we were not too sure what to think about the many geckos who were running around inside all along the walls. When we asked if they could be removed, the man who came to help us smiled and said, "they don't bite..." with a snicker....so we slept hoping we would not be awakened by tiny little feet.
Last night was also our final safari. We had "sundowners" in the bush, then went looking for animals in the night with a big spot-light. Just when we though our adventures were over, our guide ran into a large ditch and tipped the ranger rover on its side - almost completely over! We had to get out, in the black of the night, while he tried to get out of the rut. We had been warned dozens of times about never getting out of the vehicle, so it was a bit strange to be standing in the black night not knowing what might be near. After a bit, he was able to pile enough large rocks to make his way out of the crevice.
Today we drove three hours south to Durban, which is where we will catch a plane in the morning to Cape Town.
We are glad to be safe. Aside from being chased by monkeys, getting strange bites and rashes, and getting lost, we have broken about every rule since we've arrived: we've eaten all of the food we were warned against, driven after dark (extremely dangerous...and a no, no...animals and people wander the freeways, people pass and drive into the other side of the freeway, etc), and now we are resting in Durban - which we were told not to go near because it is too dangerous. However, we are resting happily and wanted to take a moment to send our love.
Sorry we can't send pictues. I can't upload pics to my computer for some reason. We'll try again in Cape Town.
Hope you are all well!
Melanie and Kathy
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