Kruger, take 2

Sun-Mon
I was able to arrange a private tour to Kruger for Sun and Mon, and it turned out to be great! I had a lovely guide, also named Robyn (note the correct spelling of the name) who drove me around. She was able to talk about the animals and trees (I think to her disappointment, I wasn't so into the trees, but they're nice to look at, and some have interesting medicinal properties). One tree is called a knob tree for it's knob shaped things that stick out of it. The knobs are pointy, so local tribal legend is that if you make a paste from them and rub them on your chest, it will get bigger. Seeing as I live in LA, the plastic surgery capitol of the world (I imagine), I think I should come back on a business trip, collect the knoby things, make a paste, and have a new career marketing an all natural figure enhancer back in the states. If I happen to see some animals along the way, so be it! :)

We were able to see Lions twice. Once there were three lionesses and a male lion running after an impalla, but they ran too far into the bush for us to see the kill. The next day we came across another group of lions (4 young males) who had just killed/eaten a buffalo and were now taking their after-lunch siesta. I got some great shots (I hope) of one when he lifted his head to see what all the commotion was about. (There were several vehicles there watching them.) We also saw a ton of giraffe and "ellies" (as Robyn calls them) which was nice.

For my last night I spent the night at a cute B&B called Blue Cottages. They have small Rondollas (little round huts) resembling the traditional African hut, but I knew I was back in civilization when I saw a TV (although I watch a ton of it at home, I haven't missed it at all in the last 6 weeks).

Now a note about showers. I will be very glad to get home and take a shower in a bathroom where I don't feel the need to wear flip flops, freeze to death, or this is the latest, bend over backwards to wash my hair. The shower here has the shower head sticking out from the side of the wall. Unless you're under 4 ft tall, you literally have to bend over backwards to wash your hair. What is up with that?!

Well, on that note, I think I"ll leave you all and finish up here as I get ready for my 48 hour journey home.

It's been a great experience overall!

Stay tuned for a link to pictures, and maybe even updates about my return to civilization and the start of a new job!

Cheers,
Robyn

Not exactly Dr. Doolittle...yet!

Sat-
Well, this shabbos was a quiet one (as usual out here), so I took to talking to the animals.  I was sitting in the "braie bauma" the bbq pit (why, you may ask was I sitting in the bbq pit- well, it's always sunny there, so I don't have to chase the sun with my chair) and the warthogs came to have lunch.  As there was no one else around to talk to, I greeted them with "hello little warthog", to which she (I know it was a she, as she was with her piglets) responded with a snort and ran off.  The Nyalas (another antelope-like creature) also came to visit, but they weren't very talkative either.  Yesterday, before shabbos, I was sunning myself in there as well and the baboons came into the tree just beyond the fence line.  I watched them for a while, and decided that since they seemed to just be hanging out, and were in a good picture range, I'd go and get my camera.  When I came back with it, they noticed me and decided to run off as soon as I raised it to get their pic, as if they were tired of posing :(

OK, here's the final count food-wise for those of you who were worried about my food.  I had quite a few leftovers, so it is possible to over pack, food wise, even for 5 weeks.  I have 9 out of the 10 packet of tuna/salmon in foil packs.  Again, I can't imagine anyone voluntarily eat them unless they had a fear of starving to death! (Thankfully, I had cheese and eggs as protein).  Two packs of dehydrated refried beans (they weren't bad, but the black beans were better, and I didn't really care for the taco filling).  I still have 3 packs of dried salami (I really only ate them for shabbos, and if a pack was still open on sun, then I'd finish it then) which are coming home with me.  I have 24 Cliff bars left (a whole box size from Costco!)  I had counted on needing to eat one a day, but clearly I didn't.  Five packets of couscous (I won't miss eating that for a while!), and a whole pack of mini-matzohs that I brought just in case the full size ones broke and I couldn't use them on shabbos.  The grape juice made it, yay!  Oh yes, and a whole jar of peanut butter (as well as half a tube of jelly).  I still have a few days to go, but am just going to eat the cheese and salami (with some crackers and bread), and some hard boiled eggs.  I do have some instant oatmeal left, but I think I'm going to save that for my Tues-Weds travel, as that's easy to just get hot water for and then I have a "cooked" meal to eat- yum.  I've never looked forward to airplane food, but this might be a first!

OK, off to finish packing for my last two days in Kruger (fun fact- the park, which spans three countries- SA, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe- is the size of Belgium- minus the diamonds and chocolate :)  ).
Cheers,
Robyn
PS- It appears that there is only one good student out there, and yes, I had the pleasure of supervising her!  (I hope she didn't answer my quiz only bec she might need another reference some day!)

My final game drive at Siyafunda

Thurs-
Well, today was my final day for game drives here, and they were terrific!

This morning we saw the usual- Zebra, Giraffe, Wildebeest, Impala, then....Cheetahs!  Two of them were just laying there on the road, right next to the car.  They're awesome to see!

This afternoon's game drive was also great.  We started by seeing Hippos (yay, finally one here that didn't look like a rock!), as well as a crocodile (which I hadn't seen yet at all).  Then onto a heard of Elephants.  There were more then 30, and they were right by the car, including a tiny baby!  They're also amazing to see up close.  We left the Elephants and were able to get to see the Lions, who had just killed/eaten a Wildebeest (it was too dark at that point to get a good shot of them), but that makes 8 Lions that I've seen- yay!  But we weren't done yet.  We left the Lions and were able to get to the Hyenas who were eating the Lions' leftovers.  They were sharing their kill with the Jackals, and we saw some really little ones.  Once their feast was over, we left, and on the way home we saw a Porcupine!  I hadn't seen one yet, although I was able to collect a quill that was left on the road the other day.

It was a great way to finish up my time here.

I'll actually be here til Sun morning, but tomorrow morning is road clearing, and suddenly I think I feel a 24 hr bug coming on.  I always skip the Fri afternoon drives, as they get back too late for shabbos. 

Then Sat will just be a day of chilling out and reading another book.

Sun, I'm off to Kruger National Park (I arranged a private excursion with a guide who has a great name- Robyn!) and we're spending the night, and doing the park again on Mon.

Mon night I"ll be in Hoedspruit, and Tues it's a wrap as I head back (on a longgggg trip) to LA :(

So far it's been great, and I'm looking forward to the trip to Kruger as well.

G'night!
Robyn

Animals, animals everywhere....

Tues-Weds-

Yesterday morning's game drive was full of the "typical" animals- Giraffe, Zebra, Impala, nothing special.  It's amazing how quickly you acclimate, and these amazing animals become typical- oh yea, another zebra, yawn :)

But in the afternoon we found one of the Cheetahs.  This is a collared Cheetah, but I think they said the collar is not working anymore and the BBC was supposed to film them replacing it, but it was postponed.

This morning we went in search of Renee, their collared Hyena.  They monitor her movements and are trying to see how much she hunts vs. scavenges, but given that you can only monitor her with this telemetry contraption, and all it does is give off a beeping sound, in order to track her movements, you actually have to hunt around for her, then wait around to see what she does.  They said they did that for 12 hours one night.  How fun?!  Today they heard her run off in the bush, but were not able to actually see her.  They're going back out again tonight, and again tomorrow morning at 4am (notice the use of the word THEY, as to not include me!).  We were able to see some Elephants though, which I haven't seen in a few days, and that's always exciting. On the way there/back we saw the ever present Zebra, Giraffe, and Impala, along with the Warthogs (they're so ugly they're cute!  one of my favorites here!), a Bush buck, some Kudu (both related to the antelope), along with Wildebeest and tons of birds.  Africa has tons of birds, and the new family that came on Mon is very into them, wanting to stop for everyone, so it gets a little tedious for those of us who are not necessarily interested in them!

Speaking of the new family- I've come up with a theory.  I believe that Africa gives free tickets to Germans to come and visit.  Either that, or Germany is passively trying to take over the world again, and this time they are doing it by sending their people to conquer other countries through travel, and they're starting with Africa.  Otherwise, I cannot figure out the over-representation of Germans here (given the size of their country compared to the rest of the world).  There are about as many Germans here as there are Impala (remember, Kruger has 100,000!).

Sala Kahle,
Robyn

Sawubona- Hello in Zulu

Sanibona- Hello to all in Zulu

OK, here's your Zulu lesson-

Unajani- how are you?
Ngikhona, wena unjani- I'm fine, how are you?
Ngikhona- I'm fine
Sala Kahle- stay well/good bye
Hamba Kahle- go well (also a type of good bye)

Ngiyabonga- Thank you
Ngiyacela- Please
Yebo- Yes
Cha/Qha- No
Uxolo- Sorry/excuse me
Malini Loku- How much is this?

Hamba- go
Lala- sleep
Hlala-sit
Gijima- run
Pheka-cook
Hleka- smile
Woza-come
Latela- listen

Ngiyahamba- I'm going
Hamba uyolala- go to sleep
Halala phansi- sit down
Gijima ngokoshesha- run faster
Nyiyu pheka- I am cooking
Thual- shut up!
Walala wasala- you snooze you loose (no kidding!)

Indolvu- Elephant
Ibhusesi- Lion
Ingwe- Leopard
Ihlosi- Cheetah
Ulshejana- Rhino
Impisi- Hyena
Imvubu- Hippo
Inja- Dog
Ikathi- Cat
Imbongolo-Donkey
Ihasi- Horse
Inkukhu- Chicken

OK, now we're ready to have a conversation:

Tonight Ngiyu pheka couscous and vegie crumbles (as usual).  Then I am going to hamba uyolala. 

How closely were you paying attention?  Do you know what I"m doing tonight?  Make sure to email me your answers!
Sala Kahle,
Robyn

PS----

Mon (#2)

OK, this veggie diet appears to be working.  I'm going to market a new fad diet called "travel kosher- lose weight!".  It means you can only eat what you can pack, and except for dried salami, not have any meat (bec. you can't get kosher meat in the African bush).  In the first week, the skirts I ordered for this trip (didn't want to ruin my nice denim skirts, so I ordered 2 online, and unsure of the size, the ones I got were on the looser side, but they fit) I had to get a belt for the skirts (and since they don't have belt loops, I've reinstated the 80's "paper bag waist" look, but only under my shirts).  After the 3rd week, I was able to move the belt down one notch.  Now heading into the beginning of the 5th week, I'm down to the third hole in the belt.  Yippee!

OK, who's up for a steak dinner at Shilo's when I get home???? 

Also, I"m in desperate need of a mani-pedi, so those two things are top of the list upon landing in LA (ok, maybe I'll go home and sleep first- here's my travel schedule starting on 7/19 leave Hoedsrpuit on a 2 hour flight to Joberg, at least a 5 hour layover on Joberg, then a 15 hour flight, which, coming home may be actually 18 hours, then a 6 hour layover in NY, then a 6 hour flight back to LA, which brings me home at 5pm on the 20th.  I'm sure I won't know which way is up by then, but as soon as I do, like maybe Sun, it's a mani/pedi dinner at Shilo's day!  Who's joining me????

Ahhh....

Mon-

Today was a spa day (yipee!).  There's a 5 star lodge here called Makalali and I went up there today for a massage.  THIS is the way to have a massage.  Start out in a open air hut (but it was too cold, so she moved the table onto the deck directly in the sun), warm lavender scented oil, the sun shining directly on you, birds singing, monkeys playing in the trees, and the river bubbling down below.  It was GREAT! 

I started off the morning by relaxing on the deck with a cup of coffee (surprisingly a rarity since I've been here.  Both volunteer sites on have instant- what is the point, except for shabbos when you have no choice?  And was able to see vervet monkeys in the trees, and a bush buck walk by.  One of the staff told me that the meat on the bush buck is really good (I'll take her word for it), but that if a policeman finds you with it, it's 10 years in jail- I guess they're protected animals.

Then the msg (read above).

Then back to the deck by the pool to relax on a lounge chair for 2 hours til I was picked up again.

While waiting to be picked up, I had my bag of snacks out on the table.  I got up to take pics of the monkeys, and they got into my bag and stole a package of crackers.  It was so funny!  One of them ran off with the whole pack, and up into a tree.  I was able to get some pics of him eating them, turning the bag over, etc.  It was so cute!  Then, while I was busy taking pics of him, another one came down and stole the ice out of my drink, then another one stole the remaining ice cube, then a third came down and actually drank from the ice tea.  Unfortunately, my long lens was too big to capture the ice/drink escapades, but it was great to watch!

In my next life, I'd like to only travel via 5 stars, but I figured out that for my 5 weeks here in Africa on the roughing it plan, I could only do 6 nights at the 5 star.  I guess it's worth the extra month, even if I'm slumming it! :)

Up next- a lesson in Zulu ( I have to go find the paper I wrote it on, keep forgetting to bring it when I'm at the computer).

Cheers,
Robyn