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Iman's Blog

Kruger National Park pt. 1

Tuesday, June 16, 2009



I've been camping many times before, but this was the ultimate test of survival. After a long 5 hour drive from Johannesburg through winding mountains and rural countryside, we arrived at one of Kruger National Park's bush camps. We were briefed about where we would be sleeping, when we would be going out on walks and game drives, and to check our sleeping bags nightly for scorpions.

Now I have this thing with bugs and insects.....i cant stand them. I shiver every time i see a Caterpillar, and freak out even at the smallest of grasshoppers. I never really gave much thought about coming within a 2 feet radius of a spider if i didn't have to, let alone a scorpion! I can promise you my blood went cold as I heard one of our rangers, Jakes, explain to us what we should do if we encountered one of those little nuances: "Just scream and someone will come". That's it? Honestly? no complementary Scorpion-be-gone?!? You could tell that I was reeeeeealy looking forward to sleeping that night!

We then went to our cabins, all girls in one, all guys in one, and picked our bunks. There were 32 individual beds, 16 bunks for us 7 girls to choose from, so we all got top bunks close to each other. After i selected my bunk (away from the corners and windows of the cabin....) we went on a game drive.

You know how when you go to amusement parks with safari rides and you think its the coolest thing ever, seeing mechanical elephants and electrical giraffes? Then at the end they take your picture that has you pointing at the fake zebra? They don't do real game drives justice. We climbed onto a huge off-road vehicle, no hood, no doors or windows, no SEAT BELTS. Just benches-slightly cushioned- and a metal bar to hold onto. Now the set-up of this particular vehicle was awkward. the first seat was up super high, while the second was like 2 feet lower, the third was 1 foot lower, then the last row was the same height as the first. So once it started to get super windy Andrew, Mary, Stephanie and I, immediately became the buffer for everyone else from the wind.....and animals.

Within the first 15 minutes, I had been thrown up and down and all around from the unevenness of the terrain and was seriously starting to think that i had a brain hemorrhage, when we saw or first animal. I knew elephants were big animals, i guess i just never really comprehended it. These things were monsters with huge noses and and ginormous ears! I was probably in shock before I actually touched one, because once i felt the leathery hide of it's nose, I suddenly realized 'wow, I'm not in Iowa anymore'! In the background, I could hear millions of clicks going off, most likely Suwanee and her camera. It started to get dark fast that night, and we had to break out the spotlight. I had the honor of holding it and lighting the surrounding environment. Eventually we found an animal that was considered rare even to the rangers at the camp. Two cheetahs! It was really awesome seeing them just behind some bushes. Everyone was freaking out and jumping up an down in their seats.

Once we got back to the the camp, we had dinner and watched an educational video on the Camp's history. After we said all our good nights, the scariest part of the entire trip was about to happen. WE HAD TO GO TO BED.

It was bad enough that the lights to our cabin we located outside and at the bottom of the stairs, but now it was actually time to sleep IN the "horror shack". Immediately I took out my bottle of Off bug spray and doused my bunk with it. I sprayed all the corners and the surrounding bunks. I'm surprised no one said anything, maybe they were trying to be nice? But then the bathroom situation probably was occupying their minds more than anything.

There were 5 individual toilet rooms and 3 sinks with showers in the same room. With the abundance of resources at our hands, you'd expect that we'd have no problem freshening up. Wrong. All 7 of us used only one of the toilets, afraid of the other creatures lurking in the other stalls plus, some were just unusable! :] We all used the same shower, with the water setting on only ICE COLD. One of the sinks one night sprung a leak, and it was chaos with me and Mary trying to figure out what to do. Another night, i saw a frog hop out of the toilet that i was about to use and decide on just not using the bathroom that day. Overall the experience was fun, trying to use the restrooms and showers, and defiantly made me think to be happy with the condition that my bathroom was in and that the first thing i would do once i got home was to take a nice looooooonnng bath.

Last Blog

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

We won't have internet or cell phone reception while in Kruger for the next 3 days! So we won't be able to email or blog, just a heads up! Off to see the animals, and hopefully not get eaten.... : }

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Orphanage


Apartheid Museum and Nelson Mandela's home




The museum was very informative, and I was surprised to see how much I didn't know! It was sad to learn about the apartheid and the effects it had on South Africa. We watched a few movies while there, both either showing the violence done to the blacks and coloreds, or how the white settlers established colonies.

There was a Nelson Mandela exhibit, and it was honestly inspiring! I enjoyed reading about how he stood up for what he believed in, and can really relate him to Martin Luther King Jr. and what he did to help out our country. Both of their beliefs are practically identical and really appreciated in both our countries. Its amazing what Mandela did, and I praise him greatly for what he did and is doing to transform South Africa today. He'll be celebrating his 90th birthday next month!

We also visited his "matchbox" home, 8115 Vilakazi St. Orlando West, in Soweto. IT IS TINY!!!! I guessed it was roughly 578 squared feet! There were two bedrooms, not even a kitchen or living room, a bathroom, and a small yard out front. I was amazed to see millions upon trillions of awards given to Mandela and his wife. I was truly honored and excited to be in the home of a leader that has transformed South Africa in so many ways and thankful for what he has done to the world.

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Lesedi Cultural Village

Monday, June 8, 2009

After a long day of riding in a bus, it was a lovely finsih to be able to expereince Africa's the true image. We visited the Lesedi Cultural village and immediatly we were greeted by men in traditional african tribal outfits! I was alarmed for a split second, then immediatly warmed up to their sweet hospitality. We were introduced to 5 major tribal groups in the area, and were given tours on each ones' ways of life and village apperance. After, we saw very unique dances true to each tribe's culture, as well as singing and audience interaction: I got up and danced with them too! Almost all of the students went up to dance and we had a blast!!!!!!!! Afterwards, we ate a traditional African meal that included: CROCODILE AND OSTRICH. Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! I was soooooooooooo excited to try it all! the croc tasted like dry-ish chicken, the ostrich tasted like tough-ish beef. oh! and i forgot to mention the CATERPILLARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! they were already cooked, dried, and slalted. It tasted like a cross of stale fritos to dried anchovies... I couldnt tell if i was eating the head or not, but it wasnt half bad... it only got stuck in you teeth!!!! FLOOOOOOOOSSSSS!!!!! the dinner and bus ride home was the first time on the trip in which alllll the students could not stop laughing, and i really mean NOT ABLE TO STOP LAUGHING, and had a great time listening and being with each other. It really was a nice way to end the day!

Archeological dig


We visited a site in the middle of an open game field and met up with a man named collin mentors. He had been excivating in the same spot for 17 years and has come up with a lot. No human fossils yet, but an abundance of baboon and rodent craniums and bones. He providied us with lunch while discussing the different ways of identifying and classifying an orgnasim based on its skull. We saw primitive tools used, as well as loads of different teeth. Saddly we didn't help out in the dig because it rained, but overall I learned a lot!

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We went to the Serkfontein Caves today and they were really nice! The caves were formed by natural erosion and are made up of limestone. Its was amazing to see a lake, still in the middle of the entire cave, 3 meters deep and 70 meters wide. it was very hard to see even if there was a hand right up against my nose! We saw a few bats sleeping up in a small crack, and was afraid that they might wake up! Then we entered a HUGE chamber, so open and extremely wide. It amazed me to see that nature could have done all this on its own.

The Serkfontein Caves are one of the most fossil-filled caves in South Africa. Little Foot, literally a fully completed skeleton, was found there, and is still being excavated today! I'm a sucker for fossils, and I'm glad I got to see part of Africa's Cradle of Humankind.

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