Jensen & I on our elephant back ride
The cheetah we saw during our game drive
Dustin getting "eaten" by the baby lion cub
Jensen, after just being kissed by an elephant!
The true "queen" of the jungleHi everyone,
Today we got our first day of rain—not a lot, but enough to tap down a little bit of the dust. Rainy season is on its way! I imagine it will be exciting at first (sort of like when the monsoons finally hit), but I think that 6 months straight of daily rain will get tiresome quickly, especially when I have to deal with a muddy dog that likes to sleep on my bed! Speaking of the dog, here is a picture of her, showing her to be the queen that we all know her to be! We have this huge pile of dirt in our backyard that the gardener is spreading all over the yard (not sure why). Kami’s favorite thing to do is to sit in this dirt, and she especially likes running to the top of the mound to chase the birds! She’s spending a lot of time outdoors, as I don’t have time to clean her up every time she wants to come inside. I’m already dreading the rainy, muddy season, and it has not really even started yet!
Today we got our first day of rain—not a lot, but enough to tap down a little bit of the dust. Rainy season is on its way! I imagine it will be exciting at first (sort of like when the monsoons finally hit), but I think that 6 months straight of daily rain will get tiresome quickly, especially when I have to deal with a muddy dog that likes to sleep on my bed! Speaking of the dog, here is a picture of her, showing her to be the queen that we all know her to be! We have this huge pile of dirt in our backyard that the gardener is spreading all over the yard (not sure why). Kami’s favorite thing to do is to sit in this dirt, and she especially likes running to the top of the mound to chase the birds! She’s spending a lot of time outdoors, as I don’t have time to clean her up every time she wants to come inside. I’m already dreading the rainy, muddy season, and it has not really even started yet!
Now, onto the trip we just took. The kids had a week off school, so we took the opportunity to travel. We went to South Africa. We were going to go to Namibia, but could not get all the flight arrangements made in time, so we’ll do that another time.
In South Africa (a 3 hour plane ride from Lubumbashi), we visited Johannesburg, and Pilanesberg. The hotel we stayed at for the first couple of days was attached to a mall. We did a bit of shopping for some of those things that we can’t seem to find in Lubumbashi (maple syrup, tennis shoes, a haircut)! As we were walking around, we ran into a McDonalds. The kids went crazy and begged to eat there. We did eat there, and I have to admit, it tasted pretty good after 2 months with no fast food. The kids were in heaven. The funny thing is that at home in the States, they won’t even eat at McDonalds!
In Johannesburg, we visited an elephant sanctuary, a lion park, and an amusement park. By far, the best experience was at the elephant sanctuary, where they take in animals from zoos, circuses, and game parks—usually animals that are causing problems. We all got to touch the elephants—every part of them! My favorite part was the tail. It felt like a wire whisk. The best part of the whole experience was getting kissed by an elephant. The elephant puts his trunk on your cheek, and it feels like he is going to suck your cheek off! Here is a great picture of Jensen just after being kissed! Her whole face and neck were covered with elephant slobber! And they don’t even give you anything to clean it off with! Luckily, I had some wipes in my purse!
When we went to the lion park, we drove through the park and saw lots of lions all over the place. They looked so cute and docile, but last year, 3 Japanese tourists got killed because they got out of their car! The best part of this adventure was getting to play with lion cubs! They were so cute, and quite frisky! Here is a picture of Dustin with one of the cubs. He really liked Dustin’s sweatshirt, and kept biting on it. Also, as we were driving through the park, an ostrich wandered in front of our car. Of course we stopped for him, but then he decided to just lay down right in the middle of the road, and we couldn’t go anywhere for about 10 minutes. He was hilarious!
In South Africa (a 3 hour plane ride from Lubumbashi), we visited Johannesburg, and Pilanesberg. The hotel we stayed at for the first couple of days was attached to a mall. We did a bit of shopping for some of those things that we can’t seem to find in Lubumbashi (maple syrup, tennis shoes, a haircut)! As we were walking around, we ran into a McDonalds. The kids went crazy and begged to eat there. We did eat there, and I have to admit, it tasted pretty good after 2 months with no fast food. The kids were in heaven. The funny thing is that at home in the States, they won’t even eat at McDonalds!
In Johannesburg, we visited an elephant sanctuary, a lion park, and an amusement park. By far, the best experience was at the elephant sanctuary, where they take in animals from zoos, circuses, and game parks—usually animals that are causing problems. We all got to touch the elephants—every part of them! My favorite part was the tail. It felt like a wire whisk. The best part of the whole experience was getting kissed by an elephant. The elephant puts his trunk on your cheek, and it feels like he is going to suck your cheek off! Here is a great picture of Jensen just after being kissed! Her whole face and neck were covered with elephant slobber! And they don’t even give you anything to clean it off with! Luckily, I had some wipes in my purse!
When we went to the lion park, we drove through the park and saw lots of lions all over the place. They looked so cute and docile, but last year, 3 Japanese tourists got killed because they got out of their car! The best part of this adventure was getting to play with lion cubs! They were so cute, and quite frisky! Here is a picture of Dustin with one of the cubs. He really liked Dustin’s sweatshirt, and kept biting on it. Also, as we were driving through the park, an ostrich wandered in front of our car. Of course we stopped for him, but then he decided to just lay down right in the middle of the road, and we couldn’t go anywhere for about 10 minutes. He was hilarious!
When we went to the amusement park, they had the typical rides there. But there was one ride that was different. It was called the Lazy River Boat Ride. We were expecting a ride similar to one of the water rides at Disneyland. When we got in the boat, the ride operator told us to push against the sides of the walls on either side of us to get the boat going, so we did. What we did not understand was that this is what we had to do for the entire ride! There was no track, no motor, nothing to propel this boat except our own man power! I was glad for all the cleaning that I have been doing at home, as my arms have gotten really strong. We sure got our workout in that day!
After the amusement park, we drove to Pilanesberg (about a 2 hour drive). We stayed at a game lodge called the Bakubung Lodge, which means People of the Hippo. It was a nice lodge, but the power went out while we were there, and I thought, I could have gotten this in the Congo! Luckily, we had to go to sleep early anyway, as we had to get up the next morning at 4:00 AM for a hot air balloon ride. Unfortunately for us, the balloon ride got cancelled due to bad weather, so we got up early for nothing. We ended up being able to reschedule the ride for later in the week.
Later in the day, we went to a place called Sun City, which we thought was an actual city. But no, it was more like an entertainment center, with a casino, water park, water activities (jet skiing, parasailing, water skiing, etc), drumming, quad riding, golfing, horseback riding, elephant back riding, etc. We decided to take a drumming class using African drums. It was just our family, with one teacher, and it was quite enjoyable. It was something different for us.
After the drumming class, we went quad riding. I had never driven a quad by myself, and I was a little nervous about it. Jensen wanted to go on with me, but Dustin wanted to ride on his own. The guide took us on a little practice ride, and Dustin ended up driving his quad into a grass field, so it was decided that he should ride on the back of Bill’s quad instead. We rode for about an hour. Jensen and I did not like it much. I had a hard time controlling the quad, as it was quite heavy to turn, especially with my bad wrists, and I was always scared I was going to dump the quad over. Bill and Dustin enjoyed their ride, but since they had to follow us, and weren’t allowed to pass, it was a bit slow for their liking.
After that, Bill took the kids jet skiing. I just watched. I had had enough excitement for the day.
Then, we went to another hotel (game lodge), where we stayed for the next couple of days. This one was very nice, and had great food. Shortly after we checked in, we went on a game drive at the Pilanesberg Game Reserve. All the animals in South Africa are protected on game reserves from poachers. These game reserves are huge—thousands and thousands of acres! However, the animals are completely wild, and receive no supplementation at all, in the form of food or water. There is also no intervention provided to the animals if they are sick or injured. They just let nature take its course, and if an animal is sick or hurt, it dies, gets killed by another animal, or gets better on its own.
I didn’t really know what to expect on this game drive, but it was much more exciting than I was expecting. There were 8 of us all together, in a safari type vehicle (sort of like what you would ride at the zoo). The animals are acclimated to the vehicles driving through the game reserve, and they view them as other large animals. The animals sometimes come quite close to the vehicles.
After the amusement park, we drove to Pilanesberg (about a 2 hour drive). We stayed at a game lodge called the Bakubung Lodge, which means People of the Hippo. It was a nice lodge, but the power went out while we were there, and I thought, I could have gotten this in the Congo! Luckily, we had to go to sleep early anyway, as we had to get up the next morning at 4:00 AM for a hot air balloon ride. Unfortunately for us, the balloon ride got cancelled due to bad weather, so we got up early for nothing. We ended up being able to reschedule the ride for later in the week.
Later in the day, we went to a place called Sun City, which we thought was an actual city. But no, it was more like an entertainment center, with a casino, water park, water activities (jet skiing, parasailing, water skiing, etc), drumming, quad riding, golfing, horseback riding, elephant back riding, etc. We decided to take a drumming class using African drums. It was just our family, with one teacher, and it was quite enjoyable. It was something different for us.
After the drumming class, we went quad riding. I had never driven a quad by myself, and I was a little nervous about it. Jensen wanted to go on with me, but Dustin wanted to ride on his own. The guide took us on a little practice ride, and Dustin ended up driving his quad into a grass field, so it was decided that he should ride on the back of Bill’s quad instead. We rode for about an hour. Jensen and I did not like it much. I had a hard time controlling the quad, as it was quite heavy to turn, especially with my bad wrists, and I was always scared I was going to dump the quad over. Bill and Dustin enjoyed their ride, but since they had to follow us, and weren’t allowed to pass, it was a bit slow for their liking.
After that, Bill took the kids jet skiing. I just watched. I had had enough excitement for the day.
Then, we went to another hotel (game lodge), where we stayed for the next couple of days. This one was very nice, and had great food. Shortly after we checked in, we went on a game drive at the Pilanesberg Game Reserve. All the animals in South Africa are protected on game reserves from poachers. These game reserves are huge—thousands and thousands of acres! However, the animals are completely wild, and receive no supplementation at all, in the form of food or water. There is also no intervention provided to the animals if they are sick or injured. They just let nature take its course, and if an animal is sick or hurt, it dies, gets killed by another animal, or gets better on its own.
I didn’t really know what to expect on this game drive, but it was much more exciting than I was expecting. There were 8 of us all together, in a safari type vehicle (sort of like what you would ride at the zoo). The animals are acclimated to the vehicles driving through the game reserve, and they view them as other large animals. The animals sometimes come quite close to the vehicles.
The goal for these game drives is to see as many of the Big 5 as possible. The Big 5 includes the lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo, and leopard. These are considered the 5 most dangerous animals to hunt. That first game drive, of those 5, all we saw was the white rhino. However, we did see many other animals that were just as exciting, including zebras, giraffes, wildebeests, impalas, springboks, kudus, jackals, and brown hyenas. The most exciting to watch were the giraffes. We saw a mom with her baby, and we also saw 2 males chasing each other (fighting over territory). We stayed out for about 3.5 hours, and by the time we got back, it was freezing! They had brought blankets for us, but we were still freezing.
The next morning, we got up early again for our balloon ride, and again, it was cancelled, so we went on another game drive instead. We left at 5:30 AM. This time, we saw 2 young, adult male lions, and it was interesting because an elephant came wandering by, and intimidated those lions. Every time the elephant got closer, the lions would get up and move. The guide told us that it is unusual to see lions and elephants at the same time (2 of the Big 5). Later, we saw a group of hippos in the water, and we saw a white rhino with her baby, right on the road in front of us. Towards the very end of the game drive, we saw a cheetah! This is very, very rare, as there are only 2 (a male and a female) on the entire game reserve. The game reserve is so big, that these 2 don’t even know that the other one exists. The one we saw was far out in a field. We just kept waiting and watching to see what direction it would go in. Eventually, it ended up crossing directly in front of our vehicle! It was so cool!
Later that day, we went on an elephant back safari. This was fun, but not that exciting. Being on the elephant felt similar to being on a horse, and it moved very slowly. The cool thing was that there was a baby elephant, about 2 years old, and he was so cute! He was very mischievous, just like a typical 2 year old. Jensen and I were riding on the mama, so the baby came with us, and kept wanting to stop to nurse. It was so sweet. At the end, we got to feed the elephants, and we actually put our hands/arms all the way into their mouths. We were all slobbery afterwards, but it was worth it!
The next day, we finally made our balloon ride! It was very cool to see the animals from this vantage point. We got to see the sun rise from the balloon and it was so beautiful. We saw a group of hippos in the water again, and we were able to get down really low in the balloon to see them really well. There was a mom and a baby, and the baby wasn’t tall enough to stay up, so he kept sinking. Hippos do not swim—they just walk along the bottom of the river/lake.
We also saw a herd of buffalo, and some black rhinos; both are rare to see. The balloon operator said that he has been flying for 20 years, and only sees buffalo about once a year. We really lucked out! All in all, we saw 4 of the Big 5. Although we did not see the leopard, we did see the cheetah, so we are counting him as our leopard to say that we saw all 5! The guide said that most people only end up seeing 3 of the Big 5. On our drive back, we saw a herd of red hartebeests (some type of antelope), and they had 6 babies with them, who were about 4 weeks old. They were the cutest things—all legs!
Later that day, we went back to Sun City and went parasailing. This was something Jensen wanted to do. I was not so sure, but I went ahead and did it, but wished I hadn’t. This was definitely out of my comfort zone! You have a harness on you that sits around your legs, and around your stomach. I thought that once you were up in the air, you would sort of be sitting on the harness, but no, you were just hanging there! I was so scared, I started crying—I hated the whole ride. Jensen kept saying, “Don’t worry, Mommy, I got you”. A lot of good she was going to do if I started falling! At the end, they dump you in the cold water, and you quickly have to unhook yourself from the parachute, and then swim to the boat. I’m not doing that again! Bill didn’t like it much either, though Dustin did! Jensen did not like it either, but I think she didn’t like it because I hated it so much, and I was so scared.
Our last activity that day was a tour of a cheetah wildlife centre. It was neat to see so many cheetahs close up, but sad because they were in cages/or large enclosures. We learned a lot about cheetahs, as well as other animals, and at the end, got to have our picture taken with a cheetah! He was just like a big kitten, purring and licking the trainer’s hand.
Our last night was spent in this awesome hotel called the Kedar Country Hotel. Our suite was huge! Bigger than our whole house in the Congo! We had our own private pool, and these great outdoor showers! The best part though, was a little, outdoor stairway that led up to a covered porch which overlooked the savannah. There were chairs up there, and a swinging bed, so you could just sit/lay up there and watch for animals. The night we arrived, there was a whole herd of kudu (or some other antelope type animal) just sitting there, right under our porch! It was way cool. In the morning, I woke up early and just sat up there, reading my book, and watching for animals (didn’t see any). It was a great way to end the vacation.
I was dreading returning home, as I knew that we had no water when we left, and didn’t know if we would have any when we returned. I had left wet clothes in the washer, as I had just started a load of laundry when our water stopped working. So, in addition to coming home with a ton of laundry, I knew I also had yucky, stinky laundry waiting for me to deal with at home.
Well, we did have water when we got home, but not just in pipes, sinks, and toilets, where it belongs; we also had a big puddle of water in our kitchen. We also had enough dirt and dust in our house to make it look like I had not cleaned in a year!
We picked up Kami from our friend’s house, on the way home. Kami was filthy, as she had been living outside for the past week. Well, as soon as we got home, she ran in the house, straight for the puddle of water in the kitchen. Then she ran all over the whole house (she was so excited to be inside, and to be home), and left wet, muddy paw prints all over the whole house! Bill left, and went to work, and I proceeded to clean up the floor. No sooner had I finished, then one of our toilets started overflowing, not from the bowl, but from the tank. Not sure why. I turned off the water and started mopping the floors again! Not a great way to return home. Jensen was funny though. Towards the end of our trip, she said, “I’m ready to go back to the place where we live”. She is not ready to call it home yet, but at least she feels comfortable enough to want to return here. I’d say that’s pretty good, after being here for just 2 months!
We have a friend here, who we met through a mutual friend in AZ. He does not work for the same company as Bill, but works for a company that is contracting with Bill’s company to do work at the mine site. He got here shortly after we did. His assignment is different than ours. He is here for 18 months, but he stays for 8 weeks, and then goes home for 2 weeks. He has a wife and 4 kids at home, so it’s been hard on all of them. Well, his first 8 weeks is up, and he is going home to AZ on Monday. He is basically bringing empty suitcases home with him, and we are sending them a list of all the things we want him to bring us back. So, in a few weeks, it’s going to be like Christmas again! It’s nice because we know that every 8 weeks, we can get things from the States!
Hope everyone is well! We miss everyone, but are all doing well here!
The next morning, we got up early again for our balloon ride, and again, it was cancelled, so we went on another game drive instead. We left at 5:30 AM. This time, we saw 2 young, adult male lions, and it was interesting because an elephant came wandering by, and intimidated those lions. Every time the elephant got closer, the lions would get up and move. The guide told us that it is unusual to see lions and elephants at the same time (2 of the Big 5). Later, we saw a group of hippos in the water, and we saw a white rhino with her baby, right on the road in front of us. Towards the very end of the game drive, we saw a cheetah! This is very, very rare, as there are only 2 (a male and a female) on the entire game reserve. The game reserve is so big, that these 2 don’t even know that the other one exists. The one we saw was far out in a field. We just kept waiting and watching to see what direction it would go in. Eventually, it ended up crossing directly in front of our vehicle! It was so cool!
Later that day, we went on an elephant back safari. This was fun, but not that exciting. Being on the elephant felt similar to being on a horse, and it moved very slowly. The cool thing was that there was a baby elephant, about 2 years old, and he was so cute! He was very mischievous, just like a typical 2 year old. Jensen and I were riding on the mama, so the baby came with us, and kept wanting to stop to nurse. It was so sweet. At the end, we got to feed the elephants, and we actually put our hands/arms all the way into their mouths. We were all slobbery afterwards, but it was worth it!
The next day, we finally made our balloon ride! It was very cool to see the animals from this vantage point. We got to see the sun rise from the balloon and it was so beautiful. We saw a group of hippos in the water again, and we were able to get down really low in the balloon to see them really well. There was a mom and a baby, and the baby wasn’t tall enough to stay up, so he kept sinking. Hippos do not swim—they just walk along the bottom of the river/lake.
We also saw a herd of buffalo, and some black rhinos; both are rare to see. The balloon operator said that he has been flying for 20 years, and only sees buffalo about once a year. We really lucked out! All in all, we saw 4 of the Big 5. Although we did not see the leopard, we did see the cheetah, so we are counting him as our leopard to say that we saw all 5! The guide said that most people only end up seeing 3 of the Big 5. On our drive back, we saw a herd of red hartebeests (some type of antelope), and they had 6 babies with them, who were about 4 weeks old. They were the cutest things—all legs!
Later that day, we went back to Sun City and went parasailing. This was something Jensen wanted to do. I was not so sure, but I went ahead and did it, but wished I hadn’t. This was definitely out of my comfort zone! You have a harness on you that sits around your legs, and around your stomach. I thought that once you were up in the air, you would sort of be sitting on the harness, but no, you were just hanging there! I was so scared, I started crying—I hated the whole ride. Jensen kept saying, “Don’t worry, Mommy, I got you”. A lot of good she was going to do if I started falling! At the end, they dump you in the cold water, and you quickly have to unhook yourself from the parachute, and then swim to the boat. I’m not doing that again! Bill didn’t like it much either, though Dustin did! Jensen did not like it either, but I think she didn’t like it because I hated it so much, and I was so scared.
Our last activity that day was a tour of a cheetah wildlife centre. It was neat to see so many cheetahs close up, but sad because they were in cages/or large enclosures. We learned a lot about cheetahs, as well as other animals, and at the end, got to have our picture taken with a cheetah! He was just like a big kitten, purring and licking the trainer’s hand.
Our last night was spent in this awesome hotel called the Kedar Country Hotel. Our suite was huge! Bigger than our whole house in the Congo! We had our own private pool, and these great outdoor showers! The best part though, was a little, outdoor stairway that led up to a covered porch which overlooked the savannah. There were chairs up there, and a swinging bed, so you could just sit/lay up there and watch for animals. The night we arrived, there was a whole herd of kudu (or some other antelope type animal) just sitting there, right under our porch! It was way cool. In the morning, I woke up early and just sat up there, reading my book, and watching for animals (didn’t see any). It was a great way to end the vacation.
I was dreading returning home, as I knew that we had no water when we left, and didn’t know if we would have any when we returned. I had left wet clothes in the washer, as I had just started a load of laundry when our water stopped working. So, in addition to coming home with a ton of laundry, I knew I also had yucky, stinky laundry waiting for me to deal with at home.
Well, we did have water when we got home, but not just in pipes, sinks, and toilets, where it belongs; we also had a big puddle of water in our kitchen. We also had enough dirt and dust in our house to make it look like I had not cleaned in a year!
We picked up Kami from our friend’s house, on the way home. Kami was filthy, as she had been living outside for the past week. Well, as soon as we got home, she ran in the house, straight for the puddle of water in the kitchen. Then she ran all over the whole house (she was so excited to be inside, and to be home), and left wet, muddy paw prints all over the whole house! Bill left, and went to work, and I proceeded to clean up the floor. No sooner had I finished, then one of our toilets started overflowing, not from the bowl, but from the tank. Not sure why. I turned off the water and started mopping the floors again! Not a great way to return home. Jensen was funny though. Towards the end of our trip, she said, “I’m ready to go back to the place where we live”. She is not ready to call it home yet, but at least she feels comfortable enough to want to return here. I’d say that’s pretty good, after being here for just 2 months!
We have a friend here, who we met through a mutual friend in AZ. He does not work for the same company as Bill, but works for a company that is contracting with Bill’s company to do work at the mine site. He got here shortly after we did. His assignment is different than ours. He is here for 18 months, but he stays for 8 weeks, and then goes home for 2 weeks. He has a wife and 4 kids at home, so it’s been hard on all of them. Well, his first 8 weeks is up, and he is going home to AZ on Monday. He is basically bringing empty suitcases home with him, and we are sending them a list of all the things we want him to bring us back. So, in a few weeks, it’s going to be like Christmas again! It’s nice because we know that every 8 weeks, we can get things from the States!
Hope everyone is well! We miss everyone, but are all doing well here!
Laurie
P.S. I can't figure out how to move my pictures around on my blog site--they all just keep coming up at the top of the page. If anyone can give me any tips, I'd appreciate it.
P.S. I can't figure out how to move my pictures around on my blog site--they all just keep coming up at the top of the page. If anyone can give me any tips, I'd appreciate it.
