We have been adjusting to the New World again. It was really hard to go back to driving on the right hand side of the road again. After a week and a half I think we are almost back to normal and I have had an opportunity to upload some pictures.
Actually, I put the best of them in a book. You can see the book at this address www.mypublisher.com/bookshelf/bookviewer.py?d=tq%3Ey-cppl%60je%3E3667162
The order id is M1010145 and the password is 1468202. I have also uploaded a bunch of pictures on a web album http://picasaweb.google.com/fathers.playground. You can see the album in the right hand corner of the blog. Click on it to see a larger slide show.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Ernie
I wanted to make my last African blog about a really incredible man that we met during our African journey, Ernie Thomas. Ernie and Lois hosted us at their home in Vipingo. This week we found out that Ernie had passed away.
He had battled throat cancer and had lost his larynx a few years ago. While we were at his home he was going through some tests because they had found a spot on his spine. Apparently the cancer came back and claimed his life.
Ernie was one of the most incredibly gentle men I have ever met. Since it was difficult for him to talk, you knew when Ernie said something it was worth listening to. Lois and him were so happy living in the little utopia they had created on the coast of Kenya. I know she must be devasted.
He had battled throat cancer and had lost his larynx a few years ago. While we were at his home he was going through some tests because they had found a spot on his spine. Apparently the cancer came back and claimed his life.
Ernie was one of the most incredibly gentle men I have ever met. Since it was difficult for him to talk, you knew when Ernie said something it was worth listening to. Lois and him were so happy living in the little utopia they had created on the coast of Kenya. I know she must be devasted.
Lou and I are blessed and honored that we had the opportunity get to know Ernie and spend the quality time that we had with this wonderful man.
I have not uploaded any pictures of our trip on purpose. I have almost 2000 pictures of our African journey and I really want to cull and create an album or a book that documents one of the most incredible experiences we have ever had. To share all the pictures before the journey was done would be like having dessert before you have finished your entree but I do want to post a picture of Ernie so all of you can see the amazing smile of our good friend Ernie Thomas.
I have not uploaded any pictures of our trip on purpose. I have almost 2000 pictures of our African journey and I really want to cull and create an album or a book that documents one of the most incredible experiences we have ever had. To share all the pictures before the journey was done would be like having dessert before you have finished your entree but I do want to post a picture of Ernie so all of you can see the amazing smile of our good friend Ernie Thomas.
Off in Style
We ended up our African adventure with a bang on Valentine's Day. Paul and I served Sue, Tamia (Sue's friend) and Lou a seven course meal out on the lawn right beside the lake. It was a beautiful evening, a candles all around and a million stars. Lots of brownie points here.
When we started this trip I really wanted to get a feel of the culture, something you don't get when you stay in a hotel. We certainly got a taste of the culture and so much more. We feel like we have become part of the neighborhood. We have fallen in love with Africa, Vipingo, White River and the neigborhoods where the people have welcomed us with open arms. We have a whole new set of friends within the communities of Vipingo and White River. It has been a truly amazing experience. I highly recommend the home exchange experience. Lou and I could definitely live here, the biggest obstacle is that we could not leave our girls.
After our morning coffee and the usual conversations as the neighborhood stopped in at Zannas Louis and Paul drove us to the airport, in a 1933 Rolls Royce! Louis has a car museum with some amazing cars so he decided to make our last drive in Africa a memorable one. After breakfast, off we go sitting in the back of this classic car with Louis as our chaffer and Paul following in our little rental car.
We felt like royaly as we drove up to the airport in this beautiful car. It was really funny to watch the security guys, they all pulled out their cell phones and started taking pictures. It is the first time I have been to an airport where they let you park at the dropoff you checked your bags. Lou and I went in to check in and when we came back Louis was letting these guys enjoy a few minutes in the back of the car. What a great end to an incredible journey as we left Africa in style.
When we started this trip I really wanted to get a feel of the culture, something you don't get when you stay in a hotel. We certainly got a taste of the culture and so much more. We feel like we have become part of the neighborhood. We have fallen in love with Africa, Vipingo, White River and the neigborhoods where the people have welcomed us with open arms. We have a whole new set of friends within the communities of Vipingo and White River. It has been a truly amazing experience. I highly recommend the home exchange experience. Lou and I could definitely live here, the biggest obstacle is that we could not leave our girls.
After our morning coffee and the usual conversations as the neighborhood stopped in at Zannas Louis and Paul drove us to the airport, in a 1933 Rolls Royce! Louis has a car museum with some amazing cars so he decided to make our last drive in Africa a memorable one. After breakfast, off we go sitting in the back of this classic car with Louis as our chaffer and Paul following in our little rental car.
We felt like royaly as we drove up to the airport in this beautiful car. It was really funny to watch the security guys, they all pulled out their cell phones and started taking pictures. It is the first time I have been to an airport where they let you park at the dropoff you checked your bags. Lou and I went in to check in and when we came back Louis was letting these guys enjoy a few minutes in the back of the car. What a great end to an incredible journey as we left Africa in style.
Hands at Work
Before Lou and I came to Africa I reached out to two organizations to see if we could get involved in some service work and as possible Dustin’s GreenHouse destinations. The first was the Vipingo Village Foundation (VVF) in Kenya and the second was an organization called Hands at Work www.handsatwork.org here in White River. Both work with AIDS affected children.
I didn’t really have anything concrete set up with Hands, I just hoped I could get up with someone when we got to White River. On the flight from Nairobi to Johannesburg, Lou and I were not able to get seats beside each other. It was the only flight in the 19 flight segments we have taken on this trip where we were not beside each other. I asked the flight attendant if there were any extra seats if she could try to get us seats together.
The gentleman beside me, said he would be happy to change places once the plane got up into the air. We started talking about our trip and I mentioned that we were hoping to get up with Hands at Work. He almost fell out of his seat, because he was the director at the bible school where Hands at Work originated and is best friends with one of the directors, Marc Myburgh. Amazing!
Through him we were able to set up a meeting with Marc and Vivienne (his wife) to learn about the amazing things they are doing in Africa. What started as a local outreach program to help the community has grown into an organization that is in seven African nations and helping over 20,000 AIDS affected orphans.
Hands at Work works in villages where the incidence of HIV/AIDS, orphans and poverty is the highest and the support structure is very low. In such areas, institutional models of care, such as hospitals and orphanages are overwhelmed and unable to cope with the sheer volume of needed care. There are 2.5 million orphans in South Africa. In the war torn country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) the population is 55 million over 4 million people have died leaving an orphan population of 4.2 million children. That means orphans make almost 10% of the population of the DRC.
Hands at Work goes into communities and teaches the community how to provide for the orphans within their area, providing them a safe and secure environment. They do not feel their mission is accomplished until the can provide three basic services for the children, food, shelter and education. Most of these homes have children as the head of household with younger siblings under their care; children taking care of children. Many are taken advantage of by men, trading sex for food or shelter.
Hands at Work sends community volunteers out to orphan homes to feed and check on shelter and heath care needs. They work to have community centers built in these areas so younger siblings can be cared for while the older children go to school.
Hands at Work, like VVF have no paid administrative staff so over 90% of all donations go to helping children. By 2010 their goal is to have 100,000 orphaned children under their care. Next month they are launching a program where you can support a child for a month with just a $15 donation. This is a wonderful organization that is doing incredible things to address a problem that is a true crisis. This is a crisis of momentous proportion and to stand back and watch while millions of people die is not an option.
I didn’t really have anything concrete set up with Hands, I just hoped I could get up with someone when we got to White River. On the flight from Nairobi to Johannesburg, Lou and I were not able to get seats beside each other. It was the only flight in the 19 flight segments we have taken on this trip where we were not beside each other. I asked the flight attendant if there were any extra seats if she could try to get us seats together.
The gentleman beside me, said he would be happy to change places once the plane got up into the air. We started talking about our trip and I mentioned that we were hoping to get up with Hands at Work. He almost fell out of his seat, because he was the director at the bible school where Hands at Work originated and is best friends with one of the directors, Marc Myburgh. Amazing!
Through him we were able to set up a meeting with Marc and Vivienne (his wife) to learn about the amazing things they are doing in Africa. What started as a local outreach program to help the community has grown into an organization that is in seven African nations and helping over 20,000 AIDS affected orphans.
Hands at Work works in villages where the incidence of HIV/AIDS, orphans and poverty is the highest and the support structure is very low. In such areas, institutional models of care, such as hospitals and orphanages are overwhelmed and unable to cope with the sheer volume of needed care. There are 2.5 million orphans in South Africa. In the war torn country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) the population is 55 million over 4 million people have died leaving an orphan population of 4.2 million children. That means orphans make almost 10% of the population of the DRC.
Hands at Work goes into communities and teaches the community how to provide for the orphans within their area, providing them a safe and secure environment. They do not feel their mission is accomplished until the can provide three basic services for the children, food, shelter and education. Most of these homes have children as the head of household with younger siblings under their care; children taking care of children. Many are taken advantage of by men, trading sex for food or shelter.
Hands at Work sends community volunteers out to orphan homes to feed and check on shelter and heath care needs. They work to have community centers built in these areas so younger siblings can be cared for while the older children go to school.
Hands at Work, like VVF have no paid administrative staff so over 90% of all donations go to helping children. By 2010 their goal is to have 100,000 orphaned children under their care. Next month they are launching a program where you can support a child for a month with just a $15 donation. This is a wonderful organization that is doing incredible things to address a problem that is a true crisis. This is a crisis of momentous proportion and to stand back and watch while millions of people die is not an option.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Golf
I couldn’t get out of Africa without testing their golf courses. I hadn’t played golf for over two months so I was dying to chase the little white ball. John, Paul’s father in law invited me to play at the White River County Club. It is the local course and it reminded me a lot of Jamestown’s course, a fun course but nothing to get too excited about. The price was amazing, to be a member it is $80 per year and $3 per round, as a guest I paid $13 and played like a dog.
Good thing I got in a practice round because Paul had a cool surprise for the next day, Leopard Creek. Leopard Creek is the Pebble Breach of Africa. By many it is considered the best golf course in Africa. The course is a private course that borders Kruger Park, so while you play golf normally you can see wild game on or near the course.
If can find someone to get you on, a round normally costs about $200, which is expensive by US standards and is out of sight for most in Africans. Paul’s Austrian friend, Ollie, who owns a beautiful restaurant and a five star hotel, got us on for free.
What an absolutely stunning course. Set among the escarpment and along the Crocodile River, beautiful running streams, rolling hills and every tee box has a bronze statue of a leopard doing something. As you progress through the holes the bronze leopards go from rest, to stalking to catching the impala. They told us each one of the statues cost in excess of $5000. As you arrive at the course they serve you a chilled fruit drink on the front steps, your chilly box (cooler) is stocked with drinks, after 9 holes they give you a cold cloth and serve you scones and tea.
We saw hippos, monkeys and waterbuck during our round. None of us shot a great round but we had tons of fun. Paul, Ollie, Mandler (one of Paul’s managers) and I laughed hysterically as we plopped ball after ball in the lake trying to hit the island green on number 18. When we were done we added up the lost balls on just the final hole, the total was 11. Good thing there wasn’t anyone in the clubhouse watching.
I finally found my game on Friday when I played again with Paul’s father-in-law. They have a small 9 hole tournament on Friday’s called the Meat Tournament. The winners get different types of meat. The winner gets a leg of lamb, I came in third and carried home a big piece of biltong. Biltong is like gourmet beef jerky. I’ve taken a pound of Mikey and Brads flesh and some of their money on occasion but never won meat on a golf course.
We finished the night with a delicious dinner of ostrich at Ollie’s.
Good thing I got in a practice round because Paul had a cool surprise for the next day, Leopard Creek. Leopard Creek is the Pebble Breach of Africa. By many it is considered the best golf course in Africa. The course is a private course that borders Kruger Park, so while you play golf normally you can see wild game on or near the course.
If can find someone to get you on, a round normally costs about $200, which is expensive by US standards and is out of sight for most in Africans. Paul’s Austrian friend, Ollie, who owns a beautiful restaurant and a five star hotel, got us on for free.
What an absolutely stunning course. Set among the escarpment and along the Crocodile River, beautiful running streams, rolling hills and every tee box has a bronze statue of a leopard doing something. As you progress through the holes the bronze leopards go from rest, to stalking to catching the impala. They told us each one of the statues cost in excess of $5000. As you arrive at the course they serve you a chilled fruit drink on the front steps, your chilly box (cooler) is stocked with drinks, after 9 holes they give you a cold cloth and serve you scones and tea.
We saw hippos, monkeys and waterbuck during our round. None of us shot a great round but we had tons of fun. Paul, Ollie, Mandler (one of Paul’s managers) and I laughed hysterically as we plopped ball after ball in the lake trying to hit the island green on number 18. When we were done we added up the lost balls on just the final hole, the total was 11. Good thing there wasn’t anyone in the clubhouse watching.
I finally found my game on Friday when I played again with Paul’s father-in-law. They have a small 9 hole tournament on Friday’s called the Meat Tournament. The winners get different types of meat. The winner gets a leg of lamb, I came in third and carried home a big piece of biltong. Biltong is like gourmet beef jerky. I’ve taken a pound of Mikey and Brads flesh and some of their money on occasion but never won meat on a golf course.
We finished the night with a delicious dinner of ostrich at Ollie’s.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Mozambique
Lou and I were really excited; we were headed for Maputo the capital of Mozambique for a night. We have been told that it is a really interesting city with a heavy Portuguese influence and only about 3 hours from White River. So we made reservations at a nice motel and headed out yesterday morning.
After a couple of hours of driving we reached the border. The first thing the border guard asked was for the proper papers that allowed us to drive a rental car across the border. We didn’t realize that we needed some sort of permission. When we called Avis they told us we could not drive the car across the border.
Not to be deterred Lou and I decided to park the car and try to get a taxi to Maputo. The taxi driver wanted $110 to take us into town and back the next day. We felt like we were getting the American rip-off price so Lou suggested we go into the customs office and see if we could bum a ride with someone. Who would have ever thought I could leave Lou in the African bush by herself or that she would come up with the idea of hitchhiking to Maputo?
As we entered the customs office we noticed a couple of older gentlemen and I suggested that Lou use her womanly influence to see if we could get a ride. These two guys were absolutely wonderful, they said they were not originally planning to go all the way into Maputo but they would take us into our hotel. They helped us through the process of getting the proper stamps and visas.
Along the way we learned that they were crocodile farmers. They owned a farm in the Nelsprit area and one outside of Maputo, harvesting almost 20,000 crocs a year. Their skins are exported to Mexico to make handbags, shoes and belts.
We were about to get our visas, the last step of the process, when the border official stepped out and told us we didn’t have enough room in our passports to paste the visas. We pointed out that there was one page and the very back page but he said he needed two blank pages and he could not use the back page or put the visa over another stamp. He handed the visas to the clerk and told her to give us our money back and walked off.
These poor guys had walked us through the whole process, waited almost a half an hour for us and suddenly our trip to Maputo was dead. As Lou and I walked out of the border office back towards the South African border we were totally disappointed. We ended up making a day of the drive back to White River and enjoying the African countryside.
After a couple of hours of driving we reached the border. The first thing the border guard asked was for the proper papers that allowed us to drive a rental car across the border. We didn’t realize that we needed some sort of permission. When we called Avis they told us we could not drive the car across the border.
Not to be deterred Lou and I decided to park the car and try to get a taxi to Maputo. The taxi driver wanted $110 to take us into town and back the next day. We felt like we were getting the American rip-off price so Lou suggested we go into the customs office and see if we could bum a ride with someone. Who would have ever thought I could leave Lou in the African bush by herself or that she would come up with the idea of hitchhiking to Maputo?
As we entered the customs office we noticed a couple of older gentlemen and I suggested that Lou use her womanly influence to see if we could get a ride. These two guys were absolutely wonderful, they said they were not originally planning to go all the way into Maputo but they would take us into our hotel. They helped us through the process of getting the proper stamps and visas.
Along the way we learned that they were crocodile farmers. They owned a farm in the Nelsprit area and one outside of Maputo, harvesting almost 20,000 crocs a year. Their skins are exported to Mexico to make handbags, shoes and belts.
We were about to get our visas, the last step of the process, when the border official stepped out and told us we didn’t have enough room in our passports to paste the visas. We pointed out that there was one page and the very back page but he said he needed two blank pages and he could not use the back page or put the visa over another stamp. He handed the visas to the clerk and told her to give us our money back and walked off.
These poor guys had walked us through the whole process, waited almost a half an hour for us and suddenly our trip to Maputo was dead. As Lou and I walked out of the border office back towards the South African border we were totally disappointed. We ended up making a day of the drive back to White River and enjoying the African countryside.
White River Social Life
The neighborhood that Paul lives in is beautiful but isolated. It is a gated community with an electric fence surrounding the neighborhood and security patrolling. Even with all the security there has been a rash of break-ins in the neighborhood. Paul’s house has a gate on the steps that go to the second floor that they can lock at night incase of a robbery, it will keep the intruders downstairs.
Many of his neighbors have their own personal helicopters, which they takeoff and land in their backyards. A trip to the local coffee shop is traveled by helicopter. This morning I was woken up by our next door neighbor, Jack, taking off for his morning coffee.
Morning coffee shop and the local gossip hole is Zanna’s. Lou and I have become regulars along with the rest of the neighborhood. Everybody knows everybody, it is similar to Sedgefield, lots of incestuous business relationships and local scandals.
We have become friends with many of Paul’s friends and neighbors. Louie is the perpetual bachelor. He is a really delightful person and seems to have his hand in almost every pie, he owns the local shopping center, a local magazine, a local radio station and is building a local hotel, with Jack as his partner.
Jenna and Dex are a very interesting couple. Jenna is one of the more famous jewelry designers in South Africa. Her line, Jenna Clifford www.jennaclifford.com, is as popular or more so then the David Yurman jewelry in the United States. They came over for dinner the other night for some chili. It was really neat meeting a local celebrity.
As Dex and Jenna arrived, Jenna was carrying her poodle and the aura in the room immediately changed. She set the dog on a chair and for the rest of the evening the dog sat without moving or making a sound. She is a very ethereal person and within minutes of talking to Lynn and Lou had pegged both of their personalities. Lynn and Lou were sold, this is probably going to cost me money, it already cost John. A couple of days later when we came into the house and a gift was sitting on the counter from Jenna wrapped in a beautiful bow tied with roses on top. Help!
Many of his neighbors have their own personal helicopters, which they takeoff and land in their backyards. A trip to the local coffee shop is traveled by helicopter. This morning I was woken up by our next door neighbor, Jack, taking off for his morning coffee.
Morning coffee shop and the local gossip hole is Zanna’s. Lou and I have become regulars along with the rest of the neighborhood. Everybody knows everybody, it is similar to Sedgefield, lots of incestuous business relationships and local scandals.
We have become friends with many of Paul’s friends and neighbors. Louie is the perpetual bachelor. He is a really delightful person and seems to have his hand in almost every pie, he owns the local shopping center, a local magazine, a local radio station and is building a local hotel, with Jack as his partner.
Jenna and Dex are a very interesting couple. Jenna is one of the more famous jewelry designers in South Africa. Her line, Jenna Clifford www.jennaclifford.com, is as popular or more so then the David Yurman jewelry in the United States. They came over for dinner the other night for some chili. It was really neat meeting a local celebrity.
As Dex and Jenna arrived, Jenna was carrying her poodle and the aura in the room immediately changed. She set the dog on a chair and for the rest of the evening the dog sat without moving or making a sound. She is a very ethereal person and within minutes of talking to Lynn and Lou had pegged both of their personalities. Lynn and Lou were sold, this is probably going to cost me money, it already cost John. A couple of days later when we came into the house and a gift was sitting on the counter from Jenna wrapped in a beautiful bow tied with roses on top. Help!
South African People
The African people are an extremely interesting culture and South Africans are no different. Here the Zulu people who run the ANC (African National Congress) basically have run the country since the abolition of apartheid and the fall of the DeKlerk government.
Many here are very concerned because national elections are going on right now. The candidate for the Zulu party is Zuma. The president has been Mebeke, also a Zulu, for the last xx years. Zuma has been accused of taking bribes and corruption. Mebeke pushed to have a complete investigation of Zuma’s dealings which caused a split in the ANC and the removal of Mebeke as president.
The other day Zuma was taken to court to set a trial date with huge crowds outside the courthouse protesting. Of course the trial date was set to occur right after the election. So theoretically Zuma could become the president of South Africa and then pardon himself. Now people are questioning why Mebeke was removed from the presidency with no due process but the majority of the ANC wants to make sure Zuma gets a fair trial. Key figures like Desmond Tutu are talking about boycotting the election because they are disgusted with what is happening.
The white community is really concerned that the result could be a disaster for the country. If Zuma is tried and found guilty it could cause huge unrest within the country and violence between tribes. If Zuma is not made accountable for his actions then the graft and corruption will continue and could get worse. They only have to look north to Zimbabwe to see a democratically elected official, Megabe who turned into a tyrant and ruined the country.
The AIDs problem is not an epidemic, it is a pandemic problem. Early on the Africans wanted to believe that it was a white man’s disease but as more black people died it became apparent that it had to be addressed. Now to be diagnosed as HIV positive is like having leprosy, if your family or neighbors find out you are an outcast within the community, shunned by society. So naturally people are reluctant to be tested and when they test positive will deny their illness. When death occurs the family almost never admits that their relative died of AIDS, it is always for another reason, flu, tuberculosis or some other malady brought on by their depleted immunity.
The medical community has done amazing work with ARV’s in suppressing the illness caused by HIV but first people need to admit they could be infected, then get tested and then take the ARV’s on a regular schedule. If you skip your medication or don’t take the ARV drugs at exact same time everyday, the HIV becomes resistant to the drugs and the carrier begins to spread a drug resistant strain of the disease.
The African people are heavy believers in superstition and witchcraft. People believe strongly that illness or death can be caused by disappointing ancestors, having a spell put on you by another individual, tribal leader or medicine man.
Paul told us a story about an employee who came here from Zimbabwe. He was a great worker but the other African’s mocked him and made fun of him because of where he was from. One day he was threatened by someone who said he would die if he didn’t go back to his country.
The man started a downward spiral. Within a very short period of time he was unable to talk, then he couldn’t walk and finally he stopped eating. Paul took him to several doctors, including psychiatrists but nobody could find a physical malady. Paul was certain that if he didn’t do something quick this guy would die soon. As a last resort he loaded this man who was basically an invalid on an airplane back to Zimbabwe. Within a matter of weeks the man had totally recovered.
Funerals are big business here. We have been amazed with how many tombstone stores there are around the area. We were told when someone dies the family is expected to make a big show about the death. Everybody is invited to a wake/party that can last for days even though the family can’t afford appropriate shelter or food for their children. People believe that if they do not put on an appropriate funeral their ancestors could become displeased and it could result in their own death.
Many here are very concerned because national elections are going on right now. The candidate for the Zulu party is Zuma. The president has been Mebeke, also a Zulu, for the last xx years. Zuma has been accused of taking bribes and corruption. Mebeke pushed to have a complete investigation of Zuma’s dealings which caused a split in the ANC and the removal of Mebeke as president.
The other day Zuma was taken to court to set a trial date with huge crowds outside the courthouse protesting. Of course the trial date was set to occur right after the election. So theoretically Zuma could become the president of South Africa and then pardon himself. Now people are questioning why Mebeke was removed from the presidency with no due process but the majority of the ANC wants to make sure Zuma gets a fair trial. Key figures like Desmond Tutu are talking about boycotting the election because they are disgusted with what is happening.
The white community is really concerned that the result could be a disaster for the country. If Zuma is tried and found guilty it could cause huge unrest within the country and violence between tribes. If Zuma is not made accountable for his actions then the graft and corruption will continue and could get worse. They only have to look north to Zimbabwe to see a democratically elected official, Megabe who turned into a tyrant and ruined the country.
The AIDs problem is not an epidemic, it is a pandemic problem. Early on the Africans wanted to believe that it was a white man’s disease but as more black people died it became apparent that it had to be addressed. Now to be diagnosed as HIV positive is like having leprosy, if your family or neighbors find out you are an outcast within the community, shunned by society. So naturally people are reluctant to be tested and when they test positive will deny their illness. When death occurs the family almost never admits that their relative died of AIDS, it is always for another reason, flu, tuberculosis or some other malady brought on by their depleted immunity.
The medical community has done amazing work with ARV’s in suppressing the illness caused by HIV but first people need to admit they could be infected, then get tested and then take the ARV’s on a regular schedule. If you skip your medication or don’t take the ARV drugs at exact same time everyday, the HIV becomes resistant to the drugs and the carrier begins to spread a drug resistant strain of the disease.
The African people are heavy believers in superstition and witchcraft. People believe strongly that illness or death can be caused by disappointing ancestors, having a spell put on you by another individual, tribal leader or medicine man.
Paul told us a story about an employee who came here from Zimbabwe. He was a great worker but the other African’s mocked him and made fun of him because of where he was from. One day he was threatened by someone who said he would die if he didn’t go back to his country.
The man started a downward spiral. Within a very short period of time he was unable to talk, then he couldn’t walk and finally he stopped eating. Paul took him to several doctors, including psychiatrists but nobody could find a physical malady. Paul was certain that if he didn’t do something quick this guy would die soon. As a last resort he loaded this man who was basically an invalid on an airplane back to Zimbabwe. Within a matter of weeks the man had totally recovered.
Funerals are big business here. We have been amazed with how many tombstone stores there are around the area. We were told when someone dies the family is expected to make a big show about the death. Everybody is invited to a wake/party that can last for days even though the family can’t afford appropriate shelter or food for their children. People believe that if they do not put on an appropriate funeral their ancestors could become displeased and it could result in their own death.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Elephants and Chimps
The next morning we headed for another elephant sanctuary, Elephant Whispers. Unlike the David Sheldrick Elephant Sanctuary in Nairobi whose goal was to reintroduce orphaned elephants back into nature, this was a collection of elephants were marked to be culled and instead were sent to Elephant Whispers to be trained for a tourism attraction and other useful purposes.
Culling elephants is another word for mass extermination of a group of animals. Elephants eat almost 300 kilograms of vegetation each day so there is a natural limit to the amount of elephants a park like Kruger can accommodate. During the summer (Nov-Feb) months there is plenty of vegetation but in the winter months (Jun-Aug) the amount of vegetation is drastically reduced leaving elephants foraging for food. When elephants find themselves without enough food they get very destructive and dangerous. This leaves game rangers with the task of reducing the elephant population.
They have tried elephant contraception and vasectomies but it involves darting the elephant from helicopters a huge process that is very costly. They have transported elephants to different areas but elephants are very social animals and they generally have to transport a whole family which is even more costly. So most culling that is done right now is done with a gun. Since elephants are extremely social and a death in a family can create extreme sadness, emotional problems and dangerous animals, they kill the whole family at one time, sometimes as many as 60 are killed in a matter of minutes.
Elephant Whispers is using the elephants to teach the public about these gentle giants and now are training them to track scents. During a visitor’s time they let you feed, ride and inspect the whole anatomy of one of these incredible animals. It is a really cool learning experience. An elephant’s sense of smell is 14 times better then a dog’s and their memory for a scent is incredible.
They do a trick at Elephant Whispers where they allow an elephant to smell 10 to 12 visitors as they hold a hat and say the person’s name. Then they take the hat and throw it on the ground and ask the elephant to take the hat to one of the visitors by using their name. The elephant has associated the name of the person with their scent and picks up the hat and hands it to the correct person.
Louie was telling us he had been to the sanctuary about 6 months before and was back for a visit. When they did this trick while he was there they introduced all the new visitors but left Louie out of the introductions. The groom asked the elephant to take the hat to Louie even though he had only related his scent to his name once, six months before. The elephant picked up the hat and brought it to Louie.
They are starting to use elephants to track poachers. Recently they found a dead rhino in the park and brought in an elephant to track the killers. The elephant went directly to the culprits, even though they had used extreme measure to cover their tracks.
Since an elephant can be ridden across rough terrain this makes it the perfect tracking animal for certain applications. They are teaching them right now to find land mines in war torn African countries.
Who knows you might find one in the airport one day sniffing your luggage; then again maybe not, they do have to eat 300 kilograms of food per day and they leave a huge mess behind them.
We also had the opportunity to visit, Chimp Eden, a Jane Goodall chimpanzee sanctuary. Chimpanzees have 97% of the same genetic makeup that humans do. These guys were amazing to watch as the keepers talked to them like humans and they reacted with very human behavior.
Chimps have become an endangered species because of the deforestation of the African jungles, hunters killing them for bush meat and the pet trade selling them on the black market. There are only about 70,000 chimps left in the world and they are dying at a rate of almost 10,000 a year.
Most of the chimps at Eden were rescued from pet owners who had them locked in small cages in deplorable conditions. Some so badly abused they have brain damage and will never be able to be returned to the wild. You can hear their stories on the Chimps of Eden show on the Animal Planet.
Culling elephants is another word for mass extermination of a group of animals. Elephants eat almost 300 kilograms of vegetation each day so there is a natural limit to the amount of elephants a park like Kruger can accommodate. During the summer (Nov-Feb) months there is plenty of vegetation but in the winter months (Jun-Aug) the amount of vegetation is drastically reduced leaving elephants foraging for food. When elephants find themselves without enough food they get very destructive and dangerous. This leaves game rangers with the task of reducing the elephant population.
They have tried elephant contraception and vasectomies but it involves darting the elephant from helicopters a huge process that is very costly. They have transported elephants to different areas but elephants are very social animals and they generally have to transport a whole family which is even more costly. So most culling that is done right now is done with a gun. Since elephants are extremely social and a death in a family can create extreme sadness, emotional problems and dangerous animals, they kill the whole family at one time, sometimes as many as 60 are killed in a matter of minutes.
Elephant Whispers is using the elephants to teach the public about these gentle giants and now are training them to track scents. During a visitor’s time they let you feed, ride and inspect the whole anatomy of one of these incredible animals. It is a really cool learning experience. An elephant’s sense of smell is 14 times better then a dog’s and their memory for a scent is incredible.
They do a trick at Elephant Whispers where they allow an elephant to smell 10 to 12 visitors as they hold a hat and say the person’s name. Then they take the hat and throw it on the ground and ask the elephant to take the hat to one of the visitors by using their name. The elephant has associated the name of the person with their scent and picks up the hat and hands it to the correct person.
Louie was telling us he had been to the sanctuary about 6 months before and was back for a visit. When they did this trick while he was there they introduced all the new visitors but left Louie out of the introductions. The groom asked the elephant to take the hat to Louie even though he had only related his scent to his name once, six months before. The elephant picked up the hat and brought it to Louie.
They are starting to use elephants to track poachers. Recently they found a dead rhino in the park and brought in an elephant to track the killers. The elephant went directly to the culprits, even though they had used extreme measure to cover their tracks.
Since an elephant can be ridden across rough terrain this makes it the perfect tracking animal for certain applications. They are teaching them right now to find land mines in war torn African countries.
Who knows you might find one in the airport one day sniffing your luggage; then again maybe not, they do have to eat 300 kilograms of food per day and they leave a huge mess behind them.
We also had the opportunity to visit, Chimp Eden, a Jane Goodall chimpanzee sanctuary. Chimpanzees have 97% of the same genetic makeup that humans do. These guys were amazing to watch as the keepers talked to them like humans and they reacted with very human behavior.
Chimps have become an endangered species because of the deforestation of the African jungles, hunters killing them for bush meat and the pet trade selling them on the black market. There are only about 70,000 chimps left in the world and they are dying at a rate of almost 10,000 a year.
Most of the chimps at Eden were rescued from pet owners who had them locked in small cages in deplorable conditions. Some so badly abused they have brain damage and will never be able to be returned to the wild. You can hear their stories on the Chimps of Eden show on the Animal Planet.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Kings Camp
We got up early this morning and headed towards Kings Camp, back to luxury. Our room is huge. We were all pretty dirty after spending the night in the blind so we headed for the shower.
The room is huge and beautiful. This is the first room that I have ever been in that has three showers and a claw foot tub. Two of the showers are out in a courtyard next to a small garden with a wall around it that prevents anybody from looking in. It is kind of crazy going outside to take a shower. Should you put on sun screen before or after your shower?
We headed out on our first game drive at Kings Camp and saw some amazing stuff, five young lions that had taken down a large Kudu. Most of the Kudu was gone but the lions were kicked back and enjoying their meal.
We found a young leopard relaxing in a tree, our first really good leopard sighting. We finished up the drive with a pack of wild dogs, our guide (Patrick) said it is very rare to see wild dogs, there are only about 160 left in the park. This was a pack of 17 dogs, which represents about 10% of the total population within the park.
The next morning we headed out at 5:30am in search of the pack of dogs. After some time we found them lounging around in some grass. We wanted to see them hunt, since Patrick told us that they are one of the most feared animals by their prey. These dogs will chase an animal for more then 5 kilometers. Since they run in a large pack, the younger dogs will work to tire the prey while the older dogs circle around and are ready with a fresh pair of legs. The result is the highest kill rate on the savannah, about 80%.
We sat and watched these dogs for over an hour hoping they would go on a hunt. Finally they got up and started out. They move quickly, sweeping the landscape and covering a large swath of territory.
After another hour of following these guys they decided to settle down again, so we left hoping to pick them back up on the night drive. Late that afternoon we picked the dogs up again but they were fat and lazy, obviously they were eathing their lunch at the same time we were eating ours.
We worked the area finding the usual cape buffalo, kudo, impala and a lazy rhino. Checked on the lions still working their kill, by this time it was really ripe and difficult to watch them eat with a zillion flies and the stench of decaying kudo.
As we headed back towards camp we came across another rhino. We watched him grazing, about the time our wild dogs came along. The dogs thought they might have rhino for dinner, the rhino had different plans. The dogs would swarm the rhino and the rhino would turn a charge the dogs, this went on for a few minutes, with a lot of whining by the dogs and hoof scratching by the rhino. It became a game once both animals realized neither one of them was going to win the battle, but it was an incredible interaction between the species that is very rare to see.
The food is awesome here at Kings camp, breakfast is after our 5:30am game drive, lunch around 2pm and dinner at 8pm. Before dinner each night the guests get together in the bar and share animal stories.
Early the next morning we hit the trail again. It looked like it was going to be a slow day, no sightings for the first hour and a half. Finally Patrick tracked down a 10 foot croc that was sitting on a nest. We were out of the Land Rover and on foot when Patrick said to look to the right there was the crock about 20 feet away. Being between the croc and the river was a bit scary knowing that at any time the croc could have jumped off that nest and had human kabobs.
At one point the crock started to move and Patrick suggested that if he started our way, where we should run. I probably wouldn’t have mattered much since a croc can move at 40 KPH for short distances. There have been several local incidents of people being killed or maimed by crocs.
We picked up the tracks of an elephant and started tracking it. We spent about 30 minutes searching and were just about to give up when another safari group told us the elephant had just crossed behind our vehicle. The sneaky devil had backtracked on us.
When we drove up on this massive beast he was taking a bath in a mud puddle. Patrick kept creeping closer and closer. We ended up so close you could have reached out and touched him. He was busy spraying mud and water all over him and did not pay us much attention. We were so close the mud was flying all over us. Patrick said it was as close as he had ever been to a large bull elephant. It was fascinating being that close to one of the largest mammals in the world. As we continued on we came across another incredible scene, a large male leopard eating an antelope just above us crouched in a tree.
Next it was a family of elephants grazing with two babies. The babies were very curious about four Americans in a Land Rover and would come right up to the vehicle. I guess they had never seen Southerners before. One came so close, when it stuck out its trunk Patrick grabed him. The startled baby took a couple of steps back and decided he was no longer impressed with our group.
As we were coming back to camp they radioed Patrick and told him that the wild dogs had just killed an impala right in our camp. We raced along dirt roads and into the camp to find all 17 dogs eating their evening meal about 30 yards from the front door of our room.
Wild dogs are one of the few species that share a kill with their young before the adults eat. It was a flurry of activity as the dogs consumed the impala in a matter of minutes. As we took our shower outside we could still hear the dogs whining and yelping as the meal was finished. Wow!
Our last game drive we found one the male leopard's children, a young female leopard eating an impala while mama looked on. A hyena wandered by the bottom of the tree and the young leopard decided it was time to take its meal up to a higher limb. It was quite a sight to see the cat grab the carcass in her jaws and move up the tree. She did not do a great job draping the kill and it fell out of the tree, prompting the leopard to jump down, grab its kill again and ascended the tree in a matter of seconds.
The really cool part of a private game camp is how close you get to the animals. We have been within feet of lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, cape buffalo, and wild dogs. All of these could have attacked maimed and eaten us with ease but you are instructed to remain still and not to make loud noises or quick movements so the animals look at the Land Rover as a large unit and not a bunch of human meals.
Leaving Kings Camp we headed out with our route planned through the mountains, the escarpement and the Blyde River Canyon (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blyde_River_Canyon). The scenery was beautiful as we winded through shear cliffs and the third largest canyon in the world. One of the lookout points called the Three Rondavels was just breathtaking. We stopped at Gods Window and the small gold town of Graskopf and back to Paul’s house where Sue had a wonderful meat pie waiting for us.
The room is huge and beautiful. This is the first room that I have ever been in that has three showers and a claw foot tub. Two of the showers are out in a courtyard next to a small garden with a wall around it that prevents anybody from looking in. It is kind of crazy going outside to take a shower. Should you put on sun screen before or after your shower?
We headed out on our first game drive at Kings Camp and saw some amazing stuff, five young lions that had taken down a large Kudu. Most of the Kudu was gone but the lions were kicked back and enjoying their meal.
We found a young leopard relaxing in a tree, our first really good leopard sighting. We finished up the drive with a pack of wild dogs, our guide (Patrick) said it is very rare to see wild dogs, there are only about 160 left in the park. This was a pack of 17 dogs, which represents about 10% of the total population within the park.
The next morning we headed out at 5:30am in search of the pack of dogs. After some time we found them lounging around in some grass. We wanted to see them hunt, since Patrick told us that they are one of the most feared animals by their prey. These dogs will chase an animal for more then 5 kilometers. Since they run in a large pack, the younger dogs will work to tire the prey while the older dogs circle around and are ready with a fresh pair of legs. The result is the highest kill rate on the savannah, about 80%.
We sat and watched these dogs for over an hour hoping they would go on a hunt. Finally they got up and started out. They move quickly, sweeping the landscape and covering a large swath of territory.
After another hour of following these guys they decided to settle down again, so we left hoping to pick them back up on the night drive. Late that afternoon we picked the dogs up again but they were fat and lazy, obviously they were eathing their lunch at the same time we were eating ours.
We worked the area finding the usual cape buffalo, kudo, impala and a lazy rhino. Checked on the lions still working their kill, by this time it was really ripe and difficult to watch them eat with a zillion flies and the stench of decaying kudo.
As we headed back towards camp we came across another rhino. We watched him grazing, about the time our wild dogs came along. The dogs thought they might have rhino for dinner, the rhino had different plans. The dogs would swarm the rhino and the rhino would turn a charge the dogs, this went on for a few minutes, with a lot of whining by the dogs and hoof scratching by the rhino. It became a game once both animals realized neither one of them was going to win the battle, but it was an incredible interaction between the species that is very rare to see.
The food is awesome here at Kings camp, breakfast is after our 5:30am game drive, lunch around 2pm and dinner at 8pm. Before dinner each night the guests get together in the bar and share animal stories.
Early the next morning we hit the trail again. It looked like it was going to be a slow day, no sightings for the first hour and a half. Finally Patrick tracked down a 10 foot croc that was sitting on a nest. We were out of the Land Rover and on foot when Patrick said to look to the right there was the crock about 20 feet away. Being between the croc and the river was a bit scary knowing that at any time the croc could have jumped off that nest and had human kabobs.
At one point the crock started to move and Patrick suggested that if he started our way, where we should run. I probably wouldn’t have mattered much since a croc can move at 40 KPH for short distances. There have been several local incidents of people being killed or maimed by crocs.
We picked up the tracks of an elephant and started tracking it. We spent about 30 minutes searching and were just about to give up when another safari group told us the elephant had just crossed behind our vehicle. The sneaky devil had backtracked on us.
When we drove up on this massive beast he was taking a bath in a mud puddle. Patrick kept creeping closer and closer. We ended up so close you could have reached out and touched him. He was busy spraying mud and water all over him and did not pay us much attention. We were so close the mud was flying all over us. Patrick said it was as close as he had ever been to a large bull elephant. It was fascinating being that close to one of the largest mammals in the world. As we continued on we came across another incredible scene, a large male leopard eating an antelope just above us crouched in a tree.
Next it was a family of elephants grazing with two babies. The babies were very curious about four Americans in a Land Rover and would come right up to the vehicle. I guess they had never seen Southerners before. One came so close, when it stuck out its trunk Patrick grabed him. The startled baby took a couple of steps back and decided he was no longer impressed with our group.
As we were coming back to camp they radioed Patrick and told him that the wild dogs had just killed an impala right in our camp. We raced along dirt roads and into the camp to find all 17 dogs eating their evening meal about 30 yards from the front door of our room.
Wild dogs are one of the few species that share a kill with their young before the adults eat. It was a flurry of activity as the dogs consumed the impala in a matter of minutes. As we took our shower outside we could still hear the dogs whining and yelping as the meal was finished. Wow!
Our last game drive we found one the male leopard's children, a young female leopard eating an impala while mama looked on. A hyena wandered by the bottom of the tree and the young leopard decided it was time to take its meal up to a higher limb. It was quite a sight to see the cat grab the carcass in her jaws and move up the tree. She did not do a great job draping the kill and it fell out of the tree, prompting the leopard to jump down, grab its kill again and ascended the tree in a matter of seconds.
The really cool part of a private game camp is how close you get to the animals. We have been within feet of lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, cape buffalo, and wild dogs. All of these could have attacked maimed and eaten us with ease but you are instructed to remain still and not to make loud noises or quick movements so the animals look at the Land Rover as a large unit and not a bunch of human meals.
Leaving Kings Camp we headed out with our route planned through the mountains, the escarpement and the Blyde River Canyon (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blyde_River_Canyon). The scenery was beautiful as we winded through shear cliffs and the third largest canyon in the world. One of the lookout points called the Three Rondavels was just breathtaking. We stopped at Gods Window and the small gold town of Graskopf and back to Paul’s house where Sue had a wonderful meat pie waiting for us.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Olifants/Letaba
After our morning game drive we packed up the car and headed north. It took us 6 hours to drive from Lower Sabie in the southern part of Kruger to Olifants in the north. The park speed limit is 50 KPH which is about 30 miles per hour so it was slow but beautiful. The landscape is amazing how it changes, from savanna, to forest, to highlands.
On the way we saw a lot of giraffe and at one point we saw a family of over 100 elephants. There were a couple of fights going on within the herd. I never get tired of watching wildlife. These elephants would go tusk to tusk, trunk to trunk for a while, then break for a snack, then back at it again. You could hear the crashing of the tusks together as they rammed each other, Tyson Hollifield on the African savanna.
The view from our bungalow at Olifants is incredible. We have an overlooking deck about 100 feet above the Olifant River. The river winds like a snake through the African forest, you can see for 20 miles. Over the roar of the rapids you can hear the grunts of hippos and we can see a giraffe chomping it’s leaves along the river bank. Wow! We took in the African sunset and then sat back as John cooked a wonderful dinner.
The next morning we headed north again to the Letaba camp. This is the first camp that had waterbuck and Vervett monkeys roaming around the camp. The waterbuck were really cute, there were probably about a 100, all very small. It was like having Bambi around every corner. Lou went one morning to read while overlooking the Letaba River and a monkey came up and sat beside her. I think she is trading up on her companions.
Letaba has Elephant Hall, a tribute to the Magnificent Seven, the seven largest elephants in Kruger Park. Some of these elephants had tusks that were eight feet long. They are all dead not, some shot by poachers, some died of old age and one was skewered through the head by another elephant. These were truly magnificent animals.
God must have had a lot of fun creating the animals here, the giraffe are like floating flowers, the lions hold a majestic power, the elephants are graceful giants, and the zebra are just thrown in to change up the game. Africa gives you the opportunity to experience nature like no other place that I have ever been, up close and personal. This is a great time of year to see baby or juvenile animals, the young are so full of spirit and playful.
On the way we saw a lot of giraffe and at one point we saw a family of over 100 elephants. There were a couple of fights going on within the herd. I never get tired of watching wildlife. These elephants would go tusk to tusk, trunk to trunk for a while, then break for a snack, then back at it again. You could hear the crashing of the tusks together as they rammed each other, Tyson Hollifield on the African savanna.
The view from our bungalow at Olifants is incredible. We have an overlooking deck about 100 feet above the Olifant River. The river winds like a snake through the African forest, you can see for 20 miles. Over the roar of the rapids you can hear the grunts of hippos and we can see a giraffe chomping it’s leaves along the river bank. Wow! We took in the African sunset and then sat back as John cooked a wonderful dinner.
The next morning we headed north again to the Letaba camp. This is the first camp that had waterbuck and Vervett monkeys roaming around the camp. The waterbuck were really cute, there were probably about a 100, all very small. It was like having Bambi around every corner. Lou went one morning to read while overlooking the Letaba River and a monkey came up and sat beside her. I think she is trading up on her companions.
Letaba has Elephant Hall, a tribute to the Magnificent Seven, the seven largest elephants in Kruger Park. Some of these elephants had tusks that were eight feet long. They are all dead not, some shot by poachers, some died of old age and one was skewered through the head by another elephant. These were truly magnificent animals.
God must have had a lot of fun creating the animals here, the giraffe are like floating flowers, the lions hold a majestic power, the elephants are graceful giants, and the zebra are just thrown in to change up the game. Africa gives you the opportunity to experience nature like no other place that I have ever been, up close and personal. This is a great time of year to see baby or juvenile animals, the young are so full of spirit and playful.
The Blind
One of the things I have been most excited about during our trip is a night in a bird blind. As the park gates close, you lock yourself into a small wooden building with a viewing window that looks somewhat like a old WWII pillbox, overlooking a river. You are in for the night, just you and the animals. Leaving the blind during the night is not recommended. There is a small boma, (a round area for a fire and a grill), where you cook your own food, fold down beds from the wall and a chemical toilet. Here is an account of our night in the blind.
4:15pm – We just arrived and a giraffe was walking away from our lovely accommodation for the night. As we entered the blind there is a pod of hippos playing in the river, opening their mouths and play biting each other. It’s like you are watching two of your children playing in the swimming pool.
6:00pm – John and I left the women watching the kids in the pool as we went to get provisions, Paul is bringing the food. The park supplies mattresses, water, a gas lantern and cutlery. Who would have ever thought that Lou and Lynne would be okay with being left alone in the African wilderness? We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Paul, Jason and Daniel.
6:45pm – Paul and the boys just got here. They are amazed, Paul and all of his friends were not aware that you can sleep in a Kruger bird blind. We are all watching the kids in the pool, a croc has joined the group. We are settling down for a fun evening.
7:30pm – It’s dark now but we bought a good spotlight and we are watching a couple of hippos fighting in the river for dominance.
Paul is telling us stories; at one time he owned a bakery and was vying for the concession for all the baked goods for Kruger Park. Running behind, he was in a rush to make the interview, threw on some dress pants and headed out. This is a big deal for him and his bakery.
After the interview he was trying to get back before the gates closed and gets stopped by the police. The cop is ready to write him a ticket when he looked down and noticed that Paul’s zipper was down. He started laughing about the zipper, and then he looked down and saw that Paul had on two different shoes. He was laughing so hard he decided not to give Paul the ticket. Paul ended up winning the business in spite of an open zipper and two different shoes for one of the biggest interviews of his career.
10:30pm – We got the grill and fire started and dinner was started. The only problem is that we were attacked by stink bugs. Stink bugs were in our hair and going down our shirts. If you kill one it puts off a terrible odor.
We started grilling lamb machonchos but they kept getting stink bugs on them, what started as a nice barbeque became a race to eat meat and no bugs. We had a salad but we felt it was a lost cause to try to eat a salad with all the bugs. We can hear hyenas calling as they smell our food cooking. We cooked steaks, instead of putting the steaks on a plate we just ate them as steaksicles on the end of a fork.
We can hear the great hippo battles going on in the river but our wonderful 2 million light candle spotlight just died on us so we have continuously take dashes to the car to charge the light with the cigarette charger hoping we don’t become a lion’s next meal.
11:00pm – The campfire is blazing, everybody is having fun. We started making smores, they are delicious. The boys are having a blast, the hippo battles continue on the river, most of our flashlights have died, but so far so good, the lions are still hungry.
1:00am – It’s just Paul and myself still standing, everyone else has gone to bed. I just thought I heard a lion but realized it was just John snoring. Wow, can that boy snore. As Paul and I jumped into bed it sounded like we have two of the three bears, papa bear (John) and mama bear (Lynn) snoring away. Paul and I fell asleep to a chorus of grunts from hippos and the two bears in the African night.
4:15pm – We just arrived and a giraffe was walking away from our lovely accommodation for the night. As we entered the blind there is a pod of hippos playing in the river, opening their mouths and play biting each other. It’s like you are watching two of your children playing in the swimming pool.
6:00pm – John and I left the women watching the kids in the pool as we went to get provisions, Paul is bringing the food. The park supplies mattresses, water, a gas lantern and cutlery. Who would have ever thought that Lou and Lynne would be okay with being left alone in the African wilderness? We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Paul, Jason and Daniel.
6:45pm – Paul and the boys just got here. They are amazed, Paul and all of his friends were not aware that you can sleep in a Kruger bird blind. We are all watching the kids in the pool, a croc has joined the group. We are settling down for a fun evening.
7:30pm – It’s dark now but we bought a good spotlight and we are watching a couple of hippos fighting in the river for dominance.
Paul is telling us stories; at one time he owned a bakery and was vying for the concession for all the baked goods for Kruger Park. Running behind, he was in a rush to make the interview, threw on some dress pants and headed out. This is a big deal for him and his bakery.
After the interview he was trying to get back before the gates closed and gets stopped by the police. The cop is ready to write him a ticket when he looked down and noticed that Paul’s zipper was down. He started laughing about the zipper, and then he looked down and saw that Paul had on two different shoes. He was laughing so hard he decided not to give Paul the ticket. Paul ended up winning the business in spite of an open zipper and two different shoes for one of the biggest interviews of his career.
10:30pm – We got the grill and fire started and dinner was started. The only problem is that we were attacked by stink bugs. Stink bugs were in our hair and going down our shirts. If you kill one it puts off a terrible odor.
We started grilling lamb machonchos but they kept getting stink bugs on them, what started as a nice barbeque became a race to eat meat and no bugs. We had a salad but we felt it was a lost cause to try to eat a salad with all the bugs. We can hear hyenas calling as they smell our food cooking. We cooked steaks, instead of putting the steaks on a plate we just ate them as steaksicles on the end of a fork.
We can hear the great hippo battles going on in the river but our wonderful 2 million light candle spotlight just died on us so we have continuously take dashes to the car to charge the light with the cigarette charger hoping we don’t become a lion’s next meal.
11:00pm – The campfire is blazing, everybody is having fun. We started making smores, they are delicious. The boys are having a blast, the hippo battles continue on the river, most of our flashlights have died, but so far so good, the lions are still hungry.
1:00am – It’s just Paul and myself still standing, everyone else has gone to bed. I just thought I heard a lion but realized it was just John snoring. Wow, can that boy snore. As Paul and I jumped into bed it sounded like we have two of the three bears, papa bear (John) and mama bear (Lynn) snoring away. Paul and I fell asleep to a chorus of grunts from hippos and the two bears in the African night.
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