South Africa finale (almost)

Tuesday us girls went shopping at the mall…sounds just like me doesn’t it?! but really the people make all the difference (and the fact that I really didn’t need anything). Then to pick up Jamie who had been at camp since we’d arrived. Then we met up with the others to visit the War museum (Anglo-Boer War) but it was closed for renovations so we wandered the grounds and saw a women’s memorial and statues of men going off and returning from war. As we were leaving we found that Jamie had locked the keys in the car…Oops! James and I went home to get the spare set and then we all stopped for ice cream on the way home. Dinner was pasta with a ratatouille sauce and salad (specially for me as I only get spaghetti for breakfast in Haitiand oh so nice). We played games almost every night—Carcassonne, Ubango, Jungle Speed, Skipbo, Uno.

Wednesday morning Ute had to leave early to return to Jo’burg/Zimbabwe. Later in the morning we went to a cat farm called Zanchieta where we saw white lions, regular lions, cheetahs, servals, spotted cats, leopards, a meercat that thought it was a Rottweiler and more.

White lion named William Wallace

Leopard cub

lion cub

Cheetah who stalked us on our way in

brothers

The next morning was spent getting ready for a 3 day adventure on our way to Jo’burg. I think I was lucky in that I’ve been a part of this before…getting 4 boys ready to go is no walk in the park with the high energy and the minimal amount of space. This also includes making sure we have food for the car and for our meals (we would be camping/cooking for ourselves). When James got home from work we loaded up in the bus (10 passenger) with a trailer attached and headed out. Now we had those 4 boys in a car (less space to ride off their energy) but they are used to it from their trips from Malawi to South Africa. We played the alphabet game (looking for letters on signs we passed) which was greatly helped by a police block that was trying to slow down holiday traffic (SA has a very bad rate for wrecks especially over holiday weekends). Then the boys put a twist on it and we had to look for things out the windows that started with the alphabet in A, B, C order…that used some imagination and more time. We ended the first night in Rosendal at a farm on a hill. A large place that easily accommodated us and had space for quite a few more. We arrived in the dark and so couldn’t see much until the next morning but had a great braai of liver (a special South African dish) and snook (fish).

Friday we traveled through Golden Gate Highlands National Park with its impressive scenery and views with rock formations and cliffs. We saw zebras and blesbok (a type of antelope which have white faces). It was stunning. We had thought to camp there but we’d brought Benka with us (the Rhodesian Ridgeback-dog) and I don’t think that would go over well in a National Park. So we continued on around to Phuthaditjhaba where James had grown up. It is now a guesthouse/meeting center that is backed up to the hills of the national park. It was a mission station before. We got 2 rooms there…braiied outside and played as long as the light stayed. Then the kids went to bed and we played Carcassonne on the floor, as cutthroat as ever.

Saturday was our last hurrah as the airport was our destination that night and we were all dreading it. But we made it a great day. Benka started off well by getting a hold of our leftovers and making short work of them. James led us in a short hike up to where he once wrote his name on a rock that overlooked the valley. Then we headed off. On the way we stopped at the Huski Romi Rescue and Wolf Sanctuary. I couldn’t really imagine what that was other than a bunch of dogs in cages like at a zoo…but the owner took us on a tour and told us all about Huskys and wolves and how he gets them, how to take care of them, and we were let in to pet and play with them. It was great. Most of them have been abandoned, people will get them as puppies (cute and cuddly) but don’t know how to take care of them or their natures and so when they are bigger they can’t control them or continue to take care of them. They are pack animals so being on their own isn’t good for them, but they are also very protective and totally gentle when not provoked. They are really big animals.

Then we had to go to the airport. It was sad. Very sad.