Saturday, March 5, 2011
Postcards from South Africa 02.24.11
Here are a few more pics for the all the animal lovers out there.
Postcards from South Africa 02.23.11
Here are a few more pics from our safari in Pilanesburg National Park.
The Warthogs eat in fine style - from their knees!
Here is Dana looking for Hippos and Crocs from a little lookout area.
If you run out of gas on this road, don't walk home!
The Warthogs eat in fine style - from their knees!
Here is Dana looking for Hippos and Crocs from a little lookout area.
If you run out of gas on this road, don't walk home!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Postcards from South Africa: 02.22.11
Peek-a-boo!
Believe it or not, giraffes were hard to spot. I figured they'd be easy given their height.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Postcards from South Africa: 02.21.11
This hefty porker trapped our safari companions (and three small children) in the van for a good 30 minutes, determined to share their lunch. Fortunately, we hopped out of the van to explore the visitor's station (and eat some Simba Chips) just before he made his entrance.
Our host warned us that warthogs can be very unpredictable, so I kept my distance (this shot was definitely snapped by Drew as I pleaded for him to return to the car!).
I had "When I was a Young Warthog" from the Lion King stuck in my head for far too long yesterday. Thanks a lot, porker.
Postcards from South Africa: 02.20.11
SAFARI!! Our hosts were taking a visiting professor and his family (from Finland) to Pilanesberg Nat'l Park and they invited us to occupy the free spots in their "combi" (a high seated 10-passenger van). We headed out early in order to arrive to the park by 9am (still too late to catch animals at the watering holes but early enough to find them before the hot afternoon heat pushed them into the shade). We drove around for 2 hours and saw elephants, zebras, giraffes, wildebeasts, warthogs, a springbok, wild boars, and many other animals (most with funky horns) that we don't know the name of.
So? I'll devote a few posts to these beautiful creatures. We're still just overwhelmed that we had the opportunity to see them up close. We completely understand how so many people die in parks like this every year due to getting too close (and... um... out of their cars! that's all kinds of crazy) to the animals. They seem so serene and harmless, even when they tower above you and shake the ground when the walk.
Our hands down favorite animal took us both by surprise: the elephant. We were able to see a few throughout the day, but were most impressed by the elephant that strolled alongside our vehicle for a few minutes. These are simply majestic creatures. Their muscle mass is astounding and they seem so composed.
So? I'll devote a few posts to these beautiful creatures. We're still just overwhelmed that we had the opportunity to see them up close. We completely understand how so many people die in parks like this every year due to getting too close (and... um... out of their cars! that's all kinds of crazy) to the animals. They seem so serene and harmless, even when they tower above you and shake the ground when the walk.
Our hands down favorite animal took us both by surprise: the elephant. We were able to see a few throughout the day, but were most impressed by the elephant that strolled alongside our vehicle for a few minutes. These are simply majestic creatures. Their muscle mass is astounding and they seem so composed.
Postcards from South Africa: 02.19.11
Braaaai!!!
We celebrated the end of the week with our two Dutch flatmates, Maarten and Wietse (I've been trying to get that 2nd name right for two weeks now...), by braaing in the backyard. Our hosts have two braai pits, and Drew enjoyed doing things the South African way--warming the coals in a tin can and then spreading them out into the stone enclosure. We've been eating a lot of mutton, which is very popular here, and we absolutely love it. This here might be the longest (mutton) sausage we've ever worked with. It pretty much took up the entire grill.
Have we mentioned how much we love our Dutch flatmates? Laughter is never far away.
Happy Friday!
We celebrated the end of the week with our two Dutch flatmates, Maarten and Wietse (I've been trying to get that 2nd name right for two weeks now...), by braaing in the backyard. Our hosts have two braai pits, and Drew enjoyed doing things the South African way--warming the coals in a tin can and then spreading them out into the stone enclosure. We've been eating a lot of mutton, which is very popular here, and we absolutely love it. This here might be the longest (mutton) sausage we've ever worked with. It pretty much took up the entire grill.
Have we mentioned how much we love our Dutch flatmates? Laughter is never far away.
Happy Friday!
Postcards from South Africa: 02.18.11
After all I've learned about the role of communist ideals in shaping the anti-apartheid movement back in the 1970-80s, the spray paint I noticed on this house seemed photo worthy.
Postcards from South Africa: 02.17.11
The dirty remains of mining in South Africa. Gold, platinum, diamonds -- you name it, it's been tapped here in SA. This leave drinking water polluted, soil stripped, the earth eroded and piles of dirt visually polluting the African landscape. This mining mount is located just outside of Joburg, but they're everywhere. The government has been slowly trying to re-disseminate the earth and flatten these piles, but there's no doubt that it'll take ages.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Postcards from South Africa: 02.16.11
Can you believe how almost caught up I am, here? Fortunately, Drew's been fast asleep for the past hour and I'm making good progress.
A friend reminded me that we hadn't yet posted a photo of the house we're staying at (which happens to be at the intersection of "E. 6th and Why St"). The buzzer to the house reads "Why not?" Cute, no?
Our flat is the small building on the right--I believe you can just see the roof, here. There's where we are most days, typing and reading away! Unless we're up sipping espresso at our nearby cafe...
A friend reminded me that we hadn't yet posted a photo of the house we're staying at (which happens to be at the intersection of "E. 6th and Why St"). The buzzer to the house reads "Why not?" Cute, no?
Our flat is the small building on the right--I believe you can just see the roof, here. There's where we are most days, typing and reading away! Unless we're up sipping espresso at our nearby cafe...
Postcards from South Africa: 02.14.11
Goodbye, Dierk! Our German flatmate went back to Germany, and a few days later we welcomed two new flatmates from the Netherlands. Here, a photo of a braai we enjoyed with the Steyns as a goodbye to Dierk.
Postcards from South Africa: 02.13.11
A palm tree? Exciting, you say. But no. It's a cell phone tower.
Postcards from South Africa: 02.12.11
The last post of our "Johannesburg week" fittingly ends with the site that housed the celebration of the demise of Apartheid -- as signaled by Nelson Mandela's release from prison: the Orlando Stadium. The Apartheid Museum described this as the site where the black african community crowned Mandela as their king. A few years later, he was crowned as the national king -- the first black president of an African nation that is almost 80% comprised of black South Africans.
Postcards from South Africa: 02.10.11
This episode of Postcards from the Straits is dedicated to Nelson Mandela!
As we've mentioned, Mandela and Desmond Tutu lived on the same street in the township of Soweto, just outside of Johannesburg and only a few houses away from the West Orlando High School, where many say that the anti-Apartheid movement was born. Although Tutu's house is still his residence, Mandela's was given to the public to serve as a museum by his ex-wife, Winnie Mandela (Mandela married the former first lady of Mozambique just prior to his inauguration, Graca Machel--the only woman to serve as the first lady of two different countries).
Drew and I went on a tour of the house--all three tiny rooms of it! It was powerful for us to be part of a group of people who truly love this man and appreciate all he's done for this country. Members of our small group came from Nigeria, Lesotho, South Africa and England. When we said we were from Chicago, everyone seemed to think that meant Canada... so we were the token "Canadians." This made it very interesting when the topic of the States came up--and George Bush refusing to apologize to Mandela, after his inauguration to the Presidency and the ban on Apartheid, for the U.S. C.I.A.'s revealing his hiding location to the Apartheid government, which then imprisoned him on Robin Island. As it turns out, the governor of Michigan at that time initiated a movement for all of the governors from each of the 50 states to sign an official apology, in spite of President Bush's refusal.
As we've mentioned, Mandela and Desmond Tutu lived on the same street in the township of Soweto, just outside of Johannesburg and only a few houses away from the West Orlando High School, where many say that the anti-Apartheid movement was born. Although Tutu's house is still his residence, Mandela's was given to the public to serve as a museum by his ex-wife, Winnie Mandela (Mandela married the former first lady of Mozambique just prior to his inauguration, Graca Machel--the only woman to serve as the first lady of two different countries).
Drew and I went on a tour of the house--all three tiny rooms of it! It was powerful for us to be part of a group of people who truly love this man and appreciate all he's done for this country. Members of our small group came from Nigeria, Lesotho, South Africa and England. When we said we were from Chicago, everyone seemed to think that meant Canada... so we were the token "Canadians." This made it very interesting when the topic of the States came up--and George Bush refusing to apologize to Mandela, after his inauguration to the Presidency and the ban on Apartheid, for the U.S. C.I.A.'s revealing his hiding location to the Apartheid government, which then imprisoned him on Robin Island. As it turns out, the governor of Michigan at that time initiated a movement for all of the governors from each of the 50 states to sign an official apology, in spite of President Bush's refusal.
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