Bye, Donkey: Tales from South Africa

I received a kind gift from the universe recently. I like to think the universe sees that I live in one of the hottest regions of the world and said “I’m sorry, Liz. How about I give you amazing weather while you’re on vacation in South Africa?” I’ll take it. Donkey.

Arriving in South Africa and Sanbonani (Kruger National Park)
After travelling for three days in numerous taxis to get to Dakar, I was thrilled to be engulfed in some of the finer luxuries of life: airplane food, personal TVs, and cozy blankets. The flight to South Africa was amazing. It was also a treat to see so many Americans! Once arriving in Johannesburg and flying through Customs (the airport was surprisingly extremely efficient), I had a long awaited reunion with my Dad and Donna. We waited for about half an hour for Adam’s flight to get in. The entire time, I couldn’t stop looking at every detail in the airport. The floors were so shiny and clean. It didn’t stink. There were people in normal clothes (the women didn’t have their heads covered! gasp!). When Adam arrived, we were like children comparing Christmas presents. “What did you eat on your flight?!” “I had bacon!!” “I had cheese three times!” “What movies did you watch!?!” etc. The evening just kept getting better, as my dad had rented a small-SUV, which was clean, and Adam and I didn’t have to share a seat going to the hotel. At the hotel, a fridge of beer, room service (lasagna for dinner!), a huge bed, and a hot shower awaited. I couldn’t wipe the grin off of my face.

The next morning, we packed up the car and headed to the Sanbonani resort outside of Kruger National Park. The drive was about 4 hours. The entire time, Adam and I were shooting pictures left and right. There were hills and fields and ponds! Right as I was thinking “It’s so green!”, Donna, my step-mom, says “Wow. It’s so brown here.” In hindsight, it was fairly brown and dull. But this being the only real vegetation I’ve seen in a year, I was thrilled. I ended up deleting all but a few pictures of that drive. During the trip, we went through a toll booth, and after my dad paid the toll, the woman turns and says “Bye, Donkey!” We all wonder “Did she just call my dad a donkey?” Turns out “Dankie” is the Afrikaans word for “Thank you”. Needless to say, we had fun with that. After getting to Sanbonani and seeing how green that region really was, I realized I might have been a little over excited for the “green” I saw on the trip. The area Sanbonani and Kruger Park is in was, in fact, very green, mountainous, and absolutely beautiful. We stayed in a duplex-like bungalow, with a huge living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. We had a patio that looked out over a little stream. The first day at Sanbonani, we relaxed. Adam and I had been travelling for 5 days straight and Dad and Donna were still getting used to the time change. We explored the resort, walking down paved roads, past the bungalows with manicured lawns. It felt like America. Minus the warning signs for hippos and the “A fed monkey is a dead monkey” sign.

The next day, we set off to visit some beautiful waterfalls in the morning. The first one, Bridal Falls, required a short hike to get to the waterfall. Hiking up a hill, surrounded by trees, hearing the roar of the waterfall felt like Asheville. I kept taking deep breaths so I could take in as much of the smell as possible. We visited another fantastic waterfall, Horseshoe Falls, after Bridal Falls. Around lunch time, we had an appointment with the elephants. We went to an elephant sanctuary that had two elephants living there. The elephants had been pets until people realized they couldn’t take care of an elephant (duh?). We had a brief lesson on the elephants before they were brought out to meet us. They each had a handler and were very well behaved. Each one of us got to go up and explore the elephants. We could touch its’ trunk, belly, feet, tail, and even the tongue! My favorite part was when they elephant brought his trunk to my neck and gave me a big kiss! Adam, Dad, and Donna all got to lead the elephants by their trunks. I was the photographer. We left very satisfied. Just when I thought the day couldn’t get any better, we stopped at a brewery, where they had a Pale Ale. Probably the only one I would get on the trip, I savored every sip.

The following morning was the beginning of our day at Kruger National Park. The park is set up with roads through a huge reserve for animals. There are chances you’ll see lots or chances you’ll see nothing. Except impala. They’re everywhere. Upon entering the park, I saw our first animal. The impala. We were SO excited!! Then, for the next half hour, all we saw were impala. Impala everywhere. Just when we were thinking it would be a failed trip, Adam spotted a wild elephant walking through the trees. As a note, all the animals in Kruger are wild. They are protected, but don’t have any contact with humans caring for them. The wilderness is their feeding grounds. These elephants are NOT tame, like the ones we saw at the sanctuary. After taking numerous pictures of this elephant, we moved on. The sightings we saw throughout the day included rhinos, giraffes, zebras, kudu, hippos, and monkeys. And impala. The park closed at 5:30, and all vehicles had to be out, no exception. As we rushed to make it out, we came up to a few cars stopped. Up ahead, there was a herd of elephants crossing the road. It was absolutely unreal. As the sun was setting, countless animals started showing up. We made it out of the park with 5 minutes to spare. Knowing the animals come out in the evening and at dark made us extremely excited for the night safari we’d be going on in two days.

After dreaming of all the marvelous animals we encountered, we set off the next day to visit a town called Pilgrim’s Rest. It was a picturesque former mining town located in the mountains. On the way back, we visited some natural pools, even though it was a little too chilly to swim. The next day, we started early to get to an animal rehabilitation center. Once again, we were given a lesson on how the environment is being destroyed by people and we have to change so the animals will live. Then we were given a tour of the facilities. As we were being introduced to the birds of prey and the vultures, two baby rhinos came to say hello, walking right through the crowd. We went to the cages with two lions after that and were, literally, 2 feet from these lions. Luckily, we had a fence between us. From the lions, we saw a leopard up-close, wild dogs, a hyena (who was extremely stinky), cheetahs, and a honey badger. Honey badgers are fearless creatures that enjoy attacking the genitals of any animal in their presences. After the honey badger, the rhinos came back to spend some time with the crowd and take some pictures. A little warthog came with them as well. After the rehabilitation center, we had a relaxing lunch in a beautiful garden. There were flowers and green plants everywhere! As the evening approached, we went to the reserve where we would have our tour. We loaded into their special vehicles and headed out to track animals. The first animal we tracked were water buffalos. This vehicle could go anywhere and take down trees if necessary. After driving through the bush for quite a while, we found those elusive water buffalos. The evening followed with elephants, rhinos, wildebeest, zebras, and a lion named Marvin. As the sun disappeared, we spotted a giraffe and a porcupine. The evening ended with the spotting of the creepster of the jungle: the hyena. We pointed the spotlight at the hyena and he stopped walking away, turned around, and bared his teeth at us. The driver of the vehicle told us “the lions and elephants aren’t what you should be afraid of. It’s this guy”. The look in his eyes gave us all chills.

Our last day at Sanbonani was spent relaxing again. For the first time since we arrived, it rained. It was so relaxing sitting in the bungalow, listening to the rain pitter patter on the roof. The next day, we took off for Joburg again and caught a flight to Cape Town.

Cape Town
Upon arriving in Cape Town, we hopped in our new rented car and drove into town just in time to catch the sunset. Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to. As we approached Table Mountain, there was a small cloud suspended around the top. They call this the Table Cloth, as it blankets the mountain in fog. We came around the side of the mountain to see the ocean reflecting the orange sunset. After arriving at the hotel, we rushed to our room on the 7th floor to observe the ocean waves breaking over the rocks down below. Thus began what seemed like our second vacation.

The next morning, we woke up and set out on a walk along the beach for about four miles until we reached the Waterfront. On the walk, we saw people playing in green open spaces with their healthy looking dogs, the mostly-completed new stadium for the FIFA World Cup, and a seal playing in the ocean. The weather was absolutely perfect. Once at the Waterfront, it was lunch time, so we settled at the outdoor seating of Mitchell’s Brewery and had good pub food. After a relaxing lunch and some delicious brewed beers, we explored the extremely touristy, yet enjoyable, Waterfront. We found the take off point for the boat going to Robben Island, so bought tickets and were on our way. Robben Island is an island not far off the coast of Cape Town. It has a prison there that used to hold political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela. Mandela was there for 18 years. The tour started with a bus ride around the island, with a very entertaining tour guide. Then, we had a tour of the prison, led by a former inmate at the prison. It was really amazing and inspiring how these political prisoners focused their incarceration on reconstructing a relationship with the government rather than turning to anger and violence. After the tour, we rushed back to the hotel, hopped into the car, and went to see a rugby game!! On this trip, I’ve learned a lot about rugby from my dad, who is still playing, (even with his 60th birthday on the horizon!) and really enjoyed going to this game! After an action packed first day in Cape Town, we came back to the hotel for a good night of sleep.

The next day was Mother’s Day. The weather was gorgeous again, which we’re told doesn’t happen often in Cape Town, so we took advantage and went to the top of Table Mountain in a cable car. The views were absolutely gorgeous. We spent most of the day up there, just exploring and enjoying a variety of view points. That evening, we took Donna out for dinner for Mother’s Day to this amazing Belgian restaurant. The mussels were incredible. Unexpectedly, the following day, there was beautiful weather AGAIN! This time, we took a down the coast to the Cape of Good Hope, where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. On the way, we stopped to “swim with the penguins”. Walking along a boardwalk, we saw so many! Then, we went to the beach where allegedly we would swim with them. We saw no penguins upon arrival. It was my first time to the Indian Ocean, so I had to put my feet in. As Adam and I were sitting on a rock, our feet in the freezing water, a little penguin came out of the woods, waddled to the water, jumped in, disappeared, then popped up right in front of us! He got out of the water and waddled back into the woods!! And that’s when I swam with the penguins… Afterwards, we had an amazing lunch right on the water, with some of the best calamari I’ve ever had in my life. We continued to the Cape of Good Hope after that and went to the Cape Point to watch the oceans meet.

Taking another car ride the next day, we went to explore the great wineries of South Africa. We started in a town called “Franschhoek”, which means French Corner in Afrikaans. This is where many Huguenots, who were banished from France, came to settle. The first place we visited was a museum dedicated to the Huguenots. After that, we made our way up to a winery on the side of the mountain called “Haut Cabriere”. The scenery was out of a fairy tale. We were surrounded by these rolling mountains, the weather was perfect, and the winery was built into the side of the mountain, like a Hobbit hole. We had a tour of the winery before one of the employees demonstrated how to knock the top of a champagne bottle off with a saber. Since Adam’s birthday was the next day, he got to keep the top as a souvenir! We tasted a few wines, before dining in their world renowned restaurant. Even though Cabriere was the perfect winery in our eyes, we continued to a town called Paarl and visited the gift shop for KWV wines, one of the best known wineries in South Africa. We didn’t spend much time there. Paarl wasn’t as picturesque as Franschhoek.

The next day was Adam’s birthday! We set off in the morning to the District Six museum to learn about a section in the heart of Cape Town, where all of the black, colored, and Asian people had to relocate to “townships”, so their houses could be torn down and rebuilt for the white people. It’s really sad how tragic the recent history is in South Africa. They’re still recovering today. After the museum, we strolled around town, I enjoyed my first hair cut in a year, and then we dined at the “Fireman’s Arms” pub. We continued our walk (the weather was STILL amazing) to the Waterfront to do some shopping and have a beer at Mitchell’s Brewery. For dinner that night, we went to a sushi restaurant right on the water and observed some pretty huge waves. Once back at the hotel, Adam and I hung out with the bartender, who had an empty bar, while watching Adam’s favorite team, Manchester United, play.

When we woke up in the morning, the giant waves we’d seen the night before were explained. Apparently, there was a hurricane-force storm set to hit on Saturday, a day after we were planning on leaving!! I’d say we had good timing. They were calling for waves up to 20 feet. We spent our last day in Cape Town relaxing. There was a bit of a hunt for a pet store, where I could get a crate for Razza to take her back to the States after Peace Corps. There aren’t any options for pet stores in West Africa, so I acted on the opportunity. That evening, we took Dad out to celebrate his birthday a little early, since this trip was for his birthday. We ate at a delicious steak house, and got to try all sorts of game, such as kudu, springbok, and two other gazelle-like animals.

It was sad leaving the next day to go back to Johannesburg. We spent the night in the same hotel we stayed at when we arrived, then went to the airport the next morning to wait all day for our flights. I finally got to eat at a KFC and enjoy good ole fried chicken. (You can take the girl out of the south….) Sitting in a bar, we watched Manchester United win their league before we all said our goodbyes. The flight back to West Africa wasn’t as pleasant as the flight leaving it. We arrived in Senegal at 2am and sat in the airport until the sun came up so we could get to the garage and get to St. Louis. Travelling with the dog crate was not pleasant. Nor is having to haggle with every single taxi driver in Senegal. After a night in St. Louis, one in Rosso, and a couple in Nouakchott, I finally made it back to Magta Lahjar. I was welcomed with an unimaginable heat, which continues through the night, robbing one of all chances of a good night’s sleep. The water has completely gone out in Magta, meaning that men on carts dragged by donkeys with huge barrels on the back have to come fill up my plastic gas cans every few days. Also, the electricity in Magta Lahjar has been on very rarely, meaning no ice and no cold water. Here’s hoping the upcoming elections bring in a new government that will help alleviate a lot of the problems Mauritanians have been facing.

My repose in Mauritania won’t last long. I’ll be off to Bamako, Mali soon to see a World Cup qualifying game between Mali and Ghana. Then, Peace Corps Mauritania is challenging Peace Corps Mali in a soccer match a few days later. In between the games, I’ll be enjoying Bamako and hopefully escaping the heat in one way or another. After Mali, I’ll spend the most of the remainder of the summer in Magta Lahjar, hopefully preparing for a new volunteer!! Sadly, I’ll be saying farewell to Chelsey and Aubrey, two people who have made this past year bearable and have enhanced my experience in more ways than they know. Luckily, Josh has extended a third year and will be living in Nouakchott, so the North-North Branka clan will only be reduced to two.

I have another big trip in the works for September. Everyone cross their fingers that all will work out. South Africa was splendid and Mauritania is hot. Enjoy your air conditioners and give thanks to your refrigerators. Peace be with you. Love, Liz