Kruger Park

     I took a few days last week to vacation with my friend Janna in South Africa. We rented a car in Nelspruit and drove to and all through Kruger Park. A) Driving was SO much fun! I didn't realize I actually missed that! and B) Kruger Park is bigger than all of Swaziland, so we had quite a trip!

    We couldn't find the park entrance gate (don't judge. I just told you neither of us have driven in 15 months, and we are not used to cities and paved roads, and we were in a new area, and... shut up) so we spent our first night in a B&B just across the river from Kruger. Oh my gosh. It was SO nice. It was SUCH a first class experience, and the breakfast was de-lish! The proprietor, Johan was so interesting, and guess what. He went to school on an exchange program in Iowa when he was young!!! Now how small world is that?! I asked, and I was the first Iowan to ever visit the B&B. I should have asked for a certificate or a ribbon or something for that... huh. shoot.

    Anyway, we had a fabulous time at the park. We camped out and listened to the wildlife all night and ate tasty meals at the park restaurants. Our first morning there we went on a sunrise hike. For 3.5 hours we hiked through the bush with two armed guides. They didn't use their guns, but at one point they may have contemplated it! We hiked up toward some white rhino who were sleeping on a hill. We got close to take pictures, but (white rhino are pretty blind) the papa was curious what was going on when he heard us and came to check things out. We were cool at first if the guide threw rocks at him to scare him back, but then he got more curious/angry and we had to get out of there. One guide stayed back throwing rocks and sticks and making noises and movements to try and keep him away, but it got to a point where they flat out screamed "RUN!" and we took off down a slope and across a creek bed... good adrenaline rush! 

    We saw some pretty cool things over the days and we also went on a sunset safari which was pretty cool. We saw all of the "Big 5" many times over except for a leopard. We didn't see a that, but we saw a CHEETAH so, I really didn't mind missing the leopard.

Now. Pictures.

Johan, the B&B owner working hard behind the bar

EIGHT giraffes were eating off of one tree!

How many times have you heeded this warning during a gourmet breakfast?

Peaking Through the Trees

Totally Zazu from Lion King, yes?

Impalla grazing

The Key To Mother Nature

Why is this the only decent picture I got out of 10 minutes in the middle of a herd of buffalo?!

Kruger Sunset 

Momma and baby!

One of our guides for the walking safari scanning the area where we parked

I know this bird is slightly ugly, but they are very endangered, and I thought it was a really cool picture of him throwing his food up in the air to catch it.

The momma was just about to pull down the better part of this tree to feed her baby when I took this

Maybe I posted too many giraffe pictures. But they are just so beautiful!

This elephant was so clever! He dug little holes in which he stuck his trunk to get water from the underground stream to wash himself (it was a half&half sand water mix)!

ARGH! We saw a lion hide itself behind a rock, so we figured we'd sit a while and wait it out to get better pictures of it when it reemerged. Naturally, since the car was in park, we were obligated to make ourselves some tasty granola/honey/whatever-food-was-in-the-car snacks. When I looked up from my sticky bowl of mishmash, this mother lion was walking right in front of our car! I was hardly able to get out my camera and snap this before she disappeared again. Moral of the story: Don't eat sticky granola around hidden lions.

Momma lion guarding her mini-cave full of baby cubs

CHEETAH!!!!!! This mother cheetah had just finished sharing an impala with her cubs. We couldn't see the little ones as we were at quite a distance, but I was just SO stoked to see one! Most people who live down here and frequent Kruger only see one or two cheetahs in their lifetimes, but I was determined to find one for Alex Neswold (my BFF from childhood whom I promised a cheetah picture), and I did!! 

I just really liked the perspective of this guy through the windshield. Such cool animals!

This picture (and ALL pictures posted on here) is not edited in any way (that is a lie - I cropped it along with a few others, but besides cropping, nothing is edited at all). This bird actually has 16 colors!
(You can't see a lot of them - under wings)

On our sunset safari our vehicle became surrounded in nearly a dozen hyenas! 

Holy cow, Janna and I were on a walk (in a fenced in area where you can get out of your car and walk/camp/whatever safely) and came by at least 50 of these guys!! I'll be honest, I find them just a bit creepy.

These little guys were so cute! I liked them from a short distance, but Janna full-on befriended them!

So you should use the passing lane

Oh, yes, PS: My birthday (this Wednesday) was pretty great, and I am celebrating properly this weekend with all of my Peace Corps buddies in town! Thank you to everyone who sent such nice birthday wishes!

Pictures Again!



Sizwe having fun in the Photography portion of the orphanage Day Camp



Meselane posing with his marble art

Jaden cutting bags to melt down

Nickolas checking his plastic bag before he melts it into a wallet



The grade 1 boys performing the dance they learned for the other kids at camp

 

Ayanda sharing ways he can Reduce Reuse and Recycle



We had to stop on our hike to put flowers in our eyelashes





Teaching the boys how to bake. We made cookies for their "Boy's Movie Night"

The little ones posing with the first house we made... the roof ended up being just a pile of sticks, but it looked pretty good besides that.



The grade 7's showing off the yoga moves they learned as a part of the "Stress and Stress Management" part of camp



Phiwa (proud as can be), Ayanda, and Mlungisi showing off the doghouse we made together



Grades 3&4 learning some hip-hop dance moves

Nokhanya, Hlengiwe, and Ruth posing with the things they made with plastic bags

The kids in their "crazies outfits" getting ready to make out Swazi Harlem Shake music video

Thembelihle hard at work creating his tamborine

Making art

Philane following instructions beautifully in the drawing portion of camp




Jumping for joy with Lindokuhle!

 

Mlungisi displaying everyone's beautiful paintings




The beautiful tiling job Phiwa and Ayanda did inside of Moto Moto's new dog house

 Sorry for the repeats and empty boxes. I don't know if it is the website or this computer or the internet connection or what, but I spend so many hours on this stinkin' thing and it completely messes up every time. Ugh.

Full Full August!

            Sorry I have become so terrible at posting. So much has been going on here, and there is so much I want to share with you! I will start off with a story (since I haven’t really posted one of those in like, a year).

            The other day I built a stone house with a bunch of the younger kids for one of the dogs here on the orphanage. I figured it would be a good idea to start teaching the little ones practical skills (actually, I’ve just really felt like building stuff the last few days, so the day before we built a traditional-style wood home [minus the mud] as a doll house, and when someone mentioned that they were glad I was teaching practical skills, I figured I’d run with the excuse and take it a step further with the stone dog house). Anywho, we used old blocks from when they reconstructed the girls’ dorm, and a couple of the boys even tiled the floor. We took a break for lunch, and in the afternoon when I went to go back, one of the boys, Phiwa, said he had finished it. He told me he finished tiling and put on the roof. Now, Phiwa is a grade three boy that has had a rough life and has a lot of problems and bad behavior, so I was very excited to see him proud of himself.

            “You did?” I kept walking to where we built the house.

            He smiled and nodded

            “Is is awesome?”

            “I duuno.”

            I wasn’t sure if he knew what awesome meant, so I clarified, “I mean, does it look nice? Did you do a good job?”

            He stopped. “I dunno.”

            I stopped to face him. “Well, did you do a good job or a bad job?”

            His expression dropped. He grabbed his face and began hitting his head with his fist, “I did a bad job! I did a bad job!” he screamed.

            My heart sunk and I stepped forward to stop him. I put my hand on his little shoulder and as calmly as I could, told him, “Come on Phiwa, how about you come and show me the house. I will tell you if I think you did a good job.” I moved his hand down to his side and walked the rest of the way with my arm around his shoulder. I could feel his adrenaline. His eyes full of fear.

            When we rounded the corner to see the house he stopped and watched me. I jumped in the air, beaming. “PHIWA?! You did this?? You did such a wonderful job! WOW!” I gave him a big hug and continued, “Oh my gosh! Look at how sturdy that roof is! This looks absolutely fantastic! MotoMoto (the dog) is going to be so warm and dry in here!”

            He stepped forward with his goofy grin. “And I finished the tiling inside!”

            “You did?!” I got down on my hands and knees to look in, “Oh my gosh, Phiwa! You did such a fantastic job!” A few other kids had gathered. “Ok, guys stand behind the house so I can take your picture with it!” Phiwa showed me every aspect of the house including the little porch he made with sticks and a plastic-bag awning to keep MotoMoto dry and warm inside the house. One of the other boys chimed in that he helped with the tiling, and when Phiwa tried to deny him, I praised both of them for how well they worked together. By the time I finished smothering them with praise for their hard work, teamwork, and creativity, I left Phiwa in a smiley-daze.

            Later, when I saw him in the kitchen, he seemed to be cowering a bit, interacting with the other boys. “Hey,” I said in my mock-serious voice, “Construction worker, come here.”

            He lowered his head and stepped over.

            I smiled at him, “I am so proud of you today. Can I have a hug?”

            What Phiwa did surprised the heck out of me. A little grade 3 boy who wouldn’t have shaken my hand when I first moved here - he lunged at my middle and squeezed the breath out of me. He held me so tight rocking back and forth. I swear we hugged for a minute at least. He even let me kiss him on the forehead. “I am so, so proud of you Phiwa,” I whispered.

            He asked to help me in my next task, and we ran to begin together doing high-knees all the way across the orphanage shouting “High! High! High!” and laughing. Phiwa has a long road ahead of him, but seeing and feeling that pride he had in himself, seeing him so eager to do more good things... that just reaffirmed for me so much why I am here and gave me so much hope. Thank you, Phiwa!

Day Camp

            A couple weeks ago was my biggest project to date on the orphanage. I put on a “day camp” for the kids for their first week of school holiday. 12 Peace Corps volunteers came over the course of six days to teach the kids 1.5 hour courses. We had everything from Understanding Feelings (with an emphasis on grief and loss - that was my session) and Stress Management, to Healthy Relationships in the Swazi Culture, an Environment session, Creative Writing, Dance, Painting, melting plastic bags into wallets, Kickball, Volleyball, making tambourines, Photography, you name it! I had about 35 kids participate in the whole thing, and it was awesome! We even did a Harlem Shake video! (I had no idea what that was, but Taylor, another PCV, had the idea and the kids LOVED it! Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1k1-41thaE) I really think it was about as big of a success as it could be for me never having done anything like it before. I certainly learned a lot, and so did the kids who keep asking me when volunteers will come back and teach them more.

           

Swear-In

           

            The next group of Peace Corps Volunteers arrived at the end of June, and last week they completed their training. Like us, they had a lovely swear-in ceremony which my whole group attended. It was fun to get dressed up (and DELICIOUS - the buffet was more than enough to knock me out for a couple hours of sleep/digestion) and cool to meet the new gang. We took them out to The Pub in Ezulwini and partied it up in true Peace Corps fashion to the wee hours (strictly due to the obligation of tradition, of course). I also spent a little bit of time with my buddy Kerry last week who is leaving Swaziland to go back to the states on September 16th [heartbreak] so It was a great couple weeks. Now. This week? Umhlanga (the Reed Dance Ceremony) and Kruger Park!!! Will I ever get to slow down? I have realized the answer is - No. Sleep is for the dead.

I have heaps of pictures to share with you, but my internet does not allow it. And after this week in Kruger I will hopefully have more, so expect LOTS of pictures in the near (relative to my current posting frequency) future!