Headed back to America!

Becky looks really good in her track suit and we are both excited to spend 17 hours on planes.  Unfortunately, I watched all the good movies (like Ramona and Beezus) on the way to South Africa so my entertainment will be limited.  Also, I hear it is snowing in DC and I am bringing mostly skirts, tshirts and flips for the week I am spending there so that should be interesting. 

Safari

This weekend we went on a 3 day safari to Kruger National Park.  We stayed at the Umkumbe Safari Lodge on the Sabi Sands game reserve which is on the Western border of Kruger.  We saw 4 of the big 5 - giraffes, elephants (a herd of 30!), buffalo, and rhinos.  We didn't see any lions but we also saw lots of zebras, several types of antelope, and lots of birds.

   

Really cute kids dancing for tips on our way home from Kruger

It was beautiful and relaxing except for the part about having to drive 30 kilometers in Becky's hatchback down a dirt road after a strong rain.  Also, we got pulled over twice for speeding but managed to fulfiull the fines "without a receipt" which is the common practice here. 



Update from South Africa

I spent the last few days in Cape Town which is one of coolest and most beautiful places I've ever been.  Becky, my mom and I had a whirlwind few days which included wine tasting at a vineyard, a drive down to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point at the Southwest tip of Africa, a tour of the tour guide's very poor township, and a trip to the top of Table Mountain in a cable car.  Along the way, we saw penguins, baboons, a cheetah and lots of Ostrich.  Becky and I also went on a romantic sunset cruise (with free champagne of course).

We also went to Robben Island where Nelson Mendela spent 18 years in prison.  It was used almost exlusively for political prisoners who defied the goverment in some way.  It was also used as a leper colony before that.  A former political prisoner conducts the tour which is fascinating and really sad. 

I am back in Pretoria now.  Tomorrow I am going to a couple work related meetings and then Wednesday I am going on a tour of Soweto township which was an area of major importance in the apartheid struggle and the site of the famous uprising in 1976.  I am also going to go back to the Apartheid museam in Johannesburg because my first trip there was too short. 

Unfortuntely, the internet at my current location am makes it difficult to upload pictures so I will upload some of the amazing views of Cape Town later tonight.   Stay tuned!

In South Africa

I am in Pretoria, South Africa!  So far I blew a fuse, broke an adapter, had to walk 8 floors up to the Ministry of Heath office and had my credit card declined because Bank of America was worried about my charges.  Hopefully things will only get better from here.  I haven't seen Becky yet because she is at World Aids Day but I am having dinner with her in 1 hour!

My mom waiting at Dulles

Obviously I wore my track suit for the flight