S. Africa Part 1

ML and I were blessed with an amazing trip to S. Africa (thanks mom and dad).  We were going to my brother's wedding (he married a S. African girl).  Our 3 Loves stayed with family, so ML and I had a kid free trip.  (Our 10 year anniversary is in October so we used the trip as our anniversary trip too).


It was an AMAZING trip.  We can't say anything different.  We met so many amazing people, had some amazing experiences, ate some different food, and will always remember it.  I wanted to highlight some of the best stuff, so here it is.

People

We met our new SIL for the first time (yes, I know a different situation, but it's all good). We really feel like we have a whole new side of the family now. They were just the nicest people. Most everyone of the S. African people we met were very friendly and welcoming.

 

This lady was going to tell a friend that her relative had passed away.

My parents and I.

Animals

ML and I were absolutely blessed with all of the animals we saw.  We were the only ones to see the Big Five in one day (Elephant, Leopard, Buffalo, Lion, Rhino).  We have learned that this is a very rare experience and I personally believe the Lord brought the animals to us.  We went to Kruger Park and spent 2 nights.  And that's where tons of fun was had.  We saw animals as we drove through Kruger Park, went on a night safari, and visited the Lion and Rhino Park. 

 

The elephants were awesome.  We saw babies, we heard them breaking trees and branches and saw them eating.  We heard them talking to each other.  It was an amazing sight.

The buffalo's were huge and dangerous.  They would just stop and stare at you.  Seeing them in a herd crossing the stree,t in front of your safari truck, in the dark was awesome.  They just stood there and stared us down.  Thank goodness they didn't charge.

I was the one who spotted a set of golden eyes.  It turned out to be a female leopard (which seeing a leopard is supposed to be another rare sight).  She walked out from under the tree to the road and just walked in the middle of the road.  Our safari guide turned the truck around and we followed her as she walked.  She eventually went back into the bush and was gone.

The lions were hard to find and so was the rhino.  They are all the most amazing animals ever.  We also saw many giraffes and impala's were everywhere.  Another rare siting, we had was a hippo out of water, which was so cool.

The best animal experience EVER was playing with lion cubs.

They were so much fun.  It's an experience we will never forget.  They aren't as soft as you would think and boy are they strong.

As soon as ML layed on the ground to play with a female, the male crawled right up on his legs and back. He just played with his pants and had fun.

And boy are their teeth strong, even at this young age.  I just looked away from him for a second and he had my wrist in his mouth.  It made a mark, but wasn't strong enough to draw blood.  But boy, it still hurt.

In Kruger Park, we had so much fun sitting around the campfire for 2 nights.  Hyena's would visit us, and one night we decided to entice them to come close to us.  The next morning there was a wart hog family that decided to visit us.  We were able to touch them and they ate out of our hands.

Food

We had some great food, but it was definitely different. Some of the meat we ate was impala, springbok, and lamb.

Wedding

Of course, we can't forget about the wedding.  Hands down, I think it was the funnest wedding we have ever been too.  My brother and SIL (who was the most gorgeous bride ever) just wanted it to be a party and for everyone to have fun.  Being a part of some of the S. African wedding traditions was very cool.  Their dancing is so much fun and the music was pretty interesting.  The photographer had us doing some crazy stuff, especially in our red stiletto's.  (We were running through the forest and traipsing through burned grass.)  This was my first wedding I had ever been in so it was pretty exciting.  It was just a fun morning of getting ready and getting our hair and make up done.

 

We were so sad our girls had to miss this, but ML and I will never forget this trip.  It was a once in a lifetime trip.  It helped renew family values and helped renew our marriage.  We are closer than we have ever been.  We will be talking about this trip for years.  We froze our butts off, but that was way better than the heat in AZ.

We had fun shopping and brought back some really cool pieces for our house.  I got this most amazing coaster set out of a dark wood and the big five animals are carved all over it.  I also found a matching, large bowl that is hand carved too.  I love this red platter and also came back with tons of hand made jewelry.

Fibro Note:  Going from heat to extreme cold put my body into shock, but in a good way.  I also know the Lord had a big part to play in it too.  I rarely had pain and was able to have enough energy to get me through each day.  ML was really surprised at how well I was able to stay up with everyone.  I truly thank the Lord for giving me the relief that I needed to get through this once in a lifetime trip.