From safaris to the mountains

Well it has been a bit since our last post and we have done so much!! I actually wrote a post yesterday that could have been a book of information and lost it all when I ran out of Internet time... So sad! So last time we checked in we were on our way to Kruger National Park. 
Well Kruger was simply amazing!! It started out slow with a night drive using spot lights to look for animals. Our guide told us that the private land we were driving through was a former hunting grounds which is why most animals would run  from the vehicle.. When asked why we were driving there he said the animals needed to be conditioned to not be afraid of vehicles any more... In other words we were part of a reconditioning program. Fun!
The next day things really got exciting when we drove into the national park for an all day safari!! We got to see hippos sunbathing and swimming, giraffes eating from the tops of trees, female lions with a cub lounging, elephants on the march, buffalo grazing, impalas everywhere, rhinos napping, baboons chillin, warthogs rooting in the scrub, vultures cleaning the leftovers of some lions, and waterbuck hanging out (I'm sure I forgot some animal but that's what I got). The next day was the same kind of trip but with a more relaxed atmosphere since we had seen all of the animals the first day. We did see 3 male lions at a water hole the second day and a rhino a whole lot closer. Also we saw some elephants tearing the bark off a tree right next to the road. What an experience!! The 3rd day we took a trip to an animal recovery center. They had some animals that had been raised since they were cubs/chicks and some that had been brought in as adults after being caught and injured in traps. The ones that had been raised there could not be released into the wild but the older ones that were caught in traps are released when healed. We got to pet a full grown cheetah that had been raised there and was such a beautiful animal! Also we pet an eagle. They had some really intelligent honey badgers that had at times escaped over there walls and attacked the lions there! They are some of the fiercest creatures in the wild! When poisonous snakes bite them they just fall asleep for a bit and are fine afterward! It was so cool to get so close to the lions with only the fence between us. The female even let out a growl that had me looking for the exit. There was a full grown leopard, baby cheetahs and a baby leopard, eagles, and vultures! We were going to feed the vultures with a thick leather glove but they didn't want to eat when we were there. A wild cheetah stalked a little kid as he walked along his cage and you could tell he was ready for a little German snack!
After our Kruger adventures we headed down to joburg to pick up a car and stayed at Shoestring backpackers near the joburg airport. It was a decent place and we watched the game between Ghana and Uruguay. It was a sad ending for the last African team in the tournament and I think south Africans are less interested in the tournament as European teams dominate the final four. Brazil losing to the Netherlands was also quite a shocker!
We headed south to the Drakensburg mountains which turned out to be a really good choice! It is so gorgeous with sharp peaks and rolling hills, creeks and grasslands. We stayed at a fun place near the Royal Natal park called Ampitheatre Backpackers. They had a jacuzzi in the bar, a sauna, a projector to show thr games, and amazing views of the Drakensburg from our room! We met lots of cool travelers there and will probably meet up with some of them at our next stop in Durban. We spent 3 nights there and had 2 day trips. Our first day we hiked through some valleys to a place called the blue pools along a creek coming out of the mountain passes. It was a sunny day and we brought a picnic lunch. It was a really cool hike and we had the place to ourselves. The next day we took a guided day trip to thr country of Lesotho. It is in the middle of south Africa and is the highest (and one of the poorest) country in the world. It's lowest point is higher then the lowest point of all other countries ( they do smoke a lot up there as well). Our guide took us to a village where we visited a school and played with some children. Camelia gave out some colored markers and pads of paper. Next we climbed up above the village into the mountains and looked at ancient cave paintings done by the San people during the stone age! Wow! After that we went back into town. We tried some of their local beer which was similar to what we tried in the Langa township near Capetown. Quite sour and it looked like milk.. An acquired taste no doubt. We ate some local food (they eat corn all 3 meals of the day) which was pap (corn grits) and spinach with a spicy sauce. Very tasty! Camelia is allergic to African spinach (her face swells up) but sampled a little bite :). 
We have had a great time in the Drakensburg and are sad to be driving away.. We are headed to Durban and will spend 3 nights there. Spain plays Germany In a semifinal clash tomorrow and we will most likely watch the game at the fan park on the beach. Tickets are very pricey and out of our budget unless we get miracled. It will be cool just to be in the city where thr game is happening. Durban is on the Indian ocean and had some of the best weather we have come across during our travels. Our last week before heading home we will explore the coast near Port Elizabeth known as the garden route and attending the 3rd place match in PE. This trip has been so much fun!! Much love J &C

To Kruger We Go

Quick one to say we are well and traveling from Joburg to Kruger National park for our five day safari. We have been in Port Elizabeth for the last four days, really just recouping, and checking out a new city. We saw the Uruguay V. South Korea game which was pretty entertaining until it started raining and we made a run for it (only 5 mins or so left in the game). The USA game was sad, but we had a good run. We bought our first American flag ever (I feel so patriotic - I even wore it as a cape!) Poor Jason got sick with a head cold on our way out of Joburg last week and on the plane trip it moved to his ear and he got a bad infection. We had to make a stop off at the emergency room and he is feeling much better now. I am starting to feel a little sicky, but whats new... :)

We are off to Kruger, and are both so excited. I can't wait to write about lions and giraffes!!!!!! Yeah. Wish us luck and safety!

With love from Africa,

Jason and Camelia

To Joburg and Then Some :)

Ahhhhhhh, a long breath out as we prepare to leave Johannesburg. What a city, alive with a mixture of feelings, awareness of the danger at the forefront and then a undercurrent of respect and love for the rough and gritty streets.

When we last wrote, it was a quick stop off in Rustenburg, and have not really written since Durban. In Rustenburg we stayed at a so-called B&B called Bieki Berg (that we have since nicknamed Freaky Burg :) which felt a little like pulling up to an Alfred Hitchcock film set. Three days there, in the biting cold was a different taste of Africa. The drive from Joburg to Rustenburg took a little over two hours and winded through the dry countryside of Gauteng province in the north of SA. The often flat, dry brown land stretched on all sides of the road and the sky was dark with smoke from the fires that blaze in all the open fields, set alight when locals make small fires to warm themselves and the embers accidentally spread. It is such a normal thing that people just let the fires blaze on without incident. Made for a stunning sunset over the largest platinum mines in the world that are along the main roads, almost like the sky was paying homage to the sad history of the mines and those who worked there.

On our free day in Rustenburg we visited the Cradle of Humankind, which was a bit like Disneyland for Anthropologists - I was in a heaven, surrounded by evolutions nerds like me  :) It was a powerful feeling to be standing on the exact same land that I spent years studying in school, Sterkfontein Caves, the Cradle of Humankind, where our deepest ancestors took their first steps, transitioned to walking on two legs, our brains growing steadily and humanity in gestation. Wow. We even went in to the caves where Mrs. Ples, a famous fossilized head was discovered. It was a great day.

The next day we went to the Ghana v. Australia game which was awesome, proudly wearing our Ghana jerseys that Sia (that basket man in Sebastopol, originally from Ghana) lent us. The game was action packed and we were sitting with a large group of Ghanaians who were dancing and playing music and the whole nine! It was so much more alive then some of the other games we have been to and I think I understand a little bit more about the African soccer spirit now.

After Rustenburg, we came to Joburg and have been staying with a lovely lady named Denise who has a sweet little B&B in Melville, a suburb of Joburg. Yesterday, we took a tour of Soweto, the largest township in South Africa, which I am at a loss of words to describe. Calling it a township does not do the city in itself justice. The way of life was similar to our previous township tour, only with class distinctions were more pronounced, with the wealthy area of Soweto being named "California" and barbed wire fences lined the walls of the houses, similar to the homes in the wealthy suburbs of Joburg. The striking lack of these kinds if fences in other parts of the township is illustrative of what the locals call Ubuntu, or humanity, community and the reliance the people have on one another. People claim that Soweto is so dangerous, but I felt safer there than I did in the suburbs if Joburg. In the suburbs, people build fences to keep each other out, in Soweto the people need each other too much to do such a thing. A different world, but not so different that we would not recognize the struggles of not having enough work, enough money, enough to feed our families.

Last night we went to and INCREDIBLE game with Spain v. Honduras, (I say incredible because I love Spain and was shrouded with my Spanish flag blanket that I bought in the market). Spain won 2, nil and it should have been 10 nil but El Nino was off his game.

Today we leave to Pretoria, and are praying that we can score tickets to the USA v. Algeria game. My grandfather would be so proud to have us cheering for the USA team that we have to make it happen. Put a prayer out there for us!!!!

We are signing off, sending love and wishes that you are doing well wherever you are.

With love from Africa,

Camelia and Jason

Games

Sorrythat it has taken us so long to post this! Here are all the games that we will be watching. We might be adding a USA v. Algeria match on the 23rd, but if we do we will let you know. Today is a big one because after the Spain game ( which we are both proudly wearing our Spain jerseys to!) we are going to watch the bafana bafana (south Africa) play and they need a big win!!! Go Bafana Bafana!!!

June 16, Spain v. Switzerland 4:30pm

June 19, Ghana v. Australia

June 21, Spain v. Honduras

June 26, sweet sixteen game (teams unknown)

July 10, 3rd place final :)

Durban

Hello friends!! So we have been slacking on the blog posts and I can only say that we have been thinking about you all and wish we had internet a little more accessible.. but enough of the excuses! ;-) We have been having a blast and really living it up!. I think the last post was on the 9th a wednesday.. So let's see on the 10th last thursday we went on a wine tasting tour of the Stellenbosch and Paarl wine regions. The 4 wineries we visited were all amazing! One of them had goats as well and the cheeses were delicious! The first one we visited gave us a tour of the wine making processes there before we were too toasted. Our driver was really cool and gave us a lot of information about everywhere we visited. The other folks on the tour were 5 germans, 2 Venezuelans that have immigrated to Australia, and 2 Michigan guys. Needless to say it was a rowdy bunch. Poor Camelia had to put up with 10 dudes getting drunk and getting more belligerent as the day progressed.
Friday was the opening day of the World Cup and it was a fun day! We bought some ribeye steaks for the braii and our South Africa hostel hosts cooked them to perfection for us as we watched a great opening match by South Africa and Mexico. The hosts came close to winning in the final minutes but the tie was still very entertaining! Later we attended our first match between Uruguay and France at the brand new stadium in Cape Town! It was a bit disappointing as it ended 0-0 and there wasn't a whole lot of good chances for either side. Still it was a great experience being there and was just the beginning!
Saturday the 12th we caught our flight out of Cape Town to Durban. It was sad to leave and I will always remember my times in the Mother City. We made friends with a lot of good people and some of them we have met up with in Durban. Saturday night we watched the England and USA match at the Booty Bar on Florida Street which is the party spot here in Durban. There was probably 30 Americans and possibly twice as many English there and there was quite a lot of barbs thrown back and forth. After the first England goal we heard a song that sort of went "Its quiet on the other side of the room". At the end of the match a lot of the Americans were chanting "Over-rated". I might have chimed in for a second ;)
Sunday we spenty a day at the beach which is beautiful here. The weather is great too! nice and sunny. I played soccer on the beach for a couple hours and got in trouble with Camelia.. Later we attended the blowout between Australia and Germany. There was some sweet goals but a close match would have been nice. Signing of for now!

Count Down to Game Day

Vuvuzelas blowing everywhere! People draped in South African flags and the chant of "Bafana Bafana!" spilling out of bars and houses. We are all perched on the edge of the biggest sporting event in the world and the entire country is holding their collective breath.

Not sure the last post we made, but we are trying to keep them up as much as possible. We realize now, since changing from the Big Blue (one of the best hostels I have every stayed in) to a private B&B, which, to our great joy, was literally right around the corner from Big Blue, that access to Internet may not be quite as easy as we thought. Our new place is wonderful, and the feeling, although not as rowdy and jam packed with travelers as Big Blue, has a sweet and simple charm that is very welcomed.

Yesterday we took what is called a township tour, basically a journey in to heart of the shanty towns that surround the whole of Cape Town. We began with a stop at the District Six museum, a sobering memorial to the cruelty and oppression of South Africa's people. Basically, in the early days of apartide, the government in a attempt to gain a more secured dominion over the Cape Town indigenous population, bulldozed an entire neighborhood, complete with homes, businesses and over 45,000 residents. Although this was not a unique occurrence om South Africa, what made this more disgusting was the rolling hills of bare grassland that they left in its place. This was not a bid for redevelopment, but a desire to cleanse the hillside of the black Africans that occupied it. Heartbreaking and sobering.

When we visited the townships, we saw children, families, 16 to a house that were 10 by 10, so settled in their homes. Hard to see, so good to see and so South Africa. The real South Africa, where the realm of how could you live in this way meets this is how we live. We thought it would make our hearts break, but once we saw the children grabbing our hands, smiling with joy at our presence, and the adults looking at us with genuine skepticism, we knew TIA, This is Africa. Just the way it is and has been for so many years, nothing to shed tears for but to see, and respect for its raw power.

We will soon add real photos, and are sorry for the generic photo slide show playing. We miss you and give blessings for the simple comfort of home that we live every day.

Much love,

Camelia and Jason

Castle of Good Hope

Tuesday we went on a tour of the Castle of Good Hope. They showed us the torture chamber and the dark room that up to 20 men would be kept in after torturing. It was an oppressive experience. We got to check out one of the 3 museums within the castle which had Dutch art from the 1700s and was themed around ships. One of the paintings depicted a scene where 30,000 large animals were rounded up and killed for the enjoyment of the Prince of England. Pretty disgusting. We had some drinks at the hostel to warm up for a big night on the town. Canada Sarah's 2 cousins and 3 Chilean guys joined up with us. In the evening we went out on the town with our crew and hit up the Dubliner bar and didn't make it home until 3am.. Enough time to get 4 hours of sleep before our township tour...

Rewind of Monday

So I was a little too tipsy to post yesterday after drinking wine all day starting at noon but I will give a recap of the activities. We rented a Vito 8-seater van with our crew of fellow travelers and went for a cruise down to the Cape of Good Hope. Jaime and Barbara are a really cool couple from Perth, Australia as well as Canada Sarah, Aussies Ben & Nick rounded out the crew. All really fun folks! Jaime volunteered to drive since he is used to the whole driving on the left thing (so strange) and did a great job. We headed down to Simon's Town first where we picked up several bottles of wine and some tasty grub. It was a nice little town and sort of reminded me of Bodega Bay back home. The wines we got were all really tasty especially the Ruby Cabernet! We went down to the Penguin colony just south of Simon's Town and got to see lots of babies because it was there hatching and molting season. So cute!! Next we went to the Cape of Good Hope and got to see Ostriches running around. We climbed up to the old lighthouse in some wet and windy weather and got to see where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic. On our way out of the Cape reserve we saw a tribe of Baboons on the move. We got really close to them because they were going along (and in) the road. We went back to Cape Town along the western coast and it was a pretty sketchy drive but Jaime kept us on the road. We finished of the night by making a big salad and ordering delivery pizza! mmm oh and then playing cards and drinking some more at the hostel.
Today we are going to go check out the Castle of Good Hope and maybe some museums or the planetarium. Tomorrow maybe a township tour or wine tour... signing off

I always love Sundays

So it seems as though Jason and I have been switching off and on with the blogging. Today is my day, happily enough because I am pretty sure that Sunday is my favorite day of the week. This morning we slept in, which was absolutely necessary after the beautiful torture of Table Mountain. Jason brought me coffee and a croissant in bed :) We walked down to the water front, a beautiful pier that reminds me of Pier 39, with an African twist. Travelers from all over the world were swarming around the shops, the food court and the grocery store where I bought lunch. My mini trauma came right after I began eating, when all of a sudden the sides of my face began to tingle, and as I touched my cheeks right below my temple, realized that I was beginning to grow lumps the size of small golf balls...  My first real allergic reaction, and of course it happens in Africa! Luckily there was a pharmacy just a minutes walk from where I was, so I bolted down there and took some antihistamine before anything serious happened. The strangest thing was that I was eating things that I have always eaten, or at least I thought I was...

After lunch we went to the aquarium which was great. The crew that we have assembled has been great, mainly a bunch of Aussies and a Canadian, all good people. Tomorrow we will be renting a van and driving along the coast the the Cape of Good Hope, a small penguin colony and a baboon preserve. I think it will be good fun :)

For tonight, it is rest and relaxation. Sending love from Africa.

Table Mountain

Today we woke up early and climbed Table Mountain which overlooks Cape Town. We met up after breakfast with our new friends Australians Ben and Nick, a Canadian girl named Sarah and a Swedish girl named Marie. We had all gone out to the happening Long St. last night and made plans to climb since it was supposed to be a nice day. The day was a blue bird and what a hike we had! It took us about 2 hours to make the climb and after a night of drinking that wasn't easy. Camelia had to be encouraged up the last 100 meters with sweet words and promises of cold beverages at the top(it is true, I almost died today.... :) . It was an amazing view from the summit! We took a cablecar down which was a nice way to get down after the long hike. After we went to a pub with our Australian friends to see the game between the USA and Australia in a 'friendly' match. It was a fun affair with the USA winning 3-1. I won a six pack of south african beer from one of my new mates.  We went to dinner at a "Cuban" restaurant called Buena Vista Social Cafe that was really a Mexican restaurant that used "Cuban" spices. Camelia wasn't too covinced on the authenticity though the burrito and quesadilla were delicious. Signing out for now.

Acclimating

Cape town, day 2. Fog rolls in thick and stays all day. The  rock in the clouds, Table Mountain, peaks out from time to time, reminding us to appreciate the seen and unseen all around.

The Cape is known for fog and rain, both of which we are expected to have for days to come. We are starting to slide in to the rhythm of the Cape, ducking under overhangs during the rain flurry's, and learning the street names. We used our first Combe today, the minivan taxi that costs 5 Rand (75 cents) per trip, that cram people in, shouting all the while for more people to get in, more stops to make. The combes feel real, although we are aware of our presence in the van, the people laugh and talk, never looking for more than a second in our direction. The stadium is a short walk from our hostel, and everywhere you can see soccer fever. We bought our first vevusuelu today! They are the official noise makers of South Africa which we plan to make god use of soon. Perhaps tomorrow we will hike the mountain, if weather permits. We will keep you posted.

Sending love.

Arrived in Cape Town!

Hi all! We landed safe in the majestic Cape Town today on the 3rd of June, after 30+ hours of plane travel (our longest flight was 15 hours!) You can already sense the energy of the games approaching as fans arrive from all over the world. We went down to the waterfront and checked out some shops and bought some groceries. Our hostel has a kitchen and a big fridge so we are hoping to be good about our food budget. We bought a bottle of pinotage (just for you Rosey :) which is a South African wine and opened it at the hostel. I would call it very unique and I'm not sure if it takes a couple days to open up... :-) We will do some more adventurous stuff tomorrow like hike up table mountain or rent mountain bikes. We have been told there is some amazing bike trails around. It is so beautiful and we are on the edge of an adventure so big it is hard to fathom. We miss you already, and hope you come back for more of our blogging adventure!!

From the road, South Africa 2010!