Cape Town Day Two

We woke up to beautiful weather on Friday morning in Cape Town, perfect for our tour to Table Mountain. We had this view of Lion's Head Mountain from the Winchester Mansions Hotel (our hotel that was right on the Indian Ocean. When we reached Table Mountain we were a little nervous about the weather and the people at the bottom told us there was zero visability. We rode up in Gondolas that spun around so you had a 360 degree view. It was breath-taking and I only started to get motion sick just before the top. This is Kell and Me at the top of Table Mountain. This is the point of Good Hope where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean. As you can see, the worker was totally wrong. We could see forever. We could also see out to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was held in prison for years.

After Table Mountain we went to the V & A Waterfront for some amazing shopping. We had heard great things about all the stores here from everyone we talked to and we were not disappointed. I did get to buy some super cute brown boots handmade from the Tsonga tribe. They look kind of like Uggs and they are sooo warm!

After the Waterfront we went to more shopping at some boutique shops at Kalky Bay. This was one of our favorites. It had the most amazing little girls clothes, toys, and decorations.

You couldn't have a trip to Kalky Bay without some fish and chips from Kalky's. I don't normally eat fish but it was supposed to be excellent and fresh because it is right on the water. Turns out, even if it's fresh I still don't like fish 'n chips.

We were really sad to leave Kalky's becuase that meant it was time for us to go home. On the way to the airport we saw three huge whales about 50-100 yards off shore. We pulled the cars over and just watched them for about 30 min.

I feel so blessed to have been able to go on this trip. It was really a once in a lifetime opportunity. I really loved being with one of my best friends Kelly. I would recommend it to anyone who gets the chance!

Disneyland!

So we are off to Disneyland tomorrow for the 3rd time since March when we became Disneyland Annual Passholders. We are super excited for this trip because we are staying at the Grand Californian. It is super expensive so I hope it is all it is cracked up to be!

Cape Town Day One

We woke up on Thursday to a beautiful morning at Lake Pleasant. After a quick photo shoot we were off on our drive along the coast to Cape Town. These were from our deck looking out to the lake.

We stopped at a cute store called the Pumpkin Patch and found these beautiful boa's made from dyed ostrich feathers. There were ostrich farms all along the road, they had all kinds of things made from ostrich feathers including these boa's and feather dusters.

When we arrived in Cape Town we checked in to the Winchester Mansions Hotel. It was right on the water and had a beautiful courtyard in the center. We stayed on the top floor and had some great views.

We had a delicious dinner with the rest of the teachers at the hotel restaurant. We were so excited to be in the most talked about city in South Africa.

Knysna and Lake Pleasant

We woke up on Wednesday Sept. 17th at 5:30, that's A.M. people, to go on our last game drive. We had pretty much seen almost everything so our goal was to finally get a glimpse of the mother cheetah and her two cubs. We had a pretty empty car this morning. When we got to the boma with the cheetahs we were pleasantly surprised to see all three of them. The mother was smaller than I expected but the two cubs were adorable. They were very playful and looked like two puff balls.

These two girls were our waitresses at Kichaka. They both speak the clicky tongue language as well as English. It was cool to hear them pronounce their names.

We had to leave Kichaka that afternoon and we were sooooo sad to have to leave but we were excited for our drive to Lake Pleasant and Knysna. We drove along the southern coast of Africa and we stopped at this burger place that was supposed to be the best burger in S.A. I don't know if they have ever had an American burger, but if that was the best I feel bad for them.

We also stopped at this bridge that is the world's highest bungy jump and we got to watch someone jump. We didn't have time to do it ourselves but I don't think I would have anyway, so I was glad for an excuse not to!

We found this spot of concrete that was in the shape of Africa. It was kind of like people spotting the Virgin Mary in a potato chip! We are pointing to South Africa on the "map!"

Here is the view from our balcony out to Lake Pleasant. I don't remember what this orange blossoming tree was called but they were everywhere because it is Spring over there. I loved how vibrant the orange was, this picture doesn't do it justice.

That night we had a traditional African BBQ called a "Braai." It was delicious, we had steak and sausage, lamb and broiled potatoes. We also had a delicious pudding (it was totally a cake but they called it pudding) and EXCELLENT diet coke! We also got to wear our traditional kaftans.

After a long day of traveling and a delicious meal, we slept like babies in our huge bed!

Twlight!

Ok, so usually I am totally up to what's going on in the world of pop culture literature. Sadly, I have read and loved all of the Twilight books except for the 4th book. I don't know why, I read every night. I was holding off for the 26 hours in route to S.A. but for some reason I didn't start it on the flight and now I'm finishing another book. I took this quiz anyway (thanks Mindi for sharing!) And I'm proud to say I'm an Alice. I was SOOOO happy not be be a Bella, sorry I think she is a whiner. (P.S. I am totally team Jacob!)
Anyway it's a fun quiz if you are in to the series!
Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Kichaka Day Two!

We got up early in the morning to go on our first game drive of the day. We were not disappointed with Francois (the man, the ranger the legend) and his abilities to hunt down the big 5. We (and by we, I mean Francois spotted it and pointed it out to the rest of us) spotted this lion track and started our search for the king of the jungle.

After a few minutes of searching we finally saw three lions just after they had made a fresh kill. It was disgusting/breath-taking/amazing to be this close to these large, dangerous animals. They were probably my favorite animals we were able to see this whole trip. This mom and her teenage son and daughter had killed an eland and were just sitting down to breakfast.

It kind of surprised me how much like Clyde these big cats were!

After we spent about an hour just watching the lions we decided to start looking for more big game. We soon found this rhino just hanging around some of the staff housing. His horns were quite frightening to look at.

Just after we saw the rhino we came upon a herd of zebra or "Zehbra" (rhymes with Debra) in South African. They were beautiful. We stopped for a quick potty break just behind these bushes. It is a little bit nerve-wrecking to have a nature call out in the middle of nature! It was also a great time to stop for some hot chocolate and biscuits. Here is Kell and me in front of our Indiana Jones like vehicle.

When we went back to the lodge for breakfast this was part of the food they had spread out for us. Delicious strawberries, granola, breads and cheeses. Then we were able to order from a cook to order menu as well.

We loved Kichaka lodge, it was beautiful. We had a couple of hours until the next game drive so we took more pictures of our place.


On the afternoon game drive we went back to watch the lions for a while then decided we wanted to see more elephants. We saw a few more giraffe on our search for the "big boys."

When we finally found these two brothers ,who had been kicked out of the herd as teenagers, we were amazed. They were HUGE! Francois told us we would be alright as long as they didn't surround us and start to pretend they were eating... which is exactly what they started doing. We had a few tense seconds when this guy started to fake eat and circle around behind us. I was sitting on the back row and I would just like to say, I stared down an elephant and I won! The business end of the elephant!
It was freezing on this game drive and we were bundled up with two blankets, a couple of jackets, gloves, a head wrap, and a hoodie. Even all those layers couldn't keep us warm.
We drove back past the lions on our way back to the lodge. It was kind of creepy to see all three of them at dusk and their eyes started to gleam.

Safari sunset, need I say more?

Just before we entered the lodge grounds we ran right into the 4th lion that lives on the reserve. She was just hanging out right next to the road. She was huge compared to the other lions we had seen. She was not a member of their pride and the reserve people are in the process of buying another lion so they can start their own pride.

It was another amazing day at Kichaka. When we got back to the lodge we were able to look through their giant telescope at the full moon and the different constalations they have in the southern hemisphere. It was crazy not to see the North Star or the big dipper!

Port Elizabeth and Kichaka

On Monday September 15th we left Joburg at 4:30 in the morning to fly to Port Elizabeth. We were all a little tired with the early flight but we were looking forward to the safari. The TSA would be shocked and appaled with the security at the Joburg airport. We just walked around and we didn't need ID or even a boarding pass with our name on it. It was crazy! We drove about 45 minutes to the Kichaka Game Lodge and we were totally impressed with the beautiful landscape on our way there. The first thing we saw as we entered the main lodge was this hippo just walking around in the backyard. We were so excited!They feed us a beautiful lunch and then we went to go check out our bungalows!Kell and I were so excited we documented each step of the way with photos. This was the walk-way to Milkwood (our cabin.)Here's Kell at the door, we were super excited to find out what was waiting for us inside!Each bungalow had sliding doors that would open the whole corner of the room out the the private deck with our own plunge pool. The rooms were beautiful and the giant tub was awesome to soak in after a long cold drive.We were finally able to go on our first game drive. They were almost like being on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland but in real life! The first large animals we saw were three giraffe. They were beautiful and graceful animals. I think I could watch them for hours!

This big guy had really dark spots and I think I liked him the most of all the giraffe we saw because he had been attacked by the lions a while ago and had scars all down his legs. I think they gave him character and he reminded me of my good friend Kell who also has a scar leg!
After we left the giraffe, we went in search of the elephants! These were amazing creatures. We didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with them since it was getting dark and they were heading into the bush, but what we did get to see was amazing.

We saw a couple of warthogs that night and then as we got back to the lodge and they started to show us the dinner menu we realized that we had a choice of steak or warthog. When in Rome, right? It was actually quite good, it tasted pretty much a pork chop. Yummy!

This was what we got to come home to, the lights leading us to the main lodge where people were waiting to give us hot chocolate and the fireplaces were roaring!


We ate a late dinner and then headed back to our rooms for a good nights sleep, only to get our wake-up call at 5:30 the next morning for the morning game drive. This time were in on a mission to see more of the big 5!