Ok, clearly it has been a long time since I have last posted! An appropriately brief yet comprehensive post is in order. I will compose an A-Z(zed) list of awesome words or phrases that I have encountered here in SA that is themed largely with my vacation to Kruger National Park where I fell in love with the animals, the ruggedness and the sunsets.
A: Amarula is a fantastic apertif.
B: baboons-- not just in the cafeteria, also exist in the bush where they frequently pester camps.
C: constellations of the Southern Hemisphere have dazzled me. Partially because I have never set eyes on some before, but also because in the south we gaze towards the galactic center. Compared to the northern hemisphere, the distinct Milky Way and outstanding number of tinkles make the sky seem like "a backlit canopy with holes punched in it"
D: Dungeons. Look it up on youtube or a surf site-- big wave spot that gets HUGE. A world wide magnet for adrenaline seeking wing nuts.
E: elephants!!!! Under many circumstances did I see elephants: elephant rides at the wonderful Camp Jubalani (the site of our first bush stay over-- three nights in bush paradise) elephants at the watering hole--joining the family for a little brunch (though ours was omlettes-- they munch tree branches and bark) the view from the land rover (our safari vehichle) and finally at the pool of our lodge. The ellies marched to the side of the pool to nibble on close by fauna, not only terrifying Peg from walking back to her room but also doing significant landscaping (breaking trees in half-- very destructo-deco don't you think?)
F: Fickle weather patterns of Cape Town have left me soaked the past few days. It just doesn't look like rain when there are blue skies and puffy clouds as far as the eye can see. Cape Town is not a place for amateur meteorology I suppose.
G: God's Window. A place high in the the north eastern corner of South Africa. It overlooks a fantastic river valley boasting tremendous granite rock formations, waterfalls and a random microclimate: a petite mountain top rainforest!
H: Hippos-- are very susceptible to dessication (drying out) they have no sweat glands and seek water in the hottest parts of the day and bush cover by night.
I: Islands... I would love a trip to Madagascar or Mauritius but I don't know if will happen.
J: Jerky in South Africa is called Biltong. It is delicious and should be tried by all meat eaters.
K: Kudu is a delicious meat. It is a tender dark meat-- that of an antelope.
L: Leopard bike ride--- although this deserves its very own blog post the essentials of the leopard bike ride are: Peg, Joe and I enthusiastically head into the bush with our guide, James for some mountain biking. We drive the bikes out to a point and plan to ride home. All is going well for 15 minutes or so. I charge ahead down a drainage ditch, and fly ahead of the rest. I get off my bike and retreat towards the family as they make their way down the dirt road. As I walk back across the cement roadway I hear a rustle from the undergrowth about 20ft away. A large male leopard and I lock eyes. I say, "there is a leopard! there is a leopard!" Our guide comes over to see and directs myself and the Tabaccos to s l o w l y get off our bikes and get into the land rover. Aye ya ya! To convey the gravity of this situation you must know that a cross leopard will kill you, it will charge and strike if alarmed or threatened. The rifle was in its case in the car, we were essentially defenseless. But the mood was much more surprise than eminent danger or fear on my part (and perhaps the leopard too).
Following the initial siting we got in the veichle and followed the leopard around the river bed for 15 minutes... It was awesome, no creature quite so nicely painted as a leopard.
M: Maladrone. The malaria medicine I have been taking following mosquito exposure in the bush. Some interesting side effects (dreams of children and cabinetry followed by utter disorientation in the mornings)
N: nice balance. On our trip to Kruger we saw women balancing the most amazing things on their head-- big, heavy baskets or boxes that seem utterly impossible!!
O: outrageously delicious tropical fruits grew in the area. Namely: guava, pineapple, bananas galore, gogi berries.
P: giant preying mantis outside hotel room!
Q: A Q or queue is a line. I queue for: school computers, the bus, grocery store (can be up to 15 minutes).
R: Every ranger has a story about troublesome guests. This was the funniest: Indian visitors to this particular concession could not understand the danger of the bush. On one instance the Inidian man got out of the safari car to approach a dugger boy. A dugger boy is an aged male water buffalo. They hang out alone or in small groups and are notoriously aggressive since they know they are vulnerable away from the herd. The Indian man gets out of the vehicle to, "try and milk the water buffalo. In my country, we do this!"
Problematic because of the obvious result in injury and because the dugger boys are of course, male.
S: snails (giant land snails) exist in the bush. They are about 10 times the size of a regular snail. T: Tea. A special kind of tea that Peg took a liking to, Rooibos. It comes from a specific region and is not from leaves. Very popular here.
U: ultimate sunsets. Have you seen the sun glow red before it sinks below the horizon?
V: very dangerous. This pertains to surfing here in Cape Town. With the hectic paddles (to get to where the waves break), the cold, the currents the at times extreme winds you must proceed with caution. Did I mention that several of my friends surfing on the Atlantic coast fled the water after spotting a near by great white shark?
W: white chicks! come to Wynberg! An audio explanation is needed to fully explain what this means... essentially my friend and I get yelled at by "mini-bus" drivers-- a combination of taxi and bus that is a popular form of quasi-public transportation.
X: Xhosa-- a prominent language here (one of the 11 national languages) that involves clicking!
Y: Y, do I have to go home??
Z: Zed is the proper way to say Z here. I asked if when singing the "ABCs" do you end with zed? Indeed they do!
And I'm spent!
