South African Adventures

March 21st was Human Rights Day here in South Africa, which I think is a beautiful reason to have a day off! Had I been in town I would have gladly participated in the festivities including marching in the parade, but we took advantage of the holiday and traveled Northwest to Hazyview, located near Kruger National Park instead. We had an incredible, adventure filled weekend and created enough memories to last a lifetime! There is not a moment that goes by that I don't question why we get to have these experiences and than I thank our Heavenly Father that we do!


We rented a darling little cottage at the Jackalberry Lodge and Farm. This is a huge property where they farm mangoes, macadamias and leches, and the Sabie River runs right through it. Staying there was one of the most exciting parts of our trip. We were able to watch hippos playing in the river, spot a baby croc and even get stuck waiting for an 8ft python to cross the road without ever having to leave the place! This part of the country is very lush and green and it reminded me of parts of Hawaii. We loved it so much that Trent was tempted to ask the owner of the Jackalberry if we could trade labor for rent and stay there forever!

I may be more willing to be "outdoorsy" if the fashion improved!

Seeing as I have never been an outdoorsy person, this was a weekend full of out of the box moments (including wearing hideous hiking sandals)! Our first afternoon there, we went white river rafting. This is the only thing Trent really really wanted to do, so even though I was terrified how could I say no? Anna was even more terrified than I, especially since just an hour before we saw a hippo in the same river just farther down! She had to be convinced by several people there that it was perfectly safe and then only consented when they showed her a picture of other children in a raft smiling as they were going down the rapids! My courage faltered even more as our guide gave the instructions. There were a lot of them and he kept warning us about getting stuck and tipping over. Trent and I were in one raft and the kids were in another raft with an experienced and very fun guide! I lightened up a bit after the first rapid which was pretty mild and I survived without any serious injury or humiliation. The entire experience was incredible and we all loved every minute. I am glad my first river rafting expeirence was fairly easy and uneventful as I will gladly do it again!

 The next morning we went on a game drive through Kruger. Although, I had already had an opportunity to visit the park, Trent and the kids had not and I can't imagine being in South Africa without a visit to their largest reserve. Strangely enough my expeirence this trip was entirely different. This park is HUGE! We were probably 50 miles from where I entered Kruger last time and the terrain and sightings were very different in this part of the park. We entered through the Paul Kruger gate, which is one of the most popular entrances. Even before we entered the park, we saw a run away hyena and we knew it was going to be a great day! I was slightly disappointed at first to find that many of the roads are paved in this part of the park, as it seemed to take away from being in the wild, but it wasn't long before I realized the advantage of being on paved roads. It had rained the night before, so many of the animals were right on the road, as it was warm and dry there! Immediately upon entering we saw a pack of wild dogs. This animal is endangered and there are only about 350 in the entire park. I never understood what made them so special until I learned from our guide that they are carnivore's and actually eat small animals, including impalas. Also, they have very large ears compared to domestic dogs which help them to be more alert for hunting. Just past the wild dogs was a group of hyenas. This is another animal I had yet to see in person, so they were really cool to watch even though they are kind of creepy.  Not to far into our drive we saw elephants, giraffes and impala but the highlight was our leopard sighting! It pays to be with a guide as other guides will radio him when they have a worthwhile sighting. The leopard was up in a tree just relaxing and it was an incredibly awesome and lucky sighting. We missed the lions that were spotted in the same area but we didn't really care as not many people can say they have seen leopard! After a quick breakfast we were back out again. We still needed to see lion, buffalo and rhino in order to see all of the big 5 (elephant, leopard, lion, buffalo, rhino-nicknamed the big 5 as they are the most difficult and dangerous animals to hunt in Africa) and it wasn't long before we spotted a herd of buffalo. Just past the buffalo there was a group of vultures circling the air. Our guide informed us this is a good indicator that there could be lion nearby. The vultures often stalk the lion and wait for a kill so they can feast too! It is very hard to see the lion as they spend up to 20 hours a day sleeping in the tall bush, so we were thrilled when the other passenger spotted a male lion, who got up only long enough to find a more shady spot to lie back down. He was out of view before we could snap a picture but we were grateful to say we saw him! Just a few minutes later, the same passenger spotted a couple of lioness near some impala. They were off in the distance but with my telephoto lens and her binoculars we were able to watch the lioness's attempt to catch one of the impalas. Fortunately for the impalas, they missed! We never did find a rhino, which is odd as they are one of the easier animals to spot but we were thrilled with everything we did see. There is honestly nothing cooler than going on a safari. We are headed to Botswana and Zimbabwe in April where we will have a few more opportunities to go on game drives and I can't wait. This will be one of the things I will miss the most about Africa!

One of the ultimate highlights of the trip was our encounter with Kitso and Casper at the Elephant Sanctuary. We were able to get up close and personal with these massive beasts and learn so much about them. The expeirence included being able to feel their skin, behind their ears, their trunk and even their tongue. I think we were more impressed that the elephants allowed us to do this. I kept thinking they must be very annoyed having to lift their leg, open their mouth, swing their truck all on command for our enjoyment! They were very obedient and gentle and awesome to see so closely! At one point we were able to hold them by the trunk and take them on a walk. I laughed hysterically when Trent strolled by all cool and casual and announced that he was just taking his elephant on a walk. The whole thing really was preposterous! If that elephant wanted to he could trample us without a moments notice! Aiden was even able to ride Kitso and he thought that was the best part of the day! My favorite part was being close enough to get amazing pictures!

On our last day there we went on a quad ride. We started through some farmland and I thought okay this is pretty cool but I wasn't sure why we paid so much to do it! Then we kept driving through lush green landscape, past the Sabie and up to a waterfall and I than I thought it was definitely worth it! Anna started on my quad and she is much braver than I am! She kept telling me to go faster and she loved when we hit the rocks and bounced around! I am kind of a wuss and a little overly cautious but I still loved riding and may have prematurely promised Aiden we would buy a set of quads when we were back in Arizona!

During lunch on the drive home we recapped the trip and talked about our favorite parts. None of us could pick one single thing. We loved the entire weekend and enjoyed everything we did. If I had to pick the very best part of our trip I would have to say how much fun we had together. The kids were so good and we really enjoyed each other. I told Trent on the way home how lucky we are to only have the two children as I can't imagine how we could have afforded to do everything we did. He of course was relieved to hear that and all two quick to remind me how perfect it was having only two since there are only two of us, therefore just enough seats on the quads! Seeing as I want to take home several South African children I am not convinced our family is complete but it is sure perfect for now! The only thing that worries me about having more kids is they aren't going to have all the cool memories Aiden and Anna have had!