After over 24 hours of traveling, dealing with the aftermath of the Washington, DC earthquake, circling over the Senegal airport due to a “V.I.P movement”, and finally landing in jo’burg I made it to the crazy city of Johannesburg. Once I was picked up we traveled (on the wrong side of the road) to where we were staying; the first thing I noticed while traveling was people in Jo’burg walk on the side of the freeway! It was both astounding and frightening to see. While I was in Jo’burg I was able to do many fun and educational activities before leaving to Cape Town.
The first day I was adjusting to the 8 hour difference and toured the city a bit. The second day we visited the Apartheid museum, learning what the people of South Africa went through and the changes they have made. When entering the museum we were given a ticket that had a label of “white” of “non-white,” the ticket you received determined the entrance you would walk through. Walking through the doors of the Apartheid museum was definitely eye opening.
The final day was by far my favorite! We traveled about 2 hours to go through a game park. I saw lions, tigers, and bears... oh my. Oh, wait… I did not see bears, but I did see lions, water buffalo, boars, zebras, springbok, cheetahs, kudu, blessbok, ostrich, wildebeest, HUGE birds, warthog, and my favorite LOTS of little cubs. When we got to the end of the tour we were able to get out of the car and see the little baby tigers, lions, and even a big cheetah. If you paid R30 ($4.25) you even got to go play with a cage of your choice. I had been waiting my whole life to do this.. I probably looked like a little kid in a candy store with a grin ear to ear. I choose the baby white lions to go play with. They were both sleeping and when I would pet them they would wiggle around opening their big blue eyes. What surprised me the most was how soft they were, I wanted to lay down with them to snuggle up to them. I held the little ones paw to mine and it was almost the size of my forearm, huge paws for such little adorable animals.
After all the excitement with the game park I was off the Cape Town in the morning. The flight was about 2 hours for jo’burg and we arrived safely. Our car was there to pick us up and we were off to find our home for the next four months. I have been in Cape Town for about three days and I have no complaints, it is beautiful. I have been able to run by the beach, eat the best fish of my life, and am in a safe area; I love it here.
Today was my first day of work with the DA and after day one I look forward to going back! We arrived to a little bit of hectic’ness due to a press conference but they invited us to attend, VERY COOL.
Cannot wait to update you all again!!!
Cheers!
