After an awesome time in Cape Town, Anna and I headed to Johannesburg to start our safari in Kruger Park. We spent one crazy night in Johannesburg before the safari. First we went out to eat with the Delta flight crew who was staying in our hotel. Unfortunately all the pilots were married but we did get a free glass of wine. Then we made it to our concert just in time for the second half. Johnny Clegg was amazing. He was born in Zimbabwe but moved to South Africa when he was young. He became close to the Zulus and sings an ecletic mix of music. His latest album includes songs about the situation in Zimbabwe, traveling, child soldiers, deciding to get married and life in general. It was actaully a great culmination to my trip. The first song we saw included Indian sitar players and Indian style dance combined with Zulu music and dance. It was amazing. Johnny even tied in some French, which France is Anna's second home. After a little international drunk dialing, we headed to bed so we could wake up in a few hours to drive 8 hours to Kruger Park.
Needless to say the drive out to Kruger was not the most pleasant. It was long and cold, but the first game drive made it totally worth it. We saw kudu, elephants with their babies, giraffes with their babies, zebras with their babies, and buffalo all on the first day. But the highlight was seeing the lions eating. We found them just after they had killed a big kudu. There were 9 adult lions and one cub chowing down on this kudu. It was incredible. Big chunks of meat were flying. It's so amazing to see the circle of life! There is so much order in nature. Nothing dies needlessly. Every creature has its own mode of protection and place in the world.
Over the next two nights we camped in the bush in Kruger Park. It was amazing. At night we saw hyenas walked past as we ate and heard lions roar. During the day we went on two game walks. On the first the guide was so cute but he kept talking about and playing with animal poo the whole time. He would crack it open and touch it and say, "feel how warm this is? It was probably left within the last 45 minutes." He would really expect us to feel how warm it was. Disgusting. But not as bad as the next walk, when the guide told us how when walking in the bush, people would get really bored and make up games. One game was to shoot giraffe poop out of your mouth to see how far you could get it. Anna actually tried it! You don't really know someone until you travel with them. JK. I tried it too!
The safari was amazing. The last night we stayed on a game reserve in the cutest hut and awesome outdoor shower. Our guide was super knowledgeable and patient. We also saw the Drakensburg Escarpement, which was breathtaking. I'm so thankful Anna came to visit. I feel so lucky to have friends that will travel half way around the world so we can share an adventure together. Anna and I had a blast. I haven't laughed this hard in a long time, well not since Mom visited. Thanks, Anna! Looking forward to the next adventure together.
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