Elephant Walk Safaris Part 1

So Jeff turned the big 4-0 this last weekend and I wanted to do something big and fun since having a big party with all of our friends and family was not a possibility. I decided to whisk him away for the weekend to a place where you can go on safari on the back of an African Elephant. We headed out early on Friday afternoon and Jeff STILL didn't know where we were going! The kids did a great job keeping the secret. We drove to an airstrip in the middle of nowhere and we were supposed to take a small plane to the reserve but the pilot met us and said that it was too windy to fly so we would drive in and fly out on Sunday. We hopped in a van and started driving.
We drove a long way on this crazy long dirt road with sheer drops and washouts. I was kind of glad that we wouldn't have to reverse the trip on Sunday.

We finally went over a mountain and got a glimpse of our destination way off in the distance. You can spot the grass landing strip in this picture:
We got to the lodge and it was pretty cold and windy. They had a nice fire going though and we all settled in. There was only one other couple - a nice pair who were celebrating their anniversary. So they got to spend a nice relaxing weekend with S & T. Just what every couple wants right?
From the lodge we were able to see a lot of wildlife and we even spotted a couple of giraffes out in the distance.
Our first elephant experience was the bedtime encounter. You drive out to wherever the elephants are on the reserve - they roam free during the day - and then you get to meet them, ask questions, and then walk them back to their giant sleeping barn and watch them eat and settle in for the night. We headed out into the bush and then we found them. They were HUGE!
We walked with them and learned all kind of amazing things about these beautiful creatures. The elephant guides really know their stuff!
Once we got to know them we got closer. Their skin is amazing.... soft, rough, warm and prickly all at the same time.
Once we got close to their sleeping quarters they really picked up the pace like most animals they move quickest on their way back to the barn.
They each walked into their own pen and they had a big pile of branches and a big bucket of pellets. The pellets were obviously the preferred snack and watching them use their trunks to scoop them up was amazing.
After the encounter we headed back to the lodge to warm up. We had a nice glass of wine and some apps by the fire.
Dinner was advertised to be at 7 but I knew there would be a major delay when our host spread out the coals and got out the braai equipment. We sat down around 8:30 pm. It was the dreaded "braai delay". We were in good shape this time though because we had plenty of snacks!
Dinner was awesome. We had Kudu and Warthog and it was all delectible!
The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast and relaxed in our room a bit.
Each room is it's own little tented cabin with a private deck and a hot tub. Sooo nice in the cold weather!
Then we set out to see the reserve via elephant. We saw this guy on our way to meet them!
Now that's what I call a safari vehicle!
Jeff and Teddy jumped on first..
Sooo excited!
Off they go!
Then Sasha and I jumped on. If you've ever ridden a horse and thought it was a long way down to the ground, then times that by 10 and that's how high it feels riding an elephant!
We headed out into the reserve. Where does an elephant take you? Anywhere he wants to! Actually there was a guide on foot and he kind of acted as a leader. Elephants are very, very smart and theses 3 were also very well-trained.
Looking back we could see our cabins.
The boys!
I love this picture because you can really see the size of the elephant we were riding!
We were able to see a bunch of wildlife as we roamed around. We saw a beautiful herd of Impala:
So riding an elephant with no saddle.... see how Jeff is leaning back on his hands? That's because the elephants spine is right under your bum and they have a raised spine. It's like sitting on the arm of a chair for an hour with no stirrups and your legs just dangling. After a while everyone's bum was screaming for a break so you do a lot of shifting trying to get comfortable...
Stay tuned for part 2!
FOR ELEPHANT VIDEO CLICK HERE.
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4 Wheelin' in Africa

 Right after we got to SA we were invited to go on a 4X4 weekend with the crew that Jeff works with. Even in the middle of settling in and craziness we had to say yes to that. So after work and school on a Friday we hopped into a rented "Bakkie" (pick-up truck) and headed out into the wild. We drove and drove until it was quite dark. Then we turned onto a dirt road for 27km. We bounced and jarred for what seemed like forever until we hit this gate:

Now I took this picture on our way OUT so remember that we were seeing this in the light of our headlights. Of course we don't speak Afrikaans but it HAS to say "make closed the gate" right? So we opened, drove through, and closed it behind us. We did this with several more gates just hoping we were in the right place and not about to get shot by some farmer.
 After driving on dirt forever, we drove on dirt roads some more and then did meet an old farmer with a huge white beard who assured us that we were on the right track and told us to drive MORE! We finally found the group, settled into a little river-side cabin and went to sleep. Next morning we woke up and got to take a look at our surroundings. It was beautiful! Very much like the TX hill-country outside of Austin. We drove over to meet everyone else and the kids and Roxy were in heaven with so many other kids to play with. 

We had a snack and then headed out on a 4x4 tour. First we drove through some bottom land with beautiful orchards and fields:

 Then we headed up into the high country!

 Our wagon train stops to take in a view:

 We even got a glimpse of the road we came in on. Kinda glad we couldn't see that massive drop in the dark!

 We went down a super-steep hill to a river and all got out to check out the area. Roxy loved the sand.

 Then we headed back up. This was soooo much steeper than it looks in the picture. You had to keep going forward at all times or you would slide back!

 Game face. Great driving babe!

 Back up high again we went off to explore a new area.

 We passed a whole bunch of termite mounds...

 and ended up high on a ridge where we could look back down on the farm where we were staying.

 Roxy was in the truck with us the whole time. Sometimes jumping all over everyone, sometimes lap-napping - her favorite thing to do!

 Line of trucks coming up, up, up.

 Such a steep drop. Do a good job Jeff!

 When we got home 4 hours later we were STARVING. We went back to home base to make some breakfast. Of course Roxy doesn't go anywhere without a squeaky toy....

 Our little cabin:

 Later in the afternoon some people did more 4x4'ing and Jeff went with them for solidarity but the kids and I were kind of done. Once you've been 4 wheeling on quads in NC with a bunch of commercial divers, driving on dirt roads in trucks kind of loses it's appeal. We're jaded, what can I say? We headed out exploring keeping our eyes open for Baboons and Leopards. Roxy loves chasing her kiddos everywhere. She was a very happy pup.

 We found this really cool canyon area.

 And we had to cross a river a bunch of times.

 Roxy is not afraid of water at all. She went flying across all the rivers and even fell totally in to a deep spot at one point. She just shook it off and kept going!

 It was a great day. That night we got ready to experience our first Braai. This is when the South Africans do cook-outs over a wood fire.

 We had to wait a loooooong time for the wood to burn down to cookable coals. Someone put a groovy crock-pot thing on the grill too. This is also really popular here.

 Roxy was out cold for all of this... she had a big day.

 She got a place of honor high on a table up near the fire though. She's a very popular little dog...

 On Sunday we had to drive back home but this time we got to experience the 27 km's of dirt road in the daylight so it was much cooler.

 Beautiful country:

 This is where this one insisted on spending the entire trip. Nothing like a 4 hour car ride with a squirming, nipping little puppy in your lap.

 She's lucky she's cute! At least we brought plenty of chewies so she wouldn't chew on ME!

 Finally right before we got home she crawled down into the foot well of the car and went to sleep. Something tells me this dog is going to be a very versatile adventurer!

Goofy? Well...maybe just a little...

In exactly 2 months from today I'll line up with about 17,000 other people at the starting line of the Disney World 2013 Marathon. And hopefully when I cross the finish line I'll be getting not one but TWO awesome medals. I'll get the Mickey Medal for completing the marathon, and the Goofy Medal because I ran the half marathon the day before. I am so excited/scared/nervous for this event that I can't decide if I want all the preparation and anticipation to last, or if I just want to get it over with! I'm even starting to have race nightmares where I can't find my bib, or I show up at the starting line with only one shoe, or I get there an hour late. Soooo many things can go wrong that even with training it's not a done deal until I cross that line. I could get sick or injured, the zombies could rise up, Obama could get re-elected.....
Oh wait.
Yesterday I finished my longest run ever, 17 miles and I can't believe that I only have 3 long runs left, a 20, a 23, and a 26. I can't even imagine running those distances but what I'm finding out is that God gives you just the stamina you need for the run you have to do TODAY. So run today's run and don't stress about what's ahead.
There are so many things I am looking forward to on this trip. Believe it or not there is still a huge bucket list of things to do at WDW that I have never done and on each trip I get to knock a few out as well as enjoy old favorites. On this trip we'll see the Osborne lights for the first time, we've got a split stay planned at the Contemporary and the Wilderness Lodge - 2 resorts I've never stayed at, we're going to watch Wishes from the beach at the Poly and from the top of the Contemporary, and we'll try out 7 new restaurants!
We are taking my parents and Jeff's parents and I think the 8 of us are going to have a total blast. One of the rules for this trip is that everyone not fighting off cancer has to participate in one of the Marathon Weekend events. So on Friday the 2 Grammas are walking the 5K together, Sasha is running with Papa, and Teddy is running with Jeff while Dad and I cheer everyone on. Then Saturday Jeff and I run the half together and then hopefully I finish the full on Sunday. I'm so excited to share this event with so many family members. I know they're all proud of me no matter what happens and I feel exactly the same about them. So excited to go to the Expo all together and get our race stuff. How special is that?
In the meantime I have lots of Goofy things and people in my life that inspire me all the time. And an impending marathon is GREAT motivation not to gain 5 lbs over the holidays!

Top 10 bizarre things about South Africans

Here we go:
1.) They are OBSESSED with driving stick. They love their manual transmissions like I love Disney and it makes no sense. I mean shifting is a whole bunch of fun when you're off-roading but in stop and go morning traffic, not so much. You can't drink your coffee, you can't pick your nose, you can't even slap your kids because both hands are busy ALL THE TIME. Shifting is work people, get over it. Jeff and I finally got our cars and we both got automatics and let me tell you, it was like trying to find 2 needles in a haystack. We'd be working the search critieria and the minute you checked "automatic transmission" the number of cars available would go from 427 to 8. Wow!

2.) Doesn't matter what your race, creed or socio-economic status is, if you're under the age of 12 shoes seem to be optional. Kids are barefoot all over the place here and it's not about poverty. Kids get out of luxury SUV's and walk all around barefoot. In the grocery store, the mall, Home Depot, the Airport, public toilets, you name it - kids are barefoot. And don't go thinkin' that it's because things are all lovely and pristine here... it's Africa. Things are DIR-TY. No one picks up dog poop, there's litter and there's broken glass. Help me understand! Can't you get some kind of horrible parasite through the bottoms of your feet? Yuck. Somebody call that guy at Tom's and tell him that PE needs shoes.

3.) They love sports like it's their job. Really. I'm thinking in the next 10 years they're going to be killing us at the Olympics for a few reasons. 1. There are a lot more of us but the percentage of Americans thin and fit enough to participate in sports is a number roughly equivalent to the population of Monaco. 2. The South Africans start sport early and they are SERIOUS about it. Teddy does swimming, cricket, tennis and judo. And let me tell you this is not "splash around and have fun in the pool", "hey we're all winners" sport like we have in the US. When they're in the pool they are racing each other, analyzing their stokes, and trying to be better. At age 6. On the soccer field there's no celebrating second place with ice cream and participation medals. If you lose you are a LOSER and you may want to go back and watch the film and figure out where you went wrong so you can work on your skills for next time. Also on the weekends, it's pretty common to see grown men and women walking around with their faces painted in all kinds of team colors for whatever sport is being played that day. They're serious folks.

4.) The entire country is bi-lingual. Makes me feel very inadequate. All the blacks speak English and Xhosa and all the whites speak English, Africaans and some of them also speak "one or two" African languages. This involves a lot of clicking and it's quite impressive. I have had to explain to many people that Americans are linguistically challenged. It's not OUR fault that the rest of the word speaks English so well that we don't have to learn anything else right?!?

5.) They looooooove their school uniforms. Adorable children are all over town in various versions. You read my last blog entry so you know what I'm taking about.

6.) There's only one radio station in town - Algoa FM and I mean there's only ONE RADIO STATION. As in when you get out of your car and the song gets cut abruptly short, you hear the song pick up from all the cars around you and the establishment you are about to enter. If some dictator wants a good platform to indoctrinate an entire city, look no farther. We're all listening all the time. 'Cuz that's all there is.

7.) The aforementioned radio station plays cheesy, cheesy, CHEEEEESY music. In a GOOD way. It's shocking. Peter Cetera followed by Aretha Franklin/George Michael duets "Kneeew you were waiting for meeee.." and pretty much the entire soundtrack from A night at the Roxbury. "What is Looove? Baby don't hurt me...." All the songs you're embarrassed to admit you secretly know all the words to they play. It's like the entire town is one big acappella group that's trying to determine their new fall song list. And I love it. My kids are constantly like "You KNOW this song?" as I sing away. I'm easy to spot in town... I'm the chick in the car with the Disney sticker and the automatic transmission belting out "Secret Lovers" at the stoplight.

8.)They like to "braai". This is grilling out over a wood fire. They have Braai'ing grill/cooker things instead of gas grills. Braai'ing is fun like once a year. After that I'm pretty much over it. Do you know how long it takes for a wood fire to burn down to coals that you can cook over??? Too damn long, that's how long. You start the fire at about 5pm if you want to eat at 9. By that time I have eaten my pets. They turn it into a whole event mostly I think just to have an excuse to hang out and drink around a fire. But here's the thing... you can eat and then just have a fire to drink and hang out around. I'm going to revolutionize them with this concept. We bought a gas grill. Like the dad on Phineas and Ferb says, "You Americans are like big, fun children." Yes, yes we are. And we do NOT have the attention span to cook over wood. Let's eat NOW and then we can hang out around the fire and relax. Cooking marshmellos is a concession I will make, but it's the only one. If someone ever invites you to a South African braai, do yourself a favor... bring a snack because you're not going to eating for a WHILE.

9.) Terminology. I'm still trying to figure it all out. But the biggest problem I'm having revolves around the concept of "now". If someone tells you that they'll be with you "just now" wouldn't you think that means immediately? Think again. The rough translation of "Just now" is actually: "NOT now, and BTW, I have no idea WHEN I'm going to be able to help you but it's probably not for a while." And then there's "Now, now" and I still have no idea what THAT one means...

10.) They are obsessed with dried meats. SERIOUSLY obsessed. It's called Biltong and it comes in many different animal variations. Some of it is in strips, some in "wors" which is like a dried sausage, and you can get it in all kinds of flavors. They eat biltong the way we eat ice cream. Every mall has biltong shops and people are lined up to buy it. If you go to an outdoor event there will be not one but SEVERAL dedicated biltong carts. They even have a section of the grocery store devoted to biltong. I'm not making this up. You know how the aisles are labeled "dairy, baking goods, produce, ect.." They have a section for Biltong. It's actually quite good.

That's just the first 10 things that have hit me in our first 6 weeks. So If I come home to the US a shoeless, sports-loving, beef jerky eating, manual transmission-driving, singer of cheesy songs you'll all know why...

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School In South Africa

Step 1: Show up one day before the last quarter of the 2012 school year for placement testing and uniform fitting. Sasha placed into grade 3 and Teddy placed into grade 1. This was great news. It put them a year ahead of their South African classmates which means that they will be the youngest ones in their class but it also means that they won't be half a year behind when we get back to the States. Great job Hyundai Foreign School! Teddy becomes a 2nd grader and Sasha a 4th grader in January. Yikes!

Step 2: Rent an extra vehicle or a trailer to get all the mandatory uniform items back to the house to be labeled and sorted. You think I'm kidding right? Here's the bare minimum we were required to get for this quarter:
Here's just Sasha's stuff: (note the required red school undies. REALLY?!? This is strangely disturbing. Like who is going to be seeing my kid's undies?)

Just Ted's: And this wasn't all if it!!! Still on order waiting for mandatory custom embroidery were their school swim towels, art smocks, pencil bags, music bags, and for Ted a chair bag and a school bag. And a rain jacket for Sasha that was back-ordered. At this point I was terrified and ready to flee the country. How on earth was I going to figure out which version of which uniform each kid was wearing on any given day? The answer turns out to involve an extensive chart with multiple colored highlighters.

Step 3: Try it on!
Step 4: Get ready for the real deal on the first day of school!
give the puppy a hug good-bye! (Note that this is the early, unbroken version of the puppy. Simpler times people....simpler times.)
Step 5: Have Mom figure out that the Blazer is, indeed required. We don't want any debits in our behavior book after all...
Step 6: Make sure you know when to wear the sporty version of the uniform:
Step 7: Make sure make sure that Mom knows when to pick you up and what you have to bring for any given day. Because on Monday Teddy needs lunch and a tennis racket and Sasha needs swimming stuff and Teddy gets picked up at 2:30 and Sasha at 3:15. On Tuesday Ted wears his sports uniform and has swimming. S pick up at 2:10, T pick up at 2:30. Wednesday Teddy has Judo and needs that outfit and gets picked up at 2:15 and Sasha at 3:15 after swimming. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP! Thursday is awesome because Sasha has no sport and gets out at 2:10 and Ted gets out at 2:30 and has cricket so no one has to bring anything. And on Friday everyone needs swim stuff and Ted gets out at 1:15 and Sasha so far has gotten out at a different time every Friday so I have no idea WHEN she is supposed to be finished.

Step 8: Unpack the car at the end of the day. Which is like coming home from the beach and summer camp all rolled into one. There are lunch boxes to unpack, wet bathing suits and towels, sporting equipment and the ever-precious blazer (that has hopefully not been lost or crumpled into the bottom of a sports bag or dragged through the dirt) and the uniform parts to all be sorted shaken out and hung up.

AND to top it all off we have to get up at 6am like real people just to make it to school on time. Did I ever complain about the schedule at HFS? Because if I did I needed to be slapped....
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