Yes, finally. An update from your beloved ‘Mpopi’. What an incredible three days we have all just had…two of which were spent at Kruger National Park on safari. It’s still surreal to think about the fact that we have all just been on safari in Africa. Never would I have thought that I would have had such an incredible once-in-a-lifetime chance to do such a thing with the most incredible people.

We headed out on Saturday morning for Kruger, which is about 70km from Acacia. We entered at the Punda Maria gate and headed towards Shingwedzi (the lodge where we were staying), which was another 70km. Of course, this took us a couple of hours as we crept through the park at about 20km/hr trying to spot animals. After getting through the gate, we almost immediately came across several elephants on the side of the road, followed by a couple of giraffe. We also saw many various types of antelope, an ostrich, monkeys, tons of zebras, herds of water buffalo, herds of waterbuck, and even more elephants (one of which we got a little too close to, and he made it clear that it was time to back off). Once we got to the lodge, we had to get checked in and ready pretty quickly, as we had a guided sunset safari tour that started at 15h45. Our tour guide was fantastic, and gave us a ton of insight into the various animals, as well as their poo. Miriam thoroughly enjoyed that part of it. We saw two hyena cubs, a huge herd of water buffalo, more impalas and waterbuck, zebras, elephants, and a couple giraffe. Besides seeing the animals, we were able to see the most incredible night sky, completely filled with bright stars. I’d never seen anything like it before, and was completely blown away.After the tour concluded, we had a nice dinner outside at the lodge restaurant, complete with a couple bottles of delicious South African wine. It was an early night, however, as we had an early-morning sunrise safari tour scheduled for 04h45.

The early wake-up was well worth it! Besides the opportunity to see the breathtaking South African sunrise, we saw some jackals, warthogs (which are my new favorite, as they remind me of my dog, Guinness), more giraffe, some ground hornbill, a mongoose, and pale-spotted owl, a lilac-breasted roller (the national bird of Swaziland), and…oh yes. I almost forgot. TWO LIONS! As the sun had just risen, we came across two young males just strolling down the side of the road. The tour guide said they were likely headed back to their den to sleep after a long night of hunting, which he believed was probably successful as their bellies looked pretty full. We followed them for quite a while and were so close that we could have literally reached out of the vehicle and touched them at some points. We were all thrilled to have had the opportunity to see them, as it is pretty rare compared to all the other animals there. It was a fantastic way to conclude our tour.

After having breakfast at the lodge, we packed up and headed south along the riverbed to try to see some more animals on our way out of the park. We first saw a HUGE crocodile sunning himself on the bank of the river. A bit further down, we came across one of the most beautiful scenes of the trip: 18 elephants (including 3 babies), 5 zebras, a herd of impalas, a herd of kudus, and several waterbuck all in this riverbed. We were incredibly close, and watched the scene for quite a long time. It was amazing to see the baby lions playing in the water, some of the older ones competing for places on a rock in the middle of the bed, and so many types of animals existing in one place harmoniously. After leaving that scene, we saw some hippos further down and got to hear them grunting at each other, which is quite an interesting noise. Sid was a big fan, and I’m sure will be reminiscing about it for years to come. Upon finally deciding to pick up speed to get out of the park, we hit an elephant road-block. This one, very large, very…excited…male elephant was just standing in the middle of the road, which is not atypical. What is a bit out-of-the-ordinary is the fact that he did not move his legs for at least 15 minutes (maybe longer, as we finally turned around and went another route). He also had a ‘5^th leg’ going on, which was pretty humorous when it began flipping around. Unfortunately, that was the only part of him that would budge.

In a way, it was a good thing we took another route, as we came across a tree that had a dead antelope about 15 feet up, slung between two branches. It was clearly a fresh kill, as rigor mortis had not set in yet at all. We all tried spotting the leopard that was undoubtedly responsible for it, but never saw it. There were several cars there, and I’m pretty sure that guy was not going to make an appearance until he had some more privacy. It was still a pretty incredible thing to see on our way out of the park. All in all, it was an amazing trip and I’m thrilled that we had the opportunity to do such a thing together. The drive back was nice as well, and we drove through hundreds of orange groves during sunset and reminisced about our trip and the various things we encountered. We managed to keep the talk of the project to a minimum, which was nice to have a break from. We got back pretty late and threw together some rice and veggies for dinner. We were all exhausted, and headed to bed.

The following morning, we were scheduled to arrive in the village at 10h00, which of course didn’t happen as we were told we had to ride on the Univen bus again. Due to lack of organization, we didn’t head out until about 09h40, and still had to stop so that the nursing students, who we were sharing a bus with as they are now going to work in a neighboring village (Tshabvumo), could swing by KFC to get themselves lunch. The Tshapasha team was not happy, and decided to have a meeting with our advisor about organization and communication upon our return from the village. While in the village, the guys met with the business group, and then the rest of us went around the village to recruit folks for upcoming groups. It was a success! So the day was not lost. When we got back to Univen, we met with our advisor and voiced our concerns and frustrations. I’m certain that things will get better from here on out, because we basically said that if things are not taken care of, we’re going to do our own thing and handle business ourselves. I’m so proud of my team!

Last night was great, and we all were able to hang out at Acacia together and have a home-cooked meal, from yours truly of course! Spinach, chick pea, and tomato curry with rice, and Sid threw some sausages on the braai. Complete with some Shiraz, it was a nice evening. Sid, Joe, and I also went out to the Khoroni (a local casino/hotel) for some drinks and gambling. Don’t worry! I only lost about 50 Rand, which is only about $6. Sid, however, was out R500. We got him out of there and came home.

Ah. Goodness. I’m so sorry again for the novel. It’s just been such an eventful couple of days. I’ll try to keep it shorter from here on out, as I can’t imagine I’ll have as much to write about as I did going to Kruger. The plans for this week aren’t too crazy, and just include village visits/meetings in Tshapasha, and a Mandela Day dinner at a local chief’s house (who is also Univen faculty and works very closely with UVA). Sending love and happy thoughts from SA!