Coffee Girl-Tragically Hip

Here I am, in South Africa! It has been a crazy six days, and I haven't had much time online, so I will just split some things into separate posts in an effort to keep things brief...

I left Monday, and got to Port Elizabeth Tuesday evening. The plane rides were fairly uneventful, and luckily I enjoy traveling enough that I didn't go crazy in the exact center of a plane for 17 hours. I found my luggage and was able to recheck it and go through security in the Joburg airport again (luckily, there was a nice couple on their way to Cape Town that I followed till I found useful signs again) and since security is much easier to go through, I was just able to make my connecting flight on time. When I got to the Port Elizabeth airport, Jill and Chris were both there from Interstudy (my study abroad program) and Jill took me back with her to Grahamstown. I am the only Interstudy student at Rhodes, but everyone I have talked to seems to think that I made the best choice of University :)

Wednesday, Jill and I met Chris and the four students who will be attending Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (in Port Elizabeth) at Addo National Elephant Park to go on a game drive. Just the drive to Addo was fantastic; I saw some ostriches and a monkey on the side of the road, as well as some killer scenery. I can finally see what the Eastern Cape looks like! Once we got to Addo, we went on a drive through the park and saw a ton of elephants (not surprising, since it is an elephant reserve) as well as a bunch of other animals. Unfortunately, there weren't any big cats out during the day, although Addo does contain the big five, which I though were the five biggest animals in Africa but are actually the most dangerous: lions, leopards, elephants, black rhino, and cape buffalo. According to out guide, the hippo doesn't make the cut because "he is a big coward... anyone can kill a hippo, and they are only really dangerous in the water, where they don't belong." Not sure how much I agreed with that, but...

Anyway, my favorite part of the drive was when we came up on a herd of 12 elephants, including four babies, who wandered across the road directly in front of our truck, but I was also thrilled to see... drumroll... ZEBRA! I didn't think that I would see any in the Eastern Cape, but I saw so many zebra within 24 hours of being in South Africa that it was hilarious. Unfortunately, I didn't get any great pictures of the zebra (or the herd of elephants, I was having camera issues), but since they are around, I am sure I will at some point. We also got to see some adorable meerkats, as well as warthogs (Timon and Pumba are crossed off my list of things to see, but Simba is still on there...) and a ton of birds, kudu and other bucks (aka various types of wild deer).

After the drive, Jill, Chris and I said goodbye to the NMSU students and headed back toward Grahamstown via Kenton-By-The-Sea. Jill convinced Chris that we should see the ocean while we had a car (the ocean is about a 45 minute drive from Grahamstown) so we stopped at Kenton and hiked this path over the sand dunes that went through a shrub-type forrest and eventually made it to the sea! It was fantastic... the water was surprisingly warm, and I had to wade in a bit, just so I could say that I have been in the Indian Ocean. We watched the sunset over the rocks there, and it was so beautiful. I took some great pictures, but I wont be able to post them until I get my computer connected to the network here, which could take awhile. You will see them eventually...

Anyway, we finished the day at the restaurant in the B&B where Chris and I stayed the night. I had a "venison hotpot" that included kudu, impala, and warthog (since I had seen them, I might as well eat them?) Its been an incredible 24 hours in South Africa...zebra, ocean and noms. It certainly wont be like this everyday; soon, I will be back to school and in my normal routine. But at least my normal routine shows signs of being a bit more unusual here. Can't wait!