We loaded all the luggage in the van we borrowed from the area office and headed back to our flat. On the trip from the airport, we caught up with what was happening in their lives.
There was also some awesome sunsets enjoyed from our patios.
You cannot visit Africa without this sense of beauty and grace. Nature is so much vivid there, making it obvious that God has put his stamp of approval on this amazing place. We were encouraged to not just serve in Africa, but to go out and experience it. We were so fortunate that our children visiting allowed us a week off to do just that.
Even with all this beauty and wonder, the twins' favorite part was the play scape. They especially loved the see-saw.
They were so fun to watch!
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| Trey learning how to use a spear! |
We had hoped to go on a game drive the afternoon of our arrival, but when we got there it was totally booked, so we made a reservation for the next morning and spent this afternoon going to a native cultural village. There was a lot of Zulu spoken and great traditional garb. We learned a lot about how things were done (and still are done) in native villages. Mia didn't like the idea that the men always got to go first into the village and the huts, but they were giving us a real life experience.
We learned how they made their weapons and shields. These guys were keen to exchange hats with Trey. They rub these hides with a smooth stone until they are very smooth and durable. After this Mia and Trey just had to have their own shield and spear.
These gals are in their traditional Zulu outfits. Each one means a stage of the woman's life. For example, the one on right is a married lady. The single ladies do not cover themselves as much and usually just have the material over one shoulder, but there are different stages of single as well. Some mean you are not interested and others mean that the men can pursue, but the women don't have to accept. Labola is still prevalent in all of Africa. Potential Brides prices are negotiated between the potential groom and the bride's parents. It usually consists of a number of cows or the equivalent price for the cows in cash. It has gotten out of hand and now is very difficult for the grooms to pay the high prices for their brides.
A medicine woman is still considered the way to treat most illnesses in these villages. She lives a very solitary life, but can call a man to her tent if she wishes. Herbs for treatment, plus chanting and saying certain words believed to cause healing is their treatment.
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| Native dancers and musicians |
We then watched a performance of singing and dancing the native way that has been passed down through generations. Maybe they were performing these same songs and dances during Nephi's days.
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| Darin called up to perform dance |
They actually brought Darin up from the audience to teach him some moves...so funny, since Darin refuses to dance normally, but he was a good sport about this (even if not too coordinated in his dance moves...ha).
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| Elder Kyle saying "Thanks for the show." |
Elder Kyle expressed his appreciation for their wonderful performance. Then we went on a walking tour to visit the exotic birds and crocodiles in a natural reserve.
They had some beautiful ducks and other birds we've never seen before. This unusual duck did not look real it was so beautiful...an artist's brush could not have created such a perfect design.
There were several types of ducks and even some white swans just enjoying their surroundings in this beautiful garden.
Then we visited the crocks! Mia and Trey got to hold a baby crocodile and thought this was great fun.
It's funny how they are both holding the little guy away from their bodies. I guess there is always the chance they can try to take a bite...ha.
Of course, there were also the big guys. Our guide on the tour enticed this huge crocodile out of the water by waving his cap. The croc thought it was time for lunch, but was disappointed to only have a ball cap.
After our tour, on our way out of this preserve, we spotted this little emu who seemed to think we were trespassing. He wanted some food, but we had none, so this is his dirty look.
We then headed back to the lodge. After we got past the guard gate and headed up the road we had to stop behind this car, who was stopped because giraffes were blocking the road. We just sat and watched them for a while and eventually they wandered off the road. They are such amazing creatures and so big!
This was the first of many giraffes we saw on this vacation. They are very graceful creatures. We learned that the darker the spots, the older they are.
The next morning we got up early to go on a game drive to a neighboring game reserve, Hluhluwe/Imflozi Reserve. Our game drive vehicle and driver were very nice and the twins were excited about seeing some more animals.
On our way out of the Ubizane reserve, we saw more giraffes. I think they liked us!
We also saw lots of zebras grazing. They are beautiful creatures. We learned that you cannot ride a zebra, as their backs are as strong as a horse. Also you cannot load stuff for them to carry, like a donkey. They are just pretty to look at and food for the lions, but on this reserve, no lions. They did not have to worry about predators...nice to see.
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| Fences are scarce, but some are needed to keep animals off the roads to avoid getting hurt |
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| Rhino grazing right by our vehicle...very close |
At Hluhluwe, we saw our first rhino of the trip. The scenery is so beautiful here that we almost missed them, but we stopped on the road and they were very close. We could hear them munching the grass. Little birds were on their backs to eat the bugs.
We also saw groups of guards with guns that are obviously patrolling the area and keeping out poachers, a big job in such a huge park, but they looked ready for it.
These animals could have cared less that we were this close to them. They totally ignored us, which made it that much more interesting, as we could get up close to them and watch them graze.
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| Grazing White Rhinos |
Even if we hadn't see one animal, this park would have been my favorite...It was simply beautiful! Lots of mountains with the trees and bushes all different colors. We drove to the top of the hills and you could see forever. Wow!
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| Nyala |
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| Female Nyala |
We saw other animals too, the grand daddy Nyala... very big and grand. The female and her offspring look quite different in coloring and no horns.
We also went to the cheetah and other 'cat' species rehabilitation place not far from our lodge. This place had some rare variaties of cats and they are working hard to raise orphan cheetahs that will be released back into the wild when they are old enough to take care of themselves.
They had cats there that can jump 20-30 feet from a standing position. We saw them jump...Wow.
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| At the Cat park, we got to pet the Cheetahs, if they let us. |
Cheetahs are really beautiful animals and we got a rare treat to walk into their area and pet them. The guide gave lots of instructions about not making any sudden movements, to approach from the rear and basically be non threatening. There were three cheetahs, two males and one famale, all lying down. We approached the female first. I was keeping an eye on Mia and Trey...Yikes.
Mia wanted to pet the female, but a couple of boys approached first and spooked the cheetah a bit. When it was Mia's turn she walked over with her dad and bent down to pet her, when she rolled over and snapped at Mia. Then everyone was told to move over to the male cheetahs, while the embarrassed guide had a talk with the female...ha. Everett and Trey went over and pet one of the males, who seemed unconcerned.
Mia was not concerned about the incident and continued to pet the exotic 'cats'.
The next day I remember saying that we haven't seen any elephants. Where are they? Well, they must have heard us because we saw hundreds of elephants, starting with a herd coming down from a mountain right for us on the road. Our guide stopped the vehicle and we watched them come down. The largest elephant, the matriarch, watched us and snorted and tossed her trunk a bit, as if to say that they wanted to go down the road we were on, but we were in their way.
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| Elephants challenging their right of way on the road |
The guide started the engine and I thought he was going to back up to get out of their way, but instead he went towards them. This did not make the lead elephant happy and she expressed it. He looked at her and wiggled his finger back and forth saying "un uh" and shaking his head to say "No". Amazingly, she backed off and the heard came down the road and then around our vehicle to get past. Very fun.
We then turned around and took off on the road trying to catch up with the elephants. When we neared them, we noticed there were herds to our right and left and behind. We were surrounded by elephants!
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| Two elephants challenging each other |
It was the most amazing thing to see all of those elephants in one place. This far surpassed the other game drives where we would see maybe 10-15 at a time. These two young male elephants decided to play fight and they put on quite a show.
We saw many more animals. Trey counted 43 rhinos...the most we had seen anywhere. We were so close we could hear them munch the grass. This photo was taken from our vehicle without telescopic lens. We were so close.
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| Giraffe coming from the bush toward our hotel property |
One day, while at the lodge outside our dwellings the guys spotted some giraffe in the bush coming towards our lodge. There were about six of them altogether and they seemed to be trying to decide whether to come on the property or not. I was in our room when I heard the commotion and was told to come outside. When I did, I saw something I did not expect to see.
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| He came right by our rooms as we watched |
The largest of the six giraffes, was coming toward the property. We watched him carefully approach about thirty feet from where we were standing. There was a small pond on the property and he seemed to be heading for that. He was huge!
All of us were just standing there quietly wondering what he was going to do.
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| Mia watching the giraffe drink from the small pond |
He worked his way around the trees to where the pond was and then bent his front legs at odd angles to allow him to bend his neck to reach the water. You can see how close Mia was to him. The other giraffes just watched him, but none of them ventured on the property.
I was furiously snapping photos, as I could not believe that this amazing animal was visiting our lodge.
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Mia and Trey thinking about what to tell the
classroom about how they spent their summer. |
Finally he straightened up and started eating some of the leaves from the tree. He did that a few moments and then gracefully walked off into the bush to catch up with his friends.
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| One of the Durban Piers |
After three glorious days in the bush doing game drives, we left for another adventure to show them Durban, where we spent half of our mission. We stopped in Richard's Bay for lunch and then arrived in Durban early evening. We had dinner at the hotel and then went to our rooms. We reserved a place on the beach where we stayed before. The next day we got up and headed for the ocean, but it was a windy and chilly day (August is end of winter for Africa, so you never know about the weather). We checked out the piers and showed them all the sights near the ocean.
We saw amazing sand sculptures and the Pleasants went down to the ocean to make their own sand sculpture, which ended up being a giraffe. We took in all the ocean sights and sounds, plus checked out all the places along the very long beach walkway.
Then we had a little African fare for lunch.
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| Popular head piece for African ladies |
We did some shopping, of course. Shannon wanted to get the ladies back home some gifts from Africa and their family went into a reptile museum to see all kinds of snakes, lizards, etc. while Mia hung out with us and did more shopping.
At the end of the walkway was Ushaka marine world where we let the kids go into the play scape area to work off some of that energy! They had a great time climbing and jumping, etc.
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| Rickshaws for hire on the boardwalk |
On our way back to the hotel, we decided to take the rickshaws. It was pretty funny, but way too expensive! I think they saw us coming.
Later, we took some time driving around the area where we used to live and showing them our flat.
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| Pleasants at Berea church building in Durban |
Sunday, we got up and headed for church - Berea Ward, where we attended several times when we were there. It was great to see some of our old friends and enjoy their spirit. It's a lively ward with lots of children. We went to the primary after sacrament meeting and gave away CTR bracelets that Darin made to the children. Everyone was so happy to get them...leaders included. He made a total of 600 rubber band CTR bracelets for the children of Africa...amazing.
It's a 7-hour drive from Durban to Johannesburg, so we had to leave immediately to get there before dark. Elder Kyle drove the large van we acquired through the area office the entire trip and didn't complain a bit. Could it be because we were with our daughter and her awesome family? So much fun!
Since their plane did not leave for USA until Monday evening, we decided to go to the Lion Park there in Johannesburg. It's not quite like being in the wild, but it's not like a zoo either. The animals roam freely in a huge fenced area. The difference is they get fed by humans, so they associate humans with food. If they released them into the wild now, they would become man-eaters, so they will always be there. They form prides like in the wild and when we drove into their area and stopped to take photos of the white lions, there were several males on our left and females on our right, plus some cubs.
As we took their pictures, they all started to roar, because the pride in another area was roaring and they were answering - kind of claiming their area. The guide said that she never saw them do that before. It was so eerie, frightening and fun at the same time to be surrounded by roaring lions...it's a sound I will never forget.
We then drove over to the area where the other pride was. They were all sleeping, except for one female who thought we were the food truck. There was a wire mesh around the openings of the vehicle to keep the lions out. Trey was standing by the opening until the female jumped up and hit the screen. He moved back quickly...she was just investigating...ha...we all moved. This photo was taken of her right after she did this. The shadow on her is from the vehicle, so she was very close and very hungry...
The other lions were not at all interested...pretty lazy... Thank goodness. I don't think that wire mesh could have withstood all of them at once.
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| Mia and Trey petting baby lions |
After we got back from the tour, we got to go in the area where they keep the lion cubs (they are put there to keep the male lions from killing them when they are little. They put them back with the lions when they get old enough to take care of themselves. Some cubs were friendlier than others. This white lion cub was great about letting Mia and Trey pet him. He may be a cub, but his teeth and claws could do some damage.
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| Ostrich looking for food |
The twins also got to feed the ostrich (It pecked their hand so much getting to the food that they didn't want to feed him anymore.
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| High platform to feed giraffes...Trey says rough tongue. |
They then went over to a tall stand that enabled the feeding of the giraffes (They gave us special food). The giraffe took delicate little bites out of their hands and her lips were very soft.
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| Meerkat, up close and personal |
Like you see on Television, this little meerkat, was the lookout, making sure all was safe. He would run around for awhile and then come back and become the lookout. There were zebras, warthogs, wild dogs, hyenas and more. It wasn't as good as a safari in the wild, but it was the next best thing.
That night we took the gang to the airport. It was hard to see them go, but easier knowing that we would be seeing them again in six weeks. They all agreed that Africa is amazing. What a great time had by all. What a show and tell the twins will have when they return to school after the summer!
