Day One: First Game Drive!

Luckily, I actually slept last night. That annoying headache that you get from lack of sleep is finally gone. I woke up around 6:30 an hour before we were scheduled to be picked up, got dressed and hurried outside to enjoy the morning. It was quite cool but still pleasant. I ate my granola and was soon joined by the Marquette girls and Adam. After waiting a while, we were finally greeted by Brenda or our tour truck (not a bus but a truck). It can seat 24 people but we only have 16 which means plenty of room to stretch. I immediately went to the front because although I’ve travelled a lot by car (done it for years). I’m prone to get car sick/

Our group is an interesting one. I was surprised that there are so many older people. From front to back, there’s Kate and her mother who have been travelling around Africa for a while now, then two German girls who are in South African to volunteer, then several older couples one American, one French, and a Swiss couple. And there’s of course Adam, the Marquette girls and me.

We soon left Joburg and I enjoyed looking at the interesting landscape. It was weird because at first everything was just flat and reminded me of Illinois and their corn fields only I can’t really describe to you how it’s different. It just is. I took pictures anyway because it wasn’t what I was expecting. Then we stopped for petrol aka gas. We got out and went to the bathroom then it was back on the truck. I decided to take nap which went well. I also took notes on the trip. Then we arrived at Nalspruit for lunch. First we went to the grocery store, which was very nice. They had stuff they didn’t have in Cape Town like Frosted Mini Wheates. Then we had lunch which was lighter than I expected. It was just a sandwich and I was able to make a small salad with the lettuce, tomato, and cucumber provided. Then we were on the road again. This time the landscape got interesting and I got some great shots of the mountains and since we were close to the park we put the windows down which was great. We passed some orange trees and the smell was wonderful. I love looking at all the South African flora here because there is such a variety: pinks and purples. Beautiful flowers.

The ride just made me think about how beautiful the world is and also how small it is. I love it! I just love travelling. I now want to decide where to go next. Perhaps I’ll come back here for the world cup. That would be sweet. Or maybe I’ll visit Jane in New Zealand or perhaps Europe finally. All I know is that I’m addicted to travelling. I was just thinking about how weird its gonna be going back to Nashville and not seeing the beautiful mountains. St. Louis is even worse

Back to the trip, we finally got to Kruger and immediately spotted impala, which is sorta like a deer. It was very exciting. Then we stopped at the front gate and got out to use the toilet and I took more pictures. Then we continued on our game drive. We saw tons of impala, a giraffe and a bunch of elephants, even a little baby one. It was so cute. Then we got to the camp site where we set up camp. We were supposed to go on another game drive but we ran out of time, so instead we set up our tents, which wasn’t too difficult. Then dinner which was so good. It consisted of beef and rice and there was so much left over we were allowed to have seconds. After dinner it was bedtime.