Abigail!!!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program for another random picture of Abigail and her cuteness! We love to get these texts of her!!!!!!!!!!

 

South Africa-- Mala Mala Camp Day 4

We spent half of the day traveling to our camp. First we had to fly to Johannesburg (about 2 hours) and then to a small airport in Skukuza (another 45 min flight)-- out in the bush and then another 45 minute drive from there to our camp even further out in the middle of nowhere! Just on our drive from the airport we saw wildebeest, impala, giraffes, wart hogs, zebras and more wildebeest! It was so incredible and we aren't even technically on our safari yet! The animals are so plentiful-- they were literally everywhere. Our driver got us pretty excited about what we're going to see. She said that this wasn't even the tip of the ice berg of the animals we'd see! (She was right!) THEN, when we got to our camp and were waiting for our orientation, almost as if planned... a mamma elephant and her baby were just hanging out chomping on the trees and bushes RIGHT THERE IN THE CAMP! I just couldn't believe how close they were getting to us and were not even afraid of us! They were so cute! We got to our room and settled in and unpacked-- gorgeous room by the way! We are NOT going to be roughing it here-- it's a bush camp but we are NOT camping! Then we met up with our guide Stephan ("Steph") and headed out on our first drive! Within about 15 minutes we saw a leopard-- a young female about 6 months old. This is crazy, because the leopards are harder to find and they are solitary animals. They hang their kill in trees so no other predators can eat their food--SMART! We saw hyenas, a mongoose, more "ellies" (elephants), and a bunch of giraffes! We saw another horned (male) animal but I can't remember their name-- they look like they're wearing face paint and have britches that only go halfway down their legs... beautiful animal! The African sunset was like no other on our first evening in the bush! We have a really nice group and will stay with the same people each day. There is water and heated blankets on the Toyota Land Cruisers, which by the way are so smooth. Stephan was going over bushes and downed trees totally off-roading and it was literally so smooth of a ride! These vehicles are so nice-- I keep wanting to call them Jeeps, but they're not! Hahaha!!

South Africa-- Cape Town Day 3

We went on a tour of the Cape of Good Hope today! It was a beautiful day although still cold! The flower arrangements in the hotel are absolutely exquisite! The spiny ones are called "pin cushions" and they do look like pin cushions! On our tour we first went to the Cape Point lighthouse. It has typically always been extremely foggy here so even the lighthouse couldn't be seen and there were still shipwrecks! Crazy!! Instead of taking the shuttle, Bill and I opted to hike up to it-- it was a pretty good workout and pretty steep! I was pretty sweaty when we finally got to the top, even though it was so cold and windy! Then we drove to another spot where it is the most south western point of the African continent! After everyone in our group got photos, we headed over to the penguin sanctuary... it was so fun to watch them! They're so cute!! It was super windy here, and I got sticky sand in my face and hair, but it was totally worth it for the penguins! Besides penguins, we got to see baboons, ostriches (they eat the meat and it tastes like beef-- very lean), impala and seals! We aren't even on our safari yet and we are seeing so many animals! After the penguins, we drove a short distance to our restaurant where we enjoyed a yummy lunch with very scenic views of the ocean. Later on, we went to a group Edward Jones dinner at the Two Oceans Aquarium where we had dinner! It was probably the coolest location for a dinner EVER! We enjoyed all the exhibits and then they fed us another incredible meal all while enjoying sharks, sea turtles and everything in between-- even some scuba divers with an Edward Jones sign! They thought of everything!!! This was our final night in Cape Town... tomorrow we head to the Mala Mala camp in Kruger National Park for our long awaited Safari! Woohooooo!!!!!!!!