Cape Buffalo

Angry Elephant

Hyena

Can you spot the animals?

Giraffe at Kruger

Back in the USA

I'm sitting in Dulles airport in Washington, D.C. It feels a little strange to be back. I had a wonderful time and made so many new friends (Mel, Gabe, Stephina, Steve, Zach, Scott, Uzmah, Crystal, Kathy, Sphesh..the list goes on and on)! I got plenty of sleep on the plane from Joburg--almost 16 hours--to make up for all the sleep I didn't get on the trip. The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind and it will take me a little while to process everything I did and saw.

The past few days I've been in Phalaborwa at Kruger National Park. Go there. You won't regret it. I'm going back as soon as absolutely possible. Below is a list of everything I saw on the game drives. See you all soon!

Baboons--too many to count
3 vervet monkeys
7 warthogs
Impala--to many to count
13 kudu
7 hyena
1 plover
1 duiker
1 white-faced vulture
39 elephants
10 yellow billed hornbills
Helmeted guinea fowl--too many to count
27 Burchell Zebra
10 giraffe
3 steenbok
A large herd of Cape Buffalo
1 poisonous green tree snake
17 terrapins
15 Maribou stork
11 hippos
12 red-billed oxpeckers
2 water buck
2 fish eagles
2 very large crocodiles
1 black-bellied kooribuster
1 brown snake eagle
2 double banded sand grouse
2 flapwings
1 bushbuck
1 slender mongoose
10 white crested helmet shrike
1 dwarf mongoose
2 red-billed hornbills
9 rock hyrax
7 lion

Impala in Kruger National Park

Wild Baboon at C.A.R.E.

A Proper Braai, Eh?

Last Day in Cape Town

Sorry I haven't posted in several days. Good internet is hard to find. Dial-up is still very common here, so WiFi isn't too reliable. I'm sad my trip is quickly coming to an end. I've had so much fun, and met so many amazing people that it will be hard to leave. I've spent the last two days with Mrs. Keet at Macassar High School in False Bay. She was nice enough to let another teacher (Kathy from San Jose!) and I stay with her family. It was great to spend the night with some locals and get first hand experience of life in South Africa. We also spent some time at her school, talking to her students. Mrs. Keet and her husband both teach high school science. The learners (South Africans don't say "students") were great and were very excited to hear about life in the USA. I also gave them some St. Brigid pencils, pens, post-its, bags, and folders. They were so excited!

Last night the Keets had a big braai for us. A braai is basically a barbecue, but is taken very seriously. Lamb is a very common meat here, so we had lamb, pork, boerwors (South African Sausage), and many other things, including some very good wine.

Today Melanie and I walked around the city, as we had our first free day for the trip. It was so awesome to wake up on my own, with no alarm blaring in my ears! We went to two museums, and some markets along the waterfront. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get all this stuff back! I bought a very cool vuvuzela that's hand-painted by "learners" and made from dried kelp. It's fragile and I have seven flights left until I'm back in San Francisco..let's hope it makes it back in one piece!

Tomorrow we leave for Kruger National Park. I can't wait to go on a safari! Hopefully I can post some pics from there. If not, I'll be sure to post some as soon as I get back to the states on Wednesday. Hope everyone is having a great summer. Are there any questions about what I've done or seen? Comment below and I'll try to answer back as soon as I can.

Oh, and I need to give a shout out to Zach, a fellow TITP teacher. He's upset he hasn't made it into my blog, yet. Are you happy now???? :)

Shark Spotting at False Bay

Macassar High School Drama Club

African Penguins!!!!!

Cape Town

I'm exhausted. Three cities and three flights in seven days is a bit crazy, but so incredibly worth it. I may not be sleeping much, but I'm having such a great time. The teachers I'm with are fun, and what we are seeing is incredible. Yesterday we spent the day with social workers from Africa Tikkun, which is an amazing organization that is helping povery-stricken families. Among the several programs they run is a cultural dance program called Iqala Ngam. Most of the girls who participate are Xhosa, which is a South African indigenous tribe, and they are amazing dancers and singers. They even taught us a few dance moves, which was a lot of fun. I have it all on video and will share that when I return.

Today I hiked at Table Mountain, which resembles exactly what its name suggests. It was flattened by glaciers millions of years ago (It's older than the Himilayas) and then became a mountain through uplift. I didn't have time to hike up, but took a cable car up the side. The cable car is much different from what we have in San Francisco. It actually rotates while going up and down the mountain. Pretty cool.

Tomorrow we're going to World Widlife Fund marine sites to see Cape penguin and meet with shark researchers. It should be a great day! Hope all is well back in the states!

Cape Point--Southern Tip of South Africa

The peninsula in the background is the southern-most point in Africa. It's where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet.

Table Mountain Overlooking the Atlantic Ocean