Photo safari!

Please enjoy the below photos from my vacation with Jacob.

Unlike when Jacob visited in December and met me in Cape Town, this time we both flew into Johannesburg.  We arrived early on Easter morning.

We only had one day in Jo'berg at the beginning of the trip, and we were both tired.  We visited the Apartheid Museum, which was a very moving experience.  I learned a lot of new things about South Africa's past from this museum trip, and that helps me better understand the country I live in now.  Every time I think I'm beginning to understand South Africa, something like the Apartheid Museum comes along and reminds me how little I really know about this country and how, even after eight months, I really don't understand its people at all.

The Jo'burg skyline, as seen from the museum.

 The next day, we headed out to the Blyde River Canyon for some hiking.

Look!  It's my hubby!

Blyde River is like the Grand Canyon of South Africa.

Apparently there were crocs in the river, but we didn't see any that day.  Don't worry.  Lots of croc sightings happened later...

This is the Pinnacle, a random plug of hard rock that sticks up from the valley here.

This is a photo of the potholes.  The potholes are the start of the Blyde River Canyon, where two rivers come together to make the Blyde.  For very technical geologic reasons, the water has carved these round 'holes' in the rock here.  This was absolutely one of the coolest places I've been in South Africa.  It was gorgeous, and totally unlike anywhere else I've ever seen.

Looking into the canyon from the potholes.

Dipping my feet in a pothole.

Driving north from the potholes, a view into the canyon.

After the Blyde River Canyon, it was off to Kruger Park to see some critters!

The Orpen Gate to Kruger 

A ground hornbill

Look!  It's a donkey in pajamas!

Hippos in the river!

Me and our trusty safari steed.  It was WAY too nice and new of a car to be driving around Kruger.  I had actually forgotten how quiet and smooth a car can be, after driving around in my little Ford for eight months (I'm amazed that thing is still running).

Olifants rest camp

Impala.  Impala are to Kruger as tortoises are to the Galapagos and cathedrals are to Europe.  That is, when you see your first impala/tortoise/cathedral, you're like 'OMG!  Amazing!'  Then you see like a million impala/tortoises/cathedrals and you're like 'Ugh, it's another one of those!'

Giraffe!  Like RIGHT THERE!

Why did the elephant cross to road?  To eat the stuff on the other side.

Hippos look kinda awkward out of water.  BIG body, little tiny legs.

We watched a heard (troupe? pod? gaggle?) of elephants come to the river to drink.

The elephants chased away this buffalo.

Holy eye shine!  That, my friends, is a leopard.  My favorite (and the rarest) of the Big Five.

The giant spider and I weren't exactly friends.

One morning we went on a bush walk.  These two rangers with guns went with us.  You know, in case the elephants charge or something.  Apparently it happens.

The hubbs on the bush walk.

Walking around the bush with big guns... very Out of Africa, don't you think?  Just call me Karen Blixon.

This is the rondeval we stayed in at one of the rest camps.

The Olifants River at sunrise.

"Let's go swimming in this river in Kruger Park!" said nobody ever.

BABY HYENA!!

He was sooooo cute, and he came right up to our car.  I think he was trying to ask us for sandwiches.

Our first rhino sighting.  There are white and black rhinos in Kruger.  I wanted to see a black rhino because they are one of the most endangered species in the whole world right now, but sadly we only saw white rhinos like this one.

A pair of lions.  These two were busy getting busy, and they didn't care if they did it right by the road for everyone to see.  (Is that too racy for a missionary's blog?  I'm sorry, that's nature.)

Jacob watches the lions.

This is my very favorite zebra photo.

Jacob the braaimaster.  Watch out, South Africans, we're taking over your traditions!

Lekker braai.

Handsome lion in the morning light.

Jacob was a little concerned about how close he got to the car.  I told him not to worry, lions only eat Europeans.

A nice one of a big bull elephant.

Jacob sees what he can see from the bird hide.

Drinking wine on the porch of your rondeval is the perfect end to a day of game viewing!

Sunrise on the savannah.

Rhinos have the right of way.

So do elephants.  This car was pushing its luck, in my opinion.

After our Kruger safari, we headed back to Jo'berg for one last night, but we took a side trip to Pretoria so that we could see the capital of South Africa.

The Union Buildings in Pretoria.

Nelson, larger than life as always.

The Vortrekker Monument in Pretoria.

The view of Pretoria from the top of the Vortrekker Monument.  Also the only photo from the entire trip of me and Jacob together.

The last day of vacation, Jacob and I were back in Jo'berg and did a tour of Soweto.

The house where Nelson Mandela was living just before he died.  His third wife still lives there.

Soweto is an acronym for South West Township, because it is south west of Jo'berg.

Soweto is huge.  These were the worst looking houses in Soweto.  They look like the township shacks I'm used to seeing in places like Zwelihle near Hermanus and Khayelitsha outside of Cape Town.  But really these shacks were just one small portion of Soweto.  I was surprised by this... given what I know about townships, I expected the whole thing to look more like this.

Most of Soweto was made up of houses like this.  Honestly, it looks like Hawston.

Nelson Mandela's house in Soweto.

Me inside the Mandela house.

Arguably the most famous address in South Africa.

Our tour guide, who grew up in Soweto, outside of the Hector Pieterson museum.

The very famous photo of Mbuyisa Makhubo carrying Hector to the clinic, with his sister following behind.

Jacob in front of Soccer City in Soweto.

What have I been up to since I've been back in Hawston?  A lot!  Election Day was May 7, and I went with two of my friends as they voted, so stay tuned for a post about that coming soon.  I'm also busy preparing for my move to Lesotho.  Today I shadowed the nurses at the Hawston clinic during their weekly antenatal visits, just to brush up on my maternity nursing skills.  It felt so nice to get back to the type of nursing I do in the US!  So I'm very excited for my work with St. James Hospital.  Meanwhile, as autumn comes to the Cape, I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that I only have 7 more days of work at the care centre! So crazy!  But I'm determined to make my last two weeks in Hawston as awesome as the first eight months have been.