Village Photos

                                                       On the way to Djuma game reserve

                                           On the road to the village

                                           One of the many houses in te village

                                           An ancestory house

                                          A community church

                                           Preschool kids singing nursery rhymes (three and four)

                                                        Calli and the kids

                                           Kids walking home from school

                                          Papaya tree in the front of someones house

Robben Island

While we were in Cape Town, we visited Robben Island. Robben Island was a jail where Nelson Mandela went after he got incarcerated for 27 years trying to fight against the apartheid. We were guided through the prison and around the Island by one of the many prisoners who was kept there. He stayed there for 5 years. He took us to the limestone wall where they had to break up the limestone and bring it to one side of the quarry to another. All the long days working at the limestone wall,started to blind Mandela because of the light that reflected off the limestone as he was working. We continued into the jail and saw his cell were he stayed. Different jail cells were open that had the stories of some of the prisoners who stayed there the same time as Nelson Mandela. Each cell would have something special belonging to the prisoner in a box. I loved hearing about all the stories and reading what it was like to be on Robben Island. The Africans were treated worse than the colored or Indian people. The Africans couldn't have syrup or jam and they got half of the serving portions that the colored and Indians got. One of the guards told Nelson Mandela that he would never walk out of that jail alive, so when that time came for him to leave and he was in the car about to go out the gates, he stopped the car and walked out the gates a free man. Alive.

Cape Town

We arrived in Cape Town on the 31st to see a beautiful city. There was a mountain behind the city named Table Mountain which was one of Cape Towns biggest attractions. Everything looked new and modern and I couldn't wait to explore every corner of it. We were surrounded by water with different piers and unique boats.It seemed like the whole city was floating on water. There were different shops you could go to and restaurants along the waterfront. Wherever you would walk people would smile at you and say hello.There were people outside drumming and singing different African songs and anyone who knew the song or wanted to dance, would dance right there in the street. It reminded me a lot of New York except everything felt more natural.

In the Village

Yesterday we went to the local village which was 15 minutes away from where we were staying. Our guide took us to see his family and how everything worked in the village. Each house had an outside toilet and a small hut in the front for talking to their ancestors. Some of the houses were bigger than others and most of them were donated by the government. We visited a preschool of three and four year olds. As we pulled up and walked towards them they lined up and started to sing for us. They sung in English so we could understand. They sung nursery rhymes and songs to help them learn in school. They did one play about HIV and how u can get tested.I thought that it was amazing how they were learning about HIV so early in their lives. Some of their parents had died from HIV, so to them it was very important to know what to do when they got older. After we visited the preschool, we drove around the village just taking pictures of everything and seeing how people lived. It was an experience that made me realize how lucky and blessed I am to have all the resources, education, and everything I need to live.

Kruger National Park and Djuma Game Reserve

We left from Johannesburg on a 20 seated plane and landed in Sabisand to switch for another plane to get to Djuma. The plane ride was about 5 minutes long to Djuma. As we were landing, some warthogs were blocking the runway so we had to go back around and land again. It was incredible to already see animals as we were landing. Our ride was waiting for us as we got there. We took a long drive through the bush to the Reserve and saw a Leopard sitting with it's kill in a tree. The driver explained that we were very lucky to see a Leopard on the first day because they are usually hard to find. After we saw the Leopard we settled into our lodges and went on a safari.

Animals In The Bush

                                          Hippo

                                           Water Buck

                                           Elephants

                                          Nyala

                                           Zebra

                                        

                                          Lion (Male)

                                          Lions eating a baby Buffalo

                                          

                                          Giraffe

                                           Calli and the Tour guides

                                           Leopard

Arrival in the Motherland

We have arrived in South Africa.  It is clearly winter here. Today we took a tour of Johannesburg and Soweto.  We saw both Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu's house and had dinner in their neighborhood.
It was surprising to see that there were nice houses there because the image people have of that area is very poor. Tomorrow we head to Kruger National Park to go on a four day safari.