Wildlife and Waterfall: 5 Days in Victoria Falls

My friend and fellow PCVL, Catie, and I are walking down a road chatting away and scoping out Baobab trees. When we had been closer to the river, I had startled Catie by pretending I saw a giant crocodile approaching, causing her to scream. Suddenly, glancing past her, I stopped short...instead of jumping her, I whisper, "Holy crap! That's an elephant."

Because I had jumped her earlier, Catie didn't believe me. But once I convinced her her to glance to our left, she too saw the giant back end of an elephant, not thirty feet away from us. We didn't even pause for photos, too nervous about being that close to an elephant without the protection of a car. We speed walked away whispering jokes that ultimately led to our Instagram hashtag of the trip: #HowWeDiedToday.

Catie and I spent our first few days in Victoria Falls avoiding the town's namesake. We spent far more time checking out wildlife than the falls.

We went to a private resort to watch vultures dining...

Just a hundred vulture friends pushing each other around for a scrap of cow.

We enjoyed a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River upstream from the falls...

A hippo yawn is an impressive sight!

Three Photo Thursday- 13 October

The Form E students singing during their celebration.

On Friday, I awoke before dawn and donned my party dress (literally). As early as possible, I was on a taxi leaving the Peace Corps training village bound for my brother Thabo’s Form E Farewell. Form E is the local equivalent of Senior Year. Instead of a graduation ceremony, schools do a Farewell Ceremony before the students write their exams. Their exams are nationalized and they must pass in order to earn the certificate (like a diploma). I had promised Thabo last year that if I was still in Lesotho, I would be in attendance for his ceremony. It was amazing. For six hours I watched students dance, sing, and give speeches before we ate a meal and headed home. It was my proudest moment in Lesotho thus far, however, I will discuss that more in Monday’s blog post!

Heather shows her awe at our waffle breakfasts...after enjoying a milkshake as a pre-breakfast treat!

A few weeks ago, I realized that inside my own head I was frustrated more often than usual and becoming more negative. I spent a walk stewing about it on my way to town and realized that since January 1^st I had taken a total of three vacation days! That same morning I learned I was not needed for an activity I had promised to help with and another PCV mentioned he was headed to Clarens for that weekend. Within two hours of my realization, I had a mini-vacation trip to Clarens planned. Having been to Clarens for the other vacation days I took this year, I was not there to sightsee. I was there for amazing food, dark beer, my friends’ tattoos, and my own pedicure. For two days, that was all we did and it was exactly what I needed!

Finally! Burglar Proofing is Installed!

The week ended with some huge excitement. Only a week after giving me a quote for burglar proofing the chickenhouse, the third and final contractor we hired called to say that installation was happening…that day! I had to scramble to rearrange my schedule for the day-I was supposed to be finalizing things for the boys’ camp that was about to start-and then get back to my village from town. But, by mid-afternoon, the entire chicken house was finally burglar proofed. Considering my frustration less than two weeks earlier, this was an incredibly exciting turn of events.

Guest Blogger: Flat Stanley!

Hey World! I'm Navajo Flat Stanley and I met Beth at her home in America last week. Since we are travel buddies for the moment, she said I could write a blog post for her.

I'm from Crownpoint, New Mexico and have been sent out to see the world by the students of Crownpoint Elementary School. Crownpoint is part of the Navajo Nation. Before I met Beth, I had traveled to Massachusetts and Georgia.

I am learning that the world is really small. When I was in Georgia, Beth was wading through massive flooding in nearby Charleston, South Carolina. She says traveling over forty hours from her hut to the Holy City was worth it as she saw over twenty of her closest friends and was there for her friend Sara's wedding. I'm not sure I would be good at wading through that flooding though, as I'm less than a foot tall!

While I traveled from Georgia to New England, Beth visited her father and grandfather in Newport. Then, it was the New Hampshire and Maine area for time with more family. Apparently even though she has bunches of friends in New England, she used all her time for family...well, family and me!

We went to Wells Beach to see the Atlantic Ocean. It was so big and blue! As we traveled, I got to see the beautiful colors that leaves in New England become in the fall-reds, yellows, and oranges! They don't do that back home!

Soon, we said goodbye to Beth's family and were at Boston Logan Airport where I got to taste my first Dunkin Donuts coffee while we waited to start the first of three flights to Lesotho-where Beth lives now.

I slept through most of the flights, even the fifteen hour one! At each airport, the bag I was relaxing in got searched. At first I thought it was my fault but at JFK airport the TSA rep said the smelly candles next to me looked suspicious.

15 hours on a large plane and still smiling!

Lesotho is a lot different than New England. The first few days we were in the capital city, Maseru, and spent a lot of time in the Peace Corps office. Finally, we left for Beth's village. Her village has about 500 families. Like my own community, it is about an hour to get to a real grocery store, but there are a few tiny shops in case people are unable to make the trip. Since most people do not have cars, that is probably important!

Lesotho looks a bit like home, which makes me a little homesick. There are even people keeping goats and sheep, just like the elders back home do.

I'll write another blog post about our adventures together in Beth's village before I hit the post office to fly on toward my next destination!

I'm glad this isn't the same Atlantic Ocean I saw in Wells.
This is from when Beth was in Charleston.

Beth with her sister, cousin, and cousin's son in Wells.

Oops, I forgot to put this up above. When Beth was in Maine,
she became a godmother, again! That's her new goddaughter
in her arms! 

Thanks world, 

                      ~Flat Stanley

Kathy's Lesotho Reflections

Hiking Lesotho's mountains.

As my last two blogs have highlighted, my amazing sister visited Southern Africa for most of August. It was wonderful sharing my life and work with her. I asked her to write as a guest blogger about her experiences in Lesotho. As she told me, "This trip has engraved itself my heart and it seems to funny to me that outwardly I'm the same when I feel so different inside." 

Here is the experience, in her own words:

In August, Beth and I went on one of our Amazing Adventures.  We started in Kruger National Park with Tracy, hunting for glimpses of elusive animals, celebrating 2 birthdays, freezing our fingers on game drives, and laughing all over the park.  There we checked the Big Five off our lists as well as many different bird species.

After parting ways with Tracy, Beth and I were off to Cape Town to be penultimate tourists.  We checked off Table Mountain, the Castle of Good Hope, The Best Nachos Ever, and local draft beer (Beth even got to have a porter!)  Robben Island was a highlight (see Beth's previous post) although also a difficult stop.  After 4 nights in luxury (gotta love rewards points!), we wine tasted in Stellenbosch and continued on to Lesotho.

From the second we reached the border, I knew that this Adventure was different.  This Adventure involved litter all over the ground.  This Adventure had us checking out of South Africa and walking over No Man's Land before checking into Lesotho.  This Adventure had the custom's agent welcoming us to the country with a big smile on her face and telling us that we were beautiful.  This Adventure had me blindly following my sister deeper into the city and through a few alleys to avoid the taxi drivers and pick up a Venture taxi instead.  This Adventure had me cuddled with the trunk door of an SUV sitting on a jump seat with my luggage piled on my lap next to a man who cracked open a beer while trying to change his SIM card.  This Adventure had me overwhelmed.  For the first time in all of my travels throughout Europe and North America, I was in a place were most people didn't speak English (or French!) and I couldn't even guess what they were saying.

And so my Adventure was living Beth's life for a week.  We went

Kathy doing laundry.

on errands around the village and the camp town, hand washed our clothes in the spring before carrying them back up the hill, taught life skills to Standard 4-7, weighed babies at a monthly clinic, and talked to a teacher about the upcoming GLOW camp that Beth is running.  All of these activities were surrounded by much needed Sister Time.  And in the background was always someone checking in, wanting to make sure Beth was okay since they haven't seen her in a while.  

With one of the four classes Beth teaches weekly.

And that is what made this Adventure so different - people.  People who yes, couldn't understand me just like I couldn't understand them.  But this Adventure had people who welcomed me in and accepted me just for coming to visit their country (it helped that I'm Thato's sister!).  They spoke to me in the language of love and smiles. They payed me compliments through Beth - usually expressing surprise that we look so much alike and then saying how beautiful we are.  This Adventure had brothers who teased me, played football with me, let me join movie night, and called me "a-ussi Kavy" (Sister Kathy).  This Adventure had Me' Masekila who made me Ma-toe-hoe and then tried to explain to me what it was in Sesotho before just saying "porridge" in English (I must have looked awfully confused!).  This Adventure had a community of people who welcomed me to their home and shared as much about it as they could in ten short days.  This Adventure had the Chief saying, "Welcome home" when he met me and even though it was only day 3, I felt it.  

Sharing Kathy's favorite American
foods with the host family.

So while the first day or so was tough and there really is a ton of litter on the ground, by the end of the trip, I didn't notice it.  Instead I saw the people - welcoming, kind, and amazing.  

Vacation: Cape Town

After Kruger National Park and driving for ourselves, it was surprisingly nice to head to the opposite end of South Africa. In Cape Town, we not only could explore without a car but managed to never even take a taxi.

Cape Town is a wonderful city. We spent four nights there before moving slightly north into the Western Cape Winelands. While there, we visited Robben Island, the V&A Waterfront, Table Mountain, Simon's Town and Boulders Beach, Long Street, the Castle of Good Hope, Camps Bay, and District Six. In the interest of easy transportation, we went full tourist, using a hop-on, hop-off double-decker bus tour to get between most of those places.

Robben Island was, without a doubt, the highlight of the entire trip for me. It is an island that first served as a leper colony-making it my second island leper colony visit after Chacachacarie in Trinidad-then as a prison. It is most known for holding political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela and Jacob Zuma during Apartheid. Today it is a UNESCO heritage site and well worth the visit.

As our boat arrived on the island, we were treated to an incredible animal siting: a seal successfully attacking a cormorant. We were unsure whether the seal would be victorious as the cormorant kept popping back to the surface, however, after ten minutes of attacks, the seal had its dinner. We disembarked and were shuffled onto tour buses. The tour buses drive around the island, explaining the historical significance of various buildings, the stories of select inmates, and even allows stops to get out for photo opportunities at a viewpoint of Table Mountain and at the most famous Lime Quarry on the island.

Listening to the history of the island and hearing the guide talk gracefully about the latent racism present in its history stunned me. Because the residential community of guards was small and the government was so afraid of the political prisoners kept on the island, after a few years of keeping political prisoners on Robben Island, they banned black guards from working there. Basically, the white guards did not want to be forced to interact socially with blacks and this was a strong enough belief at the time in South Africa that it affected prison policy.

The Lime Quarry prisoners like
Neslon Mendella worked at, including
their only shelter: the cave in the
background.

Similarly, when the government first began incarcerating black male political prisoners (white political prisoners and black female political prisoners were kept at other prisons on the mainland), they continued to house criminal prisoners there as well. This changed because instead of the political prisoners being intimidated by the criminal prisoners, the criminal prisoners began believing the ideology of the political prisoners. This, of course, was very dangerous for the Aparthied government, so the criminal prisoners were removed.

Hearing the various “crimes” political prisoners were incarcerated for still stuns me. I simply do not understand how the rest of the world was able to ignore Apartheid in the wake of the Holocaust. As intellectuals and academics studied and created the steps of genocide, they blatantly ignored the fact that South Africa was employing multiple steps toward genocide: the creation of homelands and moving black citizens into districts, requires all blacks to carry cards and buy permits to travel outside of their homelands or district, etc. The number of people being imprisoned as political prisoners was astounding.

As the bus tour concluded, we were sent into the actual prison, where we met Derick Basson. Mr. Basson was incarcerated at Robben Island from 1986 until the political prisoners were released in 1991. His prisoner number was 1986 as he was the 19^th inmate brought to Robben Island in 1986 (To put that in perspective, Nelson Mandela's number was 46664 as he was the 466^th inmate of 1964).

Mr. Basson spoke extensively about life in the prison. He acknowledged the changes in treatment of inmates over time, such as the closing of the lime quarries that prisoners had been forced to work in for decades. He shared information about the food and clothing made available to political prisoners, which was different for those that were 100% black versus those of mixed heritage.

"Human dignity is everything"
                            ~Derick Basson

There is something enthralling about watching an eloquent man speak quietly and passionately about such a difficult time in both his and his country's past. It astounds me that someone could feel so strongly about the concept of equality and human dignity that he is willing to revisit the very cells of his incarceration, to share anecdotes of everything including the discomfort of cavity searches on a daily basis. According to Mr. Basson, he is willing to continue to live on the island, although now in the former guard housing, and face his past in hopes of preventing similar inequalities from being accepted in the present and the future.

I found visiting Robben Island more powerful than visiting the concentration camp Dachau. Like Robben Island, Dachau held primarily political prisoners. Although it had gas chambers, extermination was not part of its history. I left both with a similarly powerful conviction that I must be as a strong and just member of the human race with the ability to stand up against such horrible possibilities. And yet, it seemed more real at Robben Island. Maybe, because unlike Dachau, the buildings are still standing and even usable. Maybe because the island held political prisoners for the first decade of my own life. Maybe because I live in Lesotho and am more closely in tune with the news reports that highlight post-Apartheid racial challenges in South Africa today. Maybe because of Derick Basson and his life story as just one of many men still alive who lived in the cells we sat in. Regardless of why, visiting Robben Island was an experience I think most of us could use to remind ourselves the value of humanity and human dignity.

In the words of Derick Basson, “ Human dignity is everything.”

On Monday, we visited the Castle of Good Hope, which is actually a fort and not a castle in the European sense of the word. The fort was built by the Dutch in the 1600s and has been surprisingly well maintained over the last 400 years. As Americans who have visited many forts, Kathy and I were surprised by the amount of freedom a self-guided tour allowed. As litigious Americans, we found ourselves atop the fort, no guardrails to protect us from our own stupidity.

The fort makes a big deal about its torture chamber, as Dutch law required torture during interrogation during the 1600s. Signage notes that each “procedure” was carefully documented. As we left the fort to explore its small adjoining orchard, the menacing doors of the main entrance were closed behind us. We had scooted ahead of a large tour group at the torture chamber, so perhaps they were being locked in for some living history?

We explored Long Street briefly and found the perfect little tapas and wine bar for lunch before heading up to Table Mountain. We arrived and got off the bus. Two minutes later, we were on the bus again, headed to Camps Bay. Table Mountain was closed due to high winds. When we reached Camps Bay, we learned what locals do on beautiful, sunny holidays (It was National Women's Day-a work holiday in South Africa); they go to the beaches. The entire town was packed. We explored a bit but were mostly overwhelmed and headed back towards Cape Town.

Atop Table Mountain

Tuesday morning was once again clear and the wind forecast had diminished, so we rushed to Table Mountain. This trip was more successful, although we were heavily jostled by Chinese tourists and had the pleasure of watching a man attempt to confront some pushy tourists. It was unsuccessful as the Chinese tourists immediately acted as if they did not understand despite having spoke English only a few minutes earlier. Once the funicular reached the top, we set out on the longest trail around the top of the mountain. As we got away from the crowds, we enjoyed the views of both Cape Town and the beaches we had visited the day before. It is truly a stunning view.

We stopped being tourists and played shoppers for the afternoon. We popped in and out of various shops at the V&A Waterfront. We also found a place with local micro-brews where I was able to enjoy my first porter in 14 months!

Penguins!

Wednesday was a full day. We checked out of the wonderful hotel we had been staying at (Thank you Marriott Rewards and Protea North Wharf Hotel, we love you both!) but kept our luggage there for the day. Then we boarded the Metrorail to head south to Simons Town and Boulders Beach. Boulders Beach is heralded as one of the strongest nesting grounds for the African Penguin nee Jackass Penguin. We enjoyed the trip and I took far too many photographs as every minute there was a siting better than the 200 before.

On our way back into Cape Town, I shot our hostel in Stellenbosch an email asking if they could pick us up at the train station as we would arrive shortly after dark. We zoomed from the train station to the hotel and back, then waited for our train to Stellenbosch in the winelands region of Western Cape. Of course, leaving the city at five meant the atmosphere at the train station was profoundly busier and more rushed than when we had done so at ten am to head to Simons Town. We got our train and even managed to get seats. We breathed a communal sigh of relief and settled into the incredibly full car.

Half an hour later, the train stopped. Not like it stopped at the station, let folks embark or disembark, then continued. It stopped at a station and did not start again. We watched the commuters around us as they ignored the issue, so we too ignored it. After twenty minutes or so, we started moving again. We made it as far as the next station, where the train stopped again. This time, as we sat there, we watched people jump off our train to board passing trains-sometimes hopping the tracks and just jumping onto the space between two cars. Kathy and I looked at each other, uncertain as to our best option. I checked the train timetables to see if there was another train coming that we could get on, however, the Metrorail website said there was not.

After another thirty minutes, we were still sitting there and my leg was numb thanks to the weight of my backpack-which was holding all our heavy stuff-on it. I moved to one of the empty seats where I could set it down and ended up next to an Afrikaner. We ended up chatting and Saint John I, as Kathy and I have affectionately named our helpful new friend, took us under his wing. He called Metrorail and figured out what train options would work for both him and for us as we were traveling further than he was. He even connected us with other passengers headed to Stellenbosch.

We eventually switched to train going almost all the way to Stellenbosch. By this time, it was completely dark. We got off at the last stop that train was visiting, which was Saint John I's stop. According to his earlier phone call, we arrived four minutes before the train we needed. However, after ten minutes, we had seen no signs of said train. He again called Metrorail and reassured us that in the worst case, he would drive us to Stellenbosch. While he was on the phone, he disappeared. Despite our current trust in Saint John I, I was nervous that we were stuck somewhere we did not know, after dark, without the number for a taxicab or anything else.

Saint John I eventually returned with his friend from church, Saint John II and the news that the train was in fact still on its way. Saint John II was only traveling one more station with us but offered us a ride from there to our hostel in Stellenbosch. We said goodbye and gave profuse thanks to Saint John I. Soon, the train arrived, with only one car lit up. The dozen of us still there boarded and sat down. Before the train departed-it was waiting for one more train that might have also carried lost souls from our train-a Metrorail security guard came in and asked if there were any tourists present. Our new posse of Stellenbosch travelers pointed to us and the guard ensured we knew what we were doing. We could not help but laugh at them for being two hours too late.

Twenty minutes later, we were in Saint John II's Mercedes, headed to Stellenbosch. As I checked my email for the hostel address, I noted an email from Nico, one of the iKhaya Backpackers staffers, frantic with worry that we had not arrived yet. I called him to both reassure him and confirm directions and soon Saint John II was carrying our bags into the hostel. Ikhaya had upgraded our room, giving us a private apartment, which we were ready for after such adventure. We ate our lunch leftovers and crashed.

The plan for Thursday had been Shark Cage Diving, because seeing Great White Sharks in the wild is on my Africa Experiences list, however, gale force winds and a small craft advisory canceled our trip. Thus, we spent Thursday exploring Stellenbosch. It turned into a life maintenance day complete with haircuts and pedicures.

Our last vineyard and amazing
cheese tray!

Friday, we checked out of the hostel and headed out on a Wine Tour with Afrivista Tours. It was only us and 3 female med students from the UK. We visited four vineyards, had lunch, and enjoyed a cheese plate at our last vineyard. It was an amazing day during which Kathy and I realized we have now visited vineyards on three continents together. Three more and we will have done it on them all! New life goal is set!

Our tour guide dropped us off at the bus stop in Paarl, where we caught our overnight bus back towards Lesotho and the next part of Kathy's Africa Adventure.  

Table Mountain from Robben Island. Visit this album to see more photos
from Cape Town, Kruger, and Lesotho.

Wine Tasting

Vacation: Kruger National Park

Standing atop the Topic of Capricorn.

One day shy of 14 months since we hugged goodbye, my sister Kathy and I were hugging at OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg. It was her birthday, but I think the present was mine as we set out on a 23 day adventure in South Africa and Lesotho.

Kathy, fellow PCV Tracy, and I rented a car and headed out for Kruger National Park. Everyone we encountered along the way told us this was the perfect time to visit, and it turns out they were correct. In our days in Kruger, we identified 26 mammals, 1 reptile (plus an unidentified blue lizard), and 44 birds. By the end of winter, many smaller water sources have dried up, forcing animals to congregate in larger numbers. The visibility is also better as Africa's scrub and brush has not grown for a few months and has been eaten or trampled.

Regardless of this, I suspect visiting Kruger any time of year would be absolutely amazing. The national park is incredibly well run, their staff was always professional, the camps were always clean and fostered a sense of nature despite being in camp with hundreds of other people. As a resident of a small village in Lesotho, I found everything I read about the camp shops, however, to be laughable. Reports in books and online suggest the shops are understocked and do no have much variety, but compared to what I have access to on a daily basis, each of the small shops I saw was incredible with a variety of drinks, souvenirs, camping and barbecue supplies, and foods I can only get in Lesotho. And the animals...they are everywhere. We saw all of the “Big Five” (lion, leopard, water buffalo, rhinoceros, and elephant); in fact we saw all by the rhino two or more times!

Tracy's birthday
celebration.

Tracy, Kathy, and I were a perfect pairing for this adventure, as we all preferred to cook in the communal kitchens or brai (barbecue in Africa) at our huts rather than enjoying fast food at the camp restaurants. We celebrated both Kathy and Tracy's birthdays, enjoyed a night drive, and shivered our way through a dawn drive. Kathy drove every day in the park, somehow still spotting most animals first and also managing to line up perfect photography moments for both the front and back seat. Both women were willing to accept and even support my bird nerd moments.

Our trip to Kruger was supposed to end after three full days. We exited the park as planned at the Phalaborwa gate with visions of visiting the Amarula factory and Blyde River Canyon in our heads. Unfortunately, this is Africa and nothing every goes exactly as planned. It turned out that Phalaborwa was completely blockaded by striking mine workers and it was too dangerous to try leaving, even via backroads. As a result, we found ourselves with a fourth and very long day inside the park before driving five more hours to get closer to Johannesburg our last day.

Here are a few of the most memorable animal encounters:

The Dawn Drive:

We were absolutely freezing in the early morning. I was thrilled to see dawn, but disappointed to realize that did not mean warmth. We turned down the road of the previous day's Great Elephant Encounter. Soon, our guide started acting differently; stopping and starting, craning his neck, opening his door, looking around, then slamming it again. Suddenly, in a tree on our right, I saw red. “Stop!” I yelled, finally alert and unaware of the cold. “There's something in that tree!”

As we backed up, it became clear we were looking at a fresh leopard kill in the tree. We spent the next ten minutes trying to spot the cat we knew to be nearby before I finally found her in some grasses 150 yards from tree. We watched her lurk her way back to a hidden spot behind the tree, admiring her grace but unable to get a clear shot. Even without a picture, the sighting was incredible and let us completely check off the Big Five.

The Great Elephant Encounter:

Moments before the excitement began...

We drove from Letaba Camp to Shingwedzi, arriving midafternoon. After settling in, we decided to head out for a bit. We drove North, choosing a dirt road that paralleled a river. We weren't seeing anything new or profoundly exciting-impala, giraffe, hornbills-and we were approaching the end of the road when we came upon a large herd of elephants.

The broached both sides of the road, dining. We sat patiently, watching while waiting for them to move on as the other herds we had encountered always had. As we watched, we noticed the cutest baby elephants. We were awed by the adorable foursome. They raced and played like children, which was fine until their race brought them close to our stationary car. Two large Mommas stopped eating and slowly approached, ears waved menacingly. Kathy put the car in reverse and backed up a dozen feet or so until the elephants relaxed.

As we began to relax too, an elephant that had been eating off to the right came running towards us at a 45 degree angle. Kathy noticed the charge first and flew into reverse as I watched her continue to charge. Like a champ, Kathy backed up faster than the elephant's run and far enough for the elephant to give up. We watched them a few minutes longer before realizing they were not going to leave the road and we would need to turn around to get back to camp before the gates closed.

On our way out, we warned two cars of the protective road block ahead. We toyed with two other dirt roads before reaching camp, but saw them blocked by large elephant herds so we gave up and went home. Kathy now has elephant induced PTSD.

Daily Dose of Lions:

-Day One-Weak Sighting

It was our distance day, driving 220km from Pretoriuskop to Letaba. On an open stretch of road, we saw 2-3 dozen cars parked; mostly SUVs and open safari vehicles. We craned our necks in our little rental and could just see the top of two lions, although they were virtually unidentifiable we saw so little.

-Day 2-Sleepy Couple

On a dirt road, we found a group of 4-5 cars and trucks, marking a male and female pair not 150 yards from the road. The female was hard to see well, but the male posed for a multitude of photos.

-Day 3-Two Boys-

We were still high on the leopard sighting when our guide paused to talk to some workers. Since they were not speaking English, I tuned out, but Kathy's ears perked up when she heard “Lions!” Sure enough, 2km later, we saw two males basking in the early morning light on a riverbank. We had apparently missed a pack of lady lions roaming the roads during our leopard moment but these two guys were clearly and easily spotted.

-Day 4-Bird Blind

We did not see any new birds species when we stopped at the remote bird blind, but across the river were two female lions just “lion around” (Thank you, Lion King) and sleeping.

-Day 4-Lion Jam

Lions, apparently, also bring out the worst in the people of Kruger. As we tried to head our towards the Orpen gate to start the long drive back towards Joberg, we found ourselves trapped by a dozen cars, campers, and trucks with trailers. Some were only trying to get through, but most had parked in an attempt to get a good look at a lion in a hard to see spot. We, however, only became frustrated and therefore did not even try to sneak a peak as we cursed at the cars and inched our way through the mess.

Leopard Modeling:

As I mentioned, there was not supposed to be a fourth day in Kruger. We were supposed to have moved on but the striking mineworkers changed our plans for us and thus we found ourselves with eleven hours of driving, six in Kruger on Thursday. The park, apparently, tried to make it up to us with some great animal sightings. The highlight of these was our second leopard.

Only a few kilometers from a rest camp (aka bathroom break), we found four cars stopped but saw nothing. We asked the first vehicle and learned they saw a leopard. We stopped, cameras at the ready. And the large male decided to grace us with phenomenal views. He walked on the right side of the road for a bit, to get clear of the brush. Then, he crossed directly in front of our car, paused on the left side, and continued into the brush.

As we drove away, we laughed at our luck and all the people who would be searching for leopard that day when one literally stopped us in our path.  

See More Photos from the Entire August Vacation: Kruger, Cape Town, and Lesotho.

August 24, 2015

Vacation: Bushfire

After 51 weeks in Lesotho, I finally took my first vacation. It was actually only a long weekend trip. I

traveled with twenty-one other volunteers to Swaziland for Bushfire, a three-day music festival.

The travel was pretty uneventful. Another volunteer and I had arranged a private sprinter to take us from Lesotho through South Africa to Swaziland. We listened to poor intel, however, and therefore were operating with the misguided understanding that the trip would take us eleven hours. In reality, it was only a seven hour drive, which we learned at about 10:00 PM while at a gas station in South Africa. This was the same moment we learned that the border crossing from South Africa to Swaziland was four hours away and closed at midnight.

Thus, we spent five extra hours at the border gate waiting for it to reopen at 7. Despite this, people were in pretty good spirits and mostly relaxed when we reached the Bushfire campgrounds.

The festival itself was incredibly fun and relaxing. Since we arrived early Friday morning and events did not start until later in the day, we had time to take showers, nap, and relax before things got started.

I was unprepared for exactly how free and relaxed I felt at Bushfire. Excluding “Consolidation Vacation,” this was my first time out of Lesotho since joining Peace Corps. I have become so accustomed to adapting to the Basotho cultural norms, that I did not even realize I was still doing so. And yet, once in Swaziland, at an event known for drawing a diverse crowd, I found myself relishing a freedom I had not realized I was missing. Having experienced this, I now understand why we were told in Pre-Service Training that days in country are work days even if we are not actively working on a given day.

Bushfire included a really diverse variety of performers from the Unites States, Europe, and Africa covering most musical genres. I got to enjoy Nomsa M, 123, Haja Madagascar and the Groovy People, Shortstraw, Tonik, Stelth Ulvang, Sweet Sweet Moon, Sweet Honey in the Rock Freshlyground, Les Nubians, Joana Serrat, The Soil, The Parlotones, Continental Drift, Amandla Freedom Ensemble, Outcry, and a bit of Ghetto Villah.

Of these, my favorite moments were definitely:

Hanging with Mackenzie-Fellow PCV Mackenzie and I had planned months ago, before the Lesotho PCV group swelled to huge numbers, that we would do Bushfire together. While we occasionally hung out with other PCVs that were there, we mostly did our own thing. We had splurged for a pre-erected tent in the woods, which set us apart to begin with. Then we wandered in and out together. We relaxed and chatted in our tent one afternoon while listening to the music from the mainstage. She is a pretty incredible human in general and it was wonderful spending so much time together doing our thing at Bushfire.

Joana Serrat-a folk musician from Spain who says her musical roots come from American artists like Bob Dylan. I liked her music so much that I had to buy her album to enjoy in my hut. I highly recommend checking her out.

Breakfast with Tonik-perhaps the most unusual show I went to was Tonik, who I enjoyed both Saturday and Sunday morning. They are a duo that claim to perform “music without sound.” This seemed impossible until I popped into the art exhibit barn they were playing in on Saturday morning. Around them was a circle of people looking entranced with nice earphones on. The Barn itself was filled with artwork and occasional light percussion sounds but was otherwise silent. I wandered around for a bit until someone leaving gave me their earphones. As I donned them, I was stunned by the beautiful and rich sound I heard. The next day, I had to visit again because I enjoyed their music so much.

Being a VIP-a handful of us had splurged on the “Golden Lounge” tickets. The Bushfire website had implied that the more expensive tickets came with food so we were a bit disappointed to learn that was not actually the case. I felt a bit ripped off at first, but by Saturday was celebrating the extra expense. We had large seating areas in the shade with waitstaff, which allowed me to avoid both sunburn and sunscreen for the entirety of the festival. We had access to really delicious and healthy tasting meals from a reasonably priced restaurant instead of the corndogs and other festival booths. And maybe most importantly, we had access to warm drinks so I could enjoy hot coffee in the morning and hot chocolate when the nights turned cold!

Ghetto Villah-most people know that rap is not my favorite music genre, however, Mackenzie and I had stayed in the small venue amphitheater after the Joana Serrat show talking to her drummer. We stayed long enough that we were accidentally there for the start of the rap duo's first few songs. Midway through their second song, the vocalist came off the stage and made very deliberate eye contact with me for an oddly long time while singing. Mackenzie and I laughed about it. A few minutes later, he slowly swaggered over to me while continuing to rap. He then put the microphone in my face for the chorus and after I chimed in (I am thankfully learning to quickly pick up songs I do not understand from going to church in Lesotho) gave me a long hug. Mackenzie and I left to see another performer on the main stage shortly after, but I am certain that had we stayed, I would be announcing my new relationship with a Swazi rap star!

Stelth Ulvang-Despite the unique name, this was one of the American performers. He was the first main stage performer on Sunday morning and he blew me away with his ability to energize a tired crowd. His stage presence and charisma were amazing. I can see why he earned the stop to tour with the Lumineers and strongly recommend folks check him out.

Our return trip to Lesotho was shorter than the trip to Swaziland. Maybe because we were tired, it seemed like we all slept better during the trip back. Thus the only notable moment was when we made a pit stop at a 24-hour McDonalds only to learn that the interior was closed. As we were traveling in a group of 23 on a mini-bus, we were not too keen on going through the drive-thru. This changed into great enthusiasm when the staff told us we could walk through the drive-thru, something most of us had attempted and failed in America. Thus, twenty of us cheerily ignored the cold and walked our way through the the drive-thru.