Detour

Back to our safari,we saw so much that I hate to only talk about the cheetahs. The first game drive also included lots of elephants. We saw herds of them-males, mommas and lots of babies! The highlight was when the head male was being tested by one of the young males-typically they will test the older male, but the younger one will eventually give up and go away. We came across a very stubborn "teenager" that did not give up his fight, in fact at one point he picked up an entire tree trunk with his own trunk. We have some great footage of the two fighting...



This video is of a brand new baby elephant. When they are born they are very unsure of how to move around, and this little one was so clumsy with his big legs and his trunk!

We also saw a lot more animals, my favorites where the zebra and the giraffe; but the rhinos are also very cool-they resemble dinosaurs!

Another Year Older!

Hopefully a little wiser! It was a wonderful sunny day in South Africa and I had a great birthday, just spending time with my favorite people! Thanks to all -loving my new goodies! My sweet boys have been hiding their gifts from me and were so happy to finally give them to me- Hunter gave me a great wooden necklace and Taylor got me a really cool zebra. I also received some other fun stuff, one of them was a beautiful handmade quilt from my mom, and Pat got me my favorite perfume. Here's to another year filled with adventure, God knows this one has been!

Tell Me Again...

Why we are here? asks Hunter as we leave the airport. I ask him what he is talking about, and he says why are we here in South Africa, when everyone we love is in America? Well how do you explain these tough life questions, when I am so unsure of most answers myself?
We just said good bye to my parents(Mimi & Poppa), and I think I have cried ever since we left them. What an amazing trip we have had, we have done some great things, but the best part was just hanging out. My favorite times were when we were all at home just visiting or sitting in the backyard, or playing tennis. I will miss them greatly, but I do have some great memories I will keep forever!

We're Doing What?

Our first game drive at Shamwari started off as most do, but soon into our drive we discovered this was not going to be ordinary. Our game ranger was named Jonnie, pronounced Yawny, and was very young and very brave! We came across some typical animals in the bush- Kudos, Impala, Zebra-animals that are easily sited, and then we could tell Jonnie was on the hunt. At one point he stopped the jeep and proceeded to get out with his rifle and head into the bush-we all had no idea what was going on. We were a little scared, thinking if anything happened to him, what in the hell were we going to do? He came back saying he was looking for cheetahs. Then we drove away and once again stopped and the game ranger left again, at this time we were now laughing at our situation(the laughs were to hide our nervousness). Jonnie comes back and starts making calls on his radio, saying he has a group of six and can he go in-I was thinking he was asking to drive his jeep in close to the cheetahs-NO! I was so wrong, he was asking if he could take us in the bush, on foot! OK, a thousand things are rushing through my head-are you serious, are we safe, my two boys are here, what the hell-but then the other option is to wait in the jeep alone! So we set off-I was not prepared, of course none of us were, I had on my flip flops trudging through the fields. He gave us an overview of what was about to happen-follow single file, boys in front, Pat in the back, no sudden moves, listen to him at all times, no pictures until we are there, no talking, if an incident happens listen to his command and DO NOT RUN. I listened to all instructions, took in a huge breath and then off we went. We walked for a while, and then all of sudden we are there! We were within four feet of three cheetahs, three very real, very live cheetahs, three wild cheetahs; and all that was protecting us was this young wild ranger! My heart beat a thousand beats a minute, but what a view. We got to see them in the wild, they looked at us but did not seem interested. Jonnie said as long as we do not go into their personal space we would not bother them, and we did not look like prey because we were in a single line that resembled a unit. My question was, how do we know their personal space? We survived-we saw cheetahs in their natural setting, we walked in an African field and saw wild life at it's finest. We made the best memories of our life, of our boys life!

Best Vacation Ever...

We have just returned from an awesome safari at Shamwari Game Reserve! http://www.shamwari.com/properties/?MicroSiteID=2 We stayed in a beautiful lodge in the middle of the bush; we had the entire place all to ourselves! Sarilli Guest Lodge has 5 guest rooms, our family took up three and the others were empty. It was first class the whole way, we were greeted with wine and lunch, and then shown to our rooms-luxury at it's finest! Our room overlooked the whole game reserve and a river that ran through-fully loaded with hippos. During our stay we went on four, four hour game drives- early morning and late afternoon/evening ones. We also went out to view the stars and went on one late night ride hunting for lions! Every night as we slept we listened to lions roaring and hippos snorting! The boys did everything we did, and Claire stayed with a nanny for the game drives- she did go on the late night ones! Here are some views of the lodge. Lots more pictures and stories to come!

Looking out of main living room...

Dining area...

Living area...

One of the guest rooms...

pool...

Well, we have yet to stop! We have done a lot of eating(mom has been doing some baking), site seeing and visiting! We have walked with elephants, ridden through game parks, sat on the beach, watched whales, been to an art's festival and played lots of tennis, and of course, all of this is after our visit to Cape Town. We leave tomorrow for our safari at Shamwari Game Park, we are hoping to see lots of animals as we have ridden through a local elephant park(twice) that has close to 400 elephants and we saw about 5!
This is a face of a very happy boy... (For those of you who know this sweet boy, yes both teeth are coming in:) )

This one has kept us on our toes, but is definitely our entertainment everyday! (She has gotten her bangs trimmed since pic)

The boys at a local rugby game...

We have seen a lot of these, but are hoping to see more!

They Are Here!

Well, we are back from meeting Mom and Dad at the airport in Cape Town! We stayed in a house overlooking Boulder's Beach and were greeted by penguins everyday! We took in the sights of Cape Town and discovered some really cute coastal towns and ate some great food! We also visited and explored some of the wineries of South Africa. After walking with the elephants, we are back in Port Elizabeth. We have done some local site seeing, been to a local game park and have played LOTS of tennis-having a tennis court in our backyard has been a blessing! Everyday we have played for several hours-the boys, mom, dad, Pat and me-even Claire has tried to play!
We are really enjoying our time with my parents, and the kids are loving spending time with them! On the first night we were with them, my Mom tells Hunter how much she had missed him and he said "Mimi, I have cried a thousand tears..." From the mouth of a boy much wiser than his years!
I will post more on our trip, when I have time...


These were living right outside our house in Simon's Town!


Our house is the tallest-red with black roof...

View from deck...