South Africa: Week 3 (Safari)

For week 3, we set out on a road trip along the coastal "Garden Route" of South Africa. During the first two days, however, we took a quick pit stop to the Aquila Game Reserve northeast of Stellenbosch. Despite being relatively small in comparison to other parks and lodges in South Africa, Aquila had plenty of awesome animals. Unfortunately, some of the more exotic ones had to be placed in cages or under constant supervision to protect them from poaching. Still, the majority of animals were able to roam free on Aquila's massive park grounds.

Here are some photos from our drive to the reserve:

The drive was incredibly scenic and despite a few car difficulties and pit-stops to check out baboons (which is generally not recommended because they can be dangerous), we survived. We arrived at the lodge after 2-3 hours. Below are photos of the camp grounds, including shots of our room:

The lodge was a seriously nice place and Ian and I took full advantage of the buffet meals, which would have otherwise been way too expensive. It was awesome. The main events, of course, were our two safaris, one afternoon drive and one morning drive. Both were very successful:

As usual, I am several weeks behind on blogging and I apologize for that. I am going to try to finally get caught up and stay on top of things now.  For the next post (ideally coming later today/tonight), I will share a ton of photos from the remainder of the Garden Route. Don't forget to ask questions/comment if you want!

South Africa: Week 2

Week 2 was more relaxed because Ian had a busy week of school. I continued work in the local township of Kayamandi while he was in class. We still found time to hike Lion's Head Mountain in Cape Town which had amazing views and was far more intense than I would have expected. Some of the climbing part were legitimately scary...

Here are some pics of one of the school areas in Kayamandi, including a garden area where adult gardening classes are taught. Also below are some photos of my favorite BBQ spot (so far) in Kayamandi. The meal in the photo costs about $6.50, including bread and two beers.

Finally, we spent another afternoon checking out vineyards in Stellenbosch and visited The Big Easy, Ernie Els' restaurant in town, which is complete with a wine cellar and cigar collection. According to the locals, Ernie, though sometimes criticized for his drinking habits, is a complete rock-star. It was pretty hilarious to hear some rumors about him.

 That's all for this post. As I have mentioned, the internet situation makes these blog posts incredibly time-consuming so I can only post small bits at a time without spending an entire day online. I have photos from our week-long road trip across the Garden Route coming up as soon as possible. Stay tuned!