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Published: September 20th 2005
Hello Everyone,
Here is the big blog...I think it's gunna be a long one, because we have been doing a ton of stuff and have so much to tell you all. First off, we'll start with our flight from Athens to Dubai. We didn't really know what to expect out of Dubai, but the airport was super nice. On the flight over there, Justin noticed on the flight screen that we were in the "neutral (safe flying) zone" and then there were a bunch of other colored zones surrounding us, so that was kind of different 😉 The flight was great though, they had a tv in every seat that allowed you to play games, watch tv shows, movies and you could even call other seats in the airplane, so i called up Justin, it was pretty funny. So, in the Dubai airport the toilet seats in the bathroom were heated and the toilet water was really warm because you could feel the steam on your bum! The airport reminded us of Las Vegas, you could win cars and money. It was very nice.
Enough about the airport! Jo'berg was interesting. It is practically forbidden to go out at night because it is so unsafe. However, we were staying in a northern suburb in an old mansion with a fantastic view of the city, and it was quite safe in that area. Even still, every single residence had barbwire fences, electric gates, security guards and pointed fences. Either they are way to paranoid, or the crime is pretty bad. But there were a few fun restaurants in the area and Justin and I found this little pizzeria and chatted with the manager and his wife for nearly 3 hours and learned all about Jo'berg and the recent transformation of South Africa.
We only had one day in Jo'berg and then we were off to our safari. We got picked up at 5 am sharp and our guide was full of it and ready to go. The first thing he said to us when we got in the car was, guys we're gunna have a good time and make this trip memorable. Then he went on to explain all the various ways we could die in the next few days if we didn't follow his lead and pay attention to what was going on. There was 3 of us the first day, Justin, myself and this 18 year old from Israel named Orr ( he was something else, but that's a different story). The first day we spent stopping at famous landmarks and areas such as the Pinnacle, God's Window (a huge valley area that was absolutely gorgeous), The potholes and the Blyde River Canyon (a smaller version of the Grand Canyon). They were all stunning. Then we were on our way to the tribal village where we would spend the night. About 10 minutes before we arrived Justin spotted an animal trying to cross the road, it looked like a deer or something from a distance, but then our guide spotted it and as we got closer we realized it was a Leopard that had escaped the electrified fence of Kruger Park! The guide freaked out and was ecstatic as he frantically pulled the car over to get a better view. In about 5 seconds the Leopard shot through the fence and disappeared. The guide (Charl) told us how lucky we were to see a Leopard...we didn't spot one the rest of our game drive.
Once we arrived at the tribal village we were greeted by villagers in traditional clothing singing a welcome song to us. Then we were shown the village and told we were to stay in the old Chief's bungalow which had cow dung on the floor to keep away the poisonous bugs such as scorpions and spiders. (The dung was pounded into the floor and it did not smell or anything). Then we had a traditional dinner which we ate with our hands (the traditional way). Dinner was excellent and consisted of chicken, a pumpkin dish, tomato and onion sauce and a corn mash (kind of like white rice). We all sat around a fire and ate. Then the men and women of the tribe did their traditional dance and afterwards we hung out by the fire all night and ended up sleeping out there with our guide (despite the fact that this huge looking spider and a scorpion was crawling all over the fire pit area and got me on top of my tree stump in less than a second!)
The next morning we were up early and on our way to Kruger Park to do some game viewing. Before we entered the park we stopped at a Cheetah Research Center where they are trying to preserve endangered species such as wild dogs and cheetahs, it was pretty cool. Then we picked up 3 more people for the safari and went into the park, and on our way we spotted giraffes and elephants.. it's sooo cool seeing them in real life and up close! Once we entered the park our guide was very clear with us that we had to keep our heads and arms in the vehicle because of the off chance that a leopard come snatch one of us from the vehicle! So the first day we spotted more animals and then set up camp at a campsite that is surrounded by electrified fence (but that does not stop the elephants, the leopards or the monkeys). That night we were sitting around the campfire at night and heard hyianas calling to their mates and also lions growling! They sounded super close, so our guide took us to the fence and we were searching for a pride of lions, but could not find them...but we heard them all night long. I forgot to mention we also went on a night drive (which we had to sign a waiver basically saying if we die, it's not their fault). We didn't see a whole lot, but it was still pretty cool and kind of creepy being in the wild at night.
The next day we were in the car by 6 am because that is the best time to view game and sometimes if your lucky you can see a lion sleeping in the road, but we were not so lucky. But we did see tons of animals and the funniest of them all was a monkey with blue balls and a red you know what. After a long while of driving and viewing game (the coolest sight being a lion stalking impala (deer looking animals) at a water hole with crocs and hippos in it. We thought we were going to see a kill but the stupid lion decided he wasn't hungry and went back into the bush) we were at our next camp which was near a water hole where many animals are. We were able to view a group of elephants and a little baby one rolling in the mud, it was sooo cool.
I guess that basically sums up the safari, on the way out of Kruger park we saw crocs in this river.
Then we flew down to Capetown and ended up staying at this awesome hostel called the Big Blue. we met a bunch of people there as well, so that was fun. We hiked up table mountain with a guy from Arizona (Dale), that was something else. Then Dale's friend George flew in from London and the 4 of us rented a car and drove through the winelands. It was great fun tasting wine and relaxing and the scenery was just stunning in that area. We finally caught on at the end of our wine tasting that if you buy a bottle of wine, the tasting is free, so then we started doing that.
Ok, the last big fun thing we have done is to go Great White Cage Shark Diving. We did this out of Gansbaai. Basically how it works is you go out on this boat (about 40 feet) through these massive huge waves (thank goodness for Dramamine) and then anchor near shark alley and this is when they throw out the fish chum and lure the sharks in. An hour pasted and nothing happened, we only saw one seal. So the guide moved the boat to a different spot and that's when the action happened. We were there for about 20 minutes and a shark came by and my gosh, seeing it from the top level of the boat...the thing looked huge! Both Justin and I were like...we're getting in the water with that! That's when the fun started. They threw the cage in the water and in went people. The shark would come up and grab the fish chum and get soo close to the cage, one time it even bit the cage and shook it! (but we weren't in it that time). Justin and I were the third group to go in the water and we ended up being on the left side of the cage (I was on the very far left) and this was the best place to be because the chum was on the left side and that's usually where the shark is. A few minutes after we got in the guide shouts out down down and to your left! so we all hold our breath and sink down into the cage and there it is this massive fish coming right at you!! All of the sudden the shark gets super close to the cage (because the guide has pulled the chum close to the cage) and now the shark is literally shaking the whole cage with its massive body as it tried to eat the fish. Nearly breathing in a bunch of water because we were so excited and nervous and everything else we all come up for a breath of air (by the way there are 5 people allowed in the cage at once, we all have masks on and a weight belt over our shoulder, but you just hold your breath when the shark comes). The next time the shark came, nearly the same thing happened as before, but this time the shark was even more close and it's fin came in the left side of the cage where I was and I touched it!! It shook the cage again with its body then swam away, its was absolutely incredible. Otherwise we were able to view the shark for about a half hour here and there and it came within about 3-8 feet...its was soo cool we bought the super expensive dvd so now we can prove it!
ok, that's about it for now...sorry this one is so long!! but we've been doing so much we just want to share it with you all. right now justin and I are in Plettenberg Bay which is along the Garden Route. Basically it's a drive from Cape town along the southern coast of south africa. We are a half hour drive the world's biggest bungy jump which is 216 meters. There are about 3 feet in a meter, so you do the math. We are going to check it out tomorrow and see what happens????!!!???!!
hope all is well....write back soon
beth and justin
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Gisele
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Wow
I only saw a shark from a glass bottom boat and that was close enough for me. Did you see any Gazelle's? They are the fastest animal on four legs. We are enjoying your blogs.