Jo'Blog: Kruger Park and Elephant Sanctuary

Alright, I'm back in Canada so I'm going to catch up on the things Rachel and I did in South Africa while we were there and then retire this blog.

Rachel arrived in Joburg on a Sunday morning (June 16). I picked her up at the airport and we headed straight to the Kruger Park for our safari. We stayed at Timbavati Safari Lodge and did two game drives with them. We started with a sunset drive when we arrived and then had an all day drive the next day. On our drives we managed to see the Big 5 (even though the leopard and lion were a bit hard to spot) as well as hyenas, cheetahs, zebras, giraffes, warthogs, crocodiles, and hippos.

We had a great time at the safari lodge as well and met some great people. There was a group of Canadian and American volunteers there on an adventure tour so we went on our safaris with them and then also hung out with them at the bar afterwards. I finally tried a Sowetan Toilet shot. I won't be too graphic but it looks the way it sounds, however it tastes quite nice!

On our last night at the safari lodge during dinner, a group of girls came to dance and sing for us. It was unexpected but they were very cute and very good. It was a nice surprise!

On our drive back to Joburg we stopped at the Three Rondvals, Bourke's Luck Potholes, and God's Window, all viewsites in the Blyde River Canyon. They were quite spectacular. I especially liked the potholes. I really had no idea what to expect from the name, but they were really cool, although hard to describe and hard to capture in pictures.

Back in Joburg we stayed with my friends Cath and Liza for the night and then headed to L.U.C. Academy one last time so Rachel could meet everyone and so I could say bye. After that, we went to the Elephant Sanctuary in Hartbeespoort so Rachel could fulfill her dream of riding an elephant. On our tour there were only five of us so we got a lot of time with the elephants. We got to feed, touch, walk, get kissed by, and ride the elephants. It was a pretty awesome experience. After we rode the elephants we started our drive to Bloemfontein, our stop for the night before continuing to Cape Town the next day.