Back To Joburg

Safari was amazing. We saw all of the Big Five, eventually spotting a leopard on our last night safari. The food couldn't have been better - I haven't been hungry in four days. The company was wonderful, we met a Swedish couple who live in Cape Town that we will meet up with in a few days. Most importantly, I had an amazing time hanging out with Liz as her birthday approaches. For our final dinner at the lodge, the staff set us up in the wine cellar and we had a very romantic dinner just the two of us. It's a shame that Merv and Shirley couldn't join us but they had a romantic dinner of their own in their room. They are an adorable older couple from Pretoria.

I can't believe it's already December. Time is flying. We came back to Johannesburg early this afternoon and are staying at a really beautiful hotel. We got a taxi from the airport and the driver ended up being our tour guide for the day. He took us to Soweto, the Apartheid Museum and Nelson Mandela's house. The city is different and beautiful in it's own way. I'm pretty tired from our schedule the last couple of days but we're powering through. South Africa, and Johannesburg in particular, has a very unique history. I actually took a class on South African history in college but sadly I don't remember much. I am picking up bits and pieces from people that we interact with.

Democracy is a fairly new concept here. Nelson Mandela was released from Robben Island only a little more than 20 years ago. This city went through a monumental change in a short amount of time. From the Apartheid government to democracy in a few years. Soweto was the scene of a grisly confrontation between school children and police that left 29 young people dead in 1976. There are deep seeded racial issues here. Everyone that we've talked to discusses them. I find it fascinating. America was there 50 years ago. Things don't change overnight. There's a rich culture here and the people are incredibly friendly. That being said.....I can't wait to get to Cape Town!!


Liz and I have some great stuff planned for the next few days and thanks to our friends on safari we have about 10 more restaurants to visit and places to go. I can't wait to have a drink on the beach with my shoes off and my feet in the sand. The thought alone puts a smile on my face. We are diving with great white sharks in a couple of days, we have a wine tour planned in Franschhoek and then tons of time to kill doing whatever we want.

A few more pictures from the last few days:

Cape Buffalo skull 

Hyena

Playing Scrabble 

There's a storm coming

Pretty bird

The Lodge