The fourth day we had to catch an early flight Hoedspruit (one of the airports that takes you to Kruger National Park).  We flew out of Johannesburg Airport on South African Express.  It was on a prop plane…which always make me nervous for some reason, but Zach reminded me that prop planes are just as reliable and jet planes….?  And no offense to our local airlines, but South African Express totally kills it in the snack department!  We were loving all the treats on our flight:  especially all the dried, exotic fruit.  Also, a highlight of my culinary experience in SA is that they have Coca Cola LIGHT.  (Diet Coke’s better tasting cousin).  We arrived in Hoedspruit, the tiniest airport we all had ever seen.  It had one gate and one gate only.  And technically, it wasn’t a “gate”.  It was a door that led outside to the Tarmac to board your plane.  We piled all our baggage into our sporty rental car and set off for the Kapama Game Reserve.  Kruger National Park is the biggest game reserve in the world.  There are thousands of places to stay and Zach and I debated for weeks what to do about lodging while doing the “safari experience”.  Many people had recommended us not to stay in Kruger itself, but a private game reserve instead.  This was the BEST decision we made the whole trip.  Kapama Game Reserve is over 15,000 hectares (who the heck knows what a hectare is?) of protected land that is privately owned.  Kapama technically owns the airport we flew into, which was less than 15 minutes away from the main gate of the reserve.  When we arrived at the main gate we all were totally blown away by the security.  There must have been at least 20 officers armed with machine guns waiting for us as we approached the gate.  Apparently there had been a problem with rhino poachers, so security had been doubled the last few weeks.  We had to sign in and security had to call ahead to our lodge to make sure we were really staying there (and not poaching rhinos, obviously).  Once we had the go-ahead we entered into the reserve.  I expected the terrain to be a little different.  In my mind I pictured more of a desert landscape with few to no trees.  But Kapama was lush and green as far as you could see.  Red sand roads took us to our hotel.  It was a 20 minute drive from the main gate to our lodge:  Kapama Karula.  On our drive we spotted a ton of animals.  Warthogs (with tons of little babies), baboons, impalas.  All roaming around free, crossing in front of our car, sprinting away from the road as soon as they spotted us.  When we arrived at our lodge, right away we couldn’t believe the service.  Our car was valeted, our bags were sent to our rooms, and we were each given a glass of leche juice.

The staff went over our schedule with us for the rest of the day and we had lunch in the dining room.  Kapama has four lodges, Karula being the smallest.  Zach and I and his parents stayed in two rooms of the 12 that made up the lodge.  Meals, game drives, and activities were all included in our stay at Karula.  I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was.  Wooden pathways led through the trees to each different building.  Each room was like a private suite.  The entire back wall of our rooms were glass and were open to the reserve, right up against a river.

There was even an incredible infinity pool that dropped off the side of the hill.

After our lunch and the tour of our room we had to hurry and change for our first evening game drive.  Also, the door to our room had a handle made of a giraffe bone…

Something I loved about the whole experience at Karula was how intimate it was.  There weren’t too many couples staying at the lodge.  We were assigned a safari group with just one other couple – so just six of us to one vehicle.  We also met our guide:  Julius and our tracker:  Excellent.  They didn’t waste any time.  We were off on our first game drive as soon as we hit our seats.

We had only been driving for 10 minutes when Julius stopped in the middle of the path.  All around us were elephants.  More than 20, a whole herd, surrounded us.

We watched them eat and move their way through the trees.  For being such huge animals, they could disappear into the bush in seconds.  One of the babies passed by us and was totally amused.  Instead of ignoring us and walking on by, he walked right up to the side of the vehicle.  Julius told us the babies like to prove to their older and wiser parents and siblings that they are not scared of us humans.  He walked right up next to Zach and looked him square in the eyes.  They had a real moment…

Then Julius got a call that the lions had been spotted in a field nearby, so we drove off to the field to try and spot them.  There they were, just lying in the road.

I can’t explain how freaky it was to be in an open vehicle within 10 feet of a real lioness.  Three, to be exact…and a little man cub.  One was the mother, two of her older daughters, and the little guy.

They were watching a group of impalas across the field and suddenly got up and moved towards them.  We stayed with them for a while until we made our way over to the group of grazers.  There were impalas, water buck, and zebras all grazing together in the field nearby.  As we made our way down the hill we spotted a large herd of water buffalo.

When the sun started to go down Julius and Excellent found a clearing where they set up a snack for us.  They had a whole spread of dried fruit, jerky, and nuts along with drinks.

Our guides quickly learned that we didn’t drink alcohol and were already prepped with some Cokes and Coke Lights.  We visited amongst ourselves.  We learned a lot about our safari friends:  Iric (a veterinarian) and Engrid (a teacher) from Norway.  I also learned that Julius was on of 28 children (his father had four wives, a common practice in South Africa).  Excellent was his nephew, one of his sister’s sons.  He told us stories about how he used to hunt animals with a spear to help feed all of his family members.  He is an expert tracker and would constantly stop our vehicle and tell us what animal (sometimes he could even tell the sex of the animal) that had just walked there.  We were completely ecstatic that we had only been there for one night and had already seen 3 out of the Big Five.  We told Julius that was our goal:  to see all of the Big Five – the lion (check), elephant (check), leopard, rhino, and water buffalo (check).  By the time we had finished our snacks the sun was setting.  African sunsets are amazing.  Then it got cold and dark.  Julius rounded us all up in the Land Cruiser and we did a night drive.  Excellent sat on a seat at the front left of the vehicle with a giant spotlight and looked for animals hiding in the bush.

We spotted a severt cat, bush baby, and antelope.  When we made it back to Karula we were greeted with hot chocolate and flashlights.  The separate buildings were really hard to navigate without flashlights at night.  The paths were lined with lanterns, but still you never knew what was actually OUT there in the trees.

We changed our clothes and got ready for dinner.  We ate in the Boma, a room made of stick walls with a fire pit in the center and lanterns hung all around.  The food was a traditional African BBQ.  Lamb, beef, starches, vegetables, cheeses, and salads.  It was so fun to eat outside and apart from the occasional bizarre bug, we loved it!

After dinner, on our walk back to our room, we spotted a scorpion…and waiting for us at our front door was a snake!  Not a HUGE snake, but a snake nonetheless.

Once we scared the snake and some beetles away from our door, we made it to bed.   It made us both realize we really were in the middle of the African bush.

The third day in Johannesburg we had scheduled an afternoon tour of Soweto.  After lunch our tour guide (named Mandy) picked us up at our hotel and drove us out of Sandton.  On the way out of town Zach asked if she had ever been to the LDS temple in Johannesburg.  Mandy had never been and offered to take us.  So we made a brief stop to the Johannesburg temple!

It had gorgeous grounds and a beautiful view of the city.  After walking around for a bit we all climbed back into Mandy’s car and drove into Soweto.  I don’t know all the details about this township, but Mandy did tell us a little background information.  She told us how in the 50’s the Dutch wanted to make Johannesburg an “all white city” and made it illegal for black people to live there.  If any black person was caught in Johannesburg they would be arrested (minimum 1 year jail sentence) on sight.  So all the black people were forced out of the city and into the township Soweto that was “created” for them.  There were over 4 million people.  The health care in this place was horrible (only one hospital for that many people), very few fire stations, horrible schools, and four swimming pools (that’s one million people per swimming pool).  Mandy told us that in Soweto there wasn’t a real middle class.  You either had money, or you were very, very poor.  She took us around some nicer neighborhoods in the township and then stopped at a market in Freedom Square.  She told us we were going to Kliptown, the poorest suburb in Soweto, and she wanted us to bring the children some fruit.  We visited the monument in Freedom Square and then bought 50 ran worth of bananas, peaches, and apples.

Then she drove us to Kliptown.  I thought she might drive us to the outside of the suburb and then we could give the food to those who needed it, but I was wrong.  She drove us right into the the center of the the little chanty town.  It was incredibly overwhelming.  Not only was it heartbreaking but we all felt very unsafe.  Almost to the point where none of us wanted to get out of the car.  But Mandy wasn’t having it and made us all get out of the car and meet the people.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but this experience is something that I will never EVER forget.  From the second I got out of that car I felt different.  I have been in a few third world countries before, but have never walked along side the people.  The first feelings I had were of pure guilt.  I felt like they all thought we were making a mockery of them.  I could even imagine what they were thinking.  “Look at these fancy Americans…walking around in their clean clothes and their smart phones taking pictures of my friends and family.”  I thought they would want us out – or even yell at us to leave them alone.  It was quite the opposite, however.  First, Mandy took us into a single mother’s home.  Her name was Julia and she welcomed us in like we were her closest friends.  The first thing I noticed was the heat.  It must have been over 90 degrees inside, probably due to the metal roof.  Her home was very small, but very clean.  The floor was dirt but she had laid scraps of wood and metal down to create a floor.  On her walls she had hung photos of her friends and family and had decorated where the roof met the walls with scraps of wood painted in a bright blue color.  She told us she had been living in Kiptown for 15 years.  Then we walked around through the alley ways between the homes.  Children were running around and playing barefoot.  Teenage girls toting around sweet babies in filthy clothes.  Kids sitting on wooden crates and buckets playing card games.  We made our way back to Mandy’s car and she opened up the trunk so Zach could hand out the fruit to the children.

People started gathering around the car and reaching for the fruit.  Something else that really shocked me was what Mandy did.  She pulled out two big black garbage sacks full of clothes and started to hand them out to the women.  All on her own, she had brought skirts, blouses, and sandals.  Soon the fruit and clothes were all gone and we had to leave.  The children were so happy.  They all waved good bye as we left their little neighborhood.  I almost started to cry right then and there, but didn’t want anyone else to see me react that way.  I didn’t want these people to think that I pitied them.  They were some of the sweetest and happiest people I had ever met.  Then Mandy drove us to a local orphanage.  We entered the gated facility and checked in.  She walked us right into the children’s quarters.

The older children were taking naps in their beds and the younger toddlers and babies were in their cribs.  I can’t really explain it.  I have been telling Zach for years that I am not a normal woman.  I am missing a chip inside me.  I call it the “mom chip”.  I have always known I was going to be a mom.  I just have never ached to be pregnant.  I have never been baby hungry.  I have heard my friends and family members say “I am so baby hungry” or “I am just dying to have a baby”.  Not me!  I am a mutant or something.  Some may think it is selfish, and say that I have chosen my education and career over a family, but that’s not true.  I just haven’t been ready for children of my own.  We haven’t been ready.  But as I was standing there in that room with all those babies staring at me I thought my ovaries might explode!

Some of them were standing up in their cribs reaching for us.  Two were staring up at us from the floor.  Mandy translated and told us that this tiny babe had been abandoned at the orphanage gate at two weeks old.  No information whatsoever.

Then one of the volunteers placed another baby boy in Zach’s arms.

He passed him to me and I held him for a while until I saw the others looking over.  I walked over to the sweetest baby girl in her crib.  She wouldn’t stop staring and smiling at me.

I felt “baby hungry”.  If it would have been possible, I would have scooped her up and taken her with me.  One little boy came walking up to Mark and nearly climbed up him.  Mark picked him up and he wrapped his little arms around his neck.

That’s when I almost lost it.  Mark said, “He knows I have grand babies just like him at home.”  That little guy would not let Mark go.  Even to the point of running after us as we walked out the door.  Outside some of the older boys were running around in a field.  Zach found a soccer ball near some trees and started a little game.  He called out, “who wants to be on my team?”  They all started raising their hands and jumping up and down.

He played with them for quite a while until it was time for us to leave.  Mark and Jeanene had explained to Mandy that we had three adopted children in our family that were their grand babies.  Mandy explained how complicated it was to adopt an orphaned child in Africa; the process people had to go through and all the “red tape” it required.  She explained that women in Africa were given 200 R (about $20) for having a baby in South Africa.  Since some members of the country are so poor, teenage girls have babies and abandon them just for the money.  My sister-in-law had told me several times to bring her home a baby.  If only it had been that easy, I would have brought one home to live with us as well.  We left the orphanage and made a few more stops before Mandy took us back to our hotel.  We saw Nelson Mandela’s house that he lived in when he was arrested.

We saw the Hector Peiterson Museum and Memorial.  We also saw Bishop Tutu’s home.  We even came across a Zulu man…who looked identical to Eddie Murphy?

Mandy drove us back to our hotel and we thanked her for the amazing experience.  I held it together the entire day until we were alone in our hotel room.  While showering I completely lost it and started to cry uncontrollably.  I couldn’t shake the feelings I had and have thought about those kids every single day since we visited Soweto.

Later that night after we had all cleaned up we went to dinner at a Greek restaurant in Mandela Square.

We wandering around the mall afterwards and found a movie theater, where we decided to catch a last minute movie.  The theater was one of the nicest theaters I had ever been in.  The seats were like recliners!  So soft and comfortable.  The only thing that was unique was that they don’t put butter on their popcorn.  This didn’t stop Zach from getting a giant bucket of it, however.

After over 8 months of planning and scheduling, Africa finally came.  Saturday Zach and I, Mark, and Jeanene arrived at the airport bright and early to catch our first flight.  We flew from Salt Lake > Atlanta and then from Atlanta > Johannesburg.

Both flights went unexpectedly smooth.  It was 18 total hours of flight time and both Zach and I slept more than 12 hours.  When we arrived in the Johannesburg airport we picked up our rental car and drove into the city.  The only car available to fit all four of us and our luggage was a manual Nissan truck.  So not only did Zach have to learn how to drive on the left side of the road, but he had to do it while driving a stick shift.  It was fairly easy to navigate around and we made our way to an area of the of the city called Sandton where our hotel was located.  Sandton is much different than down town Johannesburg.  It is more of a financial area:  tall glass office buildings, hotels, malls, and the like.  Mostly new development for the World Cup.  Everyone warned us how dangerous Johannesburg was going to be and we were prepared for the absolute worst.  Fortunately, we stayed right in Nelson Mandela Square at a beautiful, clean hotel.  It was attached to a giant mall as well, which meant Zach and Mark had access to fountain drinks and ice at the KFC located in the mall’s food court.  It was nothing like I had pictured it to be.  It felt as we weren’t in Africa at all!  We ditched our bags in our rooms and all went to dinner at a restaurant in the square.  We ate at a great steak and seafood place and spent our first night in Johannesburg walking around and exploring our temporary neighborhood.

The next morning we all woke up, ate lunch, and drove to the Lion Park outside of Johannesburg.  It is an animal reserve where there are all of these exotic species [exotic to us Americans, I guess] of animals that are native to Africa.  First we got to feed the giraffes.  The volunteers give you bags of pellets that are made of dried plants and vitamins and you walk up onto a wooden platform.  First, I have to admit that giraffes are SO much bigger in person.  I’ve seen them hundreds of times on TV and always pictured them to have the body of a horse with a really long neck.  Their legs [at least the adult male] were so tall that I could have comfortably walked right underneath his belly.  The giraffes would walk right up to the platform and stretch their necks down to our level and stick out their long, black tongues.  They would lick the pellets right out of your hand!  If one of us was feeding them, another could walk right up and stroke their faces.

They felt exactly like horses to the touch.  They had incredibly large, dark eyes with the longest lashes.  Even though they were much larger than expected, they were incredibly sweet animals.  Once all of the giraffe food was gone we made our way back to our car to do a self drive through the park.  We drove around the grounds and then to each individual area.  We saw springbok, ostriches, impalas, and zebra out grazing in the fields.

Then we drove through the lion camps.  Fun fact:  lions sleep 16-20 hours a day!  Most of them were sleeping when we got there with the exception of a few rowdy cubs.  I couldn’t believe how close you could drive up to them!  (Little did I know we would be even closer a few days later.)

We all were shocked once again how large these animals were.  There were several different areas where you could drive past the different groups of lions.

There were also wild dog and cheetah camps.  After we drove around the whole place we went back to the main lodge area for our lion cub interaction.  A guide takes you into a pen where all the cubs stay until they reach a certain age.  Here you can pet them, play with them, and depending on their mood: pick them up.  Luckily for the four of us, it was still nap time.  We could walk right up to them and pet them.  One even let me put my hand on his paw for a little bit.  It was the same size as my entire hand.

The last thing we did at the park was the Cheetah Walk.  They piled a small group of us into a bus and we drove over to the cheetah camp.  We thought we would all get out and get to interact with the cheetah, but the guide left us all in our seats.  Minutes later they open the door and a big male cheetah climbs right onto the bus with us!  She told us that he liked to sit in front, so she let him.  Like he had requested it or something and he was just another tourist on the bus.  He was just a couple feet away from us.

It was quite intimidating and all of us could not keep our eyes off of him.  They drove us out to the open field and they let him off the bus with us right behind.  They let us all gather around to pet him, brush him, and feed him treats.  I was the first to interact with him.

The guide warned us that he [the cheetah’s name was Massai] liked to put his paws wherever he wanted.  They cautioned us that if he put his paw on any part of your body to stay very still to avoid his claws.  I started to stroke Massai’s head and neck and within seconds he looked up at me, picked up his paw, and put it right on top of my foot!

Cheetahs purr like house cats when they like something but don’t meow or growl like other big cats.  They chirp like birds!  It’s the cutest thing.  It almost makes you want to hug and cuddle them…until you see their teeth and claws.  The others got to pet him and brush him and then it started to rain.

He did not like the rain one bit.  He crouched down and decided he wasn’t having it.  We snapped a family pic and then all got back onto the bus.

Massai climbed right into his front seat, but as the bus got moving he decided he didn’t want to sit there anymore.  So he made his way down the center aisle between the seats and sat right next to Zach and I.  Having a cheetah roaming free in the back of a bus right beside you was a little freaky.  [Notice Mark’s face…]

After we got back to the lodge we returned to the car to drive back into the city.  We ate dinner at a great Italian place a short drive from our hotel.  It was the perfect way to kick start our animal adventures!  I laugh now thinking back how excited we were to be SO close to those wild animals, and yet we had NO idea what we were in for…