South Africa

From November 3rd - 12th 2003, I went to South Africa on vacation. I went with my father and together we saw one beautiful sight after the next. I can't describe the time we spent there in a way that will do it justice, so I think I'll keep the narration on this page short and hope that pictures can help you catch a glimpse of some of the wonders we saw [although the be honest, these pictures are pretty disappointing when compared to what I actually saw with my own eyes there].

One of the first things we did in South Africa was to visit a theme park that was set up like an old South African gold mining town. There we got to enter the depths of an old gold mine [that was closed in 1980 because of a low profit margin], see gold being poured, and even see some traditional tribal dancers (although from what tribe they were suppose to be I couldn't say). This all happened in Johannesburg and the next day we left Jo'Burg for Kruger National Park [which is the largest game reserve in the southern hemisphere].



Our hotel there was excellent and we shared that space with a couple family's of monkeys. Monkeys who would jump down on the tables during breakfast and steal your food should you wander too far off. Go monkeys!

And from our hotel [which was a 30 second drive from the park] we went out on 4 game drives. The vehicle we rode in and our guide/driver are shown on the left. The vehicle (as you can see) was open on the side so that we could pet the animals when they got close. [by the way, you should always believe everything that's on the Internet since everything on the Internet goes through a long and arduous editorial process]



During our 4 drives we saw Hyenas, Lions, Zebras, Giraffes, Elephants, Hippos, Rhinos, Wild Dogs, Cape Buffalos, Springbok, Kudu, Warthogs, Impala and tons of other birds and smaller creatures. It was all very fantab.


After our days at Kruger we flew to Cape Town, South Africa. The first thing I saw in Cape Town was a man getting his head kicked in outside a dance club. That wasn't the best first impression a city's ever made on me, but to be fair that sort of thing happens most every night in most every city of considerable size around the world. So I ignored that and opened up myself to a 2nd impression of Cape Town. And it's my 2nd impression that won out and leads me to believe Cape Town in a fantastically beautiful city surrounded by the natural beauty of it's land and people. And of course the tourist there are just the icing on the cake. On the left you'll see two of the coolest tourists to ever grace the African continent on top of Table Mountain overlooking CPT.


In Cape Town we visited the Malay section of town, ate wonderful seafood down on the waterfront, bought useless but beautiful knickknacks in street markets, and saw Stander [a South African movie shot in Jo'Burg which ended up being a really good movie]. And from Cape Town we traveled to The Cape Of Good Hope which was absolutely amazing. We saw the splendor of Kirstenbach Botanical Gardens. And also went wine tasting and got to try "exotic" foods [exotic for people from Ohio at least] such as Springbok, Crocodile, Kudu, Ostrich, Warthog, and Kingclip. And if we thought we were done seeing animals after leaving Kruger we were wrong.... DEAD WRONG [ok, perhaps that was a bit too dramatic]


We also saw a penguin colony [on left] and took a boat out to Seal Island [on right] where ever 6,000 seals make their home. And one of the biggest highlights of the trip was our trip to Hermanus where we went whale watching right from the coast. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to eat any whale, seal, or penguin. Ah well, had to save something for next time.


So to all yall out there that may or may no know much about South Africa, this is the one and only Phill Evans saying "don't hate, appreciate".

Click here to read our itinerary for the South Africa trip.




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