Ice Cold Bodies.

I have seen some pretty neat (neat as in weird/interesting) things during my stay in Africa that I didn't have time to mention in my previous blog post.

I saw a semi-truck driving down the interstate, and on the back it said "Ice Cold Bodies" and there were pictures of cut up meat on the side.  I thought it was kind of weird.  I've also seen some "unique" slogans on business vehicles.  For example, one said, "We know how to turn you on."  It was a TV company.  Another one said, "We remove your shorts."  That one was an electrical company.  I found them a little amusing!

Driving in South Africa has been...well, terrifying, to say the least.  Thank God Logan was behind the wheel the whole time because I would have certainly gotten us killed.  The drivers here have no regard for the safety of other people on the road.  They literally cut you off with no warning, weave in and out of traffic, run red lights (nearly got us into an accident), and are just over all rude.  The tour buses and shuttle vehicles are the worst.  You cannot trust anyone either.  Nearly everyone we spoke to told us to never ask a stranger for directions, as they will most likely send us to a place where we would get robbed and have our lives threatened.  Google Maps really disappointed us on this trip.  Nearly all of the maps were inaccurate and we ended up having to ask for directions to most everywhere we went (we were safe about it).

Durban was a really fun city to visit.  People say that all cities are the same, no matter where you go, but I beg to differ.  JoBurg is an incredibly dangerous city and you would be foolish to walk outside alone or without some form of protection.  It is also very dirty.  There is trash everywhere.  Durban, on the other hand, is a very well rounded city and people are actually nice to each other for the most part.  There is still a large amount of poverty and lower class citizens but they tend to keep their distance (besides the occasional begger who stands in the middle of the road asking for money when you stop at a traffic light).  The city is much cleaner and you can see people managing it at all hours.  The Indian Ocean was beautiful.  We stayed in a hotel that was right on the edge of North Beach.  We thought the water was warm, although the locals thought it was freezing (it is winter here, after all).  

The first night we arrived in Durban we ate dinner at Beluga.  We had ostrich and Springbok.  And no, neither of them tasted like chicken.  They were both delicious!  The ostrich is similar to a steak and the Springbok is a unique meat of its own.  Beluga is a very high class restaurant.  The manager came over to our table and spoke to us for a while.  In the end he ended up giving us a white chocolate shot on the house as a welcome from Durban.

 






 The next day we went down to the ocean and took a nice stroll.  We were supposed to go horse riding, but we ended up getting lost (thanks, Google) and then it turned out the wind was too strong to go riding on the beach when we finally got there.  We eventually made it to the people's horse facility and they let me ride a horse called the Basuto Pony bareback.  It is a horse native to South Africa.  Its gaits were so weird, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  We rescheduled for the next morning instead.  That night we went to the huge ass mall they have in Durban.  I got to spend time with some baby African Grey parrots and then Logan and I ate at the Cape Town Fish Market.  We ate deep fried baby squid (SO GOOD), real calamari, amazing fish, and even better endless fresh sushi.  It was worth every penny.

We arrived back at the horse facility a nine and got the horses ready.  Logan's horse was named Moon and I rode Jet.  Jet was a seven year old anglo-arab.  We rode passed a huge oil refinery before we got to the ocean, but once we got there, WOW!  

Talk about a dream come true.  Galloping on the beach so freely made me have to catch my breath.  Jet loved the beach and he seemed to love running just as much.  I think the pictures say it all, however.  I could talk all day about it, but I won't bore you!

We left South Beach in Durban around 1:00 PM to head back to JoBurg.  We didn't want to leave :(  

 





When we got to our "hotel" that changed.  This place is just...incredible.  This is a resort, no doubt about it.  It is also a botanical garden.  The room we are staying in is called a Budget Room, and yet it is better than any five star hotel I've seen in America.  Africans know how to do lodging and food the right way.  We could learn a thing or two from them!  Today we had a splendid breakfast before leaving to the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve. 

I was very disappointed with this "nature reserve."  The herbivores (Blue/Black gnu, rhinos, several kinds of gazelle, etc.) were all fed hay right by the road so seeing them was no problem, but they definitely weren't having to take care of themselves.  They had all their carnivores in separate fenced areas as well and were all fed pre-killed meat.  We did see African Wild Dogs, the "rare" white lion (which is total bull shit because in the wild these animals would not survive), and cheetahs (which were penned in separate enclosures in another enclosure.  Basically, there were a ton of fences.  It was far from a reserve.  Logan and I did get to hang out with a giraffe for a good while though.  We got to pet her and look at her with just a small fence separating us (pictures to be posted later!).  

Around 2:00 I took an amazing nap out by the pool on a swinging bed (literally a bed that is hanging from the ceiling).  It was nice to catch up on some sleep.  Tonight we ate at the famous Carnivore restaurant that is located on the Misty Hills Country Hotel property.  Just to give you an idea of this place, the chefs bring exotic meats out to your table on a spear and slice off the meat onto your plate in front of you.  We ate so much meat...so...much...meat.  Crocodile, kudu, impala, pork, chicken, beef, and lamb were a few of the things we tried.  Again, nothing tasted like chicken besides the chicken.  Now we are back in our room.  Logan is "watching" (more like making fun of) rugby and I am writing this blog.  Tomorrow we are going to sleep in, have a late breakfast and check out around 10 AM.  We were going to go to the lion park, but after today's adventure at the Rhino and Lion Reserve we have no desire to go.  We will have the opportunity to pet listless baby lions and see a bunch of adult white lions in a row of cars.  Not something of interest to us.  We gained so much appreciation for the wild animals in Kruger that everything else is just plain sad.  I guess it's a good thing though.

Tomorrow we are leaving JoBurg at 5:30 PM.  We will fly to Washington DC and have a 12 hour layover from 6:30 AM to 6:00 PM.  We are going to see the Smithsonian Museum and possibly some of the other attractions in the area.  We should be back in Utah at 8:40 PM...then school the next morning at 9:00 AM.  I am going to be tired I think.  I can't wait to see my kitties though :)