Kruger National Park--> Ha-Makuya--> Joburg

We made it through the wilderness, ya know we made it throuuugghhh! That's the song that has been going through my mind ever since we stepped off the plane this morning. The past 9 days have been CRAZY. We left Stellies on Sunday morning at 5 AM to head to Kruger National Park for a safari expedition. We landed in Kruger Airport (I use the term airport very loosely... it was simply a runway and and a parking lot where we got our bags) and quickly met our guides: David (the world's most interesting man--more to come), Jimbo (a wildlife vet with a crude sense of humor), and Xolani (or X as we called him because his name has a click and it's really hard to say... He speaks 11 languages and is training to be a professional boxer). After meeting our guides, we hopped in the open air vehicles and began the trek to Satara camp (our first stop). We saw a bunch of epic animals along the way.

The whip

Safari Selfies!

Elephant

Zeeebz

Sassy Zeebz

Oh hey there, Jeffrey!

Now that's flexibility.

Da Crib

Poolside chillin'

Once at Satara, the guides instructed us to get snacks (we quickly learned that this was code for booze). We spent the night drinking with two of my professors (Amanda, the Gender Commissioner of South Africa, and Jacob, just a big balllaaah). The next morning we woke up at 5 AM (yes, again) for a morning game drive. It was spectacular! We pretty much did this every morning in Kruger, and each sunrise was unbelievably beautiful.

Sunrise!

Hi Mom and Dad!

Just another sunrise shot.

All smiles despite the 5 AM mornings!

Two nights later we found ourselves at Olifants camp. Again, it was stunning. Here we saw the most animals, and we had a special bush BBQ in the middle of the park. Basically we ate on a river bend with armed guards on the lookout for dangerous hippos. Yep, real life and class credit. It looked straight out of Martha Stewart's Living if it weren't for the weapons.

Hi Mr. Elephant!

Amanda and Jacob (my professors) and I on the way to our BBQ

One of the guards...

Terrible photo, but it's all I had... also, had to document X who is chilling on the front right.

Then we headed to Mopani camp. Where we enjoyed more animal sightings and played more drinking games with our professors. There was also a scavenger hunt to teach us how to use a GPS... obviously my team lost (it was like an Easter egg hunt from hell, and we all know how Easter is a trying holiday for me).


Boom. 5 AM wake up again and we were off to Ha-Makuya. This was about an 8 hour drive on a dirt road. Luckily we had Salticrax (like a Ritz cracker, but multiply the deliciousness by 1000000), Hunter's Dry (the most delicious hard cider in the WORLD--> Hey Colin!), and Jimbo's humor to get us through. I have a list of jokes that he said, but I will refrain due to inappropriate content. We call the open air cars drinking trolleys, and they rule for the most part. The only downside is dust and bugs in your teeth, but after being pretty dirty for 6 days, you get over it.

Salticrax snacktime

The only photo of Jimbo-- he says that pictures steal his soul, whatever.

We arrived at Tshulu Camp, David's brain child. A bit more about David- he lives part time in South Africa and part time in North Carolina with his beautiful wife, Melissa and their 10 month old son, Caden. He has some serious pull in the South African government because he was BFFs with Zackie Achmet (the person that brought anti-retrovirals to South Africa). How does NU get people like this to interact with us?! Literally he is so interesting.  David now focuses on running the incredibly beautiful research camp. He employs locals and international people to help create sustainable jobs and programs for the poverty stricken Ha-Makuya area (a total of 17 villages). We stayed in this unreal place for a night before heading to our home stays. We were taught how to test water for E. coli in various water samples. We would perform this testing on our home stay to ensure safe water quality and to contribute data to a longitudinal study being conducted by David. Side note- we were also told to drink the water we were testing... idk, but again, thanks Mom for letting me eat weird shit when I was younger because I'm the only one that didn't get some weird stomach issue. WHOOO ANTIBODIES!

The tent with our own porch

View from the tent!

Just cruisin' around the camp.

More camp scenery...

Homestay:
I stayed in Tshikalini, a village of about 50 people with four "houses" in the area (they were huts, but with windows, so apparently they classify as houses). My family was AMAZING!!!! They were so warm and welcoming. The mother contributed to the family financially by selling firewood that she collected from a far away forest. The father was second in line to be chief and helped around the house quite a bit (which is very rare in these villages-- he also only had one wife, which is also very rare

). The family consisted of 6 children, all with REALLY hard names to pronounce (except Alpha and Omega, the twin girls).

Highlights:
- Slept on a cow dung floor next to a wasps nest.
- Helped kill a chicken that I then ate an hour later.
- Almost stole the most circular baby I've ever seen in my life. Not sure who he belonged to considering when I went to sleep and woke up he was always outside my hut...
- Ate pop (not sure how to spell it, but it's a mushy corn substance you dip in various things) for 8 meals in a row.
- Ate mopane worms... caterpillars.
- Didn't shower or change my clothes for 3 days.
- Learned like 47 new hand games in Venda (the native language).
- Talked to a Sangoma (a spiritual healer).
-  Dressed in traditional clothes and danced like a mad woman.
- Got to completely immerse myself in a different culture and had such an amazing time.

Keyra and the pop... so much pop.

My host siblings and a cousin or two.

Host Momma! How do I look so out of place?! 

We brought lollies and made tons of friends!

The funniest child in the world-- he has the best facial expressions!

So these are worms-- I found the pic on the internet because I didn't actually take a photo. I was too busy trying not to vomit. 

Swag.

The trip was capped off by a final night in the research camp. It was an emotional goodbye party, but it ended by most people getting "practically motherless" (David's term for wasted). We then danced some traditional moves and went off to bed. The next morning we flew to Joburg, where I am currently staying. I will be here for 3 more days. Our accommodations are SO NICE. More to come...