Birds of Eden

Right next to Monkeyland is Birds of Eden-this hubungous aviary. They had some crazy pretty birds and some funky ones. There were lots of parrots, flamingos, pheasants and all other kinds. You just walk around the forest and see what you can see (and hope you don't get pooped on). The birds are very used to humans so they have no problem landing on you and stealing your jewelry if you don't hide it. They also didn't have a problem thinking my rat's nest for hair was good nest-making material. I was excited that we saw a Knysna Lourie, a native specifically to Knysna!

Monkey Business

On our way home from Addo, we also stopped at Monkeyland. It was great! The monkeys just run around all over the place. They're used to humans so they don't have any problem getting right up in your grill. It's funny, locals think that monkeys are a big nuisance. They will sneak in your house and steal all of your fruit and make a mess. I think they're hilarious!
Basically how it works is there's a guide that will walk you all around the forest and show you the monkeys. The forest was cool-there were big bridges and trails and things.

Anyway, we saw lots of monkeys-I even got to see a ring tailed lemur.
All the monkeys there were rescued monkeys. There were big huge ones and little tiny ones (in a cage so the other monkeys don't get them). It was a lot of fun.

Addo Croc & Lion Ranch

Just outside Addo, there was a small establishment that just said Addo Croc & Lion Ranch. It wasn't very big or noticeable on the side of the street, but I begged my aunt to let us check it out.

It was so neat! I finally got to see my lions! Basically, they use this ranch to raise lions and then they let them go in the wild (at one of the parks). The crocs....I don't know what they do with them.
They even had a tiger (although, they aren't native to Africa so I don't know why they had one). His name was Tigger.
But the best part was a little lion cub named Princess-"Sissy" for short. How can you resist?!?

I'm so glad we stopped. They had other animals, too-tiny monkeys, Lynx, big lions, etc. You never what you'll find at these questionable side-of-the-road establishments.

Blog Delay

Hi everyone,

There may be a blog delay as Betti's computer is out getting fixed and this one is questionable about loading photos. I leave for home tomorrow night. It's gonna be a long trip home-George to Johannesburg, then to Paris, then Minneapolis and then finally home. I'm not looking forward to those long flights but it will be nice to be home again.

The last couple of days we have been living the life of a Knysnan. We took a trip through the Knysna Forest, watched an eco-education production for kids out in the forest, went to an art class, visited the Knysna Heads, and I finally got to go to the Knysna Oyster Co. where we tried some oysters...they're not my favorite. But Knysna is famous for their oysters so it was on my list of things to do. We rode bikes to the waterfront and shopped a bit.

Give me a few days and when I get home I'll post some more pics. Thanks for checkin' it all out!

Port Elizabeth

On our way to Addo, we gave Betti's friend, Fiona, a ride from Knysna to Port Elizabeth. This worked out perfectly because, one-we had to drop her off in P.E. which meant I would get to see it and not just drive by and two-Fiona is a tour guide all over South Africa. The whole drive, she told me about different social issues of SA, the history of the places we were driving through, etc. She really made the ride interesting and she was such an intelligent person. I feel lucky to have met her. Here are a few highlights of Port Elizabeth:
The landmark for PE is the pyramid. Constructed by the governor of the town in the 1800's, PE was named after his beloved wife died before he got there. He built this pyramid in her honor but a few years later he committed suicide because of his grief.

This is some church I thought was cool.

This is the Prince Edward Hotel. It was built in the 1800's and the bottom half was where passers-by would stable their horses. It was really neat.

This is a courtyard inside the Prince Edward Hotel.
This is a typical mural painted across the street from the Prince Edward Hotel. Very South African...

Apartheid

Remember how I was telling you all about apartheid-the segregation that took place here? The blacks lived in these townships that they made out of cardboard, tin, etc. After Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, the South African government did away with apartheid. Even though they tried to do away with it, apartheid is still a really big part of the social issues here because they still live in these houses. Wages are so small, they cannot afford to go anywhere else. It's crazy because you'll see huge homes and then there will be "squatters" that just build their shacks right next to them. The South African president was just booted out of office this week because the folks that live in these townships want government housing built for them and they think a new president (Zuma) will do it for them. It's all very scandalous.

These aren't the best pictures-I took them from the car. They say it would be very dangerous for a white person to walk through there alone.

Knysna

So Knysna is a very cute town and all that, but they have the BEST farmer's market I've ever seen. The food there was amazing! Nothing like I've seen in the states. Everything is organic, homemade, and all the meat is free range. It's only open from 7am-11:30am on Saturdays. My aunt is friends with the owners there. We went to each stall and tasted their foods (cheesecakes, cheese, freshly squeezed OJ, meat, etc) It was really fun. They also have a craft market right next to it that sells all things Africanish so I got all my souvies there. It's a bit like Tijuana here-you have to bargain with them. Things here are about as expensive as the states (except for this huge-ass brownie at the market I got for like $.90!) but labor is dirt cheap.

The owners of the farmer's market have the cutest farm. They built their house on their own and it looks like Alice in Wonderland's white rabbit house with the thatched roof. I thought it was so neat that they did the whole thing on their own (two women).

The other day Betti and I went to the Knysna Elephant Park. It's a small park that only specializes in the Knysna elephant because they were endangered at one point. It was neat because we got to feed and pet them. Don't you just love the baby? He was hysterical. Very curious..

There are so many animals here! We were driving along and a bunch of baboons were kickin' it in the road! I was dying to see some monkeys (well, really anything) and thought...this will work! So I started snapping some photos and wouldn't you know some started getting freakay?

I love the male's face-it cracks me up! Anyway, I also thought I'd share this sign I kept seeing to beware of snakes. I don't know about you, but that picture looks like a cobra to me. COBRAS?!? Luckily, we didn't see any. (this was after bungy jumping).

Mount Vernon

On my way to Africa, I had a 7 hour layover in Washington DC. Branson (my brother) picked me up and took me to Mount Vernon. It was so stinkin' cool! I loved it. I get totally geeked out when it comes to US history so George Washington's home was hard core.
That's me with my new boyfriend. I wish I had more time there-it's a big place! I loved touring the house (no pics allowed). Afterwards, Branson and I met with Bonnie (one of my sisters) for lunch. It was good to see them, it's been a few years sice I've seen Bonnie.

Safari at Addo Elephant Park

For the past couple of days we have been in Addo Elephant park-about 4 hours from Knysna in the Eastern Cape near Port Elizabeth (by no means will this blog be in chronological order). Addo was so awesome! We got to drive around on our own and look for animals. We had a checklist of sorts to mark off once we saw stuff. Here are some things we saw:

Warthogs. Yes, the Lion King soundtrack was playing in my head the whole time. Too bad they're cuter on the cartoon.

We saw lots of elephants (obviously since it's an elephant park). They were great. We also saw a ton of kudu, which is kind of a deer lookin' thing. At first, we thought we were all cool and then as time pressed on, they got boring. This is a female-she doesn't have any horns but some huge ears!

I mostly loved the safari. We rode in our jeeps around to find more animals and our guide really knew his stuff. Here I am holding M&Ms for sustanence (really, this picture is for Brenda-to show her I'm livin' it up in Africa with peanut M&Ms).

By the way, I don't know if you can read my shirt, but it's from bungy jumping the day before. It says, "Fear is temporary, regret is forever." I love it!

Here my Aunt Betti and I stop for drinks and treats while we watch the sun set on a herd of elephants.

We also saw ostrich, hyena, jackal, buffalo, meerkats, hartebeest, leopard tortoise, yellow mongoose, jackal buzzard, etc. I'm too lazy to load ALL the pics on here. I was disappointed I didn't get to see a dungbeetle or a lion.

The safari really made me feel like I was "in Africa" for the first time. Where Betti lives, it's like a normal town and it's very lush and green-not like the savannah I was expecting.

Bungy Jumping

Sorry I haven't blogged sooner, we were on safari and we just got back today. Lots has been happening...

OK people-I didn't get to shark cage dive because it's too cold here and it was too far away. But on our way to our safari, we stopped at Bloukrans Bridge, the world's highest bungy jump and I took the plunge! I was SOOOO freaking scared!

I was pretty confident at first, but then once we got out to the bridge, I was getting more and more nervous. Once it was my turn I could feel my stomach turn...what was I thinking?!? Once they checked and double checked my cords, they hopped me out to the ledge (your feet are all tied up). My toes touched the edge and I thought, "Nooooo....this is NOT a good plan...I don't want to go." Ha ha, can you tell by the picture? This is where I was crapping my pants!

Finally they all started counting down..."Five-Four-Three-Two-One!" and they pushed me off the side. It was a light push and I doubt I would have been able to do it without their push.

This is the part where I start screaming like a little girl. I could feel myself shaking on the way down and I thought, "I'm going to die....I wonder where I will be landing." I decided on a nice bank next to the river below when I finally felt the bungy. I was so relieved, I cheered! I'm such a dork.

Going head first, all the blood rushes to your head. It kinda hurt. But that's the only thing that did. I was shaking until I finally got brought back up.

Obviously I was relieved. I made it!!! My mom will freak!