Lions, Tigers, Africa...OH MY!

This past school week didn’t bring anything that exciting with it, though Thursday morning brought with it some rain.  Shane and I opted to leave our bikes at home to try and catch a Kombi (normally they are everywhere) naturally we were unable to get one and ended up walking the thirty-minute stretch to campus in the pouring rain.  By the time we arrived both of us were thoroughly soaked and dripping.  Sitting through Xhosa was torture, but the day improved once we finished with it.  The sun was back out and not a cloud was in sight (after Xhosa Culture) so we sat on stairs by the food court and dried out for the hour or so before Tourism.  After classes that day we spent the rest of the night hanging out with friends at Annie’s Cove where we taught some people “ratfart” and “peanuts” and ended the night with more of Roman’s pizza!

Female and Male Nyala

            Most of Friday was spent coordinating our weekend plans and getting transport figured out.  We quickly discovered that an international drivers license is required to book a car with the company we had originally selected, so a couple of changes were in order.  Shane filled out a form online, pasted a couple of photos (picture of his Iowa drivers license, photo of himself, and a photo of his signature), and submitted it.  Surprisingly, the international ID was delivered to our house today (Monday)!  Back to Friday, we knew we couldn’t use the first company so we acquired the number of a family with an extra car (after a lot of back and forth communication with our friends) and were able to book with them.  

            Saturday morning started early (for us) at 6:45, as the car would be delivered at 8 o’ clock.  We had no idea what year the vehicle would be, but were not anticipating it being older than 10 years! 

Go-cart run by Gerbils

The car got us from A to B, so I guess I cannot complain too much.  The early 90’s or late 80’s Volkswagen Jetta was sometimes reluctant to open the rear passenger door and required someone to open it from the outside, it also had a brake that required extra effort (as in, it required you to mash it to the floor), and it had a tendency to vibrate while idling (which we did a lot of while driving through the game park).  Shane drove us from our home at Southport Road to Annie’s Cove, without too many issues.  I reminded him a couple of times to stay on the left side of the road (as everything is backwards here) and navigated a short roundabout.  When we arrived at Annie’s we were greeted by a drunken man, who incoherently talked about South Africa and asked about our origin (I think he may have said something about “Calfernya”-California).  To avoid him we had to go back into Annie’s and wait for him to walk away.  After that we were able to pile into the car (Scott drove) and stopped at some ATMs.

            The first destination was Seaview Lion Park, which was about a 35-minute drive from Port Elizabeth.  There were constant reminders to, “stay left,” along with two abrupt U-turns because of the poorly labeled roads here.  Somehow, we made it.  The first part of the park had us driving through open land with wild animals here and there (though no predators are free-roaming).  We were able to get some fun shots with a giraffe and other antelope/deer species.  The drive was rough, as the Jetta did not negotiate hills well, rest assured that those gerbils got a workout!  A short while later we found the beginning of the park 

where the adult big cats are kept.  It was odd here as the walkways were all sealed and we did not see even one employee!  We attempted to take a few photos here, but gave up pretty quickly.  We piled back into the car and drove up another challenging hill and came to the sanctuary where the cubs and café are situated.

            We purchased our tickets to get into the Lion, Tiger, and Serval enclosures.  The Lion cubs came first, after being told not to touch their ears, paws, or allow them to bite you, we entered.  These guys were pretty lazy and didn’t do much, though they were still adorable!  One of the males scratched me and started to bite at my knee (this is on video), but it lasted a short couple of seconds.  The Tiger cubs (two females) were much more active, though uncooperative in terms of photographs.  These guys had a small pool in their enclosure, which both visited and consequently got covered in sand.  Each time the Tigers shook themselves sand and water stuck to my legs. 

Galia - Female Serval

Lastly were the Servals.  Both of these cats were adults and were incredibly relaxed, though the female apparently does not care for men (thus Shane kept his distance).  At around noon we opted to eat at the café and enjoyed some Chicken/Mayo sandwiches (you can get them everywhere here), chips (fries), and a Coke.  We topped this off with the equivalent of fudge bars while sitting on the deck and ogling a Bulldog puppy that was playing with another table.  After all of us were fat and happy we climbed back into the “giant-vibrating-go-cart” and drove to the Kragga Kamma Game Park.

            We arrived after another U-turn and an incredibly bumpy road.  After purchasing our tickets we switched drivers (Shane was now behind the wheel) and headed out.  We were met with a plethora of deer/antelope, Giraffe, Zebra, and birds.  Our goal for this park was to see the White Rhino, which we subsequently found at the very end!  The Cheetah enclosure was interesting as we drove the entire circle with our eyes peeled and saw none; not until we were at the gate to leave the enclosure did we find the three of them hiding from the sun about 5-feet from our car.  Back on the trail, we came across a Warthog (subsequently named Pumba) who refused to move off of the road.  The Jetta made some protests to this as we were on a steep hill and shuddering heavily.  After Shane practically tapped the Warthog, she moved away along with her two little ones.  About halfway through the reserve we came to another café and found an Ostrich just floating amongst parked cars.  On the trail to the café we came across two Cheetahs in an enclosure and shortly discovered that we could pet them (Shane, Allie, and I promptly bought the tickets which were only like 5 dollars).  Mark and Monte met us with indifference.  They had been exposed to people since they were five months old (now four years-old).  These two were marginally softer than the Lions and Tigers (and calmer).  Monte scared me at first because he began purring when I started petting him and it sounded more like a growl, much deeper than Binx is capable of!  Mark gave Shane “kisses” by licking his hands with his incredibly rough tongue (apparently he has never done this to any women, just men).  We were able to get some neat shots with these two and were reluctant to leave.  After that we briefly traversed a monkey walk (only saw a very large grasshopper that Shane avoided) and got back into the car while simultaneously avoiding the Ostrich standing five feet from the passenger side.

 

            Back in the car we saw more of the same thing, until we finally came across the White Rhinoceros.  He lumbered in front of our car and continually came towards it causing Shane to freak out and reverse (this became difficult as there was a car right behind us).  After giving us all a rise in blood pressure, the Rhino moved off of the path and we were able to pass.  The drive back went smoothly and required a stop at the gas station to top off the tank and figure out how much everyone owed us.  While the attendant pumped the gas (you do not do it yourself here and you tip the man when he is done) we calculated the bill.  Scott, Annie, and Sarah got dropped off and Shane and I took advantage of the car and stopped at Superspar.  Typically we ride our bikes to the grocery store and load up our backpacks, which is a lot of work, so this was an opportunity that would not be missed.  After grabbing all of the heavy things we could we drove back to Southport, somehow managing to stay under the allotted 100km of free mileage we got with the rental (we ended up doing exactly 100).

            Sunday was busy as well as we spent the afternoon at the beach with a group of people alternating between swimming, sunbathing, and kicking a soccer ball around.  After a couple hours of this, Shane and I headed back to clean up before we went to Annie’s to have our first braai (grill-out).  We only brought a couple of things: chicken breast, fire-starter (kind of like a block of wax coated in kerosene), Coke, Pringles, and a Melk Tert (South African pie that tasted like vanilla pudding with Cinnamon sprinkled on top).  Scott did all of the cooking while the rest of us socialized and hovered around.  The food was very good and filling (finally)!  We spent a little more time there and made the short bike ride back home. 

            Today (Monday) won’t have too much going on though we will be watching our first Rugby match tonight.  This weekend we will be taking a “Frontier Trip,” so until then, more school and enjoying the beach!

First Week of Classes...

This last week brought with it the beginning of school and a busier schedule (though not much)! On Monday we started the school day at 9:30 with Tourism as an Economic Activity, which consisted of 6 students total! Our second (and final) class of the day was Introduction to Xhosa Culture. Shane, myself, and twelve others ended up being a half hour late to this class as we spent that time sitting/standing in front of the wrong door on the wrong floor. Our school schedules list first a building number, a floor number, and then a room number. The floor numbers are listed as such: -01, 00, or 01 meaning bottom floor, ground floor, and top floor respectively. We (the 14 of us) had failed to note the negative symbol and thus wasted 30 minutes of time. After asking a teacher as she passed by, our mistake was pointed out and we found the correct room. The teacher laughed as he had just dismissed the rest of the students, but quickly went over the syllabus for us stragglers.

     Tuesday consisted of our one and only class for the day, Ethics and Corporate Governance. This room was more or less an auditorium and had probably 300+ students in the class. We anticipate this class being more work than the other two, but seeing as we are only taking three, I cannot complain! It is also nice that Shane and I have the exact same schedule, so studying and doing assignments together will be a plus!

     On Wednesdays we have no class, so we slept in and then moseyed down to the beach (which is conveniently 5 minutes or so away). We spent about two hours just sun bathing and relaxing. Something to take note of: it is always windy in Port Elizabeth. Being at the beach means getting sand everywhere! Laying down on your towel means that every time a gust of wind hits, sand gets in your ears and sticks to whatever is exposed. Shane and I also meandered into the water (about ankle deep until the tide washes in and becomes knee deep) and enjoyed the ebb and flow of the water. Shane also managed to grab a couple of shells he found as they washed ashore.

     More school came on Thursday, but it is odd here as the classes are switched around. Our first class of the day was Intro to Xhosa Culture (in the same room we had Tourism in on Monday) and our second class was Tourism (in the room Xhosa had been in on Monday)! At the beginning of class (Xhosa) our professor informed us that we would be covering five concepts and then cover the next five on Monday; I interpreted this information as meaning it would take an entire class period (hour and twenty minutes) to cover those first five, but instead it took thirty and class was dismissed… Seems like a waste to me. We used the entire time block for Tourism (though it only takes up one on Thursdays). The semesters at NMMU are broken into two terms: right now we are in term 1, term 2 will begin in the second week of April. The classes are also broken into time blocks and typically use up two per class, so we can expect to be in the room for an hour and twenty minutes. I won’t complain about being released early, but I do realize the waste when much more material could be covered.

     After class on Thursday we ate a quick lunch and then made our way down to the beach again with some friends from Annie’s Cove. We spent more time laying-out and finally got fully immersed in water. I had forgotten just how salty it can be! It was entertaining riding the waves as they came in, but could only tolerate being in the water for about ten minutes before I was too cold. It helps that the sun is relentless here, but the combination of wind and cool ocean water make everything comfortable. Shane and I are definitely many shades darker from being in South Africa. I swear that sunburn here equals four back at home and I am that much tanner because of it. I have “permanent flip-flops” on because of the patterns now burned onto my feet. When we left the beach we went to Friends (the internet café) and met up with Melissa and Allie (also from Annie’s Cove). Shane and I shoveled down two orders of chicken-mayo sandwiches and two milkshakes each! We intended to go out that night as well, but were worn from two consecutive days of sun and opted to sleep!

     Friday passed very quickly as we have only Ethics to attend and were let out a half hour early. Shane and I made a trip straight from class to a “Superspar” where we picked up groceries and then went home. We realized shortly after getting back that I had lost our cell phone. This wasn’t a big deal cost wise, as the phone was only $14, but it was inconvenient in that we had lost all form of contact with our friends. It also sucked because the day before we had loaded more air time and texting onto the phone. We made the brief trip to Summerstrand Village and intended to buy a phone when we were reminded that a passport and proof of living were required. Shane and I were too lazy to go home and back so went without a phone that night. The next morning one of our housemates came over with the phone… apparently I had left it on the counter in their house when I grabbed the liquid measuring cup! Later that day (Saturday) we met up with 10 others and played soccer on the North Campus’ field. When I say played soccer, I mean that I watched while everyone else played!

African Penguins!

     Sunday included a trip to a local marine sanctuary where we got to see some African Penguins and was educated on other wildlife in the area. It took about an hour to walk from our house to Annie’s and then to the sanctuary. We were lazy on the way back and took a Kombi (a bus that drives around town honking and hollering at everyone it sees to try to get passengers). The trip back was marginally faster :) We then walked to a pizza place called Roman’s with Scott and Melissa and had a delicious pepperoni and garlic pizza. The bill ended up being 66R = less than $10, for three medium pizzas (this is very cheap, but it should be noted that a medium here is about the same as a small in the states)! It was much better than the place that delivers which we had tried a week prior where a pepperoni pizza really means a pepperoni-mushroom-onion pizza. That about covers this week, I will probably post again next Sunday after visiting a couple of parks!

Scott, Myself, Sarah, Susanne, Shane, Allie, and Melissa

I am burnt...

         I realize that it has taken me an excessive amount of time to get this blog started, my apologies for the delay.  It took Shane and I about a week after arriving in Port Elizabeth to acquire any form of internet at our accommodation!  Anywho, to get caught up with what we have gone through I should start with leaving Des Moines on Wednesday the 1st of February...

         We (this will be used all too often as this blog is to express both Shane and I's experiences) flew out of DSM at 11:12 that morning (after crying and hugs for everyone) then arrived in Atlanta after about 2 hours in the air.  That was all fine and dandy, then came the long haul.  We entertained ourselves in the Atlanta airport for 5 hours by doing a lot of reading, scouring for food, and watching the first few episodes of The Big Bang Theory (courtesy of my brother).  If I recall, we boarded at about 7pm on February 1st and landed at 5:40pm in Johannesburg (which keep in mind is 8 hours ahead of Des Moines--so the flight ended up being 14 hours and 42 minutes long).  After about 2 movies into the flight we were pretty restless and found sleep was impossible in such a cramped space; this may not apply to everyone else, but being 6' 2" was a huge hinderance.  It also did not help to have a child cry every time sleep starts to wash over you!  We touched down in Joburg and rushed through the airport, as much as we could anyways (stood in line for 40 minutes or so).  We grabbed our bags, checked them in again, then walked the length of the entire airport to locate our terminal.  We waited briefly (20 minutes), to board our final plane and got on our way for the final stretch.  This final flight being about an hour and twenty minutes was measly in comparison to the rest and felt more like 10 minutes.  Deplaning was odd, as stairs were rolled up to the plane versus the ramp/chute contraption typically used.  It was muggy when we touched ground and thoroughly depressing because of the incessant rain (though more like a 'spitting').  The Port Elizabeth airport is incredibly small so we were able to grab our bags instantly and locate the guide from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (though we were not expecting her).  She (Richelle) had us wait for the other students who had come off of our flight and then the 7 of us walked the short distance to our hotel.

         Shane and I took no time at all to fall asleep (plus we had some handy sleeping-aids) and got up at 6:45 the next morning to make the short walk to the airport (as this is where a shuttle from the school would be picking us up).  The schedule for the day stated we would be picked up at 8am, brought to the school to sign for our housing and check-in, be dropped off at our accommodation to leave some luggage there, and then leave at 9am to go on a weekend orientation camp.  It was raining yet again so we trudged in our group of 6 (the guide from NMMU didn’t stay at the hotel) to the airport and waited about a half hour for our driver to show up.  We have discovered that just about nothing starts on time here, the school seemingly allots about an hour of waiting time for each event.  Our group acquired two more at the airport and we all (8) squeezed our luggage and ourselves into the van/bus.  We arrived at a place called Annie’s Cove, which is one of the options for off-campus housing (and one Shane and I had applied for, though did not get).  We unloaded our luggage, left it in the rain, and crammed ourselves into a very small, make-shift office where we signed some papers acknowledging that we knew where our accommodations were and to confirm our place at the bush-camp/orientation that would be departing in 30 minutes.  It turns out that Shane and I could not be placed on this camp as all 90 spots had been taken (would have been nice to know before we got here)!  Three members of our group (from California) made the cut, but didn’t have time to go to their housing so had to shove all of their luggage on the bus and leave immediately.

         We ended up standing around in that office for an hour until a shuttle arrived to bring us to our accommodation (we live at ‘Southport’).  It was abrupt because we were brought to our house and then left alone.  Shane and I had mental checklists to fulfill: acquire internet, a phone, bedding, currency, and food… We quickly discovered that no help was forthcoming and had no means to call a cab or use the internet to pull up a map of this city.  Eventually our landlord showed up and gave us a brief tour of our home (which is two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a hallway/kitchen) so it took milliseconds and then called us a taxi.  Pang (our driver) is hilarious, you immediately sit down in his little blue Toyota (the left rear door has issues) and he bombards you with information and complaints.  He took us first to the airport to exchange some money (chattering the entire way), to a small convenience store where we bought a $14 phone and bedding that smells horrible, then to a Pick n’ Pay which had minimal food in it (we later discovered that this was a cheaper part of town and now know where to go to actually find options).  After unpacking, Shane and I literally did nothing but sleep for the next two days (and cooked ourselves some Ostrich burgers-tasted like sausage).

         On Sunday the sun finally showed up and we went exploring.  We were paranoid about being robbed because everyone has told us to be wary: don’t go anywhere alone, don’t travel too much at night, only take private taxis, lock everything up--even when you are there, don’t wear jewelry, don’t carry a camera around, etc.  Obviously nothing happened to us on this short excursion.  When walking around Port Elizabeth you immediately note that EVERY house has massive walls/gates with electrical wiring, warnings about dogs, and alarm systems—it is daunting.  Though it was later explained to us that all of these securities were thrown up right after the end of the apartheid because people still feared retaliation and whatnot.

         We got back to our accommodation, which I should describe in more detail.  Shane and I share a two-bedroom house, which has a small kitchen and bathroom.  Our house is attached to a bigger one that houses 6 guys (though I believe it has 8 bedrooms): 3 are from France, 2 from America (California), and 1 from Germany.  There is a smaller house attached to the boys’, which has 4 girls in it: 2 Americans from N. Carolina, 1 from Amsterdam, and 1 from France.  Our property also has a pool and an outdoor lounge-area.  The house was incredibly quiet over the weekend as only the guys from France did not go on the bush-camp and they are ninjas (you can never find them when you want to)!

        

         On Monday we went to orientation which was brief and consisted of staff welcoming us and warning us about this and that.  I luckily had Martin sit next to me (1 of the people from our airport group-from Germany) so we were able to exchange numbers.  After the brief presentations we were left on our own until 4pm when we were supposed to find a café on campus called Madibaz where a small school function would be held.  Shane, Martin, and I found some food on campus and ate (I had about 1 bite of my burger and was disgusted with it—though the fries [called chips here] were delicious) and then walked around campus exchanging stories and discovering various buildings until 4.  A small raffle was held at Madibaz when we got there and prizes were given out to a select few.  The food provided was horrid, it consisted of some odd sausage links, a mass of goo that smelled like grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, and bread (which was the only good part).  We walked home (30 minutes from campus) and crashed—I seemingly cannot stay awake past 8pm here!

         On Tuesday Shane and I were scheduled for a City tour from 8am til 5pm.  The bus did not leave until 9am, but that was expected.  We first drove into downtown and got out to walk past a couple of art sculptures in desolated areas of the city, then to a pyramid/lighthouse created for Elizabeth (the city's namesake) by her husband. 

These stairs lead up to the above lighthouse/pyramid.

We got back on the bus (after more facts from our tour guide) and were driven to the largest mall in the Southern hemisphere under 1 roof.  We were given an hour of time in the mall and spent it eating (I avoided another burger and instead had some spare ribs—better, but still not home).  After our stint at the mall the bus drove into the shantytowns, which are segregated into white, colored, and black.  It was depressing seeing how some people live, their shacks are literally no bigger than our shed at home.  The children we passed were incredibly excited when our bus passed (as they know foreigners usually get out and give them things).  We went through a museum tour that day and ended the tour in a backpacker’s lounge run by unemployed women who live in one of these poorer areas. 

         Wednesday was registration day and ended up being the nightmare we had anticipated.  Half of the classes we are unable to take because the qualifications here do not match up (I am a senior, but am only able to take up to 3^rd year classes here).  Some classes that were said to be in terms 1 & 2 were now in 3 & 4…. Shane and I ended up finishing registration on Thursday after our campus tour.  On a high note, Shane and I got internet at our house on Wednesday (though it is limited, we purchased 3 GB of usage).  We also purchased bicycles that were delivered Thursday.

         I apologize if all of that was an excess of information, but we have been here for 9 days and I had not had a chance to share anything!  I will be posting more frequently (dependent upon events) and hopefully a lot less information!  We have our first day of classes on Monday, so we shall see how that goes….

The beach is about 5 minutes from our house (we are on the Indian Ocean).