Thanksgiving Day in Swaziland

Eric's parents, Ken and Alice Higgins, came to visit us here in Swaziland on November 20th in order to see the country, visit Eric, and have Thanksgiving here in Siteki. We picked up Mr. and Mrs. Higgins in Johannesburg then took them on a short vacation up to the northern parts of South Africa to the Mpumalanga region of the country, famous for its large waterfalls. We stayed in a small town called Graskop while enjoying such sights like the Three Rondavels, God's Window, Bourke's Luck Potholes, and Mac Mac Pools before going back to Kruger National Park for a whirlwind tour through the southern part of the park. We were able to see many of the larger animals from our previous visit (elephant, kudu, hippo, crocodile, impala, etc.), this time we were also able to see many smaller, more unique animals, than we did in the 8 days on our previous trip.
The crowning achievement of our final trip to Kruger was only 2 km away from the park exit, when just to the right of our vehicle, we looked 10 meters into the bush to find a cheetah that had just brought down a kill and was chowing down right in front of us. To those who are wondering how exciting this was, many people will go to Kruger on multiple trips and never see a cheetah, let alone one that has just chased down his lunch!
We got back into Swaziland with some struggles of our own. We were driving a loaned SUV from Dr. Pons since we were going to some rugged country and while driving through some seriously hot temperatures we noticed that the air conditioning would periodically switch off. We thought nothing of it and just opened the windows. The climax came when we were driving up the steep mountain road going to Siteki when we heard a large boom from the engine and steam billowing from the hood. We were only 4 km from our destination when we cracked the radiator!
Thanksgiving was only two days away so once we finally made it back to the farm with the broken SUV we quickly began preparing our epic Thanksgiving Day meal! On the menu for this festive occasion was turkey (we had to drive 4 hours away to find one!), mashed potatoes, butternut souffle`, cranberry salad, green-bean casserole, pumpkin pie (thank you, Mrs. Higgins, for bringing the french-fried onions and canned pumpkin!), apple pie, homemade rolls, and Southern Sweet Tea! We had a total of 14 people around our beautiful table and 4 countries represented. After our meal, Eric gave a great history lesson on the beginnings of the holiday. This Thanksgiving was particularly interesting due to the vast changes in scenery and guests, however, one thing stayed the same, we ate a exorbitant amount of food for which we were suffering for 2 days afterward!
-Ben

New Photos

Check out the new photos!

-Brad

As if one vacation from our vacation was not enough...

We are excited to pick up Eric's parents tomorrow from the airport in Johannesburg. They are traveling here to celebrate Thanksgiving with us! This weekend and early next week we are going to travel in the Mpumalanga area which is famous for its waterfalls and good hiking. Then we will arrive just in time to prepare for a Thanksgiving meal. We surprisingly located a turkey in South Africa (turkey is not a staple food in South Africa or Swaziland). We have been able to locate everything else except canned pumpkin (for pumpkin pie) and french fried onions (for green bean casserole). We're going to share our US holiday with some South African and Swazi friends and there will likely be a fair amount of improvisation with dishes, but I am looking forward to the challenge. We'll update when we have internet access about how our trip goes!

Bulungula, Wild Coast

Our final destination on our epic trip through the southern part of the South Africa was brilliantly completed at a place called Bulungula, a very small village outside the electricity, mail, and telephone grids in a place untouched by western tourism. This place prides itself on using ones brains to come up with eco-friendly ways to conserve resources while still using the gifts of the earth. I know what you are thinking; “You are going to a place with no electricity, no hot water heaters, no connection to the outside world for our vacation destination? Are you Crazy?!” Well, yes we are crazy, but that’s beside the point. This place was spectacular! The Bulungula lodge was nothing more than a shack that has been turned into a haven for nature loving, free thinkers from around the globe. We were able to learn how some bright people have started using solar power for cooking, boiling water, providing hot water for showers, and providing a bit of light all while using nothing from the electricity grids of the world. Everything there is self-sustaining! While there we were able to speak to people from a dozen different nationalities about a plethora of topics. This place was more than the activities surrounding our visit, rather it was a place where movers and shakers from around the world could find a meeting place where internet, nice homes, an amenities of all sorts were not the priority.

Grace was able to get in on a group of people doing yoga while I had some great conversations around a big fire overlooking the ocean. Brad and Eric also met some interesting people; physiologists, surgeons, engineers, sociologists, economists, mathematicians, and all sorts of others all met here for the weekend. We were able to do some kayaking up an estuary where we found a beached whale that was decomposing on the beachside. We spoke to the owner of the lodge and he told us that after the spinal disks of the large blue whale stopped stinking he was going to turn them into chairs for around the fire. Now that’s a reclamation project!

-Ben

Garden Route Trip

Our trip to Knysna, a quaint vacationer’s town on the coast, gave us 4 days to relax, hike, and take in some great food. We stayed in a place called Brenton-on-Sea, a beachfront village just to the southwest of Knysna, at Chantalle Vorster’s (a new friend we met in Pretoria) holiday home. We spent 4 days at her house, but used this location as a home base for all the hiking and sight seeing we did in and around Kynsna. We hiked the Heads, two massive hills that constrict the water prior to entering into a large secluded bay, on our first day of our visit, which still gave us time to have dinner out. We have found that eating out in this country is not nearly as expensive as it would be in America. In fact, if we choose moderately priced restaurants we can eat out for the same price as eating in. Obviously, we have found ourselves eating out quite a lot lately!

We also had a great hike in the Tsitsikamma National Park. We hiked a 10 kilometer trail along the ocean called the Otter Trail, a widely renown trail worldwide. Along our hike we were able to see massive fissures in the rock where the power of the ocean has been eroding the ground for millions of years to create massive cave structures overlooking the ocean. Our hike came to an end at a 200+ foot waterfall falling into the ocean. This was a sight to behold! Please see the pictures for visual stimulation!

-Ben

Gondwana Game Reserve

We got to Gondwana Game Reserve on Saturday, November 6^th by the graciousness of Will’s parents who own a home in the private game reserve. This is a Big 5 game reserve close to the ocean in the middle of South Africa. The game reserve sits on 25,000 acres of pristine untouched parts of the countryside overlooking the ocean on one side and a great mountain range on the other. Our house sat in the middle of the reserve with no one within 5 miles of our location. The mountains in the distance provided picturesque views that have reminded me of places such as Colorado and Idaho yet has a character all its own. This place gave me a peace that I’ve only felt in 2 other places in my life. I definitely will not forget this place.

-Ben

More New Photos

More new photos are up of our trip through South Africa. We are finally to the end of our trip and it was amazing! More blogs are to come detailing our adventures. In the mean time, check out the slideshow on the side!

-Brad