Thankful for Life (RIP to My UMES Fam)

I just had an epiphany: I live in South Africa!!! I just got out of a taxi to go to the mall for lunch and grocery shopping.  When I was at the taxi rank, I took a moment to truly take in the sights and sounds.  I was amazed!!!  I live here, this is my life. I can navigate what would seem to most American eyes as poor chaos, but I know the system and feel the rhythm.  How cool is that!!??  Not only that, but during my taxi ride I was reading up on Brazil, in preparation for the start of my trip around the world.  That’s pretty damn cool.  I am living in South Africa and planning trips to other countries (New Years in Dubai anyone or 2013 Carnival in Brazil?!).

I don’t share this to brag.  I have been plagued with a lot of FML (F…My Life) moments lately (you have no idea how frustrating it is to get stood up for meetings almost on a daily basis…if I got paid for the time I waste waiting for folks…SMH), causing me to survive and not live.  This morning when I logged into Facebook though I was reminded about the importance of appreciating life. 

My Facebook feed was filled with RIP and condolences messages for a UMES classmate.  I am still unsure what caused his sudden death, but it really threw me for a loop.  He is the second one of my undergrad classmates, as well as a classmates' ex-wife, to pass over the 4 months since I have been in SA.  I didn’t think we were there yet.  We are suppose to be in the prime of our lives—enjoying our mid-thirties and the financial and career success that our twenties brought us.  We aren’t young, but we aren’t old!!!

Reflecting on all of this reminded me to enjoy and appreciate the blessings that God has given me.  To truly live each day because tomorrow is not promised.  My ears, eyes, heart, and mind are open.  And I am just so truly thankful.  God has abundantly blessed me—in spite of my flaws, mistakes, sins, etc.  From that comes my appreciation for this moment in my life.  Despite not being someone of means, God has seen it fit to bless me with the opportunity to live and travel abroad.  I am living a pretty cool life.  It has its own set of challenges and limitations, but isn’t that always the case. 

So I am committing to stop acknowledging the FML moments and instead focus on the MFL (My F Life!!!!—said with enthusiasm and excitement and a cocky head nod) moments. And I am also recommitting myself to my 2012 goals or mantra...to be conscious and fully breathe in and absorb every moment.  Be aware and connected to my environment and the people that come into my world for a an instance or for a lifetime.  And to appreciate the moments.  I will not survive but thrive by living everyday to the fullest and without regret.

May you all be blessed as well.  And thank you for being apart of my life and my journey.

R.I.P to my UMES fam, you are gone but not forgotten

Damon Baker

Bryan Thomas

Paul Robeson

Brandi Broomer

Khaliq

Black

(and the Godfather of Go-Go Chuck Brown)

Tsamaya sentle (go well/goodbye in Tswana)

--Mei

SA Road Tripping 3: Kruger National Park

Howisit? (South African version of what’s up? and it is written and said just like that) Here is the last set of pics from my May Get Away Road Trip!  These are the most exciting pics because they are from the game park, Kruger National Park.  I finally feel like I have experienced Africa or at least the Africa that everyone imagines because I have seen elephants, zebras, and monkey walking down the street.  I kept feeling like I was in the Lion King, lol. 

I so badly wanted to post these pics and act like they were from a normal random day here in SA.  The one question that people always ask me when I tell them I have traveled in Africa is, “did you see any animals.” Sometimes I will make up stories (that amazingly are believed) about having a pet monkey and zebra.  Unfortunately, though across most of the continent the only animals that you will readily see are cows, sheep, goats, and dogs.  OOOHHHH and chickens can’t forget the chickens.  Here in SA I have seen the random monkey on the side of the road though. 

So to see wild animals you go to Game Parks.  South Africa has numerous Game Parks or National Parks, but the Kruger National Park is the most well known.  Kruger spans 20,000 sq km (I’ll let you convert that he he) and is roughly the size of Wales (not such a great reference for Americans either lol welcome to my world).  OK how about this…it is the size of Israel!!!  It is actually the largest protected wildlife area in Africa (maybe even the world) and crosses the South African border into Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

We entered into Kruger from a gate near Hoedspruit.  As I mentioned earlier, we spent the night at an Afrikaans family’s house/Lorena’s (the volunteer I traveled with) “host family’s” house.  Lorena and I were able to also get in a visit to a cheetah reserve before we all departed for the park.  The coolest thing about the park is that it isn’t like safaris on TV.  We drove on paved roads that wound through the park.  And when I say we I mean WE drove.  We took personal cars and slowly drove through looking for animals.  When we came close to animals, we kept a safe distance and quiet to not disturb them.  It was pretty awesome!!!!  We also stayed one evening in the park, which allowed us to get up and do an AM drive.  The family we went with LOVES the park and they actually go once a month.  So they made the experience that much better as they recanted stories from prior visits to the park or told us about the lifestyles of the animals we saw like they were intimate and old friends.  We even braiied (BBQ’ed) under the stars so it was a great traditional SA trip!

2 of the Big 5: An Elephant and an African Buffalo at play. 

When going to a game park, the big thing everyone wants to see is the Big Five!  The Big Five is a phrase hunters coined to refer to the toughest five animals to hunt: Rhinoceros (which are being horribly killed and poached right now for their horns, the Chinese believe its an aphrodisiac), Leopard, Elephant. Buffalo, and Lion.   We saw 3 out of the 5: Rhino, Elephant, and Buffalo.  Not too bad for a first visit!

To enjoy Kruger for yourself and from the safety of your home, check out the live feed from cameras in the park: http://www.sanparks.org/webcams/

Enough suspense.  Here are the pics!  Again, if you click on one you can enjoy them as a slideshow.

Enjoy!

--Mei

Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre

A Male Nyala, one of the many "deery" type animals I saw on this trip

A Female Nyala

This ugly bird is endangered.  They are mating him at the center to try and protect the species.  The ugly bird (whatever he is called) is actually trying to trade (see he has something in his mouth) with another bird.

The male and female cheetahs actually are kept separately and only come together to mate.

Interestingly...when cheetahs mate, the female cheetahs knows once she has become impregnated and immediately pushes the male off of her after.

Animals that live in packs/herds like zebras can't survive alone.  This zebra was adopted by a sheep couple.  He is pictured here watching over his mother. 

Vulture Restaurant 

Vultures Chowing Down 

Lion's Resting.  These lions were abandoned by a circus in Europe.  Both were severely abused.  The male on the right never grew a mane and can't growl because of how he was mistreated. :0(

Hyenas Enjoying Lunch.  All animals at the centre are fed beef. 

Kruger National Park

Elephants bathing!

Closer look at an elephant at a watering hole.

Impalas 

Waiting for a chameleon to cross the road.  Every animal is important!

View of the Kruger landscape.  I am really into trees lately.

Getting up close and personal with an elephant.  

Kruger landscape.

Site along one of the water holes, the camp where we stayed the night in the park.

Inside our lodging--the bedroom. BTW it only cost us $40 a person w/ 2 people in a room to stay here.  Not bad!

Inside our lodging--the kitchen and dinning area.  We also had an outdoor braii area.

View of the watering hole by the camp site

Crocodile at the watering hole

There are a couple of sites, including this bridge, where you can get out of your car for a better view.

Its so crazy to drive down a road and just stumble upon zebras. 

This one posed for us!

We also encountered a herd of buffalos on the road.  We had to wait for almost 30mins before we could proceed.

We also got surrounded by a herd of elephants.  It actually was a bit scary.  They were coming from all directions and we didn't know which way to go.  Check out how close they were.

We actually saw so many elephants its stopped becoming exciting. :0)

This male was in heat (you can tell by the black tear drop shaped gland above his ear) and actually quiet dangerous.  These male bachelors do not travel in packs and are searching for a female to mate with. You are warned to avoid these males and stay out of their paths.

Hippos!!!

Giraffes 

Like I said we saw a lot of elephants.

The ugly endangered bird again this time in the wild.

This white tree is called a fever tree.  I found it distinguishably beautiful. 

SA Road Tripping 2: God's Window

So once we finally left Durban we headed out to Hoedspruit (a town near one of the Kruger National Park gates), where we planned to stay with the "host" family (an Afrikaans family at that!!!...and I'll tell you more about that later) of the volunteer I traveled with.  Our drive took us along the Indian Ocean coastline to evergreen forests (we actually drove through the largest man made forest) to mountainous regions (the Drakensberg Escarpment). The drive was absolutely breathtaking to say the least.

Lounge at the Backpackers in Nelspruit 

Even though we left at 7:30am we weren't going to be able to make it to Hoedspruit before dark (yeah the whole traveling at night thing isn't really the best look here especially in that area where you have to travel on roads winding through the mountains).  So we spent the night at a backpackers in Nelspruit.  It worked out perfectly though because we were able to stop and take in beautiful sites like the Pinnacle and God's Window and visit historic sites like Pilgrims Rest on our ride up to Hoedspruit!  Below are some pics from the second leg of our trip!

Enjoy
--Mei

PS: BTW-if you click on one of the pics you can view them all in a slideshow format


VIEWS FROM THE ROAD

View of the Road

Another view of the Road!

We encountered A LOT of road construction on one lane roads so we had to frequently wait for cars coming from the other direction to pass before we could go.  At more than one stop we had to wait for more than 20 mins. 

SITE SEEING IN THE MMPUMALANGA PROVINCE 

Bridal Veil Falls, One of Many Waterfalls Near Sabie

A Shop in Pilgrim's Rest, a Former Gold Miners' Town that Still Feels Like it is 1873, the Year Gold was First Discovered There 

General Store, Pilgrim's Rest

Ndebele Women in Pilgrim's Rest (i.e. a tourist area, this pic cost me 5 Rand) Making Beaded Jewelry  

Ndebele Woman in Pilgrim's Rest Making Beaded Jewelry 

Ndebele Beaded Sheep, Pilgrim's Rest

Ndebele Beaded Zebras, Pilgrim's Rest

The Pinnancle, A Rock Formation in the Blyde River Canyon Area of the  Drakensburg Escarpment

God's Window, the Title is Self Explanatory, in the Blyde River Canyon 

Vegetation at God's Window

Had to Hike up 300 Steps (God's Window)...

...And Go Through a Rainforest (God's Window)...

...To Truly Experience God's Window

Lorena, My Travel Companion, Taking in God's Window

Rainforest, God's Window

FROM THE MMPUMALANGA PROVINCE TO THE LIMPOPO PROVINCE

Lorena and I Posing with Freeda (She Wanted a Mexican Name and I Wanted a Name that Represented Our Trip) Our Road Tripping VW Polo (courtesy of Avis)

On Our Way to Hoedspruit (See the Waterfall) 

Traveling to Hoedspruit