Circle of Life

What’s a trip to Africa without a safari? I sit here, still a bit sleep-deprived from our 13-hour ride back to Stellenbosch in our overland vehicle (which strangely resembled a HUGE armored garbage truck) but thrilled about my recent adventure!

After a long –and surprisingly cold –trip up the Western coast to the Kalahari desert, we arrived at camp Friday morning and were greeted by our ‘adventure tour guide,’ Keith.

Keith is the man. “Retiring” from his CEO position 17 years ago, he now runs excursions throughout Southern Africa, taking tourists on rafting expeditions on the Orange River, game drives in Namibia and Botswana and tours of Victoria Falls. “This type of work makes me realize what’s important and the best part is that I get paid in sunsets,” were his first (of many!) words of wisdom of the trip. He already has the majority of our group planning on how we can end up with a job like that…

Immersing us in the unique culture of the desert region right away, we were led on a nature tour by two local Bushmen, or more accurately, San People, Leinjie and Elvis (oh, the wonders of Westernized names…). With the help of Keith translating, they pointed out native springbok cucumbers, which despite their prickly skins, tasted exactly like their grocery store relatives, as well as the “gathering tree” where local tribes would come to gather for meetings. Small cloth bags of herbal medicine were tied around the tree’s trunk (reminding me a little of Shell Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree”) and were used by tribal elders for ailments. The African millipede is also commonly used in their natural medicine –after it dies and is dried out by the sun, the white shell, full of calcium, can be ground into a powder and used to heal wounds. But be careful, letting a live one crawl all over can give you an allergic reaction to the yellow slime it leaves behind –and worse, if this gets into a cut, you run the risk of gangrene. Ewww.

tasting a springbok cucumber

African millipede- watch out!

The Gathering Tree

But, this is Africa, right? I fell asleep that night listening to the San People sing around our campfire and watching the stars from the “moon roof” of our small 4-man tent. Clearly this was not the traditional Dutch architecture and stone monuments found around Stellenbosch campus; this was another Africa –and it was absolutely beautiful.

Getting up before the sun the next morning, we all piled excitedly into “the beast” that was still parked at the edge of our campsite and made our way to the Kgalagadi Transfronier National Park, bordering Namibia and Botswana. We were on a mission to find some African animals! Everyone quickly learned to be close and comfortable as we all squashed up against the windows, trying to get the best glimpse of wildebeest, springbok, secretary birds, jackals, giraffes, ostriches….and a leopard! This was a rare “National Geographic sighting”, Keith said, as he has only seen them twice. But the day continued to be full of surprises and on our way out of the park, the truck stopped short and we witnessed three cheetahs carrying off a springbok into the bushes. Three cheetahs!!

Mother Nature was not yet done with her impressive show, however. The following night we gazed in wonder over the falls of Augrabies National Park and watched the sun set over the mountains that marked the Namibian border. (Some of us got a little too carried away in watching this beautiful show…Corie managed to drop a one of her crutches into the white water rapids below, making Keith even more amused at our crazy American antics!).

Yoga at sunset over the falls? Why not? 

So impressed with the sunset, I just had to wake up early to
see the sunrise!

We experienced the falls from another angle the next morning when Keith arranged a white-water rafting trip on the Orange River. Our guides were adventurous and entertaining, to say the least, instructing us to “bank hard right, left, then right again after the two big rocks!” This is a whole lot easier said than done when you’re cruising down a river that resembles a minefield of jagged edges! During the more peaceful moments, though, we tapped into our Disney roots and serenaded our guides with a wonderfully off-pitch rendition of “Just Around the River Bend.” Tired, wet, and the promise of being sore, but extremely satisfied with our excursion, we packed in for the 13+ hour ride back to Stellenbosch.

Our humble abode

We had some guest visitors at breakfast!

Now hunkering down to prepare for a busy last few weeks of classes before finals!