Africa

Okay even though the title says “Africa” we actually only went to South Africa, but that’s a minor detail. This won’t have sections divided by cities like Ireland for multiple reasons but, anyways, here’s a summary of our first stop.

---

The First Section

We are in Graskop first. This is a small town but has awesome attractions nearby. The second day we got here, we went to a place called God’s Window, and wow. There were sheer cliffs straight down, and when you’re driving up you can’t even see to the bottom of the cliff, it’s just sky! The next day, after waking up from our freezing cold hut, we went to a canyon that rivaled the Grand Canyon in Arizona. At the end of the canyon was a sparkling blue lake. Next, we went to a place called The Potholes, which wasn’t a very good name because I could just find potholes on the road. But this place was amazing despite its very boring name. Super smooth rocks went twenty feet down into a ravine with turquoise water and hence the name; there were big holes shaped into the smooth rocks. Inside Graskop is an amazing pancake place. Graskop was awesome. And the safari next is bound to be great.

---

The Second Section

Our next section is a private reserve called Umlani. I loved Umlani, it was my favorite. We saw so many animals and had so much fun and made lots of friends. If you’re going to go on a Safari you have to go to Umlani. On the first day we got there we saw something never expected. We drove up on a herd of elephants. It was so incredible, a baby was swinging her trunk around curiously. There was a female across the road acting weird. We didn’t suspect anything. Then, SHE HAD A BABY right then!!! The ranger started up the car. I didn’t know why because I wanted to watch the baby elephant, but then all of a sudden the other 15 members of the herd came trumpeting across to her at full speed. If we still had been there we could of gotten smushed. The rest of the trip was just as good. We saw lions, leopards, zebras, giraffes, an assortment of deer-ish creatures and much more.

---

The Third Section

The third section is about when we had to move out of Umlani and head to Kruger National Park. I felt so low down in our little car after being up in the Land Cruiser. Bedsides that, Kruger was good. If you saw one grazing animal there were hundreds near them. It was a lot different though. In Umlani you went to the animals, in Kruger the animals had to come to you.

---

The Fourth Section

We struggled through the six hour drive, waiting in the airport and then being on the plane for two hours. Then we finally arrived at Cape Town, which is at the very southern tip of Africa. Cape Town, to my surprise, actually looks a lot like Hawaii! It’s also bigger than I thought. The population is about six and a half million people! I thought one of the best things about Cape Town was the beaches. The waves are huge and turquoise, and the sand on the beaches is so warm and nice. This was a big change in landscape from the safaris. There is also a scenic area by Cape Town called Table Mountain. On the second day, we went up to Table Mountain by gondola. My mom and I started getting nervous when we saw how steep the cliff was but when we got in the gondola it was fine. The gondola was nice and ventilated, and the floor of the gondola spins gently so you can see in all directions. The view on Table Mountain is spectacular. You can see out to the sea, the downtown, Lions Head (not actually a lion’s head, just another mountain) and if you’re at the right time, the sunset is magical.

---

The Fifth Section

We were only at this place for one day. The town is called Hermanus. They call it the ultimate whale destination. I see why because we had five whale sightings. We saw Southern Right Whales and Humpback Whales. It was so amazing looking out to sea and seeing a whale come above the surface and flip onto their back right in front of you. When a whale does this, “Life literally stops in time,” said one of our waiters, a local in Hermanus.

---

The Sixth Section

The sixth section is a little town: Franschhoek. Wine, mountains and beautiful scenery is what Franschhoek is all about. On the second day, we went on a wine tour. Not my personal choice, but I’m glad I did because it was a great experience. At the first winery, there was a cheetah rescue center. We went over to see it and we actually got to pet the one of the cheetahs! It was purring as loud as a lawnmower! It was so cool! We had to leave the enclosure after a couple minutes because some person was running around to buy tickets. The cheetah gets on alert when “prey” is running. Every once in a while my dad or my mom says out of the blue, “I wish we were petting that cheetah.” We had lunch at a winery and then afterwards, we walked down the vineyard and petted horses. I didn’t expect this but I was sad to leave Franschhoek, too.

---

The Seventh Section

For the last part of Africa, we went to Johannesburg and Soweto. Johannesburg was good, not fantastic or anything, but Soweto was one of the best times in my life! We went on a guided tour of Soweto with a few other people. First on the tour, we went to a very poor township. A township is a neighborhood/town that has lots of people with low income. Their houses are the size of one of our bathrooms in Washington. They’re made out of any scrap material they find. Also, they have communal toilets. Despite all this, when we arrived kids greeted us, asked us to pick them up, hugged us, and were as happy as could be. We went into their school – first we went to their preschool and kindergarten. The kindergarteners chanted our guide’s name as we entered. They all stood up and told us their names and what they wanted to be, in English. Then, we went into the elementary school and they had a surprise for us. They preformed a dance they had choreographed, learned and practiced. It was so amazing! I could not believe these kids. Life was obviously hard but they were fighting through it with a big grin on their faces and dancing their hearts out in front of these strangers. That experience left a happy feeling deep down for the rest of the trip. I needed that feeling because the next part was so sad I felt like crying. Soweto is where the famous uprising of apartheid happened. Students from all over marched down the streets of Soweto. Unfortunately, the cops confronted them. The cops fired their guns at wherever they could point. One cop even let the police dog loose. The youngest student killed was only thirteen. During the whole uprising 176 students got killed.

Okay on that happy note;)

It was time to leave Africa, I can’t believe we’ve been traveling now for a month.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Click here to see my videos of the elephant birth and the children dancing!