8 July 2014-
Just an FYI – the trip to Johannesburg was quite possibly the longest one I've been on yet! Each leg of the trip (okay, there were only two legs) was between 7 and 8 hours long…and combine that with a stop-over….yikes. Talk about feeling a little out of sorts!
I can also tell you- seeing Debbie and the boys at the Johannesburg airport was one of the sweetest sights I've seen. <3
After our arrival, Debbie took us into one of the local mobile phone carriers to pick up SIM cards for our phones. Hey, Americans! Did you know that in most countries around the world you can get cheap, pay-as-you-go SIM cards for your iPhone or any other smartphone you may be carrying? No need for those crazy expensive, year-long contracts. Seriously USA, join the rest of the world already!!!
Next stop – Debbie and Croydon's home near Johannesburg. Debbie had prepared a yummy meal and – woo hoo! – we got to meet Debbie's friend, Fransie. I've heard so many wonderful things about Fransie that I was excited to finally meet her. Fransie also told my girls that when they go visit Kruger National Park they should keep a sharp look-out for giraffes…they should photograph any giraffes they saw on their trip in SA (South Africa) as giraffes are Fransie's favorite. :-) They took her message quite to heart.
Whew! It's been a long day ….and I seriously cannot believe that I didn't take photos of our arrival. Must have been jet-lagged or something. 😉
OH!
Since we're in the SOUTHERN hemisphere it's WINTER here. It's brisk outside but not too cold (no snow or ice) BUT here's an interesting thing we learned very quickly: there is no central heating system in the houses here! They've got small space heaters for the rooms and the rest of the house is just cool. We weren't quite prepared for that so I was extra grateful to that little space heater in our bedroom.
Nighty night! Tomorrow we're heading to Hazyview….where??? You'll just have to wait and find out!
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GOOD MORNING!
I hope you slept well…I know we did! We're loading up Debbie's van and the little pull-behind trailer with our luggage, space heaters, blankets and goodies. Debbie and Croydon suggested that we get underway early and eat breakfast on the road.
We're loaded and ready to roll!
We made it to our first stop: a gas station/rest stop. We THOUGHT we were going to get breakfast here BUT since their pipes are frozen we will NOT be eating here. Whoops. Back on the road…and then maybe at the NEXT stop we'll get breakfast. ;-)
And…here it is! Wimpy's. Yes. (seriously??? Seriously!) That's the name of a restaurant – with great breakfast and service.
Debbie and her cup of coffee. So happy to have a good cup of coffee!:
Happy bunch of kids:
Now it's the grown ups turn to pose for a photo:
On the road again! Views from the road:
Oh yeah…they drive on the LEFT side of the road in SA. You know…just an FYI for us Americans. 😉
We're at our first destination for today: The Shangaan Cultural Village:
Don't go past or you be eaten by wild animals:
Check out the instruments (mostly drums) for sale:
Beautiful painted canvases:
Our kiddos having fun with fire:
Who is the queen??? (umm…not Ava. LOL! She wishes!)
Here's our sweet tour guide, Priscilla, and she's summoning us by tooting on this impala horn:
Annika's turn to make bleating noises with the horn:
HAHAHA!!!!
Mark's turn:
Now Croydon is having a go at tooting the horn:
It's time to go through that gate with the "don't go past…" sign on it which apparently leads to the actual village.
Our guide is kneeling down next to a different gate and asking permission from someone in the village (I think the chief's brother????) to enter the village. Okie dokie…we've got the green light! Let's go inside, shall we? We also had to ask permission to take photos of the village and the people living here.
Our guide gave us samples of these delicious treats (we assume were made by the people in this village):
The treats are made from toasted cornmeal,peanuts, and sugar that are ground together by hand and formed into squares. Incredibly yummy!
Here are the ladies in the village along with some of the children (apparently visiting grand children).
Mark taking photos of the ladies and children:
Look at these cuties!
Here's what we learned (or to be more honest, what I remember): the man sitting on the throne is actually the brother of the chief. As the chief is away on business matters his brother has stepped in as acting chief. The huts and the position of the huts indicate their use or who lives inside them. The chief's hut is directly opposite the entryway – so that gives him a good view of people coming and going. His first wife has a hut to his right (she is his right hand). Subsequent wives have huts starting on his left side. There is a visitor's hut, a kitchen and the chief's mother's hut. (I'm sure I'm missing some). The huts are initially made of sticks which are then given a mud coating. The roof is made from thatched grasses. Right now it's quite cold in the huts but apparently during the summer months it's a very nice temperature inside them.
The chief is allowed to have more than wife. Actually, I was surprised to learn that it's the wife that will ask the husband to find a second or third or…wife as more wives means less work for the first wife. I guess it's cheaper to get a wife than to hire help??? Anyway, the chief had three wives (the first wife has passed away). With each wife the man has to offer a certain number of cattle or sheep as compensation (???) to the woman's parents. Once the husband has decided he can't afford to have another wife he'll sell his extra livestock. Also, just because a man has three wives does not necessarily mean they equally share the work load. Apparently, until the husband steps in, the newest wife ends up with the entire workload. Hmm…not exactly how I thought that would work. We also learned that while the children may go out into the world when they return to the village for a visit they must respect the customs of the village. As in: no mobile phones or luxuries.
Our guide asking the chief questions on our behalf as the chief spoke no English.
And here is the village doctor – she's called a Sangoma in Shangaan. She can apparently diagnose you just by you telling her your name. Hmmmmm…. No, we didn't try this. Yes, I'm sorry but I'm rather skeptical! (apparently can also be diagnosed by throwing bones).
Bones in front of the doctor's hut…they're just for decoration.
Our guide tried to explain to us a few of the basic cures that the doctor often prescribes. Apparently there's one that will cure a headache when snorted. Unless, you don't have a headache- in that case it will CAUSE a headache. Yeah, I can believe that one!
I'm so hungry! Guess what? Lunch is INCLUDED with this tour. How fabulous is that? I'm starving!
We're all patiently waiting while we receive instructions from our guide on local customs:
Our guide washing the men's hands first before moving on to washing the women's hands…
and then finally washing the kids' hands.
Check out the lovely prepared dishes!
Time to pick up a plate and grab some food!
A very yummy bread:
I'm STUFFED! Time to say good bye and thank you to our hostess and guide. It's time to head over to the rental house that Debbie and Croydon have arranged for all of us:
Cool A-Frame house.
This place is HUGE! The kids are going to bunk together in this big room:
Here's the BIG kitchen… so much space!
So…we're in a rental house with a kitchen. That means we'll need to pick up supplies for breakfast and dinner. Of course we have to have a brai! (I think that's Afrikaans for BBQ). Debbie and I are going to go grocery shopping at the Spar super market while the men take the kids on the ropes course we saw driving around Hazyview.
Here's a glance at some of the meat (brai) selection:
Interesting flavored milk selection:
At one point, while picking out juice boxes we discovered there were cockroaches climbing on some of the boxes. Eeeeeeep!!!!!!
Okay…we've checked off the items on our shopping list….all except for the alcohol (which is in a separate shop). Check out this bottle of pepppermint schnapps. Great name, eh?
And what are the men and kids up to??? Let's just go and have a look, ok?
The kids are all saddled up and ready to climb on the ropes course:
Even Mark is going to give it a go!
Weeeeeeee…..that looks like fun!
Watch out…here comes Ava!
What do you do after working so hard navigating all those ropes? Eat ice cream!
All of our missions are now accomplished! We're back at the house and the men have gotten the fire started – it's time to grill the meat! Yummy!!! We even created sandwich packets using cotton twine to have toasted sandwiches. Oh soooooo good!!!
A few drinks in hand (have you ever tried Amarula???? It's so creeeeeeamy….mmmm…yummmmmy), good food in our tummy, and the kids heading off to bed. It's been a FANTASTIC first full day in South Africa!
Tomorrow we're going to an Elephant Sanctuary and ride elephants!