Sara’s parents came to visit for about two and a half weeks,
and we all had quite the vacation. After
picking them up from the airport in Joberg, we rented a car and drove to our
site in KZN. It was Matt’s first time
driving on the left side of the road, but he did a great job (after the first
couple of hours, which were a little scary).
The school term was ending, but Sara’s parents were able to see our
school and meet our kids. The teachers
surprised us by putting on a huge braii (bbq).
They made tons of food and really made Steve and Cindy feel
welcome. After stuffing ourselves with
meat, we then enjoyed a number of our students performing traditional dances
for us.
After leaving our site, we drove to St. Lucia, which is a
small town on the ocean. We took a boat
ride our first night and saw some crocodiles and tons of hippos. The next day we went on a game drive
(safari), which was fabulous. Even
though it rained on and off throughout the day, we saw plenty of animals. Two of the highlights were seeing lions and
later rhinos right next to the road. Our
guide said we were very lucky to be so close to the lions. We also saw zebras, giraffes, elephants,
monkeys, warthogs and a hyena.
After a few days in St. Lucia, we drove to the Drakensberg
Mountains. They are beautiful! It was a little cold, but we got really lucky
with the weather considering it’s winter here.
We did a lot of hiking during the day and played many games of cards at
night.
Next, we drove back to Joberg and flew to Zambia to see
Victoria Falls, which were, in a word, incredible. The falls were beautiful on both the Zambian
and Zimbabwean sides, and we now fully appreciate why they are one of the seven
natural wonders of the world. While in
the neighbourhood, we took a day trip to Chobe National Park in Botswana. We were on a river boat in the morning and
did a game drive in the afternoon. Chobe
was amazing and we saw tons of animals.
One of the highlights was seeing elephants swim across the river to an
island. We had never seen elephants swim
before, and it was definitely a memorable experience.
After Zambia (and a short jaunt into Zimbabwe to see the
falls from the other side), we flew back to South Africa and spent the last
night with Sara’s parents in Pretoria.
The backpackers where we usually stay also runs a guesthouse, so we were
able to show them where we stay when we’re in Pretoria (and where we lived for
over a month while waiting for our site change). It was the 4th of July, and the
backpackers had organized an American-themed trivia night. There were quite a few other Peace Corps
volunteers in Pretoria, so there were many Americans playing trivia. And....our team won! Our prize included a case of Dr. Pepper and
poptarts (things very hard to come by in South Africa). Sara’s parents flew back to America the next
day (well, over the next 2 days!). It
was an extraordinary vacation, and we hope they enjoyed it was much as we did!
