Just a memory now

South Africa. If you ever get a chance to do, TAKE it. It is simply beautiful, fun, amazing, vibrant and surreal. Even looking back at pictures I still can't believe I WAS THERE. There is so much I want to say and at the same time don't know exactly how to describe our trip. I uploaded a bunch of pictures HERE with a little bit of description but even they seem to fall short in displaying the grandeur of Africa.

On here I'm just going to give some highlights. Some may or may not make sense to you. But they will when you go someday :)

• South Africans (mostly the black people) walk everywhere and I loved it because they ALWAYS were dressed neat and tidy and sometimes in the most beautifully vibrant colors and patterns. It was like walking art and it made me smile. Americans drive fancy cars to show off, South Africans where big hats and bold prints.
• KFC is on every corner. When we first saw it we laughed at the whole "blacks love fried chicken idea" but in reality they DO. Seriously. KFC to them is like Starbucks to us. Your South African experience is not complete with out some KFC fried chicken.
• You can get anyone of them to open up and talk if you bring up the World Cup.
  
• They are awesome BBQ-ers. Yum.
  
• Safaris, both self drive and ones with a hired group driver are surreal. All of a sudden an elephant crosses the road. Or hey, there's a rhino hanging out. Even better is driving under a branch only to look back and discover there was a leopard perched on it. We would literally be anywhere from 5-10 feet away from wild animals. It was surreal. That's the only word I can come up with. It is so exciting to spot an animal. We even got to watch lions stalk some antelope. Surreal.
• There is still a lot of racial/class divide. It did bother me. A lot. But everyone I met was just so thankful to have a job (whether it was a self appointed parking lot attendant) and the attitude of working hard was just inspiring. The black south Africans mostly live in townships while the white south Africans live in gated properties. One guy we met only makes the equivalent of $300 per month and sees his kids once or twice a week because it's too expensive to commute. It was very humbling. I've definitely been very blessed.
  
• Never rent a Nissan Livinia. Seriously. NEVER.
• Learning to drive on the left side of the road is an adventure. Even more so in a manual car. But jake did great.
• When the signs in your chalet say keep the doors closed and locked because of baboons, they mean it. Jane almost got robbed by one who waltzed right in, climbed onto the counter and stuck its hand in her purse.
  
• South African scenery is nothing like you would ever imagine. It is everything from vast, lush, mountainous, arid, grassland, wetland, beaches, city, farms.....
• South Africans LOVE their shopping centers. They were like KFC--on every corner.
• Spf is your friend. So is the shade. As a sun lover, this was painful for me to admit but also saved me a lot of discomfort.
  
• Whitewater rafting is fun. And doing it in a crocodile infested muddied river adds that extra "danger" factor.
• Wimpy's burgers are gross.
• Monkeys are sassy and demanding. If you plan on giving them food, make sure you have enough for all the extended family too.
  

All in all, I would go back in a heart beat. Granted the flight time there was excruciatingly long, though we lucked out in getting 1st class the last leg of our flight there and the ENTIRE way home, so really for us it wasn't that bad. However, I can tell you that the 10 hrs I spent on the one portion of our flight in economy was awful but the rewards and experience of South African completely outweigh the travel time. Next time I think we'll make sure to do a longer layover in Paris though to break it up.

So there it is. Granted it's only a glimpse but I'm sure it's enough to get you wanting to go. It was truly a trip of a lifetime.