45 Hours in Scotland

Haggis, Castles, Lochs, Scotch and Shortbread….Check!

I left Florence via train at 1:57pm on Thursday. I arrived at the Pisa airport where I had my first Ryan Air experience. Known for being dirt cheap, Ryan Air defies what I have come to know as conventional airline travel. Everyday is free form Friday with this company. Exactly two hours before take off the ticketing counter will open to only passengers of that flight. We all know how psycho people get when they travel so I am sure it is easy to imagine the frenzy that occurs when the sign above the counter goes green. Now add Europeans general disregard for personal space and their poor line-up etiquette. This same fiasco also occurred when the boarding gate opened since seating is done on a first come, first served basis. After boarding the obnoxious blue and yellow cabin, I quickly selected an aisle seat under my lucky number, row 25. I had already been given a heads up not to order anything since a.) Nothing on these flights are free and b.) Everything aside from the drinks tastes like microwaved dirt. They also sell a variety of items on the flight... everything from Guess watches to makeup to scratch tickets, I found this odd and a bit annoying.

After the two and a half hour flight we landed in Edinburgh where it was dark and cold. Excited for my new adventure in Scotland I practically jogged to the Hertz rental car counter…only to find that they will not rent a car to a 22 year old. First of all, this is completely contradictory to what their website says and secondly when I called the hotline to cancel my prepaid reservation the agent I spoke with said since I had a valid student ID I could have rented from them, the people at the counter were just bloody idiots. Oh well …Thrifty/Dollar car rentals saved my day and put me in a Peugeot Corsa with GPS. Let it be known that I successfully drove a left-handed stick shift in Scotland with NO accidents or incidents… Whether or not I stalled the damn thing once or twice is neither here nor there!

My rental whip.

I arrived at my hostel in about 20 minutes since it was located on the outskirts of town. Maybe it was the cheap price or just the thought of trying something new, either way I was looking forward to my hostel experience. (After all it can’t be any worse than some of the conditions I have been exposed to while fishing the bay) Ummm…..how about not. For starters I was the ONLY American there, which wouldn’t have been horrible if maybe say five percent of the other guest spoke English, but no. I checked into my room, which I assumed was all female since that was what I had booked and I was pleased to find that I was the only one in there at the time. After assessing my new living situation I located the shower room for a little post airplane scrub. Finally after a quick e-mail check (the wifi was free) I closed the curtain of my lower bed butt-hut (a term from college when you use spare sheets and blankets to enclose your bunk on a sleeping porch) and eventually got to sleep. The hostel provided me linens for the bed but even though they were obviously freshly laundered they were really yucky in my mind and yes (gasp!) I found someone else’s hair on them. (Insert puking noise here) This discovery naturally disturbed my sleep and I couldn’t help but wonder what other germs, cooties and the like were lurking nearby.

  I woke up the next morning only to discover men’s clothing strewn around…clearly I was NOT in an all female dorm such as I had booked and my male roommates must have arrived while I was sleeping. I’m not a square about co-ed living but I am not cool with sharing any amount of my living space with strange men and I don’t even want to stop and ponder the dirty things that happen in co-ed hostel rooms. After collecting all of my belongings I headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day and then I was off in my rental car to St. Andrews.

The hostel.

Self timed pic in front of the Firth of Forth.

After only 50 minutes or so I arrived in St. Andrews and parked at the British Museum of Golf, directly across from the first hole at the Old Course. I don’t want to sound like a dork but this place was kind of magical to me. I have really taking a liking to golf over the past few years and the sport has always been a big part of my family. It was so cool to not only be in the same place where the best golfers in the world have played but also where the sport was born. I can’t even imagine what it looked like 400 years ago, let alone the equipment they must have been using. 

1st tee at the Old Course.

The 17th Pin.

After a zillion pictures I strolled over to the Old Course Shop where I needed to get my Grandpa a St. Andrews Links Polo and maybe a little something for myself. Of course I was successful in both endeavors and I look forward to Christmas Eve when I get to bestow Grandpa Dave with the forest green polo I picked out for him. After that I headed along the edge of the 18^th hole, stopping for a few pictures here and there and then I crossed over to have a cup of coffee in the Clubhouse and warm up. (It was freezing cold at St. Andrews) Once I had my fill of coffee the golf course I ventured over to the castle ruins and the Cathedral/cemetery. Since I needed to get on the road this was my last stop in St Andrews but I would definitely want to go back and play a round or two and perhaps watch the Open.

St. Andrews Castle ruins.

The Cathedral ruins.

Back in my Corsa I headed north toward Perth, where I stopped to grab some lunch before continuing on to Aberfeldy, the home of the Dewar’s Distillery. I would have preferred to have gone to either the Glenlivet or Glenfiddich distilleries but those where way up in the high country and I didn’t feel like driving over three hours each way just for a sip of scotch, which I don’t really appreciate yet anyway. Upon my arrival I paid my 5 pounds and then watched a short film (completely alone) about the history of the Dewar’s brand. After that I walked around a shrine to everything Dewar’s guided by a giant early 90s looking cell phone audio guide. Once that was finished I bellied up to the bar where I sampled the Dewar’s Aberfeldy 12-year single malt.

I clearly do not have much of a scotch palate yet, but it was fun to try a little sip, plus I was driving so I didn’t think anymore than a splash was necessary.  Unfortunately they close production during the month of September to do repairs and maintenance so I didn’t get to see any scotch being made but they did let us peek into the warehouse and my kilted guide explained from A to Z how scotch is made.

A hour and a half later I arrived back at the hostel, tried from driving and a little hungry. Since this would be my last night is Scotland I knew I had to try some haggis. I was a little nervous to try my hand at driving in the city center, since I only drive a stick once a year and it is in BFE Alaska with no traffic and no hills. So I bought a round trip shuttle ticket from the front desk for only 2.50 pound.

During the shuttle ride I made my one and only friend of the trip. I can’t pronounce her name very well since she is Japanese but on the bright side she said I can come to Tokyo and she’ll show me around. Once we arrived in the city center my new friend left me for a classical music concert and I was left alone to find my way and a decent plate of haggis.

Edinburgh itself is gorgeous; the architecture is very stately, the streets are quite clean, and there are plenty of sights to see. I was saving the Edinburgh Castle and the Holyrood Palace for the next day so I decided to stick to Bridge Street. I did a tiny bit of shopping in H&M where I found a gold cuff that I really liked but then I realized that Florence also has an H&M and I was wasting precious time. At first my haggis mission was looking like it was going to be unsuccessful. Edinburgh has a surprising amount of ethic restaurants…Indian, Thai, Italian, kebabs, Chinese etc. but very few Scottish restaurants.  Finally I found a sports pub off the main drag called South Enders where I sampled my first plate of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties. (Haggis with mashed potatoes and parsnips with a whiskey gravy sauce) I asked the waitress to recommend a good Scottish beer and wound up with Belhaven Best Ale, which I found to be delightful. As for the Haggis…. I actually liked it. The presentation was a bit off, it was basically three lumps of mush but when mixed together and smothered in gravy it was pretty tasty and very filling. I don’t know what Haggis is exactly aside from animal parts but I am sure it can’t be worse than the contents of a ballpark frank, and truthfully I just don’t really want to know the details.  It must be said that traveling alone, while not entirely miserable, is especially painful during mealtimes. I caught several curious bar patrons looking at me rather sadly and after awhile I even felt sorry for myself. A good tip to dining alone is to belly up to the bar whenever possible or at least face a TV so you can pretend like you have something going on in your life. After dinner I headed back to the shuttle pick up point and waited a very cold 30 minutes before getting picked up and taken back to the hostel. I was happy when the front desk had moved me into an all female dorm and then annoyed when I found out I was demoted to upper bunk. Then I was just plain pissed when one of my non-English speaking roommates thought it was okay to jabber on her ghetto cell phone for an hour. DO NOT forget earplugs or headphone when staying at a hostel, it will cost you dearly.

On my last morning I woke up early to shower and dress making as much noise as possible to hopefully disturb the girl who was on her phone half the night. After checking out of the hostel I drove to the Rosslyn Chapel in Roslin. (The church from the Da Vinci Code) Unfortunately I made a wrong turn here and there (the round abouts combined with the left handed driving and manual transmission made for a lot of these little mistakes) so I missed the 10am tour and had to wait 45 minutes for the next tour to begin. Of course I treated myself to some Walker’s shortbread cookies while I walked around the visitor’s center. I was a little bummed when I got to the chapel since it was shrouded in scaffolding and that obviously took something away from what I am sure is a beautiful exterior.

On the bright side they only very recently removed the tin roof that had been covering the chapel for years to prevent further water damage, so I suppose it could have been worse. Once inside I listened to the tour guide outline the general history of the chapel, highlighting important events and pointing out the various carvings within the chapel.  The chapel began in the 15 century as a Roman Catholic Church for the St. Clair family and took about 40 years to complete. The interior is heavy in Masonic symbols and the church itself is called the bible in stone due to the huge presence of religious depictions. The guide then dashed my hopes when he said that it was unlikely anything in Dan Brown’s book The Da Vinci Code was true with regard to hidden treasures being buried beneath the church. However he did say that scans of the floors have been taken and x-rays show that there definitely is something buried under the floor but it is probably the bodies of the St. Clair family in their armor.  Unfortunately photos were not allowed inside but I did sneak this little guy in.

Sneaky picture inside the chapel.

After Roslyn I was brave enough to try my hand at driving in the city center. Luckily for me most of the roads were flat but I think the stress significantly upped my blood pressure. After finding some street parking near the Royal mile I emptied out all of the pound I had left in coin into the meter…I had one just hour to see as much as possible. I started at the Edinburgh Castle and worked my way down the Royal Mile to finish at Holyrood Palace in record time. Of course I had to stop in the Starbucks and grab a latte and some lunch.

Why aren't these in Seattle?

This made my day.

Holyrood Palace.

I didn’t have time to tour the inside of the castle or the palace but I snapped some photos and was happy enough. After an intense power walk back up the hill I retrieved my rental car and headed to the airport. Two hours later I was first in the line at the boarding queue, which got me an exit row aisle, and I was happy to be headed back to Pisa then onto to Florence. We missed our first landing attempt in Pisa, which was a little scary since I have never had that happen before but the second time was a charm. After I deplaned I got on the train to Florence and hoofed it from the Santa Maria Novella Station to my apartment, of course I stopped for a kebab along the way.

Edinburgh Castle

Royal Mile

Firenze: Thoughts on the first three weeks.

 Maybe I was being a wimp, maybe I was just homesick, maybe Venus was in alignment with a moon of Jupiter and that was what made me second guess my decision to study abroad. Whatever it was I finally bucked up after a couple days of mild pouting and opened myself up to all that was Florence.  I’m now over three weeks deep with 12 to go (as of 9/27) and I can feel my time slipping away so I better make the most of it.

The Good!

My new ride.

What better way to make the most of one’s time in Florence than to buy a bike on Craigslist? 35 euro later I am now the proud owner of a used bicicletta (bike in Italian) complete with one working brake, two flat tires, an industrial strength bike lock and basket for storing my treasures. (Don’t forget the bell I ding at pedestrians I am about to run over!) Sure the seat is really uncomfortable and the roads here are horribly uneven, making the ride nothing short of painful, but I can get from point A to point B way faster than walking….assuming that I don’t get drilled by one of the many crazy drivers here in Florence.

 

Running.

A couple times a week I lace up my Vasque trail runners from REI and head out for a little wog (walk/job) along the Arno River. Not only does this help me burn off the trillion grams of carbohydrates I consume daily but I get to see a little more of the city every time I take a new route. Florence has a large community of runners, mostly men, and there is even a marathon here on November 28^th but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Currently I am sticking to the paths and sidewalks along the river and sometimes if I am feeling frisky I will head over the bridge and go west.

The apartment.

Aside from the lack of a dryer and my incredibly teeny shower, I really do like my apartment. The kitchen has pretty much everything I need and I usually cook for myself at least four nights a week. It's really helping me save my coin for more worthwhile expenditures…say traveling on the weekends?

Dinner!

Kebabs!

Good thing my friend introduced me to these puppies before she headed back to the states because they are a godsend when I am sick and tired of pasta. Donner kebabs are either Turkish or Middle Eastern wraps with some kind of rotisserie meat, onions, cabbage, lettuce, a spicy pepper sauce or just the flakes and then a garlic yogurt sauce. At only 3.50 Euro a pop I usually have two or three a week.

The Bad…

My Italian and my obsession with gelato and/or ice cream sandwiches. Despite my attempt at Rosetta Stone over the summer my Italian still stinks and no one speaks English over here aside from my teachers. Most of the time I use erratic hand gestures, some strained facial expressions coupled with a few words in Spanish and finally a “Grazie.” Of course this gets me nowhere. As for the gelato obsession…there is a place on the way to school that serves not only the most delicious Peanut Butter gelato but a Goat Cheese and Fig flavor that knocks my socks off! I finally had to make the executive decision that a few hundred calories and a 1.50 euro a pop wasn’t worth what I was doing to my waistline. That being said now I am hooked on mini ice cream sands from the grocery store. Ridiculous.

The Ugly…or the stinky in this case.

My street.

Via dei Pepi stinks. Everyone has dogs here (which really isn’t surprising since none of these dogs appear to be spade or neutered) but what really disturbs me is the insane amount of dog poop on the streets! In the U.S. if you don’t pick up after your pooch you might as well buy a ticket straight to hell because you’re committing a major social taboo, I wish florentines were aware of such things.

The Clubs and the Creepers Within.

As mentioned earlier I am not always a big fan of the disco tech scene. Heat makes for sweat, which stinks and is gross when it isn’t your own, and there is something to be said about the men who hang out in these kinds of places trolling for chicks. Maybe I just miss the good old days of getting my dance on at Mike’s in Pullman or maybe I am just too square for the clubs over here. Whatever it may be I am not saying I absolutely hate it because I have had a couple good nights out but I really do miss my old scene at the Coug where you played drinking games with wilted cards on wobbly stools, where Tom Petty played in the background and pitchers of Busch Light were only $7.50.

No I don't.

All of that being said I am happy to report that I am enjoying Florence...the food, the people, the art... I could go on. I am enjoying all of my classes, since after all I am here to finish my degree, and I look forward to learning more Italian in the upcoming weeks. Of course I miss my family and friends back home but these 12 weeks are going to fly by and I still have so much to see and do. Ciao Ciao!

Move In Day: Home Sweet Home!

I checked into the SAI student affairs office around 9:45 on the 31^st and went about signing my rental agreement, getting my cell phone and going over the orientation schedule with my advisor. Upon getting my key I quickly headed down the street and hung a left to check out my new digs. Since I had nothing to compare them to in terms of other Florentine apartments I didn’t really know what to think. Here is what I saw: Three bedrooms with two twin beds each, two bathrooms, a stocked kitchen and a pretty spacious living/dining area. After analyzing and comparing all the rooms for lighting, size, closet space and layout I finally settled on the end room with two windows and the biggest closet. I used my new SAI goodie bag to mark my turf while I went back to the hotel to send my friend off to the airport. Ciao babe!

The view from the bathroom window.

So this is my new home away from home…

My room.

My bathroom.

The Kitchen.

Living/dining room.

And wait for it......

This is Richard, the extra creepy mixed media painting that is in the living room. I plan on glueing a cig to his mouth sooner or later.

Finally from the street we have ...

Street view.

Our green door.

Florence: I'm having second thoughts...

Santa Croce

After a painfully long train ride we finally reached the Santa Maria Novella Station in Florence. The last stop on what proved to be an amazing journey and my new home until December. After schlepping my bags off the train and out of the station we hailed a cab and checked into the hotel Davanzati. The flight of stairs that I managed to scale with all my bags at once was slightly annoying but the hotel and staff were excellent and the room was very comfortable. After getting cleaned up we headed to a nearby restaurant for a late dinner before meeting up with a friend for drinks at a bar called Slowly. After a tasty Tokyo Ice Tea, which is basically a long island with a lot of lime juice and soda, we sauntered across town to find a younger crowd at a cafe/bar called Astor, literally in the shadow of the Duomo.

This is about the time I started to have bad feelings about my decision to live in a forgein country.

 After Astor we went to a club called Twice and I would say that this was the exact moment I became completely overwhelmed. Not only do clubs bother me because they are loud, hot, and dense with sweaty strangers but I started looking around and realized that this was going to be my crowd... baby faces who probably can’t legally order a drink in the US and therefore have zero bar manners. BAH! 

Plaza Vecchio, I think.

It would be easy for me to lie and say I loved Florence from the moment I got here and I knew everything was going to be great, but it was the complete opposite. I was really freaked out and for the first time in my life severely homesick, a condition I thought was reserved only for the weak and dependant. The next day wasn’t any better, my apprehension toward my new city only got worse and the hangover I nursed until 5pm didn’t give me any confidence that everything would be alright, not to mention my friend would soon be leaving me for the comforts of home that I craved so badly. Finally after a much needed nap, a little something to eat and enough walking to give me a miniscule sense of direction I chilled out enough to try and take it all in but I still was second guessing my decision to study abroad.

Giotto's Bell Tower 

After another full day of shopping, eating, and walking I nearly had my bearings and I decided that Florence was actually very enjoyable and easy to walk, minus all the tourists in the way. We strolled through the San Lorenzo market, crossed the Ponte Vecchio, saw the David, the Duomo, Santa Croce and finally found my apartment on Via De Pepi.

On my friends last night in Florence we went to Acqua al Due where I had the incredible blueberry steak, it may have changed my life and I really want to get that recipe. Needing to get packed and organized for my move and her flight we called it a night after dinner and went back to our hotel.

Cinque Terre

I finished wrestling my luggage up and down the flights of stairs at the Monterosso train station and was then blown away by everything I laid eyes on. It was a totally different vibe from the laid back family friendly crowd at Lake Como. Monterosso was all hustle and bustle. There were people everywhere and apparently swimsuit tops are not required and the more butt cheek the better! Holy Speedos! After a very quiet stay in Bellagio I was ready for some prime people watching and this place did not disappoint. We checked into our room at the Hotel Baia after rolling our suitcases down the crowded streets, weaving in between bronzed bikini clad bodies and hairy men wearing teeny tiny speedos, apparently cover-ups are not in style this season.

Our hotel.

We didn’t have much of a view (just a stone wall) but thank goodness for the AC! After we changed into our suits we went to the front desk to rent beach towels and lawn chairs for the day which was only 7 euro. Once I got to the beach I couldn’t contain myself and went straight for the crystal blue water.  Not so clean! My friend and I actually ended up getting rashes on our necks and arms from what we are certain was the pollution/trash in the water. It was beautiful to look at but kind of gross to swim in.

After a few hours of bronzing and a cat nap here and there we went back to our room to get cleaned up for dinner. The woman at the front desk recommended a nice little spot on the cliff just near the tunnel into the old town and I was very impressed with my pumpkin and mushroom lasagna.  We probably should have skipped the desert sampler because it really didn’t do anything for either of us but hey, when in Rome right?

I woke up early the next morning and went for a little jog around town, it felt so nice to stretch my legs and see some of the hidden little side streets. We spent that whole day on the beach reading books and people watching. There must be some unwritten rule that no matter how old or out of shape you are that all women are required to wear a bikini and never mind how good the coverage is. There were so many different kinds of people to observe I felt like I could have stared at them endlessly. Cute old folks strolling in the surf hand in hand. Little babies in bonnets and kiddies in water wings, couples tangled up with each other on beach towels and of course hairy speedo-clad men with the signature gold chain and moustache. 

That night we went to a Rick Steves recommended place in old town called Belvedere. The mussels I had were amazing and I usually am not wild about that particular varietal of shellfish, that being said my shredded taco lettuce salad left a lot to be desired. I can already tell that this whole DIY salad dressing with only oil and vinegar is going to get really old really fast, especially since my favorite dressing is 1000 Island. After dinner we ventured over to a square where a DJ had a variety of beats spinning and both locals and tourists were drinking beers and dancing in the streets. Again phenomenal people watching including a male ballerina who just was too much for words.

The next morning we woke up early to do the much talked about hike between Monterosso and Vernazza. I have done some light hiking before, including Mount Philchuck but whoa whoa wee whoa I was not prepared for this. Granted I am completely out of shape but it is my belief that the trail we were on belonged in the Jungle Book and I was not feeling the 200 plus stairs we had to go up. 90 minutes later we reached beautiful Vernazza. Unfortunately my memory card was not in my camera when I was snapping the best photos but I did get a few. 

When we bought our tickets to hike (even though I felt like someone should have paid me to go through that) I added the treno pass so we just hoped on the train at Vernazza and in less than five minutes we were back in Monterosso and checked out of the hotel, which graciously held our bags while we caught a few more afternoon rays before boarding the train to Florence. I really enjoyed Cinque Terre and I would love to go back and visit some of the other towns and maybe complete the whole hike, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.

Bellagio - Lake Como

We Arrived in Paris at 6:05am, once again we got the top deck of the Air France Airbus and enjoyed a very peaceful flight filled with wine, cheese, and movies. After landing we struggled to find the Lufthansa counter but a nice lady from AirFrance directed us to a bus that would eventually drop us off at terminal one. After what felt like an hour of hot sweaty bus ride through the bowels of Charles De Gaul airport we finally made it to terminal one, which is basically the ghetto of CDG. Low ceilings, errie lighting, a strange tunnel with a long flat escalator (I’m not sure what you call them when they don’t go up or down?) Upon reaching the top floor, where we hoped to find the ticket counter, we were very disappointed to discover baggage claim and no way back down to the ground floor. Finally with heavy backpacks in tow and sweaty faces we found the exit to the elevators that would take us down. After printing our boarding passes we made it to the gate and boarded our Lufthansa flight to Milan-Malpensa. Once we got there we claimed our bags in record time and headed out to find a taxi to the Centrale train station…. To make a long story short, we got all the way to the train station to find out that it would be cheaper and quicker to have our taxi driver take us to Bellagio.

Our hotel, the Excelsior Splendide

Our hotel was great, it was right in the center of Bellagio just a street across from the waterfront. The only negative was the “Shath”…a bathtub with only a handheld shower head and no door or shower curtain…of course I nearly flooded the place on my first go. During the day we strolled the little cobbled stairs and streets, I found some a great buy in vintage boutique (the jewelry in Bellagio is beautiful!) and of course we snacked on gelato whenever the urge came. We lunched in the same place everyday, because it was close to our hotel, had ample shaded outdoor seating, and a large menu with delicious pizzas.

We spent the first evening just strolling around getting our bearings, but the next day we headed out on the water to check out the scenery and the most beautiful villa on all of Lake Como, Villa del Balbianello. This was the place the Second Episode of Stars Wars was filmed and 007 Casino Royale.

I plan on living here someday.

We lounged by the hotel pool for most of the second day, only getting up to take a dip or to grab some lunch. It was so relaxing to just loaf around after being on the go everyday in Africa.

We left Bellagio via a ferry to Varenna and then a train to Milan and then to Monterosso.

Ciao Bellagio, I'll come looking for George Clooney again soon!

Africa: The Third and Final Installment

Sorry for keeping everyone waiting, I wish I would have got this up sooner!

After we arrived at the Richard’s Bay airport we were transported via giant EuroVan to the Heritage Lodge at Zulu Nyala where we checked into our tented camp. When I say, “tented” I mean a hybrid tent that was canvas on the two sides and ceiling and concrete on the front and back plus a full bathroom. 

Our room. 

After changing into our safari fatigues we went and grabbed a quick lunch from the buffet before our first evening game drive. James, our driver for the week, was also my parent’s driver when they visited in March of 2009 and was just as good as they told me he’d be. After spotting some Giraffe’s and Kudu we went looking for a mother Cheetah and her four young cubs. James, with the eagle eye, spotted them in the bush near the edge of the reserve and actually let us get out of the vehicle and walk right up to the Cheetahs. After I picked my jaw up off the ground I snapped about a billion pictures and then just watched the cubs run and play with each other as the mother looked on. 

After our Cheetah fill we went looking for the Leopard, who proved to be very difficult to spot and even harder to photograph. I only managed to get a few decent shots of him that needed to be severely edited and enhanced. Since Leopards are nocturnal we spent a lot of time quietly combing the reserve in the pitch-black waiting for a pair of eyes to pop up in the spotlight. Unfortunately we didn’t spot the leopard that first evening but we eventually saw him a few times later that week and once at another Reserve called Phindea.

The next morning we woke up early and I was less than impressed to find that our shower was a bit primitive. Either the water was scalding hot or freezing cold and the shower lacked a door or a curtain. Of course I moved past this quickly when I thought of what the day had to offer. James had booked us for the Elephant encounter at a nearby reserve and I can now say that I have fed a full-grown male Elephant. The experience of being that close to the Elephants was truly amazing and it really put into perspective how large and powerful they are, especially for later in the week when we had a few little scares involving Elephants!

Rachel & Rambo.

I probably shouldn't be standing underneath those tusks.

Momma Elephant mock charging our Jeep at Phindea.

After lunch we headed to Phindea for an evening game drive to see some lions. Of course we managed to get a flat tire in the middle of nowhere on the reserve but we cracked open the cooler while we waited for our spare. 

Once we were good to go our guide made up for the delay by taking us straight to a mother lion and her three cubs, still working on a morning kill. At one point we got so close to the cubs that the young male hissed at us. Little Simba apparently wasn’t too pleased we were interrupting his family dinner. Unfortunately we never got to see a full grown male lion, apparently they stick to the far side of the reserve when they aren’t looking for the ladies for baby making business. We did return to Phindea a few days later and were lucky to see two large females napping at the watering hole, one of which was absolutely enormous and probably bigger than most of the males.

Hissing at the Jeep.

One of the best parts about Phidea was the sundowners where the guide would pick spot on the savannah to watch the sunset while he poured the guests cocktails and set out a few finger foods. You can’t think of much to complain about when you have and ice cold gin and tonic in hand, a gorgeous view in every direction, and you’re literally surrounded by the cast of the Lion King.

Over the next few days at Zulu we did a few more game drives at the reserve, where we checked off all the big five animals. (Lion, Leopard, Cape Buffalo, Rhino, Elephant) We also visited the local town where we got a tour of the school and a homestead. Unfortunately the school was on strike, which really bummed me out since I brought coloring books with me from the states that I wanted to give to the kids. Luckily we managed to track down a few little guys at the homestead we saw and they were very happy with their new loot. I wish I could have given them something more meaningful but it was pretty special to see their faces light up with such a simple gift. When we took their photos I noticed they immediately wanted me to playback the image so they could see themselves, I imagine that mirrors are not very commonplace in their homes so their reflection is somewhat of a mystery. That particular day left me with a very heavy feeling. Their way of life is so different that I couldn’t help but feel sad yet so thankful for everything I have. I had to keep reminding myself that their values and priorities are very different than ours and it really wasn’t fair to try and compare our cultures or feel sorry for them just because it's not what I am used to.

Later in the week we did an excursion to St. Lucia where we took a boat ride and saw tons of hippos and crocs. Unfortunately these hippos were pretty lazy and I never got to get a picture of them opening their mouth, I guess I will just have to go back later in life. During the St. Lucia excursion we also went to the beach on the Indian Ocean, which was basically untouched, but I didn’t bring my suit so I only dipped my toes in. Chilly! After a little more shopping in town and a beer with our guides we headed back to Zulu for the night.

Africa overall was amazing but the safari was truly special and I am so happy that I got to experience something like that, especially at a young age. I have some amazing photos that I can’t wait to frame and I really hope that I get the opportunity to go back at another point in my life. In total we saw all of the following animals: Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, Black Rhino, White Rhino, Elephant, Hippo, Crocodile, Zebra, Giraffe, Kudu, Impala, Waterbuck, Wildebeest, Cape Buffalo, Nyala, Dika, some kind of snake, all sorts of birds and a few monkeys.  

Two sets of Giraffes fighting

Kudu

White Rhino

Cape Buffalo... notice the bird.

Insert Toto’s “Africa” here.