To help drone
out some of the monotonous driving that consumed the majority of our trip, I had my good pal the Lion King Soundtrack
running through my head and occasionally actually playing on my iPod. Driving
through the South African Bush in Kruger National Park all I could think of was
“Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba Sithi uhm ingonyama, etc.”
Then the Circle of Life would kick in and nothing could stop it “It’s the
CIRCLE OF LIFE”. What did not help extracting these songs from my brain were
the damn animals ALL OVER THE PLACE looking like they came right out of that damn movie!!! (I loved it!)
I got to see some Pumba’s (warthogs), a few Zazu’s
(hornbills) and a truck load of those wildebeests who killed Mufasa (also
the guinea fowl from the beginning who almost get trampled by Elephants and
GIANT ants). There were plenty of other animals along the way but because of
the Lion King these ones stuck out for me.
My Dad and I went on a little trip up to Johannesburg and Kruger for my Easter break. We did three game drives and two bushwalks and saw
all of those animals plus SO MANY IMPALA, water elk, zebras, elephants, springboks,
buffalo, hippos, baboons, some other monkeys, tons of birds, a leopard in a
tree, some lions, a crocodile, a komodo dragon looking lizard and many giraffes
(one of which I tracked on our bushwalk).
Plants, Prints, and Poop:
This is what the bushwalks consisted of. We didn’t see many actual animals but I
learned a lot and we got to hear some lions and track that giraffe (which besides my motorcycle ride in Jo'burg was a highlight of the entire vacation). After our
first bushwalk, I could sufficiently find food, water, fire, and shelter, cure a toothache, kidney problems, and infertility using only natural plants
from the bush (that’s Katniss winning right there). I would also probably identify Elephant and Hyena droppings, maybe...
The Game drives were a bit more eventful (but not much). We
saw a ton of animals and rode around in a jeep all day. I have seen everything
on my list except for a rhino. They are so big you would think they’d be hard
to miss but apparently they're endangered or something... pfft...
Overall, vacation was really fun. It was great hanging out
in Jo’burg with Atma and Haribhajan (two of my South African friends who I went
to school with in India). They hosted my dad and I while we were visiting and
took me around there city a bit. Mostly we just kind of hung out, which is what
I think vacation should be. It was an excellent break and a great chance to see
some more of Africa!
I know this whole excursion happened a few weeks ago and I am just getting around to updating ya'll but at least its happening! there should also (hopefully) be a new post up soonish about the after weeks of break.
