Eat, Sleep, and Ride Around in a Jeep: Easter Vacation on Safari

Going on Safari is not what you would necessarily think. It doesn’t always live up to the exciting thrill you would imagine. It is not always as thrilling as movies make them out to be. Rather, it is a bit boring and filled with silence and solitude. Do not get me wrong, this does not mean it isn’t an extremely enjoyable experience and many of the instances are exactly what you would think. The binoculars and the jeeps, but above all those times when you spot something rare (like the leopard we saw) and everyone freaks out are the most quintessentially safari-like experiences.

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.