Post-Travel Blog

It is July 20, 2012. I've been home for about a week now. Africa was great. I always knew it would be because thats what everyone says but theres nothing like actually being there. That feeling of aactually being home away from home. I difinitely miss it and have plans to go back. I don't think theres anyplace like Africa. There is so much history there and so much to learn. The museums are amazing and you learnso much. Next timI go back I want to go to a different part before I go back to Johannesburg. I'd like to see Africa a little bit at a time.

Blog #5

It is July 15, 2012. We are about to board the plane back to America. In the past couple weeks I did go on my quest of strange foods. I had Borewors which is sheep, pig, and cattle intestines stuffed with meat and offcuts, spiced with herbs and cooked like barbeque. It wasn't that bad if you tried not to think about it. Then I tried Biltong and thats animals ranging from cattle to wild animal, springbok, eland or even elephant, get cut up into strips and hung out to dry, then you eat it. That was the worst one I tried. It was really tough and hard to chew. Just like jerky. Finally I had an Ostrich Egg Omelet. Well i had a half of one. The eggs are 3 pounds and are meant to be shared but Erica didn't want anything todo with my food quest.

Right before we left we went to a orphanage. We could bring stuff to give to the orphanage like toiletries so we went to a local store and picked up some stuff to donate. They children there were so beautiful and happy. It was amazing tosee kids with so little, be so happy.  That was honestly the best part of the trip. Helping those kids was more fullfilling than anything in this world. I'm so glad that we dicided to go. I am going to miss South Africa a whole lot.

Boerewors

BiltongOstich Egg Omelet

Blog #4

It is June 30, 2012. The trip is almost done. Gold Reef City was fun. Although all the rides I just couldnt get on. Just not brave enough. I'm glad we went and Erica had a great time. O one of the rides someone behind us threw up. Totally disgusting but it made an awesome picture. I'm gonna have tosay that Six Flags is still my favorite.

Even though I am not 21 yet we went to the World of Beer. Some very interesting people we met there. No one in my family even drinks beer but this place was actually cool. There's so many different beers around the world its ridiculous. They were serving beer but only the kind produced by South Africa. I of course declined and so did Erica even though she's 27.





Within the next like two weeks, I want to try some foods that I've never had before. Woman vs. Food is what I'm calling it. I dont have the strongest stomach but we'll see how this turns out.

Blog #3

It is June 23, 2012. On Tuesday we went to the Johannesburg Zoo. This was the best zoo I ever been too. The animals arent just sitting around looking miserable. It was R55 to get in but well worth it. There was nile crocodiles, snow leopards, white rhinos and striped hyaenas. It was one of the most exciting things we've seen since we've been here. Erica didnt want to see alot of the animals because she was scared but I eventually talked her into it.

Last night we went to this club not too far from our hotel. Johannesburg has this music Kwaito. It's suppose to represent the street life. It's basically like House music. We danced all night long. There were so many kids my age there. They really love this Kwaito music. We got home so late that we were exhausted the next day and decided to have brunch in the city. Later we went to the Nelson Mandela House in Soweto where we saw Morgan Clark.

Tomorrow we're going to Gold Reef City. Erica loves amusement parks and rollercoasters so I thought it would be perfert for her. Its kind of expensive, but we havent really been anywhere like this before. Its not just an amusement park, it also gives tours of the gold mining. We're see how we feel after all the rides if we're up for a tour. Otherwise we're come back another day.

Blog #2

It is June 17th 2012. Wow! A week in to this trip and things are gret. The Apartheid museum was amazing. A lot of it was outside but it was lovely weather so we did not mind. We did a lot of walking around after that and took some pictures. We got some great shots of the city that I'll post once I am home.
Pretoria was nice as well. A few days after we went to theFreedom Park we went back to Pretoria to play cricket with a group of people that we met at the Voortrekker Monument. We saw a rugby game at the Loftus Versfeld. We saw the team Blue Bulls. I got a few autographs of the players and took pictures of my sister with the team.

I am having so much fun here. Being here feels so natural, I keep forgetting that I'm away from home let alone in another country. I'm meeting so many new people. I've already picked out some gifts to take back to my family. I got my mom a really pretty dress and my dad a Blue Bulls hat.

Blog #1

It is June 10th 2012. We are so exhausted but we have finally arrived after being on the plane for over a day! The plane ride was a little rocky. My sister slept most of the time but I was jus too excited. There were so many people waiting for us when the plane landed. The people here are so welcoming its unbelievable. Johannesburg is so beautiful. It looks like a city in the U.S. Its hard to tell if we are in South Africa or New York City minus all the people.

We will probably rest up for a little but we are going to the Apartheid museum later on around 3 o'clock. We wanted to make sure that was one of the first things we did. The museum is closed on Mondays so the day we landed seemed perfect. It costs 55R per person. I learned a lot about the Apartheid in 10th grade so Im going to pretend like I am the expert. My class sent Nelson Mandela cards for his 90th birthday

Tomorrow we're going to Pretoria, on the three captitals in South Africa. We want to see the Voortrekker Monument there. Then we want to head over the the Freedom Park. I really want to get a picture of the Eternal FlameAlso of the Amphitheather. Then hopefully we can get some lunch while we're down there and talk to some locals.

Pre Travel Post

It is June 8th and I am about to board the plane to  South Africa. Me and my oldest sister Erica will be taking this trip. It's suppose to take about 27 hours to get there! We leave at 10pm and arrive at 7am. Our air fair is about $1957. Leaving us with $3,043 which is 23,073.46 ZAR the South Africa currency, Rand. our passports just came a few days before my graduation. We are going to stay in Johannesburg.  It's the wealthiest part of South Africa. We plan on visiting the surrounding towns. I am so excited to meet all the people.

I have spoken with many people that have visited Africa and they have all told me that I should go. They all talk about how is such an amazing experience. The say that once they touch down in Africa it feels like "home". That's the part we're both excited for. To return to the Motherland and feel welcomed. It kind of reminds me when Jersey Shore went to Italy. I have taken care of all the vaccinations that we needed. I really hope to get a feel of Africa and take a part of it with me.