May 15, 2018
We slept in until 7:30am while Dad and Big J. went bird hunting.
It's very cold here during the morning and night. It's nice* during the day. *Nice being still a little chilly. The weather has been cloudy and now stormy this evening. It tried to rain earlier.
This morning we girls went with J.L. and S. to town. We "shopped" at a mall. In all reality, we are not your typical girls who love to shop. We actually don't enjoy shopping, but how often do you get to go to a South African mall? We walked around stores and only bought chocolate and junk food and drinks at a general/grocery story. Again, how often do you get to try South African food? We did get to go to a pet store and I got Behati a green baseball. And we went to the South African version of Walmart.
In the afternoon, I took a bunch of pictures and then Mom and I went to where Dad and Big J. were bird hunting.
They shot quite a few pigeons. Instead of joining in on the bird hunting, I hung back and helped S. and another black man pick up empty shells and dead birds.
When finished with bird hunting, we went back to the lodge. It was sprinkling on and off then.
Little J. decided not to hunt a steenbuck anymore and so she had the day off, hence the reason she stayed back and rested. She didn't want to make anyone upset for stopping her hunt and everyone was quite fine with her decision. Dad told her he was proud of her, I added that I was as well. Then someone said, "3 cheers for Little J.!"
Mom started singing "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow" and we just laughed so hard! I don't know why it was funny, but it was. In short, we were completely fine with her not hunting. We want her to be happy and get or not get the steenbuck if she decided.
Dad, Big J., and Little J. tried brandy, scotch, vodka, tequila, Malibu, and another thing. No joke. They tasted shots. Mom tried one or two different drinks as well. (Both Big and Little J. had wanted to try alcohol, and Dad and Mom thought that it'd be better to give them a sample under a controlled environment compared to if they went out with friends and peer pressure was high. After trying it, Dad threw a drink into the fire and the flame's reaction was strong.)
My, did they (drinks) smell bad!
I enjoyed my water and hot cocoa....
For supper we had mini enchiladas and duck (which Dad and Big J. had hunted), chicken, etc. It was very good.
Fun Facts: Sweetie Pies are so good! And red velvet hot chocolate here in South Africa is the best.
***
May 16, 2018
This morning, we slept in till 8+/- and ate breakfast after showering.
We packed the van and said last farewells to J.L. and S. We said good bye to the staff at the last lodge and are now going to Johannesburg with J. and B. (the couple in charge at the bird hunting lodge).
***
May 19, 2018
We are home and have been since 12:45AM of May 18th.
Before flying out of Johannesburg, we got to shop at a huge souvenir shop. That place was amazing and had so, so much to look at and buy. The first room you walked into was covered from floor to ceiling with actual taxidermy mounts for sale. Ah, I had heart eyes! They had a box plumb full of warthog tusks and bunches of this and that. Almost anything you could think of taking home to a friend or family member was in this store.
The flights (2 of them) were fine, but long and we are glad to be back. From Dallas, we drove straight home.
 |
| Our family "selfie" became a family photo with the help of a kind person. |
***
Below are some pictures I took while at the last lodge.
And thus ends the South African Trip blog series. Thank you for following along on this wonderful vacation/experience my family and I got to have. I hope you smiled and got a glimpse into what all we got to do and see. Truly, all of you who've read and looked at my posts mean a lot to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment