Stumpy fish for dinner!
the natural slide we slid down and climbed up
Addo Animal Park
Day 2: sunrise hike to the horse stables and our campground
God's art reflecting on the river the boys crossed
close enough to hear the elephant breathing through his trunk.. can you tell I was stoked?
After surviving my two day process of getting to Jeffrey's Bay, South Africa, the next thing I had to survive was the 4 day orientation that took place in the African Bush and beaches.
DAY 1
Our first day started out amazing! We drove through Pretoria, a small country town that is known for growing oranges and citrus fruits. Once we arrived at our cabin, we ate lunch and suited up to go explore a local waterfall.
The Bush is SO beautiful- very similar to the Sierra Nevada's actually. I felt so at home while climbing along the river rocks and swimming through the streams (which were about a balmy 55 degree Fahrenheit) until we reached a natural pool about 25 feet deep and were told to retrieve a rock from the bottom and our first assignment. It took me my third try to finally grab two rocks from the bottom. later that night we had a Braai and hung out.
DAY 1
Our first day started out amazing! We drove through Pretoria, a small country town that is known for growing oranges and citrus fruits. Once we arrived at our cabin, we ate lunch and suited up to go explore a local waterfall.
The Bush is SO beautiful- very similar to the Sierra Nevada's actually. I felt so at home while climbing along the river rocks and swimming through the streams (which were about a balmy 55 degree Fahrenheit) until we reached a natural pool about 25 feet deep and were told to retrieve a rock from the bottom and our first assignment. It took me my third try to finally grab two rocks from the bottom. later that night we had a Braai and hung out.
DAY 2
woke up at 3am to pack up and leave for our next unknown destination. we arrived back in JBay around 4 I believe and were told to grab our packs and everything we would need for a few days and were off. Heinrich, our house parent, gave us two sweet rolls and two cans of beans to last for the day (you can imagine my excitement when I was handed this). Walked along the beach for almost three hours and watched the sunrise as we approached the horse stables. After about a 2 hour ride along the beach, the boys walked and crossed the river mouth to get the the campsite whilst I waited on the other side. We caught and cooked Stump fish for dinner that night. Some local kids joined in on the fishing action and hung around with us for a while as well.
DAY 3
woke up at 8 and had a morning devotion and left to Falcon Rock Mountain and hiked up Lady Slipper with two dogs that decided to join in on the fun. The view was spectacular- you could see all the way to JBay! After enjoying the view after a long and steep hike, we headed back down to wash up and Snoek, our orientation leader, surprised us and we ate in an actual restaurant that night! After a wonderful meal, Shannon and I (a previous CSALT student) were practically ambushed by THREE baboon spiders in our cabin. I haven't exactly slept the same since.
DAY 4
awoke at 5:45 to pack up and leave for our last stop of orientation (another surprise) and rolled up to find that we were at an Animal Reserve! We saw three elephants as the sun was rising and it was a sight I know I'll never be able to forget! It was amazing to sit in God's Creation among his disciples and animals and simply reflect on why I'm in South Africa.
Later on we were also able to see three Hyenas finishing off an elephant carcass with some other predators (whose name i forgot). Ostriches, all kinds of deer, birds and my personal favorite, the warthog were all abundant throughout the acreage.
Later that day we arrived at the house and were able to reflect and rest from our exhausting and glorious orientation.
Thanks for reading and feel free to send me an email, I now have internet! Please continue to pray for myself, the house and peopl