Day 3- June 10, 2009

8:00 am

Rough night, couldn't sleep because I was afraid I had the time difference wrong. Not feeling very well, either.

9:30 am

Just found out central heat does not exist anywhere in South Africa. Great.

10:15 am

Saw a Honda CR-V, light green, just like mom's. The cars here in general have been pretty surprising - a lot more like back home or in Mexico, rather than the smaller style common in Europe. I was excited to see a large number of VW's, also. I feel like some of the thing I'm writing about may seem mundane & trivial, but there is no other way for me to maintain my experience than to write it down.

9:50 pm

What a day. As soon as we got to the turn for our camp at Gladysvale, our particular vehicle was too heavy to make it up the rocky road to the site, so we had to get out and walk alongside the car in the rain. I had already begun to panic about the weather conditions when we stopped for chicken pies outside Johannesburg, but this happening solidified my worries. If there is anything this trip has taught me, it is that I am not quite the outdoorswoman I had once supposed myself to be. This (today) was probably the most helpless I have ever felt in my entire life. Here I am, in the middle of a private game reserve, in the middle of the bush, in Africa. There was no turning back. No getting in the car and heading home. No calling mom crying. Just sitting here, freezing and accepting what I was told. Even if we went back to Graham's or any place else, there would still be no heat.

I tried to make the best of things, though. I put on my rain jacket, put up my tent, and put on a happy face. I ate the spinach and feta pie and was given for lunch, and actually really enjoyed the presentation we had on snakes (I uwed to want to be a herpatologist really badly- I was the first one to hold the 2 snakes!) I got to touch the most poisonous snake in Africa. But then it was back to being cold and wet. We sat in our tent for a while, since our nature drive and trip to the fossil site were both cancelled. Then everone decided to take a walk to the "haunted village" out maybe a mile from our campsite. I went in all the supposedly haunted building, despite the rumors that bad things happen to all that enter. On our walk, we saw some awesome bones just lying in the road in addition to an owl and a wildabeast. The most breathtaking part, however, was the view. Sweeping, grassy yellow hills and valleys on every side. No building, no power lines. THIS is the Africa I was expecting and really hoping to see. Sobering is really the only word I can use to describe the experience. Our earliest ancestors walked these lands, hunted these hills, and drank from these waters. It was just one of those experiences where you've seen something for so long on television, and learned about it in class, but nothing can ever compare to when you actually see it. It was like the first time I went scuba diving once I was PADI certified. I was in caves 100ft down, with fish and turtles all around me, and what I saw in front of me was something most people only see on TV. It was incredible.

Returning from the walk, everyone, including myself, was in better spirits, and definitely much warmer. The ride to dinner was good bonding time for the four of us in the back, who discussed marriage and our potential future mates. It's always interesting to hear what qualities other people look for in a potential mate. It seems like everyone wants the same basic qualities in other people, but at the same time of the four girls in the back of the bus, I know we all have very different tastes.

When we were at dinner, the manager seemed to assume we were Afrikaaners because we were white. The restaurant also played all American music - from Lil' Wayne and Billy Joel. This was kind of disappointing to me - I came to Africa to experience Africa, not the same music I hear on the radio in Arkansas.

Now back at camp, it is once again raining, and cold, and miserable. I have a feeling this trip is going to be the best and worst experience of my life.

12:15 am

Millie, Emily, & I just went to the bathroom & and it's sleeting.