Journal of This Southern Africa Adventure
November, 1999
02 November
Springboks lose to the Wallabies (Australia) and France beats the All Blacks (New Zealand) in the Rugby World Cup. A very difficult day for all of South Africa. Several days later, the Springboks beat the All Blacks to capture third place while Australia beat France to claim the World Cup.
Went to the Drakensberg (mountain Range) on Sunday. It was a long drive (8 hours total roundtrip) but worth the trip. Lots of views and waterfalls such as Bridal Veil Falls
and Lone Creek Falls. Another nice place was God's Window which is located at the southern most tip of Blyde River Canyon. Unfortunately the day was running out and we could not verify people's claim that this canyon is just like the Grand.
09 November
Went to the Lion Park this past weekend. It is located between Pretoria and Jo'berg.
This is a great place, especially on Sundays as that is the time that the lions are fed. There is also a lion cub petting area. Check out several pages of pictures (Lion Park, Lion Park II, Lion Park III)
21 November
Went horseback riding (a first for me) at Rietvlei Nature area. This was a four hour ride costing about $10 per person. My horse which was white, was named Cocaine. I am not sure it was named because of its color or because it liked to snort the butt of the horse in front of it. Towards the end of the trip, I mounted the horse and discovered that the next horse in front of us was 40 meters away. Cocaine wanted to catch up to the other horses and do some snorting. His quick gallop threw me off and onto my butt. Pictures to follow ...
29 November
Thanksgiving in South Africa. Went to a colleagues house for Thanksgiving dinner (after work of course) along with several other Americans. Everyone here has heard of Thanksgiving, from American movies, and know that it is Turkey Day but know nothing about its history, or importance in family life. Some of the stores had frozen turkeys in stock for this holiday but they were 14 lbs maximum.
Dad sent a Happy Thanksgiving email message to me and part of it said to "be safe, don't drink and drive." Here in South Africa, there are signs that say "Don't drink and drive or walk." It is surprising how many of the expressions are the same but how many are different. Whenever you give a saying, you have to say it in plain English to make sure that your point is understood.
Some words that are different are here but I must admit that I have not heard all of these.
Back to "African Journal"
This page was last updated on .