Last night, we returned from our weeklong excursion to Johannesburg and Kruger National Park. The trip was jam-packed with activities and outings, and as I sit here decompressing, a few parts of our excursion really stand out.
The first is our afternoon at the Boys and Girls Club of South Africa in Soweto (the largest township in South Africa). When we arrived the kids weren’t there yet but gradually they started to come until the whole space was full of children running around. They were all ages, and ranged probably from five to sixteen. We learned that most of the kids spoke Sotho and didn’t know that much English. The children were so excited and open to meeting us. Even though we couldn’t speak easily with them, we were able to play together. It was an awesome chaos, and I was playing the whole time. In the beginning, I sat with some young girls and played a game with rocks that was similar to jacks. The rocks were in a square and you had to throw a rock up, look up, and then pull the rocks out of the square. Then you had to throw the rock again, look up, and push all the rocks back except for one. If you managed that, you got to keep the rock and have another turn. It took a while but I actually managed to get a few rocks (see embarrassing picture)! Later, we hula-hooped and danced in the yard. And after that we sat and colored together. We were only there for a short while but it was pure fun.
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| Meika having great fun learning a new game ! |
The second part of the trip that I loved was our time spent in Kruger. We were there for two days and nights. While we were there we went on two game drives, one in the afternoon and one in the morning, and a bush walk. I loved the feeling of expectation during the game drives. Everyone was looking out the sides of the truck, searching the land for any movement or sign of life. It was so exciting when we actually spotted something! I think I liked the morning game drive the best. We left our huts while it was still dark, and got to drive around as the sun was rising. The look of the landscape kept changing in the different light, and it was beautiful to see. We also happened to see a lot of animals that morning, including a giraffe, elephants, zebras and more. It was so special to be able to see these animals in their natural habitats. At one point, an African bull elephant came walking towards us and crossed the road only a few feet from our vehicle. It looked right at us, and then went on its way back into the wilderness.
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