Going on Safari

Have you ever wondered what it's like to roam the African savanna? See animals in their natural habitat? Ride an elephant? See the Big 5*?

I got to find out on my South African adventure back in 2013!

After spending a couple days exploring the Cape Peninsula (story found here), I flew over to Port Elizabeth, located on the Indian Ocean, for a 6-day stay. My home base for the week was located right across the street from sand dunes leading to the ocean...

Although I was super close, I decided not to make the short walk across to the water, because I was there by myself and did not feel it would be safe. However, I did have several amazing day tours during my stay. The first of which was an all day safari at 2 nearby Reserves.

In the morning, I was picked up by my tour guide and driven to Addo Elephant National Park.

I was with about 6 other people, all from Germany, and we headed out on the savanna in our tour bus.

One of the smaller animals we came across was a painted turtle...

next was a much bigger beast, a buffalo (one of the Big 5) eating his breakfast...

Our driver guide was in contact with his fellow guides throughout the reserve, and he heard over the radio that a hyena had made a kill and was heading towards the watering hole, so we made our way there...

When we arrived, we saw the hyena, covered in the poor zebra's blood that it had just eaten, coming to slake its thirst...

Standing a little further away was a cute little family of warthogs, waiting for the predator to leave so they too could get a drink...

we left the watering hole and ventured back out into the savanna, and saw some zebra, perhaps relatives of the one who was eaten...

And, of course, we saw tons of elephants (another of the Big 5 animals)! There were little white birds following them around eating the bugs...

and there was a whole family of elephants, including these cute babies!

We got really close to them...

In the afternoon, we headed over to the nearby private game reserve of Schotia. After eating lunch, we headed out in an open-topped safari vehicle to see what animals we could spot...

There are several types of deer in South Africa, and we saw many of them here, including these guys...

we also ran across some zebra and wildebeest...

one of the endangered species we saw was also one of the Big 5, the black rhino...hunted for its horns, the rhino isn't even completely safe here on the reserve, as poachers still find ways of getting to them:(

We drove by a watering hole and saw two hippos' heads sticking out of the water...

We got to step off the Jeep once and see a mommy and baby giraffe! The baby is over 6 feet tall...

We also saw another of the Big 5, a whole pride of lions resting in the shade of a bush in the heat of the day...only about 30 feet away from us in our open-topped vehicle!

As the sun began to set, we headed to a nearby boma for some dinner of our own, glad to be in a protected structure as the lions and other predators started their hunting for the night...

The following day, I got to go on an elephant ride at Addo. There were 4 elephants there, and their handlers brought them to us and showed us how they handled them...

then we got to go for a ride with them...African elephants are the biggest land animals (and also one of the Big 5) and are a little awkward to ride with your legs spread way further apart than a horse, but it is a cool experience being up on them nevertheless...

after the short ride, I got a chance to feed the elephants as well...you can feed them by their trunks, or by putting your hand directly into their mouths, I tried both...

Definitely a worthwhile, once-in-a-lifetime experience!

The following day, I took a boat ride down the Sunday River...

Our captain and guide was a former stock broker, who left the rat race to enjoy a more peaceful existence being a riverboat captain. He took us down the river and to the Alexandria Sand Dunes, which are the second longest sand dunes in the world...

We got to climb up to the top for a better view of the dunes stretching our for miles towards the Indian ocean...

For my last 2 days in South Africa I got to experience what it was like to be a local in Port Elizabeth. I mentioned to one of my tour guides that I didn't have anything planned, so she took me under her wing and showed me around Port Elizabeth and surrounds! We went on a nice walk in a local park, and helped remove an invasive species...

We explored the city and saw the public library...

a nearby fort...

and walked along the shores of the Indian ocean...

went to Cape Recife Lighthouse...

and to a penguin rescue...

So I ended up having an even more amazing trip! God always provides...

I woke up my last morning in South Africa to the sun rising up out of the Indian ocean...

and then began my journey back home...I had a 10-hour layover in Munich, Germany, where one of my friends I had met while studying abroad in London lived, and he took me around and showed me some of the sites in and around the city...such as in the Marienplatz (one of the town squares) with the New Town Hall (Neus Rathaus), with its glockenspiel...

The yellow church (Theatinerkirche)...

and many more buildings with cool architecture...we also went to a nearby palace..

Then I went back to the airport to fly back home.

If you want to plan your own South African adventure, and perhaps a trip to Munich, check out the following websites:

South Africa:

https://umzantsi.co.za/

http://www.enchantmenttours.com/

Munich, Germany:

https://www.viator.com/Munich/d487-ttd

*The Big 5 is a group of African animals consisting of lions, leopards, rhinos, buffaloes, and elephants, of which I saw 4 on this trip!

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