It was the Hungerfords turn to come for a visit in South Africa. First up, the infamous Red Bus Tour. It is a great way to get to know the history of a city. We got off at Constitution Hill. This started out as fort for the British. Then it was turned into a prison. Two of its most famous inmates were Ghandi and Nelson Mandela.
We visited an orphanage run by the Salvation Army. We started by holding the infants then went to play with the toddlers. We fed them yogurt, sometimes multiple kids with one spoon. Seth entertained the boys, and we held and loved as many as we could. There were times it seemed like we didn't have enough arms.
After the 3rd day, jet lag was still very real for Seth and Molly. But we got up the next morning to visit the Rhino Lion Park. We saw many animal up close as we did a self drive through the reserve. We also got to feed a giraffe. He tickled our hands as he ate the food.
Then we stopped at the Lesedi Cultural Village to learn about 5 of the tribes in South Africa. We learned some Zulu words and ate caterpillars. We learned that one tribe wears the Scottish kilt. Back over 100 years ago when the Scots came to fight the tribes, they wouldn't fight because they thought they were women in skirts. To this day they wear the kilt as a reminder of the mistake made by their king so long ago.
The next day we visited the Elephant Sanctuary, The Hungerfords were able to ride the elephants. We also brushed them down, fed them, walked with them and even got
sloppy, dirty kisses from them.
We saved the best for last. We stayed at the Ivory Tree Lodge in Pilanesburg National Park. We went on an evening game drive to return to hot chocolate and a warm fire. We got up early the next morning for a chilly game drive. But it was worth it all. We saw a rare black rhino, herds of elephants, a pride of 7 lions who circled in front of us, giraffes necking - practicing their fighting skills, warthogs, wildebeest, hippos, a leopard up a tree with the dinner it had just caught, kudu, impala, and many more animals. It was the trip of a lifetime!
And our last planned activity was a zipline on the way back to Johannesburg. We all had fun flying down the lines. Sad to say good bye to our Hungerford group, but we'll see you in 4-1/2 months for Christmas at our home!
