Sunday, July 1 – Today our group traveled to a safari outside of Johannesburg. The safari was a great experience for my peers and I. We were able to see some wild animals and enjoy the venture out. On the safari, I was expecting to see so many exciting and unique animals. However, we only saw a limited amount of animals because at the time of the game drive many animals were not out. Every time we saw zebras, giraffes, and ostriches, everyone on the bus would stand up and take endless pictures and videos. I also saw prints and other signs indicating that lions and elephants were around but they managed to elude us every time. I had a feeling we were close, and I believe that we could’ve spotted some elephants if we were able to go off the safari path, into the tall grass, and behind the barbed wire fences, but it was getting dark.
We all ate well for lunch. During lunch Courtney told us about the cultural importance of pap. Encouraging us even if we didn’t like pap to still eat it and/or ask for smaller portions because it could be seen as disrespectful not to eat it. In Cape Town, our homestay families would feed us before they ate.
The safari in all was a great experience for the group and myself. Chaperone Mr. West was the funniest guy on the safari trip. He made us have a good laugh about how he was a Certified Lion Escape Artist and said if a leopard came along he wouldn’t know what to do. We later found out that he is a “certified” mountain climber, despite the fact that there are no mountains in DC.
After the actual safari and dinner, I was able to get good rest for the next day. We stayed at the lodge for one night. We split up into twos for each room. Having only one other roommate meant we were able to get along well and get to know each other even better.
Dezmond W., Eastern High School