Teaching and Trekking

            We arrived to Kruger late in the evening. The sun was setting and we got out of the van that took us to Jo’burg and hopped onto another truck at the lodge that the other traveler was staying. Our guides on the truck were Wesley and Elvis and they were extremely knowledgeable. They asked us what the one animal is that we wanted to see. Usually people say “Everything” or “The big five” but I am not usual and I said that I wanted to see a jackal or a honey badger.   The sun began to set and a beautiful shadow was cast over the nature that we drove past. Our first spotting were a red-billed hornbill (Zazu from The Lion King) and multiple buffalo. We paid close attention to the sounds the buffalos made, like cows speaking a different dialect of “moo”. We continued further and saw springbok, impala, tons of guinea fowl, and a few black-backed jackals. I was so excited to see the jackals because Elvis slowly held a spotlig...

THE 2 WEEK BACKPACKING JOURNEY TO KRUGER! The bus picked us up at an ungodly hour in the morning. I carried a huge backpack on my back and a small book bag on my front and my hall mate from Malawi gave me some crazy stares followed by a smile and a shake of her head. Me and Ben We headed a few hours by bus with some rest stops in between up to Wilderness, a town on the notorious garden route. They could not have picked a better name for it. We drove through mountains of woodlands before we could get to our campsite and hostel. At the hostel we were greeted by a guy our age named Ben, who quickly showed us where we were setting up camp and gave us a tour of the property. During the tour we saw the oldest building in Wilderness and he gave us the history..  “ Legend has it that the name Wilderness comes from a bride who asked her husband to take her away from the difficulties of 19th century life. She quoted from Haydn's "Creation" in the song ...

A journey with my boyfriend cross-country from Cape Town to Kruger National Park, with nothing stopping us but eventually our wallets.... MY INITIAL THOUGHTS:             I was terrified when Joey had told me that his flight to South Africa was booked. I had invited him months before and had never put much thought into it other than how much fun it would be. Five weeks is what he said he was staying for. With me, in my apartment? I have never lived with a boyfriend and I wasn’t sure what it meant, what would happen, if I’d find myself permanently floating with joy or sinking with heartache. The scariest part of this journey was not the plummeting heights we would conquer on Bloukran’s bridge, the close encounters with wildlife, or even the psychos we might find ourselves sharing a room with in a hostel. The scariest part was him, us. We had been dating for only a month before I left for South Africa and I had not seen h...

Day 4 Breakfast: Weetbix and warm milk                   .39 cents tea                                                     .02 cents Snack: Apple                                                .12 cents  Dinner: pap                                 ...

I woke up at 5:30 this morning to do Taebo with some friends. I am never good at working out in the morning because it always makes me dizzy to start moving so early.  Some people say you need to eat something first thing in the morning and some say you need to work out before you eat. I went to Taebo on an empty stomach that was still growling from last night. I left the class one time because I felt nauseous... someone else came out for a one minute break and told me, "You should eat just an apple before you work out in the morning so that you're not full and your not empty". I thought to myself, "That would mean 0.12 cents of my budget for the day would be gone before 8am..." I've never been much of a dieter. I've only aimed for goals of changing my lifestyle to eat healthier. I've gone through phases of cutting out refined sugar, red meat, all meat, dairy and eggs, but I have never limited the amount of intake of food. Ive always had the option...

Today I started with the same breakfast as yesterday, and the same breakfast I will probably eat all week: Weetbix and milk I knew I was going to have a long day so I packed a snack... but didn't end up eating it because I had a big lunch and didn't want to waste the money. For lunch, I attended a Bhakti Yoga Society meeting, that my friend and I attend almost every week. These meetings usually have guest speakers who talk about Vedic religious beliefs which include reincarnation, vegetarianism, importance of relaxation techniques, and today we listened to and learned to sing Hare Krishna. I do not have a particular religious preference, but these meetings are very informational and interesting because I can often apply what they are saying to my life. The fundamental belief is that all religions are founded on the same beliefs... I find reassurance in that. :-) The meal consisted of rice, curry, veggie balls, sauteed veggies, one samosa, cake, and a chickpea f...

I have taken on the challenge to "live below the line" for the next 5 days. This means, I am essentially eating only $1.50 of food a day in order to experience a few days of what billions of people living below the poverty line go through on a daily basis. Since I am living in South Africa, I will work out my budget based on the South African rand and convert it to American dollars. The currency exchange right now is 1USD to 7.87ZAR. I should spend a total of $7.50 (59.02 ZAR) over the next five days. More information on the project and the cause can be found at www.livebelowtheline.com Today I bought some inexpensive groceries to add to what I already have in the pantry. Here is what I bought Weetbix- a South African cereal that comes in the form of a biscuit   = per biscuit   .79ZAR/ .10cents Rooibos- South African tea                    ...