cape town

we had breakfast behind the amazing
rhodes memorial building

on the 31 to the 2nd we were lucky enough to visit cape town. we woke up at 4:30am bright and early to catch the 6:00am, 2 hour, flight to cape town.  when shaun and i arrived we were immediately taken back with how cold it was there! 

the weather was meant to be rainy and only 8 degrees celsius, which is a measly 45 degrees fahrenheit. way colder than the utah summer weather!

we stayed with shaun's uncle and aunty, who picked us up and dropped us off at a breakfast with one of the most amazing views either of us have ever seen at rhodes memorial, it gave you complete views over cape town and if you stood in just the right place you could see both the indian ocean and the atlantic at the same time!

after breakfast we took a drive into franschhoek (meaning french corner), which is a small town full of world renowned vineyards and wine estates..although, we skipped the wine for hot chocolate.  even with the rain you could tell this place was absolutely beautiful.

the town looked straight out of a movie with little shops and fountains everywhere. we stopped for lunch in the cutest restaurant, sitting next to a giant fireplace we actually got warm! after that we drove back to the house took a well needed nap and finished the night off with dinner at a lovely restaurant where shaun met nick mallet! who knows who that is but i guess it was a big deal!

the next day we set out to see table mountain! unfooortunately the cable cars were closed for annual maintenance...so we could not go to the top of the mountain, however the views were still absolutely  amazing! it was a very clear day and not windy at all which was good because usually it is very very windy up there. so windy that they actually have ropes at the top so that people can hold onto so they don't fly off the mountain!!    

after that we decided to go to the waterfront, but on the way there i requested that we stop so i could touch the atlantic ocean for the first time in my life! it was soo cold but so fun! it felt so weird to be on a beautiful beach in winter clothing! as i ran to touch a wave my boots got completely soaked and a dog bit my butt! as seen in the video above haha. but it was such a fun experience!

after that we got to the waterfront which was absolutely beautiful! we road "the wheel of cape town" which is pretty much just a big farris wheel that lets you look out over the entire waterfront and see most of cape town. we also got lunch, fish and chips which is a must in cape town, and walked around the shops. it was such a relaxing fun day! 

that night we had dinner with shaun's aunt and cousins, it was a great end to a great day!

our last day there we took a drive to cape point. we stopped at simons town on the way to see the boulder beach penguin colony on the way! its a group of african penguins who first came to the area in 1983! they are so cute and the area is awesome because you can get very close, but we were warned that they have a mean bite!!

after penguin spotting we made our way into table national park's western cape where cape point is located. cape point is the spot where the indian ocean meets the atlanitic ocean. on the way the views were absolutely amazing and we ran into some feisty looking baboons, this one above was about as big as bear! but not half as cute ;) the baboons in cape town are notorious for opening car doors and windows (while the car is still moving!) and they just lay in the road in front of cars, crazy animals! two of them that we saw had only one hand!

once we got to cape point we took a cable car up to the top and it was honestly one of the most beautiful views i have ever seen!! pictures are the only thing that can describe it! 

there were pathways all around the top that were actually the remains of a 1943 world war 2 radar station!! how cool is that! it was honestly one of the most amazing places i have ever been to! although i could not see a line of where the oceans meet, the water below was absolutely clear and the prettiest shades of blue!

 after that we headed back home so we could make the 5:00pm flight home to durban.  it was such an amazing trip and i wish we could have stayed longer! alas it was nice to be back in durban! special thanks to ian and julie for letting us stay in their amazing home! 

photos of iMfolozi 

iMfolozi game reserve

this past weekend we traveled about 2.5 hours to a beautiful game reserve.  the park is broken up into two wildlife reserves, iMfolozi and hluhluwe (funnest word ever to say), which is the higher of the two. 

we had to look the part!

the park was established in 1895 to protect south africa's last remaining rhinos. it is the fourth largest game reserve in the country at 372 square miles, so you can image how you could go there for days and still never see an animal.  being my first time ever going to a game reserve and going to see animals not at a zoo, i was a bit worried we wouldn't see many, but we were so lucky to see tons!
the first animals we saw were a couple of zebras sitting right outside the entrance of the reserve, and i was so excited to see them i took about 10 pictures of the same two zebra.  once we got into the reserve i was amazed how how huge it was! while shaun's parents were checking us in, we came across a pumbaa (warthog), which just happens to be shaun's favorite animal (weird, i know). 

we weren't lucky enough to see the whole big five (buffalo, lion, leopard, elephant, rhino) however, we saw 4 out of the 5 which is more than any of us were expecting to see!

animals we saw included:

-lions: we saw 4 simbas trying to hunt giraffes which is rare because giraffes are generally too large to become victim to lions unless they are old or sick. 

-monkeys: we saw tons of vervet monkeys which are very abundant around durban (where we are staying), they are cute cute grey monkeys that i would like to have as a pet one day :)

-baboons: i was really excited and scared to see a baboon after watching a documentary on them! they are very destructive and have scary teeth. we saw about 20 sitting on a hill and the sound they make is a barking sound that almost sounds like someone yelling
.. they are way meaner than rafiki in lion king!

-elephants: the first day at the park all i wanted to see was an elephant up close, however, near the end of the day we still hadn't see one..until, shaun says "hey! there's an elephant!...and another..and.." we soon were immersed in a heard of about 60 elephants!!! there were males, females, and many baby elephants all walking in front, behind, and to the sides of us! and one thing that i didn't know about elephants is that they can be very very dangerous if you get too close to them so imagine how scared we all got being completely stuck in the middle of them with no chance of reversing or going forward! the video doesn't even capture how crazy it was, it was truly one of the most amazing/scary/exciting moments of my entire life, and we are still talking about how amazing and rare it was that we got caught in a heard of elephants our very first time at the game reserve!! 

-rhinos: we saw tons of rhinos! the first one we saw was sleeping but soon got up after a younger rhino came close by. it got so mad it even rammed the other rhino! it was like watching national geographic's it was so crazy to see! another rhino we saw came pretty close to the car and shaun got soo scared he reversed the fastest i've ever seen any one reverse ever! sue and i thought it was the funniest thing that this big rugby player was scared of a rhino that really wasn't that close! they are so huge though and beautiful

-african buffalo: these creatures have the craziest horns that almost look like a hat! it was awesome to see since i've only ever seen the buffaloes from yellowstone. they are pretty darn cute! 

-giraffe: after seeing these up close they have to be one of my favorite animal now, they are so beautiful and graceful!

-zebra: they must have been one of the prettiest animals we saw by far! many that we saw had almost a golden color mixed with their stripes and were beautiful! at the start of our trip we saw some so close we could have touched them! 

-warthog: these were so cute and ugly at the same time! and we saw a ton of them, shaun wanted to steal one from the reserve, but apparently the rangers check your trunk when you leave to make sure you haven't taken any animals home haha

-kudu: which are kind of like antelope with spiraly horns! 

-waterbuck: they have a target shape on their bums

-impala: definently the animal we saw the most of! they hang out in heards of over 100! they are very pretty and look so soft to touch!

-wildebeest: i wanted to hate the for killing mufasa, but they are actually really pretty in real life with pretty grey stripes. we saw quite a few of them both days 

-nyala & bushbuck: the closest looking things to bambi in africa.  bushbuck are the males with pretty white stripes on them

-duiker: small little antelope that almost is the same size as ruby my dog and just as cute! 

-birdies, birdie birdie: tons of birds including hadeda (which i hate cause they wake me up every morning with they're ugly voices), egyptian goose, flamingo, blue crane, african fish eagle, yellow-billed hornbill (aka zazu!), and many many more!

needless to say it was and awesome trip and one of the most amazing times of my life! we saw so many animals and i will never forget it!

i will post more pictures very soon but i am off to bed because in 5 short hours we leave to cape town! 

and a very happy birthday to my best friend and brother mr andy ricci!! lovee you kevin!

photos of southbroom 

           SOUTHBROOM            

this weekend we traveled two hours away from durban to a beach community called southbroom. Joining us was shauns parents, colin & sue, and his friends, matthew, david, shenne, & dane.

the house we stayed in was about a ten second walk to the beach and beautiful. 

the day we arrived the waves were huge, so everyone decided to go for a surf.  then shaun attempted to give me a "crash course" in surfing. we started off into the indian ocean when i soon realized that the huge waves were much larger than the ones i remember playing in at huntington beach in california.  i successfully went under the first three big waves, however, when the fourth one hit, me, shaun, and the board went crashing under water and i decided that today was not my day to learn to surf and i would wait till we were in durban for much smaller waves. 
that night we all had a braai (south african word for BBQ), including boerewors, lamb chops, & pork rashes. after we attempted to watch a movie before all passing out.

the next day the boys went surfing while we watched.  however, the waves were so big and powerful they only lasted an hour out in the ocean.  

after that we went to a place called granny's pool which is a man made lagoon that contains fish and is crystal clear.

The trip was absolutely beautiful and relaxing and amazing and i hope to visit there again someday  

 ----------

First cup of tea in south africa

----------------------------------------------------------

shaun 

reminiscing

 ------------------------

 my two new favorite dogs

  oscar & lily  

----------------------------------------

-----------------------------------

we arrived in south africa on 

nelson mandela day

--------------------------------- 

--- 

 pictures of 

durban 

from above

--------------------------