South Africa - Running Diary - Part VIII

I lazily attempted to keep a running diary of my daily events during our trip to South Africa. What follows below is that lazy attempt. The words in quotes are the actual things I wrote in my journal, followed by a brief description (if necessary) to describe the words I wrote and the significance behind them. Whenever possible, I tried to document the time (local time depending on what time zone I was in) at which these events occurred. Hope that makes at least some sense…enjoy.

Saturday, January 23^rd – 8:50 am: “African Safari.” Saturday morning, we all piled in the van and drove about an hour out of town to the Lion Park. This place was like something you’d see only on a National Geographic show….zebras, gazelles, ostriches, giraffes, cheetahs, hyenas, meerkats, and of course, lions…all out in the wild. Not crammed into a small artificial habitat, like you’d see at the zoo. We drove around, saw the zebras and gazelles grazing on the open prairies, a few cheetahs pacing nervously as we passed them, and the hyenas and meerkats napping lazily in the morning sun. But the star of the show is the lions, no doubt, right!? We drove around looking for them for a few minutes, unable to spot even one. Just was we were starting to make sarcastic jokes about how there’s no lions at the Lion Park, we realized that we were about to run right into about 15 of them as they lay napping under a large tree.(Click here for photo) We all quickly shifted to the side of the van to get a closer look. This is what we had come to see…and these creatures were huge…how did we not see them earlier. There was 1 male lion, a few females, and several smaller lion cubs, all spread out, enjoying the cool breeze and shade that the tree had to offer. Some were motionless in their sleep…others were sitting, looking around, and a couple of the lion cubs played with and chewed on some of the low lying tree branches. The van stopped no more than 5 feet from these beautiful animals, and I couldn’t help but realize just how magnificent these creatures really are. I’m not seeing them through a tv screen, or through some steel bars at a zoo, but rather on a huge open field, surrounded by nothing by trees, grass, and blue skies. Part of me really wanted to get out of the van and lay with them, pet them, play with them…but that probably would have led to my dismemberment and death, so I decided to just sit in awe of them from a few feet away. At one point, the male and one of the females went off to share an ‘intimate’ moment together. (Click here for photo, just not "the" photo...yes, "the" photo does exist.) Sure, there were some cheers, jokes and high fives shared in our van upon witnessing this act, but the fact that we got to witness ‘nature being nature’ was pretty cool as well. Later on, we made it to an encaged area that housed about 10 or so baby lion cubs that we could interact with, pet, play with, etc. These little fuzz balls had claws and sharp teeth, but not enough strength in their little bodies yet to do much damage with them. I captured one of my favorite photos from the entire trip, with Katy and one of the cubs caught in a cute stare down. (Click here for photo) Needless to say, this little excursion was not the reason we traveled halfway around the world, but it was an amazing experience that you just can’t find back home…

Saturday, January 23^rd – 7:15 pm: “Ian showers, for the first time.” A feeling of betrayal and disappointment feel upon me and the other 4 men of the trip who had yet to shower during this entire trip when we heard the news that Ian had in fact taken a shower, rather than ‘cupping’. He tried to use the excuse that since he had to spend the next 24 hours on an airplane next to his pregnant wife, he wanted to smell good for her, but we weren’t buying it. Such a selfish and shameful act could only be corrected in one way…we had to throw him in the pool outside. Let me explain a little about our little swimming hole in the back yard. I’m sure that about 15 years ago, this oasis was quite the place to be during the hot summers, but I’m also going to assume that this pool hadn’t been cleaned or maintained since that summer 15 years ago. There was a thick green goo that floated on the top, and no one was certain of the depth, on account that you couldn’t see more than 2 inches below the surface of the water level. There were mosquitoes the size of baby birds that lived and grew larger than any insect should ever be allowed to due to its unknown fumes and toxins. So, given this, Ian was bound for the pool for committing such an act of betrayal to his fellow brothers on this trip. So, we all grabbed hold of him, picked him up, and carried him outside and up to the pool. He yelled out and cried for mercy, but we ignored his requests. His wife Crystal pleaded with us to let him go, but we laughed at her as well. We were filled with rage as we swung him from our arms and into the green abyss below. He yelled, flailed, and splashed down in the middle of the pool, only to rise up a second later with the previously mentioned thick green goo hanging from his head and shoulders. We all walked away…he screamed. Our work here was done…justice! Okay…okay…we didn’t really throw him in the pool…but part of us kind of wanted to. We had gone 10 days without showering, 2 other guys had wives to sit next to on the plane ride home as well…and at least I was actually proud of the fact that I had ‘cupped’ for 10 days straight, and actually didn’t feel dirty whatsoever. We gave Ian a hard time for about 3 minutes, them moved on to something else to talk about. These are the things that happen when grown men sleep together in the same room for an extended period of time…