South Africa

Let me start by making a formal announcement that my 21st birthday is exactly 1 month from today and I will be accepting gifts that may be brought over seas in care of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne R Baker themselves.

Next up: South Africa! I’m going to exclude Morocco from this statement and just say I am truly madly deeply in love with this whole continent. I will definitely be back to tackle other parts of it later in life. IN FACT, I like it SO much that I was feeling REALLY adventurous… and.. may or may not have decided to have the outline of it permanently inked on a part of my body for all to see…. Ha juuuust kidding! But this girl who works on the ship from here actually did, and it’s kinda cool.

Anyways, we arrived in Cape Town early Wednesday morning and Marisa and I once again were eager to greet the day seeing as we had an appointment to swim with some great white sharks in the great white capital of the WORLD! However, due to rough waters we were not able to make that appointment and were a little saddened. (Though I did get to keep all of my appendages so I’ve got that going for me.) So, then plan less, we started to wonder around the waterfront where we randomly bumped into a friend from one of our other trips who was leaving to visit the wine lands and we obviously decided to join! Our 5-some grabbed the next train to Stellenbosch to do some wine tasting. It was the most gorgeous day and we visited 2 wineries and had some quite delicious wines including a Pinotage, which we were told is a South African specialty. I came dangerously close to purchasing my own private wine cellar in the mountains of Stellenbosch to have my wines age and come back at a later date to enjoy. I figured the Baker fam wouldn’t allow that treasure to go to waste but was promptly talked out of it by the better judgment of my parents. After a glorious day we headed back to Cape Town in search of some traditional African cuisine. After a 3-hour wait… we finally sat down to feast on the most delectable servings of ostrich, springbok, crocodile, and lamb. Perhaps I’ll start an ostrich farm in Warrenton…. I can promise that you all would be very fortunate of having the great blessing of my acquaintance.

Thursday morning Marisa and I flew to Johannesburg and then drove to Pillansberg for our 3-day safari! During our 1st game drive that evening I fell severely ill and was miserable for a solid 20 hours. (I’d like to thank mama baker for dealing with my pathetic complaints via blackberry messenger…) BUT we had the most fantastic accommodations I could have ever imagined and after lying in bed for 12 hours was able to crawl out to our little porch and curl up on our chaise lounge under our thatch roof that looked out into the mountains covered in green vegetation under the sun and it was really impossible for me to be unhappy. I also felt much better and was able to join the group for our evening drive. Saturday morning our “Ferrari safari” (our guide drove real fast) woke up at 4 am to see an African sunrise atop a great mountain. During our time we were able to spot lions, hippos, giraffes, zebras, rhinos, springboks, African wild dogs, elephants, jackals, tons of owls, and an assortment of African birds. It was SWEEEEEEET!

Last night we once again had one of those amazing dinners consisting of great food, drinks, company, and conversation. We found a local club, did some dancing, and called it a night. This morning we went with one of our friends in a cable car up Table Mountain. Marisa had a panic attack on the way up the hefty slope and I found great entertainment in her frenzy. (sorry….) The view was breathtaking and even though we cheated by not hiking, I’m really glad we reached the peak! We then devoured the most scrumptious sushi for lunch I could have dreamed of. Africa: you didn’t let me down.

Notes:
-Today while waiting in line for our cable car, we started talking to this couple in front of us to later learn that the woman was from South Africa, the man from the states, they had met on the internet, he’s never left the country, just acquired a passport, and flew all the way over here to meet her….. how weird!
-Foreigners LOVE Obama. Everywhere we go, people on the streets will just shout out “Obama!”… and if you ever start a conversation with someone, they are sure to chime in how happy they are that our country has him.
-I’m having a love/hate relationship with the internet currently. I REALLY miss not having it, but when I finally DO have it, I’m overwhelmed with the amount of things I need to accomplish. I have compiled a few video slideshows of photos we’ve taken various places with themed musical accompaniment and have been so excited to post here and share! But when I finally found internet today I was very unsuccessful in my attempts. So, I’m frustrated.