A Whirlwind Trip (My Parents Visit RSA)

After several months of preparation and many of emails and phone calls back and forth deciding on plans my parents finally made the trip to South Africa to visit me, my site, and this beautiful country.

The week before they arrived I had a retreat with the rest of the volunteers so instead of going all the way back to my site I stayed in Pietermaritzburg on Monday night and headed to Durban the next day to wait for them at the airport. Although their flight was not due to arrive until 8:10PM I got to the airport around 11:30AM. Mostly because I had my big backpack and did not want to be carrying it around Durban all day.  Around 7PM I got a call on my cell phone and heard my dad on the other end saying they had missed their connection in Johannesburg! =( But they were able to get on the next flight and would be arriving at 9:55. =) And they did!  After many hugs and excited greetings at the airport we headed to our taxi that would take us to our hotel and after more than 24 hours of travelling I think my parents were definitely ready for some sleep!

The next day we got up and had breakfast before heading out to explore the Umhlanga area.  Umhlanga is a northern suburb of Durban and is a pretty nice area.  There is a lot of coastline with nice beaches and also the biggest mall in the southern hemisphere.  We walked along the beach for a while and also enjoyed a movie at the mall the first day. I know, not the most “African” experience to start their time here but it was great just being together!

My Mom and I at the Umhlanga Pier

On Thursday we started our day with a visit to the Natal Sharks Board, an organization that takes care of the shark nets along the KZN beaches.  They also have a video presentation and live shark dissection which are both very informative and fun to watch, although I think we smelled like fish for the rest of the day! 

Tiger Shark ready for Dissection

After the Sharks Board we headed north toward Pietermaritzburg.  Our plan was to visit a Lion Park on the way but, upon arrival, we were told that our rental car sat too low to the ground and we would not be able go.  We were very disappointed but there was an African Birds of Prey Sanctuary nearby that we were able to go to instead.  It had all types of eagles, hawks, owls, etc. that were injured or sick and were either being rehabilitated for the wild or would be taken care of at the sanctuary.

After this we headed to Howick, a small town north of PMB, which has a waterfall as well as several craft shops and a small market.  After that we headed back towards PMB and met my country coordinator, Brian Konkol, for dinner.  We also stayed the night at their place and my parents were able to meet the whole Konkol family including Brian’s wife Kristen and their son Khaya.

The Konkol Family! (They are a Wisconsin family but notice Khaya's Nebraska shirt my parents brought him! Go Big Red!)

On Friday it was finally time to head a little farther north and visit my site.  Upon arrival at KwaZamokuhle we unloaded our luggage before taking a tour of the Centre and introducing my parents to the people I spend most of my time with.  We heard a lot of “Siyabonga!” (We are thankful!) and “Siyajabula!” (We are happy!) It was a great experience to have my parents see my site and to be able understand more about my experiences here.  It was also very reaffirming to have people like Constance, my site supervisor, tell me that they have missed me while I have been gone.

Goodness told my mom, "This is my boy!" 

After the tour we took the 20km trip into Estcourt to get some groceries for the weekend.  I also took my parents to Nando’s which is a staple South African restaurant.  We originally were not going to be able to see some of my friends from town, Eddie and Verna, because they were going to be out of town for the weekend but we visited Eddie at his store and then we ran into Verna at the grocery store. A strange set of coincidences but a great opportunity for my parents!

On Saturday we headed to Royal Natal National Park to do some hiking in the Drakensberg Mountains.  The hike took a little less than four hours but we all made it and had a great time.  The weather was perfect and the views were amazing!  Afterwards we treated ourselves to some food at Tower of Pizza before spending the rest of the afternoon relaxing at my site.

Royal Natal National Park

On Sunday we got ready and went to church.  Normally my church service is around 1.5 hours long but for some reason the one day we needed to leave early it was going to go really long. After two hours of service and 40 minutes of a sermon (that wasn’t over) we had to leave to make the five hour drive to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi. We made pretty good time heading to the park and only made a quick stop in PMB to pick up a fellow volunteer, Elise Anderson, who would be going with us on safari.

We were worried about time because the gates of the park close at 6PM and the place we were staying at was inside the park so we needed to make sure we got there on time, which we did.  On our drive from the gate to the campgrounds we saw several animals but nothing compared to what we would see the next day.

We had to get up nice and early (4:30) to make the hour long drive to the gate of the park and meet our safari guide at 6.  Although it was foggy and semi-dark on the way down we did see a few animals including a water buffalo on the side of the road.  Eventually we made it to the gate, parked the car, and got into our safari truck.  It was cold for the first few hours of the drive but luckily they had blankets for us.  We also stopped for breakfast and coffee in the morning and then had a delicious lunch with grilled meats and nice salads.  Oh and the animal spotting was great too!

Ready for Safari!

Except for a small stretch before lunch when we were looking for rhinos we were always seeing different animals.  Zebra, giraffe, rhino, water buffalo, a pair of lions, elephants, dung beetles, crocodile, and several more.  There are two things that really stick out for me though.  The first was when we came across a big herd of buffalo that were quietly grazing.  Our guide told us that when they feel threatened the males and adults will move to the outside of the group and form a circle around the younger ones.  Within a few minutes a lion comes onto the scene and we see the buffalo do exactly what he said they would do.  The lions did not seem like they were very interested in the buffalo at the time but it was still really neat to see how quickly they moved to protect their young at the sign of danger.

The coolest part of being at the park was the elephants though.  On our way back at the end of the guided safari our guide got a call that some elephants had been spotted near the road about ten minutes away so we headed that direction quickly.  We soon saw several elephants near the road and a mother and young calf(we were told it was less than ten days old) ran right behind our safari truck!  After getting dropped off at the gate we got in our car and decided to look for more of the elephants.  For the next hour we followed a herd of over 50 elephants with several very small babies.  It was such an amazing sight to see!  On our way back to our campground we came across a male elephant in the road who did not want to move for us. Since we were in a small Honda Civic we did not really want to play chicken with it either.  However, he started walking towards us and we had to back up for several hundred yards before it finally decided to leave the road and let us pass.  It was kind of a scary experience but also one I will never forget!

Male Lion hiding in the grass

Mom and her week-old baby crossing the road!

Playing chicken with an elephant! We lost.

The next day we drove around the park for a while in the morning before it was time to head back to Durban.  We had a relaxing afternoon and a nice dinner as it was my parents’ last night in South Africa.  The next day it was time to say goodbye which was tough to do but I know I will see them again in only four months.  It was so great to have them here! Not only for the great, ‘touristy’ things that we got to do and see but also for them to be able to see my site and the way that I live here.  There is only so much that words and pictures can show, but, now that they have been here, they should have a better understanding of my life in South Africa.

I am so grateful for everything they have done, do, and will continue to do for me! And a huge THANK YOU to everyone who prayed for them while they were travelling and visiting me here! It was a great experience and one I will never forget!