Last blog about South Africa, for now.

So this will be my last blog send from South Africa, and it will be in English ( as you might have noticed…) I have been planning on putting out a blog earlier this week but I postponed it every time, I don’t know why either. But it seems fitting to put it up now at the end of it all, because now I can say : I saw the big five. In the wild. Except for the leopard…I saw that one in a cage. But nonetheless! I saw them. The buffalo saw us as well, tried to murder us, but Hessel is a good enough driver, so instead of getting mauled, stomped and ripped apart Rob made a view good drive-by pictures. Haha.
I shall begin somewhere last week.

A week ago on Wednesday we went to Pilanesberg for one last time, atleast for me for a while. It was foggy as hell with a maximum sight of probably twenty meters. We all made some nice pictures of the valley where a layer of mist made it look like it had snowed. Oh god I want snow…-20 degrees would be preferable for a while. Driving into the valley we made some nice pictures of an Impala herd that were drinking from a pool. Nice pictures, very nice pictures indeed. ( Shameless pat on the shoulder ) We saw quite a lot that day actually, we saw a few Pied Kingfishers hunting, crocodiles, water monitors and maybe most interesting of all : Massive amounts of Elephants and a few of them were quite pissed off. We saw a car getting mock-charged. We got stuck in front of three male Elephants that were busy demolishing sicklebush and eventually started to push, shove and “punch” each other. Yes it was a spectacle once again and every time you enter that park you see something different. Guaranteed.
But there must be something better? Well, of course there is and it was unpleasant for my side of the car. We heard from someone that a few lions had killed a wildebeest ( Gnoe ) at the side of the road. So we went towards the place where these lions should be laying around and of course after a while we find them at the side of the road. Eating wildebeest. Nervous as I was, Rob and Hessel urged me to open up my window, because that would be better for the photos. But hey it doesn’t matter that there were four giant cats with sharp teeth and claws were laying mere meters away, no that was just aaaaaaaall right. I swear I was getting more nervous with the minute. BUT! It was indeed better for the pictures, as they said. I also made a nice short video about it, you can hear them eating and tearing it apart :D. At the end of the day we went back to look if Hyenas or other scavengers had found it, but without luck…there was a traffic jam of gameviewers so we decided not to go…

The next day, Thursday, we went back to the Mountain Sanctuary Park. Once again it was beautiful and this time we had luckily no rain. The weather was good actually and I had gotten rid of my jacket quickly enough. We didn’t see any wildlife except for a few birds species but nothing spectacular. We did, however, find a few beautiful plants. Don’t ask me the names, I don’t know. Yes, the Mountain Sanctuary Park is a place I cant really explain. You had to be there.

The rest of that week and my last week were uneventful. Except for last Wednesday, I went back to the Department of Home Affairs ( Heeeeell Yeaaaaa!! ) to see if they had my visa ready yet. The answer : No. After 16 weeks of waiting for a confirmation textmessage I have received nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. But luckily the woman that helped me there wasn’t a complete Ogre nor a Troll…or any other unpleasant fairytale creature. She actually smiled genuinely, which surprised me after all the stories I had heard about the place and the people that “help” you there. She placed a timestamp on my documents and I was in and out in less then an hour. World record.

That was sort of the last thing I’ll post about South Africa ( or any other country ) for a while. I have packed my stuff, still need to print my ticket and I’m ready to go back home.

But, I cannot leave without a proper credit screen.

First off : I would like to thank Hessel and Dilo for their hospitality and the possibilities this internship has provided. The Ostrich Manor is a great place and I hope you’re able to keep it open for as long as possible.
By mentioning the Manor, I can’t leave out all those people with who I’ve shared this place. Henk Klee, thank you for the stories you’ve told about the place, it’s history and the people around. Raunieck, Tom and Job, it was very nice to have met you all. You guys were great colleagues. Martijn, Juul and Luuk it was also great to have met you guys. The power trail was, and is, a great success. ( but shamefully still only amongst us ).

But now I cannot leave out all the others that I have met so far down south. Pieter and Issabel ( Issabelle? ) It was special to meet you, and all the volunteers you had. Our Loskop adventure will not be forgotten and not probably never replaced by anything else. Unique, that’s the word that pops to mind when I think back to Loskop. Thank Albert for me. Lisa, Rachel, Therese, Andreas, ( Damn it I’m forgetting names here… ) thank you all. It was fun to hang out with you guys.

And how can I forget Johan, our neighbor and a nice man. Great artist and art collector. Can you thank him for me Hessel and Dilo?

I’ve met so many people, seen so many people and of course saw SO many things I never thought were possible in this day and age. The people of South Africa are different from those in Europe, and I think you can only understand these people once you’ve been here. Their mindset is…well…sometimes fucked up, but I cant blame them for thinking that way, it’s just their way of life.

Now then…I’ve got my talismans. I’ve dressed appropriately. My mood can’t get any better. I’m ready to annoy the people back home, vocally this time…ooooh they’re gone be deaf sooner or later, no doubt.

People! Cya around!