I hope you are all doing well and have recovered from the inauguration celebrations.  Preet and I were on safari at the time but we were watching the clock and toasted with our vodka tonics when we stopped for sundowners in the bush at the time of the swearing in (nice coincidence).  There were many people at the game lodge and throughout our trip who were very excited and optimistic about the future of the US with Obama in charge, and said we were in their prayers (!).  They were locals, as well as tourists from other parts of Africa & Europe.  I'm looking forward to hearing all about it when I get back later this week.

I intended to write every few days but that just couldn't happen.  We have covered Johannesburg & Sabi Sands, and we're now in Cape Town.  So I can summarize a few highlights. First off, all the cab drivers want me to dispel the myths about lions and elephants roaming freely through Jo'burg.  That's only in Cape Town.  Ok, not really.  You have to search for wild animals only at the national parks.  Both Jo'burg and CT are very modern and European in design.  In fact, you also have to search hard for African dishes because you mostly find Western food.  Speaking of food, it is all good, and way too much of it.  We've been spoiled.

Starting off the vaca with Ivan & Emile in Jo'burg was perfect.  I haven't seen Ivan in two years but fortunately our's is the kind of friendship where you can easily pick up where you left off.  He's doing very well and I can see why he left the hectic life in London once I saw his new life in Jo'burg.  He and Emile have a beautiful home (safely situated behind a gate with an electronic security system and 24 hour guards) where we dined daily outdoors in his garden.  One of the many highlights was trying ostrich for the first time.  Emile made spaghetti bolognese with ostrich mince and it was absolutely delicious.  It tastes like beef but to me, it was even more flavorful and rich, and it is a lot healthier than beef.  They also booked us at an all-day African spa for our first full day in SA called Mangawanani, 45 mins outside of Jo'burg. It was beyond anything I have done in the US or could afford.  We had seven body treatments in open-air huts in the bush, breakfast, lunch and an open bar for only $100!

After that we were ready to absorb the culture and history of South Africa.  We did township tours and went to the Apartheid Museum to get a fuller picture of SA. I'm glad we did it because it is easy to interact with only specific groups if you don't make an effort.  We interrogated all of our tour guides and taxi drivers, in a friendly way of course, because we wanted their perspectives on the real deal after apartheid ended in 1994.  And though, they were all from different ethnic backgrounds, they all had similar thoughts -- ending apartheid wasn't the silver bullet they were expecting it to be.  There is still a lot of work to do in improving education so qualified people are put in jobs and having all racials groups get paid equally for the same jobs.  Though Mr. Nelson Mandela is no longer involved in politics, everyone spoke highly and respectfully of him.  They are electing a new president in SA in April so all eyes are on the future, but they don't speak as well of those prospective leaders.  I'd say the people we spoke to are frustrated with the pace of improvements being made and don't feel there is a strong leader to replace Mandela who can control the corruption, crime and poverty, and bridge the economic gaps between the racial groups.  On the positive side, we saw a few groups of friends and couples of varied races. 

Alright, enough social anthropology.  We were very lucky on our safari to see the Big 5 - elephants, black rhino, water buffalo, lions, and leopards.  Many people will see 3 or 4 but we saw all 5 and up close in only 2 days.  (I highly recommend the Elephant Plains game lodge in Sabi Sands Game Reserve, near Kruger.)  You know you're in Africa when you come across 10 lionesses feasting on a young giraffe they had killed just that morning.  It was made more real as you could hear the tearing of the flesh as they were eating, and the smell was overwhelming when the wind blew our way.  On a more pleasant side, we also came across a herd of elephants (about 20 or so, of all ages and sizes), and they surrounded our jeep.  On the last game drive, we saw the leopard when our ranger and tracker followed the footprints.  As we went down the dirt path, we were all looking in the distance, in the trees or in between bushes.  So imagine our surprise (and the leopard's) when we saw him 2 ft from the dirt parth just hanging out.  It was all just amazing to be so close to these wild animals without bars separating you from them.  And often, they were as curious about us as we were about them.

We've been in Cape Town for a couple of days but I'll write about it later this week hopefully.  For now, I'll end with saything that two weeks is not enough to experience this beautiful and diverse country.  I'll have to come back to go ostrich racing!