braai & johannesburg zoo

We had a fun weekend visiting with friends in Johannesburg. On Saturday, we packed an overnight bag and headed down to meet everyone at Anton's house. Mat couldn't remember where Anton lived, so we were given coordinates (not an address) to plug into our Garmin GPS. Coordinates! Apparently that is a very common way of giving directions here. Pretty cool, huh?

Well, it was pretty cool until our trusted Garmin guided us through a dangerous and terrifying part of Joburg. We were both sweating profusely and constantly making sure the doors were locked. Even Mat was "white knuckling" the steering wheel. I wish I could have taken a photo of what we saw, but it would have been stupid to take out the camera with thousands of Africans loitering in and around the streets. Thankfully, we made it safely and learned there is a setting on the Garmin that will route you primarily on the highways, which are much safer. Phew!

After that drive, you can bet we both needed a beer to calm our nerves and luckily Anton's bar fridge was stocked. After an hour or so, the guys went to the store to get meat to braai (bbq) and snacks. They got steak, ostrich, chicken and wors (sausages). The girls made a baked potato casserole and chocolate-covered strawberries. We had a great evening with a lot of laughs and delicious food.

I had a traumatic experience Sunday morning: I saw my first gigantic South African spider. This creature was absolutely terrifying. I would rather walk through that scary area of Joburg than see one of those things again! I think it was called a red spider, but I cannot make myself Google it because I never want to see one again. Ever.

Post-trauma, we went to the Johannesburg Zoo for a few hours before heading back to Witbank (also called Emalaheni if you look it up on Google Maps). The zoo was nice, but nothing special when compared to those in the U.S. It was a smaller zoo but had most of the animals you would expect to see. Here are some photos of the day:

{there was a mote in front of this elephant, but he wanted something in the tree}

{Byron, Kelly, Mika & Mat} 

{polar bear yoga pose}

{polar bear in the downward dog yoga pose!}

{very endangered white rhinos. these were the size of small tanks}

Love,
Jess & Mat