another unique sign

Hi everyone! I finally snapped a photo of another unique road sign in ZA...

Crazy!

mangwa valley game lodge

The blog got a new design. Hope you like it! I thought it was time for a change.

A couple weeks ago we attended a B&V company outing at Mangwa Valley Game Lodge. About 40 people in the Outage group attended so we got to meet more B&V expats living in ZA.

It took us about 3 hours to get there because we got lost (UGH!), but it was worth the trip. We got up close and personal with rhinos, giraffes, springboks, impalas, zebras and more. You guys know my obsession with giraffes and rhinos, so I was THRILLED to see two baby rhinos and a baby giraffe!!!!

Here are some photos from our trip to the game lodge:

{the LONG dirt road to get to the reserve. the car was very dirty!}

{awesome and unique signs}

{us on the first game drive}

{the game drive vehicles}

{Mat will be very unhappy about this photo...but look at his face!!! hahaha}

{photos of the lodge grounds - cottages, fire pit, nyalas crashing the party and the chapel}

{sights from the game drive}

{mama giraffe on left; baby giraffe on right}

{mama and baby rhinos!!!!!}

{us "posing" with the giraffes. look above my head to the right. haha!}

{we actually saw a rhino with birds on her back. I thought this only happened in cartoons}

{us in front of the charming chapel}

{more animals from the game drive}

{mama rhino and her 3-month old baby. SO CUTE}

Love,
Jess & Mat

happy friday

Happy Friday, everyone!!! Thought you might need a laugh to make it through the day...

:-)

scenes from the highway

We finally got our official company car, a sleek and luxurious silver bullet called a Toyota Corolla. Haha! All joking aside, we are really happy to have it because it has a 2.0, smash-proof windows and a panic button. Here is a photo of our ride…

As I have mentioned several times previously, highways in South Africa can be terrifying.  There is a very high rate of traffic accidents so driving defensively is muy importante. Part of the reason driving is so dangerous is that it seems like no one really knows the official driving laws (not even the police)! So, I thought I’d put together a list of the biggest driving faux pas I’ve seen here is ZA.

Here is my interpretation of the Rules of the Road, as a South African understands them.

A REAL South African driver…

•     Thinks speed limits are a suggestion
•     Never stops to help anyone for any reason. This will result in being mugged or hijacked 
•     Does not use the blinker and thinks braking is to be done late as possible
•     Knows how to swerve abruptly to avoid the many HUGE potholes that could easily swallow a small car such as the Corolla
•     Does not stop at red lights. On average, at least three cars still go through an intersection after the light has turned red
•     Never, ever comes to a complete stop at a stop sign because you will be rear-ended or mugged
•     Flashes high beams to tell you to move the F*&$ over so they can pass you at an outlandish speed, only to slow down as soon as they pass you
•     Does not leave a safe distance between them and the car in front of them because this space will be filled by at least 2 taxis
•     Honks their horn at cars that don't move the instant the light turns green 

While you are busy dodging bad drivers, rogue taxis and pedestrians, you also get to see some amazing road signs and scenery. For your viewing pleasure, here are some photos of scenes on the ZA highway…

{common road signs}

{something is ALWAYS burning here}

{petrol stations are few and far between on the highway and are always situated across from each other} 

{the ever-present hitchhikers who appear out of nowhere}

{do I even need to comment on this one?!}

{they really like to advertise road work!!!}

{one of the thousands of super scary taxi's that rule the road. NEVER ride in one}

{nope, not a micro-machine. this is a south african tow truck. seriously!!!}

{township. these are EVERYWHERE. and, of course, something is burning}

{pull-behind trailers are very popular here}

Until next time...take care and we love you!!!

Love,

Jess & Mat

sh*t south africans say - second edition

Back by popular demand...sh*t South Africans Say:

• trolley - shopping cart. Here is a photo of a trolley.

• lift - elevator
• good'n youuuuu? - good and you?
• shame - basically means that sucks ("the Springboks lost? Shame.")
• tomato sauce (pronounced tom-ahh-toe) - ketchup. Note: Heinz is not the name brand here. It is called All Good and it is NOT All Good.
• Yurr (rhymes with fur) - year
• eish! - means any of the following words - sh*t! ouch! bummer! oh well! no freaking way!
• ballbox - men's athletic cup
• side - sports team ("the South African side crushed the India side today in the rugby game")
• tinkle - telephone call
• stunning - good food is often described as stunning
• koeksister - a deep-fried sweet covered in syrup. This is Mat's favorite treat that does not include bacon as an ingredient
• veld - open countryside; grassy field
• must I? - should I?
• fetch - get
• flipping - basically the f-word
• epic - memorable; huge deal
• I promise you - it's true
• pleasure! - you're welcome

Plan your trip so you can try these words!

Love,

Jess & Mat

lion attack

ZA highlight: WE GOT TO PET LIONS!!!!! How cool is that? Lions! I still cannot believe it happened. It was one of the coolest things we’ve done since arriving in South Africa.

This adventure took place at the Lion Park in Joburg. It is a drive-through park that is home to many African animals including lions (obvi!), cheetahs, wild dogs, leopards, giraffes, zebras, various antelopes, meer cats and many more. It is a tourist trap, but is surprisingly really cool and I highly recommend it if you are in Joburg. As an animal lover, I do feel sad for them because cars and people bother them all day, but they seem to be well cared for. Some of them are even a little chubby, probably from lack of exercise, but they are definitely well fed.

Speaking of well fed, we went on a Sunday and happened to see a lion feeding. The lions knew when feeding time was and they waited anxiously at the gate to greet the food truck. The truck drove around in a large circle and a man threw out large cuts of raw beef, about 8 meters apart, to avoid lion fights.

 This guy walked right by my window!!!! 

The lion below is a young male. Can you see his mane starting to fill in?

After we drove through the 4 pens of lions, we came to the cheetahs. Cheetahs are very sleek, elegant creatures and were much larger than I expected. We also got to see 3 adorable cheetah cubs that melted my heart.

We also got to see one of the most extraordinary animals in the Big 5 - the leopard. It was hanging in a tree! No wonder people rarely see them on safari.

At the end of the drive, we reached Cub World and got to play with these two lion cubs for about 15 minutes. You aren’t allowed to touch their heads or pick them up because they will bite (more on this in a minute) so we stuck to their backs. We were told that the cubs were orphans and between 3 and 4 months old. So, basically, they could eat us for dinner 4 months from now. Yikes!

We expected their fur to be soft because they were young, but it was quite the opposite…coarse and wiry. I went a little crazy with the cub photos, but they were so stinking cute that I could not resist. I have a lot more, but here are some of my favorites.

Here are some of us petting the LIONS!!!!!

What is even cooler than petting a lion? Surviving a lion attack! The small cub with the spots bit us both, but it only left a mark on Mat. I guess he sensed that Matty was a male and wanted to show him who was boss. Ha! The photo below on the left was immediately before the attack.

After being attacked by the lion, we headed to the gift shop to see what they had. What do you think?! Just kidding, we didn’t buy either of these things, but they made for funny photos J

I will leave you with two photos that I love. What if this was your job?! You know both of these animals are thinking, "Dude, I will %&*@ you up if you come any closer to me!"