2024 South Africa 1A

Adventures in South Africa!

June 20, 2024

Hello from South Africa!!

South Africa continues to amaze us! Our Leaders of the Day (LODs) were Lucian and Rory. This morning, we began with our last game drive before starting the service section of the trip, and it was incredible! We saw a few baby hippos, including the adorable sight of a small baby hippo napping on top of its mom’s back. Later that afternoon, we said goodbye to our beautiful campsite and transferred to our next site after a 2.5-hour scenic drive. Once we arrived, we were awestruck by the beauty of this new camp! Our tents bordered a gorgeous river, so the first thing we saw in the morning was fog drifting over the water as the sunrise lit the air. On our first day, everyone was happily surprised by an impala grazing directly in front of our tents! After a delicious lunch, we had an afternoon and sunset riverboat cruise. We all boarded a pontoon boat with sodas and our usual snacks of beef jerky and dried mango and headed out onto the calm water, unaware of all the animals we would see. We saw some sunbathing crocodiles and some terrapins perched on the dried-out trees growing out of the shallow banks of the river. On this riverboat cruise, we took beautiful pictures in front of the sunset. The girls and JT spent most of the time coming up with baby names that were not names, including Chlorine, Pool, Knife, Napkin, and more. This ride was beautiful, and everyone was at their calmest and most content. Wyatt was calm and funny, as always, appreciating every moment and living fully in the present. Lucian was goofy and laughing. Lina finally switched from her boot to a much smaller brace, and we are no longer worried she won’t be able to outrun a lion. She is always such a kind, silly, and warm presence in the group. JT has again made amazing bonds with our outfitters, charming them and giving the group a good and fun reputation everywhere we go. Grayson continued asking questions, amusing our outfitter by wondering if every animal we saw laid eggs.

The next day we had our first day of service work! We arrived at the village and laid eyes on the church we were painting, already primed by the previous Moondance group. We quickly got to work painting, and the people there were amazed at how fast we worked! We finished early every day, running out of paint and using our remaining time to play games, including four square with JT, Lucian, Finley, Claude, and me, and fun riddle games like Black Magic, Umbrella, the Green Glass Door, and another riddle game Finley made up that had everyone the most confused. Lucian especially enjoyed these riddles and puzzles, constantly asking Claude and me for more.

Later that afternoon, we did another polar plunge after a workout class that Claude and I led for the girls by the riverbank before our afternoon game drive. One of the highlights of these game drives was the snack stops, during which we shared what each car had seen and enjoyed some delicious jerky and dried mango. That night, we had an amazing interactive drumming lesson where each of us had our own drum and learned to play many songs and sing in Afrikaans.

The work was hard, but everyone gave their all, and we had a blast doing it, listening to fun music and occasionally painting each other instead of the walls. Once, Madding dipped his hands in the paint bucket and painted himself, completely covering his arms and face with gray-blue paint and sending everyone into fits of laughter, especially Wyatt, who had somehow yet again managed to remain completely spotless despite doing as much painting as everyone else.

On our last day of service, we ended up painting each other’s faces, knighting ourselves as ladies and lords of painting with a ceremonial paint line drawn down our faces. Every day, we went on safari in the afternoons, seeing animals and enjoying the stunning views and sunsets.

Later that evening, we had an amazing cooking class and competition where we all cooked a stew, and our outfitters taste-tested it. Team Anna, with Lucian, Madeleine, Madding, Lina, and Grayson, won again! Claude’s group, with Rory, Finley, Wyatt, and Emory, cooked the entire stew following their own improvised instructions, forging their own path, and adding their ingredients out of order, but it still tasted delicious!

The next day began with another delicious breakfast buffet and a morning huddle led by our LODs. During service, to reach the highest parts of the outside wall of the church, Lina sat on both Claude and Madding’s shoulders, successfully reaching every nook and cranny at the top of the building, putting in maximum effort. When we weren’t painting the walls, we were painting each other!

Later that evening, we enjoyed a delicious dinner and finished with some ice cream around the bonfire by the water. Our moonup was led by our leaders of the day, Lina and Madding.

On our last night at camp, Claude and I decided that our scheduled bush walk and sleepout under the stars in the bush should remain a surprise. Instead of telling the group that after the walk we would be sleeping out there, we kept it a secret. We enjoyed the bush walk, seeing white and black rhino tracks, elephant tracks, a stunning red sunset, and experiencing the environment we had been viewing as passengers from afar up close and personal for the first time. Once they believed the bush walk was over and we arrived at our campsite, our outfitter Rebecca dropped the news that we would be sleeping out there, and the reactions were priceless. Some memorable quotes and reactions from the kids included: “Cut the camera.” “Am I being pranked?” “Do you accept bribes?” (to the outfitters), Madeleine’s silent tears, Lucian’s contentment and acceptance, the kids going through the five stages of grief, “What are our chances of survival if we walk back?” Finley and Rory’s faces, and Claude and Anna’s laughter.

Though it was a little cold, the night ended up being incredible. We slept under the stars, shared scary stories, scared each other, and enjoyed the sounds of jackals off in the distance while safely tucked away in a clearing where we could look up and see many stars on this clear night. We enjoyed a delicious dinner around the fire before eating some marshmallows with chocolate sauce, debating the best way to cook them: golden brown or burnt to a crisp.

The next morning, Claude and I were woken up by the sound of 10 kids yelling at the top of their lungs, jolting us awake as some final retribution for the surprise of the night before and every early morning we woke them with music and a 15-minute warning before breakfast. Then, we returned to camp and packed our things. Before we left to return to Johannesburg and embark on the next section of our trip to Mozambique, Wyatt, Claude, and Lucian did some last-minute fishing off the dock, making the most of their final moments at camp while the tab for the Shirley Temples was settled.

We spent the night at the airport hotel again before departing for Mozambique! Travel day went smoothly, and we have all arrived at our amazing camp on the beach, bellies full from airport snacks and another amazing meal.

Kid Shoutouts:

Lina: Hi! I miss y’all so much! I’m having so much fun! Love y’all so much!!

Lucian: Hey! Mom, Dad, I miss you so much! And no, I have not been bitten or died from rabies. Love you!

Wyatt: Hey Mom and Dad, I miss you! We are having so much fun with safaris and other activities. Love you!

Madding: Hey Mom and Dad! I am having so much fun! I miss y’all so much!

Rory: Hi fam! South Africa has been such a blast! Miss y’all, hope y’all are having fun in Universal. Love, Rory.

Finley: Hi everyone! I’m having the greatest time; all the animals have been so cool! Miss and love you all <3

Grayson: Hi fam <3 I’m having a blast in SA. I miss y’all SO much! Love you xoxo

Madeleine: Hi fam! I loveee South Africa; it’s amazing! I am having the best time! Love and miss y’all <3

Emory: Hey Mom and Dad! I’m loving this trip so much and am having a good time with Grayson. Love you!!!

This trip has been amazing so far, and we can’t wait to see what the Mozambique section has in store for us!

-Anna and Claude

Hello from South Africa!

June 16, 2024

Hello from South Africa!!

South Africa has continued to amaze us! Our Leaders of the Day (LODs) were Lucian and Rory. On this morning, we began with our last game drive before starting the service section of the trip, and this final drive was so incredible! We saw a few baby hippos, including an extra adorable sight of a small baby hippo napping on top of his mom’s back. Later that afternoon, we said goodbye to our beautiful campsite and transferred to our next site after a 2.5-hour scenic drive. Once we arrived, we were awestruck at the beauty of this new camp! Our tents bordered the gorgeous river, so the first thing we saw in the morning was the fog drifting over the water as the sunrise lit the air. On our first day, everyone was happily surprised by an impala grazing directly in front of our tents! After a delicious lunch, we had an afternoon and sunset riverboat cruise. We all boarded a pontoon boat with sodas and our usual snacks of beef jerky and dried mango and drove out onto the calm water, unaware of all the animals we would see. We saw some sunbathing crocodiles and some terrapin birds perched on the dried-out trees growing out of the shallow banks of the river. On this riverboat cruise, we took some beautiful pictures in front of the sunset. The girls and JT spent most of the time coming up with baby names that were not names, some of them including Chlorine, Pool, Knife, Napkin, and more. This ride was beautiful, and everyone was at their calmest and most content. Wyatt was calm and funny, and as always, appreciating every moment as it came and fully living in the moment. Lucian, always goofy and laughing. Lina finally switched from her boot to her much smaller brace, and we are no longer worried that she won’t be able to outrun a lion. She is always such a kind, silly, and warm presence in the group. JT has again made amazing bonds with our outfitters, charming them and giving the group a good and fun reputation everywhere we go. Grayson also continued her questions, asking if every animal we saw laid eggs to our outfitter’s amusement.

The next day we had our first day of service work! We arrived at the village and laid eyes on the church that we were painting, already primed by the previous Moondance group that was there before us. We quickly got to work painting, and the people there were amazed at how quickly we worked! We finished early every day, running out of paint and using our remaining time to play games, including four square with JT, Lucian, Finley, Claude, and I, and other fun riddle games like Black Magic, Umbrella, the Green Glass Door, and another riddle game that Finley made up herself that had people the most confused. Lucian especially enjoyed these riddles and puzzles, asking Claude and me for more.

Later that afternoon, we did another polar plunge after a workout class that Claude and I led for the girls by the riverbank before our afternoon game drive. One of the highlights of these game drives are the snack stops during which we share all that each car has seen and eat some delicious jerky and dried mango. That night, we had an amazing interactive drumming lesson where all of us had our own drum and learned to play many songs and sing in the Afrikaans language.

The work that we did was hard, but everyone gave their all, and we had a blast doing it, listening to fun music and occasionally painting each other instead of the walls. Once, Madding dipped his hands in the paint bucket and painted himself, completely covering his arms and face with gray/blue paint and sending everyone into fits of laughter and shaking their heads, especially Wyatt, who had somehow yet again managed to remain completely spotless though he had been doing just as much painting as everyone else.

On our last day of service, we all ended up painting on each other’s faces, knighting ourselves as ladies and lords of painting with the ceremonial finish being a paint line drawn down our faces.

Every day, we went on safari in the afternoons, seeing animals and enjoying the stunning views and sunsets.

Later that evening, we had an amazing cooking class and competition where we all cooked a stew ourselves, and they were taste tested by our outfitters. Team Anna with Lucian, Madeleine, Madding, Lina, and Graysen won again!

Claude’s group, with Rory, Finley, Wyatt, and Emory, cooked the entire stew following their own improvised instructions, forging their own path, adding in their ingredients out of order, but it still tasted delicious!

Our next day began with another delicious breakfast buffet and morning huddle led by our LODs. During service, in order to reach the highest parts of the outside wall of the church, Lina sat on both Claude and Madding’s shoulders, successfully reaching every nook and cranny at the top of the building, putting in maximum effort. When we weren’t painting the walls, we were painting each other!

Later this evening, we enjoyed a delicious dinner and finished with some ice cream around the bonfire by the water. Our moonup was led by our leaders of the day, Lina and Madding.

On our last night at camp, Claude and I decided that our scheduled bush walk and sleep out under the stars in the bush should remain a surprise. Instead of telling them that after the walk we would be sleeping out there, we decided to keep it a secret. We enjoyed the bush walk, seeing white and black rhino tracks, elephant tracks, a stunning red sunset, and experiencing the environment we had been viewing as passengers from afar up close and personal for the first time. Once they believed the bush walk was over and we arrived at our campsite, our outfitter Rebecca dropped the news that we would be sleeping out there, and the reactions to this news were priceless. Some memorable quotes and reactions from the kids included:

“Cut the camera.””Am I being pranked?””Do you accept bribes?” (to the outfitters)Madeleine’s silent tears.Lucian’s contentment and acceptance.The kids going through the five stages of grief.”What are our chances of survival if we walk back?”Finley and Rory’s faces. Claude and Anna’s laughter.

Though it was a little cold, the night ended up being incredible. We slept under the stars, shared scary stories, scared each other, and enjoyed the sounds of jackals off in the distance while safely tucked away in a clearing where we could look up and see the many stars on this clear night. We enjoyed a delicious dinner around the fire before eating some marshmallows with chocolate sauce, debating the best way to cook them: golden brown or burnt to a crisp.

The next morning, Claude and I were woken up by the sound of 10 kids yelling at the top of their lungs, jolting us awake as some final retribution for the surprise of the night before and every early morning we woke them with music and a 15-minute warning before breakfast. Then, we returned to camp and packed our things. Before we left camp to return to Johannesburg and embark on the next section of our trip to Mozambique, Wyatt, Claude, and Lucian did some last-minute fishing off the dock, making the most of their final moments at camp while the tab for the Shirley Temples was settled.