Farewell from South Africa!
July 25, 2024
Since our last post, we’ve had an incredible 24 hours filled with thrilling adventures and unexpected surprises!
We ventured into the Dinokeng Reserve for an afternoon bush walk. Little did the kids know that they would be sleeping out there later that evening! Our guide pointed out tracks from elephants, hyenas, and rhinos. App and Chandler excelled at guessing each animal’s tracks and were captivated by the experience of being alone in the bush. It was truly humbling to walk in the footsteps of wild animals and understand their lives in their natural habitat. Seeing zebra and kudu from the safety of a vehicle is one thing, but encountering wild animals from 30 feet away on the ground is a completely different and exhilarating experience.
After our walk, we drove to our campsite for the night, which was a surprise only Helen and I knew about at first. On the way, we spotted a massive elephant just a few hundred feet from where we would be sleeping. We later learned the next morning that our campsite was a natural pathway for elephants on the reserve. As we got off our Land Rovers, the group quickly discovered the surprise of sleeping outside, sparking lots of emotions. After some setting in, everyone was very excited for a night under the stars with everyone together one last time.
Following a delicious dinner, we sat by the fire and reminisced about our favorite moments from the trip. During Moonup, Helen and I played a prank on the students by having the ranger pretend there was a lion nearby. This set up Canon and Grayson, our Leaders of the Day, to announce the Nug Jug! Just after the prank was revealed, we actually heard a lion roar off in the distance! We all had a good laugh at the coincidence. We wrapped up the night with fun campfire games before settling down to sleep under the stars. Throughout the night, we heard two male lions calling back and forth. Chandler tried to mimic their calls but thankfully didn’t attract them to our camp. We woke the next morning to warm cups of hot chocolate by the fire before heading back to camp to shower and have breakfast. During breakfast, we recapped the strange noises we heard during the night but how cool of an experience it was for us. We enjoyed one last hearty meal before everyone packed up. As we left the Dinokeng Reserve, it was hard to believe we were actually heading to the airport.
Upon arriving at the airport, we got to try Wimpy’s, our first local food stop! Halfway through eating, Helen had a mini heart attack realizing she had left her GoPro and wallet on the bus. Thankfully, we retrieved both an hour later, including the precious GoPro with our whale shark, dolphin, and surfing videos! After some last-minute gift shopping, we had one final dinner and Moonup at the airport. Debonairs Pizza and some delicious Gelato Dulce made for a perfect banquet dinner. We handed out superlatives to the students to close our final Moonup, then rushed to the gate to see off our first group of students.
Tears were shed as Mary Reeves and Cole departed an hour before the rest of the group-our first goodbyes from SAF 3B. We then headed to the next gate for our final farewell. After checking in, everyone exchanged bear hugs with us and said their goodbyes to Helen and I at the gate.
We are so sad to see SAF 3B go, but we are incredibly grateful for the time we got to share with all of your amazing kids. We can only hope we made half the impact on them as they did on us. We can’t wait to see all of the many cool things this group will accomplish, and we are so happy we got to be a part of their Moondance experience!
To our kids, we’ll always love you! Thanks for being you. Y’all rock and we’re always a phone call, text, or even Snapchat away!
Signing off one last time,
Rob and Helen
Wrapping Things Up in South Africa!
July 23, 2024
Greetings again from South Africa!!! We have been having SO much fun these past few days, and we can’t wait to share!
On day 8, we got a few extra Z’s before enjoying breakfast at the hotel and hitting the road to head to our SAFARI! Along the way, we enjoyed our snacks from Woolworths and stopped at McDonald’s for a bathroom break, which of course turned into an impromptu ice cream stop too. After a short drive, we started to see the red sands and tall grass which meant we were finally about to see what we came here for: SAFARI! Driving through Mabula Game Reserve on the way to camp, Grayson spotted a few zebras which got the group excited for what was to come. We were greeted with a yummy lunch of hamburgers and cheeseburgers with fries before settling into our cool tented huts. We then loaded up into safari cars and set off to the other side of the reserve to see the lions. Driving around as the sun set, we finally spotted all 10 laying down for a cat nap all together. 7/10 are 8-month old cubs, which melted our hearts to see. Nicky, one of the staff, told us all about how they conserve the land for the lions, why they can only keep 10, and answered all the lion-related questions we had. Once the sun was behind the mountains, we headed back to camp for dinner and Moonup, enjoying our gorgeous backyard view of rhinos, zebras, and warthogs.
The next day, we woke up bright and early on our heated beds, ready for our first official safari day! After a great breakfast of eggs, oatmeal, hash browns, and toast, we headed out to spot the animals in Mabula Game Reserve. We tracked two cheetah brothers using the guide’s advanced technology walking through the bush. At first, we were unsuccessful, as the cheetahs were clearly also on foot but going the opposite direction of us. We hopped back into the cars to drive to our next spot when we finally got a ping! We saw the two brothers lying underneath a tree in the middle of a field. Quietly and very safely, we got out and walked behind our guides as close as we could to them. We can definitely check being a stone’s throw from cheetahs off our bucket lists! It was such a cool experience. Next, we headed to have a picnic lunch of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches near the lake. Mickey, our driver, taught us about the “Mabula Olympics,” and somehow, the kids got to join! To pass the time, we played charades, where Elizabeth and Mary Reeves were particularly advanced with their acting and guessing skills. We also got to play some friendly games of poker, thanks to Chandler supplying us with poker chips from home. On our evening drive, we spotted cape buffalo, wildebeests, sables, and many birds, which Canon impressively spotted out, including the red-billed oxpecker and the lilac-breasted roller. We stopped at a rock lookout for sunset, taking beautiful pictures and enjoying dried mango, biltong, and our favorite South African soft drinks: Grapetisers and Appletisers. As the sky turned orange, we played Ninja, and Will and Canon were our champions. To close out the night, we had spaghetti and meatballs and had our funniest Moonup to date. The group could not contain their laughter, but it made for a great night to wrap up our awesome day.
On Day 10, we got up and headed straight out for an early car ride to see the endangered ground hornbills on time. There, we learned about their declining population, their natural behaviors, and the conservation efforts Mabula is making for them. A very educational experience for the group! Then, we stopped in a field for a lovely picnic breakfast, enjoying croissant sandwiches and yogurt. To determine our winner from last night’s Ninja, Will and Canon did a “veggie off,” where Will was deemed our winner! We hopped back into the cars and toured around for a bit more, seeing giraffes and rhinos. To the kids’ surprise, we got to stop and do a fun activity! During the winter months, the Cape buffalo need to be fed hay by the rangers since the grass doesn’t grow as much, so we hopped onto the back of a truck and fed them ourselves, which was a pretty neat experience. We closed our day with our first elephant sighting (WOO!) and another game of Ninja as the sun set over the reserve.
For our third and final full day at Mabula, we woke up even earlier to see what was happening before the sun was fully up. After enjoying some cookies and tea, we hopped in the cars for a sunrise cruise around the reserve, spotting wildebeests, kudus, and sables grazing. We stopped for some brunch midway through, treating ourselves to eggs, wings, toast, and fruit. Back at camp, we played a few more rounds of poker, chit chatted, and relaxed before we were about to do something SO COOL. The kids had no idea what was about to happen, but they surely were excited once they heard! A rhino on the reserve needed some vet care, including blood drawn, medicine administered, and a collar put on, and we got to join in on the experience! We drove to an open field where about 10 rhinos were and waited for the vet to come to dart it. Once darted, it takes a few minutes for the rhino to actually lay down, and then it’s go time! The vets rushed around it, giving it anesthesia and telling us where we could help. Everyone lended a helping hand, and we all got to take an individual picture with the rhino before she woke up which was pretty neat! To close the afternoon, we drove around to get one last look at all of the amazing animals in the reserve. Once back for dinner, the kids were once again surprised with a special outdoor dinner setup to wrap up our time at Mabula. We feasted on chicken kebabs, oxtail, pasta salad, potatoes, veggies, and of course, a cake. We had the best time here, and they surely cannot wait to show you all of our cool pictures!
We woke up the next day sad to leave Mabula, but soo excited to go to our last destination on the Dinokeng Game Reserve! It turned out to be our lucky day, as right when we were about to leave, we saw two cheetah cubs! These cubs were released with their mother from the Boma they were being held in, only minutes before, making us the first people ever to see the Cheetahs on the reserve. We headed out from Mabula and wished goodbye to our wonderful drivers. Once we arrived at our camp for the next couple of days, we had some rest and relaxation, where Canon, App, Cole, and Chandler played soccer golf, as well as fished by the nearby lake we were camping in front of. Later that evening we went on a beautiful sunset boat cruise around the lake, enjoying delicious snacks of sodas and dried mangos. We closed our evening activities with a drumming session in front of the fire. Charlotte, Will, and Canon had the best rhythm in the group and were invited up to take a picture with the drum leaders! After the drum circle, everyone was hungry for the dinners they had ordered earlier in the day, with the group enjoying sirloin, sea bass, and chicken pesto pasta! We were all excited for the next portion of our trip to begin meeting and learning from the local community, and seeing what we could do to help them out.
For lucky day number 13, we woke up and had a nice breakfast that included omelets, bacon, hash browns, sausage, and toast. It was soo good and helped fuel our bodies for painting later that day! After breakfast, we went over to the local elementary school where we would be painting. The school works hard to support children in the community that don’t have parents, feeding and housing many of them. As we waited for the community leader to arrive, we played some soccer as a group, where Canon and Elizabeth showed off their skills. We met with the community leader who told us more about the community and their efforts before we got to work painting the bathroom orange! We finished painting and headed back to camp, resting before going out on an afternoon game drive. We split into two safari vehicles where Robert’s group saw tons of elephants! Everyone was captivated by the baby elephant which we were told was almost 200 pounds at just 1 year old. The other group saw so many White Rhinos and even saw a mother Rhino feeding her child. We finished the evening with a cooking competition between the two vehicles making a traditional dish of Chicken Potjie! Team Rob: consisting of Elizabeth, Grayson, App, Chandler, and Cole were declared the winners by our judges in a 2-1 decision; however, the head chef here at Mongena liked Team Helen’s dish more.
The girls all slept in the same bed last night, deciding that they didn’t want to stay in separate tents as it would be one of their last nights of the trip. Following a wonderful breakfast we went back to the local school and started on our second project of painting the playground. The school was much more lively today with all of the students around to cheer us on! Before painting we met with the community leader once again. Our group decided that we wanted to donate one of the Moondance sun hoodies, and our LODs, Elizabeth and Mary Reeves, gave it to her to show our appreciation for accepting us into their community. We painted 3 different pieces of playground equipment, 2 slides and one large piece of equipment that resembled a train. Will, Mary Reeves, Ella, and Grayson, ended up covered in paint after one stray paint swipe sent the group into a paint war. Will ended the activity with something to always remember Mary Reeves and Cole by, their handprints on the back of his shirt. After a morning of hard work, we enjoyed lunch then got to play with the children before it got too hot out. Mary Reeves loved holding up one of the girls and got an opportunity to race her as well. Ella and Grayson played soccer with the children. Everyone was fascinated by Cole’s watch and chased her around wanting to press the buttons on it to make noise. We headed back to Little Mongena for an afternoon of rest and free time before going out on our evening game drive. During free time, Chandler showed off his fishing skills and caught a bass! We concluded our evening with a game and dinner by the fire. During our game drive the group taught Grayson how to snap! Later that night she showed off her new skills snapping loudly at everyone’s Nug’s during Moonup.
We started day 15 off with another amazing breakfast. After finishing breakfast, we headed back to the local school for our last day of painting. We finished painting the playground using red paint for swings and one piece of equipment that resembled a pinwheel. After finishing, we played with the children one last time. Charlotte, Ella, Grayson, and Cole played ring around the rosie while the boys played soccer. We headed back to camp for one last afternoon of free time, where I currently sit writing the trip update. Unbeknownst to the kids, later this afternoon we are heading out for a bush walk and a camp out under the stars! We plan to grab their toothbrushes as they head out to the vehicle and surprise them with dinner out there. We will be sending another update soon once they are all headed back to the US!
As we close out the trip, we wanted to say thank you so much for sending your kids on this trip! This has been an unbelievable group to be a part of and we are so happy for each and every day we get to spend with them! We are so sad to be leaving them soon.
Tune in below for thank you’s:
Chandler: Dear mom and dad, I had a great time in Africa. And I want to thank you for encouraging me to do this Moondance Adventure! It was a great experience and a trip of a lifetime. Thank you -Chandler
App: Dear parents, This experience taught me lots of lessons and I want to thank you for working so hard so we are able to have these opportunities. Thank you, mom and Andy – luv, App
Will: Hey mom and dad, thank you so much for encouraging my love for travel and sending me here. It has been a trip of a lifetime and I have made lifelong memories with some of my new best friends. -will
Canon: Hey mum and dad. Thank you so much for this trip. There have been so many unforgettable experiences and I have a lot of stories to tell.
Charlotte: Hey mom and dad, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to go on this trip. I have made so many amazing memories with many new friends. Can’t wait to see you!!
Cole: SUP MOM AND DAD, I love y’all so much and I appreciate y’all so much for giving me so many great opportunities to go and make amazing memories with all of my new friends and I have so much to tell y’all.
Mary Reeves: Hello mom and dad thank you so much for giving me the opportunity and letting me go on this trip. I have had so much fun and this is definitely the best thing I have ever done. I can’t wait to see you and tell you about it.
Elizabeth- Hey mom and dad!! Africa has been amazing!! This trip has truly been the trip of a lifetime! Thank y’all so much for allowing me this amazing opportunity! It has been life changing!! Miss y’all lots and can’t wait to see y’all soon and tell y’all all about it! Love y’all so much!!
Ella- Hey mom and dad! I’m having an AMAZING TIME! I have seen so many cool animals and made so many memories! Can’t wait to tell y’all all about it, love u Ella!! 😘
Grayson- Hey mom and dad! I have had an awesome time in Africa and am so grateful that y’all sent me on this trip!! I have so many cool stories to tell y’all when I get home!!! I love y’all and can’t wait to see y’all!!!
Wild Adventures in South Africa!
July 15, 2024
HELLO FROM SOUTH AFRICA!! We’ve had such a great start to our trip!
On our first night, we celebrated everyone’s arrival in South Africa with a very special birthday: our very own Cole! We enjoyed cake and ice cream, and everyone got to know their travel companions for the next two weeks. We went to bed soon after, as everyone was exhausted from the long flights and needed rest for our early morning departure to Mozambique.
We woke up bright and early, excited for our travel day to Tofo Beach, Mozambique. We took a morning flight to Vilankulos and spent the afternoon driving to our accommodation. We ended the day with a dinner of chicken curry and rice, accompanied by the soothing sounds of the ocean and rustling palm trees. To our delight, dessert was a delicious chocolate brownie and ice cream. We had arrived!
The next morning began with high hopes of seeing Whale Sharks and catching big waves. Cole was out of bed first, especially eager. Chocolate crepes for breakfast certainly helped us prepare. From breakfast, we headed straight to the ocean. We walked down the beach and readied ourselves for our first Ocean Safari. A tractor had to push the boat most of the way down the beach before the boys in the group pushed our vessel into the ocean.
Once out on the ocean, we saw humpback whales, and while in the water, we had an amazing experience swimming with dolphins! Soon after getting out, we hopped right back in for our first encounter with a whale shark. It was massive! The entire group got to swim next to it. App coined it a “grand slam,” referencing the three species we saw. On our journey back, we stumbled upon another whale shark. This one swam a bit slower and stayed with the group longer, allowing everyone to get more than just an amazing look at it but a once in a lifetime experience.
After the ocean safari, we had lunch and began our surfing lessons. Everyone got up super quickly! Chandler, App, and Charlotte, with their prior surfing and wakeboarding experience were absolute pros. Surfing was awesome and everyone was worn out from it, so we concluded the day with dinner, moonup, and bed.
We woke up and had breakfast, then immediately headed out for our second day of ocean safaris. We were all super excited to see more wildlife in the water and ride on a boat around the coast! We saw more whales and tons of dolphins. We stumbled upon a group of 12 dolphins that were super playful with the group. Cole and Canon got in with them, and the dolphins swam around them, even doing jumps to splash them!
After the ocean safari, we went to the local market at Tofo Beach. The group got bracelets, souvenirs, and a couple of t-shirts to remember our time at Tofo. Mary Reeves and Grayson practiced their haggling skills with the local vendors. After lunch, we had our afternoon surfing session. Everyone had advanced so much and could get up on their own without the instructors’ help! To finish off our activities for the day, we celebrated our new surfing abilities with milkshakes by the beach.
The next morning we got to sleep in and enjoyed a relaxed morning before walking down the road from our stay to our cooking class. Will and Elizabeth showed us how to scrape coconuts, while App and Ella demonstrated the best way to grind it. After completing the coconut sauce, we turned our attention to making bread for dipping. This was also made using coconut, and everyone got to design their own shapes. Chandler was our design master. The group was amazed when our guide, Big Tony, brought out an assortment of blue crab, sailfish, pineapple, apples, and our coconut curry and bread for lunch. Everything was incredible and easily some students’ favorite meal of the trip so far! We headed back to our accommodation and cleaned up for our sunset Dhow sailboat ride. We traveled out to a nearby sandbar, where Ella and Grayson found some beautiful sand dollars on the island while Canon and App raced in the sand. The day ended with everyone tired but happy, reflecting on the wonderful experiences and memories we’ve made so far.
We woke up bright and early the next morning as we hit the road to head back to Johannesburg. On the drive to our flight, Elizabeth and Will showed off their trivia skills as the students competed for chocolate medals and sour gummy worms. App unfortunately sat on one of his chocolate medals, rocking stained shorts off the bus, which had the group laughing with tears – even App too! After a quick change, we were off to South Africa! We arrived and after our meal at City Lodge, we ended our day excited for our future safaris!
Everything has been smooth sailing for SAF 3B! Our students and leaders are having the times of their lives and don’t ever want to leave!
Signing off,
Rob and Helen
Check out shoutouts from the team below!
Grayson: Hey Mom and Dad, I am having so much fun! I have made so many new friends and I am having a great time. We just got finished surfing and snorkeling at the beach and next we are going to the safari!! Love y’all!!!!
Elizabeth: Hey Mom and Dad! South Africa is SO much fun! I have made so many great friends! We just finished the tropical portion of the trip and Mozambique and next up is safari!! I miss y’all SO much and can’t wait to tell y’all about it soon! Love y’all soooooo much!😘
Ella: Hey mom and dad, I am having so much fun! I love my group they are all so sweet! Mozambique was gorgeous and I loved going sailing there! The places that we are staying are really nice, tomorrow we are going to the safari portion and I am so excited! Lots of love, Ella 💕
Charlotte: Hey mom and dad! I am having so much fun and have made so many new friends! We just finished the Mozambique section of our trip and it was amazing. It was so much fun and I loved the surfing. Going to the safari next! I’m so excited! Miss y’all so much! Love you, Charlotte
Will: Hey mom and dad, I am having a blast. We just finished up with the beach at Mozambique and are about to start the safari in South Africa. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to go on this amazing trip. I love y’all- Will
App: Wuuuttt upppp, I’m having a great time and we just got back from Mozambique. Surfing was a lot of fun and a lot like home. The waves were pretty far out but they weren’t huge. One of the leaders gave me the GoPro and I got to film me and the group surfing. Swimming with whale sharks was super cool! We had a traditional Mozambique lunch and we had this super good fish, which was sailfish. We’re going to the safari tomorrow. I also heard about the euros, harry kane can’t win anything. I’m thinking about y’all and love y’all. Your favorite son, App
Cole: Heyyyyyyyy DAD, MOM, STELLA, DUTCH, and charlie. I am having a great time here and this is a great experience. The leaders are very nice too. We just came back from Mozambique and I swam with so many creatures like a whale shark, and so many dolphins. ALSOOOOOOO, I started to learn how to surf and I am not good but I actually really like it! One day we had crabs for lunch. Everyone is really nice and funny. Love your favorite child-Cole😎🥸
Chandler: hello family, the leaders are very nice and so are the other kids, I’m having lots of fun in Africa. I really liked swimming with whale sharks and dolphins. Surfing was also pretty awesome. We are getting ready to go on safari tomorrow. Been thinking about y’all, love y’all! Can’t wait to see you soon, Chandler 👍🏻
Mary Reeves: Hello family I hope everyone is doing good. I am having lots of fun!We went snorkeling and saw lots of animals. We saw whale sharks! I learned how to surf. I’m not horrible but it was rough at parts. I have made lots of friends and we have had good food! One day we had crabs and they were so good. Tell Greta I said hello and bring her to pick me up please that’s all goodbye!
Canon: Hello mum and dad. I loved the experience so far. We saw two whale sharks in Mozambique. We are about to head out for the safari portion of our trip. Overall, thank you very much for the trip. I have loved it.
Thank you, Canon
Safe arrival in Johannesburg!
July 10, 2024
Hello South Africa +Mozambique Families!
All students have landed safely in Johannesburg and the group is headed to their first activity! The trip is off to a great start and we can’t wait to share more updates from their adventure.
-Moondance HQ
