Today is wedding day. This is the reason I'm here, actually, is for my friend Carol's wedding. She and her soon to be husband Kevin are both Chinese South African, so I think it's ironic that I've come from China to Africa for a Chinese wedding. And that in all the lead-up events when I've met their families they love to speak to me in Chinese. Kind of weird, but also kind of nice.
And I should probably finish safari stories, because yesterday was probably the best safari. The drives while on safari are about 2.5 - 3 hours long, and you do one very early in the morning (leaving by 6) and on in the afternoon (around 4:30), so they don't take you out at midday when the animals are all sleeping. And when I'm sleeping, too. So the first half of the drive yesterday was pretty quiet and at first we did't see all that much, except for the ubiquitous giraffe, zebra and various types of antelope. But then we happened across another black rhino, which is apparently one of the harder things to find while on safari. And this was the second time we'd seen it. The first time he came charging at us around a corner, freaking everyone out, and then ran off. This time, he was just chilling, although they don't like people so he slowly made his way away from us, but at least it was in a calm manner this time. So that was the first big sighting of the day.
I had requested we try and see the white rhino though, because they're much tamer and usually easier to find. And I hadn't seen them yet and wanted to see a rhino up close. So we had to spend about an hour searching before we finally had success. But once we did it was awesome. We found 2 of them just grazing and spent about 10 minutes watching them. And, as I was told, they are super chill. They were right up at the jeep, not at all concerned that we were there, even when we turned on the car to move. It's always surprising to me that the animals aren't more wary of the people in the park. Well, not the people per se, but the noise from the jeeps. They are not quiet, especially when you stop to watch animals and turn them off then turn them back on again, but it doesn't bother the animals at all. I would have thought it would spook them. But I digress. So we watched the rhinos for about 10 minutes before we got a call to go see some lions. Because apparently some lions had just killed a kudu and they were enjoying it for breakfast. So off we went.
And we found them. 7 of them, eating a kudu. We missed the kill, unfortunately, it would have been amazing to see, but it was pretty amazing to watch them. I guess it's not for everyone, it was pretty graphic at times, but it was impressive. That was definitely one of the highlights of the entire safari. So it ended on a high note.
After that, it was a 6 hour drive back, then Shabbos dinner at my friend Jodi's house, which was really nice. And now I'm having a relaxing Saturday morning before going to the wedding this afternoon. And I decided to write my blog early in the day so I wouldn't have an exhausted repeat of yesterday where I'm too tired to spend time saying anything, and also too drunk, because I will be today, I think. In fact, I downloaded Uber (finally) just to use it today. I'm very happy they have it here now.
And during my 6 hour drive back yesterday, I stumbled back onto Santigold's music and gave both her albums a listen. Now she's Santigold, officially updated for legal reasons on 2012's Master of My Make-Believe, but on 2008's Santogold her name was still Santogold. And the song I'm sharing, Creator, is from that album. I was also thinking of sharing Lights Out, but I think Creator is more of her typical sound, so more appropriate to share. Plus it's probably my favorite song by her. I was obsessed when I first heard it. Anyway go listen to Lights Out as well, and also both of her entire albums cause they're great. Now we just need something new....
And I should probably finish safari stories, because yesterday was probably the best safari. The drives while on safari are about 2.5 - 3 hours long, and you do one very early in the morning (leaving by 6) and on in the afternoon (around 4:30), so they don't take you out at midday when the animals are all sleeping. And when I'm sleeping, too. So the first half of the drive yesterday was pretty quiet and at first we did't see all that much, except for the ubiquitous giraffe, zebra and various types of antelope. But then we happened across another black rhino, which is apparently one of the harder things to find while on safari. And this was the second time we'd seen it. The first time he came charging at us around a corner, freaking everyone out, and then ran off. This time, he was just chilling, although they don't like people so he slowly made his way away from us, but at least it was in a calm manner this time. So that was the first big sighting of the day.
I had requested we try and see the white rhino though, because they're much tamer and usually easier to find. And I hadn't seen them yet and wanted to see a rhino up close. So we had to spend about an hour searching before we finally had success. But once we did it was awesome. We found 2 of them just grazing and spent about 10 minutes watching them. And, as I was told, they are super chill. They were right up at the jeep, not at all concerned that we were there, even when we turned on the car to move. It's always surprising to me that the animals aren't more wary of the people in the park. Well, not the people per se, but the noise from the jeeps. They are not quiet, especially when you stop to watch animals and turn them off then turn them back on again, but it doesn't bother the animals at all. I would have thought it would spook them. But I digress. So we watched the rhinos for about 10 minutes before we got a call to go see some lions. Because apparently some lions had just killed a kudu and they were enjoying it for breakfast. So off we went.
And we found them. 7 of them, eating a kudu. We missed the kill, unfortunately, it would have been amazing to see, but it was pretty amazing to watch them. I guess it's not for everyone, it was pretty graphic at times, but it was impressive. That was definitely one of the highlights of the entire safari. So it ended on a high note.
After that, it was a 6 hour drive back, then Shabbos dinner at my friend Jodi's house, which was really nice. And now I'm having a relaxing Saturday morning before going to the wedding this afternoon. And I decided to write my blog early in the day so I wouldn't have an exhausted repeat of yesterday where I'm too tired to spend time saying anything, and also too drunk, because I will be today, I think. In fact, I downloaded Uber (finally) just to use it today. I'm very happy they have it here now.
And during my 6 hour drive back yesterday, I stumbled back onto Santigold's music and gave both her albums a listen. Now she's Santigold, officially updated for legal reasons on 2012's Master of My Make-Believe, but on 2008's Santogold her name was still Santogold. And the song I'm sharing, Creator, is from that album. I was also thinking of sharing Lights Out, but I think Creator is more of her typical sound, so more appropriate to share. Plus it's probably my favorite song by her. I was obsessed when I first heard it. Anyway go listen to Lights Out as well, and also both of her entire albums cause they're great. Now we just need something new....
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