south africa day 5 (30 Sep 09) - headed to johannesburg.

after a chillax day the day before, i woke at 4+ and witnessed the most beautiful sunrise ever.

i managed to capture a picture of it in its glowing glory. and seconds later, the sky started to light up!

gosh! pretty things are almost always gone in a flash huh? while i was scurrying around in my hut, i heard the commotion in the next hut where my 2 uncles are also trying to take pictures of the sunrise. it’s hilarious. because of the privacy of the rooms, i can hear them but cannot see what they are up to!

anyway, the rest of the pictures aint that pretty anymore.. especially since i had to wake my aunt and have her witness the beautiful sight AND take pictures for me. heh.

together, against the amazing backdrop.

x.silly loving the moment too!

playing a fool around the hut. despite the fact that i am in shorts, it is actually quite chilly to be stand out there in the cold, but i was just too excited to put on anything and just ran out when i spotted the beautiful sight.

thing is, throughout the entire stay in kwa madwala private reserve, we didn’t use the outdoor shower at all. my aunt and me had a pathetic time trying to shower ourselves in the bathtub indoors, under the tap. it was frustrating but because the weather was toooo cold to be taking a shower on the outside. the winds are very strong and while the shower is heated, the water doesn’t sprinkle down directly on you. the winds are too strong and they sway away with the wind! so imagine standing right under the shower head, the sprinkles of water shooting to the right of you, the strong cold winds hitting your bare body.. urgh! and it was so cold that whatever hot water it was when it came out of the shower head, the water turned cold by the time it touches your body. it IS that bad.

well, my aunt and me cut up a mineral water bottle (1.5L type) with my pen knife that i always carry in my luggage and use that to bathe – collect water under tap, splash on ourselves. it was slow and painful but it was the only choice. so on the last day, i die die had to experience it so i tried to shower outside. that was probably the fastest shower i ever had because i looked like i was dancing like hot ants on a pan rather than showering. anything for the experience. HEE.

my uncle, reading the comments left on the guestbook and leave his mark behind as well.

last picture opportunity with the vast lands.

cannot help it but take a picture of the bovril condiments. very interesting. my uncle say they tasted rather exotic. i didn’t try because i couldn’t find anything to pair it with. to me, bovril always goes with porridge!

we left the game reserve right after breakfast. it was a day of journeying back to johannesburg. we stopped by jane goodall chimpanzee eden in nelspruit and had a short guided tour about chimpanzees in their semi-wild enclosures. i took some pictures of the chimps but they weren’t anything to shout about since they are captivity and most of the pictures had the fencings grid so am not going to show them here.

random shot of me at the sanctuary..

we had lunch at wimpy enroute to johannesburg, and guess what? i paid for the lunch for my guide eh! I was thinking how ridiculous it is but then again, thought its isnt a lot of money and well, might as well since they charge the bill by the table. would be more troublesome to split everything out.

my lamb chops. i am quite a big fan of lamb and would usually be my choice when its on the menu.

Wrap-it-up breakfast. its a toasted wrap filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese, onions and relish.

Ocean combo, consisting of a hake fillet, half portion of chips and 125g of calamri served with tartare sauce

half chicken served with BBQ or peri-peri sauce.

banoffee waffles, bananas, toffee and caramel served with vanilla ice cream on waffles. i lovvvvvve toffee and caramel! so i could resist ordering this to share. yums!

finally, a family photo of us 4, courtesy of our guide.

when we arrived in johannesburg, it was already late in the evening. we took the free shuttle to the airport (yes again!) to get some food and dinner before crashing in bed in anticipation of the long day the next day.