Ants Hill

Ant’s Hill

After nearly missing our flight out of Knoxville due to miscommunication about delays, sitting on the runway in Atlanta for two hours, and being blocked into our seats by the crazy dentist seatmate for twelve hours, we finally made it to South Africa. We then traveled to Waterburg for our equestrian safari. We were extremely spoiled by these accommodations, and we got to ride twice a day….let me tell you, there’s nothing like cantering with kudus! On horseback, we were able to get much closer to the animals than we could either on foot or in Land Rovers. We saw impala, zebra, blesbok, warthogs, oryx, sables, buffalos, giraffe, kudu, antelope, and leopard tracks.

At the safari lodge, we were waited on hand and foot. We ate fantastically and are now trying to shrink our stomachs back from the gargantuan size they became. We have realized that the addition of afternoon tea is essential to one’s humanity…without it, people are completely uncivilized. Also, dessert became a staple at least three times a day. After our afternoon ride, we would canter up to sundowners where everyone would gather for pre-dinner snacks and drinks. We were treated to kudu jerky as we watched the sun go down.

Our favorite guest, was a four year old who impressed us with his spectacular manners and his cultured South African accent. Our favorite quote from him occurred after the bush lunch (a barbecue- in S.A. called a brai): “That was a lovely lunch!” We have decided to incorporate as many of his fun phrases into our vocabulary as possible.

Mary Emily has embraced her mother’s photography skills and has taken about a bazillion pictures. Unfortunately it will cost us lots of money to upload them, so you’ll have to wait until we get home.
Love,
Mary Emily and Martha