13. Road Tripping

To continue the ongoing saga of nothing making sense in my life, Emily, Heather, Rachel, and I took a two-day road trip around the Mpumalanga region. We left Jo'burg with no plans other than to make it to God's Window, which is an outcropping from a cliff that gives you an absurd view of the Blyde River Canyon. Our trip there took two hours longer than we had anticipated, because we encountered killer mist along the way. Yes, you read that right. The fog on the eastbound N12 was so thick that they had to shut down the highway, and we were forced to drive down a dirt road behind a tractor trailer at 10 km/h.

After taking a good long look out of God's Window, we just drove around until we randomly came across the biggest waterfall I've ever seen aside from Niagara Falls. Later on, we explored the town of Graskop, where we eventually spent the night in a quaint little Bed and Breakfast for only R100 a person (roughly $12.50). Sadly, the medieval castle down the road (!?!?) was out of our budget.

We woke up early yesterday morning and decided that we were so close to Kruger National Park, we might as well drive around. At one point, we got really close to an elephant that was munching on a tree by the side of the road, so I broke the park rules and got out of the car in order to get a picture of him close-up. Just then, two safari vehicles with tour guides drove by, and I had to hide in the bushes so that they wouldn't yell at me. Unfortunately, I was wearing a bright red t-shirt, so I wasn't exactly "camouflaged." Anyway, while I was trying to stay out of view, I accidentally broke a branch under my feet and the elephant ran away. I had no choice but to walk back to my car, in plain view of the Safari guides. And I didn't even get my awesome picture.

I decided to name my new camera Yolisa, which is a Khoso name meaning "blessing." Unfortunately, Nosheen, it doesn't fit in my pocket. But no worries, I'll get my Canon Powershot fixed when I get home, and the pocket camera will awaken from its coma. Great success!