www.eduhduh.blogspot.com

moving there but will probably still use this one on occassion

i can’t imagine how long this must have taken…..

you know your dog is asian when he prefers plain noodles over dog food

Hi Da Jiejie,

After seeing the movie “Taken”, I really don’t want you to travel without firm travel schedule and reliable travel companions.  I told Allison that you girls have to be extra careful, because no way Daddy and Mommy can rescue you like the CIA dad in the movie…

 

One of the many reasons I miss my family right now

Yesterday I had the terrifying experience of watching my bag get dragged away by a large hairy male. 

We had just stopped at one of Cape Town’s beautiful beaches to snorkel / surf. While sitting in the sand and chatting, one of the students says, “Oh hey… look at that.” 

I turn around and see something large and fuzzy galloping towards us. Being from the States, and also because of my tendency to blurt out whatever the hell crosses my mind before thinking it through I say, “Aw cute! A dog!” 

Turns out it was a baboon. They are pretty big and we’ve been told that if it tries to take stuff from you to just let it go because they can do some pretty serious damage. 

So all 20 of us gather up our belongings… and then kind of stand and wait for this thing to arrive. I was kind of startled by how aggressive it was. It just ran up to people and ripped stuff out of their hands, bared its teeth, and would just sit down in the midst of our group and sort through the bag for food. In the confusion I put my bag down to pick up a stick just in case it came for me… and it immediately runs over, snatches my bag up (wallet and camera all included) and runs up a hill with it. We all kind of just sat and watched it pull all my clothes out of the bag and scatter them over the beach. During this whole situation I was just thinking… what the hell is this and nothing in my life has ever prepared me to defend my belongings from a baboon. Luckily one of our professors runs over with a large rock and chucks it at the baboon (oh, so that’s what you do….) and I got my belongings all back intact. It was weird… but kind of funny.

Every morning here we have the option of crawling out of bed at 5 am to go on a game drive. 10 of us can pile into the seats elevated up above a truck and are taken around the park in hopes of catching glimpses of animals.

This morning I groggily did so and was lucky enough to see two leopards and a black rhino. Holla!

 

 

 

Leopards are sexy animals. There’s just no other way to describe them.

At Skukuza with slow internet… will upload more later but here’s what I did last night: 

 

nom nom nom

 

Just came home from watching hyenas devour a rhino. So awake and pumped with adrenaline. Watching them gnaw on this giant animal you totally get why people are so creeped out by them. Pulling up to the carcass in the game drive vehicle and seeing their hunched silhouettes moving about was so thrilling. They are built to rip shit apart… their neck and shoulders are massive in comparison to the rest of their bodies. Even so, they still prove to be extremely fast and take down more prey than lions do by far. They grunt, whoop, cackle… the range of noises I’ve heard animals make here never ceases to astound me. By far the coolest thing I’ve seen thus far on the trip.

Hyenas around rhino carcass

 

I’ve heard tales of hyenas running into camps and going into tents trying to take the legs off of people sleeping. After tonight I don’t doubt it. Whereas most other animals will scatter, or at least shy away, from our huge game drive vehicles, hyenas stood their ground when we approached, only ducking away last second. We watched field researchers dart 3 hyenas… and they would continue eating despite the fact that two men with guns were standing 5 meters away from them, or that their hindquarters were completely failing to support them. 

 

yum... rhino ribs

After an 18 hour flight I finally pulled into Johannesburg airport. Despite having previously arranged for someone to pick me up I wound up spending another 2 hours at a pay phone trying to find the guy. Bleh. I am exhausted. I’ve always liked to think myself as confident/independent/bamf enough to be comfortable traveling by myself but those two hours in the airport made me realize how nervous I am about being by myself for two days. Check out the chart. 

Woot. I kept thinking that if I were out to mug someone and saw me walking down the street with my two large bags I would mug me too. Despite its being located on a continent that is known for its violent cities, the apprehension Johannesburg still stirs up is nothing short of nerve-wracking. Going to try walking around during the day tomorrow and not let this limit my being here but definitely heading back to the hotel room if I feel uncomfortable. Meeting up with the OTS (Organization for Tropical Studies– my study abroad biology program here) on Tuesday so mind as well live to see them. I am very relieved though to be receiving less stares than I did in Kenya and that Johannesburg is much much more diverse than Kakamega… 3 months more of being constantly watched would probably have killed me. I knew that South Africa would be more westernized but still wasn’t sure what exactly to expect. Another difference between Kakamega and Johannesburg: McDonalds near my hotel and billboards for Bebe and Aldo. Not going to lie… very pleased. Consumerism is such a comfort. 

Anyway, despite the general nervousness of being in South Africa’s crime capital I’m so excited to finally be here. Everyone I’ve met who has been to South Africa raves about it. I haven’t gotten to look around as I was picked up at 8:30 pm and driven directly to the hotel… but Johannesburg is massive. The lights of the city stretch for miles and miles– population here is equal if not more to New York for sure. Really interested to see what the architecture is like… whether its more European or more like buildings I saw in Kenya. 

I wish I was going to be here this summer.. we’re over half a year away from the world cup and I can already tell its going to be crazy. There are posters everywhere and of the 12 or so channels in my hotel room, 5 of them are airing soccer games.

Also scary to think that apartheid officially ended only 15 years ago here. I wonder how things have changed here since then. After asking about the languages spoken here (of course after getting the obligatory “so are you from China or Korea?” question… welcome back to Africa), my taxi driver was quick to point out to me that Xulu was a black man’s language and everyone else spoke english. Kind of surprised that he didn’t even mention Afrikaans despite the fact that there are so many signs around the city that use it.  My “preparation” for South Africa was reading A Long Walk to Freedom… awesome book. Unfortunately it has also created a somewhat negative perception of Afrikaans language. While reading the words off street signs my mental projection of how it is spoken is harsh, guttural, and loud– like what I would imagine Mandela’s prison wards’ voices were like. Going to try to change that… But I’m really getting a kick out of seeing the names of places I recognize from the book. I’m living near Soweto– Mandela’s hometown– and saw signs for Pretoria and Alexandra. 

Really excited for the food I’ll get to eat for the next 3 months I had squid today and it was sooo good. I’m sure Cape Town seafood will be even better. 

 

Nighttime in Johannesburg

My address!!! 

Erica Duh

OTS Undergraduate Course

c/o Laurence Kruger

P.O. Box 33

Skukuza, 1350

South Africa

 

 

My Schedule!!! 

25^th August               Nylsvley Nature Reserve (3.5 hours from airport)

5^th September            Mapungubwe National Park

18^th September           Hamakuya (rural homestays)

28^th  September          Skukuza, Kruger park

15^th October                Pretoria/Johannesberg

18^th October                Midterm break in Cape Town

26^th October                Geelbek, West Coast National Park

28th October               De Hoop Nature Reserve

7th November            Cape Town

8^th November            Skukuza, Kruger Park

1^st  December             Fly to the States

 

I don’t think I’ll be having internet till September 28th… but back to packing and then off to S. Africa peace