Day Two

Yes, we are finally again up and running. I hope today to go through the week in photos. I will get as far as possible as we are now in Sun City and heading out for our safari later this evening.

It has been a wonderful week. The children are doing so well. On Sunday (Day Two), we left the Farm Inn early and ventured about an hour's drive away to a lion and rhino park. One of the first things we saw was the last still-growing cave in Africa. Here are some pics below.


Our group as we arrived at the park. We were waiting for the next tour of the cave.

There were about 100 steps down and then we took a lift about another 200 feet into the ground. It was eerie and dark. This is our group heading down the steps into the cave.

Darkness. These stalactites (or are they stalagmites???) have been growing in the cave for thousands of years.

This was one of the more spectacular sites in the cave. It is called Mother Mary, a natural-grown cut-out of rock which looks exactly like a woman with her child. Amazing.

After we left the cave, we drove to the lion and cheetah feedings. By the time we reached them, the lions had already devoured their prey and were laying far away. We did, however, get a good look at the cheetahs.

If you look closely, you can see two or three cheetahs next to the blue car in this pic.

Then they came closer.

And even closer. They eventually passed us by and headed to their feeding. Cheetahs are amazing animals, particularly because of the small whimpering sound they make.

Zebras right next to our bus. The lion/rhino park reserve has a huge amount of land, and we happened to get lucky and see some wildlife.

These two rhinos were right next to our bus as well. Rhinos are incredibly peaceful, and they're vegetarians. Interesting facts about animals with such weapons.

Back at the park, many of the students played with lion cubs. Didn't get many great shots of the students with the cubs but used many of their cameras. There were also hippos, snakes, and a cheetah race. You will be glad to know that Katie Jonas actually defeated a cheetah. She did get a head start, and the cheetah was tired, but she still technically won.

On to one of our jokes this week. Many of the students will try to "snipe" me with a photo when I am not looking. I would never partake in such immaturity. This is Ronnie sniping me. She didn't get a good shot, though. I did.

After we returned home from the park, we met our host families at Doxa Deo school. The students have had outstanding experiences with their host families, and many have already expressed the desire to return to South Africa again. Some have even been invited back.

On Monday, we started the service portion of our trip. While we had only been in Africa for one weekend, it already was beginning to feel like home.