Year 2 - Weeks 3 amd 4: The Best of What's Around

Even though my family has been planning their trip to visit me for nearly a year, it was hard to believe that they were actually coming. We've talked about for so long that it felt like it never was going to happen. But in the middle of a hot Mozambican afternoon, there they were: my mom, dad, and sister getting off a plane in Vilanculos. We had thirteen days together over three countries - Mozamique, Swaziland, and South Africa - and I wanted to make sure that my family saw the best of what these places have to offer.

In Mozambique, we hit the two beautiful beach towns of Vilanculos and Tofo. The beaches themselves were beautiful. In the six days we had on the beach, we did not see a drop of rain. It was pure sunshine. My family robbed a week of summer.

My dad truly got the full Mozambican experience in Vilanculos. During a trip to the market, he bought three capulanas. We took them to the tailor to have shirts made and all three of his shirts came out beautiful. And oh yea, he hitch-hiked with me up and down the length of Vilanculos. It was awesome to be a part of that.

While in Tofo, we had spectacular beachside rooms, but very little shade. However, we had the good fortune of meeting a nice South African family who graciously lent out a gazebo to us.

I think the truest Mozambican incident we experiencd was on the road between Tofo and Maputo. Not far down the EN1, we had a flat tire. That in itself is Mozambican enough. But more than that was the help we received. Our driver had a lot of trouble changing the tire, but by a stroke of luck, a man helped our driver replace the tire. In exchange, we gave him a free ride to Maputo. This was a classice win-win situation: we got back on the road, and our new friend got a free ride to Maputo. He didn't know how to thank us, and we didn't know how to thank him.

Our stay in Maputo was intentionally brief. There's not a lot to see or do in Maputo, and we really just needed it as a stop-over to get to Namaacha and Swaziland.

After a brief brunch with my host mom, the four of us hit Hlane Royal National Park in Swaziland. The small camp was really cool. . We saw what we thought were a lot of animals -- a rhino mother-and-child- pair, a pair of beautiful giraffes, and one smallish male lion. The place didn't have electricity, but it didn't matter. By the time we were done getting charged by an elephant, we were well exhausted and ready to sleep.

We had one more safari at Hlane before heading into the mountains. This safari wasn't nearly as exhilirating as the first one, but it was still great. We got close to another elephant without getting charged and we saw a nice group of rhinos.

The only day that we had rain was the day that we transferred sites in hilly Swaziland. We spent a couple nights at this really cool ecolodge named Phophonyane. I don't know if I have ever seen hills so green. And it proved to be a relaxing couple of days before the madness that was Kruger.

Jock Safari Lodge in Kruger Park was spectacular. In fact, 'spectacular' probably doesn't do it justic. In one trip, we saw all of the Big 5 - elephants, lions, leopard, rhinos, and buffalos. And it's not just that we saw everything: it's that we saw everything so close to us. Aside from the Big 5, we also saw zebras, giraffes, baboons, too many breeds of impala, vervet monkeys, colorful birds and more.

And it's not that we saw everything from so close. What truly made the experience amazing is that we saw so much of everything from so close. We sat next to eight sleepy lions. We drove through a herd of 28 elephants, including some babies. Because mating season was just a couple of months ago, the park was full of babies -- baby antelopes, elephants, buffalos, and rhinos were all over the place. On our very last ride, toward the very end of the trip, we saw a group of more than 100 buffalo and we came across a rare black rhino. It was a great end to a couple days on safari. The whole safari experience - for us, anyway - was exhilirating.

This whole trip wasn't just about seeing animals - it was about trying new things, doing things that we normally wouldn't do. I can't imagine anyone in my family getting in the back of a truck to get around. And eating wildebeest, ostrich, and kudu is something that you really can't do in America (and all of them were delicious). I'm really happy that they were able to see some of the things that I see on a daily basis and especially proud that they put up with all the craziness that Africa has to offer. And to see all of those animals was a real bonus. The most telling thing for me, though, is that after two weeks of Africa, my dad wants to come back some time in the future.