The Wade Brigade and The Half-Way Point

The Wade's (my Mom's sister, her husband, and 4 kids) arrived on Friday! Seeing them was absolutely amazing! Seriously, so much fun being with them, showing them around, experiencing the fun of South Africa with family members, and just having someone else know what life is like down here is great.

The Wade's booked the Humewood Hotel which is right next to Langerry. Literally across the street. I happened to be on my balcony when I saw them pull up and get out of there car. I called out to them and then ran on down to greet them. I helped them unpack and then I showed them around my flat.

Zebras in the NMMU Reserve

From there, we planned where we would go and eat. We decided on Barney's because it was close, it's a place I have been and go to every now and then, and it had food everyone would like. We made the trek down the road and had a nice dinner and just chatted about what I had been up to. It was a lot of fun to tell them about my experiences while still in Africa and have them actually see the places I was talking about and to have them be where I have been. So, once we were done with dinner we walked back and on the way we ran into the few people in our group that were here this weekend. So they were able to say hi and meet my relatives. By the time we got back it was pretty late so everyone hit the sack to prepare for the fun on Saturday.

On Saturday, we met up for breakfast and then made our way to the nearby Pick N' Pay to pick up some snacks that I wanted them to try. There are a few things here that aren't in America so it was fun to have them try them. Then we all went to the NMMU campus and I showed them around and where I have class. I also took them over the wall and into the nature reserve we have on campus. When we got over we spotted a herd of zebra. We walked over to them and came within 20 or so feet from the

Republican Convention

entire herd. Absolutely amazing. Seriously, you can just do this kind of stuff here. So awesome! We grabbed some cool pictures with them and then headed out towards Addo Elephant National Park to see some more animals. I loved getting to go back to Addo simply because safaris are the best. Nothing is better than seeing wild animals that close. Steve, my uncle, had planned for us to be guided through the park by a tour guide so we went to a spot where we could meet him. The spot we went to just so happened to be a little resort that was in this rural area that had beautiful huts and a pool. The receptionist told us we could go and spend some time out by the pool while we waited for our guide to arrive. So, of course, we did. It was around 90 degrees on Saturday too, so the pool was very appealing. Once our tour guide arrived we piled into his van and sped off towards Addo. I'd say 5 minutes into our drive we had already spotted two lions, how cool! From there we spotted warthogs, jackal, dung beetle, tortoise, buffalo, ostrich, wildebeest, zebra, springbok, kudu, and mongoose. Considering it was so hot, we drove down to a watering hole where we thought some elephants and other animals would be. We were smart to do so because we practically pulled up to a Republican convention, if you get what I am saying. There had to have been 60 or so elephants by the watering hole, some even in the water soaking themselves. They all started passing the van and would come within a few feet of it. The kids were loving it! I couldn't believe that there were so many. Once we had seen all of these animals it was getting close to park close so we headed towards the exit. While driving towards the exit, we could see rain in the distance which created a bright rainbow. A nice touch to end the day. On the way back to our car some of us even saw a giraffe grazing on some brush. We arrived back at the car, piled in and headed back towards P.E. We filled up the rental car, returned it and then went to Angelo's (African/Italian restaurant) where we had a nice dinner and chit chatted about the day. We then headed back to our rooms and crashed because even though it was so much fun, it was also a very long day.

Rainbow

On Sunday morning, we met up for breakfast and made our way down to the beach to swim around. The kids wanted to try their hand at surfing too so I helped them try out my surf board. It was a lot of fun to just relax on the beach with all of them. Made me feel like I was on vacation as well. We were also able to hit up the local market that goes on near the beach. From there, it was about time for the Wade's to catch their train ride to Johannesburg where they were going to catch a flight to New York. I said goodbye and then watched them drive off. What a wonderful weekend with the family!

It's funny that I was able to see my relatives exactly on the half-way point of my trip. Right in
between, a nice time to see them. So that means half of my study abroad is over which blows my mind but it also means there are still many more fun excursion and weekends ahead. Cape Town is next week so the entire group is excited. So, another great weekend and experience under the belt.

The Wade's