"We got to move it, move it!" Amanda's Perspective...

Whew! I know, it's been awhile...and for that, I do sincerely apologize. However, the computer was not on my priority list over the last week or so. On January 15, 2010, our very first American guests arrived here in South Africa: Nick Connell and Lori Edler (Ben's Aunt). And from that date through January 22, 2010.....we were go, go, go, go, go.....you get the point, right? So why did I wait until the 24th to begin this post? Well, that would be because we were EXHAUSTED! :) The good kind of exhausted....(not to mention my recent computer time was devoted to catching up with my online course which started the same day our guests arrived! Yikes!)

You all are in for a treat. You're going to get more than just my perspective on Nick and Lori's visit, you are going to get theirs. Of course they must hand over their side of the story before I can share it with you...so we will just have to start with my perspective.

I had Lori and Nick's schedule booked up before they even boarded a plane to South Africa. (Hey, I had time to plan and I wanted to make sure I was a good hostess with the mostest! It's not every day we get visitors and they were our first!) Don't worry, I allowed some down time here and there, but never more than necessary. They had the desire to see as much as possible and I wanted to make them happy....ensure that this was a trip they would always remember (fondly).

Ben and I were running a bit late to pick them up from the airport, but we didn't think it would be too big a deal considering it took us almost 2 hours to get through security last time. Of course we were wrong. By the time we arrived, they had been waiting an hour. Eek! I blamed it on the inconsistency of South Africa...the only thing that is predictable. We began their adventure by eating at Nando's...our favorite "fast" food place. That is where Nick and Lori experienced first hand the bare feet of South Africans....yes, in the restaurant. Gross. You don't understand the extremity of it until you see it, just ask Nick and Lori!

Fortunately, jet lag didn't attack our visitors and we were able to get an early start on Saturday with a visit to the Rhino and Lion Park. With three cameras snapping, you can imagine, we made sure to document their South African experience with plenty of detail. The day was still quite young by the time we finished our first big outing...so we rounded it out with a trip to the Bird Sanctuary and a Braii at our place. Nick will give more details on the Bird Sanctuary....granted he wasn't too traumatized from the experience, that is...

No rest for the weary, we got another early start on Sunday to Pilanesburg for the luxury safari portion of their visit. I know, such a chore for Ben and I to have to tag along for this ;) We wined and dined and headed out for their first ever real life safari. As we were boarding our private safari vehicle, I mentioned to the Guide that we wanted to see the cats...Leopards and Lions please. He laughed at me! So, I was a little skeptical at first...thinking we were stuck with a lazy Guide. Oh boy, was I ever wrong! We witnessed an elephant attempting to trample cars (teasing, really), that same elephant relieving himself on the road and then we followed a pack of lions! LIONS! We asked and our Guide delivered. It was AWESOME! Again, you can see Nick's blog for more details on this experience...hehehe...

It is important to mention here that Nick had been dealing with a very weak bladder since his arrival. And with a four hour safari, well, you get the picture. Fortunately our Guide located a toilet for Nick so he wouldn't get eaten by the lions. Dumb me. I should have gone, but I didn't. I figured we only had another 30 minutes to go and surely I could last that long. Big mistake. And I was in pain for that mistake. Our Guide pointed out owls in the tree and in the road (for which he had to stop!), rhinos all around us, giraffe in the bush (two even preparing to mate!)and the list goes on...over the next hour plus. I. did. not. care. We hit every bump and I squeezed the heck out of Ben's hand in agony, debating in my head how embarrassing it would be if I just peed my pants. I almost decided it wouldn't be too embarrassing if I just ran back to our room and changed. Fortunately, we finally made it back and I catapulted out of that seat, almost knocking Ben over in the process and full out RAN to the bathroom. I didn't even care that people were eating their romantic dinners along my path. All I knew was that I HAD TO GO NOW. I think it tops my previous "IGOTTAGOSOOOBAD story." It was later our Guide apologized, stating that he had actually driven down the bumpiest road in the park on the way back. Yeah. Thanks for that.

Fortunately, our tiny bladders didn't have the capacity to ruin the rest of the Nick and Lori South African Adventure. And on Monday afternoon, I hopped on a plane with Nick and Lori, headed for Cape Town. I will admit. I was slightly nervous about travelling in South Africa without Ben. Especially the flight and rental car part....but I tried to not let my nerves show.

I did a decent job, I think, until we reached the Thrifty Car Rental. I paid for the car and then waited for them to put a hold on another R6000 in our South Africa account. Denied. They tried our USA account. Denied. The Thrifty people also refused Lori's cash and credit card, stating it could only be a credit card in MY name. Not so "thrifty" in my opinion. At this point, my inner strength was weakening. The lady says "the only thing we can do is upgrade you to the more expensive security rate. That will be R200 more plus a R1000 deposit. I refused. It all sounded bogus to me. I explained that we have plenty of money in both accounts and I do not want the upgrade. She attempted to run both cards again, denied. What on earth? I might look young and easy to manipulate, but I most certainly am not! Finally, the lady called our South African bank and waited on hold for about 20 minutes to sort out the problem.

Praise the Lord, after a little over an hour of waiting in the Thrifty rental office, we were on our way. In the dark. I drove slow on the winding mountain roads, keeping the brights on to illuminate a safe path. I just felt bad Nick and Lori had to get their first glimpse of Cape Town without light. At least they were impressed with the beach side accommodations....and I got us there safely.

I sounded the wake up call early as usual the next day, ready to parade my guests around the beautiful city of Cape Town. Such good sports, they are. Even in spite of the rain, they were impressed with the beauty and excitement of the ocean, animals and scenery. I made sure to take it sloooow on those winding mountain roads again...hey, it was a rental car and I had precious cargo- a brother-in-law and an Aunt on board! I threw caution out the window; however, when we stumbled upon some baboons along the way. Haha, I know I more than surprised Nick and Lori when I got out of the vehicle to retrieve my camera. :) Just had to give them a taste of the real Amanda, after all!


One other story...when we were at the tippy tip of the Cape Point, I ran into another American woman with her daughter. I struck up a conversation with the woman, as I always have to talk to my fellow Americans here in South Africa! I talked to the woman for a good 15 minutes. By the end of our conversation I realized Nick and Lori may have found my random conversation a little odd....oh well...

In spite of my baboon photographing bravery, I went easy on my tourists for the remainder of the day. I didn't take them out on any risky ledges, I took them on the short hiking paths and I continued to drive cautiously on those winding mountain roads. (Want to know a secret? I was actually VERY nervous driving on those crazy roads! My heart was beating soooo fast, but I didn't want to show it and make Nick more scared!) I even game them a taste of the Bar One candy bar (only the greatest candy bar in South Africa!) and let them walk on the beach. By dinnertime, I decided that Nick and Lori are kind of like lucky charms. Why? Because we got a window table at the Harbour House! It was so lovely, sitting by the window, listening to the waves crash below and enjoying a scrumptious meal. I tried Yellowtail in honor of my beloved Ben. Poor guy, I know he wishes he could have been there with us...but he had something called work.

I carried my niceness into the next morning, our final day in the Cape. I let them sleep past sunrise...even though I had originally planned to get them up to see the beach side sunrise. (Maybe I was also getting just a little bit tired myself...) We filled the remainder of our Cape Town day with various sights and activities, complete with a boat ride to see the seals and a "mini-hike" on Table Mountain! Of course, my initial plan had been to ride the cable car to the top and back down again, but it was closed. SO I had to improvise the best I could with a "mini-hike." Those stinking closed Table Mountain cable cars ruined my agenda! Aw well, we saw the Kirstenbosh Botanical Gardens and played cards in the airport instead.

Thursday was shopping day. Of course I hadn't planned for rain, but we got it. I bought an umbrella at the Pick'n'Pay only to open it up at the Bryanston Organic market and discover it was broken. We braved the rain anyway in hopes of finding the perfect souvenirs and we did not melt. I later got my money back for the faulty umbrella...although the guy tried to convince me it worked. HA! If I jimmied it around every time I wanted to use it...no thanks.

Rosebank. Our final market of the day. Now, I have driven to Rosebank multiple times with Kelly and I have never gotten lost. But you know what happened with Nick and Lori, don't you? I got lost and our GPS stopped working. My tour guide enthusiasm was wearing thin. It took us three times longer than usual to reach Rosebank. Ugh. Oh well, at least they got some great deals. But of course we still had the drive home. In rush hour traffic. Up until then, I had been on my best driving behavior, letting other drivers cut me off and what not. But by this point, I was done. No more of that. I honked my horn and did my best to squeeze a rude lady out. She KNEW her lane ended and thought she could just speed up and cut me off. I think not! However, after honking my horn I was a little embarrassed. You could cut the silence in our car with a knife. Hope I didn't offend my tourists. The lady got in front of me anyway.... I lost the fight. ARGH!

And then it was Friday. We decided to take Nick and Lori on a hike at one of our favorite hiking areas. In the past we had seen zebra and giraffe on the trail, so we figured it would be a memorable experience. We hiked for over an hour without seeing an animal on the trail. I felt my tour guide skills really plummeting at this point! Suddenly, there they were. Giraffe! Ostrich! Springbok! Woohoo! The hike was not a bomb after all....and my guests were pleased.

A few hours later we accompanied Nick and Lori, along with their brimming full bags, to the airport. It was time for their journey home. I would say it was a successful visit. Although I have realized I am not cut out to be a tour guide. Unless of course you are close friends and/or family... Otherwise, it would definitely be too exhausting ;)

By the way...we took nearly 1500 pictures between the three cameras. At one point Nick and Lori asked if I was sick of seeing all of this stuff. Just look at the photo count and you have your answer: definitely not! Although I do miss home and can't wait to return to America....in December 2010.

**THANKS Nick and Lori for bringing us stuff from home! The Reese's Pieces and gum are delicious! And Ben is set on razors for months to come!**