The Alexis Angle – South Africa

South Africa is the tenth stop on gap year and quickly felt like home to me. From the WONDERFUL weather when we first stepped off the plane, to the uh, water situation, South Africa has taken me and my family for a roller coaster ride! Here are some things that really stood out to me during our time here:

The Water Situation

This is a new experience for us, even on gap year. Knysna has a water shortage that has affected almost every aspect of our lives. For starters, we cannot flush the toilet every time we pee, which means that our house sometimes smells like urine. We also take what I like to call “army showers” (my idea) where you turn the water on to get your body and hair wet, then turn it off and put shampoo in your hair, then turn the water on and wash out the shampoo, and you basically do that until you’ve finished your shower. This makes the showers themselves very, very cold, but we are only running water for around two minutes max.

Driving On The Left Side

This month, my dad learned to drive a car on the left side of the road. In my opinion he learned pretty quickly, and the only problem we ever had was accidentally turning on the windshield wipers when trying to make a turn signal. Mom tried driving the car on the left hand side of the road while we were on the Safari, and it turned out . . . less well. That’s all I’m going to say in case Mom gets mad at me for sharing her . . . learning experience.

The Absolutely Adorable Elephants That I Just Want To Hug

Ok, I never thought I liked elephants, but I was wrong, THEY ARE THE BEST!! We saw many, many elephants during our time on the safari, but here are my top two favorites:

1. There was an elephant we saw while driving by that was just standing there, and then it reached up with its trunk and rubbed its eye! It was so adorable because it’s something people do all the time, but I’m not sure when I will ever see an elephant rub its eye with its trunk ever again.
2. There also was a tiny little baby in a herd of elephants that was SO CUTE! If you’ve read The One and Only Ruby, then you’ll understand why I immediately named the baby Ruby and spent the rest of the day wishing I could have a baby elephant.

The Weather

The moment I stepped off the plane here I was so surprised by the cool wind whipping in my face and the chill, autumn-like air around me. It was such a welcome surprise after the hot, humid places we’ve been for the past 9 months, and it felt like I was back in Colorado. The whole rest of the time here I’ve soaked in the amazing cool air and I’ve been thrilled to wear pajama pants and a sweatshirt AT THE SAME TIME!!

The Poverty

 In my post about the Philippines I mentioned the poverty that I saw, but this is a whole new level of poverty visibility. Anytime we drive anywhere we can almost always see informal settlements composed of crudely built houses, trash, and tarps. Another common thing we see here is the amount of unemployment. There are almost always men grouped together by gas stations, most likely waiting for someone to give them some work to do. Seeing all of this has really taught me how to be more grateful for what I have, and definitely never to waste food.

Overall, I really enjoyed seeing South Africa and it’s another continent to check off! I’m really excited to go see Europe (another continent!) and see what all those last two countries have to teach and show us!