SAFARI TIME!!!!

This past weekend was incredible!!! We left work Friday at noon to take a 3-hour-drive to Nambiti (a game reserve) where we would be staying for the weekend.

As soon as we entered the game reserve, our ranger, Ruan, picked us up at the parking facilities to take us to Nambiti Hills Lodge (our beautiful five-star home for the next few days).

Here are some pictures of my beautiful room and the lovely view.

The lounging area had an amazing view of the game reserve! We spend our nights relaxing here by the fire, having some drinks, and getting ready for our 6am morning drives.

Throughout the weekend we went on a total of four safari drives searching for The Big Five, a.k.a the five most dangerous animals consisting of buffalos, lions, leopards, rhinos, and elephants. In between the drives, we went back to the lodge to have the most amazing breakfasts, dinners, and snacks while the staff spoiled us.

We also visited the KWA Cheetah breading project, an organization, who's goal is to repopulate and avoid complete extinction of Cheetahs in the world. It is very sad to hear that it is presumed that in 15 years, these amazing kind big cats will be completely extinct.

We were not able to see any leopards in the wild, but at the Cheetah project we had the opportunity to meet one. Leopards are extremely dangerous because they will kill for fun, unlike the other animals who would kill to eat or to defend themselves. We were not allowed to interact directly with the leopard but we did get the opportunity to see him play with his favorite toy (a bottle of water, and the ranger's socks).

Africa has amazing wild life and it is all in danger. Thanks to the efforts of many people Nambiti has been able to offer some of them a sustainable environment where they try to keep them safe. Even though they have many protected species, men still find the way to ilegaly kill some animals. This year a couple of rhinos were killed by proffesional hunters who land on helicopters inside of the reserve and cut their horns leaving the animal to bleed to death. It is very sad to think there is still people in the world who would create a demand for such products that are risking the excistance of an entire species.

I would like to thank everyone at Nambiti, and Nambiti Hills Lodge who made our trip the most incredible experience. I will make sure to come back in the future. I would also like to thank the people at the Cheetah project for letting us interact with their animals. These are definitely memories to treasure.

Our last two weeks in South Africa are ahead and I can honestly not believe how fast time went by. I will wrap up my biggest project this week and prepare for  the final presentation next week.

Bittersweet feeling!

Home is two weeks away, but then again, South Africa is now home as well!!!

Relaxing Weekend...

Spa time!!!! yes!!! Mr. Price treated us to a full body massage in an amazing spa tha overlooked the Country Club's golf course with a beautiful view of the ocean.

I just wish it would have lasted aaaall day ;) Later on Tingting and I went to have dinner at a pizza place that has the most amazing food. Pizzas are very different here from the ones we have in the U.S. So delicous and healthy. (Well...as healthy as a pizza can be).
Our night was quiet and relaxing.

Sunday was definitely Funday! I went horse-riding on the Beach!!!! I was so excited since I had been wanting to do this for a very long time!!!! We took a 3 hour ride and now I'm sitting at the office and every single muscle hurts!!! but it was so so worth it. :) here are some pictures of the ride.

This upcoming weeks will be our last one.. So we are trying to enjoy every second of our stay here. Mr. Price is definitely making it easiear for us with all the amazing activities planned and the great work environment. 3 more weeks to go.. bittersweet

Joburg here we come!!!

DAY 1

This past weekend was amazing!!! We left Durban early on Friday morning and arrived in Johannesburg around 8am. We then got our car and headed to the Park Inn Hotel in Sandton. The hotel is very modern and stylish. I loved it!!!

Here is a picture of Athi and myself checking in and one picture of my room.

A little bit later we took a tour to Soweto, which is a township in Johannesburg, where people were forced to move during apartheid. Life there is quite different than what we saw until now. Houses are made of anything ranging from brick to metal laminate. It’s hard to explain but life is not all rainbows and unicorns over there. It is a quite humbling and eye opening experience that people living in those conditions are still very positive, hard working, happy, and willing to share their stories with strangers.  

I sadly did not take any pictures from that side but right next to Soweto two towers rise. They were cooling towers from a plant that ran with coal. The plant polluted the environment so it got closed down. Now the towers are painted and are a very attractive tourist site since one of the highest bungee jumping site is right in between them.

Here are a couple of pictures of the towers and the jumping site hanging in the middle. We actually saw a man jump… Let’s just say I’ll keep my feet on the ground for now.

Our city tour continued as we headed to the Hector Pieterson Museum! Such an emotional place!!!

Hector Pieterson was the youngest school kid to die on a protest agains the government ruling that school lesson will be thought in Afrikaans. The protest caused many more schools in cities all over South Africa to rise and change history. The day Hector died is now celebrated as Youth Day (June 16th).

The words "to honor the youth who gave their lives in the struggle for freedom and democracy" are written in this memorial site right outside the museum.

On the left the famous picture taken by reporter Sam Nzima of a fellow student, Mbuyisa Makhubo, carrying Hector after he was shot.

Mbuyisa is presumed dead after he had to leave South Africa because of this picture. His mother says in a quote written in stone that his son "is or was" (because they don't know if he is still alive) not a hero, he was doing his duty to help a fellow student, and if he had not done so he would not be able to live among them.

Very hard words coming from a mother, but at the same time showing all of us the spirit and courage behing these heroes (because to my eyes they are heroes).

We then had a typical South African lunch and visited Nelson Mandela's house. Outside the gates, we wrotte our "get well" wished, since he is in such a critical state right now. He is such an inspiration for mankind.

The perfect ending of the tour--> we visited Soccer City Stadium! Unbelievable design!!! here is a picture of it.

Later that day we went out on a girls’ night!

Sundowners on the roof top of a hotel + amazing dinner + clubs = fun fun fun  



DAY 2 & 3

After a great breakfast.. we visited the Neighbourgoods Market in downtown Johannesburg! Amazing food amazing drinks and treats. Great way to start a day!!!

Later on we visited the Lion Park! HEAVEN!!! we got to play with lion cubbs and take a tour to see the white lions! Huge beautiful creatures!

After this awesome afternoon we went to the Union Pop up Bar, which is a bar that changes locations. They randomly select a location and turn it into a bar/club with lights, Dj, lounges, etc... The location this time was in the middle of a mall!!! very cool!

We definitely need this back in Fay ;)

Sunday morning we went to a mall and visited Mr. Price stores to learn more about the DC-Store process!

Come on... I mean, it can't all be fun and games!!! gotta get some work done as well!! haha ;)

I have some exciting things planned for this week (Week 7) - time goes by so fast- I will post again soon!

Cheers!

p.

It’s Monday morning once again and I just can’t believe how fast time passes by. I am definitely making every second count ;) A small update on our projects before we get into the details of what might have been the best weekend so far :P Both, Tingting and I, are pretty far ahead on our individual projects. We started with data collection and after restructuring it I can finally say that I have an idea of where my focus will be. Have you guys ever thought “I am never going to use this in real life” while you were studying, well… good thing I paid attention in analytics and supply chain classes cause I am full on applying absolutely everything I learned. Big thanks to out professors back at the University of Arkansas!!! Hopefully by the end of this week I’ll have my third project finished and I’ll be ready to start my fourth and final project for Mr. Price Home. So… the weekend!!! It started on Friday when Matt took Tingting and I to the Mr. Price Pro surf competition in Ballito. Great experience!!! I had never seen professional surfing before. We got to see surfers from all around the world. Mr. Price took us to the VIP area where they not only had lunch and drinks prepared for us but also a bag full of clothes and gifts. Can’t do better than that :D Here is a picture of the South African surfer Jordy Smith who was unbelievable (goes without saying) and a couple of other surfers. Friday night was a quiet one… but Saturday was far from it. Every year Durban hosts The Durban July, which is the Kentucky Derby of South Africa, where several horseraces take place. The event is one of the biggest and the races aren’t the only thing going on. Every year the event has a different theme and this year’s was “Posh”. Everyone attending gets to dress up according to the theme. During the event a fashion show takes place as well as concerts and some after-parties. We arrived at the Greyville Race Course at noon. We had an amazing location right by the track and the finish line with delicious food and drinks catered throughout the day, and I bet for the first time on horseraces… let’s just say it wasn’t my lucky day haha but we weren’t so concerned about that. We had an amazing time and left the event late at night. Here is a picture of one of the races as the horses pass the finish line. Ahead of us, we have a four day work-week because we are flight out to Johannesburg this upcoming friday!!! And I can hardly wait!!!!

June is gone...

Well one month is gone and we are getting closer to the internship's midpoint... sad sad... time goes by so fast.

Looking back, all the memories we made will be treasured forever, but it's not over yet ;) and I had a great weekend!!!! So let me tell you more about that.

Woke up early on Saturday! We had a big day ahead.

At 8:30 we met with Lauren and Irene and headed out to Moses Mabhida Stadium where the World Cup 2010 took place. Amazing architecture!!! We went up all the way to the top of the arch on the skycar and took some pictures of Durban.

 Front view of the stadium and at the bottom myself at the top of the arch



After admirering the view...

We then headed to Durban's aquarium Ushaka Marine World. Lauren's mom works there so she took us on a VIP tour with full on explanations of all the cool marine life.

Needles to say, we saw awesome weird colorful fish, dolphins, sharks, penguins, turtles and many other animals. 

Here are some of them...

Later on we had lunch and took this cool ride along the beach front...

We then geared up on the Sharks rugby team clothing and went to the stadium to watch them play against The Blues. We lost by a small difference but it was a very exciting game.

By the end of the day we had a small Braai (BBQ or Tailgate). Perfect way to end up an awesome day.

Sunday was a quiet day. We stayed at our apartment and watched movies.. followed by a movie night at the mall.. haha typical lazy sunday. The perfect way to prepare for a hard week at work ;)