The Goodbye Plate

We attended Gia's end of the year "Star Show" at school this week. Each grade level did a performance of a song, poem, speech, band performance, or slide show, etc. of their favorite memories of this year at AISJ. It was very nice. At then end, Mr. Joe, the school counselor called all of the students up on stage that would be moving on to a new country the following school year. There were an astounding 64 students this year that will be leaving. When a student leaves AISJ, they receive a "Goodbye Plate", made by students in an after school art program at the school and the school sings the "Goodbye Song", to wish them off well. It was such a bittersweet moment, to see all of these children that Gia has made friends with and us with their families and to see how many of them are off to so many different parts of the world. We will miss them and this school very much and will only have great memories to take home with us.

Playtime with Tiger and Black Leopard Cubs at Mystic Monkeys

We visited Mystic Monkeys Wildlife and Feather Park this past weekend to see the new tiger cubs that they had. This was our second visit to this park.

The tiger cubs were 3 weeks old, super cute and surprisingly loud. We couldn't get enough! We also had the opportunity to interact with 3 & 5 month old Black Leopard cubs, which was a first for us so we were pretty excited. Since living here, I have learned first hand that Leopards are very different cats than lions and tigers. They are extremely strong, mischievous and rambunctious. I was surprised that they were allowing the girls to interact with them. Most places do not let small children interact with leopards of this age. But after we saw what they were capable of,  jumping on other people's heads and backs, we suggested that both girls stay outside of the enclosure. They were okay with it too after seeing their behavior. Gia did come in at the end with the smaller leopard cubs for a few photos, but it was extremely difficult to restrain the cats. The depth of their young roar also drove chills up your spine. Matt really enjoyed interacting with the larger cubs, but they were too strong for me.

We really enjoyed our day here and even though I am not a big monkey fan, the monkeys here are all contained in enclosures, which made me feel better, so even I enjoyed the monkeys.

 The mother was nursing this baby below.

 Even I was so smitten over this baby monkey.

 These roosters and meerkats were all around our table at lunch.

It made me feel a bit uncomfortable as I was eating my CHICKEN sandwich ;)

 Kenley got scratched and decided to leave the pen.

 Close call...

Matt after playing with the leopards.

Talk Like a South African

One of the first struggles we had when moving here was trying to figure out what everyone was saying.  We had never heard a word of Afrikaans prior to arriving and then we find out there are ELEVEN national languages in SA. After almost three years of living here, we can now usually pick up on the slang and what people are saying, but I still cannot speak any of the languages myself.  Here are some fun lists to resort to if you ever have the chance to visit SA.

Some other words/terms to add to the lists below that I have learned:

pleasure-your welcome

eish-wow

shame- sorry to hear

kokies-markers

bangles-bracelet

dustbin-trash can

biscuit-cookie

scone-biscuit

plaats-braids

waiting in a queue-line

lift-elevator, or to give someone a ride

civvies-casual clothes

swimming costume-swimsuit or bathing suit

basin-sink

hosepipe-hose

dummy-pacifier

nappy-diaper

trolley-shopping cart

pram-stroller

mate-friend

cuppa-cup of coffee

I am sure there are a lot more that I know that I am leaving out, so I will come back and add on as I remember them.

* Fun Fact-A South African friend told me an old Zulu tale about the Tokoloshe, a mischievous troll that would cause trouble and steal or move things. She told me that any time something strange happens, they blame it on the Tokoloshe.

 PS, now now, means whenever they feel like it, lol!

 Matt picked up this shirt at Irene Market and we found it to be useful ;)

Gia Loves Archery

Gia began to fall in love with archery about two years ago. She really enjoys it and is pretty good at it I might add. I call her Katniss every time I see her shoot. She takes lessons on Saturdays when we do not have other adventures to attend to ;) . Archery is a very popular sport here in SA as you can imagine with all of the wild game to hunt. Gia has, however, chose to do it only for the sport and she does not want to hurt any animals, and we are totally cool with that. She says that she would like to be an Olympic archer one day. We always tell her to dream big and go for anything that you want in life. I hope that she listens.

Drakensberg, South Africa

We visited the Northern Drakensberg Mountains this month, which is about a three to four hour drive from Pretoria. The last hour or so of the drive is a breathtaking scenic view of the stunning mountains. While there, we stayed at The Caverns, which is a very family oriented place. There are daily games, sports, activities, hikes, bike rides, pony rides, fishing and meals together. We also stopped at the All Out Adventure Park very close to The Cavern that had tons of activities such as, quad rides, zip lining, bike runs, etc...Here are some photos of our getaway.

 Look who we spotted in the mountains.

 This boy was sitting in the middle of nowhere selling some

handmade small animal statues. We bought a few from him.

 Stunning views

 We took a hike to the waterfall.

 Love this picture!

 The Cavern has several of these guys to scare away the baboons.

 Pony rides.

 Autumn in April.

 Of course baboons are everywhere. 

Thank goodness for their giant dogs at The Cavern, who scare them away.

 Trampolines

 Zip Lining

 The DREADED King Swing. Most people at the park were too scared to do this, 

including me. Matt did it twice…go figure.

Great trip!