Spitskop
uh-oh, car trouble!
Wildebeest
Buffalo...I mean cow
When we finished driving through we went to a large koppie. A koppie is a large pile of rocks/boulders that is just there. They weren't placed there by man; God just thought a pile of rocks needs to go there and bam there's a pile of rocks. We climbed up the koppie. Upon reaching the top the guys tell us there are stairs we could of come up. Where's the fun and adventure in that! We did take the stairs down though because it was dark by then. We watched the sun set from atop the koppie. God paints beautiful pictures. And they're different everyday.
Koppie in the distance
At the bottom of the koppie we climbed
God paints some beautiful pictures
Not quite at the top yet.
Sloan at the top. This picture actually shows one of the better views from the top.
Then we got back in the cars and drove some more and came to Oranjekom viewpoint which means Orange River Basin. I was in awe of God's mighty works. Looking at it made me feel so small. I also thought about the Grand Canyon, which I've never been to, but if I'm in awe of this and feel so small then how much more so would I at the Grand Canyon. It was incredible!
We got back in the vehicles and drove some more. We saw some animals. More springbok and other similar animals. Mongoose, I think. Yes mongoose because, "You guys know the difference between a mongoose and a meerkat?" (I still don't know). We saw three zebras. That's about the extent of animals we saw. Some people go to Africa to see the big 5: lion, elephant, rhino, leopard, and buffalo. We go to see the small 5: springbok, squirrel, cat, dog, and cow.
Springbok
We started heading back and had lunch at the Orange River lookout. We had hamburgers we had prepared the night before but Eric also had tuna sandwiches and drinks. He had litchi juice. We had that in Indonesia! He did say at one point that his mom was from Indonesia. After we finished eating we just hung out there for a little while. They had a bathroom at this lookout spot. That easily may have been the worse smelling bathroom I've ever been in.
Looking down on the falls, kinda. (at certain times of the year water falls from the wall that is seen)
Augrabies Falls
What the falls are like at other times, NOT what we saw (pic from internet)
Again, NOT what we saw but how big the falls can be. That platform is where my pictures are taken from. (pic form internet)
When we left Augrabies we went to Eric's B&B. It was pretty nice. It had a great view of some vineyards.
There was another place we went to but I don't know the name of it. We went to try and see sand dunes but the cars couldn't make it all the way to where the sand dunes were. We still got to see some beautiful places. There were some camping type areas and a tree that became known as Pocahontas's home. At that same tree was a light switch. There was a video made. It was quite quotable. It was great. Hahaha!
There was a path we took that led us to a great view of the lake that was there. Along the path we found some bones. I was walking and thought I saw what looked like a vertebrae so I stopped to pick it up and it was. Then we start looking and found some more and a leg/arm bone. Wonder what animal they came from. It was probably a goat. We saw a herd of goat. It was pretty exciting. We were probably more excited about the goats then you would think but hey it was the most wildlife we'd seen all together like that. There was one goat that was sleeping and we all kept getting closer and closer. It woke up and poor thing looked, kind of shook it's head, realized we were all there, and took off running.
The lake. There was a two person little boat and a one person boat. Petrus and Mariana went on the lake in the two person boat looking all cute and stuff. Lindsay decides to go out on the one person boat. She didn't fall in but Morgan fell in the mud helping to push Lindsay off. Then Megan took a turn in the one person boat and almost flipped. She got wet but luckily did not flip. Oh good laughs.
Koppie in the distance
At the bottom of the koppie we climbed
Beautiful sunset
God paints some beautiful pictures
The day is done
The second one we went to was Augrabies Falls National Park. Augrabies was a bit farther away. We had to wake up at about 5 am to leave. I really think someone was praying for me then, it would of been 10pm back home, because I had no trouble waking up and being the first one to get out of bed. Being the first out of bed was a feat in itself; I was normally the last girl to get out of bed (and yet still the first one to be ready). On the way there we stopped by Mr. John's friend Eric's bed and breakfast, The Overlook. Eric was going to bring his Land Rover and come with us. Ethan and I rode with Eric from his B&B to Augrabies. The 9 of us rode through Augrabies in the Land Rover and adults rode in one of their cars. Shortly after getting going we stopped at a spot and we really didn't want to get out. I don't think we really realized where we were stopped at and it was really cold. (I just overused the word really). We did get out though and we started climbing this large rock, Moon Rock. It was just one large, smooth, black rock. It was a kind of long way up to the top and really windy but the view was incredible. You could see all around in every direction.
The climb up (actually this was on the way back down) Moon Rock
Not quite at the top yet.
Sloan at the top. This picture actually shows one of the better views from the top.
View from the top of moon rock even though it doesn't appear to be from a height.
View from top. Pictures don't do it justice.
Then we got back in the cars and drove some more and came to Oranjekom viewpoint which means Orange River Basin. I was in awe of God's mighty works. Looking at it made me feel so small. I also thought about the Grand Canyon, which I've never been to, but if I'm in awe of this and feel so small then how much more so would I at the Grand Canyon. It was incredible!
Oranjekom (Orange River Basin)
me at Oranejkom (Orange River Basin)
We got back in the vehicles and drove some more. We saw some animals. More springbok and other similar animals. Mongoose, I think. Yes mongoose because, "You guys know the difference between a mongoose and a meerkat?" (I still don't know). We saw three zebras. That's about the extent of animals we saw. Some people go to Africa to see the big 5: lion, elephant, rhino, leopard, and buffalo. We go to see the small 5: springbok, squirrel, cat, dog, and cow.
Zebras!
Springbok
We started heading back and had lunch at the Orange River lookout. We had hamburgers we had prepared the night before but Eric also had tuna sandwiches and drinks. He had litchi juice. We had that in Indonesia! He did say at one point that his mom was from Indonesia. After we finished eating we just hung out there for a little while. They had a bathroom at this lookout spot. That easily may have been the worse smelling bathroom I've ever been in.
The ride. Landrover.
Quiver Tree
Then we went to see the Augrabies Falls. There wasn't much water coming from the falls compared to what it is at other times. I mean there was still a lot of water but we were told in certain seasons the water is higher and falls from the sides that while we were there were dry. It was still nice.
The walkway to the falls
Looking down on the falls, kinda. (at certain times of the year water falls from the wall that is seen)
Augrabies Falls
What the falls are like at other times, NOT what we saw (pic from internet)
Again, NOT what we saw but how big the falls can be. That platform is where my pictures are taken from. (pic form internet)
When we left Augrabies we went to Eric's B&B. It was pretty nice. It had a great view of some vineyards.
View of vineyard from The Overlook, Eric's B&B.
There was another place we went to but I don't know the name of it. We went to try and see sand dunes but the cars couldn't make it all the way to where the sand dunes were. We still got to see some beautiful places. There were some camping type areas and a tree that became known as Pocahontas's home. At that same tree was a light switch. There was a video made. It was quite quotable. It was great. Hahaha!
The lake (I feel like the curve of everything makes this look edited or like some special effect was used. No effects or editing were done.)
There was a path we took that led us to a great view of the lake that was there. Along the path we found some bones. I was walking and thought I saw what looked like a vertebrae so I stopped to pick it up and it was. Then we start looking and found some more and a leg/arm bone. Wonder what animal they came from. It was probably a goat. We saw a herd of goat. It was pretty exciting. We were probably more excited about the goats then you would think but hey it was the most wildlife we'd seen all together like that. There was one goat that was sleeping and we all kept getting closer and closer. It woke up and poor thing looked, kind of shook it's head, realized we were all there, and took off running.
Goats!
The lake. There was a two person little boat and a one person boat. Petrus and Mariana went on the lake in the two person boat looking all cute and stuff. Lindsay decides to go out on the one person boat. She didn't fall in but Morgan fell in the mud helping to push Lindsay off. Then Megan took a turn in the one person boat and almost flipped. She got wet but luckily did not flip. Oh good laughs.
Lindsay paddling out into the lake
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