Big Five

When we were over in Africa I learned what the Big 5 are. We all know that Africa is famous for its wildlife, but within the continent there are FIVE major players. They are the lion, the rhino, the water buffalo, the leopard, and the elephant. I think they are grouped together as the Big 5 because they are the most pursued, the most hunted, the most shot at...the most popular. Which made me think, if there were a catagory for Africa's Big 5 in countries, which countries would they be. I would say Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ghana or the Ivory Coast. Namibia could be part of the the Big 5 countries but it decided to go for independence and now it's not winning any popularity contests.

Orange for Pie

Tonight was the last Thursday of the month and we all know what that means...WYSO Trivia! That's right. It's been two months since team Springbok made an appearance, and yes they did notice our absence and yes they did miss us. This time team Springbok gained a member because Colin was home to help out and provided us with some key answers. As always it was a group effort with Steve and Pat on the phone answering questions while Colin and I frantically yelled answers to them. We once again made it to the final round and came in second. I do love me some trivia action whether it's in the form of radio call in, Cash Cab, or playing a friendly round of Trivial Pursuits. Random knowledge you do have a time and place. The one thing I could do without though during these once a month trivia nights is the banter between the hosts of the show. Colin pointed out that they are like characters from Best in Show not as funny, let's leave that to the professionals.

Last Supper

So, we are back from Africa and have settled back into our daily routines here in America. One activity that enjoy is walking on the treadmill while watching various television series. Right now I'm watching season 5 of Top Chef. I just watched an episode where the cheftestants (as they are called) have to prepare the "Last Supper" for a group of highly accomplished world famous chefs. Each famous chef chooses a dish that they would want to eat before they die and the cheftestants have to prepare it for them. They choose things like shrimp scampi, roast chicken and roast potatoes, salmon and spinach, eggs Benedict, and squab with peas. Maybe not the most exciting of last meals, I don't know maybe that's just me. But, then I started thinking what would I want if I had to decide what my last meal would be. I came up with a few ideas:
-Thai Yellow Curry with Tofu
-Eggplant Parmesan
-Oryx
-Pineapple and onion pizza

Those are a few ideas. Mostly those are just some of my favorite foods and could pretty much eat those whenever. Maybe for my last meal I should go for something a little more daring, something a little more interesting. I don't know, just something tasty, and with seconds because if it's my last ever EVER! who wants only one?

Hello From Cape Town

So yes, we have just arrived in Cape Town and are at the hotel. Pat and Steve are making plans in the office and Caitlin is reading magazines about babies so I thought I would take a moment to update y'all. Cape Town is f-ing cold but very nice looking so far. We are really going to pack in the sights because we do not have much time here. Already I wish we were staying longer. But briefly back to Namibia. We saw a lot of deserts...mostly the Namib, but lots of it. We saw more wild animals, ate more wild animals, saw seals, experienced Swakupmond...very German. Drove through more desert. Saw some really beautiful pumpkin orange sand dunes, you may recognize them from such photos as every tour book every made about Namibia. Flat tire, Steve changed a tire. Sowndowners and sunsets. Driving, driving, driving...flat tire, Caitlin changed a tire. And now off to explore Cape Town.

Holler

So, we have made it to Namibia and beyond...It was a long flight getting here, it was a very bumpy ride. Spent the night in a luxurious hotel in J-burg. We had to get a South African visa to cross the street to got to the hotel. There was World Cup excitement everywhere and the Afrikaaner shorts were in full force, mullets too. Yesss! Arriving at the Windhoek air port there was an awesome surprise. No, not tribal dancing, but yes, Caitlin came down to greet us. We thought we would meet up with her after a few days, not sooooo soon. Bonus! We drove and drove from Windhoek to Etosha yesterday and today we saw all of the animals in the Etosha park. Lots of srpingbok, oryx, wildabeast, giraffe, elephants!, black face (too soon) impala, warthog, zebra, all sorts of birds, and more! Very awesome. I felt very touristy on the safari taking pictures of anything that moved. Tomorrow we go see Caitlin's village. It will be very very different from all of the luxury we've been having. Looking forward to it.