The journey to get to the project's lodge took 6 hours by van. We traveled from Johannesburg to an area of Greater Kruger Area National Park that is located near the city of Hoedspruit. There were some interesting sights along the way as we passed through countryside, open lands, mountains, and small towns. There also were many humongous power plants. I counted at least 4, though I didn't stay awake for the entire ride.
The landscape, and the buildings for that matter, didn't necessarily look like what I imagined "Africa" looking like in my head. Even after arriving at our lodge, which has a safari look to it, I still didn't feel like I was actually in Africa. I'm thinking perhaps that I won't get that feeling until I see giraffes or lions out in the wild.
There were some roadside vendors and shops selling fruits, ceramics, and crafts along parts of the journey.
Upon our arrival, we were greeted by the other volunteers who were hanging out at the lodge that day. (Sunday is a free day, so some people were out sight-seeing.) I met about 8 to 10 other volunteers from all over the world, which was a little overwhelming, so remembering their names was difficult.
Main entrance.
Fruit bats that live underneath the roof of the entrance. They are actually really cute and don't bother humans.
The courtyard near my room.
I was shown to my room along with the new volunteer from Mexico that I met the previous day. We were both very surprised to see that there were 3 bunk beds in our room. We were told that two of the bottom bunks were ours. At first we were not sure how many other girls were sharing the room with us. By the second day, we figured out that there are 3 other girls in our room. We barely interacted with them at all on the first day, as the old volunteers seemed to stick to themselves and us newbies stuck together too.
This makes up for me never getting to experience summer camp!
In addition to rooms inside the lodge, there are some single rooms located in huts. These are really neat looking, but I think I would be a little scared to stay in one of those all by myself. This is mainly because I learned that there are some leopards that sometimes come onto the property. I will totally freak out if I come across one!
The lodge also has plenty of indoor and outdoor of seating, which is good since the bedrooms are very basic and aren't a good place to hang out unless you're sleeping. There is also a nice looking pool. I haven't gone in yet, but I am sure I will sooner or later.
In the early evening, some of the staff members returned to the lodge from a sight-seeing trip. They gave us a bit more of a formal welcome and one of them gave us a proper tour of the property. After this, I felt a lot more comfortable with the accommodations and the people here.
Braii area. (Side note: A braai is a South African version of a barbecue.)
Dinner is at 6:30pm everyday, and by this time I was starving. I was curious to see what type of food we would be served here. The first dinner was chicken in a chili sauce, fried potatoes, green beans, and salad. The vegetarian meal was the same, minus chicken. I was a little disappointed in the selection, but everything tasted fine so I guess I can't complain.
Where our meals are served.
I went to bed very early that night. The lower bunk stinks because you can't sit upright in the bed and you pretty much have to roll in and out. But other than that, the bed was comfortable and I slept like a log...until jet lag set in and I woke up wide awake in the middle of the night.
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