well we made it back! Road trip was a success and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. It started off to a bit of a rocky start though..car fell through, then we couldn't get the new one till Tuesday but we didn't have a place to stay Monday night. BUT everything worked out perfect and we even got a car that was cheaper than the rest!
Last weekend there was a team here from Tennessee and they actually bought tickets for all the LSE's to go to this big even called Passion. Now I had never heard of it before but Jennifer couldn't shut up about how amazing it was and how excited she was about it....so i got excited too, naturally. Well basically to sum it up, we went to the Cape Town Stadium, which was awesome, along with 20,000 other south africans and just worshiped God. Super cool experience. Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman were there and they sang then Louie Giglio spoke. All did a fantastic job, Jennifer was right, it was awesome. I'd absolutely recommend it to anyone!
before the concert they had the SA rugby game on
So yess that's that. Pretty much was the kick off to our road trip!
Jennifer's friend came down for Passion, she's from Jeffrey's Bay so we decided that could be an ending point of our trip so she could go on it with us. I think for the most part I'm just not going to write alot and just let the pictures speak for themselves. I did take almost 1,000 pictures on this adventure but don't ya worry I will not put em all up. just the favorites :]
So enjoyyy my pictures. but forewarned you might get a bit jealous!
So the plan we had about this trip was to start in Cape Town and end up in Jeffrey's Bay. Where we stopped along the way was soley up to us and if the town was exciting or not. When we figured we'd stay the night we'd look up backpackers lodges/hostels in the area, call and hope there was an opening. It was great...never had to be anywhere at a certain time..just did what we wanted. For you people who need plan and structure in your life...I'm soo not the girl to go on a trip with ;]
Well South Africa has some of the prettiest views I have seen. This country is absolutely gorgeous.
So for a good bit we decided to go on Route 62 because we just assumed it was like Africa's version of Route 66.
I've offically drank more coffee on this trip then I have in my whole life. I figured my Pop would be proud. Now you'll havin a drinkin buddy!
&& this is the animal part of our trip. I was set and determined to find as many animals as possible and we did a dang good job! So here are some of our 'encounters'
Ostriches
got to feed em and get a hug from one.
Boa Constrictor
Her name is Precious. after holding her for a good 5 minutes the guy told me she could break every bone in my body if she wanted to.
....some things you just don't tell someone when holding a snake.
BEST DAY EVER!!!!
Elephants :]
*jennifer and myself & two other men were the only ones at this sanctuary this day. I got to talking to the manager here and he asked where I was from. I told him Texas and his eyes got big and said what part, very enthusiastically..I told him Fort Worth and he just said you have got to be joking. Confused, I said no...well turns out this guy lived in Ft. Worth for 2 years! what a small world. He is South African and actually grew up in Kruger, which is one of the biggest game reserves, so aweseome/insanely jealous. Anyways he was in Texas working as a cowboy on a cattle ranch. I told him he's just lived the life then. He made it known that us Texas folk are some of the nicest people he's ever come across. we bonded and became instant friends!
we went on a walk and she held my hand! how could you not just fall in love with them.
This is a stripeless tiger. There are only 25 known in the world! super awesome
Huge bat
THANKFULLY this was the only spider I saw. hate these things.
Went down to the beach one day and found at least 15 big jelly fish like this!
&& then this obviously had to happen.
&& then to end our trip we went on a safari! I went on one when my family was here...but Jennifer hasn't and you cant LIVE in Africa and not go on one. That's another rule haha.
(baby ostriches)
&& there we go.
BLOWS my mind that this trip we'd been talking about since forever has come and gone. && now I get to just hang out until my next adventure. Moving back home to Texas. I'm excited but it'll be weird leaving here considering South Africa has been my home for the past 8 & 1/2 months. This wasn't just a trip...it was my life. Everyone keeps asking what I'm doing when I get back and I wish I had an answer but I don't. But as each day goes by I'm more and more okay with it because God got me here and he will get me where I need to be next.
Woohooo guys only a couple more days until Im back! I know you all miss me ;) I'm looking forward to being around my family. Seeing M&M's basketball games. Going out with the girls and seeing the guys. Night outs on the town and nights in being lazy. getting to give Eric the biggest, longest hug ever experienced. Guess this is just me saying how lucky am I to have SO much to come back to! I am blessed beyond measure and am reminded daily.
So to all ya'll, this may or may not be my last post...actually I'm sure I might get one more in before I head out. Still got about 10 days before I jet. Just wanted to say thank you for the prayers, encouragement, thoughts, texts, messages, just everything while I've been gone.
" People ask me 'Doesn't it paralyze you to walk so closely and intimately with suffering?'
'No.' I tell them.
'If I've learned anything from my time in Africa, it's that though the suffering is overwhelming, so too is the hope. "
God never gives anything you can't handle.
