Fragile Lives

I spent my first few days back in the United States sick. After 24 hours or so of flying, I guess that was to be expected. A bunch of the other students that I spoke to were also sick post South Africa. The last days spent in South Africa were at an upscale resort which made me feel especially spoiled having just come from living in a village without running water and sleeping on an especially hard floor. All the beds I have slept in since the sleeping-bag-on-concrete-nights have felt like heaven and I am vastly more grateful for something that I have taken for granted my entire life.

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Life and Death in HaMakuya

Posted on September 21, 2016 by ingarcia

Life and Death in HaMakuya

By Katie Peige

After about ten days experiencing the magnificent wildlife that Kruger had to offer, we left the park bound for our homestays. After leaving the guarded fences of the park, our surroundings changed dramatically as the animal sightings tapered off (we were still seeing some birds) and humans were reintroduced into the environment. The exotic animals were gone and replaced with goats and chickens running around yards fenced in with branches and barbed wire. Colorful mud huts slowly changed the landscape and with them, scattered trash sprinkled the roadsides like petals welcoming the new visitors.

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The Circle of Life

Posted on September 19, 2016 by ingarcia

The Circle of Life

By Katie Peige

Wow, it’s been an amazing two days in Kruger National Park! We started off early from Wits Rural for an eight hour drive to Olifants Camp. Apparently we had one of the most successful safaris just on the first day! It is amazing to see the animals despite the devastating drought here. Apparently, no one has ever seen the bush as bare as this since this is one of the worst droughts in 100 years. Despite the lack of water there were plenty of animals and many people have said that the lack of water could be good as the lions, leopard and cheetah may have more of a bounce back with the ample supply of weakened prey. Early on in our game drive we saw an injured hippo that was apparently the loser to a fight over a bit of river that was too small for two hippo. He had a bad gash in his cheek and will likely become dinner to some carnivore soon.

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Elephants and Fires

Posted on September 14, 2016 by ingarcia

Elephants and Fires

By Katie Peige

We finally made it to South Africa! James and I were able to sit next to each other and share stories about our pre-travels to Europe. We landed at the airport in Johannesburg and it was a weird transition for me to see all the advertisements and signs in English again. This trip is the first time I have been in a foreign country where English is an official language and won’t have to worry about anyone understanding me, or at least not in the city or a touristy place, I am not sure about the upcoming homestays.

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Pre-adventures

Posted on June 23, 2016 by jehollow

Pre-adventures

By Katie Peige

It was 117°F when I left Phoenix bound for Zürich, Switzerland. It was so hot that my plane was delayed for 50 minutes as we waited for a machine to blow cool air into the engine in order for the engine to start. In case you wanted to know, that’s 47°C or “sieben und vierzig Grad” in German/auf Deutsch.

I decided to take a mini vacation to Switzerland before the trip to South Africa. The majority of the flights to South Africa flew via a stop-over in Europe and since I would have had to leave on Monday to get to South Africa, I decided that I might as well leave on Saturday since I don’t have to work on the weekends, and visit my Swiss family for three days. Eleven years ago I was an exchange student in Switzerland and ever since I affectionately refer to my host family as my Swiss family and on the flipside, they tell people about their daughter in America. Needless to say, we are super close so I wanted to take advantage of the weekend to visit and practice my German.

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