A side note, at this point on the trip I have been running a fever from what was believed to be food poisoning. Eating hot dogs at night clubs is something I will never do again. But for the most part the food has been tasty and non vegetarian, people in south africa love meat and braais (bbq's) are an integral part of the culture.
The euphoric feeling after the win lingered in us the next morning as we boarded the bus to the Elephant Park in Jo-Burg. The elephant park was great, the tour had three parts, anatomy, touching and feeding. The touching was the most enjoyable three teenage african elephants were brought before us to take picture with and see them up close. The leader of the tour suggested getting a kiss from the elephant, so not fully knowing what was going to happen, I nervously volunteered to go first. The rest is a one time feeling that is hard to describe. The elephant brought its trunk up from the dirty ground and placed it on my cheek. The big mammal then sucked and blew out leaving a residue of dirt and elephant snot on my face. Now I can say that I have been kissed by an elephant. After seeing the large bull of the group we then headed to the cheetah park which was close by.
We stopped for a bite to eat at a market on the way to the cheetah park. I enjoyed a 1/4 chicken tikka which was a bit spicy and fries, which are called "chips," here. What would have been a decent meal was hard to enjoy with the churning of my stomach.
At the cheetah park we were able to pet a live full grown cheetah! The big cat was placed on a table in front of Fred, Zack, Mike and I and we nervously petted and smiled for the camera. The next part consisted of a safari vehicle ride through their camp, where we saw more cheetahs, wild dogs, ostriches, and antelope. The center specializes in taking in wild animals that farmers find annoying or harmful to their fields or flocks. It was very cool to see how wild and ravenous these animals are when food is around.
A great day was capped off with plenty of alcohol and adventures in hatfield. Enough said.
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