Christmas

For Christmas we were allowed to travel from the 23rd through the 27th.  A group of 24 of us met at a resort called Lipophung (Dee poh fung).  We rented two large rondavels and split everything evenly.  I ended up sleeping outside on the deck the second night but the two nights cost me $4.48.  As a bonus we had running water and a real life porcelain toilet!!!  

The place was pretty messy by the second day so we had some cleaning to do.  

We each had teams for handling communal meals.  There are some amazing cooks in our group and me.  We ended up buying four live chickens and slaughtering them for shredded chicken fajitas.  

All of the red you see is chicken blood.

Someone befriended a Norwegian girl, who works for the Red Cross.  She had a very cool brand new Toyota LandCruser of the FJ-80 variety.  If I lost you that’s ok but this is pretty much hot porn for any Toyota truck lover.

I also liked the no AK-47 picture in the back window.

Close up

Everyone meet Susan.  She is from Olympia and lives really close to my friend James by Priest Point Park.  This girl is quite the character and had some gems for quotes.  I think I heard “Wait have I told you guys about beavers yet?” as well as “Why is everyone laughing every time I say the word beaver?”

I decided to stay an extra night in Butha Buthe (Butta Bootay) with some friends as traveling is difficult.  We drank very cheap wine and played cards until the early morning.  It was nice spending time with my closer friends in a smaller group.

The next day I refused to take a taxi to town only to backtrack on a taxi the 200 km to Mokhotlong so I gave hitchhiking a shot.  It took me 1 hour and 45 minutes to get a ride but I was picked up by a really cool South African professional soccer player.  He drove me to within 13 km of my house and it was a quick ride in his Audi A4.  We stopped at a lodge called Oxbow for a restroom break.  The place has some very interesting weaving birds.  

Close up of the weaved nest.

Everyone leaving, we won't see each other again until Easter.

Merry Christmas!

Peace,

- Joel