Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Things you have never done....

Tonight's post will mostly NOT be about Agility... Imagine that...

As I mentioned in the previous post, these past 10 days, we had the absolute privilege of having well-known, successful Agility trainers, Lee Gibson and Lucy Osborne here in Johannesburg.  I will rave about the awesomeness of the workshops and seminars later on.  Some GOOD agility, the boys really enjoyed it!  Lucy seems to be a tiny little bit in love with Volt, which of course is SUPER COOL. She ended up taking a TON of amazing pics of him. But now back to non-Agility things...

Photo by Lucy Osborne


Of course we wanted to show them some cool-arsed South African things, so a couple of months back me and J began hunting for things to do... as the time came closer we settled on some activities and sight-seeing trips.  Lucky for us they are both really nice, easy-going people, so it was FUN to entertain them too.  Lots of laughs, sore stomach muscles even...  Those that are befriended with me on Facebook (oi, are you THAT desperate for friends :) ) would have seen some of the pics of the past 10 days... We went to Maropeng and the Sterkfontein Caves (http://www.maropeng.co.za/), where we had an ice-fight in the 'elements ride', but couldn't manage to tip the boat, damnit.  We got some pretty cool commemorative pics though.The Craft Market at Rosebank (http://www.craft.co.za/Rooftop/bab-markets-rooftop-the-art-of-shopping), where we witnessed Lee's bargaining skills.... apparently 'Morning Prices' weren't good enough for him!  For those that have not been to Africa... here we bargain baby and there is always some 'special price' for something... Lucy the Pole (NOT), got the 'Polish Price', but turned out the British price was just the same???  We went to The Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens (http://www.sanbi.org/gardens/walter-sisulu), taking a short, but very steep hike up the mountain, but unfortunately the black eagles that breed there didn't want to come to the party and remained elusive...  We did have a fantastic lunch though and spied the sneaky finches stealing and eating sugar packets.  All the 'in-between' times were also filled with a lot of jokes and 'jackassery' (there is always a jack-ass somewhere right Lee?)



The most amazing day was on Saturday, when we went to the Anne van Dyk Cheetah Centre (http://www.dewildt.co.za/) to see the Cheetah run and pet some real live cheetahs as well as take the tour.  The best part for me was seeing the African Wild Dogs, they are just such phenomenal animals and I haven't seen one since I was a little kid of 8.  We had a fantastic tour guide and the whole experience was just amazing.  After a brilliant Wimpy brunch (shame, poor Lee, it is the only thing he will miss apparently :) ) we headed off to the Elephant Sanctuary (http://www.elephantsanctuary.co.za/) , where we got to meet, greet and interact with some amazingly affectionate African Elephants.  They were the most brilliant creatures.  And so considerate... the one even retrieved Lucy's sunglasses when they fell off during her Elephant back ride!  Scary enough, we also witnessed a BRIDE in a full-on white, fluffy wedding dress get on an elephant (I mean REALLY people?).



We followed this with a fun-filled (and bruising and stiffening) two days at Sun City (http://www.suninternational.com/Destinations/Resorts/SunCity/Pages/default.aspx), which involved so many things I don't know where to start!  Water games, water slides (oi, or flumes as the Brits call 'em), sundowners, lots of FOOD (especially for W), semi-drunken charades, which was HILARIOUS and trust me, video will follow....  followed by a slight anti-climax today at a our local theme-park... neither me, nor J had been there since little kids (when it was pretty cool), but today was NOT cool!  Literally half the rides were 'closed for maintenance' and it was dirty and neglected.... luckily we are the kind of people that can make the best of any situation and we fully utilized two of the best ever thrill rides that were open.



The sad thing is that even though I live here in deep (not so deep, just South), dark (not at all, the friggin sun is always shining, which SUCKS when you are hung over) Africa (is a tough country baby).  And most of these things are a short drive away from my house, I would have never gone and done them if it wasn't for Lee and Lucy's visit.  Of course the good company helps make it even better, but the lesson learnt is to DO things!

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