Sun City & Pilanesburg

A few weekends ago we took a trip to a (relatively) near by resort. It was a 3-day weekend, so it was packed. We hadn't anticipated the crowds and didn't think to make a hotel reservation. Justin strategically positioned himself right outside the door of the customer relations director's office while attempting to deal with the problem of discovering that all 4 hotels at the resort were fully booked for the entire weekend. As hoped, he was invited into the office and was not only given a room at the "booked" hotel, but was also given a "name your own price" rate. Awesome! The complimentary breakfast at the hotel was un-be-lievable! SOOO good!! One of the best parts of the weekend, I would have to say. Near the resort is an animal reserve called Pilanesburg. This was our best safari yet. Again, awesome! It was a short trip, but we had a great time.

Bryn LOVES pulling all the toilet paper off the roll. We always put an end to it when we catch her doing it at home. But since we were on vacation, we let her play with the toilet paper all she wanted. You can't see the end of it in this picture, but it was stretched across the hotel room.

Justin and Bryn going down a great big slide

Water park at the resort. We didn't bring any swim stuff; it was too cold for swimming in our opinions, but we'd love to go back when it's warmer.

Who needs a water park when there are puddles?!

Africa's Bellagio

Hippos

See the giraffe's head above the trees?

Warthog

Rhino

Herd of elephants

Randoms

I'm so glad when Daddy comes home!...Put my arms around his neck, hug him tight like this.

Yogurt vs. Bryn

Lion Park

A couple weekends ago we visited the Lion Park. It was awesome!

Very touristy photo op.

We fed giraffes. Their tongues are super long.

We pet lion cubs.

We drove ourselves on a mini safari. We saw zebra, springbok, antelope looking things (maybe they were antelope, not sure?). Bryn's favorite part was getting to be in the front seat and out of her car seat.

These white lions were beautiful! I can't believe how close we were to them.

This gal jumped right up on the truck in front of us, trying to find out what was under the soft top. It was really awesome to see from the car behind, but if I had been in the truck I would have peed my pants for sure!

We saw a cheetah too, but it was through a fence and kinda far away.

Frequent Zoo-ers

Bryn and I go to the Jo'burg Zoo A LOT. It is one of the few places we have found where it is safe for she and I to be outside by ourselves. Lions, elephants, giraffes...all common favorites at a zoo, no? Bryn's favorite? The swings. Sometimes our visits won't consist of any animal viewing at all, just swings, swings, swings.

(View of the temple from the Zoo)

Voortrekker Monument

A few weekends ago we went out to the Voortrekker Monument. This is a huge structure built as a memorial to the first Afrikaners who trekked from the west to escape British rule. Inside is a museum with artifacts and details about the story of the Afrikaans people. It was very much like what a memorial to Mormon pioneers would be like. The clothes looked the same, they traveled in covered wagons, etc. Actually, the Afrikaners' trek east was occurring at nearly the same time as the Mormons' trek west.

We saw these guys on our way home.