Diamonds are a girl's best friend

We're finally back in Cape Town...after 3 LONG bus days (we covered 1000 miles in 3 days), everyone was more than excited to be at our "home" the Check-Inn for the next week. It's so nice to lay out my belongings and not have to constantly live out of my overcrowded suitcase. I'll miss my roomie, Elayna, though. Girl talks were the highlight of life on the road. The other thing I won't miss about life on the road: the rest stops. For lunch, it was always Steer's, Wimpy Burger, or the Pick and Pay. I've never eaten so many toasted cheese sandwiches, or smorgasborgd lunch of cheese and bread in my life. Cheese, dried fruit, almonds, digestive biscuits and Cadbury Bars (everything but Fruit and Nut, which some people disagree on...). The other thing I won't miss? The rest stops. I've never used so many nasty bathrooms in my life....But I digress. A small price to pay, I suppose, for my fully funded trip.

Here are some of the amazing things we find at rest stops and convience stores in South Africa. Hot Chutney...The PUFF that makes you TUFF! So good, I can't even make that up!


Ok, so after leaving Botswana, and heading into Mafeking, we made our way to Kimberly, the Diamond Capital of South Africa. It was there that we saw the BIG HOLE...yes, an entire museum dedicated to a giant mining hole - the biggest man made hole in the world, apparently. It was big...and a hole. Not much else to say about that. We also got to go into a "simulated mine" which included some fake explosions...we had a good time playing the game and screaming. Our group had reached the point where anything and everything was funny...

Look! I can hold up the big hole!!!

The highlight (after getting our coffee fix) was the walking around the Old Mine Town...another simulation, of course. We found our fun fix: the Skittle Alley bowling. It's basically old fashioned bowling meets Skee-ball. I managed to knock down 7 of 9 pins on one try, earning me a tie for 2nd place. My Polish bowling family should be proud. We also found the really cool replica bar.

Miner Bar

Dedication at a game of Skittles!!


We got to Kimberly and decided to take a taxi for dinner to head to a restaurant called "The Halfway House" In its hayday, people used to ride up in the horses and ring a bell and their meals/drinks would be delivered to them. Not quite the same today, but we did have a lot of fun. We met an interesting Afrikaaner lady who taught us how to swear. Always a good time.
Kimberly to Matjiesfontein was the longest haul of the trip...almost 500 miles in one day. Stir crazy doesn't even begin to explain it. I was doing everything I possibly could to make it through.... Kori came up with a great bus game which involved thinking of a word and then the first person who could sing a song with the word in it got a point. That kept us entertained for a while, although I'm not sure there rest of the bus enjoyed our outbursts of songs...including Christmas Carols.
We arrived at Matjiesfontein and checked into our hotel: the Lord Milner...which is basically a step back in time to a Colonial resort town. Awesome vibe and beautiful scenery. Dinner was served with silver untensils and I had the Bobotie which is a typical South African Malay dish of Mince meat a cheese over rice. Very interesting, and good. We finished off the night with some delish Malva Pudding...
After dinner the fun led us to the bar where we had an 80's dance party. I hit the hay early....so tired from sitting on the bus.
Today was our last bus ride, but we had some time this morning to explore the one-street town. Chris and I wandered about taking lots of pics (haven't uploaded them yet - will post later) and also visited the town museum which was essentially a house stuffed to the brim with anything and everything people were getting rid of in town. There was an entire room dedicated to chamber pots and toilets.
Our final drive was a short one, made more enjoyable by some ipod switching. Itunes is going to get a work out when I get home - got lots of great new stuff to download! We arrived back in Cape Town and were very very very excited to check in to the Check Inn. First thing on the agenda: turn in the laundry!!! Then we headed to the V&A for some shopping and to get our rugby tickets for Friday night. So EXCITED! We also went out for a nice dinner and celebrated the fact that Matt, a guy on my trip, finally got hired. The poor guy had to do a skype interview while in South Africa to secure his new job.
Tomorrow we head to the schools...it's going to be interesting! Look for a new post soon! One week from today I'll be flying over Africa.....