Welcome to South Africa: Braais, Biltong, and Boerewors

An African sunrise over  Senegal on the last stretch of my trip to Joberg.

        Getting to the Rainbow Nation, South Africa, from the US is no mean feat. I picked up a flight out of Los Angeles on Virgin, stopping in DC long enough to get myself sorted, eat and hop on a plane, before getting on South African Airways for the long haul across the Atlantic. We had a short stop in Dakar, Senegal to refuel and refit before a sunrise take off and ten more hours to Johannesburg. After about 24 hours in transit, I was relieved to see my friend Tracie waiting for me at the airport with a bag of biltong (the South African version of jerky, but wet, raw and wayyyyyy more delicious!) and a tin of zambuk (South Africa's version of Burts Bees).

      After tooling around town for a couple of days, meeting friends, munching more biltong and enjoying life, we joined a group for a weekend camping outside of the town of Cullinan. We stopped along the way to enjoy the little town, famous for its diamond mining, and to grab a cold microbrew before heading out to our camp. Tracie's friends had rented a cool little chalet, but we opted to pitch our tent a bit up the road in practice for our upcoming roadtrip. After meeting the resident zebra, Flecky, we rejoined the group in the yard of their chalet.
       The sun started to set, and a huge fire was built in order to start a true South African traditional braai. Like a barbecue but better, huge slabs of meat were lightly grilled to perfection (i.e. not much cooking) and rubbed with pepper and lemon all while a zebra wanders around in the background. The appetizer consisted of steak slices eaten with our hands before the main course of pork and lamb ribs with an assortment of fresh veggies. We eventually crashed into a cholesterol induced coma, waking with the sun for some delicious breakfast of eggs, onions, potatoes and dried sausage (boerwors) all cooked on a traditional  South African skottle.
      The weekend was a great time filled with day hikes, introductions to charming South African culture (seriously, these guys LOVE meat. Its a truly beautiful thing), and enjoying the abundant vegetation and wildlife in the area. We eventually packed up the car and waved goodbye before heading back to Joberg (as the locals call it), ready to start a new week and prepare for our roadtrip south!

First time on Virgin Airlines, going from LA to DC.

Taking off from Dakar.

The skyline of downtown Johannesburg (I think) as we drive through this lush forest of a city.

Fancy pancakes for about 3 bucks. Winning.

A cool old sign, written in both English and Afrikaans.

Beer tasting at a local micro-brewery

Cheers to new friends in new lands! (Thanks for taking the picture Tracie)

Flecky the Zebra (pronounced zeh-brah) and I getting to know each other... He nips if you dont have food for him. Cheeky lil guy.

Tracie had much better luck with Flecky.

Everything in the Rainbow Nation seems more colorful, vibrant, and likely dangerous.

A herd of impalas just kinda wandering the campground. No biggie.

Getting the fire started for a good old South African braai, like a barbecue, but more of a ritualistic worship of barely cooked meat and drinks.

A massive orb weaver, about as big as my hand, that Tracie and I almost ran into on our morning walk.

Sunrise over the the hills from our campsite (cue the music from Lion King).

Tracie supervising the skottle cooking of our breakfast. Mostly high fat meats and a few onions and potatoes with eggs

It tasted even better than it looks!

A massive hairy bug that we encountered on our walk that afternoon. Possibly a catapillar?

Flecky joined us for a snack in the garden of the chalet which our friends had rented out.

That eye tells so many stories.

Feeding Flecky whatever we could find.

The man likes his carbs, but hey, T.I.A. bru.

Flecky rewarded me for his snack by letting me kiss him on the forehead and not stomping me into the ground as apparently they are prone to doing when humans get too touchy.

Ahhhh tranquil forest.

Like the American pioneers who set out to seek their fortunes in the west, the Afrikaners (Dutch settlers in SA), used ox wagons to go further inland and establish farms.

Cooking breakfast with a zebra wandering the yard. No big deal right?

The town of Cullinan in northeastern South Africa.