1. Sophia and Chris’s African Adventure For those who don’t know, Chris works for a program called IE3 Global Internships (http://ie3global.ous.edu), which places students from around the northwest in internships all over the world. As the Africa Director, Chris has the arduous task of traveling to Africa every 18 months or so to visit their partner organizations and try to recruit new partners. Sophia was lucky enough to accompany him on this trip.

2. = places we went

3. Cape Town First stop, the KirstenboschGarden http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionswc/kirstenbosch.htm

7. For dinner the first night we went to the Waterfront, a touristy area of Cape Town with great restaurants and shopping. Check out Table Mountain in the background

11. Chris did some rogue street photography with his new zoom lens

12. It got a lot of use this trip

13. For you World Cup fans – the stadium isn’t far from the Waterfront. This is one of 10 stadiums built just for this summer’s World Cup (we saw another one in Durban)

14. Chris had to work the next day, so Sophia went to the Castle of Good Hope and explored the shops and great restaurants along Long Street

15. Talk about starting the morning out right with breakfast! Look at that beautiful fruit salad.

18. The restaurant at Constantia Uitsig Winery, where one of Chris’s students is working (for more about the Constansia Valley: http://www.constantiavalley.com/)

20. Another winery. This one was featured in the movie “Blood Diamond”

22. Cape Peninsula On Thursday we ventured down the peninsula to visit the Cape Penguins and see the Cape of Good Hope.

24. This is where the penguins live. Tough life.

30. Luckily we were in the car the only time we saw one

32. Cape of Good Hope

33. Cape Point, the south-western-most point in Africa

34. Look ma, no shoes! (Brrr, the Atlantic is cold!)

36. The view from Chapman’s Drive, one of the most beautiful drives in the world

37. Noordhoek Beach (at the south end of the drive)

38. Then we went on safari!

40. No, seriously, we really did. Safari #1 was at Hluhluwe National Park.

43. It’s not just the zoom lens – we literally drove right past them!

49. We got stuck behind this guy for 2 hours. He was in the middle of the road and a bull elephant can flip over a car, so there wasn’t much we could do

50. Who knew they sometimes cross their ankles while they eat?

54. This is where we stayed – the “tree house” at a bush lodge frequented by bush babies (If you don’t know what a bush baby is, do a Google Images search for one. They’re super cute and you’ll find funny pictures of George W. Bush holding a crying baby too)

56. When we went into town to buy groceries we drove by a pineapple farm! We bought a farm fresh pineapple and ate it with dinner that night.

57. Sophia was really happy

58. Swaziland Chris sometimes sends interns to Cabrini Ministries, which runs a hostel for children affected by HIV/AIDS and a health clinic. Some of the kids showed off their dance moves for us!

65. We ate a fresh mango from this very tree

66. We stayed at Cabrini the first night, but we had a hard time finding anywhere else to stay in Swaziland. We ended up at backpackers lodge in Mlilwane Park, Swaziland’s largest public game park. Safari #2, anyone?

67. There were warthogs right outside the door of our hunt

74. Last stop in Swaziland: Ngwenya Glass, producing fair-trade products from 100% recycled glass http://www.ngwenyaglass.co.sz/

75. Lesotho(pronounced “La-SU-tu”) Another IE3 Internship opportunity is the GRO Foundation, which helps local people start businesses to support themselves and their communities http://www.grofoundation.org/programs.php

77. By G.R.O. Artisans. We bought a ton of their gorgeous jewelry.

79. The Grannies Chicken Project. These cuties grow into broiler chickens in 6 weeks!

80. We left G.R.O. on a Friday and headed into the highlands of Lesotho…

81. …through Gates of Paradise Pass (the plaque says, ”‘Wayfarer pause and look up a gateway of paradise’ –Mervyn Smith”)…

82. …and into the Malealea Valley

88. Our hut at Malealea Lodge and Pony Trekking Center (http://www.malealea.co.ls/)

89. A great way to recycle old beer cans! (this is the bedside table in our room)

94. We were treated to some amazing musicians (using homemade instruments), dancers and singers

95. The next day – pony trekking with Victor, our guide

97. Going up! (we had come down this earlier. It was sort of terrifying)

98. But everyone made it back in one piece, including Chris and Atlas…

99. …and Sophia and Power

100. Namibia Sophia went back home, and Chris continued to visit internship sites

101. Windhoek, the capital city

103. Then nothing for basically 100 miles

104. Except termite mounds (Chris estimates that thing is 8-10 feet tall!)

105. Destination: Cheetah Conservation Fund (http://www.cheetah.org/)

106. A hornbill (they like their reflections and will tap on the glass for hours)

107. Harry and Hermione

108. It’s a tradition to take guests on a “sundowner”, where you drive out into the bush and drink champagne as the sun goes down

109. Oryx with the Waterberg Plateau in the background

110. Yes, that really is Chris hugging a cheetah. These cats were raised from birth at CCF and they’re super friendly. Their purring sounds a little like a tractor.

112. (No worries, Chris still has his whole arm)

114. In the “play trees” where cheetahs search for prey

116. To make sure the cheetahs associate food with running, the staff throw them chunks of donkey meat from the back of a moving pickup truck every morning

119. THE END Hope you enjoyed! Please let us know if you have questions or want more information about anything we saw. We have LOTS more pictures we’re happy to share, including about a zillion picture of penguins!