Those Damn Yankees in Johannesburg

We had heard a lot about how great South Africa is, and I got very lucky that my boss wanted to send me to a weeklong training in Johannesburg.  This was actually my second time in Johannesburg, as my first trip was an overnighter to the city to pick up some equipment that we needed in Kampala.  Since that trip was only overnight, I was excited to explore more of the city and see what it had to offer.

Just to add as a disclaimer, I did learn some good things at the training so tax dollars were not wasted.  I ended up hitting it off with two other IMS’ers in the training that were as eager as I was to get out and explore the city.  The one guy had rented a car, so we were able to drive around and check out a different spot each night.  One night we went to a popular craft beer restaurant called Beerhouse and joined in on their trivia night.  We named ourselves “Damn Yankees” and I think the rest of the people at the bar probably thought it was an appropriate name as we smoked them in trivia!  Now I will say that a bunch of the questions were actually about American history, which I guess was supposed to be difficult for your local South African, but for us, they were nice treats to pad our final score.  Winning is always great, and having some awesome craft beer while winning makes it that much better.

The guys also got me to do something that I never thought I would do, which is go up in a hot air balloon.  Granted this balloon was tied to the ground the entire time, but for me, it was still a big deal and it took me a while to not be terrified and think that every noise I heard was the balloon letting me know that we were about to careen back to the Earth.

I look cool and composed, but inside I am screaming in fear.

Survived and back on land.

Keeping up with the adventure, a large group of the training class went out to a Lion park to see and pet some lions.  Another disclaimer.  I didn’t know before I went that this place participated in canned lion hunting, and while petting young lions should probably have tipped me off, I was too enthralled with the idea of petting a lion that I was not fully thinking.  That said, the young lions were so cute and seemed to love the attention.  The place also had adult lions, and actually fed them a hunk of a horse while we were there (safely in our cars of course).  It was incredible and a bit terrifying to hear the lions let out roars and growls as the bounded towards the hunk of meat.  The noises they made while they tore apart the horse leg reminded me how tiny and weak I am compared to your average lion.

Lions feasting on horse meat.

Greg petting some baby lions.

I decided to fit one more crazy experience in while there, and got to walk around with and pet a cheetah!  The cheetah seemed pretty relaxed and didn’t mind having me hang out with it.  I even got a lick from the cheetah!  Its tongue wasn’t rough like a house cat, instead, it was actually pretty soft.  Being at Lion Park in general whether wrong or right, was still a pretty cool experience.

Greg with a cheetah!

I spent an extra day in Johannesburg after training ended, and went to a bird park to see the vast amount of birds they had.  I wish Katie could have been with me as I think she would have been in heaven.  There were so many different types of birds and even some lemurs that it was hard not to have a great time checking them all out.  To see all the pictures from this trip, check out our SmugMug page.

Much nicer eating habits than the lions.

Lemur just hanging out checking out the people walking around.

After the bird park, I went to a rugby match to finish out my Johannesburg trip.  This was the third rugby match that I have gone to, and I still do not get the allure for the game.  It’s fun to be there, but just doesn’t have the same excitement for me as a football (NFL) or hockey game does.