Good morning Troop 2532! I have resurfaced after a fun and amazing trip to South Africa! I have so much to tell you and lots of great pictures.

As you may have guessed, after my time with the Radican family, they were nice enough to find me a new home with a great new family! My new hosts are named Evan and Jennifer Fox and they live in Arlington, VA (right outside of Washington, DC). They are newly weds and Jen (as I call her) used to be a girl scout too! So needless to say I was so happy to be with them and then when they told me about the upcoming trip, I was ecstatic! I have never been to South Africa, but all I knew was I wanted to see elephants and zebras!

Here is a picture of the Fox family.

We didn't spend much time in Arlington, and we took off to South Africa in mid October. I got out my passport again and hoped a plane with the Fox family from DC to Europe, and then down to Cape Town, South Africa. It look almost 24 hours of flying! That's a whole day!!

When we arrived, I didn't realize how big Africa is! There were all types of people too with great accents and stories. In Cape Town, we got a chance to see and visit Table Rock, one of the new wonders of the world!  Table Mountain or Table Rock is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town, and is featured in the Flag of Cape Town and other local government insignia. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the cableway or hiking to the top. The mountain forms part of the Table Mountain National Park.

After spending a few days in Cape Town we headed to Fanschaek, wine country. Mr. and Mrs. Fox got to try a lot of wines and enjoyed their time there. Then we went on to view some of the game reserves including Kruger National Park, Sabi Sand Game Reserve and Thorneybush Game Reserve.

Kruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of 19,485 square kilometres (7,523 sq mi) in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends 360 kilometres (220 mi) from north to south and 65 kilometres (40 mi) from east to west. Areas of the park were first protected by the government of the South African Republic in 1898, and it became South Africa's first national park in 1926.

On the game reserves we got to stay in little huts surrounded by beautiful and majestic animals including elephants, zebras, giraffes, lions, and more! Here you can see the elephants right outside of our room!! I tried to get in the picture but it was hard to capture both me and the elephants! Can you see them?

Here are more pictures from the game reserves and what our huts looked like. They made for easy viewing of the wildlife, while not getting to close to get eaten! :)

Sabi Sand Game Reserve often shortened to Sabi Sand, is a private game reserve in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. It is named after the Sabie and Sand Rivers that flow through the park. It covers an area of 60,000-65,000 ha. Situated near to the Kruger Gate, the park shares a common 50 km unfenced boundary with the Kruger National Park to the east. Sabi Sand is the birthplace of sustainable wildlife tourism in southern Africa, and is the oldest of all the private reserves in South Africa. It has only ever been a wilderness area and is home to a vast wildlife population, which includes The Big Five, besides a number of endangered species. Flanking the Kruger National Park, animals pass unhindered between the reserves.

Just look at those teeth!

Thornybush Game Reserve, is a private game reserve, near Hoedspruit, in the Limpopo province of South Africa. It borders the Kapama Game Reserve and is located close to the Timbavati Game Reserve and the Kruger Park. The Reserve's surface area is approximately 11.000 Ha of mainly open savannah. I saw lots of cats at Thornybush! Do you know what these are?

Cheetahs! The fastest cat on the planet!

Though my time in South Africa went by wayyyy too fast, I got to spend some great time up close and personal with many new animals I had only seen pictures of in book or at the zoo. This time they were in their natural habitat and breathtaking to watch. I hope I get to come back here one day, it was a place I will never forget! Thank you to the Fox family for taking such good care of me!

On to my next adventure....where do you think I will go next?