Secunda (June 8-11)

After our wildlife adventure, we ventured back towards Johannesburg where we grabbed lunch at a very nice mall. The mall was just like ours at home. The family told me this would be my best and aside from the overpriced airport, my last opportunity to do some shopping. They made it their mission to make sure I found a few trinkets to take home with me. They could not have been more hospitable. After we finished our shopping we got back in the car and headed towards Secunda.

Secunda is really only in existance because of the petroleum refinery and mines that Sasol runs (Sasol is the company I am here working with.) Sasol employees about 20,000 people in this town alone. Needless to say, aside from my hotel, there isn't too much to see. My hotel is nice, however it is very commercialized. For those of you who have stayed at the Grosvener in Disney World, this is basically a smaller version of that, minus Mickey Mouse of course. My room is decorated with pictures of Washington, DC and George Washington. Makes it kind of hard to remember that I am actually in South Africa, though I must admit the view from my room is great! Fortunatley last night Jaco and his colleageu Anton, took me out to a local restaurant for dinner. It was decorated very nicely, and the food was exceptional. They helped me choose what to get, and somehow I ended up trying some chicken livers as an appetizer and grilled Ostrich for dinner. It was definitely better than the food they were serving at the "American Cafe" restaurant in my hotel.





So far this trip really has exceeded my expectations. I hope to bring Andy here one day, as it really is a great country and extremely affordable.