Last night Ruan took me out to dinner at a beautiful restaurant called Cynthia’s. After dinner we got in the car and started driving, but he wouldn’t tell me where we were going! Finally we pulled off the road onto a small dirt road and bumped along for a few minutes before pulling into a place called the Sundowner’s Lodge. We went into our room which was beautiful (the Big Five Room because of the decorations) and Ruan asked me to marry him! I said yes of course! He had champagne waiting on ice (along with flowers and chocolates and candles). It was beautiful and romantic and I am very, very happy.



Ruan is going to move to Reno with me as soon as we get his visa situation figured out. Obviously I am disappointed that we won’t be together for a little while, but I am also very excited about starting our new life together.

Ruan and I went camping and had a run-in with an ostrich. I'm not sure what his problem was, but the ostrich would chase me around the tent and was stalking us all night. I had to chase him off with a kitchen towel (fairly effective for ostrich removal).

Ruan and I spent the last 3 days at Manyane Resort near the Pilanesburg National Reserve. It is a pretty resort with thatched bungalows, 2 swimming pools, a restaurant and a semi-tame ostrich that wanders around. There are some wild baboons that like to cause mischief; we heard them a few times.

The amazing thing about Manyane is how close it is to the park gates (maybe 2 minute drive). We drove around the inside of the park for 3 days and saw so many amazing animals! Rhinos, Zebras, Elephants, Giraffes, Hippos, Wildebeest, Kudu, impala and many, many more! It was fun to just drive around in your own car and stop when you want and turn when you want. I was surprised how close we were able to get to the animals (in the car, you aren’t allowed to get out of the car). The only animals we didn’t get to see were Lions, Leopards, Water Buffalo and Hyenas. I was a bit disappointed by not seeing Lions, but there is always next time.



Today we went to Sun City (a famous casino area). I’m not terribly excited by gambling, but we did go to the City of the Waves, a fun water park. We had a good time swimming and going on water-slides.



After we drove back from Sun City I met Ruan’s parents and brother and sister-in-law. I was terribly nervous but ended up getting along very well with them. Ruan’s mother had cooked an amazing meal Boerakorse (I’m sure I’m spelling that wrong). There was all sorts of traditional Boer food and I was stuffed by the time we finished.