21st Birthday!

I would like to start off this post by giving a shout out to my group members for making sure I had an amazing birthday eve / birthday! Last night, Kenneth made me a cake substitute out of Oreos, and he bought a table candle for me to blow out. I totally wasn't expecting anything from them, and they brought it out at midnight, right after we left the bar. They sang happy birthday to me, and made sure the candle stayed lit in the wind. 

On my actual birthday, we woke up at 6:45 to leave by 7, to make our way to Swaziland. It was awesome, because everyone was more hungover than me! It was a rough 7 hour ride for a majority of the group on the bus, but we survived, and didn't have to use the stinking toilet. The drive to the border was beautiful, because there was a nice mixture of mountains, plains, and rolling hills. I only slept for about half the ride, then was able to enjoy the views. 

When we got to the Swaziland border, we had to hop off the bus, and go into the border control building. Swaziland is known as "The land of smiling faces", so we made sure to look happy throughout the process. We got two new stamps in our passports, and we were on our way to the beehive huts in Mlilwane. 

When we got to the Mlilwane Nature Preserve, we had some free time to settle in before dinner. I chose to let Emily nap in peace, and read my book on the nearby picnic table. I had a glass of wine, watched the sunset, and updated my blog posts for awhile until some of our group members came up. 

(Picture of the sunset. Picture of water buck next to the picnic table with me & the beehive huts) 

For dinner we went to the restaurant, and had a delicious local meal. Then they brought me a piece of chocolate cake with candles, and the whole group sang me happy birthday. They bought me a South Africa card, which they all signed, and a "prevent rhino poaching" bracelet. Overall, it was one of the most relaxing birthdays I've ever had, and I couldn't have been happier to spend it with some awesome new friends!