The next day we went to the Bryanton Organic Market, an outdoor market made up of permanent wood stalls.  Vendors sell everything from pottery and jewelry to iron sculptures and vegetables.  While there we ate a tasty breakfast of organic muffins and youngberry juice- amazingly delicious!  A youngberry is a a hybrid between a blackberry and a dewberry (kind of like a raspberry but black in color).

We did some shopping and bought souvenirs to take home including a guinea foul butter dish, calabash gourd ornaments, and a beautiful linen skirt sewn by a man from Ghana. Everywhere we went people were so friendly to James calling him "boss" and shaking his hand.  Here he is with a security guard at the market.

We spent the next few days relaxing, shopping and preparing for Thanksgiving.  We were having 12 guests over (including office couples and mission assistants) so we were busy helping Jane make rolls, stuffing, and pies. We brought two cans of pumpkin from the states so we could have real pumpkin pie.  Even though they eat fresh pumpkin as a staple in Johannesburg, you can't get it canned like you can in America.

Thanksgiving dinner was delicious and very American.  You would never guess we were 10,000 miles from home. I think the missionaries who ate with us appreciated it since they were probably a little homesick.

That weekend we ventured out to the Sandton Lion Park in the Gauteng Provence (pronounced how-tang).  This was another game reserve which boasts 80 lions, including rare white lions. 

What an awesome experience petting baby lions and even James got the opportunity.  He kept trying to poke the cub so we had to keep reminding him to be gentle.  Even though they are babies, they can still bite and scratch.




The funnest part was feeding Milo the giraffe.  For 5 Rand (about 75 cents in US dollars) you could get a bag of pellets to feed him.  The platform put you at eye level with the Giraffe and his long tongue felt like slimy sandpaper- ewe! 



James was so funny when we let him hold a pellet.  The giraffe stuck out its tongue to eat and James wouldn't let go!  It's tongue kept trying to get the pellet but James held fast until the giraffe finally managed to flick it out.  We were just amazed that James wasn't even scared!

We then drove through the rest of the park and saw lots of lions and even followed our friend Milo the giraffe who crossed the road in front of us.  Notice how this lion's paws are on the road?  Yep, our car was just a few feet away from him!