CEDAR FALLS - Jon Crews spent his summer vacation soaking up culture.

On a two-week trip to South Africa, Crews was able to immerse himself in his new family's culture and that of a new country at the same time.

Crews and his wife, Ronelle, have been married for eight months. They have never been to Ronelle's native South Africa together, so they traveled there in August to renew their vows before Ronelle's family, which gave Crews a chance to meet the crew.

Up until now, Crews had only been acquainted with his mother-in-law by telephone. Crews thinks highly of his mother-in-law's sense of humor, noting she picked on him and Ronelle equally.

"You don't pass my mom easily, so he did well," Ronelle said.

Crews spent much of the trip in Kleinmond, a resort town on the ocean about 68 miles southeast of Cape Town. Ronelle's mother lives there, although Ronelle grew up inland.

The couple took frequent walks and often ate at restaurants.

Crews enjoyed the time he had to soak up the views.

"Almost everywhere we looked you saw mountains. It's all mountains and oceans, not exactly what we have here in Iowa," he said.

One day they were out for a walk and came across schoolgirls playing a game of netball, a sport similar to basketball with a noticeable difference in that the baskets have no backboards. Ronelle had played netball in South Africa, but didn't jump in on the game.

The couple traveled inland for a few days to Pretoria and a wildlife reserve. At the reserve, they saw lions and hyenas at feeding time and saw zebras drinking from a swimming pool at a restaurant.

Crews found the country to be beautiful but noted many differences between it and America.

"It has great extremes from rich to poor," Crews said. The country has a 40 percent unemployment rate. With such high unemployment, crime naturally follows.

While the Crewses weren't victims of crime nor did they witness any, Ronelle had warned not to go out walking at night. Many of the homes had barred windows or protective walls.

The flights to and from Pretoria took 20 minutes each. On the flight back, Crews picked up a newspaper and one story inside reported18 local elected officials in one province had been killed in the past year. The story noted a city in that province hires 10 bodyguards to protect its officials.

Crews appreciated the fact that such measures aren't necessary here.

He had plenty of opportunity to sample the South African fare, which he found spicier and more meat-oriented than his normal tastes.

"Some things were really good and some of it … well I didn't ask for seconds," he said.

The return to the United States provided a little more culture shock than just jet lag. They drove home from the airport and stopped for gas where they had to actually pump their own gas. In South Africa it's all full service.

Contact Jon Ericson at (319) 291-1402 or jonathan.ericson@wcfcourier.com.