19 April 2015

Well, once again, the week was fine and the weekend has been lovely.

The lessons for what I thought was a course as a Game Ranger (wildlife conservation) and turned out to be Nature Guide (outdoorsy tour guide) are proving extremely dull. We sit together (a group of 5 including our Course Guide) and read through our nature guide book aloud, normally around two or three pages each, and one module per day. It doesn’t exactly come to life!

We haven’t been on a Game Drive in a while, which seems strange considering the whole aim of this Nature Guide course is for each of us to be able to lead a successful and interesting Game Drive with an examiner in the car, but there we are. What we have been doing is various activities with the Kwantu volunteers, including tree chopping, planting, and clearing overgrown grass from Kwantu’s herb garden. All of this with blunt tools! What a hoot.

So! This weekend was great. First, Sofia, Sarah, Lena and I went to the Greenacres Shopping Mall in Port Elizabeth, and after a little shopping decided to treat ourselves to the cinema! Sofia and Sarah went to see Cinderella, while Lena and I opted for a rather moving picture called Black & White.

Then came the evening. After heartily reminiscing around Kwantu about how very delicious Ginger was last week, I’ve ended up with a list of 18 Kwantu volunteers keen to eat there themselves, and although I wasn’t able to get us all on the same table, I did manage to get everyone in in two groups of 5 and a group of 8.

Naturally, the food (and wine, and even some cocktails) was very much enjoyed by all, with not even a hint of a complaint in sight.

After this, we had planned to meet with the other diners, and the fools that chose to miss out on this wonderful experience, at the Casino next door, but due to Sofia’s baby face did not successfully gain entry (depite my many futile attempts to change to bouncer’s mind, a list of which I will not be releasing just yet…)

Luckily, last week when I had my nice little seafront market shop, I saw another place just up the road from where we were called Beer Shack. How can you resist a name like that!

The girls seemed happy with the choice, and who could blame them! As you enter the venue, on your left is Bar One. This is the Tasting Station, where you discuss with the Beer Expert your preferred flavours and heaviness in a beer, and he finds the right one for you. You then go to Bar Two opposite to order. Needless to say…

…he found the right one for all of us.

Now it might just be the morning after the night before talking, but I’ve woken up with a bit of a funk today. My learning experience isn’t at all what I was sold, and I’m frankly bored and frustrated. I had a look today at Baz Bus, a jump-on-jump-off bus which travels right the way across South Africa, from Durban to Cape Town, at a very reasonable price. However, after what I’ve paid to be here, forking out for more hostels just isn’t viable. As keen as I am to get up and go, I’m just going to have to suck it up and stick it out at Kwantu these remaining 5 weeks.

But perhaps I’ll compromise with a long weekend in Cape Town…