Thursday 28 May
Today was… Dark.
It began as something quite routine, with the next stage of the house I’ve been working on- a stage called mudding! A clay like cement is formed from a mixture of water and busted up termite mounds.
From this, you make balls and stack them up to fill the cavities that were created from yesterday’s stick tying.
Tuesday 26 May
Well, day one has felt much like an African adventure already!
Paula collected me from the Jolly Boy’s hostel about 12:30 and we got on the road to Mwandi Village, about a 2 hour drive away. En route, Paula told me a little more about the charity Homes for AIDs Orphans, which was founded by herself and her husband Dan (who was actually born and raised in Mwandi himself) in 2005, with very meagre beginnings! While they started off sharing land with Christian Missionary groups, in 2007 the Village Chief gave them their own land from which the charity could work. Then, with Paula being part of Rotary International, Rotarian volunteers got involved, who by 2009 had set up running water and by 2010 installed electricity. Although they’re still a small charity and with basic living, it’s very impressive to me that they’ve already come so far with so little.
Monday 25 May 2015
Having had a tremendously exhausting weekend and only 4 hours sleep, this has to be the sleepiest I have ever been at the start of travelling. I don’t even remember checking in!
I do remember Gary, the lovely helpful taxi driver, walking into the airport with me without prompt and showing me exactly where I needed to go for what, and even recommending I go upstairs to the Whimpey’s for breakfast before going through security where I can watch the planes on the runway from the window. A fine idea, which I absolutely went along with!
I treated myself to a little Cappuccino Muffin and a Chocolate Milk here, only to have the common sense click that the airport had only just opened when I arrived, and my flight would be the first to leave. Therefore, there was nothing of interest happening on the runway at this time.
Once crossing through security, I immediately regretted my decision to go to Whimpey’s for seeing a Mugg and Bean café here in departures! Oh, Mugg and Bean! This might just be my last time to have you, and I’ve wasted it!
Monday 25 May
03 May 2015
Today, we had a cheerio with Lena who (after 9 months of travelling!!) is finally returning to her family in Luxembourg. So for our final activity, we went on a Free Tour of Cape Town.
As we had already discovered in the Slavery Museum yesterday, Cape Town has a dark and fascinating history and has made significant social growth in the short time since apartheid rule has thankfully been defeated. I was particularly interested in the benches outside the Cape Town courthouse
I’ll never be able to comprehend the logic (or lack, thereof) that was applied here.
Finally though, after wishing Lena a fond farewell, Sofia, Tilly and I ventured out to a Cape Town Township of Guguleta to visit a whispered about area for lunch called Mzoli’s.
02 May 2015
This was a great GREAT day, not only for the foodie in me, but also for that little girl with lots of questions that never quite left me as I got older.
First, the food!
We jumped out of bed in the morning and skipping breakfast intentionally, as we heading down to the Cape Town Neigbourgoods Market- and awesome gigantic Food Market, with what I like to call a “things market” on the side.
Frankly, this was just ridiculous. My stomach was crying out with a painful hunger that got worse the more I looked around! There was just too much damned choice!
01 May 2015
After our 12 hour overnight bus journey, Sofia and I finally arrived at Cape Town bus station at roughly 8:00 this morning! We opted for walking to our Ashanti Lodge hostel (where we were meeting Lena and Tilly) and although it took us a good 30 minutes to hobble and shuffle our way there, our surroundings made it all worthwhile. A beautiful Garden greets you to the right of Government Street and takes up around 10 minutes of the walk. You look on in awe at a variety of trees of a variety of ages while squirrels dance around your feet!
After we arrived at the hostel and were greeted by our friends, we all agreed the best thing to do was to go to breakfast. Immediately.
Tilly introduced us to a simple but lovely restaurant/café called Knead- like what you do to the bread- so named but all their baked goods are made there and then on site. A wonderful touch!
My body clock was a little thrown off by the journey, so I opted for a super flavoursome, juicilicious Spicy Bacon and Blue Cheese burger!
22 April 2015
Our exam, it feels like, is looming right around the corner and each of us as students can agree on one thing; we’re not learning squat! The reading-through-a-module-a-day thing isn’t exactly an inspiring way of learning, and the few times I have been out on the game reserve with the Course Leader, he’s made it quite hard to get enthusiastic. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a nice enough guy, but I suppose he sees these animals every day so for him it’s just not exciting. So while the rest of us are trying to take a photo of or observe, say, a Giraffe in the distance, he’s bringing his foot on and off the break in quick succession to shake the car and make it both impossible and uncomfortable. He smiles, so it’s obviously a joke to him, but here’s the problem… I saved and spent money I may never have again and not to mention made a series of sacrifices in order to be here. If he believes, as it sometimes feels, that I can afford to come on these experiences again and again then he would be very much mistaken. This is it, and to be honest it feels like the magic gets sucked out a little more each day. Today, I told him this, and reminded him of the cost and sacrifice from each of us. With any luck, it will sink in.
So, after this general disappointment, when I heard today that Peter the Ranger was conducting a hike in the Wilderness, myself and the other students jumped on board. After all, what better way to learn about nature than to trek through it!
8 April 2015
Omygoodness, what a day!
This morning we were taken on a Dawn Drive, where we saw an extraordinary display of nature, wherein the lions hunted the hippo!
They came so close, and it was a tense display. One managed to grip herself to it at one point, but the hippo just kept running and she was forced to let go.
6 April 2015
Today, we saw two fascinating things!
First, the family of lions had made a kill and were enjoying it together… as family had really ought!
And second, more heart-warmingly, a mother elephant and her baby.
Beautiful 🙂 That leaves only the leopard to go, and I will have completed the Big 5! Seven weeks to go, let’s see how my luck holds!
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