Safari!

Sorry for not updating all of you for so long. I've been back from Africa now for about a month and have been pretty busy enjoying my last few weeks in Ann Arbor and being a leader on a work trip with my church's youth group to Mississippi.

My last few weeks in Africa were spent on an overland tour/safari through Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Kruger National Park. We started in Johannesburg and drove through to Chobe National Park in Botswana where we got to go on a game drive and a game "cruise" where we got to see animals coming down to river the drink, along with all the animals in the water. We got to see so much on the trip! Hippos, elephants, impala (deer), a lioness, jackals, hyenas, baboons, and lots of other birds/wildlife. We stayed in tents that we pitched at new campsites every night and spent the days driving to new sites/places or on drives to view the animals. Our tour guide would normally cook us dinner over a portable stove and we would rarely shower. How fun!

Impalas fighting on the game driveChobe baboons
Elephants abundant on the game cruiseColin and I all scummy

At this point, we are traveling with about 8 people including our tour guide. We got to know our fellow safari goers and our tour guide pretty well. Next, we went to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, home of the biggest waterfall in the world, where we stayed at a rest camp right near the town. We had a couple days to relax, but most of the activities were very expensive (quite the tourist trap) so I had to select what to do and see. I decided to take the helicopter ride because it was the only viewpoint where you could really appreciate the breadth of the falls. And believe me it was incredible! Well worth it!
So breathtaking!

The town of Victoria Falls was almost creepily deserted and poor. If you haven't heard or read up about the current status of Zimbabwe, check this out this summary of the current economy of Zimbabwe. The country is suffering from extreme poverty, unemployment, and spiraling hyperinflation. By the time I was in Zimbabwe in March, the Zimbabwean dollar was completely worthless and none of the stores or restaurants would accept them. (Out of the few stores and restaurants were up and running). So you could pay in Bostwana's Pula, South African Rand, US Dollars, Euros, Pounds... but no place ever had change so you had to make sure you had about the right amount for lunch and they would accept it. There were posters of president Robert Mugabe hanging all around Vic Falls and you really couldn't pester anyone to speak negatively about him, even though he is almostly completely (or at least considerably) responsible for the economic downturn (absolute calapse) of this once prosperous African nation. Very very sad.

Yet, my African adventures didn't stop here. From Victoria Falls, we made the long trip back through Botswana and through South Africa (stopping at my tour company's homebase for a night) and onto Kruger National Park. We were traveling with Livingstone Trails, a South African budget Safari company. They offer safari trips throughout southern Africa, as do a lot of other budget tour companies. And they come fully recommended by me if you have spend some time in Africa and plan on doing a safari. You can spend a bunch of money on expensive lodges and things, but you all see the same animals! Plus, the tents were waterproof, the food was filling, the wine was flowing (price not included), and the company was excellent. We had a great leader who was quite informative and very fun.

Okay, so on the way to Kruger we stopped at a few places.
Bourke's Luck Potholes- natural water something or others

We also stopped to see some other mountains and scenery. After all my travels in South Africa, I ended up traveling to six of the nine provinces: Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Gauteng, North West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga. Missing out on Northern Cape, Free State, and KwaZulu Natal. I will have to visit those next time!

Finally, we set up camp in Kruger and got to go on many game drives where where we finished our grand tour of African wildlife. We saw all the members of the "Big 5": Elephants, Lions, Rhinos, Cape Buffalo, and a Leopard. We also saw giraffes, zebras, and more of the many animals we saw in Botswana. Leopards are super rare so we were so lucky to see one. And we also got to see a cheetah and two cubs. This is even more rare. Both were kinda far away so I have very terrible pictures of the both of them. If you ever go on safari, definitely invest on an intense zoom lense. You won't regret it!Male lion at night, as he is roaring walking away from usWhy did the lion cross the road?
Hungry hungry hippos!
The baboons were the best to watch because they interacted like people, playing, fighting, picking bugs off each other.
Trying to be creative

After a hectic two weeks under the African sun (and LOTS of rain), we were sad to finish our great trip but also happy to make it back to civilization in Cape Town. I spent an amazing weekend back visiting fellow volunteers, reliving our favorite nights, and managing to say goodbye to the city I loved calling home. I know I will be back someday, but am already excited about all the other places in the world I am planning to visit.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to have come to South Africa and I have so many "concluding thoughts" about Africa that I can't wait to articulate to all of you. So I'll be in touch.

Check back shortly,
Jackie

Leaving Cape Town

So, I'm a half hour from leaving for Joburg to depart on my 11-day safari, but wanted to fill you in on my last couple of days in Cape Town.

Thursday was quite possibly my favorite day in Cape Town so far, and arguably one of the best ever! A group of volunteers took the day off to go kloofing (cliff jumping) at Gordan's Bay/Kamikaze Kanyon. Sounds safe, right?? We went with some teenagers from Mauritius and England, and two awesome guides. We spent the morning hiking up and a pretty steep mountain and then jumping off cliffs and waterfalls into pools on the mountain side. I repelled (abseiled) down a 65 meter waterfall... pretty sweet. Climbing up to the jumps was pretty scary, basically scaling rock walls. And I jumped off lots of cliffs, my highest was 20 meters (over 60 feet). We definitely conquered our fears! It was so so incredible... or lekker! (as they say in Afrikaans). Then we got attacked by baboons and they got into our packs and stole our lunches and threw all our stuff all over the place. They are nasty little guys and can be dangerous but our guides chased them away. Such a great day and I can't wait to show you some pictures!

But all good things come to an end. And basically, I am so sad to leave. I had a very difficult time leaving my class on Friday. We threw a party with cake and ice cream, music, and a final art project. They flowered me with gifts, including a hand painted South African flag. I have so more stuff to squeeze into my bag on the flight home. I'll be able to keep in touch via e-mail with the school and the kids and I know that I will definitely be back here. It's been such an amazing 7 weeks, more than I ever expected, with each day being better than the next. I've grown really close to all the other amazing volunteers in my program and we're all having a tough time saying goodbye.

That being said, I will be back in Cape Town for another couple of nights to reunite with my friends, and I'm pretty pumped up for Safari. It's definitely going to be an adventure! I have once again no idea what to expect but fully intend on soaking up every minute.

I probably won't be able to update you while I'm camping in the bush under the stars, but will check in as soon as I can.

Miss you!
Jackie

Hey Hot Stuff!*

Hello there family and friends. So sorry to keep all you avid readers in suspense… but the internet here is quite slow and I haven’t had a good amount of time to update you on my week until now. It is already my 7^th and last week at my CCS program in Cape Town and I’ve been trying to squeeze in every ounce of fun out of my last few days. I am definitely not ready to come home yet and am already plotting ways to return to South Africa soon. But I am excited to embark on my two week adventure starting this weekend, so I really can’t be all too sad to leave.

Last week on Tuesday was the track meet that all the athletes had been training for the past few weeks. There were only a few athletes from each grade and only 2 other students came to school that day to watch their classmates. Nonetheless, we all boarded a rickety bus to the University of the Western Cape where Blossom was to race against 7 other primary schools in the area. The facility was pretty nice and it was a fantastic opportunity for the kids to be a part of a very organized event. The day was ridiculously hot though so the kids got tired out quite fast. They also can’t afford running shoes so they all ran barefoot on the hot track, which definitely was hurting their feet. I had a lot of fun though playing with the kids while watching the races. I also took a ton of photos of the competition and had an apprentice carrying around my other camera, following in my footsteps. We placed 7^th out of 8 schools… good effort Blossom! A couple of the girls and boys qualified for the next level of competition (I think on a more regional level) so I will have to wish them luck before I go!

Ebrahim on the long jump

And their off!

Highlights of the rest of the week at school included teaching some world geography, continuing my lessons about the US, reading up on mummies and pyramids, helping out in the computer lab with the younger students (*the computer would say congratulatory remarks like the blog title after a correct answer), playing handball, eating homemade doughnuts from one of the kids grannies, singing songs in Afrikaans (and getting made fun of for mispronouncing). I’m really starting to get to know the kids and am definitely going to miss them.

As for my last week at CCS, we’ve had a great time experiencing the rest of Cape Town. Last Wednesday, we joined some friends we had made earlier in the trip for Ethiopian food out on Long Street. Long Street is a long street full of bars and restaurants that is always a party hub for young South Africans. Ethiopian food pretty much just looks like baby food served with airy tortillas, but is actually really spicy and tasty, and is particularly enjoyable with a crowd trying lots of differnt dishes. Our dinner was accompanied with authentic music and dance, so all in all, a really fun night out.

Yum!

I spent Thursday and Friday afternoon finalizing my plans for Safari, and I was quite relieved to get that all out of the way. We took the train out to Stellenbosch for the weekend, a college town also quite well known for its many prestigious wineries. We stayed at a backpackers out there called the Stumble Inn, a very fitting name for the evening. We enjoyed a wine tasting in the afternoon, and then went out with some travellers we met at the hostile that night. I have really grown close to the other volunteers on my placement and we’ve been having a bunch of fun travelling over the weekends.

Wine Tasting in Stellenbosch

Sunday night we went to see the Cape Town philharmonic perform at the beautiful Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The view was amazing over looking the mountains and beautiful gardens. We enjoyed some drinks and eats for a picnic in the park, and made for a very nice evening. I don’t think I fully appreciate orchestra yet, but definitely am beginning to enjoy it more!

The view from the lawn at Kirstenbosch

The weather has been less than perfect the past few days, although I really shouldn’t complain. But Monday and Tuesday were hot and sunny, so I spent both days down at the beach along the eastern coast of the Cape at Kaukbaai and St. James.

I’m very excited for the rest of the week, but also really dreading saying goodbye to all my kids and new friends that I have met here. But I’m just trying to take it day by day and really enjoy every last moment here!

I have lots of pictures to show, but I will upload them later when I get a bit more time...

Cheers!
Jackie

Valentine's Day Weekend

Happy belated Valentine's Day to everyone! We celebrated in style at Blossom Street elementary. Unfortunately, a bunch of the kids were still absent because of the taxi strike so some of the festivities were canceled but we still had a big party. Collin came with me on Friday because his placement was off limits because of the taxi violence, and it was very fun to have him around to meet my class. We spent the day basically just playing outside, some intense four square, as well as soccer and jump rope. The kids all got to skip out on their uniforms and wear red and white to celebrate. So we had an impromtu fashion show, and the kids ran around trying to convince all the teachers to model. It was so fun to have the entire school together. They had a chance to buy bologna chip rolls (fries, ketchup, and bologna) for lunch as well as ice cream and doughnuts. And I passed out chocolate and valentines to all my kids. I taught them how to draw Mickey Mouse throughout the day and my map lesson for the day was about Disney World. They knew all about it and I hope they get a chance to go someday. We played a bunch of games with them, but their favorite was boys versus girls trivia where I tested them on all of the things I've been teaching them about for the past couple of weeks. Some had great memories, others not so much! The day was such a blast and I'm really glad they could enjoy such a fun day, but the lack the structure is beginning to frustrate me. The kids are all so ready and willing to learn and just need a little more direction to soak up all their is to learn. But all in all, a really great day!
The valentines I made all 70 of my kidsPrincipal Davids and some learners
Facepainting for Valentine's Day
Me and my class

After class on Friday, Kelley, Collin, and I spent the afternoon at the Groot Constantia winery just outside of Cape Town. Constancia is home to a few of the oldest wineries in the Cape Town vicinity, and there is a lot of history to the place. Apparently, Groot supplied Napoleon his wine when he was banished to St. Helena after his defeat at Waterloo until his death in 1812. Tough life, right? Also, Jane Austen mentions Groot Constantis in Sense and Sensibility. I just came for the wine and the views though and both were prestine. My favorite was the Sauvignon Blanc- it tasted like green peppers but was surpringsly refreshing. We walked through the vineyards and then had a nice dinner on the property.
Groot Constancia winery
The view from the vineyard was just incredible

Saturday was Collin's birthday and also Valentine's Day and a group of 8 volunteers celebrated by going to a rugby game. The stormers, the local Cape Town team, has a pretty big fan base and stadium. We live pretty close by so we walked to the game, stopping at some bars on the way. I sat next to a local and he tried to explain the game to me but I remained pretty confused. We met some Stellenbosch students at the stadium bar and I think we'll need to go visit those winelands next weekend. We live right near the University of Cape Town, so there were a bunch of young people at the game. Very happening place to be!
Newlands Rugby Stadium- Go Stromers!

Sunday, my friend Allie and I booked a trip down to Cape Point through Baz Bus tours. Baz Bus is a bus company that takes backpackers all around South Africa, on a hop on, hop off basis, but they also have tour trips a specific points along the way. We rode with 15 or so other travellers from all over the world (mostly Europe and the states) with our tour guide, Mario. I really enjoyed the guided tour because I got to learn so much about the history of the cape. From Cape Town, it takes about an hour and a half to reach the most south-western tip of Africa, and we stopped many times along the way. First we stopped at Fish Hook, a little harbour on the western side of the cape, to see some seals. Then, off to the beaches to chat with the "shark spotter" on the edge of the mountain. Apparently, he sees sharks twice a month and every year there are shark attacks on the beaches. I've been lucky to see some great whites up close!
At Boulder's Beach to see the penguins. This time we got to see hundreds of penguins on the bay. I have no idea where all of them were hiding last time I was there.

Next, we had a nice bike ride through a wildlife reserve at the Cape Pensisula National Park. And although the wildlife was lacking, the ride was pretty exhilirating. Actually, it was by far the scariest part of my entire trip to Africa so far. We rode on through extreme wind on this winding road, and I constantly felt like I was going to be blown into the middle of the road and hit a passing car. Luckily, we made it unscathed to a nice picnic lunch in the park.
The bikes we used for the ride through the wildlife reserve
Finally, off to the tip of the cape, where baboons roam freely. We only saw a couple, but there were warnings everywhere that they will approach you, steal your food, and open your car doors.
Then we stopped at the Cape of Good Hope - the most southwesternly point of Africa. There were tons of tourists wanting to take a picture with the sign, and we thought it was hilarious (and mildly irritating) that all the adults were not waiting their turn in line and purposely standing in other peoples pictures. So even though Allie and I got a shot by ourselves, I think this picture sums tourist spot quite nice. Then, we hiked over to Cape Point, a little over a mile away. This didn't seem daunting at first, but it was all uphill and ridiculously windy. However, the views more than made up for it!

The view of Cape of Good Hope from Cape Point
Cape Point is the actual tip of the cape, or where the mountains end. However, this tip is not the most southwesternly point (or the most southern point) so seems a little anti-climatic. But this is where the famous lighthouse resides, you can almost make it out from the picture. We hiked all the way out to the point and it felt really neat to have made it that far south. We finished the day off at a fun restaurant downtown called Rafiki's. Allie and I made some friends with the locals and had a good time learning about their lives in Cape Town. A nice cap to another awesome and beautiful day. There seems to be a lot of those here. As I'm practicing my photography skills, I keep joking that you just can't take a bad picture in South Africa, so at least it's boosting my creative confidence!

Today was an average day back at Blossom. All of the kids who were missing because of the taxi strike were back today, so it great to have a full class again. However, I kinda got in a tiff with my teacher because she was basically yelling at the kids for missing school the past week, and reprimanding them for being lazy and keeping the rest of the class behind in their schoolwork. I just thought this was entirely unfair because (a) their transport to school was on strike (b) they have no other way to get there (c) there was extreme violence in their communities and (d) they are 10 year old kids and if their parents tell them they can't go to school, who is really going to fight that? Apparently, the strike might start up again tomorrow, and she doesn't want the kids to miss another entire week. These families already paid for their monthly transport via mini-bus taxis and can't afford or have no other way to get their kids to school. I don't know what the solution is, but it's definitely not yelling at kids who have no control over it. Tomorrow, is the all-conference track meet so I'm interested to see if all the athletes will be able to make it to school tomorrow. I really hope that they can, they have been working so hard for the meet the past couple of weeks.

As my time here is winding down, I'm trying to squeeze in as much as possible. So today, I took the opportunity to wander around downtown. I've been down to Greenmarket Square and some restaurants and bars, but I still hadn't seen much of the city, and was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful company gardens near the center. The gardens were laid out by Cape Town's founding father, Jan van Riebeeck, on order by the Dutch East India Company to grow fruit and vegetables for the passing trade ships. Although they are no longer used for farming, they remain a nice bit of green trapped in the middle of the busy city (much like Central Park).
Company gardens
I love the view of Table Mountain in the background

I also walked around the heart of the city and was surprised to find 3 and 4 level shopping malls underground. (I'm assuming to keep foot traffic off the streets.) There was your fill of fast food- they love KFC here. Definitely no skyscrapers but still a hustle and bustle of people going to and from the downtown on the train.

Again, wishing you a happy v-day! My apologizes for typos as usual, trying to squeeze in a post before bed.

Jackie

Taxi Strikes and Paragliding Off the Lion's Head

Another great couple of days!

After a peaceful weekend, it was hectic to get back in the swing of things on Monday morning. I went down to the athletic fields where I was in charge of all 40 or so girls of all ages. Some of the girls were being typical 7th graders and slacking off, so I got out my theoretical whistle and got all drill sergeant on them. Just some push-ups and sit-ups were enough to get them to listen again. I then taught them the long jump, which I, of course, know absolutely nothing about. We had to choose long jumpers for the track meet on Tuesday though. We definitely have some good athletes! In the afternoon, I hung up a map on the United States in the classroom. It took me forever to find a US map in South Africa but I was finally successful this weekend. Then, I printed out a bunch of pictures of different landmarks and things around the US to talk to them about. Each day I bring out a new picture a teach them something about the states. I think it's a little weird to bombard them with all this information about the US, but the students and teachers alike are so interested in my life back at home, plus its something new and exciting that I can give first hand information about. I started with Chicago (the Sears Tower, the Bulls, Barack Obama, deep dish pizza) and moved on to University of Michigan. They were so confused to see an American football field (and the biggest in the world I might add). Today, I talked about Hurricane Katrina and how I've gotten to volunteer with the relief effort. I snuck in a mini-science lesson about the classification of tropical storms, too!
My map of the US

On Tuesday, two other volunteers from my program joined me at Blossom Street. They are in the 6th and 7th grade, so I don't see them much during the day, but I think they both love it so far, too. Blossom is super excited to have us all there and treat us with the utmost respect. Luann, our program director, sometimes calls this phenomenon the "uncomfortable silence" where neither the teacher or volunteer wants to walk on anybody's toes so neither tells the other what to do. Sometimes little gets accomplished. This week has been particularly bad in terms of actually getting school work accomplished. Wednesday through tomorrow (Friday) all the taxi drivers went on strike to protest the proposed new bus lines. Just the mini-bus taxis, though. In Cape Town, there are regular metered taxis which can be kind of expensive, and mini-bus taxis that pick people up all over the city and drop them off all over the city. It's pretty cheap (about $0.50 a ride) but they are relatively unsafe with crazy drivers and run-down vans. So anyway, because the taxi drivers are on strike, lots of the kids and their parents couldn't get to school/work. Thus, we had 17 out of 35 absent the last couple of days. This mostly affects the kids that live further away from the school, in the more underprivledged township areas. So, Mrs. Abrahams was a little concerned that a bunch of them would fall even further behind in schoolwork. Also, some of the volunteer vans couldn't go to placement because they were in areas with lots of taxi violence. Apparently, the taxis that didn't strike were getting stoned and torched, and our vans look supiciously like mini-bus taxis.

Anyway, with half the class gone, Mrs. Abrahams hasn't been teaching any new material. We've been doing a lot of coloring and I've been reading them a lot of stories. I really enjoy story time and want to buy them a few new books to chose from. If I was here longer, I would totally read them the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrode like my fifth grade teacher read to me. Mr. Chordes, anyone? I brought out my camera which the kids absoltely loved. But it quickly became a warzone over who got to have their picture taken. I'll taken some more tomorrow, hopefully get some good shots of them outside.
Working on roman numeral worksheets
Some of the girls
This picture of Thabo totally cracks me up

The afternoons this week have been pretty relaxing. Yesterday night, we went out to the local Observatory area. There is a fun strip of local bars with live music, good eats, and cheap beer. Our favorites. These liters were only R25 (about $2.50)... if you drank more than 4 you could go down in history on the "Liter Board" (Leader Board). Don't worry, Mom, I didn't quite make it!
Brooke, Collin, and I at Jumpin' Jacks

Today was definitely the best day of the week though! Collin, Alli, and I decided to go paragliding off the Lion's Head. This is a mountain right next to Table Mountain along the beach. We had been trying to go all week, but the rides are quite weather/wind dependent. When we got there, we had to immediately rush up the mountain to make sure we got good wind. They strap you up in a harness with a guide and you literally jump off the mountain. It was so incredible. I was not nervous at all about going, but once you were up there, it was such a rush! The view was just stunning and you got to hang in the air and wind your way down the mountain and over the sea for a nice 15 minute ride. We landed right on a cricket field over looking the ocean, where some kids were practicing cricket. I had never seen it played before, and still have no idea how it is going.
The view from the air
Our ride
My guide kept snapping photos
Collin landing on the cricket field

As we were sitting at the bar watching some of the other paragliders land though, we saw a women practically fall out of the sky. She was by herself (a licensed paraglider for 14 years), but her parachute collapsed under the wind and she landed pretty swift. A helicopter rushed to her aid and apparently she broke her back, but she could move anything so thank god she wasn't paralyzed. So that kind of freaked us out, but our guide told us that was the first time that had happened in all 7 years they were operating. Very scary but all in all, we were all so happy we decided to go!

Afterwards, we walked along the beach a little ways and layed out in the sun for a while. It was definitely a scorcher today. Then, we grabbed some delicious Indian food on the water. Collin and Alli hadn't even been out to Indian, but they both really enjoyed it! I am always happy with some garlic naan. Yum. Then, we got some ice cream and watched the sunset on the beach. So definitely goes down as one of the best days in Cape Town. However, I have no doubts that there a better days to follow.

Sunset over Camp's Bay

I can't believe time has been flying so fast, I just had to extend my time here. So my "7 weeks in South Africa" is now more like 9.5 but I don't think it warrants a blog title change. I'll be headed to Botswana, Victoria Falls, and Kruger National Park for Safari after my placement ends.

Check in soon. I miss you all!

Jackie

Camping and Hermanus

After being pretty sick and exhausted this week, we were all getting a little "cabin fever" in our little suburb of Cape Town so we decided to get out of town for the weekend. We returned to Hermanus, the whale watching capital of Africa, to go camping and relax.

On Friday afternoon, three of my friends and I rented a car here and headed east along the beautiful coastal road to Hermanus. As I mentioned last time, cars drive on the left side of the road in South Africa and all cars are manual. My friend Mike from Canada drove because he has had a little bit of experience driving on the other side of the road in Scotland, but it was a big adjustment shifting with the left hand. He did an amazing job though and we found our way safe and sound. Friday night we went camping just outside of town. Of course, we didn't have a tent or any supplies so we had to scavange some up from around the area. The staff at the campsite was very helpful and lent us a tent and some chairs. I think they took pity on us for our lack of preparation. We bought some burgers and s'mores at store and all really enjoyed a good American meal over the open fire. They don't have graham crackers here and only have colored marshmallows so not without some improvization. The campsite was gorgeous and right beside the ocean and we all really liked falling asleep to the sound of the waves.

Our wonderful attempt at campfire cooking

We all slept pretty horribly due to the hard ground and lack of sleeping bags in our tents but it got us up bright and early to start off our day in Hermanus. We checked into our hostel in the morning, and the staff recommended a nice hike to the nearby beach. Before heading off, we enjoyed a cheap breakfast in town.
Zebra crossing where we enjoyed breakfast

Hermanus is such a beautiful spot. Half the population is home to South African retirees and the other half to vacationers, so there were a lot of old people around town. But this provided great markets and shopping and more upscale restaurants than we are used to in Cape Town. The streets are quaint with memorable Edwardian architecture. (Pretty much all of white South Africans are decesdants or either the English or Dutch when they first colonized the country.)

Hermanus Backpackers Living Room

Then, we set off on our nature hike to the beach. The 1.5 hour hike was very hot and hilly and we were a little ill-prepared with our all our beach gear, but it was definitely worth it. We got to see some wildlife including these cute little animals called dassies.
One of the houses along the route was also home to an animal family consisting of a rooster, some ducks, and a turtle. I'm pretty sure you can buy an imaculate seaside house in Hermanus for less than $200,000. Any takers? The beach was stunning but the water was absolutely freezing, which made for a difficult decision: to be scorched by the hot African sun or to be paralyzed by the cold rocky ocean. However, we managed to have a bunch of fun tossing the frisbee and playing with the dogs on the beach.

Brooke on the beach
The view from town

After trekking back into town and cleaning up at our hostel, we enjoyed a fresh sushi dinner and a lightning storm at one of the great restaurants overlooking the bay. Summer is definitely not the rainy season so everyone was quite surprised by the first storm since November. However, the weather prevented us from hitting the town. But all for the better, the hostel had a little bar and pool table, and I had such a good time getting to know a bunch of other travellers over a couple of beers. We met an Irish couple travelling the world before trying to set up their personal training business in Australia. A guy from Philly working with money from the UEFA (Union of European Futbol Associations) to set up youth soccer programs in the area. Also, a bunch of South Africans enjoying a relaxing weekend in Hermanus.

I had such a good time getting to know the three other volunteers with me on the trip, and we all enjoyed leaving the city for the weekend. When we got back, the house was full again with 15 new volunteers who had arrived on Saturday.
We took them bowling tonight (the true African experience, right?) and I really look forward to getting to know them over the course of the next few weeks. Time is really flying so fast! Tonight I'm planning sitting down and making sure I can squeeze in everything I want to do before leaving the country.

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend too! Keep me updated.

Jackie