Cape Town to Namibia

After completing my 2 week surfing course in Jeffrey's Bay it was time to get off the island (vibe). While in J bay I had met Radi, a biomedical engineer student studying at the University of Cape Town and ran into her again at another backpacker's lodge in Knysna, only an hour east of J bay. So I hitched a ride with her and her friend Meel to Cape Town. Together, we hiked to the top of Table Mountain for a aerial view of the city. On December 3rd I migrated from Radi's place to Ashanti backpackers lodge, which was much closer to long street where all the action of bars, clubs and shopping is. Since the 2010 Fifa world cup will be held in South Africa this year, the draw to determine the groups, pots, matches ... well, to be quite honest, I don't know how it all works out but they held the draw in Cape Town and held a huge party to celebrate. The city completely barricaded off several blocks of long street for the festivities and exciteable soccer fans. During the day I ventured out on my own tourist excursion and joined the red Cape Town Siteseeing hop-on-hop off bus which traveled through the heart of the city, to table mountain and then to pristine beaches of Camps Bay and Clifton Beach. After a couple hours of soaking up the sun at Camps Bay I hopped back on the bus for a cruise along the coastline back to the waterfront. I was running late to the huge party on long street and by the time I arrived, they had reached maximum capacity and were no longer allowing anyone in. However, my clever friend Jen jumped the barrricade and somehow managed to find us "media" passes which granted us access to a private party with a spacious view of the stage and complimentary drinks and food. Later that night when we joined the masses on long street, someone swooped my camera from my front pocket!!! While it was disappointing to have a 2nd camera stolen this year (the first was stolen in Jamaica), I was fortunate that I had just changed my memory card earlier that day and only lost one day's worth of pictures. On Saturday I filed a police report and bought a repalcement camera.
On Sunday I hopped aboard an Africa Travel Company truck with 20 strangers was off on my next adventure. The overland tour I selected travels from Cape Town to Zanzibar, Tanzania and we are scheduled to arrive on January 10th. I may, however, extend this tour and go to Nairobi, but have not made a decision yet. We are split up into 3 different groups and rotate our various duties such as washing dishes, food preparation, and cleaning the truck each day. I have been sharing a tent with Lise, an adorable Norwegian girl who is studying at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Our first night camping we enjoyed wine tasting. Usually during the day I sleep on the truck, although the further north we travel, the roads become much more rugged and it is much more difficult to get some rest. Each day presents new scenery and activities, some are definitely more noteworthy. This week: I went on a leisurely canoe ride down the Orange River, watched the sun set at Fish River Canyon, the 2nd largest Canyon in the world. Celebrated my birthday, December 10th in Sossulvei, Namibia by climbing Dune 45. On December 11th, to extend the birthday celebration a little longer I skydived in Swakopmund, Namibia!!! It was easily the most adventurous acitivity I have ever attempted and absolutely amazing!!!!!!!!!!!! Later that night my fellow overlanders joined me for a birthday dinner and dancing at a local club. It feels great to be 27!

Mozambique!

From top to bottom: all aboard our sailboat back to the mainland of Tofo from the Island of Inhamabane, last night out in Tofo with (left to right) Britton, Liana, Katie, Chrissy, Robin aka "Mom" and Charlotte, a perfect sunrise, chillin on the beach, and a tour to the Island of Inhamabane, posing with Wawa, Manny and some of the local children

Living the dream in Jeffrey's Bay

I arrived in J-bay, South Africa on Monday and have been attempting to surf the last three days. I was scheduled to begin lessons on tuesday, but due to the excessive onshore winds lessons were postponed til wednesday. Ruben, from Holland has been my instructor for the first few sessions where I have been working on my body placement and technique in standing up.Yes, I have been able to get to my feet! We start lessons at 10 am- noon each day, and i am usually exhausted at the end. I plan practicing twice on Saturday when the wind should be offshore with much more favorable wave conditions. I am staying at the Island Vibe backpackers lodge, the ultimate place to chill with fellow backpackers and surfing school staff. I have a top bunk in a room that sleeps 10 total, so I constantly have new roommates. So for the most part I'm just relaxing and enjoying myself, surfing, shopping, eating, drinking and making countless new friends!!!

sweat, blood, and tigers!

I am now currently at Kwantu Private Game Reserve in South Africa (check out their website!). My computer/internet access is even more limited then when i was at my previous placement, so I'm a little behind of my updates. First of all, my trip to Mozambique was amazing, i swam alongside a whale shark for 20 mintues straight! Now, here at Kwantu I am voluteering with about 15 others, most from the UK. We help with weeding, fixing and clearing fences surrounding the game reserve, go on weekly game counts and drives and interact with 2 four month old bengal tiger cubs, Tika and Masala. More pics to come when i can get back on this silly computer! The pics posted: wrestling with a bengal tiger cub, playing net ball with the girls from Grahmstown combined school near kwantu game reserve, viewing a lion feeding, and Mustafa the largest male lion in the predator camp at Kwantu

Adventures in Swaziland..

Hm.... I can't remember what I wrote last time so I'll do my best not to repeat myself. I think my last post talked about Kruger National Park, which was absolutely amazing... I could honestly spend another week there scoping out the wildlife if I had the time. Since then, my fellow volunteers and I have started our various projects. My volunteer projects involve 1) Building a new child care center for orphans who cannot afford to go to school. Many of these children do not have parents and they have lost them to HIV/AIDS. At the building site I have experienced manual labor like never before using wheelbarrels to haul dirt and cement to make bricks in a brick machine where we have to pump a lever up and down to compress the dirt and cement to form a brick, then remove it from the machine, place it on the ground and wait a couple days for it to dry to use it on the bulding. The first day I started the building had no walls, today the building's walls are about 4 feet high! In addition to the care center which is really like a daycare/school, we are also constructing an open-air soup kitchen to feed those in the community who are in need. Also, there is a wooden store room which is nearly completed. And last, but definitely not least, the there are 3 separate rooms for the toilets for girls, boys and teachers. There is a public shool only 50 feet away from our building site for young children and their parent's pay for their schooling. However, the children use their playground as rest room because someone tore them down. It's unsettling to look over and see the children urinating where they play, but that's just how it is Most people here in Swaziland live much different lives than we are used to in the states. They have chickens and goats running freely, wash their clothes my hand, carry heavy items on their heads, and speak a language that i can barely understand. And I love it. It has opened my eyes a great deal and allows me to appreciate everything I have back at home... (and realize I have way too much "stuff"). One of the women who works for our volunteer organization was so kind as to invite the voluneers over to her one room home and make us traditional Swazi food. We packed her home with all ten bodies and had a great time listening to music and dancing!
A little bit about Swaziland: The Kingdom of Swaziland is run by the king and is a patriarchal society where the men rule the roost. Men are able to take many wives, but have to pay a dowry to their fiancee's family. They pay this dowry in cows. So frequently Swazi men will ask you to marry them, and we give them response "how many cows will you give me?" apparently 25 is a good number, but I ususually tell them my parents are asking for more. I have to get off the computer now so I have to cut this short. I will be going to Mozambique Oct 26-31 to snorkel in the indian ocean with whales sharks, I will try to get some pics to share!!!!

I made it! I'm in Swaziland!

SAWUBONA! Greetings from Swaziland. I arrived at Lidwala backpacker lodge on October 5th as planned even though I had unfortunatesly missed my first flight from PDX. Met a nice gentlemen on my flight from JFK To Johannesburg who was so kind enought to extend an open invitation to enjoy a braia (BBQ) with his family in Jefferey's Bay (where I will be learning to surf in a month, how convenient). I am sharing a room with 5 other girls at the lodge. 2 are a mother-daughter duo from North Carolina, 1 from London, 1 from Sweden and 1 from Gernmany. All the other volunteers are great. We went to Kruger National Park last week and were fortnate to see all big 5 animals: rhino, elephant, lion, leopard, and buffalo. Also saw Kudu, Waterbuck, Impala, Steenbok, Porcupine, Hyena, Hippoos, Babboon, Giraffe, Zebra, Warhog, Genet and a Lilac-Breasted Roller to name a few!! Groups of animals have different names. Example, giraffes= journey, hippos=raft, Zebras= dazzle, Baboons=troop. We also were fortunate enought to witness 3 separate lion kills. 2 juvenile lions killed a baby wildebeest, a young female lioness had killed a zebra and it was ripped completely open, exposing the ribcage, and also saw a mother lion after she had killed a huge male kudu and her 3 baby cubs were running around playing (so cute!!!!). Now we are back at the lodge volunteering. In the morn I engage in some real physical labor in the sun building a childcare center for orphans who cannot afford school, it will also serve as a soup kitchen. In the afternoon we go to the Nazarene Hospital in Manzini and entertain/stimulate the children who are very ill or even bedridden. While very sad to see the children ill, it feels great to put a smile on their faces by blowing up balloons or just being silly. I have definitely been keeping busy and rarely have a moment to get on the computer. I love you all and hope you are well. Feel free to send me an email if you get a minute... I may not check it for a week, but will be delighted to hear about anything from back home!!!

For starters..

So I finally have a created a blog.. and only 8.25 hours prior to my departure!!! I feel as though I am approaching a mental breakdown due to the fact I can't quite stuff all my clothes and gear into my oversized backpack. It's time to minimize! I would love to rant about my anxiety levels right now, but first I must first complete this major packing procedure. Please stay posted I have so much more to share!
I depart from Portland, OR at 7:55 pm pst. After a layover in San Fran and JFK in NY followed by a 14 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa I will be well on my way to my final destination in Swaziland. Can you see Swaziland on this map?