The Wild Coast :)

We left the Drakensberg to go to the wild coast and it took us twelve hours from Johnny's place to get to Coffee Bay! Maybe because it was a Saturday there was more traffic and again, the only way to access Coffee Bay involved driving on a dirt road for about two hours and our GPS got us very lost as it was set to the 'shortest way'- very stressful! We finally arrived at the Coffee Shack where we were welcomed with a free drink and then shown to our dorms which involved crossing a river! This is Africa. We made dinner and then went to bed as we were so tired.

Our first day in Coffee Bay was lovely. I got my washing done and sorted out my student accommodation online (I keep forget I'm going to uni this year!) then we explored the small town on the beach. It is a surfers paradise, completely secluded with a few restaurants and small independent shops and stunning scenery. We looked in what I called the 'hippy shop' which had loads of cool clothes and I bought some green hippy trousers which are so comfortable but I was disappointed to see the label said “Made in India”. We then went to a pizza restaurant which used the outdoor pizza ovens and overlooked the Bay and then drove to the part of the beach where we could relax. I went in the water which after Cape Town I was happy to go in because it was much warmer! There were ladies selling beads- bracelets, toe rings, anklets and necklaces and we got so harassed by them! At one point two started pushing each other and they were tying beads around our ankles because they were so desperate for us to come to their particular products! We left with buying a few things but tried not to be sucked in again. It made me sad to think that they need the money so much but it also put us off looking again. That night we went to the shack for the free Sunday night 'Potjie' a traditional south African meal that is like a chicken stew and had Xhosa bread with it. Now we were out of KZN, we were in the Eastern Cape (otherwise known as the 'Traanskei) which meant that the tribal language was Xhosa- pronounced a bit like the word 'corsa' with a click at the start. We got chatting to an Australian couple who were nearing the end to their year of travelling around the world, and also a Scottish guy who was doing the same thing. They were all older than us and I thought they were very fortunate to have jobs that let them go for a year that they could return to when they got home. We talked about everything possible it seemed and it was great to hear their stories. The Australians were a lesbian couple and they were saying about how they have not been able to be a couple whilst in Africa because it is not as well accepted here, especially in Eastern Africa where they spent some time. It made me realise how they still very much have traditional values and beliefs in this part of the world and that can sometimes cause problems for the outside western traveller. Another interesting story I heard that night was from a Xhosa girl who had lost her Mum a few years back. She told us it was because her grandfather had been a Sangomer, and after he passed away and her mother realised she had a gift to also become one she refused to accept it because she did not want to lead that life. She suddenly fell ill and started dancing about going crazy and they realised that she must accept her gift otherwise she would die. The girl said that her mother did finally accept but it was too late so the ancestors took her. It was so fascinating and I'm glad we had learnt about Sangomers earlier that week so I could understand. The girl told us she thought she had a gift too and she would accept it because she did not want to die like her Mum did. Hard for us to believe, but she was so serious that no one could question it out loud.

When I woke up the next day I felt really run down and like I was getting a cold so I decided not to go on the surf lesson with the others but stay and sort out my washing, write some letters and post cards and just have some time by myself. We went to the beach for a bit and I read our guide books as we needed to decide where to go next. We decided we would go up to Port Shepstone which was about an hour from Durban where we wanted to end up. In the evening we chatted to an older English couple who were staying in Coffee Bay for two weeks and watched Xhosa boys from a local school sing and dance. They were nothing on the Zulu songs! A lovely few days spent in Coffee Bay!

We set off in the morning for Port Shepstone and arrived at the 'Spot Backpackers' in the afternoon which was in a quiet part just outside of the town. Port Shepstone itself was not very exciting, it seemed like an industrial place with a beach. That evening we went out for dinner at a nearby restaurant and got talking to a couple who had lived in London for over twenty years and had lots to tell us about the area we were staying in. They were surprised that we were travelling along the wild coast instead of the usual places. The meal was nice and we went back to the backpackers and chatted with a British guy and an Australian girl who were both volunteering in Lesotho. The girl had done six months out of two years- two years! I admired her for committing herself to living in Lesotho for so long. They were also on their Easter holidays travelling.

In the morning we took the couple at the restaurant's advice and drove up to a spot called Leopards Rock to have breakfast. We had a full English which was so nice and the views were just incredible of the river and the surrounding mountains. We paid our five rand insurance (less than 50p!) to go onto the rock which is famous for a photo of a leopard lying on it in the sun and sticks out with nothing underneath it. Climbing onto it wasn't scary because you couldn't see that there was nothing underneath but when I watched the others on it it made me nervous! We got some great photos and then drove up to Eland Game reserve where we had booked to go horse riding. We were a little bit early so we drove to the suspension bridge above the Oribi Gorge and walked across it. It was a little wobbly but very much safe but I had to tell myself to keep going for what seemed like forever! I am definitely getting rid of my slight fear of heights over here! On the way back we saw some eland which are almost a cross between a buck, a horse and a cow- they are huge! Horse riding consisted of the three of us, our guide and another girl. I haven't ridden since I was maybe about ten and I never properly learnt so it was like a new experience again. It was a lovely ride as we rode past zebra, eland and even saw wildebeest all running together. In the afternoon we went into Port Shepstone to do some shopping and then spent the evening chilling at the backpackers and had an amazing chicken salad and milk tart. Milk tart is a south African dessert that I can't really describe but I wish they made it in England! We realised that people from Coffee Bay were on the same path as us as we recognised a few of the people that had been there arrive which was cool.

On Thursday we drove down to Durban for midday and stopped in the centre. The first thing that hit me was the strong smell of spices and the heat. We got out of the car onto the bustling street and found Victoria Street Market. This was indoors and consisted of lots of little curios shops run by Indian south africans who all welcomed us in and helped us find something we wanted to buy. Unfortunately, I have a huge liking for the contents of these shops and ended up spending over five hundred rand on a painting and lots of other little souvenirs (presents for people at home!). One thing that made Durban so unattractive was the amount of Chinese shops. There is usually a Chinese shop in every town here and they sell the most tacky, un-useful stuff. In Durban they completely line the streets and they are full of the same things! Afterwards, we drove down to the Northern beach front which was very built up and touristy and stopped for lunch before finding our backpackers on the other side of the city. Due to it being Easter weekend we were unable to find any accommodation apart from in this one where we paid a little bit more than we usually would I think mainly because it had a pool and they gave you breakfast. It was also next to a beach and after checking in there we drove to a friend of Johno's house, Joel. He and Johno had driven down that day from Manguzi and we met them there and had yet another braii and a really lovely evening. Joel was surprised that we had gone into central Durban as living on the outskirts on the city he deemed it unsafe. Sometimes being a traveller makes you totally oblivious to these things!

Friday morning led us to the beach town of Amanzimtoti which was full of Chinese market stalls and a tacky beach front. We walked along the beach for a bit and then stopped for a drink in an overcrowded restaurant. In the afternoon we checked into a different backpackers as the one we had stayed in the night before didn't have room that night but we could go back the next night. Katie and Patrick had stayed in Banana backpackers before when I was in Cape Town and said it was in a bit of a dodgy area but was basically fine so we decided that with everywhere else booked up we would go there. We had to park our hire car on the main road and the place below the backpackers was called “Sonia's escort and massage” which tells you everything! Patrick and I wandered down to the beach front again for dinner and I had the famous “bunny chow” which is curry in a quarter of a loaf of bread! (thank goodness no rabbits!) There were lots of Indian Muslims all dressed up meeting and socialising with their friends and it was a lovely atmosphere at night. I bought some pineapple on a stick from a seller then we browsed the African markets where I held myself back from buying anything! Patrick bought a springbok fur after making sure it definitely was a springbok and not just a goat! We walked back and got a bit lost and I'm glad Patrick was with me as it was not the nicest area to be walking about at night.

The next morning I went down to our car to get something and a man from the car sales room there asked me if I knew the person who's car was in front of ours. It was Johno's and his drivers seat window had been completely smashed and his stereo ripped out. We watched it all on the showrooms CCTV and saw two guys just before six that morning come along and they looked at our car but luckily didn't touch it. One guy smashed Johno's window, ran away then came back and spent a long time in the drivers seat possibly trying to start it and then just ran off with the stereo. It was such a shame because everything else there had been fine but I suppose we should have thought about it more with having to leave our cars on the main street. We went into Durban to return our car to Avis and then I went to the post office and we all went to a mall as I needed to buy a few more things before we came home. We had lunch, went back to the backpackers we had stayed at previously which was much safer! For our last night we went to a restaurant (yes, we ate out a lot this week!) and a had a very chilled evening.

Easter Sunday was a funny morning! Patrick wanted to go to church so we found one near to where we were staying that seemed normal. We were welcomed by about twenty people in a row all asking the same questions... “where are you from? Where are you staying?” and in the end we were trying not to laugh as we constantly repeated ourselves but they were very nice! The service started with a band playing and of course we are not used to this but the service was alright if not very much to do with Easter and we ended up staying for tea and cake afterwards (the fact they had milk tart heavily influenced this decision). We got talking to a few people and then left after what seemed like hours! After searching for proper Easter eggs at a mall and realising they don't sell big ones in this country we settled on four little one's for all of us. We went back to the backpackers and packed all our stuff into Johno's corsa- not an easy job! It took us five hours to get back to Manguzi and we had dinner and went to bed. On Monday it was a bank holiday so we did all our food shopping in Manguzi (much cheaper than here) and came back to Ingwavuma late afternoon. The boys stayed for dinner and we decorated our room with our new paintings, various maps we had picked up and I put lots of post cards on my wall. Our room is looking lovely now!

And that was the end of my three week holiday! I saw so much wonderful scenery, met so many different people and learnt so much more about the culture here. I can't wait to go travelling again at the end of my placement but I am glad to not be living out a bag any more and it's good to be home :) Yebo!

The Drakensberg and Lesotho

I met Katie and Patrick at the airport and after having some lunch we left for the Northern Drakensberg in our lovely little hire Hyundai I10 which was just the right size for three of us plus our bags. The drive took around three hours and we arrived at the Ampitheatre backpackers in the late afternoon. The views of the mountains were incredible and the backpackers was huge and full of others like us. We had dinner there and chatted about our placements as we were all feeling that we were not being put to full use at them and what could we do about it. Before the holidays I was even contemplating moving to another one after Easter, so I was relieved to hear that Katie was also feeling like I was, although she wanted to stay. The next morning we joined up with a tour from the backpackers and met the group at seven thirty in the morning! Our guide was called Sim and he drove us in the mini bus to Sentinel Peak which is part of the 'Ampitheatre' a flat part of the mountains. The drive took a few hours but we drove into the Eastern Cape to get there and it was beautiful with the pink flower 'cosmos' and the colourful rondavels decorating the hill sides. The Peak was a large rock at the top of the mountain and the first part was fairly steep with a few rock faces to climb across but nothing too challenging. When we got to the place that would take us up the rock it involved about half an hour or more of climbing up huge boulders. I loved it because we really had to think about where we could put our feet and be careful of the tiny loose rocks and bits of earth that made it slippery. When we finally got to the top the view was so impressive and we were facing a sharp pointy rock in between two large mountains which I though was called Devils toe but is actually either devils hand or tooth! We stopped there for lunch and the extreme quietness hit me. After taking lots of pictures and peering over the edges and scaring ourselves we walked to the top of Tuluga Falls- the highest falls which is measured in five drops. It was basically just lots of pools on the top of the mountain which was not very exciting but then we met these three shepards with their dogs. They were dressed in blankets and hats and apart from that just their underwear! They were very happy to let us have our pictures with us and stayed with us the whole time before we moved on to get back down the mountain. This involved climbing down two very long and wobbly ladders. It's something I would have never done before but being here has made me want to try things and I had no other way down so I did it! On the second one I was very nervous so Sim put a harness on me which made me feel a lot safer but I'm glad I did it! The walk back down seemed to take forever and by that point we were all feeling tired. It was a fantastic day though and I got some great photo's.

On the Wednesday we were up early again to go on another tour...this time to Lesotho! This is the small country in the middle of South Africa and I never expected to visit there so i'm really glad we got the opportunity. Again, it took a few hours to get there and the number of people in the group was so big that we went with the new receptionist, Rowanda, who we had chatted to the night before in a 4x4 following the mini bus in front. So many potholes! It was a steep climb to the Lesotho border and when we got out it was freezing! We got our passports stamped and then drove into the beautiful countryside. The best thing about Lesotho that it appears to be almost untouched by western culture which is something that is somewhat ruining the traditional South African culture. The Basotho people still dress traditionally wearing wellies and blankets, apparently something the British gave them when they were fleeing from King Shaka and had to stay at the top of the mountains. The backpackers gives some of the money that we paid for the tour to one of the schools there so we visited the three building school, one of which had been paid for by them. Our guide, Zeccy, gave us a talk on the school and a bit about the country and their principal gave us a thank you speech for coming to visit. We then did some walking through the hills and stopped for lunch whilst Zeccy explained to us why Lesotho had been separated from South Africa. The British helped the Basotho people in one of the Zulu wars and after trying to let them become the responsibility of the cape people, which they strongly refused, they let them become a separate country. (or something like that!) We then walked down into a village after seeing some very faint rock art that had been mostly eroded away. A white flag outside of a rondavel signalled that there would be some traditional beer for us to try...which we did and it was horrible! It was thick and lumpy and so acidic! At least I tried it! We explored a bit more of Lesotho, trying a traditional meal of pumpkin leaves and pap (maize meal) which I had had before here which reminded me of what an advantage I have had over those other travellers to be living in a culture for a longer amount of time that simply peering into it for a few weeks. Lastly, we met a Sangomer which is a traditonal healer. He was very quiet and could only speak in Sotho, so our guide translated for us. He was wearing traditional clothing with objects around his neck such as sharks teeth which he had acquired when he was training. To become a Sangomer, you have to possess a 'gift' that is passed down to you through your ancestors. This gift is recognised by their family at any age and then they have no choice but to go for training. Sick people will come to them but will not say what is wrong. The sangomer will then talk to their ancestors and find out what it is then will use herbs and traditional medicines to help that person for a fee. It was interesting to hear but also quite hard to believe this new cultural belief about talking to ancestors- not just for Sangomers' but for lots of the tribal people in South Africa it is a way of life. They believe that they must honour their ancestors by talking to them and sacrificing gifts or they will not be rewarded. After a long day, we only just made it out of the country by four, which is when the border gate closes! Overall, our time at the backpackers was worthwhile and we would definitely go back there.

The next few days were unplanned and therefore we didn't actually do much except drive! We were heading from the northern Drakensberg down to the central Drakensberg to a place called Sani Pass. First we visited Giant Castle, an area that contains a mountain that looks like it has a giant lying on top of it. Unfortunately, it was more of somewhere to stop for lunch and we did not have time to hike up there. I was struggling that day with missing home and feeling very confused about my placement and it all got a bit too much so I had a long chat with my Mum and begged her to come out here for a week! It was really bothering me because I didn't want to run away from somewhere I liked being, but I was desperate to know if maybe there was somewhere else I could go and maybe do something else and be of more use. In the end, we walked up to the top of a hill and sat watching a family of baboons...something I love about south africa is coming across the wildlife in unexpected places! Unlike the ones in cape Town, these were passive towards us and the little baby ones skipped about on the rocks looking very sweet. We made our way to our backpackers and ended up getting ridiculously lost for hours on a very long dirt road through the mountains. It got dark and we couldn't see anything for miles which was quite scary! It was the first time I have felt really scared in this country when there was probably nothing to worry about as there really was no one around as everyone avoids that road! We managed to find our way out and pretty much just went to sleep once we got to the Sani Lodge. Not the best day!

In the morning we tried to find somewhere to horse ride but instead stopped at a quaint little tea rooms on the side of the road before going into Underberg which had shops! We decided to drive up the Sani Pass, a road up to the Lesotho border. I was not actually sure what the place was but this is what google says.. “Once, the Sani Pass was a rough mule trail descending the Eastern Highlands of old Basutoland into Natal. Tough drovers brought wool and mohair down the Pass on donkeys and mules to be exchanged for blankets … clothing … maize meal … the essentials for life in a remote, impoverished country.” For us it was pushing our small hire car to its limits up a steep dirt road to get to a point where we could go no further without a 4x4. Saw some nice little waterfalls though! That evening we had planned to stay with another volunteer, Johnny, who is working at an outdoor education centre in the area. The weather turned quite cold and rainy but we were met by all the people he works and lives with who were mostly there for short periods of time as interns in between studying. We compared placements with Johnny who has not had much time off to see the country and has to work very long days but is also enjoying it. We felt like we were at the extreme opposite: lucky enough to have had weekends off to explore the top part of this country, plus school holidays but also with too much free time in the week so we get bored! We braaid (so fed up of them now!), toasted marshmallows and slept in their living room by an open fire- so nice!

Overall, the Drakensberg was a great place to visit- beautiful and impressive scenery, some great hikes, learning more about the African culture and getting very very lost! I think I enjoyed the hike up Sentinel Peak the most as it was an adventure and the view at the top was overwhelming.

I love Cape Town!

So it's been four weeks since I last wrote in this blog and I now finally have time to sit down and write about how amazing the last month has been in this beautiful country. To avoid a huge long essay I am going to break the weeks up starting with when I went to Cape Town....

I left Manguzi on the Saturday morning of March 17^th with our friend Jacques who drove me to King Shaka (a famous Zulu King) airport just outside of Durban. I drove some of the way and the journey took around four hours meaning we were quite early for my flight which was at six. I ended up being at the airport for five hours because my flight was delayed twice! The airport was built for the world cup two years ago so it is all very new and modern. The first thing that struck me was the amount of Indian south Africans who were there. There is a huge population of Indians in the city of Durban which started when they came over from India to work in the gold and diamond industry in the nineteenth century on contracts and ended up staying. The second thing that struck me was that everyone there seemed to be dressed up in their best clothes, especially the Indian women who were wearing lots of expensive jewellery and pretty materials. I felt a bit out of place in my usual t shirt and shorts! It was completely safe there but I was glad to get on the plane finally around half past eight. Since coming here I have basically got over my fear of flying so the flight was alright but I was willing those two hours to hurry up so I could just get off and meet Sonia. She and her Dad met me at Cape Town International airport and suddenly it was like five and a half years apart had never happened. We drove back to hers and in the darkness I caught a glimpse of Table Mountain.

On Sunday morning I had breakfast together with the whole family which was really lovely and then Sonia, her Mum and I went to their church which was an experience! It was a huge building and there was a young band playing with a huge screen displaying lots of videos and events going on within the church. It was like I had walked into a concert or something, although not quite like the Zulu church we went to all those weeks ago! I thought it was great that they made it exciting for young people as I haven't really seen that before at home. It was a beautiful day and I realised that the weather is quite different to where we are staying. In Cape Town it feels more like a really hot day in England, where you can feel the suns heat on you, whereas here the heat comes from all around as it is more humid. Apparently this is to do with the lack of ozone layer above the city. The first thing that struck me about the place was all the mountains! I don't know why but in my complete naïvety, I believed that there was Table Mountain and Table Mountain alone! The mountains that surround the city seem to be almost painted on to a background like they are not actually real, it's quite hard to explain it. After church we met up with some of Sonia's friends from her uni and went her friend Catherine's beautiful house where I met everyone who was lovely and we walked up Eagles Nest. It was an effort as I have not walked in ages but there were beautiful views at the top and we walked on through to the Kirstenbosch botanical gardens. It is a beautiful place and it was interesting to see the medicinal garden which contained each plant that would help with a particular illness. After the walk we went back to Catherine's house and made pizzas in her pizza oven, which everyone seems to have there! It was a really lovely evening with some great stories and good company :)

Monday was spent shopping and for me, getting back in to some kind of normality! For three months I have not been to normal shops where you can get everything you need so it was actually really fun to go to the mall! I bought quite a few new clothes and shoes that desperately needed replacing and the best shop here has to be Mr Price because they have decent clothes that are fairly cheap (you would compare it to New Look probably). On Tuesday, Sonia and I went into town and had a hilarious touristy day. We started off by seeing the Castle of Good Hope, built by the Dutch when they first came to South Africa and then went on to the Green Square Market. This was a street full of African stalls selling souvenirs and they are so fun to look around! I ended up bartering for about ten minutes for this painting I really wanted because I really had not brought enough money with me and had left my card at home. I managed to get it from 500 rand down to 250 by Sonia and I putting everything we had together! It is an oil painting of two African ladies and it is full of colour and life and I just had to have it! We moved on to Company Gardens which belong to the government and saw lots of statues of historic figures such as Cecil John Rhodes, an Englishman who was a key figure in the colonisation of Africa (which is why Zimbabwe used to be known as Rhodesia). We met some Japanese tourists who Sonia initially thought wanted us to take their photo but it turned out that they wanted their picture with us! We had to have one with the two men and then the lady whilst being filmed on their video camera the whole time not really sure what was going on! It was so funny and just made that visit to company gardens! Next we visited Clifton beach and stopped there for lunch. I put my feet in the water but it was unbelievably cold! They are nearer to the Arctic there so the water is much colder than what we have experienced this side with the Indian ocean, even colder than the sea at home! The houses on the beach front were stunning and very impressive, although I thought it looked a little overcrowded personally. We also stopped at Camps Bay for ice cream and it was busier with lots of shops along the front. That night, Sonia and I stayed up chatting for hours, trying to catch up on everything that had happened in the last five years that we might not have told each other before. Where we have kept in contact the whole time, I found it so easy to talk to her about absolutely everything and I think she also felt that way...so many funny stories and also I could tell her all about the experiences I've had so far here as she has not yet been to this part of the country.

Wednesday was a fantastic day spent with the family. It was Human Rights Day, another of the many public holidays of this country and I was kindly given a great tour of the Cape peninsula after first being shown some of the townships in the city. The only experience of townships I had so far were the ones in Soweto, Johannesburg where I was surprised to find that most had been rebuilt and the tin shacks were few and out of the way of the main city. However, here we were driving through a normal area and then suddenly hit this deserted, almost eery place where I saw row upon row of tin shacks crushed together in a tiny space. Moving on from here, we stopped in Kalk Bay which is a cute little fishing bay which was thriving with people. Whilst waiting for Glynis and Jose to get a table at a coffee place, Sonia and I explored the boutiques that draw you in because of their uniqueness. I looked through old post cards, books and maps and was totally absorbed in it all. We had tea and cake and then went down to the beach bit where we sat on the side and watched a whole group of huge seals flipping about in the water. I tried so hard to get a photo of them but they moved so quickly! There were coloured south Africans gutting fish there as well so I watched them for a bit. I had not met a coloured person before here yet, and wouldn't have understood the real meaning until coming here. The coloured people are a mix of black African and white African people that have since developed their own culture and languages and there is a large population in Cape Town, whereas I have met none in KwaZulu Natal. It was interesting for me to hear them speaking in what sounded a bit like a white south African accent but with black African qualities as well. We drove around more of the bays and beaches that the city has to offer and stopped at a place called Judas peak which really reminded me of Pride Rock in the 'Lion King'! We were unable to drive down to the secluded beach so we walked down the steep path and the sea was not as cold this time! The weather was stunning all day and I saw my first baboon, although they are much feared there because they have become so vicious from being fed, which I thought was a little sad. We stopped at Boulders Beach which is famous for its resident penguins and we saw loads and they were such sweet little creatures, although a little out of place in Africa when I am used to seeing them in icy places on TV! We stopped in Hout Bay, another fishing area that is hidden between mountains and had fish and chips as the sun set. It was a truly lovely day with the family.

Thursday was another chilled day going to the mall to buy a few other things I needed (I finally got drawing pins!!) and a few more clothes. That evening we went out for cocktails at Blouberg beach with Sonia's friend Kerry. It was a great evening as I saw all the kite surfers in action and the sun set was just incredible. Due to the clouds, it caused an array of deep pinks, reds and oranges to spread across the sky and it was so, so pretty. The cocktails were amazing too ;)

On Friday we got up early as we were heading out for the day over to the winelands before going camping for the night. Whilst we waited for everyone to arrive, I learnt how to play 'Kings'- I am very slow at card games but I got there in the end after finally learning not to show my cards to everyone. Finally, we drove to Stellenbosch with Kerry, Darren and Kerry's friend who's name has escaped me, to meet up with two of their friends who are studying at the university there. The university occupies much of the town of Stellenbosch and the campus is simply stunning, what a beautiful place to study in! We wandered around and chatted and it was unbelievably hot! We then drove through Franshoek, a quaint little Dutch looking town that consisted of lots of lovely white buildings but we didn't have time to stop. We were camping at a sailing club called Theewaters (I pronounced it as thee and waters but it's actually an Afrikaans word sounding like “theeaarrvaarters”!) and we set up the tent next to the dam. We had a nice evening having a few drinks and of course, a braai and met lots of people.

The next morning we had to get back as I was attending my first wedding! One of the other Lattitude volunteers, Sophie, who is volunteering at a school in Cape Town was getting married to her boyfriend and we had been invited so of course I said yes! It was in a traditional looking church and most of the church was full of coloured South Africans from her boyfriends family but it was very British and traditional in the way that the hymns had been chosen and the service was conducted. It was great to see three other volunteers: Moynul, Emily and Sam who I hadn't seen since Jo'burg and have a quick catch up on our placements. Sophie looked so beautiful in her dress and we all had photo's together outside the church outside the service. I had to wait a while for Sonia to come and pick me up so I befriended the priest who showed me whose house to go to if I got stuck and declined some lifts from some young guys who passed by! When Sonia came, we managed to get back on filling up with only ten rand of petrol after realising we had a very empty tank! That evening we had a braai with Glynis, Jose, Talita and her friend and of course their dog, Sharma! We sat outside by their pool and chatted about the week and the wedding and then Sonia and I had a hilarious night talking in the flat in south African accents which I have now seemed to master!

On Sunday I had booked to go tandem paragliding off of Lions Head which is a hill next to Table Mountain after seeing it earlier in the week. Unfortunately it was cancelled at the last minute due to the wind being too strong but we went to Green Point beach and had a picnic which was lovely. We then moved on to the V & A (Victoria and Albert) Waterfront where this famous South African band “Freshly Ground” was playing to the public and we sat and had ice cream after looking at a few souvenir shops and embarrassingly walking past a waitress from a restaurant about a hundred times because we got a bit lost! After getting even more lost trying to find out where we had parked, we drove to signal hill to see the view and then met Sonia's cousin Bradley and his friend Gordon (I think) at the base of Lions Head. We walked up to the top which was not as steep as Eagles Nest and at one point had to go up the rock face with foot holes and a chain. There were lots of people doing the walk and we got there just before sun set. The views were incredible and the sun set was absolutely stunning. We walked back down as it got dark and saw the city all lit up, a perfect end to a perfect week.

Monday was an early start as Sonia was back to university and I was back on a plane to Durban to meet Katie and Patrick. I said goodbye to the family and then Sonia dropped me off at the airport. We were not sad to say goodbye because I will be returning there again in June after my placement but I was sad to leave her after having a really fun week together and wished I could do it all over again. Luckily my flight was on time and I was sat next to the window so could see the country from above and was surprised to see just how mountainous it is. As we flew into KwaZulu Natal I could see the familiar rondavels (round huts) and felt like I was home which was a lovely feeling. I met the others and that was the start of our road trip which I will write about in my next post!

So, what did I love about Cape Town?

Firstly, the contrast of a modern and exciting city enclosed in an army of protective mountains would be putting it in poetic language but that was what was really striking about the place. We could use the mountains to figure out where we were (due to a lack of directional skills!) and at one point Table Mountain would be on your left and then suddenly looking straight at you! I love the way that it is not a city full of high buildings and clutter, but it seems more relaxed and the people too. The beaches and bays are so many to choose from but they all have their own unique attributes and also all the different people that live there. And of course, the African markets! Spending a week there with a close friend and feeling so welcome in her home made it one of the best weeks in this country!

Quotes from the week (just for Sonia)

• “Mzansi fo sho ayayayayaya”

• “Johan and Fannie Klopper”

• “whaai? Faaiv?

• “Please sun cream my hole”

• “hoi,hoi hoi (japanese tourists)

• “all shall be equal before the Ian”

• “ten literrrs”

• “Afrikaans two!!”

• “I'm going out, so stop telling me I'm not allowed to even when it's actually me!”

• “who goes to Langebaan?”

Yebo!

So much to tell as I haven't written in a while!

I guess I should start with last weeks highlights:

On Monday afternoon I gave my nine A's the task of putting on a short role play of a short story we had read together called “Karate”. It was so much fun as it was a beautiful day so I let them practise in their groups outside and they actually went off and did it instead of messing around. I sat on the step watching them and some of them really got into character, especially with the karate kicks! Everyone then performed and I promised some sweets to one of the groups of girls who made me laugh so much that I thought it was only fair they got a prize. Doing drama with them got me thinking and I was wondering why there wasn't any opporutnites for the learners to do any drama, so why not start something and put on a performance? The current idea is to do a modern version of Romeo and Juliet that has easier language than Shakespeare with a bit of a south african culture included. I later discovered on Wednesday afternoon when I thought everyone had to do sports that there is in fact a drama club in the high school so I went along. It seemed to involve a lot of shouting at each other and disagreeing, but I'm not sure over what and then some started to perform a story they had been practising. It was all in Zulu so I'm not sure what it was about but the acting was good! One of the teachers next door, TB, runs the session and I spoke to him about my idea and he seemed happy for it to go ahead, and then to one of the student's on the drama committee and I think he liked the idea although he is more concerned with getting everyone to stop arguing and have control. We hope to go through with it next term although it is difficult as breaks are only half an hour long and no one stays after school for anything, even teachers. Hopefully, Katie and I will have more time to think about it over Easter and plan how we are going to cast people and organise rehearsals. I don't think the school have ever done something like this so if we can pull it off I will be very happy.

Last week I also seemed to play a lot of games- firstly with the grade eights where we played the 'noun game'. I split the class in two and two learners from each team had to run up to the board and tick the correct column of the type of noun when I shouted it out. Whoever got their first got the point. When we were learning it, they got it so easily for example, I would say what is a house? And they would tell me it is a common noun, but when I shouted it out and two ran straight to the board in excitement they often got it wrong. They are such a big class so it got very loud that I could barely shout out the words but the class really enjoyed it and one boy came up to me afterwards to thank me for the fun lesson! When I was taking them for maths- I sit with the 'good one's' now who are all girls and two boys and it was a Thursday afternoon so the last half an hour I got out my pack of cards and played the card game with them and then fruit salad by making space in the middle of the classroom and setting up a circle of chairs. Again, I had to strain my voice but they laughed so much and I plan to do some games again this Friday afternoon as it is my last lesson with them before Easter.

One of the grade eight boys gave Katie his baby turtle to keep for the night and it was in a water bottle with a few stones and some grass. He must have got it from the swamp that lies between the high school and primary school and it was so cute! We named it Rose after our lovely friend who used to live here. However, it was such a responsibility! We didnt know what to feed it, whether it was sleeping or dead, how to get it out the water bottle (I used a knife in the end to cut it open) or whether it would survive the night. Luckily it did and we brought it into school after walking in carrying a lunch box filled with water- a bit of a bumpy ride for the poor thing! Katie took it in to her class and we found out at the end of the day it had been left in the staffroom. On monday morning, the tin foil had been opened and there was no Rose so she must have escaped. Hopefully she made her way back to the swamp!

Talking of Rose, as in the teacher who was living here with us, all of her stuff was packed at the weekend and sent back to her home. Unfortunately, she has had to leave the school as she can't leave her family. We miss her so much but have not seen her in ages now. We are hopefully going to visit her in Pretoria over the april/may bank holiday weekend still so that is something to look forward to. I'm really glad she moved in this house- she was asked to come here so that we were not alone in the house with a man which was really sweet and she did so much for us. Mienky is also sad she has gone as she was good friends with her and will be the only female living here after we go. The TV has now gone so we go over to Mienky's in the evenings to watch our favourite soapies: “Scandal” and of course, “Generations”.

We visited the tea room Fancy Stitch again one afternoon which was nice and we are hoping to go again tomorrow afternoon for my last afternoon in Ingwavuma before the next three weeks away. The people there are lovely and they have some lovely photo frames, key rings and pictures all made by the local women who live around here. They also ship their products out to Oxfam in Austrailia.

Friday was another sports day, but down the road from the school at a primary school called Magugu. It was extremely hot and I had planned to do some games with those who were not platying any matches but it turned out that they were all more interested in supporting their school on the netball court and football pitch. Katie and I were really excited that they had a roundabout and we went on it with loads of kids and it was so much fun- even if we are meant to be teachers! Katie reffed all the netball matches from under ten up to ages thirteen. We won three and lost two and there was much singing and cheering and dancing amongst the girls. I sat with some of the teachers and chatted but the sun can make me SO tired and lethargic. Londiwe drove us to Manguzi after school where we went back to Patricks before our friend Johno picked us up in his car and we began our weekend in Sodwana....

Mbazwana and Sodwana are pretty much the same place but one is the town and the other has the beach. When we arrived it was dark and we went into this place called the “Wild Ditch Bush Camp”. Johno knew the owners and we met the uncle (they call elder people here aunty and uncle” and went to our flat which we got for a tenth of the normal price. We had a braii and a few drinks and I ended up going to bed a bit earlier than the others as the sun had made me so shattered. The next morning we met the aunty who was lovely and their horses, Biscuit and Lover boy, who wanted to come in the flat! They also had chickens, goats and pet dogs. We used their pool and then got in the back of their cruiser (to me it was just a posh bukkie) and she drove us to the spar and then to the beach. The beach was stunning and it actually had some waves! The water is warm as it is the indian ocean this side and the coast is something I love about Kwa-Zulu Natal as the beaches seem to be deserted. Eating chips from the kiosk kind of reminded me of being back home and on Highcliffe beach, although without the monkeys which are huge and tip the bins over. One made me laugh when it just stared at me with half a chip in it's mouth! Sodwana is supposed to be one of the most famous places for snorkelling but Patrick went in and didn't find much so I think we were in the wrong part. We spent the whole afternoon there and Johno and Jacques met up with some friends of Johno's. We went back to the camp and started to get ready for our night out and of course, braaied. Yes, I am getting a tiny bit bored of them now! When we finally ready and free of sand and I put make up on for the second time since I've been here we went to Maak n Jol, a bar with pool tables and a dance floor. It was a really fun night despite it not being very busy and we danced and played pool/snooker (whatever the difference is- I'm still rubbish!) and got back about three. On Sunday we drove to this craft place which had loads of cool african arts and crafts and then Jacques locked the car keys in his car so we had to wait until the people there managed to get it open! I then drove everyone to the beach and even us girls joined in with throwing the rugby ball about by the waves, which was fun until the boys chucked us in the sea with all our clothes on! Johno drove us back with Patrick all the way home and we made them dinner before the returned back to Manguzi. All in all, I loved the weekend and the weekends here just make it for me.

This week has been all about preparing for my holidays! I am off to Cape Town on Saturday so I have been washing all my clothes and putting them in piles and starting to pack. I am not taking all of them but it is good to be sorting things out and getting ready. We are going down to Manguzi on Friday where we will probably meet up with boys and go to a lodge for dinner and drinks. On Saturday morning, jacques has kindly agreed to drive me to Durban airport as I was a bit nervous about getting taxis all the way on my own. It shouldn't take any more than five hours and we are going earlier than needed just in case. My flight is just after six pm and Sonia is meeting me at Cape Town airport around half past eight. I can't wait! Not much has been happening at school except the grade nine's have been doing a test on the future tense and a new boy has arrived in grade eight. We welcomed a new teacher who is replacing Rose and he seems lovely and went to a teachers meeting with an official to do with schools in the area who told us what we need to work on but what we are doing well. We have been feeling a bit bored recently at school which is why we want to put on the play to fill some of our time and make the most of things but I have also been thinking about approaching the social science teacher in the high school, who is lovely, as he seems to teach a lot of history and I would like to have a go at teaching that too. Next term I want to start teaching the more interesting side to English- literature. It's something I have always enjoyed more compared to the grammar we have been doing this term but I am finding it hard to come up with ways to explain it and also texts I am going to use as the library does not have much choice. Something to think about over Easter.

I'm not sure when I am going to write next, it might even be in three weeks when we come back from our travels in Cape Town, the Drakensberg and the East Coast but I will let everyone know how I'm getting on. Glad my post cards are getting home and thank you to everyone who is sending me letters- I love getting post, it's so exciting!

Xxx

P.S: one of my grade nine's made my week when she was polishing her shoes in class and then started brushing her hair with the same brush! I asked her why she was doing that when it had just been on her shoes and she told me that it would make her hair shiny. I asked her why and she told me it was because she was going on a date! She said it in such an obvious way like I was supposed to know these things that it made me laugh, a lot. So, thank you Halaliswa for being your crazy self!

Highlights of this week!

Eight weeks- sometimes it feels like we have been here forever and sometimes like time has flown by! Highlights of this week:

The staff braai was held after school on Monday to celebrate the excellent matric (A level) results achieved last year. In the afternoon we helped prepare the “chakalaka” which consists of shredded carrot, onion and baked beans cooked together. The school has a feeding programme so the cooks prepared the meat for us all in their kitchen and we all sat round the staffroom with a steak, chilli worse, maize meal/mashed potato and chakalaka presented to us each on paper plates! It was so much that I couldn't finish but it was really good and most of the teachers attended. It was great to not have to cook in the evening. Mr Magagula picked on me to pray before we ate and I was totally wordless as I really don't remember the last time I was asked to pray out loud- probably in primary school! I kept it short and sweet but I really was thankful to be there with them. The teachers are almost like our family now as we see them everyday and are getting to know them well.

I have played a lot of netball this week as we were preparing for a match against another school held this weekend. Our netball team consists of both males and females and I am not the best, but it's still fun to take part. We usually play against the grade nine or grade twelve girls and Eugene, one of the teachers just makes it because he is so hilarious throughout. He gets very enthusiastic but constantly makes up his own rules. Mr Mbereki is a great shooter and Katie also used to play a lot so they make our team work better. The only thing with playing netball at lunchtimes is that by then it had reached about thirty degrees so it is exhausting!

This week, Katie had just about had enough with her grade eights as they seem to behave really badly in Maths and not in science so we talked about it and I offered to take half the class for maths from now on when I'm not teaching- so she will only be by herself for one maths lesson a week. I am not the best mathematician but it will be good to do something else for a change and I have been getting a bit bored at school this last few weeks. We are trying it out until Easter to see if it works and Thursday last lesson I took the 'good ones' who are mostly girls whilst Katie took the 'naughty ones' into another classroom. They had been learning about the perimeter and area of shapes and had to complete a worksheet so I basically had to sit there and help them if they needed it. We had just played netball and it was extremely hot but they were actually very good! They started asking me how to work out the areas of a triangle and something was going through my head like “base times height divided by two” but I still told them to times the wrong measurements and it basically meant they all got the answers wrong....woops! Some girls started playing with my hair and did some braids on the side which I probably shouldn't have allowed but I wanted to see what it would look like if we got it done (we have to wait until winter because my scalp will just burn in this weather!) Because last lessons are an hour and a half it usually ends up that the last twenty minutes the learners never stay focused which is understandable.... although, next time I am going to make sure I know how to do the work!! Katie had a successful lesson with those that were struggling as they actually did the work and the ones in my class were happy that they didn't have to be punished for once as a whole class because of the ones that do disrupt the class. So hopefully it's going to work out well from now on as long as I can start remembering my maths!!

On Friday afternoon I found out I didn't have to teach my two lessons because Miss G who is in charge of sports was letting the students practise for the matches on Saturday. We played netball for a bit then walked up to the high school behind the older grades classrooms where I discovered they have a huge football pitch. The whole school was up there and there was such a great atmosphere watching the teachers play the nine boys and girls were singing and cheering them on. Londiwe, one of the intermediate teachers, made me laugh so much because she is also as scared of being hit by the football as I am and every time it came remotely near to us she screamed and ran in so many different directions behind me. I wish I had my camera with me because it still makes me laugh now. This weekend has been the first in seven weeks we haven't rushed off somewhere on a Friday afternoon and it was actually a relief to come home and just relax. We visited Fancy Stitch where we had lunch and it was really nice to eat out in Ingwavuma! There was another family there we sort of know who run a school behind spar and the people who work there are lovely.

Before I write about the weekend, I just want to say that I have been feeling sad this week as Rose, who is like our older sister, has still not returned from her home in Pretoria as her Mum is very ill so she has to stay and she doesn’t know when she is able to come back, if at all. I am just praying that she will finally come back and that her Mum does get better as she is in a very difficult position and it can't be much fun any of them. I miss her loads and we call her nearly everyday. It's funny how we take things here for granted now when we wont be here forever.

On Saturday morning we were up early to meet Miss G to walk down to the hospital where five taxis were meant to be ready to take all the learners going on the school trip down to Manguzi. As usual, things never happen on time here and we were late walking and I spotted a massive African snail on the side of the road! It was so cool to see something like that because people at home keep them as pets in tanks and I had not expected to see one here. We dressed for hot weather however it looked like the news of the cyclone arriving that night was wrong as the wind was picking up and the clouds were quite dark. Once all the students had arrived, they were shuffled into taxis and I travelled with Londiwe in her car. The students treated the taxis as party buses and the drivers turned the music up SO loud so that the students could have a rave in the back which Katie was experiencing as she was sat in the front of one. It is unbelievable how relaxed the rules are here that they will allow students to stand up and dance around in taxis but there we go- TIA. We seemed to stop at every major town to go to the shops and spent a lot of time in Manguzi where Londi and I ran from the car to the garage in the pouring rain laughing and screaming before getting something to eat and waiting to find out where the school actually was! It turns out that it was on the way into town so we had to go back on ourselves before finally arriving at Hambisanani school two hours late. The school was very hospitable providing us with snacks and lunch but I was quickly whisked off to the hall after Miss G asked if I would represent the school as being one of the judges for the debate. Mr Mafuleka, the school librarian, was also asked so we went into this hall where we met two other teachers from the other school who were acting as judges. The students quickly filled up the hall as I tried to work out how we were marking each of the teams. The Hambisanani team was actually very good, especially their english and it was clear that they had put a lot of preparation into it, whereas our school team had been picked that morning! The topic was “Is the government to blame for the crime rate in South Africa?” with Nansindlela arguing for it and the other team arguing against it. The Hambisanani students I actually thought were so aggressive, especially the girls! I couldn't believe how rude they were being at times! Our school was a lot calmer and polite but did not have such a strong argument (I wonder why!). At the end of it I was selected to give some comments and reveal the winner with Hambisanani achieving 78% and Nansindlela 79% so obviously we were happy and loads of students from the other school were even hugging me!

It was still raining when we finished the debate but the girls still wanted to play netball and so Katie umpired the matches. I'm pretty sure that our school won which is not surprising as we have two strong teams. The netball court was made of mud and sand so I have no idea how they judged the lines! Every time we scored we all ran on to the court which was fun although I got soaked. We wanted to play as teachers but the other school refused because of the rain so that was a bit disappointing but understandable. We watched the male teachers from our school play the other school in football and I think we won that too although after a while we went inside as we were so cold and wet and our umbrellas were even breaking because of the wind. We had lunch and waited for the grade nine boys to finish their match which they were insistent on playing and after what seemed hours of taking shelter in front of a taxi with some of my nine B girls, we finally left for home about half past four. I was squashed in the middle of the front of the taxi with two other girls and it was incredibly uncomfortable and cold but still the students wanted to dance around in the back. There had been rumours of some students drinking and it was quite clear when we stopped for petrol in Scamelele that quite a few students were drunk. It actually broke my heart to see some of my grade eight girls stumbling around in a petrol station but no one knew who had bought it/where it had come from so there was not a lot the teachers could do. I found a warmer, more spacious seat next to Miss G in a different taxi for the second part of the journey and it was dark by then. We had a long wait at the taxi rank in Ingwavuma as people were swapping taxis and it was still pouring with rain- I felt so sorry for Miss G who was trying to round them all up! I had no idea what taxi Katie was in as we had got split up and didn't know whether anyone would be home. Luckily Mr Magagula had just arrived in his car so I could get in the house (Katie always has our keys). It was SO good to finally be home and dry and Katie came through the door about ten minutes afterwards. Overall, I enjoyed the day, especially the debate and I didn't spend too much money after last weekend so that was a bonus.

I have definitely got that end of term feeling as I now only have two more weeks of school before my Easter holidays start. Today we had a lie in and a bit of a pyjama morning watching TV and not much else. Today feels like the first time we have stopped since we got here and the weather has cleared up a bit although still windy and gloomy. Hopefully it will have cleared up by next weekend as we have plans to go to Sodwana beach. Missing everyone xxx

Week seven!

The beginning of this week consisted of power cuts in the evening, horrific thunder and lighting and a pack of dogs adopting our garden as their home and making lots of noise in the middle of the night. Since then, the storms have stopped and the dogs have disappeared and another week has passed so quickly.

I am not feeling so homesick now...I'm not sure why I was but I think at the weekends we get into holiday mode and so when we come back to Ingwavuma we get back into our routine and I have more time to think about home. I found myself willing the weekend to come quick as school was quite dull but on the whole my classes were fun to teach and those naughty grade eights even managed to behave perfectly for one lesson! Thando, the grade four who I am tutoring for maths is improving every time I see her which is three hours a week and it's really rewarding to see her gaining understanding of words and numbers. I also take three grade five boys for reading comprehension and Bongi thanked me this week as she said one of them has really improved and is able to answer a few questions now in English whereas before he couldn't. Teaching three fidgety boys with one story book can be difficult but they make me laugh all the time. My decorating plan for the two classrooms I teach in up in the high school is coming along...during sports on Wednesday afternoon I found loads of work in the English cupboard that my nine's had drawn last year on women's rights and also about war and posters titled “Welcome to South Africa” with lots of magazine pictues on them. I asked my H.O.D if I could use this work to put up on the walls and he was more than happy for me to do so. I know it's not my work or even English work but it's colourful and just sitting there in the cupboard gathering dust. One of my nine A girls brought me in some drawing pins (no, I still haven't found any!) so I put up what I could and all the students seem to love seeing their work up on the wall. It is definitely looking a lot better but I am out of drawing pins again!

This week we finally visited Fancy Stitch which is an art gallery/tea rooms/gift shop just down the road from where we live. It really is a beautiful place inside with loads of cool african art, jewellery, photo frames, key rings etc. I bought a white bracelet made of tiny beads which has the colours of the SA flag and the red aids sign (like the breast cancer sign) on it. It felt good to be supporting the local community where all of the products are made and we saw the people actually making the stuff out the back and they all greeted us. We will definitely go back there soon. On Tuesday we made the most of pancake day by going out into the garden and picking lemons from the trees in the garden where mangos and popos also grow...nothing like local produce! Our pancake making was successful although we still haven't decided if we are giving anything up for lent- although we made Rose give up chickens feet! Rose went home to Pretoria this weekend on Thursday and it was very quiet without her here! We are going to visit her family and Pretoria during the May bank holiday after Easter so we are already looking forward to visiting the capital!

This weekend the principal let us leave school after Katie finished teaching in the morning so we could get to St. Lucia in time as we were getting taxis all the way there. We walked home, packed and then waited a long time for the taxi to fill up in Ingwavuma before going to Scamelele, meeting Patrick at Manguzi....waiting ages again, getting two taxis' in very squashed conditions to Hluhulwe, another taxi to Mtubatuba and then FINALLY to St Lucia where we got dropped off at our backpackers. Getting so many taxi's was expensive and we think we might have got ripped off along the way but we were glad to be away from Manguzi for once. St. Lucia is on the coast between Kosi Bay and Richards Bay and is popular for deep sea fishing and surfing. It was like being back in reality as it is a very touristy place with people from all over the world staying there on holiday. There were loads of restaurants and bars and it almost felt like we were in Spain sometimes! The weirdest thing, as this will sound strange to everyone back at home, was being in a bar full of white people!! We have got so used to being the only white people in this area that it was like being in another world at times, especially because it was much more westernised than here. We had fish and chips and watched a South African rugby game at the 'Fishermans Bar' then moved onto a sports bar where we spent the night playing snooker (well, for me I was learning!) and meeting other volunteers with a few drinks and the music was really good. We ended up going back to the backpackers about three in the morning but it was just next door to the bar so we felt very safe walking back. On Saturday morning we explored the local craft market, which had some beautiful things, whilst constantly hearing the local sellers say “My friend, we give you a good price”. We then ventured off to the estuary where we saw our first crocodile in the water and then walked over to the beach which consisted of sand, sand and more sand! We went back to the estuary and chilled there the whole day after feeling a bit delicate from the night before just watching the hippos pass by. We even saw one emerge from the water and walk on land which was quite exciting as you can see how huge they really are. In some ways I felt like I was back in England sitting on the grass under the tree with reeds in front of the water- it reminded me a bit of Hengistbury head...until a crocodile swam past! That night we went out to this second floor seafood restaurant called 'Ocean Basket' and had fish and chips again and there were so many families there who seemed like they were on holiday and then to a cocktail bar and finally back to the sports bar for a drink before heading home for an early night (it seems to be a lot busier on Fridays). This morning we had breakfast at a local coffee shop then headed home but carefully planning our route. We got a taxi to Mtubatuba, then managed to get one all the way too Bhambanana for only 100 rand (£10) which covers such a distance and then one to Ingwavuma so it only cost us 135 rand in total whereas it was more like 200 getting down there! Although I spent way too much money this weekend! It feels great to be home now before starting another week although it is still quiet as Rose is not coming back until maybe Tuesday and we miss her!

Right now we are all waiting for our Easter holidays to come...only three weeks to go and then I'm off to Cape Town. Can't wait now! From this weekend I've learnt that the best way to go travelling is like this. The volunteers we met in St. Lucia are there for four weeks and I couldn't imagine only being here for a month- it would just not be the same in terms of the friendships we are making, the work experience we are getting and everything I am learning from being here everyday. Best decision ever!

Love, Laughter and Elephants!

Last week was a lot of fun. I feel completely settled here now, except today I'm feeling homesick as I realised this morning I have been away for six weeks and as much as I love it here, I can't help but miss everyone at home and the familiarity of home. I have the same dream at least twice a week where I visit home for a short while knowing that I'm coming back here and I don't know why because I'm not coming home until the middle of July. I also realised that we only have 18 weeks left at our placement so time will fly by. I am getting SO excited for Easter now...I haven't seen Sonia in five years or so and we are going to have such an amazing week. Also the road trip with the other two is going to be fantastic as we will have a lot of freedom. Only four weeks to go!

Valentines Day was really enjoyable and over here it is not so commercialised but more about love in general which was actually really refreshing as no one is worried about “oh I don't have a boyfriend on Valentines Day so it's going to be so bad” like it is at home. The grade twelves put on a function in the science lab so that they could raise some money towards their matric dance at the end of the year. I was feeling a bit annoyed when my nine B's decided that just because it was the hour before the function started, then it was Ok not to turn up to my lesson! I went down to the science lab afterwards and they had these huge speakers borrowed from a local church and their were learner's everywhere, even sitting on the top of cupboards! The younger grade's catwalked in front of a panel of judges and in between people just got up and danced. It was great to see another side to the school and the matrics organised it so well. They made 650 rand (about £60) which I thought was amazing, especially if they can pull it off every month like they are planning to do. We wore our uniform and got lots of compliments about how good we looked! It felt so strange being back in school uniform after three years and it I got so hot- I can't believe they have to wear that everyday, especially the long socks!

On Wednesday after running around the playground with the high school girls in sports, we cooked a roast dinner for Rose and Mienky. Unfortunately, the oven in this house does not work so we had to use the one in the house next door to cook the chicken and potatoes. It took a few hours and we set the table nicely with wine glasses with napkins in and put flowers on the table. Both Mienky and Rose enjoyed it even though we forgot to put the vegetables on! It felt like Christmas or something! We still have a whole chicken in the freezer so I expect we will do another one soon for some of the other teachers' or the principal and his family.

This week at school I set all my classes tests but I seemed to spend most of the time finding people who hadn't done their homework and making sure they go it done or basically just leaving their class teachers to punish them. Even the grade eights are starting to realise they can't get away with it now. Two boys were punished by Rose who threatened them with cleaning out the jars with snakes in them in the science lab cupboard that were going mouldy! Poor things, apparently one boy nearly cried and begged for another punishment (don't worry- she's not actually that mean to make them do it) and he has been good in class ever since! I know quite a lot of names now and it's a lot easier than it was at the start. Teaching just comes naturally after a few weeks and I learn very quickly about what works and what doesn't.

So the weekend! Best weekend here by far! We went to Thobeka (the backpackers) in the evening and stayed there until very late with two boys we met. One of them is a matric at patrick's school and his friend is the same age and works in Manguzi. We just chatted over drinks and talked about the differences between our countries...they seem to find our accent hilarious. On Saturday morning I woke up and shouted 'ELEPHANTS' at Katie to wake her up and she thought I said 'pants' but I was so excited for going to Tembe. We borrowed a 4x4 bukkie from one of the teachers Patrick knows and it was about half an hour drive. We paid 40 rand each (£4) for entry and the car and set off into the bush to spot some wildlife. We saw lots of cool deer, impala and other creatures with antlers and then a lone warthog that was just chilling in the middle of the road. We were saying lion king quotes the whole day! We also saw a family of warthogs and the baby ones were so cute but they ran quite fast. There are a few hides where you can walk up to a viewing point and in the first one their was a watering hole with a herd of wilderbeast sitting under the tree. Very scenic but still no elephants! The next animals we saw were a group of about five buffalo who just stared at us. They have incredible facial expressions...these two reminded me of a couple of old ladies! We then approached a herd of about sixty and they were pretty impressive although they looked a bit angry. We weren't expecting to see Zebra but it was lovely because they were next to some wilder beast which took a fab photo. Our first sighting of an elephant after quite a long time was perfect. I felt quite tired and just closed my eyes before Patrick shouted and there was one in the bushes on our right. We were able to stop and take photos before it wondered off. The next one we saw gave us a bit of a shock as it appeared around a corner and was a lot bigger than the previous! BUT the third one nearly gave us all a heart attack...Katie was driving and literally emergency stopped as this massive elephant is facing us walking along the road. It was the strangest feeling....we were in an elephant park expecting to see elephants yet it still scared the life out of us. It must have been about fifteen metres away and all we could do was reverse as there was thick bushes on either side of us. The amount of screaming and swearing and laughing was unbelievable as we turned the car around and went to look for it again. I got a great video of it walking in front of us swishing it's tail but the photos and videos will never get across how huge it was and the feeling of being so close to something so magnificent. Luckily all the elephants we encountered were very passive but we had no idea if they might charge at us- especially when we had to drive through a herd! Luckily we were a safe distance from them. The other amazing part of the day were the giraffes. We stopped to take photos and I have never seen anything so huge that is living- they were honestly twice the size of the one's I've seen at the zoo! When we drove off I thought that there had been about five but we suddenly realised that about twenty were running along the hill NEXT to our car! It was the most amazing experience of my life until one nearly ran in front of our car and I thought we were going to die!! I think our screaming made it turn back! It was just incredible- it was like they were playing with a toy car or something. I was so grateful I was filming at that exact point. I would never have experienced anything like that if I hadn't of come here!! the way they let you drive round the park by yourself is a little risky but I wouldn't have wanted to go with a tour guide after what we experienced. We saw one other car with tourists in the whole day and it was so cheap!

On Saturday night we went back to the backpackers with the boys and had dinner and a few drinks, although I was designated driver so I was on the fanta. The attitudes towards drinking and driving here are ridiculous, it's like for us maybe one drink and we can drive. For the South African's it more like six drinks! Luckily we are sticking to our own beliefs about drink driving. The backpackers is down a sandy road just like the one's we were driving on in the park and I was still driving so carefully as if an elephant was going to appear around the corner- it was so funny! On Sunday morning we taxied back to Ingwavuma and it was good to be home and tell Rose all our stories. We are quite close with her now and I'm usually in her room chatting with her or we just watch TV and it would not be the same without her hilarious comments to make us laugh everyday. Now it is a new week at school and hopefully we will FINALLY pay a visit to Fancy Stitch! We are planning to go to St Lucia at the weekend- a beach town a little bit further down the coast. I can't wait to get away from this area now and it will have normal shops!!

I am missing home but there is no way I would want to go home, I’m having too much of a good time! Huge thank you to everyone who got me here, it was the best decision ever!

Another week, another post :)

Instead of writing up everyday of this week I decided I would write down the highlights and then tell you about my weekend. This week went so fast: I remember I was watching the grade eights performing Zulu songs in their Arts and Culture lesson on Monday period one and then suddenly I was shouting at them on Friday period five. I really feel settled into life here now even though everyday brings new challenges, especially with the teaching. I can't imagine not getting up at six and being surrounded by a net, washing with no running water and then listening to the awful music in the car on the way to school and then the beautiful sounds of the teacher's voices as they start the morning meeting with a song.

School has been great this week and I am really enjoying teaching the grade 9's especially the 9A's. I didn't like them at the start and now they are my favourite class! They respect me and do their work and I know all their names so we can have a laugh. This week we did all about the past tense and it's the sort of thing I didn't really like doing at school so I hope I taught it well. If I ever have to say 'past participle' again I might go mad! The grade eights on the other hand are a complete nightmare and I have had enough of them. Most of them want to work and do well but unfortunately the class is so big that they get distracted by just a few who ruin it. They have been spoken to by another teacher about their behaviour so maybe I will see some changes next week but I'm feeling doubtful- I'm glad they are not my only class! Katie has them everyday...I don't know how she does it! I am getting to know them though and secretly know they like me...hmm, maybe.

I have seen so much of the traditional Zulu singing and dancing this week- it seems every grade was out in the playground at some point practising and I love just sitting and observing- they get so into it and some of the girls are really good singers. As for the boys, they get so into the dancing which is hilarious! One of the grade twelve's asked me to come up and join them but I politely declined as I just wanted to watch but maybe next week I will give it a go!

I have started tutoring a girl called Thando in grade four who cannot read and also needs help with her maths. I take her for English once and maths three times a week. She is very quiet and shy but is learning quickly- this week we went through how to spell the numbers one to twenty so she can recognise them if they are written in maths. I'm really pleased with her progress and I enjoy the one to one after having classes of thirty plus normally.

I have a little project of my own...the walls in the high school classrooms are completely bare and I think this is so wrong. I asked Bongi, our mentor, about it and she said that they are supposed to have stuff on the wall but they just don't have the funding for it. I teach in two classrooms: G2 and G3 and my mission is to get the huge boards at the back covered in the students work. So far I have managed to get two of my classes to produce colourful posters and Bongi also found some old posters that I can use the back of because they are just white. I bought some coloured paper in Pep which was SO cheap but my only problem is that I desperately need drawing pins and more blue tac! The office did not get any supplies this year so I have put in a request for drawing pins as I can't find them anywhere! It's so frustrating when you don't have access to these simple things!

Home life has been fairly normal but lots of fun as always. It is great finishing school at half two because we have so much free time to do the things we need to at home such as washing as it's still sunny outside for it to dry. On Monday I cooked dinner- sausage, mash and vegetables- all by myself which I consider a huge achievement because we didn't die! I also booked my flights to Cape Town at Easter which was exciting. We are STILL suffering with bed bugs so my feet look horrible all covered in bites but I think maybe they are starting to disappear as we are having less bites than before. Rose is being a babe as usual making us laugh all the time and on Wednesday we helped her take her braids out because it had taken her the whole evening which was quite fun but also really fiddly. I often find myself looking at a student and thinking “you look different” and I realise that they've changed their braids or taken them out or shaved them off- they have different hair every day! We have watched a few movies on the laptop this week to fill the evenings including “Trainspotting”, “Memoirs of a Geisha” and tonight “Slumdog Millionaire”. We also had pancakes for dinner one evening as Rose likes them now we have introduced them to her! Where there has been no rain for ages, all of our water tanks except the one behind the far house ran dry which was a bit worrying when they had nearly run out of water in Spar too! Luckily the rains came this weekend...

This weekend we were back to Manguzi for a low cost quiet weekend and we got a lift with another teacher, Londiwe. She drove us near to where she stays at her sisters which is about twenty minutes taxi ride from Manguzi. We had a nice chat in the car with her and she has offered to take us to Sodwana bay with her one weekend. We got a taxi straight away and this was our first experience of one. The taxis here are not like the one's at home. They are basically mini buses that wait to fill up before they leave and pick people up and drop them off along the way. There was hardly anyone in the taxi and it only cost us 13 rand each- less than £1.30! It's so cheap to travel here. We met Patrick, did our shop at Spar then went back to his, cracked open the drinks and started the braii- can you tell we are getting into a bit of a routine? That night there was a horrendous storm- I could not sleep for about two hours because the rain and the thunder were SO loud and there was constant flashing from the lightning which lit up the whole room! On Saturday, it was cloudy but still warm and we called up the guy with the bukkie and he took us to the Kosi mouth. He dropped us at the lodge, we bought our permits and began the walk down. I actually enjoyed the walk this time because it wasn't too hot and we knew the way. When we got to the mouth we found a place to settle under a big palm tree and just chilled for a few hours before walking up to the actual mouth. This is where the water from the four lakes across the whole area goes out to sea so there is a fairly strong current. We let ourselves go into the current (it was very shallow) and be taken along until we could reach the sand again and before we went out of the mouth. SO MUCH FUN. There were quite a few people around this time which was nice as we got chatting to a South African couple about our travels and found out they were building a school for the poor in this area. I also got quite sunburnt despite factor 50 :/ On the walk back I saw a really cool crab- it was black but with bright red pincers. I imagined it to be Mexican with red maracas because I'm a bit sad like that. We stopped at the lodge, and Ken the owner let us use his pool and we waited for the bukkie man who had fortunately put the cover on. It poured it down with rain so much that the driver could barely see out the windscreen- it was actually a bit scary at times! There were loads of drips so we still got a bit wet but we would have been like drowned rats without the cover. The storm caused a power cut and the house is quite dark anyway so we lit candles. There is an outside shelter where we could braii but where the wood was so wet it was incredibly smoky so our clothes smell lovely now! We bought some sweet potatoes this week and also toasted marshmallows which was fun! We stayed up quite late just chatting and it was too hot to sleep.

This morning we had to wait half an hour for the taxi to fill up and I got really squashed in the back. It took us an hour to get to Bhambanana and then another half an hours wait there before we left for Ingwavuma which took half an hour. 60 rand for the whole journey- so so cheap and we had no issues with the taxi. It actually felt really good afterwards to have travelled by ourselves. We were back at lunchtime and today has been really chilled, just doing our washing, watching a movie with Rose, experiencing another power cut so lighting candles and cooking our dinner on a gas stove and toasting marshmallows over candles! Luckily the electricity is now back but it was really fun in the dark. We now have our own water tank just behind our house which is amazing as we don't have to walk as far! Thank you Mr Groundsman.

Next week is full of plans. On Tuesday the grade twelve's are raising money for their year as it's is Valentines Day so they are selling food and wearing their own clothes and the teachers wear the school uniform. We are borrowing some from two grade twelve girls. I think it will be a fantastic day. On Wednesday night, Katie and I are hosting an English evening for our house mates and anyone who wants to come and are cooking an English dinner but I'm not sure what yet- maybe a roast if we can use the oven in the house next door. Next weekend we are hopefully going to the elephant park as we now have a car to use! As for my students, I'm giving them all tests... not such a good week for them! My aim for the week is to get the boards in the classrooms started and to come up with a way to deal with the grade eights.

Random facts:

-I haven't worn make up since we got here, yet I used to wear it everyday.

-I've been in a hot country for five weeks and no, I don't really have a tan (for those that keep asking!). I do have some colour though, especially on my face.

-I enjoy simple living. Not having running water is sometimes a slight issue, but when we have it at the weekends I realise that it's not such a big deal. It's teaching me a lot to live like this.

-There is no one else that I miss more than my Mum and it's really weird not seeing her everyday.

-I literally have no idea what is going on in the world except that it's snowing in some parts of England.

- I am starting to actually seriously think about what I want to do with my life after uni after putting it off for so long.

With my boy, Sibongilile.