The road trip

With my volunteer experience still a lingering memory, I embarked on a journey alongside my dearest friend Miss M (joined later by Mr T) through Namibia and Botswana. I’ve only just managed the time to sit and write a daily account of our adventure, which spanned a period of 9 days. Enjoy!

Day 0
The South African Home Affairs division had done a spectacular job of making my life hell, in what had to date seemed like a futile attempt to get a visa extension stamped into my passport. Their antics meant that instead of making my way directly from Cape Town to Jo’burg, I had to make a detour to Richards Bay to get the wretched sticker pasted into my passport. After a 2-hour flight to Durban at a rather unfriendly hour, I drove 3 hours to this now-familiar office in Richards Bay to collect my visa extension, an event, which took a whopping 5 minutes of my day. Very unimpressed and mildly irritated, I drove back to Durban and boarded a bus for a 9-hour ride to Jo’burg. We finally pulled into the bus station in Jo’burg at some obscure time of the next day. Needless to say, I was tired and slightly cranky, though the excitement wrought by my imminent adventure overshadowed this sour feeling soon enough

Day 1
Miss M picked me up from the bus station and we headed to her house where we finalised our packing for the trip and made our way to pick up our rented car and run other last-minute errands. By midday, we were on our way. The plan was to drive to Namibia via Botswana then back to Jo’burg via Botswana. The route we planned meant our journey would be somewhat circular such that we’d get to see a range of places in both countries. Our first quest was to get to Lobatse from Jo’burg to cross the border into Botswana. It was a solid and uneventful 3-hour drive, with Miss M at the wheels. Armed with good music, the passage of time was hardly noticeable – John Legend, Lauryn Hill, Dwele, Maxwell, Coldplay, Bebe and Cece Winans; just to mention a few, were all we needed to sing along to and enjoy our time on the road. We made it to the border in good time, went through immigration and customs in record time and were soon on our way to our next stop – Kang, in Botswana. I took over driving and we made our way through the Kalahari Desert, crossing paths with many a donkey, cow, goat and sheep. We noted how strange it was to be driving through this “Desert” which though sandy, was covered in grass with lots of animals grazing. That said, there were no visible water bodies and the rivers that we crossed had all dried up, which I guess earns it the right to be called a Desert. About an hour into our drive, I managed to exceed the speed limit only to be stopped by the Botswana police. Luckily for us, they were feeling charitable and simply told us off…followed swiftly by a request for our contact details so they could “keep in touch”. We humoured them (clearly these guys had no shame) and were soon on our way. Several hours later, we arrived in Kang, retreating from a brilliant sunset. We found ourselves a comfortable guest-house and retired for the night, very pleased with the progress made on our first day

Day 2
Was an early start as we were keen to make it to Swakopmund via Windhoek (pronounced: vindhook) in Namibia before sunset. After a large breakfast, we set out for Mamuno where we were to cross the border into Namibia. Our journey went smoothly save the odd towering truck that we had to overtake to make our ambitious target. We made it to the border in record time thanks to a lot of over speeding (no lessons learnt from the previous day I’m afraid). We crossed the border, immediately noticing that Namibians were a lot friendlier and their country more developed and slightly more picturesque than Botswana. We arrived in Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, that afternoon fairly tired. Windhoek is a lovely city, which had a lot of Capetonian features to it. Features like its looming mountainous perimeter, its hilly landscape, its cultural diversity and its high level of development – large shopping malls, perfect roads, fancy cars, amongst other things, were commonplace. Have to say that it struck another cord with me, one that isn’t often struck. I couldn’t quite place what it was but somehow Windhoek reminded me of Monrovia; perhaps it was the soul of the city that spoke to me; I couldn’t help but think that if Liberia hadn’t been plagued by war for all those many years, Monrovia may well look something like Windhoek today, or at least have its vibe. Miss M and I hit the local Nandos (many people don’t know this but Nandos is a South African creation and the company has many outlets throughout southern Africa) for some much needed chicken and hit the highway heading to Swakopmund. We got our first speeding fine about 30 minutes into the drive. Unfortunately the Namibian police, though equally “friendly”, did not do verbal admonitions, we had to pay the fine. Undeterred, we hit the road, paying close attention to the speed limits this time and journeyed on. We drove through the Namib Desert, which was a lot sandier with hardly any vegetation. Our journey took longer than envisaged owing to road works and a rather tragic-looking accident that took place a few hours earlier. We finally arrived in Swakopmund around 8.30pm, thoroughly exhausted. We retired for the evening, glad that we’d arrived safely and postponed any planning for our time there till the next day

Day 3
We had a full day in Swakopmund so we’d decided to sleep in and made it out for breakfast just as the kitchen at the guesthouse was about to close for the morning. We were informed at breakfast that there was something leaking from our car (which was parked across the way at the sister guest-house of the one we were residing in). Turns out our petrol tank had a puncture. Naturally, we panicked; not only did we not know what we were to do about our predicament, it was a national holiday in Namibia that day. The receptionist advised us to go to a nearby petrol station to seek help. We were in luck as the manager of the station was a rather amiable chap who showed us where we could take the car to get the petrol tank fixed. Fairly naïve in these sorts of matters, we nodded at the mechanic’s proposed solution to our problem but were highly suspicious when he told us what he was going charge us for his efforts. After some bargaining we came to what we felt was a reasonable price. We were to find out at a later stage that we were completely ripped off but at the time we were simply relieved that our seemingly insurmountable problem had been alleviated. We planned the rest of our day – some sightseeing, quad-bike riding that afternoon and dinner at a fantastic restaurant. Swakopmund is a fairly small city but is a hot tourist destination in Namibia, with its lovely sand dunes, restaurants and proximity to the Atlantic Ocean; it has everything a decent holiday has to offer. The town is filled with guesthouses and hotels, locally owned shops and pubs, restaurants and a few shopping malls. Its criss-crossed road layout made navigation easy and we drove round and took in all the sights. We arrived back at our guesthouse just in time for us to be picked up for quad-bike riding and rather unfortunately; I locked the car keys in the boot of the car…yikes! We decided it was best to not ruin the day by cancelling our bike ride and to deal with our new predicament upon our return. Neither Miss M nor I had ever ridden a quad-bike before so it was quite the adventure for us. Once we were comfortable controlling our automatic-geared bikes, we hit the dunes led by a very patient guide. We had a lot of fun speeding along and braving some very high dunes with spectacular views of the landscape and ocean. It was an hour of our time well spent. We got back to our guesthouse for some brainstorming with the receptionist on how to solve our problem, which led us back to our friendly petrol station manager again. He watched us approach him with some foreboding and asked: “what have you done now?” We laughed and told him our “little” problem. Armed with a coat hanger-turned-wire and a screwdriver, he accompanied us back to take a look at the car. The plan was to slip the hanger between the car door and its frame so that he could lift the lever that controlled the boot and hence get it open. After an hour and a half of torturous fiddling, we got the boot open. We were amazed at his patience and resilience and thanked him profusely for his kind efforts. Miss M and I were tired from the day’s challenges and activities and decided to dress up and treat ourselves to a lovely meal. We made our way to the amazing “Rafters” restaurant which is built on stilts firmly plunged into the Atlantic. We enjoyed a glass of wine and watched a lovely sunset; ate the best grilled fish (called Steenbras) I’ve had in a while, our day almost behind us

Day 4
Another early start as we had to head back to Windhoek to pick Mr T up from the airport that afternoon. We were excited that he was going to be joining us, if for nothing, at least to share the driving responsibility and to add some testosterone input into our journey, something we felt was needed especially after our experiences the previous day. Before we left Swakopmund, we went on a boat trip to some nearby sand islands, which was home to a large number of seals and a varied species of birds. While the weather was not at its best, the animals were fascinating to watch. We also sighted some friendly dolphins near our boat, an added bonus! We left Swakop just after lunch and sped all the way to Windhoek. Despite our conscious effort to avoid being late in the getting to the airport, we got there an hour and a half or so after his flight landed. Then we made him drive us to the accommodation for the night…poor guy! Dinner was at a lovely Angolan restaurant where we enjoyed another excellent meal of grilled fish and some more wine. Despite our best intentions of staying out and having a good time, our bodies betrayed us; the beds at the guesthouse beckoned strongly by the time we were done with the meal and we succumbed!

Day 5
Windhoek is fiercely hot this time of the year and we fully appreciated that when we woke up. The plan was to travel to the north of Namibia to somewhere near the Caprivi Strip and cross over to Botswana to the Okavango Delta region. It would involve a lot of driving so we had a large breakfast, organised ourselves and hit the road. We arrived in Outjo, roughly half of the way to the Caprivi Strip in the afternoon and decided to spend the rest of our day there and do some sightseeing. We stayed at a lovely lodge called Etotongwe, which was near the Etosha National Park. We checked in and went for a drive through the park where we sighted some lions, giraffe, zebra, gemsbok (cousin to the impala), impala, various species of birds and the saltpans. It was a very relaxing drive and a nice way to end our day. We retired to the lodge thereafter for some kudu (another cousin to the impala) dinner – very, very tasty

Day 6
A relatively late rise followed by a large breakfast and we were on our way to the Caprivi Strip. So far our driving experience had included some close calls: I’d veered off the highway mid-conversation with Miss M then swerved quickly back onto the road on day 1 (incredibly scary); Miss M came close to whacking another car in the back when it stopped suddenly in the middle of the highway en route to Swakopmund; presumably due to a technical fault – we were pretty shaken. On this day however, we were engaged in a heated debate about something or the other such that Miss M’s attention was not a 100% on the road; she ran over a little squirrel scurrying across. We felt so guilty and made a promise to pay better attention and look out for the wildlife, a promise that we kept till the end of the trip. We made a stop at a town called Rundu to see a meteorite, christened Hoba, which had landed there an estimated 80,000 years ago. We were a bit disappointed at the sight though – it was a smallish sized piece of iron that wasn’t quite as interesting or awesome as we’d envisaged. To date we’d also not booked accommodation in advance and just found places to stay as we went along. This tactic was put to the test when we arrived in the Caprivi area. There were hardly any places that were affordable and the first place we saw that we could afford was nothing short of disastrous. The sun was starting to set and things were starting to look tricky. We braced ourselves and decided to check out the only other place that we could afford – a campsite called Ngepi that was located right on the banks of the Kavango River. The set up was very similar to that of Jungle Junction on the Zambezi in Zambia. We decided to have a look around and upon viewing one of the tree houses; we noticed mice frolicking about on the ceiling – yikes. All the huts/houses were made out of a combination of concrete and bamboo material; the bathrooms were outdoors and the doors were hardly secure. The staff was very friendly and it was very atmospheric (the owner of the place had quite the sense of humour as evidenced by the many witty utterances plastered on the walls of the reception area) so we decided to stay there. After staying in relatively plush guesthouses and lodges, it was time to rough it a bit. Miss M was not impressed and after some convincing, acquiesced. We ended up spending the evening drinking and chatting with the guys who worked in the camp, an interesting lot – a mixture of Namibians and Angolans (we were in close proximity to the Angolan border) who were unanimous in their view that Angola was a death trap and that anyone who ventured out there wanted to die. Period. They humoured us with their anecdotes, which flowed freely as the night wore on and the alcohol consumption loosened their tongues. It was a fun night, we retired just before midnight, laughing all the way to our hut and slept right through the night oblivious to the threat of being attacked by hippos, crocs or large snakes (we found out the next morning that one of the bathrooms was now home to large python)

Day 7
We survived the night unscathed; even the mosquitoes had nothing on us! Of course we stopped gloating when we heard the python story and realised just how lucky we’d actually been! We went for a lovely Makoro (handmade canoe) ride along the river, which incidentally was infested with crocs and hippos. It as a peaceful ride though and the river was beautifully littered with water lilies, the sun shone bright and the azure sky was perfectly reflected on the calm water. Our guide was excellent, providing many a history and geography lesson as we were paddled along. Regrettably, it was time to leave by the time we got back from the trip. We’d enjoyed our time in Namibia and especially at Ngepi. Our next stop was Maun, located on the southern part of the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Our journey there was calm and uneventful but once we arrived, we struggled to find a decent place to stay. The rather unfriendly attitude of the people in the town was evident from the moment we set foot there, which helped us, none. After an hour and a half of driving around and dealing with some incompetence, we settled for the night at the Maun Lodge in a nice chalet. We were exasperated from the afternoon’s goings on and dug into a huge buffet dinner. Mr T was also not feeling well – he was under attack by something akin to the flu, so we decided to call it an early night

Day 8
We awoke the next morning mildly unenthused at the prospect of dealing with the unfriendly community of Maun. Breakfast at a café opposite the airport offered no improvements. Our waitress’ disposition could best be described as nonchalant. Our day could not go to waste though so we went in search of activities to fill it. We settled on lunch at a nice restaurant and a boat cruise at dusk. Lunch exceeded our expectations. The Tamalekha Lodge has a brilliant restaurant and the service we received was akin to what we’d encountered in Namibia – there just might be hope for Botswana after all. The restaurant overlooked the Kavango River offering a splendid view as we dug into various culinary delights. Fully rejuvenated, we made our way to the venue for the boat cruise. We set sail from a backpackers lodge in a small boat made of tin; just the three of us and a guide, who said almost nothing the whole time we rode down the delta. We spotted the odd giraffe and zebra and nothing else. We’d expected an experience akin to what we’d had with Ngepi on the Makoro ride, evidently not! The river was beautiful and the peace and quiet was pleasant but it could have been so much more interesting if our guide was a bit more engaging. We decided to give Maun a final shot by having drinks at a restaurant en route to our lodge. Another feisty waitress presented herself, this time speaking to us in a mixture of Tswana and English even though it was pretty obvious that we did not speak the former language. Miss M gave up her cool at this stage and confronted the waitress who responded by saying, rather sheepishly, that we should learn Tswana. We thought it apt to point out the flaws of this young lady’s way of thinking; she finally agreed that she was wrong and that as customers we deserved good service in a language that we understood. A few drinks and laughs later, we made our way home for an early retirement. The plan was to wake up very early the next morning to drive a good 1000 kms back to Jo’burg

Day 9
We were up slightly later than we planned and hit the road heading to Jo’burg via Kang. We skipped a meal that morning and drove into Kang early that afternoon justifiably famished! We ordered our food – goat meat stew and rice all around; the best I’ve had in a while, I have to say. Very satisfied with our food [and service], we called for the bill and offered to pay by credit card, something we’d done regularly throughout the trip. We were then informed that the credit card machine wasn’t working as the electricity was out for the day. Right! We had enough cash to barely cover the cost of our meal AND we had only a 100 kms of petrol left in the tank. A troll of the town proved futile in our search for an ATM that worked. A panicked glance at the map and queries from a nearby office tagged “Tourist information centre” revealed that the closest town with petrol and/or a functional ATM was at least 150 kms away; schuks! the South Africans would say! When mine and Miss M’s genius failed, Mr T stepped in and suggested that we ask the restaurant to trust us, give us the little cash we have back to buy some petrol to at least get to the next town with both amenities and we’d transfer the money to cover our meal into their bank account once we were back in SA. Thankfully, our benefactor, the manager of the fine establishment in question, was a Shona-speaking Zimbabwean like Mr T. Quick, unintelligible words were spoken between them; a smile, a handshake and an exchange of relevant details later, we were in our ride, with enough petrol to get us well on our way. We only noticed then, how hot it was in Kang; we were drenched! We drove to the border with one stop along only for more petrol. We left Botswana just before dusk vowing vehemently to make it our last visit, given the string of bad luck and lacking hospitality! We finally drove into Jo’burg close to 11pm that night, exhausted, our heads filled with giddy details of the last few days

Nearly 5000 kms later, Miss M, Mr T and I viewed our experience as a lot of fun, everything a decent road trip should be

Some of my last days in SA were spent with Miss M’s family in the Eastern Cape, located close to Cape Town. That involved nearly a whole day of driving, attending a wedding and frolicking on the beach, amongst other things. My final days were spent in the Drakensberg (the Alps of South Africa, I’m told) area with Miss M and a few other friends, just enjoying the fresh breeze and scenic presence of the mountains. My flight back to London was somewhat surreal, it felt like somehow my trip was not over, could not be over…it took the freezing cold of the airport in Heathrow to jar me from my stupor

ps. I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday. I still haven't gotten round to trolling through the thousands of photos i've taken in recent months to sort them out and upload a few for your viewing pleasure. I will get round to it at some point and let you know once they are uploaded

Volunteering - the final verdict

Alas folks, my volunteering experience is over. I still remember the moment I decided I come volunteering in Africa. I’d gone through several miserable months [in fact years] of working and knew I wanted a break to go traveling, a desire my parents vetoed, completely in awe of this unfounded wanderlust and genuinely concerned that it would be unsafe for me to do it alone. Ever the respectful daughter, I went away and tried to think of a “safer” option that would allay their fears. In said moment, I recalled a conversation I’d had with one of my favourite people one summer’s day in a friendly Nando’s restaurant in London many moons before, where we’d had a detailed, thought-provoking chat about our longer-term life goals. It was truly one of those light-bulb-lighting-in-my-head decisions - automatic, firm, pleasing to my mind and heart AND incidentally to the family. Deciding where to go and who to volunteer with took some research but were fairly straightforward decisions. The enormity and finality of it all didn’t hit me till the day I handed in my notice at work, when my boss expressed dismay and surprise at my decision. But it was short-lived. Doubt and insecurity didn’t rear their ugly heads till about the week prior to my departure, when all of a sudden, I could think of a basketful of reasons why this was an absurd, impulsive, childish pursuit of God-knows-what. I was assured that it was just last moment jitters…it didn’t feel that way, especially not when I had to say my goodbyes or when I was all checked in and watched tears gather in my mother’s eyes…all that feels like such a long time ago…

Nearly 7 months later, I can say, in a rather clichéd way, that this is one of the best things I’ve done with my life. The memories I’ve gathered and documented here will be with me forever and for my friends, brace yourselves, my stories are bound to bore you in years to come :D. Some said it would be great, I underestimated how great; some said they knew people who didn’t like their experiences, how could they not?

I’ve received several emails, comments on facebook and on some of my posts here, applauding my efforts. I’m grateful for all these and if there was ever a time I doubted myself, those encouragements obliterated that feeling. I’ve met so many wonderful people in all the countries I’ve visited who were supportive and encouraged what I was doing, which more than compensated for the few who viewed what I was doing with some scorn, prejudice or somehow thought me unqualified for the role

I’m especially grateful to my best friends and family without whose support, I probably would have buckled somewhere along the way. From the thought-provoking interactions that led to the decision to embark on this journey, to the encouragement that it was the right thing to do and the right time to do it, to the suggestions of what to name the blog, what to take on the journey, travel tid-bits, kind words, those who offered me a place to sleep, those who faithfully read and commented on the blog; words really cannot express my gratitude. I’m also thankful for my faithful battalion of blog followers; hope you’ve enjoyed reading my stories and managed to live vicariously through me! :D

Midway through my journey, I started receiving emails asking questions regarding what I’d enjoyed so far, what hadn’t worked so well, the best country I’d visited, best volunteer experience, etc. Thought I’d wait till the end of the volunteer experience to express a fair opinion on these questions. Would start with this caveat though: each experience was unique and rewarding in its own way and if I had to do the trip all over again, would definitely not exclude any of them. So, on that note here goes

Zanzibar
You’ve seen the pictures and I’m sure cannot deny that Zanzibar is beautiful by any measure! The white sandy beaches, perfect sunrises and sunsets, [usually] friendly dolphins, great snorkeling and scuba diving opportunities, just to name a few. It has to get 5 stars for aesthetics…note that this vote in my mind is marginal to Mozambique and Cape Town. The volunteering experience, while not the most challenging, was perfect for the start of the trip. It had the right level of intensity and challenge and taught me a few valuable lessons that perhaps helped enrich my other experiences

Kenya
Hands down, should receive 5 stars for the most challenging volunteer experience. I was forced to step out of my comfort zone, focus on the job at hand and more importantly, think about the best way to apply myself. Also have to say that I admire the fact that Kenyans are reaching out to their own and it was great to note that Kenyans run all the NGOs that Fadhili works with. Kenya, like many an African country, is plagued with many problems and it’s refreshing to see that some can rise above the mayhem and show love and care for others. These NGOs may not be perfectly run but their efforts are definitely a step in the right direction

Mozambique
Receives 5 stars as a holiday destination. I’m talking about the total package here: beautiful scenery, a host of activities to indulge in: horseback riding, snorkeling, scuba diving, surfing, island hopping, etc; delightful cuisine and prices that offer good value for money. Getting there by plane is expensive but for me, it was worth every penny. If you ever had to travel there, would highly recommend flying to Jo’burg and driving or busing it to Moz. I admit that my volunteer experience there was ever so slightly soured by some of my sentiment toward the management style but it was still a good experience. I think the project has a potential for expansion and could definitely be improved on a few grounds – reaching out to the medical community, more widespread HIV education, liaising with the schools for reading and art clubs, etc

Zambia
I really enjoyed my Zambia experience because it exposed me to a very wide range of things and showed me what a well-run project can achieve. I’ll give it 5 stars for breadth and impact on the community. I was always on my toes in my time there: be it teaching, building, working with the old folk, farming, etc. While I didn’t get involved in all aspects of the project, I know that the other volunteers who did get to work on the parts that I missed, had a lot of positive things to say about their experiences

St Lucia, South Africa
I shall give a 5 star rating for its HIV education efforts. It had the most structured effort and the impact of AI’s efforts here were the most far-reaching. Overall, the project was also well run and offered an abundance of good experience to all the volunteers. It was also the first project that exposed me to working with very young children, an experience I didn’t expect to find quite as enjoyable as I did

Cape Town, South Africa
I considered CT my best city experience in the whole trip. It had the amazing combination of perfect scenery and modern convenience. I’d recommend it as a stop for all you city lovers out there. While I didn’t experience any of the more negative aspects of what city life tends to offer, I’ve been told that CT can be unfriendly. Though for the more savvy amongst you, this should almost not be a problem for you. If I managed to survive unscathed, I’m sure many others can. The volunteer experience on the other hand was not as challenging though I have to give a 5 star rating to the young ones I worked with here. They were the most fun and interactive: from their fervent hugs and kisses each morning when I walked through the school gates, to their inquisitive and intelligent questions and their love for all things fun! I even learnt a thing or two from them

For the other countries I visited: Uganda gave me the opportunity to do something daring and adventurous; if anyone had told me 8 months ago that I’d try bungee jumping at any stage in my life, I would’ve laughed them in the face. Though I will not be paying anyone money to terrify myself that much again, I’m glad I tried it. Swaziland was very picturesque and exposed me to some beautiful aspects of African culture. If anyone finds themselves in SA, would definitely recommend making a stop there, if even for a couple of days, just to check it out

The trip has no doubt taught me a lot of things and to list them all here would be near impossible. But I just want to shed some light on a few of the personal and other “revelations”
o I love children and being around them. I think they represent everything that is real and beautiful in this life: innocence, the ability to give unrequited, unconditional love, unbridled trust, fearlessness [admittedly, likely backed by naiveté], being non-judgmental, the ability to forgive AND forget, youthful exuberance, the ability to experience joy in its purest form, the ability to dream and remain undeterred in the belief that they can come true, etc. In them I’ve seen ghosts of myself; shadows and memories of who I once was, now dimmed by the lull of adulthood. I’ve relished my time with them and while I have no teaching ambitions, have thoroughly enjoyed the teaching experience
o My experiences exposed me to so many issues on our dear continent that I was hitherto ignorant about. I have managed to garner a full appreciation of some of these issues and ways in which we can help. While I’ve worked hard in the last few months, there is still so much more to be done. I will certainly be attempting to brainwash my African friends [at least] to chip in their two cents of help. More than ever, my belief that the solutions to some of the problems in Africa will only emerge if we start to effect changes at a micro level, has been confirmed!
o Wanderlust is a great thing; how dull, ignorant and unimaginative life is if we don’t travel and see; experience the way of life of other people; get to appreciate what a beautiful world we live in. I have become its humble servant and will definitely be doing more traveling in the years to come, contingent on good finances and a healthy, long life of course

I’m off to Namibia and Botswana now, so you haven’t heard the last from me. I will be in touch as soon as I can with news of my experiences traveling around these countries. Can’t believe that in approximately two weeks, I will be back in England again!

Final words on CT

Much like my time in St Lucia, I don’t know how the last four weeks went by so quickly. I know musing about the passage of time has become a recurring theme in my posts but man can you blame me? Two and a half weeks or so left till I’m in cold, freezing London; a thought which only accentuates my paranoia with the sand-through-the-hour-glass-like flow of time. Anyway, I’m still savouring the experience and making the most of what’s left of my time on the road

With Christmas drawing closer, a lot of my work has been accordingly themed and I’m reminded of how much fun this time of the year can be for the younger ones. The kids at the crèche had their end of year ceremony, which involved a performance of sorts and a graduation ceremony. We dressed them as all sorts of animals, which involved some face painting (man than was a ball!) and mask creation (I tell you, my creative skills, or a lack thereof, have been seriously tested in the last week). The performance itself was splendid; the parents, the teachers and I were full of chuckles and cheers as we watched these little people bring the house down! That was at the end of last week. We’ve spent most of this week decorating Christmas trees and talking about what the holidays mean to us. We’ve been singing carols and really swinging with the holiday mood…it almost feels like Christmas is next week :D. Anyway, seeing as school ends next week, the Christmas obsession at this stage is perfectly understandable (or maybe I’m just in denial of how close Christmas really is)

I finally got to see the summit of table mountain and boy was it an experience! The mountain is well over a thousand feet tall and the sight from its lofty heights is beyond words; CT in all of its splendour, visible from all angles. Few sights make me say “wow” and this was definitely one of them. I hiked across the mountaintop to catch the view and while there are only so many photos one could take, I went all out!

Last Saturday, a couple of the other volunteers and I got on a tour bus to see the rest of the city. We visited the city centre and drove by some museums (which I’ve earmarked to visit this weekend) and other important landmarks. The highlight of the tour for me was when we drove through Camps Bay, which is a gorgeous strip of beach on the other side of table mountain. It’s such a beautiful place though the vibe in that area is very Miami-like – lots of bikini-clad bodies on the beach and walking the streets, loud-music-driven cars, bars and restaurants suitable for a wide spectrum of people, etc. While the vibe was not to my liking, the scenery and food on offer more than compensated for that. The mountains nearby were covered in expensive, luxury homes supposedly owned by the rich and famous in South Africa. For the yet-to-be-famous, a trip to CT is incomplete without a trip to Camps Bay

Sunday was a more relaxed day. Slept in [read: woke up at lunchtime] and said goodbyes to a big group of fellow volunteers who were done with volunteering and journeying on home or continuing with their travels. As the house emptied, my imminent departure dawned heavily on me. Rather than depress myself with morbid thoughts, I got on the train and met up with another volunteer to check out a street concert that was being held ahead of the switching on of Christmas lights throughout the city later that night. It turned out to be rather anti-climatic – the streets began to crowd up very quickly soon after we arrived, with the bulk of the population being of the chav breed and a few of them looked like they enjoyed causing trouble. Needless to say, we were out of there way before the sun considered setting

The plan this Friday is to go see the final draw for the team groupings in the FIFA world cup. There is a concert being held in commemoration of it and have to confess that I’m more interested in that than the actual draw. I’ll be seeing a couple of museums in town on Saturday, then going for an open air concert in Kirstenbosch Gardens on Sunday. In between those activities, I must make time for packing as I head over to Jo’burg on Monday to meet up with Miss M for the holiday phase of the trip. The plan is to visit Namibia and Botswana over a 10-day period after which I shall spend my last few days in SA with Miss M and her family before I head home

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time in CT and as previously mentioned, think it an apt end to my volunteering experience. I will miss the city and think I will be back someday to relive my tourist experiences here. Saying bye to the project will be especially hard because this goodbye will be the real one. An end to a truly amazing experience