I'm going to try to keep this one short. Our roadtrip has been going flawlessly since you last heard from us. We had a little trouble finding a place to stay in by Fish River Canyon, but we ended up in a great hotel in Keetmanshoop. They canyon was beautiful, but being the ADD children that we are we only spent a little time around there. The next day we had about a 5 hour drive to Windhoek. We decided it was time to implement theme parties on our long drives and the first was super heroes. We have photos to share with you, but just close your eyes and imagine 3 girls, lots of spandex and underwear on the outside. Alright, now imagine what the police thought of us at the 2 checkpoints that day. We're still trying to imagine what they were thinking, b/c not one of them said anything to us.
Windhoek was a fun city, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Our backpackers was filled with some great characters (and spirits, of course). We ate dinner at Joe's Beer House, which we're certain was a tourist spot. The restaurant was mostly outdoors, safari-like items were hanging from the tree and there were many multi-pocketed vest (side note: safari vests are our new favorite "fashion" items).
Now, we're in Swakopmund and have spent the day sandboarding on the dunes. Today has definitely been a highlight on the trip. You would think that the boarding alone would be a highlight, but more so it was when Beth tried a jump and ripped her shorts down the back. Amy and I were able to tape that trap door shut, and Beth was back on the dunes.
that's where this entry ends... sorry about any typos or incoherent sentences, but time is money and i only have 1 minute left at the internet cafe.
xoxo,
gossip girl
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Road Trippin
I don't have much time here because we have to get back on the road in a bit, but I'll give you guys a quick recap of our life since Franschhoek. We left Cape Town fairly late in the day on Tuesday due to a mix-up with the car so we spent the morning printing out pictures from our time in Franschhoek and framing them to give to all of our friends there. We finally got a call from Rudi that our car had arrived and met him at his office. Before long a SWEET bright blue Honda Jazz rolled up so we jammed our giant backpacks into the hatchback and set off for Cape Town. Pete, a friend of Doug's, had offered his apartment to us for our time in Cape Town. Little did we know that he was completely giving up the apartment for us. He slept at his brother's all week and would phone us to see if it was OK for him to come up to grab something for 10 minutes. We did the major sights in Cape Town: took a cable car and hiked the top of Table Mountain (advice: don't wear flip-flops or tight jeans to do this), drove along the coast, went to the Waterfront (basically a large mall), the District Six museum and Robben Island. The District Six museum was awesome because it talked about a very vibrant, cultural neighborhood that existed from the 1930's - 1960's, but the city wanted to re-zone to make room for growth. This only meant growth for white people, though, so they uprooted 100's of thousands of black and coloured people to tiny houses (if anything) with few amenities on the Cape Flats. Robben Island was awesome to see also because that's where many of the political prisoners were kept including Nelson Mandela. We had a good time in Cape Town but were anxious to get the road trip started so on Saturday morning we drove for 6 hours along the Western Cape.
Rudi had reserved us a room at a farm where families host visitors. He wasn't kidding when he said the farm was in the middle of nowhere... the scenery on the way there was gorgeous but we drove on dirt roads (which the Jazz isn't built for) for a long time looking for the farm. When we finally found it they told us we were staying on a different property and made us backtrack... by the time we got there they had dinner waiting for us though and there were 2 American couples and 1 South African family staying there too so we visited with them for awhile and passed out. Yesterday we drove 3 more hours to the town we are in now, Springbok. It's the largest town in the northern Cape, but that's not saying much. It reminds me of a lot of small, agricultural towns in California or Nevada (think, King City). Not much here, but the past 2 stops have just been layovers on our way to Namibia. We're heading up to the border today and spending the next couple of nights at Fish River Canyon. It's supposedly the next most spectacular canyon after the Grand Canyon and they have Hot Springs too! We'll write more after our stay there.
OK, I've been promising to post our road trip itinerary for awhile so here it is. We do not know exactly how long we will be in each place but we estimate about 3 weeks between Namibia and Botswana and a week and a half for South Africa.
Today: Head north of Springbok to Vioolsdrif (Namibian border city), continue to Ai Ais in Fish River Canyon.
Drive north to Windhoek (capital of Namibia)
Drive to Swakopmund - this is where Brad's friend operates the desert white elephant tour, so we may meet up with him. There is also sand boarding and skydiving here!
Visit Walvis Bay to see flamingo colonies and sand dunes.
Head north to Etosha State Park for 3 day safari
Drive east along Caprivi Strip of Namibia, stay 1 night in Caprivi National Park
Continue to Kasani, Botswana. Leave car at police station and arrange trips to Victoria Falls & Chobe National Park from here.
Drive to Maun and arrange a trip to the Okavongo Delta from there.
Continue south to Sherwood (South African border city) and overnight in Sandton, outside Jo-Berg.
Drive to Golden Gate National Park, stay for 2 days.
Continue to the Drakensberg Mountains
Drive to Bethlehem, stay in Clarens overnight.
Continue to Smithfield and then Port Elizabeth (stay overnight).
Continue along Garden Route back to Cape Town (includes Jeffrey's Bay, Plettenberg Bay, Knysna and other fun beach towns).
**Well, that's what we have so far. We'll keep you updated as we go! Keep the emails and posts coming, we love to get them.
Rudi had reserved us a room at a farm where families host visitors. He wasn't kidding when he said the farm was in the middle of nowhere... the scenery on the way there was gorgeous but we drove on dirt roads (which the Jazz isn't built for) for a long time looking for the farm. When we finally found it they told us we were staying on a different property and made us backtrack... by the time we got there they had dinner waiting for us though and there were 2 American couples and 1 South African family staying there too so we visited with them for awhile and passed out. Yesterday we drove 3 more hours to the town we are in now, Springbok. It's the largest town in the northern Cape, but that's not saying much. It reminds me of a lot of small, agricultural towns in California or Nevada (think, King City). Not much here, but the past 2 stops have just been layovers on our way to Namibia. We're heading up to the border today and spending the next couple of nights at Fish River Canyon. It's supposedly the next most spectacular canyon after the Grand Canyon and they have Hot Springs too! We'll write more after our stay there.
OK, I've been promising to post our road trip itinerary for awhile so here it is. We do not know exactly how long we will be in each place but we estimate about 3 weeks between Namibia and Botswana and a week and a half for South Africa.
Today: Head north of Springbok to Vioolsdrif (Namibian border city), continue to Ai Ais in Fish River Canyon.
Drive north to Windhoek (capital of Namibia)
Drive to Swakopmund - this is where Brad's friend operates the desert white elephant tour, so we may meet up with him. There is also sand boarding and skydiving here!
Visit Walvis Bay to see flamingo colonies and sand dunes.
Head north to Etosha State Park for 3 day safari
Drive east along Caprivi Strip of Namibia, stay 1 night in Caprivi National Park
Continue to Kasani, Botswana. Leave car at police station and arrange trips to Victoria Falls & Chobe National Park from here.
Drive to Maun and arrange a trip to the Okavongo Delta from there.
Continue south to Sherwood (South African border city) and overnight in Sandton, outside Jo-Berg.
Drive to Golden Gate National Park, stay for 2 days.
Continue to the Drakensberg Mountains
Drive to Bethlehem, stay in Clarens overnight.
Continue to Smithfield and then Port Elizabeth (stay overnight).
Continue along Garden Route back to Cape Town (includes Jeffrey's Bay, Plettenberg Bay, Knysna and other fun beach towns).
**Well, that's what we have so far. We'll keep you updated as we go! Keep the emails and posts coming, we love to get them.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Franschhoek: easy on the eyes, hard on the waistline.
As Amy mentioned in our last post, after a few nights rest we are back to our old ways. We had a great dinner with Vivy and Brad at their house. Brad made us cottage pie, and Vivy serenaded us with the acoustic version of the regaton hit "Gasolina". We were able to convince Brad that it was time for Vivy to join us at the E&B. The second we arrived in the pub Vivy decided to start a dance party...needless to say, it was a good night. Actually, a great night but a difficult morning...
Thursday we read stories to different classrooms. We also finished up our main project - the library. The last few days we've been working hard to liven up the library with drawings from the art classes we taught, posters and photos. It wasn't a very long day at school, but we were able to get a lot accomplished. Our afternoon consisted of a long siesta and the E&B. It was a tame night at the pub with Paul, Doug and Brad. We met some new friends too... one being Wayne, who is a rugby player/ retired Chicago Bears player. Wayne is definitely on our list of recruits for the road trip.
Friday was an amazing day! In the morning, Sintu drove us around to the different nurseries so that we could say goodbye and deliver some goodies. Then we were off to meet Doug at West End School for a soccer game versus the 7th grade girls. Somehow our out of shape team survived and the match even ended in a tie. The day only got better when we arrived at Dalubuhle. (Ok, it's Amy now) With all the sneaking around we knew something was up and finally we were led into the assembly hall...the school had organized an assembly for us! The kids were all gathered in there and cheered when we walked in. We were led to some seats at the front and one of the teachers (Nicole's favorite) said that they wanted to show how grateful they were for the time and dedication we put in with the school. The kids' choir went up and sang a couple traditional Xhosa songs complete with clapping and stomping. After this, the cheerleaders went up and performed some traditional Xhosa dances for us. They were so cute in their red skirts, matching Timberland T-shirts and painted faces. Finally, the teachers and Principal Lucy went up and performed a couple of songs for everyone. It turns out this is the first time they've ever done this and the kids went crazy. Sintu says they must have really liked us to do that, which was nice to hear... although they kept referring to us as ''Nicole and others''. :) They ended the ceremony by presenting each of us with beaded necklaces to remember them by and having us promise we'd come back to visit. I really hope we get to keep that promise.
After the assembly we got lunch with Sintu, Doug and Liesl and then got to spend the afternoon at Doug's house again. But this time we got to actually be in the same area as his zebras, wildebeests and other wild animals! We were so close to them, it was a little unnerving but very cool. We went back to relax before meeting up with everyone at E&B before the big karaoke night. The karaoke night was a fundraiser for Kusasa but it wasn't a standard karaoke... they only had 10 slots and over 100 people were there and we were Doug's back-up singers! We were pretty nervous so we had a drink at E&B then a glass of wine or 2 before we went up to sing. Doug sang ''That's Amore'' by Dean Martin and everyone loved it. We also got a hit performance by Paul (our Franschhoek dad) of ''Hit the Road Jack'' and quite a few other performances. Everyone met at E&B afterwards too and then Nicole and I went with some friends to late-night BBQ so we didn't get home until very late.
Saturday Doug got us reservations to one of the nicest restaurants in the Cape Winelands called Le Petite Ferme. It has a helicopter landing pad because people fly up from Cape Town just for the food. Nicole was struggling a bit so she didn't talk much but Beth and I had a great time chatting over our delicious meals of lamb, ostrich, beef, risotto, creme brulee and wine. We walked all the way up there and back which was probably 5 miles round trip uphill so we napped when we got back before going over to Liesl's. She had organized a Braai (BBQ) for us with her family, Sintu, Doug & his wife and Paul. We had a great time and a delicious dinner but were bursting at the seams by the end. We then were forced to watch the video Liesl took of karaoke and were pretty embarrassed but it was fun to see it all again.
Yesterday we didn't do much of anything... we had a very relaxing day of watching DVDs and not moving from the couch as the weather has been awful. Paul got a reservation for the 4 of us though, for dinner & a movie at the local cinema. They have a really nice restaurant with a tiny screening room in the back so we all had another great meal and then saw a Mexican film called ''Under the Same Moon.'' We all cried a little...
Today is our last day in Franschhoek so we're going to finalize our itinerary with Rudi this afternoon and get some gifts for everyone who has been so good to us here. Our car arrives tomorrow so we'll be heading to Cape Town to stay with Pete for a few days before starting our adventure! As I said, we'll post the itinerary as soon as we have it.
Have a great day everyone! We are thinking of you all!
Thursday we read stories to different classrooms. We also finished up our main project - the library. The last few days we've been working hard to liven up the library with drawings from the art classes we taught, posters and photos. It wasn't a very long day at school, but we were able to get a lot accomplished. Our afternoon consisted of a long siesta and the E&B. It was a tame night at the pub with Paul, Doug and Brad. We met some new friends too... one being Wayne, who is a rugby player/ retired Chicago Bears player. Wayne is definitely on our list of recruits for the road trip.
Friday was an amazing day! In the morning, Sintu drove us around to the different nurseries so that we could say goodbye and deliver some goodies. Then we were off to meet Doug at West End School for a soccer game versus the 7th grade girls. Somehow our out of shape team survived and the match even ended in a tie. The day only got better when we arrived at Dalubuhle. (Ok, it's Amy now) With all the sneaking around we knew something was up and finally we were led into the assembly hall...the school had organized an assembly for us! The kids were all gathered in there and cheered when we walked in. We were led to some seats at the front and one of the teachers (Nicole's favorite) said that they wanted to show how grateful they were for the time and dedication we put in with the school. The kids' choir went up and sang a couple traditional Xhosa songs complete with clapping and stomping. After this, the cheerleaders went up and performed some traditional Xhosa dances for us. They were so cute in their red skirts, matching Timberland T-shirts and painted faces. Finally, the teachers and Principal Lucy went up and performed a couple of songs for everyone. It turns out this is the first time they've ever done this and the kids went crazy. Sintu says they must have really liked us to do that, which was nice to hear... although they kept referring to us as ''Nicole and others''. :) They ended the ceremony by presenting each of us with beaded necklaces to remember them by and having us promise we'd come back to visit. I really hope we get to keep that promise.
After the assembly we got lunch with Sintu, Doug and Liesl and then got to spend the afternoon at Doug's house again. But this time we got to actually be in the same area as his zebras, wildebeests and other wild animals! We were so close to them, it was a little unnerving but very cool. We went back to relax before meeting up with everyone at E&B before the big karaoke night. The karaoke night was a fundraiser for Kusasa but it wasn't a standard karaoke... they only had 10 slots and over 100 people were there and we were Doug's back-up singers! We were pretty nervous so we had a drink at E&B then a glass of wine or 2 before we went up to sing. Doug sang ''That's Amore'' by Dean Martin and everyone loved it. We also got a hit performance by Paul (our Franschhoek dad) of ''Hit the Road Jack'' and quite a few other performances. Everyone met at E&B afterwards too and then Nicole and I went with some friends to late-night BBQ so we didn't get home until very late.
Saturday Doug got us reservations to one of the nicest restaurants in the Cape Winelands called Le Petite Ferme. It has a helicopter landing pad because people fly up from Cape Town just for the food. Nicole was struggling a bit so she didn't talk much but Beth and I had a great time chatting over our delicious meals of lamb, ostrich, beef, risotto, creme brulee and wine. We walked all the way up there and back which was probably 5 miles round trip uphill so we napped when we got back before going over to Liesl's. She had organized a Braai (BBQ) for us with her family, Sintu, Doug & his wife and Paul. We had a great time and a delicious dinner but were bursting at the seams by the end. We then were forced to watch the video Liesl took of karaoke and were pretty embarrassed but it was fun to see it all again.
Yesterday we didn't do much of anything... we had a very relaxing day of watching DVDs and not moving from the couch as the weather has been awful. Paul got a reservation for the 4 of us though, for dinner & a movie at the local cinema. They have a really nice restaurant with a tiny screening room in the back so we all had another great meal and then saw a Mexican film called ''Under the Same Moon.'' We all cried a little...
Today is our last day in Franschhoek so we're going to finalize our itinerary with Rudi this afternoon and get some gifts for everyone who has been so good to us here. Our car arrives tomorrow so we'll be heading to Cape Town to stay with Pete for a few days before starting our adventure! As I said, we'll post the itinerary as soon as we have it.
Have a great day everyone! We are thinking of you all!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
''I can feel the rains down in Africa...'' -Toto
Ok well Bethy passed the torch to me. So Sunday was lovely, and we went to bed earlyish to wake up bright & early for KUSASA. The weather took a turn for the worse on Sunday night though and it's been raining/hailing ever since. We had all sorts of plans for sports with the kids this week but they can't play when it's raining so we've been limited to working with the teachers to teach English & Math.
Monday we helped teachers with classes then held our own after-school tutoring program. Tuesday we got to school at 7am for Breakfast Club where we helped serve the kids protein shakes and fruit for breakfast, (they serve all 420 kids breakfast & lunch every day!) then taught our own classes throughout the day in English & Math. After school we held an art class since the teacher who usually does it cancelled. We had the kids draw their favorite animal and write a few sentences about it in English. My favorite was a boy who did a fish entirely in glitter and only wrote ''This is a clever fish.'' Other favorites: ''This Cate (cat) is my friend'' and ''This evil Panda is dangerous.''
Today we did Breakfast Club again and used the drawings from both art classes we've taught while here to decorate the walls of the library we organized. We also read an African story to a class and they laughed at us every time we tried to pronounce the African name Mpuyasana (or something along those lines). At lunch time we went to the grocery store and stocked up on necessities like Pampers, toilet paper, soap, food, etc. to deliver to Ms. Umdaba at the nursery. When we walked in to deliver these she kissed our hands and said how happy she was. This is still my favorite place in Franshhoek, when we walk in the kiddies attack us and all want to be picked up.
This afternoon we stopped by a travel agent that lives near Anne and asked about tickets to Tanzania. It turns out that to travel the way we want to it would be over $1000/each just for the tickets. We decided to skip this and we're going to explore by car as this is the best way to get around. He's helping us put together an itinerary for South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. Don't worry parents, he is very experienced (and knows Anne), so he's going to help us pick a very safe route... we'll keep you in the loop as we nail down the itinerary. We're staying in Franshhoek until next Tuesday so we can finish volunteering this week and enjoy the food & wine of Franshhoek this weekend and Monday, then head to Cape Town for a few days before starting our road trip.
The last few nights have been mellow, we just stayed in, made delicious meals and watched movies. We're itching to get out again though, so tonight we're meeting up with Vivy (Doug's sister-in-law from Chile) for dinner then heading for card games at E&B. We stopped in yesterday and our buddies there said they missed us so it's time. Write more soon!
xoxo,
Gossip Girl
Monday we helped teachers with classes then held our own after-school tutoring program. Tuesday we got to school at 7am for Breakfast Club where we helped serve the kids protein shakes and fruit for breakfast, (they serve all 420 kids breakfast & lunch every day!) then taught our own classes throughout the day in English & Math. After school we held an art class since the teacher who usually does it cancelled. We had the kids draw their favorite animal and write a few sentences about it in English. My favorite was a boy who did a fish entirely in glitter and only wrote ''This is a clever fish.'' Other favorites: ''This Cate (cat) is my friend'' and ''This evil Panda is dangerous.''
Today we did Breakfast Club again and used the drawings from both art classes we've taught while here to decorate the walls of the library we organized. We also read an African story to a class and they laughed at us every time we tried to pronounce the African name Mpuyasana (or something along those lines). At lunch time we went to the grocery store and stocked up on necessities like Pampers, toilet paper, soap, food, etc. to deliver to Ms. Umdaba at the nursery. When we walked in to deliver these she kissed our hands and said how happy she was. This is still my favorite place in Franshhoek, when we walk in the kiddies attack us and all want to be picked up.
This afternoon we stopped by a travel agent that lives near Anne and asked about tickets to Tanzania. It turns out that to travel the way we want to it would be over $1000/each just for the tickets. We decided to skip this and we're going to explore by car as this is the best way to get around. He's helping us put together an itinerary for South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. Don't worry parents, he is very experienced (and knows Anne), so he's going to help us pick a very safe route... we'll keep you in the loop as we nail down the itinerary. We're staying in Franshhoek until next Tuesday so we can finish volunteering this week and enjoy the food & wine of Franshhoek this weekend and Monday, then head to Cape Town for a few days before starting our road trip.
The last few nights have been mellow, we just stayed in, made delicious meals and watched movies. We're itching to get out again though, so tonight we're meeting up with Vivy (Doug's sister-in-law from Chile) for dinner then heading for card games at E&B. We stopped in yesterday and our buddies there said they missed us so it's time. Write more soon!
xoxo,
Gossip Girl
Hello! This is Beth finally here comes my post! I have now been in Africa for a day shy of a week now and it is time to give you my thoughts. Arriving into Capetown was amazing the views from the plane were great as the sun was coming up. A bit of a hitch at the airport as I had no return ticket out of the country (what can I say I was expecting on loving it). So the hiccup was that I was required to pick a place to buy a ticket to so they would let me in. I covered my eyes as a bought a full refundable ticket to Nairobi (random). So I was now in. Nicole has informed you of all of the happenings after that up until Friday night which now is apparently my duty and initiation into this blog.
Friday night began at Elephant and Barrel as usual. We played some serious Crazy 8's with our friends who work at the bar. It is amazing being the only travelers in a small town where everyone knows everyone...because the new guys get drinks bought for them. So I think in total we all spent for our own first drink and that is it. I can definitely live a lot longer here on a 20 ZAR budget. So after meeting many more locals, which hurt our chances at more free drinks, we closed the bar. Some of our new friend invited us over for a late night braai (BBQ). So after some interesting meat they cooked for us over open flame, we were home at an reasonable hour of 4:30AM.
Saturday was filled with big plans laid out by the Kusasa team. First some brunch and then off to climb one of the peaks around surrounding Franshhoek so we could see the whole village and Table Mountain in Cape Town. After our late night Nicole and I had some trouble climbing the mountain. We barely made it. Due to our early morning antics it felt more like Everest and not merely a 1,000 meter climb. We did made it though and Table Mountain was visible, well worth it. After Paul (Franshhoek Dad) took us out for Gelato. Next was a Braai, at a more appropriate hour, over at Doug's (the director) house. Amy, Nicole, and Paul were treated to a lovely drive up their by their driver ME. I was a bit like a HAWK with her wings clipped on that drive. I do have a few excuses...I have not operated a vehicle for 5 months and have never driven on the left side of the road and on the right side of a car ever. On the way we saw Dougs zebras and wildebeests and other animals to which we don't know their names but they had horns. His house was amazing and it was fun to be with his family and our new Franshoek friends for dinner and drinks and cards. Also a fun new Name game we will have to bring back with us to play at home.
We all were so excited to wake up for Sunday because Anne, Amy's lovely family friend, was taking us to see whales!! We headed out of town to a place about an hour away on the coast named Hermaus Bay. We got in and right away from the car started spotting whales. They were all over. Ann
e had made reservations for us right on the water at an amazing seafood restaurant. Here we were able to converse while never looking at each other as we waited for the whales to breach and jump out of the water. Nicole, the Asian tourist, had trouble getting her camera out capture these. Eventually she kept the zoom lens on and due to our teasing is now trying to charge Amy and I for her amazing photographs. At this stop were were able to 
see other wild life a Dassie (google that, adored by us for their fat body and small head) and a sea lion. Pretty much amazing. After we headed out down the coast on the way home. I was woken up as we made a stop at another coastal spot....little did I know were were about to see PENGUINS! Those little guys were everywhere. They were African Peguins aka Jackass Penguins. This pretty much sums up an amazing day and weekend. Now passing to Amy to post the week and volunteering events.
Friday night began at Elephant and Barrel as usual. We played some serious Crazy 8's with our friends who work at the bar. It is amazing being the only travelers in a small town where everyone knows everyone...because the new guys get drinks bought for them. So I think in total we all spent for our own first drink and that is it. I can definitely live a lot longer here on a 20 ZAR budget. So after meeting many more locals, which hurt our chances at more free drinks, we closed the bar. Some of our new friend invited us over for a late night braai (BBQ). So after some interesting meat they cooked for us over open flame, we were home at an reasonable hour of 4:30AM.
Saturday was filled with big plans laid out by the Kusasa team. First some brunch and then off to climb one of the peaks around surrounding Franshhoek so we could see the whole village and Table Mountain in Cape Town. After our late night Nicole and I had some trouble climbing the mountain. We barely made it. Due to our early morning antics it felt more like Everest and not merely a 1,000 meter climb. We did made it though and Table Mountain was visible, well worth it. After Paul (Franshhoek Dad) took us out for Gelato. Next was a Braai, at a more appropriate hour, over at Doug's (the director) house. Amy, Nicole, and Paul were treated to a lovely drive up their by their driver ME. I was a bit like a HAWK with her wings clipped on that drive. I do have a few excuses...I have not operated a vehicle for 5 months and have never driven on the left side of the road and on the right side of a car ever. On the way we saw Dougs zebras and wildebeests and other animals to which we don't know their names but they had horns. His house was amazing and it was fun to be with his family and our new Franshoek friends for dinner and drinks and cards. Also a fun new Name game we will have to bring back with us to play at home.
We all were so excited to wake up for Sunday because Anne, Amy's lovely family friend, was taking us to see whales!! We headed out of town to a place about an hour away on the coast named Hermaus Bay. We got in and right away from the car started spotting whales. They were all over. Ann
e had made reservations for us right on the water at an amazing seafood restaurant. Here we were able to converse while never looking at each other as we waited for the whales to breach and jump out of the water. Nicole, the Asian tourist, had trouble getting her camera out capture these. Eventually she kept the zoom lens on and due to our teasing is now trying to charge Amy and I for her amazing photographs. At this stop were were able to 
see other wild life a Dassie (google that, adored by us for their fat body and small head) and a sea lion. Pretty much amazing. After we headed out down the coast on the way home. I was woken up as we made a stop at another coastal spot....little did I know were were about to see PENGUINS! Those little guys were everywhere. They were African Peguins aka Jackass Penguins. This pretty much sums up an amazing day and weekend. Now passing to Amy to post the week and volunteering events.Friday, September 5, 2008
still busy in Fran-town
Sorry that we did not post yesterday, but we had such a busy day. If you are able to get onto Facebook, you'll see lots of photos on our profiles of the school children, nursery school children and just the squatter town area.
Yesterday, we started the day off early by heading into Cape Town to pick up Beth. She got in a little bit early so we were able to make it back to the Dalubuhle School just in time to be a part of the weekly assembly. The assembly was a great thing to see and hear... there were several prayers and songs in Xhosa. At the end of the assembly, 15 children were recognized for partaking in a 5K race last weekend. Doug decided to get Beth involved right away and had her help present medals at the assembly. Following the assembly, the three of us taught an art class to 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders. We supplied them with paper, pencils and crayons, and asked them to draw their families and homes. It was definitely a successful project, and we're hoping to hang the finished products up in the new library. There were two things that were humorous about the art class... the children would rather wait to use our new pencils than use the ones they already had. As well, Beth became the dealer of crayons. The children decided that rather than passing crayons to one another that they would all turn them into Beth and then pick another color. It was a hilarious to see and we were able to take some photos.
After spending the morning at Dalubuhle, Sintu was kind enough to take us throughout the squatter town and to visit two nursery schools. Both schools were fabulous but very different. The first one we visited has some funding from the government and is a small home that was funded by a group from the Netherlands. However, the second one is the nursery school we had mentioned in a previous blog, which is run by Ms. Umdaba. The nursery is open from 5am-6pm, there is no charge and she feeds all those children herself. The Kusasa Project has been helping her to get lunches for the children and help out in any way possible. They would love for her to move up to the old Dalubuhle campus. We have been told that Ms. Umdaba does not want to move to the school, because she is scared that other nursery schools may perform black magic against her. It's unfortunate that this is one of he main reasons she won't move to a larger space.
Back to the rest of our day...
We got Beth settled into her room at Paul's house and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather for a bit. Then it was off to a tasty dinner at Burgundy's. We chose Burgundy's b/c it was the most crowded restaurant. However, Paul and Doug have informed us that there are far better ones in town so I think we're all looking forward to trying out the rest of them. Of course after dinner we were off to the Elephant and Barrel for the rest of the evening. We were joined by Doug, Paul, Sintu and Paulie. We also met some new folks Noel, Rob and a guy wearing a University of Miami sweatshirt. It was very exciting for me to meet a South African that supports the Canes, but I'm sad to say that he was a dud.
I can definitely say that today has been a much quieter day. Fridays are very laid back here and they admit to not really doing anything on Fridays. Don't we all wish that this could be said about the states?! Anyway, in the morning we completed organizing the library...yay! As I mentioned, we hope to decorate it with posters and the drawings done by the children. Other than that task, we have been resting and getting ready for a jam packed weekend. Tonight you know where you can find us and the rest of the town knows as well... Tomorrow we will be going on a hike with Paul and Sintu. I definitely hope to get some great photos over looking Franschhoek.
Well, as you can see we are still having an AMAZING time in Franschhoek. I hope that everyone will be able to take a look at the photos. If not, we will definitely try to upload them to a website so that everyone can check them out.
Peace and love.
Yesterday, we started the day off early by heading into Cape Town to pick up Beth. She got in a little bit early so we were able to make it back to the Dalubuhle School just in time to be a part of the weekly assembly. The assembly was a great thing to see and hear... there were several prayers and songs in Xhosa. At the end of the assembly, 15 children were recognized for partaking in a 5K race last weekend. Doug decided to get Beth involved right away and had her help present medals at the assembly. Following the assembly, the three of us taught an art class to 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders. We supplied them with paper, pencils and crayons, and asked them to draw their families and homes. It was definitely a successful project, and we're hoping to hang the finished products up in the new library. There were two things that were humorous about the art class... the children would rather wait to use our new pencils than use the ones they already had. As well, Beth became the dealer of crayons. The children decided that rather than passing crayons to one another that they would all turn them into Beth and then pick another color. It was a hilarious to see and we were able to take some photos.
After spending the morning at Dalubuhle, Sintu was kind enough to take us throughout the squatter town and to visit two nursery schools. Both schools were fabulous but very different. The first one we visited has some funding from the government and is a small home that was funded by a group from the Netherlands. However, the second one is the nursery school we had mentioned in a previous blog, which is run by Ms. Umdaba. The nursery is open from 5am-6pm, there is no charge and she feeds all those children herself. The Kusasa Project has been helping her to get lunches for the children and help out in any way possible. They would love for her to move up to the old Dalubuhle campus. We have been told that Ms. Umdaba does not want to move to the school, because she is scared that other nursery schools may perform black magic against her. It's unfortunate that this is one of he main reasons she won't move to a larger space.
Back to the rest of our day...
We got Beth settled into her room at Paul's house and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather for a bit. Then it was off to a tasty dinner at Burgundy's. We chose Burgundy's b/c it was the most crowded restaurant. However, Paul and Doug have informed us that there are far better ones in town so I think we're all looking forward to trying out the rest of them. Of course after dinner we were off to the Elephant and Barrel for the rest of the evening. We were joined by Doug, Paul, Sintu and Paulie. We also met some new folks Noel, Rob and a guy wearing a University of Miami sweatshirt. It was very exciting for me to meet a South African that supports the Canes, but I'm sad to say that he was a dud.
I can definitely say that today has been a much quieter day. Fridays are very laid back here and they admit to not really doing anything on Fridays. Don't we all wish that this could be said about the states?! Anyway, in the morning we completed organizing the library...yay! As I mentioned, we hope to decorate it with posters and the drawings done by the children. Other than that task, we have been resting and getting ready for a jam packed weekend. Tonight you know where you can find us and the rest of the town knows as well... Tomorrow we will be going on a hike with Paul and Sintu. I definitely hope to get some great photos over looking Franschhoek.
Well, as you can see we are still having an AMAZING time in Franschhoek. I hope that everyone will be able to take a look at the photos. If not, we will definitely try to upload them to a website so that everyone can check them out.
Peace and love.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Cell Phone
3rd post today, I know. Just wanted to give you all our cell number!
Country Code: 27
Number: 083-487-4628
Country Code: 27
Number: 083-487-4628
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