We've spent the last two weeks traveling around via kombi's taxis. We started off in Durban where we met up with our Erin who volunteered very close to us in Johannesburg. It was so great to see her again and catch up about the last few months. We headed to St Lucia (unfortunaely not the caribbean one) where we ticked off one of the last things on our bucket list; SAFARI!!! We had planned to go to Kruger national park in the north of South Africa but due to our budget we decided to go somewhere a bit closer. It was a good choice as the place we visited is the oldest nature reserve on the contingent and has all the same animals as Kruger but it's smaller so you tend to see more things. On safari we managed to see:
Rhinos
Buffalo
Lions
Zebra
Hippos
Giraffe
Wildebeest
Antelope
Water buck
Monkeys
Impala
and many more!
There is something really special about seeing animals like these in their natural environment. It is an experience that I will really treasure and won't forget any time soon. We met two very kind guys from London who drove us to the wetlands to see hippos, crocs and sharks (we only saw hippos...luckily) then they drove us around another nature reserve, we didn't think there were any other animals other than antelope however it was just like a second safari, and we managed to see the rarest animal of all which is the leopard. We were feet away from a mummy and baby rhino and followed a group of zebra as they took over the path. The guys were also kind enough to drive us to Tongaat the following morning.
In Tongaat we stayed with Sean and George at their project called Boystown. We went with them to a local very underprivileged school and helped to scrape, sand and paint the buildings, stairs and flower pots. We also went to one of big shopping centers in Durban and got to watch pitch perfect two!!! Definitely one of the highlights of the holiday!
Next we headed to Howick, myself, Linsey and Erin stayed with June my Grandma's friend. We had such a lovely stay and she really treated us. We even had hot baths and electric blankets, such a dream! She took us to a Mandela museum which is where he was captured many years ago when he was on the run. Finding out more about Nelson Mandela's struggle is always so interesting especially after living in South Africa for nearly 11months I now know all the places he speaks about and everything makes much more sense. There was also a really clever monument of Mandela's face. June took us to see Howick falls and midmar dam and we browsed the local market. She treated us to lunch and dinner (all in one day) as a volunteer this really is a big deal, we were very grateful. She stays in a lovely complex where zebra, buck, impala and antelope wonder freely. Having a TV and watching BBC news and other English channels for the first time in over 10 months felt a bit weird but just made our stay even more homely.
After howick Erin took the bus back to her project in Joburg and myself and the lovely Linsey headed back down towards Durban to stay with Lisa, our favourite Austrian who used to teach with us in pre school at Bethany. she lives in a small village called Marianhill and works mainly in the local secondary school. However she also volunteers at an amazing project which we were lucky enough to visit. It's a self help centre for ladies who are HIV positive or have AIDS. They're given jobs and free food. Sister Marco who set up the project is incredible, she relies on funding from overseas and pays for over 100 children's school uniform and school fees. The ladies come to her when they have problems e.g they have no food or no home. She then organises food for their families and even builds them houses. There is also a pre school where the young children go when their mothers are working. It is such an amazing project which gives these ladies the chance to have a job and give their families better opportunities. Although I only met sister Marco briefly she is such an inspirational woman who has dedicated her life to make these ladies life's better. Whilst with Lisa we went to big market in Durban and met up a fellow Project Trust volunteer Erica. We had a great day. I'll really miss these beautiful markets I think I've definitely become a professional haggler. We spent the afternoon in the botanic gardens. The following day myself and Linsey spent the day at the beach, tanning and drinking, what are holidays for after all! It was so great to Lisa again and really interesting to see her new project. We already planned many trips around the world to make sure that we keep in touch.
Our last stop of the travels was Port St Johns. It was a lot longer journey in a kombi than we had expected. Towards the end the roads got extremely windy. There was a sign that said 'don't worry only 68 bends to go' we'd already been round about 50. It's safe to say I didn't feel so well after that drive. All was good when we finally arrived at our backpackers. Another really cool place, we went on a little hike to find a natural blow hole. The walk included some pretty dodgey ladders and climbs. When we reached the blowhole we discovered the water wasn't wavey enough for it to work. We'd risked our life's for nothing, oh well! The next day we walked along the beach, clamber along some rocks to find a secret little pool. It's been a chilly milly few days, lots of reading and catching up with a bit of wifi. We also met a returned Project Trust volunteer who was in South Africa in 2009/2010 at a medical project not too far from umtata. It was so cool to talk to her about her year and tell her all about ours. It's such a small world!!
It's been a fantastic couple of weeks doing our last travels. We've seem some awesome things, meet up with great friends and traveled the whole way in true SA style in kombi taxis (which can often by rather challenging) Its been a great way to round up all of our travels throughout the year. We'd had such a blast and had the opportunity to visit some of the most amazing places I've ever seen and done some crazy stuff.
Today we arrived back at project. I'm really excited to be back at Bethany. I now have exactly one month till I land back in England. After being in South Africa for nearly 11months it's really hard to comprehend that in just 4 weeks I'll be reunited with my family and friends again. I honestly cannot wait and the excitement is building inside me. Thoughts of Heathrow airport and seeing my parents faces are always on my mind however, for now I'm going to make the most of being here with my wonderful children and my incredible partner. I'm going to keep of social media for the last 3 weeks as sometimes it's nice to be without it. As always thank you so much for keeping up to date with my year. Not long now till I can actually tell you guys all my stories face to face.
