The Past 3 Months or so...

I hadn’t actually even realised that it had been so long since I last updated my blog! The past 3 or so months have consisted of lots of teaching (of course), a near fatal encounter with a hippo, visits from many people and a 4 week travelling spree...so you might want to read on.

Once returned from our trip to The African Wedding, it was a case of continuing as normal with our weeks here in Big Bend. Of course, ‘normal’, has to be used very lightly here, as no week is ever normal. As has been mentioned before, I have a class of 35 children at Injabulo. Now, this being a typically Swazi culture, it is always the case that I will never have a full class each day. However, this has not been the case this year, and my class sizes are averaging around 32/33 everyday! It is absolutely fantastic, as it means the children’s education is not being disrupted and shows that they are enjoying coming to school. It does leave me with a VERY large class to teach though. The kids have been brilliant in behaving and coping with such a large amount of peers. For any activity I have to split the class into two. One half doing a floor activity, while the other half does an activity at the tables. It takes a lot of organisation and shuffling around, but it’s been working really well so far.

With a much, MUCH smaller class at The Moriah Centre I’ve really got to know and love all the kids. Each morning, as I walk towards the school (the kids are already there), children from my class with come running up to me and give me a big hug. It is the most wonderful feeling in the world. The Leopards class are streaks ahead of my Lizards class, but this is to be expected. I’m getting loads of great ideas from lesson plans at Moriah to take to Injabulo and make sure my class there get as good an education as the children at the Moriah.

At the beginning of March we headed with the Hartman’s (a family in Big Bend) to South Africa and a town called Tzaneen to take part in a swimming event there called the Ebenezer Mile. This was when you swan a mile in a dam, called the Ebenezer Dam funnily enough. Some of the girls from Ubombo Primary School also went to take part. We stayed at a lodge, not far from the dam, and spent Saturday and Sunday night there. The weather was COLD! Pretty much our first experience of really cold weather since being out here. In the mornings and evenings it became very misty as we were up high in the mountains. The event ended up being delayed by around 3 hours as they waiting for the fog to lift so as we could actually see where we were swimming to. Eventually we were able to swim, and although the water was cold and I really wasn’t feeling the need to dip myself in it, I managed to complete the mile!

Towards the end of March we had lots of visits from different people. That wasn’t before, though, an amazing weekend right here in Big Bend. While at the club one Friday evening, after a hard weeks work, we met two guys called Matthew and Ryan. Ryan is the son of one of the managers at the sugar mill and Matthew is on work experience at the mill. After chatting that evening they invited us on a trip up the Lebombo Mountains to have breakfast. Of course we said yes and early the next morning we were heading up the mountain. Ryan brought his motorbike along (as well as his 4x4) and so we headed straight into the sugar cane, racing around the maze that was the many sugar cane fields. It was great fun being on the back on the motorbike. And don’t worry, Mum, a helmet was worn. At the top of the mountain was a whole other community, which is something I hadn’t realised before. We found a spot, right on the edge of the mountain, overlooking Big Bend and everything around it, where we settled down to have some breakfast. The view from the top of the mountain was magnificent. It was amazing to finally be on top of the mountains, that for 6 months we had been looking at every single day. It was from up there that you could really see why Big Bend was called Big Bend. The meander in the Usutu River was pretty much a u-turn! Using the binoculars I could pick out the Moriah Centre, hostel, Matata and even Mndombandoba.

On the way back down the mountain, both Robyn and I got the chance to ride the motorbikes ourselves. Until that day I had never realised even motorbikes have gears! It was great fun, although a little scary at first. I would say I mastered it pretty well.

Riding down the mountain

By the time we were back in Big Bend it was only lunch time and it was decided we would head to the dam and go fishing in the afternoon. The boat the 4 of us went out on was SMALL and considering there was a hippo and many crocs in that dam, it was a little risky. Nonetheless, we loaded everything onto the boat and headed to another shore to try catching some bait. Almost immediately we spotted the hippo just chilling in the dam. We parked the boat up about 50 meters from it (apparently a safe distance) and I was on hippo watch, to make sure it didn’t come any closer, while the others prepared all the fishing equipment. By the time it was time to get back in the boat the hippo hadn’t moved, so we all piled back on. Just as we’d pushed off the edge (and conveniently into some reeds) Robyn said “Hey look, there’s the hippo”. I looked to where she was looking to find the hippo, only 20 or so meters away, looking right at us. At this point we couldn’t start the engine because of the reeds AND we were in a bay, so our only option of escape was to head straight towards the hippo and then head off to the right. As any sane person would be, I was scared. The situation was made even more terrifying when the hippo suddenly ducked under water and we had no idea where it was. Admittedly, some words were used that needn’t be repeated in this blog. We raced to the other side of the dam and then headed to another different area before putting the anchor down and settling down to fish. And after all that....I didn’t even catch any fish!

After that weekend it was a visit from Ingrid, our Project Trust desk officer. She came to check out our projects and how everything was going. It was really good to see her and be able to show off what we do and everything we have achieved so far! Then, on the same day Ingrid left, we had a visit from Rhianna, Beth and Ellie, who are volunteers in South Africa. Really good for them to come visit the project that we talk so much about. While she was here, it was Beth’s 19^th birthday as well so we took a trip to nature reserve, got up and close with some giraffes and had a braai to celebrate! Good times! A week or so after the girls left it was the arrival of Robyn’s mum, Gillian, her partner, Jim and Robyn’s brother, Will. Lovely, lovely for them to see the project and Swaziland!

On Wednesday 18^th of April it was the beginning of our April/May holidays! This entailed another 3 and half weeks of travelling! Very exciting times and it started with a 2 day trip to Hlane Game Reserve with Robyn and her family. This was our first time back in Hlane after our trip almost 8 months before, when we first arrived in Swaziland! It was a really good few days. On the Thursday morning Robyn, her mum and I got up early and went on a drive. Amazingly, we saw everything there was to see, even elephants at the waterhole which was really something special. In the afternoon we all went on a drive and, again, we saw everything, this time getting up close to elephants again, as they weren’t in the bush. The evenings were spent relaxing by a fire at a camp within the game reserve, which no one else was staying at so we had it all to ourselves! On the Friday morning it was time for Robyn and I to part ways for a week, as I headed to Jo’Burg to visit friends and she travelled some more with her family. It was strange to be saying goodbye. This was going to be our first time apart for more than a couple of hours since arriving in Swaziland!

I headed to Jo’Burg, embarking on my first bit of travelling completely alone. I’ve travelled that route lots of time before though so it wasn’t such a big thing, and I managed to survive the hustle and bustle of Park Station kombi rank without any hassle. Beth was soon there to pick me up and we headed, in the car that we hired for the weekend, to Polokwane to go see the girls living up there. 3 and half hours later and we had made it! Polokwane is pretty much just a small city and the vols there live in a flat within a hostel.

That weekend we went to a Lion Park where we saw fully grown lions right up close and even had the chance to play with some 5 week old white lion cubs! The Lion Park was within a very posh hotel where it cost me R24 for a Savanna! Bloody rip off considering it only costs R12 at the club here in Big Bend. On the Sunday we took a visit to a waterfall, situated around an hours drive outside of Polokwane. I soon discovered that where we were was exactly the same town as we had stayed in when we swan the Ebenezer Mile. I hadn’t realised we had been so close to Polokwane all along.

From Monday to Wednesday I took the time to go with the girls to their project and see what it is they do. They work with disabled children in a well-established school called Mitchell House. It was good to see another project, and I really am surprised by how varied the projects Project Trust offer are. The project was in no way similar to what I do, although amazing at the same time. After Polokwane I headed a little further up north to a town call Matoks, where Laura and Rebecca are based. There, they work as teachers in a high school called Fedile. I only spent one whole day there, but it was good to see what they do. It was absolutely crazy; teaching 60 odd children in one class. Hats off to those guys for managing it and making the most of what they have!

On the Friday I headed back to Jo’Burg and be reunited with Robyn. One week apart and I had been missing her big time! We had one night at a backpackers in Jo’burg before, on Saturday 28^th April, the real travelling began!

Back to Park Station it was to catch a kombi to Gaborone in Botswana. Our plan was to travel to the top of Botswana, right into the Okavango Delta, and visit Michael and Martin at their project there. These are the boys who came to Swaziland to visit us in December, and who we travelled all the way down the coast with. It was going to take us 3 days of travelling to get there, and day 1 was Jo’Burg to Gabs. If I’m honest, Robyn and I were not very organised. It was only the night before, in the backpackers that we’d actually taken the time to google our journey and work out the best way of getting there. Nonetheless, we just went for it anyway. The kombi ride was pretty uneventful and around 5 hours later we arrived in Gaborone. My first impression of Botswana was a good one. The kombi rank there seemed safe, and as we asked for direction and tried to find the bus going to a place called Maun, no one was giving us hassle or unwanted attention. Buses to Maun ended up being finished for the day, so we hopped in another bus that would apparently take us to a backpackers. We ended up being dropped off on the side of the road, with pretty much nothing around us. Taking the only side road we could see, and after knocking on someone’s door and asking, we found Moklondi Backpackers (situated in the far corner of what seemed to be a collection of houses). We set up camp there, the ever faithful (and, of course, broken) tent being called into action again. It literally was just a night’s stop over and the next morning it was up at 5am, with the intention of catching a hike or bus back to the kombi rank to catch the 7am bus to Maun. Luckily enough, there was another couple also up, who had a car and were heading into Gabs, and so we managed to catch a lift off of them. Just as we were making our way into the kombi rank, the Maun bus was driving towards us and we were able to stop it and hop on before it left.
The journey to Maun was meant to take around 8 hours, taking us from the south of Botswana right up into the north. The bus we were on was comfy enough, and was more like a coach, but as we headed off and stopped off in more towns it began to fill up until people were made to stand in the aisle due to lack of seats. Around 3 hours into the journey, the bus suddenly broke down. The last thing anyone wants when you’re in an unfamiliar country. After an hour of men taking the wheel off, back on, off again and then back on again, we eventually got on our way. 10 minutes along the road and the bus stopped all of a sudden again. The problem wasn’t fixed. We sat outside the bus for a long time; as the sun began to drop and there seemed no way that we would be heading off soon. We were still 250km away from Maun, but nonetheless Robyn and I attempted to flag down a lift from the passing cars. With numerous failed attempts we almost gave up, but with one last wave of the hand a pick-up stopped, and when I asked where he was going he said he was heading to Maun. Quickly we grabbed our bags and jumped in the buckie (pick-up), with me in the back and Robyn in the front. That last stretch of travelling to Maun was amazing. I sat out in the buckie, with the open Botswana desert all around me. As I sat there, I watched the sun set and, in the same journey, watched as the stars came out. There literally was nothing around us! Finally, we made it to Maun, and after asking some people for directions, the The Old Bridge Backpackers, which was where we were staying. Our knight in shining armour (i.e. the guy who gave us a lift) was called Shaun, and he happened to be the National Botswana Women’s rubgy coach AND ex-captain for the Botswana National Rugby team. Such a nice guy to give us a lift all that way and take us right to the backpackers, and all for free! Best thing about the whole trip from Gaborone to Maun was that we didn’t pay a penny, as we hadn’t yet paid for the bus when we abandoned it and got a lift!

Again, it was just another night at the backpackers, as the next day it was the last stretch of our journey, a bus ride from Maun to Shakawe, the nearest town to the boy’s project. It was a coach again this time, taking us 7 hours to get there as we travelled along a long stretch of road, stopping off at local villages along the way. About an hour outside of Shakawe a man got on the bus and came up to us. I was thinking “Oh no, not some unwanted attention” but the man then mentioned Michael and Martin’s name and we soon realised that he was actually a teacher at the school and had been told to meet us. It was quite a funny situation! The teacher was called Mahoey and during our week at Bana Ba Metsi (the school that the boy’s work at) we were always around at his house for cups of tea! Once in Shawake we met the boy’s and from there we headed right into the middle of the bush, where their project was based. To get to the project involved a trip on a ferry across a river that is part of the Okavango Delta and a 50km ride along a gravel road, heading further and further away from civilisation. On our way to the project we stopped off at a small village, where they boy’s bought a goat that we would later slaughter and eat. A big joke was made out of this as I was a vegetarian before coming to Africa, and the killing and skinning process was not very pleasant it has to be said!

Moonset over the Okavango Delta

Bana Ba Metsi is a school for street boys and boys who have been kicked out of their school. The campus is like a little village in itself; with the school, communal area, teacher’s houses and student accommodation. Our time spent there was really good.  We watched the boys teach and spent a lot of time with the children that they work with. In the evenings we spent time down at the river; watching the sunset and listening to all the animals that were around us, including hippo and elephants.

Bana Ba Metsi

From Bana Ba Metsi we crossed the border into Namibia to begin our adventure that was getting to Victoria Falls! The boys gave us a lift to the border, where we said our goodbyes (we’ll see them again soon though!) and then it was time to try making it to Kasane in one day. Kasane is a town in Botswana but the easiest way to get there was to enter Namibia, travel along the Caprivi Strip and then come back into Botswana in the north-east. Once over the border and in Namibia we had to wait around an hour before we managed to get a lift off a truck driver, who would take us to the main road. So, that was my first experience of being in a HUGE petrol carrying lorry, casually travelling through a game reserve. T.I.A! Once onto the main road that would take us all the way to Katima Malilo, we managed to find a lift at a garage that would take us all the way there. 4 hours spent in the open, with the sun beating down on you, in the back of a pick-up does make for some serious face burn! All along this stretch of road there were signs warning drivers of elephants and so I spent most of the journey looking out for them. Just as I was giving up hope I managed to spot one right on the side of the road! My first sight of one of the big five not in a game reserve. At Katima Malilo we jumped in a taxi that then took us to the Namibia/Botswana border. And from that border we managed to get a kombi that took us the short trip to Kasane. This trip also took us through Chobe National Park, where we saw even more elephants!

Hitch-hiking through Namibia

Kasane is a town renowned for the big game that they have wondering around. It is not advised to walk around at night when the lions etc etc are most active...so of course Robyn and I found ourselves walking along the side of the road, as it began to get dark, in search of the campsite we would be spending the night at. To be fair, the campsite wasn’t too far away though and we quickly set up camp, grabbed some dinner and headed to bed after another long days travelling!

Monday morning, and after a mission to get our pula (Botswana currency) changed into US dollars, we made it to the Botswana/Zimbabwe border. I have no idea how many borders I crossed in those 3 and half weeks of travelling! It was $55 for our visa into Zimbabwe, but eventually we made it into the country!

From the border post we caught a taxi to Victoria Falls the town. While driving there, the taxi man suddenly stopped, reversed back a little and in jumped to guys who had appeared from in the bush. I was confused to say the least, but then a lady who was also in the taxi informed me that they were illegal immigrants from Botswana. Again, T.I.A! (This is Africa).

Victoria Falls is a lovely town. Very touristy, this is what made it so safe, but clean and peaceful! There are curio shops everywhere and people on the streets who were always trying to sell us fake Zimbabwean dollars! We were staying at a backpackers called Shoestrings. This was a really nice backpackers, with a bar and restaurant, so it was good to just chill out there in the evenings.

On the Tuesday it was time to go witness the almighty Victoria Falls with our own eyes! As we walked to the National Park entrance, I could already hear the roar of the falling water and feel the spray that was coming off the water. We entered the park and took some time to wonder around the information board before heading off in the direction of the viewing points. The Falls were SPECTACULAR! To watch that amount of water fall continuously was unbelievable. We took some time to view the falls from all the different viewpoints, getting absolutely SOAKED as we walked along. There was so much water falling that at some points you couldn’t see anything but a wall of spray! At the last viewpoint we got a view of the Victoria Falls Bridge, which connects Zimbabwe to Zambia. By the end of our time in the National Park we had been to all the best viewpoints 3 times. Each time we left to go dry off we ended up going back again for another look, it was just so amazing!

That evening we went out for dinner. This meal consisted of Crocodile Curry and Warthog Schnitzel. Warthog is the nicest meat I have tasted so far in my time as a non-vegetarian and, while driving along the road to Soup Kitchen and coming across one, I have been very tempted to knock it down and cook it up! That evening we also met a girl at the backpackers who also lives in Swaziland, as she is studying there! Think it was my first time to meet someone else who lived in Swaziland!

On Wednesday we (including our new friend, Anne-Caroline, from Swaziland) got some dodgey hire bikes off our good friend Etela and spent the day cycling around Victoria Falls the town itself. We took a trip to Victoria Falls Bridge, where we took a walk on it and “technically” entered Zambia. Etela then managed to get us within 20 meters of an elephant that he spotted in the bush...and we were ON FOOT! If I’m honest I was pretty scared but Etela did seem to know what he was doing. We finished the day off with a cocktail at The Victoria Falls Hotel, which was extremely posh and had a lovely view of the Victoria Falls Bridge and gorge.

Robyn, Anne-Caroline and I at Victoria Falls Hotel

On Thursday it was time to embark on our long travels back to Swaziland! First was an overnight train ride from Vic Falls to Bulawayo, a city in Zimbabwe, but that wasn’t until the evening so we took the time during the day to spend the last of our money on crafts from the market. Then in the evening we headed for the train. The train was very old looking, and used the same carriages as it had when it was a steam train, but now used an engine. We had booked a 2^nd class, 3 person compartment for $8 each! When we first entered the compartment we thought they had got something wrong, as it looked as though there was no way 3 people could sleep in such a small space. It turned out they could, with the 3 beds piled one on top of the other, with such a small gap between them that there was no other option but to just lie down. With 3 people and 3 huge rucksacks in there, there was literally no other room to move! Luckily enough though, I managed to sleep most of the night, even as the train made its way slowly through the Zimbabwean bush. This train was pretty much just like a kombi; stopping in the most random places to drop off and pick up passengers. It was going to take us 12 hours to travel only 400 km! At around half 7 in the morning I woke up to a broken down train. We waited for another hour before another train came and gave us a new engine. The train then headed off only to break down AGAIN! It was another long wait for another engine to be dropped off before we could be on our way again. Eventually we made it to Bulawayo at...wait for it...1pm on the Friday afternoon! That meant we had just spent 19 hours on a train, in the small compartment and had only made it 400km. I’m not going to complain though; it was quite an experience!

2 hours after getting off the train we were onto a coach that would take us all the way to Jo’Burg. So this was a 16 hour overnight bus ride. The Zimbabwe/South Africa border post was absolutely crazy! So many buses, full of people, trying to get through and it was like 10pm at night. It took us almost 3 hours to get through the border and back on the road again. FINALLY, at 8am Saturday morning we made it to Park Station. Beth picked us up and it was back to Cotlands flat to shower (after two whole days) and have a proper rest and sleep (after two nights without an actual bed). And on the Sunday it was time to head back home to Swaziland... (this was the train compartment >>>)

Back in Swaziland, it was straight to work on the Monday morning. At Injabulo, Teacher Nelsiwe informed us that almost 2/3 of the children would be going to Grade 1 next year and so would have to know how to write their name. This has meant lesson plans have changed a little, and the classes are more inter-mixed. Every day after snack time the children that will, hopefully, be going into Grade 1 will practice writing their name, while the younger children do some sort of worksheet or activity. It’s all very crazy, with everyone switching rooms and doing different things, but it seems to be working well and I’m having a great time every morning! After almost 4 weeks away, it’s been really good to see all the children again. Not that long left with them now before it’s time to head back to sunny Scotland!

Speaking of the weather, it’s now pretty cold in Big Bend. I say cold in the sense that, in the mornings and evenings, you can quite comfortably wear a jumper but by midday your back to shorts and t-shirts and being too hot!

On the first Friday after we had returned, Robyn’s dad paid her a surprise visit! I had known about this before we had headed off travelling and it had all been a big secret that I had, thankfully, managed to keep! She was obviously over the moon to see him and that weekend we spent time taking him around some of Swaziland, including Manzini market and Hlane Game Reserve, where we came across an elephant that began charging at us and I had to reverse as fast as I could. I pretty much failed at this task, as I started panicking too much, and it was left to Robyn’s dad to get us out of there! Very scary! Even more scary than the hippo incident! The 3 of us then spent the week working away as normal, braaing at the dam in the evenings, and then on Friday we headed off to the Swaziland Bushfire Festival. This is a festival held at House on Fire where all sorts of artists, including musicians, poets and comedians come and perform. It was an amazing weekend! There were people from all over Africa there but it had a real Swazi feel to it. On the Saturday we were joined by Beth and her mum, as they were doing some travelling in Swaziland at the time. A very enjoyable weekend! On the Monday Robyn’s dad headed back to Jo’Burg to fly back home and Robyn and I headed back to Big Bend to continue with working...

And that pretty much sums up everything that has been going on. Busy, busy, busy, but it has been an amazing few months! Now we only have 2 months left, but in that time there is a still lot to do. My family are coming out to visit at the end of this month and we have a school trip to plan for Injabulo! Thanks for reading J

P.S. I realise this blog is shocking in the sense that my English writing ability seems to have gone downhill and the grammar and punctuation in it is most likely horrible. I’m sorry, but really I just wanted to get everything that’s been going on said so that you could read and enjoy J

Jo'Burg, Limpopo and an African Wedding

2^nd of March and it was our mid-term break. This was to be our first break from work since returning from travelling, and it was well needed after everything that had been going on! We were heading to Jo'burg to visit our good friend Beth, who is also a Pt volunteer, and attend a traditional African wedding up in Limpopo!

On the Friday we were up early to head to the kombi rank in Big Bend and catch a kombi to Manzini. In Manzini it was then a short wait for the next kombi to Jo'Burg to fill up and at around 9am we were off and on our way to Jo'Burg. This kombi was definitely just your average kombi and nothing compared to the lovely mini-bus we got back from Jo'Burg in January., but oh well, can't complain really. Soon enough we had made it to the border post, so we all had to get off and go through border control. Having already had a 90 day visiting pass into South Africa, I was just expecting to be given enough time to last me this short trip. However, the man behind the counter didn't seem to notice that I'd already entered South Africa about 4 times and ended up giving me another 90 day pass. Result! It does help that we now have 'Swaziland Study Permit' stamps in our passports, which is basically our visa to allow us to stay in Swaziland legally. And we only got those stamps the other week....African time! Anyway, at the border post they have this big sign saying 'Welcome to the Kingdom of Swaziland' and it looks really cool, and so Robyn casually just asks one of the security guards if we can go behind the counter and get our picture taken in front of it. This being Swaziland, and them having no real security measures, the man said yes and so we got our picture taken!

Swaziland Border Post

So after out stint at the border post it was back on the kombi and within a few hours we were in Jo'Burg. Now, I was sure the kombi was going to drop us off at Park Station, which is infintely safer than the random street of last time, but as we delved deeper and deeper into downtown Jo'Burg I started to have doubts! Fear not though, I was right and soon we were in Park Station, now a familiar place to us. Off the kombi, round the back of the building, into the main building and there was Beth waiting for us! Funny thing is, Robyn and I had been really excited at the thought of seeing someone else our own age again and, when thinking back to who the last person our own age we saw, we realised that it had been Beth when she dropped us off to return to Swaziland after travelling! So it had been a while...

We headed straight to the Cotland's Flat (where Beth stays), to dump our stuff and hang around for a little while as Beth still had some work to do. All the kids who had been staying downstairs were now moving to a children's home called 'St Mary's' just 5 minutes away, and so there was lots of moving of luggage going on. We weren't due to be picked up to head to Limpopo till around 8pm and so after Beth had finished work we went to the shopping centre as Robyn and I didn't actually have anything to wear to the wedding, there having been nothing in Mr Matata or PEP (our two choices of clothes stores!). I managed to get a dress at the ever reliable Mr Price, a shop where I never fail to find what I need. After a short shopping trip it was to the bottle store to buy some cider and have my first drink since the end of travelling. Back at the flat we made some food and had showers (as we were to be without running water while in Limpopo). And then at around 9pm Desmond (Beth's friend who had invited us to the wedding), Karaba (Desmond's friend from Lesotho) and our driver (who lives in a near-by village to where we were going) turned up, and we headed off for Limpopo! Our ride there was a pimped out red kombi/car type thing that had an extremely loud stero inside, and so the whole journey was spent bouncing about to some very loud house music. It was really good fun actually! At around 3am in the morning we eventually made it to Desmond's gogo's (grandmother) house, which was where we were to be staying. It being the early hours of the morning we pretty much got there and then headed straight to bed. Not without, that is, a trip to the long drop toilet where I pee'd looking out at the millions of stars in the sky. A very surreal experience.

Our ride to Limpopo

The village that we were in is in a very rural area. It took 45 minutes of driving along gravel road to reach it, and all the roads within the village are gravel as well. There is no running water and so for our whole time there we used long drops and didn't shower. The village was very much like where we teach at Injabulo, although Ndobadoba is much worse off, as many of the houses in Limpopo were actually very nice and no one seemed to be in extreme poverty, they just chose to live in a very rural place.

On Saturday morning we were awoken to the sound of drilling, as builders were in the house fixing the roof. Although this house had rooms and walls, the walls didn't actually reach the roof, meaning sound spread throughout all the rooms. We were up and ready to leave within 15 minutes, there being no need to shower or wash properly. Desmond and Karabo took us round to Desmond's aunt's house which is where the whole ceremony/wedding was taking place. When we arrived there we were greeted by Aunt Jane and then told to go round all the people sitting and greet them. There was a lot of people, but after we had done that it was into the living-room where we were served tea, scone type things and biscuits. As people passed through they would introduce themselves and greet us. We were getting lots of attention as we were the only 5 white people (Robyn, Beth and I and Alicia and Maria who are also volunteers at Cotlands)  in the village I think. After tea we went out into the back garden to see what was going. There was lots of preparation going into making masses amounts of food. There was about 8 pots of all different types of pap being cooked over a large fire, a smaller fire where a man was cooking a whole oxtail and a big tent where all the vegetables where being prepared. I tried my hand at stirring the pap which I pretty much failed at because it requires far too much muscle!

My fail of an attempt at making pap

As Robyn and Alicia assisted in cutting onions and carrots the rest of us headed over to see the meat, where the man then invited us to try his homemade pineapple beer. It didn't taste anything like pineapples,  it was just really, really sour, but to be fair it didn't taste too bad actually. Who knows what the alcohol content of it was though! We then spent some time helping to wash the dishes before Desmond arrived again and we all headed off to the local tavern.

The man who made the homemade beer!

The tavern was the local drinking place of the village, and was a building with a small counter to buy big 750ml bottles of beer, a pool table and some benches along the wall. We all sat outside under a tin roof on some crates, each taking a turn to go buy two big bottles on Hansa and then we would just share them around. Desmond's friend Benefit (a.k.a Ben) was also with us. While sitting there we attracted the attention of many passer bys. One of them was a man who nobody could understand because he mumbled everything, and who then gave Robyn 50c as a way of greeting her as he didn't know how to in English. The other was a weird man who seemed to have an obsession with Beth. He was constantly coming up to her, shaking her hand, saying he loved her and then trying to kiss her! Even when everyone told his to go away he kept coming back, resulting in the mumbling man starting a fight with him! He ended up just giving Beth R10 and then leaving her alone. It was actually pretty funny!

The local tavern

 After a while at the tavern we all headed back to the house. When we arrived there it was time to serve out all the food that had been prepared and this turned out to be our job. We were all given a certain thing to dish out and then all the women came along with their plates and we served out the food. It was all very traditional food, such as pap, samp and beans, chicken, oxtail, beetroot, coleslaw, mash potato, sweet potato and, of course, chakalaka (a spicy sauce type thing mixed with lots of vegetables and it tastes so GOOD! We get it in Swaziland all the time.). After we had served out all the food it was time for us to eat and then we just spent lots of time under a tent, chatting with everyone and drinking lots of different types of beer, as there was just a big barrel of beers in the house and you were allowed to just go pick one out of there whenever you want. Hansa, Castle, Black Label (all African brands), guiness, some random German type and a variety of random Thai and Chinese types!

As it began to get dark there was suddenly lots of beeping car horns as the bride and her family arrived from their village. A wedding in Africa isn't just a day thing like it is back home, it takes place over a number of weekends. There are lots of negotiations between elders as to how many cattle etc one family is going to give the other. This weekend it seemed to be nearing the end, and it was when the bride eventually came to the grooms house and 'moved in'. Each family would eat at their own village with everyone and then afterwards they would come together. So during the day we had just been with the grooms family and village and now the two families were coming together. As the bride arrived there was lots of singing and dancing, and as she was taken out the car she was covered in a blanket so no one could see her and taken straight to one of the rooms in the house. We though this would be the last we would see of her, as the elders still had some negotiating to do, but instead we were taken by Pretunia (Desmond's lovely sister who had been looking after us all day and making sure we knew what was going on) to the bedroom and, after Beth paid R10, we were allowed to see the bride and greet her. She looked very beautiful in the traditional dress of beads on her hat and skirt. We then left to allow the negotiation to continue. Outside there was lots of traditional dancing going on and everyone celebrating. It was an amazing atmosphere and completely different from anything I have ever experienced before. We were definitely seeing the real Africa!

The traditional African dancers

Eventually, as it got later, people started to head back home and everything came to a close at the house. We were going back to the tavern with Desmond and everyone but wanted to get changed first. This being Africa, instead of the man who had a buckie giving us a list back to the house, he just gave  us the buckie and so it ended up that Robyn just drove us back to the house in this random mans buckie. Anyway, we got changed and then drove back to Aunt Jane's house, gave the man his vehicle back and then headed to the tavern. Here, we all sat around on crates again and drank some more hansa before it got pretty late, it had been a very long but incredible day and so we headed back to the house and went to bed.

On Sunday it was time to head back to Jo'burg and so in the morning we headed back to Aunt Jane's house in search of Desmond who seemed to have gone missing somewhere in the village. As we had the whole village searching for him (it ended up he was back at the tavern again) we had some more juice and biscuits and then witnessed the handing out of the sheep that had been slaughtered the previous day for the ceremony. It seemed that the elders were the only ones being given the food, which was the sheep meat with some pap. Firstly, though, a man cut off the sheep tongue and two older ladies ate it. At one point I was sure the man was going to ask us to! Soon enough our big, red car turned up (with Desmond and Karabo inside thankfully) and so we said our goodbyes and thank you to everyone before leaving the village and Limpopo and heading back to Jo'Burg. It had been a very good weekend and real insight into a completely different culture! Definitely an experience to remember!

The ride home was again spent listening to house music, in particular 'Sky is the Limit' and 'Facebook', which I think are my two favourite house songs. At around 5pm we arrived back at the Cotland's flat. Again, we said our thank you and goodbyes to Desmond, Karabo and our driver and then they headed off. Straight away we were all fighting for the shower having spent the weekend without cleaning! That evening we had a braai with everyone at the flat and then headed off to bed, as they were all back at work in the morning and we had sleep to catch up on!

On Monday Robyn and I were up after everyone had already left for work. Our plan was to do something in Jo'Burg while we were there. We had thought of going to the Apartment Museum but turned out it was closed on a Monday. It then also turned out that public transport in Jo'Burg was not very reliable, dangerous and confusing and so we thought it best just to stay and help out at Cotlands. We spent the afternoon spending time with the older kids in Sanctuary and taking Setho, the little boy that Beth does one-to-one with, for a walk. Later on we then went to St Mary's to see the kids who had just moved there and drop off some more of their things. I met the boy who had declared me his girlfriend the last time I was there, and this time round he decided we would get married at 8am the next day. He then proceeded to take me by the hand and give me the grand tour of the children's home, which was actually a really nice place to stay.

That evening all the girls cooked and ate together and I got to have some APPLE CRUMBLE! My favourite desert which I have been desperately deprived of while being here because they just don't seem to have heard of such a thing in Swaziland! It was then to bed as the next day we would be up early to head back home to Big Bend.

And on Tuesday Beth took us to Park Station, we said our goodbyes and it was on the kombi back to Manzini (which was a lovely mini-bus this time) and then the kombi to Big Bend and that was us home. It was a lovely weekend spent with people our own age and heading up to Limpopo for an African wedding was a very surreal but amazing experience!



March Already!?!

Time is going super, super fast now! I mean, we're almost half way through March already. I suppose it just goes to show how much fun I'm having and how much I have to do every single week. Anyway, lots to tell you about so lets get started!

I now have a class of 34 children at Injabulo, and that's the way it will stay now (I hope!). Although having such a large number of 3,4 and 5 year olds it has been manageable so far. With the fantastic help of Teacher Nelsiwe and Aunty Thembeka, Robyn and I have both had assistance in our classes every single day which makes teaching so much easier. Due to a lack of space in my class, Nelsiwe and I split the class and do two different activities at the same time, and then switch about. It works really well and means, even though there is such a large class size, the children are getting more attention in their smaller groups. We're now up to the letter 's', so s...s...SNAKE! They can all count to, at least, ten. They know the colours blue, red, yellow and green. And they can recognise and draw a circle. AND they can write 'A' and 'a'. Ahhhh, after a slow start to teaching here, everything has really picked up and we're making real progress! As for their English speaking ability, I can really see an improvement. If I ask 'What is your name?' then can reply 'My name is...'. If I tell them to make a line, I just get a chorus of 'MAKE A LINE!' as they all tell each other to get in line!

There has been lots of creativity work going on as well, with monkey masks and hand painting to make a class tree (the hands being the leaves). It does take a lot of organisation though to have 34 children making masks or using paint, but we've managed! I seem to have adopted many names from the Leopards class. From Aunty, to teacher, to madam! And the kids now seem to have taken to hanging around the class window during break times just chating to me and reciting off everything they know in English so far, which is actually really cute! So, yea, Injabulo is going really, really well and I love my class to pieces!

Teacher Nelsiwe and the Lizards Class (minus a few)

A couple of weeks ago I had a phone call from Matata Spar, who were phoning to say they had a donation for us! It seems we are now on first term names with Matata which is always good. “Hello”, “Hello, who is this?” “Em, Hannah” (I had no idea whose call it was I had missed). “Ahh, Hannah, how are you?” “Fine thanks. And you?” “I am fine thank you. Could you please come pick up your donation from Matata?” “Em, yea, sure. Thank you.” So anyway, we popped into Matat after Injabulo only to find they had donated 100kg of Maize meal and 40 bags of 1kg soup!!! So unexpected, but absolutely amazing! Half of it went to Soup Kitchen and the other half to Injabulo. So for the past couple of weeks both projects have had lovely tasting food! At Soup Kitchen we gave the Maize meal to Aunty Vina, who cooked some of it each time we came. Then we would add the soup the stew we make at hostel. All this made for some lovely tasting meals for everyone at Soup Kitchen which was really good. Recently they have been getting a proper meal, with stew, rice, pap, vegetables and lots of bread! Happy, happy days!

And at Injabulo their snack time meal has tasted a bit better with the addition of chicken flavoured soup to their usually very bland tasting pap or samp and beans.

At the Moriah Centre everything is running smoothly as per usual. It is a lovely break to teach there, with my class of 11 children instead of 34! I get a lot of my teaching ideas for Injabulo from Moriah Centre, using Aunty Liz's amazing lesson plans! Here, everything is kept so simple and yet they learn so much in such a short space of time. Recently, lesson plans have involved a lot of food. From me smearing chocolate pudding over Sanele's face and then allowing them all to try some, to giving the each 5c so they could all buy a cake from me. Food seems to be a good way to help them learn! It's always lovely to arrive Moriah in the morning, as my class all run to me, shouting 'Aunty Hannah' and give me a big hug. And working with Aunty Agnes is just amazing. She is the SiSwati teacher who I work with in the Leopards class. She is amazing with the kids and we have a great time teaching them together and singing and dancing most days! The kids are so enthusiastic as well. Whenever them are completing an activity they are constantly shouting 'Buga Aunty!' ('Look Aunty') so that you can see what they have done so far.

Zusakhe from The Moriah Centre Leopards Class

Funny story from Soup Kitchen is from the time Robyn and I managed to lock the keys to the truck inside the truck while we were at Soup Kitchen! It was an absolute disaster, with both our phones and money inside with the keys, and so we had no way of getting in contact with anyone, and we were half an hours drive away from Big Bend. We tried everything to get inside, with the help of all the kids as well, but there just seemed to be no way. Aunty Vina called a mechanic that she knew, and she told us he was 'just coming', but in Africa that doesn't mean any time soon. We had resigned ourselves to the fact we would have to break a window and face the brunt of Richard when we got back. However, as we were serving out the food, Aunty Vina's husband started to stick a metal pole between the window and door frame, trying to unlock the door that way. He tried for a while but it didn't seem to be working, and then it began to rain, and pretty much the situation was not good. BUT THEN Aunty Vina suddenly shouted 'VULA' (open) and I turned round to see that the door had been opened! I have never been so thankful in all my life, constantly thank Aunty Vina's husband. And so we drove away from Soup Kitchen (eventually), with no broken windows and nothing to tell of our tale of getting the keys locked in the truck. Was definitely a close call though!

The other weekend we took a lovely trip to the Royal Swazi Spa, Hotel and Country Club, which was very posh! Celma (the hostel mother, and our adopted mother while here) was playing bowls there and she invited us to come with her for the day. It was in Ezulwini Valley, and so it was nice to get out of Big Bend for a little while. The place was a little piece of 5 star paradise in Swaziland (even though all of Swaziland is paradise obviously!) We didn't actually play bowls but have said we will next time there is a game going  on. Considering I've lived right next to a bowling club for about 12 years, I can't believe it's taken coming to Swaziland to give it a shot!

Every Sunday, we now also go to church with Celma, and some other people we know in the village. The church is at the Moriah Centre and so many of the teachers go as well and it's nice to go and spend time there with everyone, although I still don't think I am a believer. Then on a Sunday evening we will have supper with Celma at her house, which makes a lovely change from hostel food!

Anyway, I think that's all that's been happening in Swaziland so far. Lots of things happening in the next couple of  weeks (or months actually) but they can all wait for my next blog!

First Month Back of 2012

Project Trust always said there would come a time in the year where things would get very hard and challenging. I think I’ve just had that time. In my last blog I had said that we had signed up children for Injabulo and that teaching was about to commence. That didn’t happen. Instead, for the next 3 days, we turned up to Injabulo with a long line of parents, grandmothers and sisters waiting to sign-up even more children! By the end of the week we had registered 65 children, with all of them having paid the E10 we asked for. While this was absolutely brilliant, it also caused many problems. Injabulo Pre-School is a very small building, with no financial support apart from the E10 we ask for each month. It just can’t support that number of children! Never mind the fact that it is only Robyn and I teaching there, with Nelsiwe running between the two of us to help translate. The situation meant that some extremely hard decision had to be made. We were going to have to turn some of the children away. I can’t even begin to explain how it felt to have to look at the list of children and decided which ones we weren’t going to take and to have to know that you were going to be denying them their only chance at an education. After lengthy talks with Di and Liz and Kathy, it was decided that we would say to the 3 year olds that they were too young and come next year, and then hopefully come up with a solution to trying our best to keep the rest of the children, as without a pre-school education, they won’t be able to get into primary school.

On Friday the 3^rd of February we held a meeting at the pre-school for all the guardians to attend. Kathy had kindly agreed to come and chair the meeting for us. She was absolutely brilliant at making the parents understand our situation, and encouraging them to also come up with solutions. In the end, after a very long meeting that turned into a full on community meeting, it was decided that 3 year olds would come next year, and if mothers from the community came and helped out, we would keep all the older children. Thank goodness we didn’t have to turn away those children that needed our help the most! And so this past week Robyn and I have both had help in our classrooms, making teaching a huge success! Thank you Nelsiwe and Thembeka! And Ayanda, from Sisekelo, who now comes and gives an extra hand on a Wednesday. These past few weeks have been very mentally and emotionally hard at Injabulo. With the prospect of turning children away, then having to actually turn away 3 year olds who I’d already grown to love, and having the pressure of a whole community on our shoulders, everything became just a bit too much at times. But we worked hard (VERY long days I’ll have you know) and managed to resolve the problem as best we could, and I’m very proud to say I managed it! Now I just hope that we can continue with teaching as successfully as it has this past week. Oh, and we’re now also paying Nelsiwe, as the parents agreed to pay an extra E20 a month to go towards her. She does too much for the school to not get paid at least a little for her efforts.

Apart from the struggles at Injabulo (which was definitely some 1^st class life experience) everything else has been going really well. While teaching the younger age group has taken some getting used to, I’m really enjoying it! The Leopards class at Moriah Centre are an absolute delight to teach, although there are a couple who just don’t have the attention span to sit and listen, so everything has to be very pro-active! At Soup Kitchen everything is going very well. We handed out our first clothes and shoes donations as we were given last year’s lost property from Sisekelo. We are yet to have a shortage of food to give them, as there seems to be lots of left over’s from hostel recently and lots and lots of bread! Aunti Winnie and Mama Rose have been fantastic at helping us out with preparing the food as we’ve been very busy lately. Tuesday’s had become a very busy day, with us working at all 3 projects in the one day. We had started going to Injabulo on the afternoons that we taught at Moriah Centre, but because of the hot weather and the masses amount of preparation that now has to go into Injabulo, we’ve stopped and use those afternoons to prepare. When the weather cools down and we’re more settled at our, now, very different pre-school we’ll start going again.

We’re now on a big search for some sort of funding towards Injabulo, as now with a school 58 children, resources are going to run out very quickly. Letters have been made and are ready to send out to charities and local businesses, to see if we can get some help from somewhere. The other day we had our first encounter with Trusty, the local MP for the Ndobadoba area, which is where InJabulo is situated. Admittedly, it was because she just happened to drive by when we were doing the morning pick-up, but she did say she would try and visit the school and arrange some funding to get us more tables and chairs. We’ll see what happens with that one!

Recently, Big Bend has been hit by many storms and lots of rain. It meant that for around 2 weeks we had to go the long way to Injabulo because the bridge was constantly flooded! And the river got frighteningly close the Sisekelo! It then all died down again but just in the past day or so there have been some crazy storms! On Friday I got trapped in the staff room as a storm suddenly appeared and if I went outside it was very likely I would get blown away or drowned by all the rain! And then yesterday as we returned from the Swimming Gala, we went through an extremely violent storm, that had streams running down roads, tress falling over and signs blown over! So the whole of yesterday evening was spent in the dark with no electricity! It was probably the worst thunder and lightning storm I’ve ever witnessed!

And speaking of Swimming Gala’s, swimming is now the way to go! With the climate being far too hot and humid to do anything like running etc swimming is now the only way to do some exercise. Big Bend has a swimming club called ‘Splash’ that I now go to and yesterday we all went to a Swimming Gala. I wasn’t swimming, instead I ended up time keeping, but Xoli has told me that next week I’m definitely swimming. We’ll just have to see how that one goes. A couple of weekends ago I did swim the Swazi Mile though. This took place at a dam just north of Mbabane, where you swim a mile in a dam. It was good fun, although pretty tiring and my first experience of swimming in open water! Next month we’re going to be heading to Limpopo in SA with some of the children to swim the Ebenezer Mile, which is again swimming a mile in a dam.

And that’s pretty much it for the past month. Everything (fingers crossed) has now settled down and we can focus on teaching rather than the whole issue of deciding who gets to come and who doesn’t. We’ve got lots planned for the next month or so, so things will be busy, busy (but what’s new there!).

A Visit to Lesotho...and Downtown Jo'Burg!?!

The coach took 12 hours to reach Bloemfontein, most of which I spent sleeping, and we arrived at around 8am in the morning. It was straight in a taxi to the kombi rank where we easily found the kombi leaving for Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. It was then a easy hop over the border (such a relief seen as we had to be out SA by the 5^th to avoid a fine and managed to leave on the 3^rd) and we were in Lesotho. The country was like being back in the real Africa and reminded me a lot of Swaziland! In the city they had a funny taxi system, where for M5.50 the taxi driver would take you where you wanted to go, but at the same time would fill up the taxi with other people heading in the same direction. So it was a kind of kombi/taxi system that I actually thought was pretty cool! Before we headed to our first destination in Lesotho, Malealea, we had to stock up on food as we were heading into the most rural of rural. A stop at shoprite to buy bread, pasta, instant noodles and fruit then it was to the kombi rank to find the kombi to Malealea. We had a lovely man lead  us through the rank to the kombi and then it was a half hour wait before we were off! Lesotho is honestly one of the most picturesque countries I have ever been to. There are mountains all around, with valley's and rivers running in between them. It was all just so breath-taking! As we went off the main road and onto a dirt track road we switched to another kombi that then took us straight to the gate of Malealea Lodge. Now, I have to be honest and say that Robyn and I didn't have much clue as to where we were. We had just read in the Lonely Planet that it was a good place to go and so just went with it! So one coach, three taxis, three kombies and 22 hours later and we had made it to Malealea, Lestho. A good but tiring days travelling!

Malealea Lodge was absolutely stunning. It was situated right in a village and only used people from the local community as employees. They only had electricity, which ran off a generator, between 6pm and 10pm, which made for a very relaxing atmosphere. On our first evening there we pretty much put up the tent then went to bed because we were so tired from the great distance we had just travelled. The next day we went on a 6 hour pony trek through the mountains and valleys that lay all around us. Pony Trekking is a must do in Lesotho. I had a horse called “Icetea”, whom I had my full trust in and had to have given the steep mountains he took me up and down! It was a brilliant day as I rode along, taking in all that was around me and experiencing the real Africa once again. The trek took us down one mountain, across the valley and river, up another mountain, down back into the valley, up the mountain again and then back to the lodge. It was just an incredible but indescribable day! That evening we spent quite a bit of time writing in our journals, Lesotho being the perfect place to try catch up on the days we had missed! It was also the perfect place to come relax and completely chill out after the crazy few weeks we'd just had in South Africa!

The next day we again headed out for the day, but this time on foot as we had a local guide take us to the waterfall and Bushman painting which could be found in the valley. Our guide was called Emmanuel and he was brilliant for telling us everything and anything about the area. After around 2 hours walking we made it to the waterfall which was absolutely stunning! It was hidden right in the valley amongst over-grown bushes and rock faces; the seclusion of it made it feel very special. It was then time to head onto the bushman painting which required another 2 or so hours walking to reach. Before reaching the painting, though, we came across the “Echo Cave” which the bushmen had used to communicate with each other while hunting. If you shouted into the cave the sound would hit off it, travel to another cave across the valley and your voice would be echoed across the whole valley. It was amazing to hear! A steep climb down the valley then back up the other side and we reached the caves where we could see, with our own eyes, pictures depicting hunting stories that had been painted by the bushmen 400 years ago. Real African rock art! On the walk back to the lodge we got caught in a thunderstorm passing over and got absolutely soaked! There was even hail at one point! Again, “Journal Club” took place that evening, along with some traditional fat cakes (basically just extremely stodgey bread) and some coffee liquor which Robyn kindly made. It was also this evening that we had to use a public phone to contact Beth, who is a vol in Jo'Burg, to ask if we could stay for a couple of days before heading back home. The phone had a huge ariel (that's how cut-off we were there) and the reception was so bad that I ended up shouting down the phone the whole time and attracting quite a crowd from around the village. Funny times, but Beth said yes so it was all good!

After our 3 night stay there it was time to head to another part of Lesotho and our chosen place was Bokong Nature Reserve in the north. This day turned into a full days travelling as well, although we didn't cover anywhere near as much distance this time round. It took us 5 kombies, numerous change overs and  a lot of help from the few people who could speak English, only to end up in a village, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Let me explain...We did make it to Bokong Nature Reserve, although it did require a quite scary ride up the edge of a mountain and back down (remember kombies aren't the safest of transport in the first place, never mind adding in a steep ascent). However, contrary to what the Lonely Planet said, the visitors centre didn't offer camping. This pretty much left us stranded in the middle of nowhere with nowhere to sleep for the night. The kombi then took us to the nearest village, though, where we managed to find a holiday village type place (after a trek down a mountain with all our stuff) that offered us a single shally for the night. This place was DESERTED! I'm not even exaggerating when I say we didn't see another person the whole evening and morning we were there! With only a kettle and some cups (which Robyn had to go hunt down) we had instant noodles out a cup for dinner, after a whole days travelling only to arrive in the middle of nowhere. We had to laugh, as annoying as the situation was, it has been a funny and adventurous day and the area we had somehow ended up in was extremely beautiful!

The next day, it was time to leave the middle of nowhere and head back to Maseru. The following day we were heading to Jo'Burg so wanted to be near the border in the morning so as we could leave the country and be on our way as early as possible. The trip back was MUCH easier, although did require a trek back up the mountain and one of the most squished kombi rides I've ever experienced. Eventually we made it to Maseru Backpackers, which is quite possibly one of the worst backpackers I've ever been to. All they had facility wise was a toilet block and a kitchen (that didn't even have any pots or pans)! So with nothing else to do, we sat in the kitchen most of the evening just writing in our journals (by this point I was ALMOST up to date). Just as we were heading to bed, in preparation for our early rise the next day, a thunderstorm began. Now, our tent doesn't do well in wind, and that's exactly what it was windy. The sides of the tent were collapsing and all I could think was “thank goodness it's not raining”. And then what happened? It began to absolutely pour it down! Anything that was against the sides began to get soaked and eventually it got so bad that it actually started to rain inside the tent! By this point I'd had enough, so grabbed my small backpack and sleeping bag and moved to the toilet block. Eventually even Robyn couldn't handle it any more, and we took all our stuff out the tent, moved it into the toilet block and then moved the tent and tied it to the door so it wouldn't blow away. And that's the story of how we ended up sleeping in a toilet block in Maseru. I didn't get to sleep until 3am and we had a 6am start the same morning. Although it was a bit harder this time, we still found the strength to laugh about this one as well!

The next day, or should I say same day, it was time to head to Jo'burg. We were up and packed early and by 7am had crossed the border and were on our way to Bloemfontein where we could catch a kombi to Jo'burg. Getting to Jo'burg was easy enough and by 2pm we were heading into the city. Right into down town Jo'burg I should say. Not a place you want to be. As I looked on out the window as the kombi drove down dirty, burnt down streets, I REALLY didn't want to have to get out. Beth was coming to pick us up, but we were going to arrive before she did. I have never been so scared in all my life! The street was jam-packed full of people, it was dirty, cars lay burnt down, buildings abandoned, it just didn't have a good vibe to it at all. Luckily a man helped us with our things to the nearest restaurant (chickin' lickin') where we waited for Beth to come. Soon enough she arrived, we got our stuff in the car and we were out of there! I'm just glad I made it out that place without being mugged!

The next couple of days were just spent hanging out in Beth's flat, watching tv and chilling in her lounge. She is so lucky to have her own sofa and TV! All I have to myself is my tiny room! We helped out at her project some of the time as well. She works at “Cotlands”, which is an orphange type organisation that takes in orphans, abandoned children and those needing extra and gives them a home and support. It was a really good experience to see a different project from our own and work in a more social care situation than teaching.

On Wednesday 11^th of January it was time to head home! We caught an early kombi (although it was more like a REALLY nice mini-bus) from Park Station (much safer area this time) that took us all the way to Manzini. Probably the easiest stretch of travelling we had done the whole holiday!

Once we had reached Manzini it was straight on our final kombi that would take us back to Big Bend. I felt very proud as I walked through the taxi rank, not needing any help to find the correct kombi. Definitely a local now! And I had been back in Swaziland all of 5 minutes when I had my first marriage proposal of the year. It was good to be back! Stepping out that kombi in Big Bend was the biggest shock I've ever had. The heat was UNBELIEVABLE! I'd forgotten how hot it gets here and in the time we had been away it had only got hotter! Take me back to the cool coastal breeze!

So, that's me back home now. My clothes are clean and I'm no longer living out a rucksack which is a lovely feeling! Work has started again and this morning we made a trip to Injabulo to sign up all the kids. Ready to start teaching now! This year Robyn and I have switched classes, so I'm now going to be teaching the younger Lizards class. A new challenge for me but one I'm looking forward to! I've had an amazing 6 weeks travelling, and it's something I don't think I'll ever forget, but I'm now ready to settle back into life in Big Bend and make the most of the 8 months I have left here!