Hey hey hey!
So so so sorry I have been so quiet over the past two weeks.
My mum came to visit me for 14 days J
We wanted to make most of our time together so we did lots including a three
days safari and three days in Durban... Before I tell you all about it, I just
wanted to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who helped/contributed to the
raffle organised by my mother. Together you managed to raise an extraordinary
£2000 which comes to over R30.000!!! The director, Mbongiseni Nzuza was
completely speechless when he received the email from Maman explaining what she
had done and how much she managed to raise. I would like to thank my mum as
well as all of those who bought tickets, sold tickets as well as those who
donated gifts. You cannot believe how much this means to the orphanage. The
money will be put towards repainting the whole orphanage as the paint is
cracking and peeling in most rooms. I will make sure to put pictures up of the
freshly repainted rooms as soon as they have been done.
So Maman landed in Johannesburg Airport on the 26th
of November. I was sooo excited! We hadn’t seen each other in three months
which is longest we have ever been apart so you can imagine how emotional we
both were when we saw each other! We then headed back to Blaauwbosch where the
children were also very excited about meeting my mum. When we arrived, Auntie
Phumie had cooked us a huge meal including beef stew, chicken, rice, butternut
squash mash, cabbage and beetroot! It was delicious as always. After unpacking,
Phumzile (Senior Child and Youth Care Worker) showed Maman around the different
cottages during which she met most of the Care Workers as well as all the
toddlers. They gave her a very warm welcome and all wanted to be picked up by her...
too cute! That evening all 92 children welcomed her in their own way through
traditional dance and song, which they also did for me when I first arrived at
the Home.
Although Maman only spent four days at the Home, she was
very quickly involved in many things such as bathing the toddlers, driving to
the local primary school in a 20 year old buggy, fitting over 30 children in
the trunk of the car and driving them back to the Home, giving advice to those
children leaving the Home for good and learning some dance moves from the
Nompilo (one of the teenage girls!). There were a total of 5 girls from the
Masakhane cottage leaving therefore I thought it would be a good idea to buy
them all a Christmas present. This was also my way of saying thank you to them
for making me feel so so welcome in their cottage and involving me in everything
they did. I printed them eac h two photos and also gave them all a nail varnish
because they absolutely love doing their nails J
Maman and I left for our road trip on Saturday 30th November and the
children were brought to their foster families/relatives the following Monday
and Tuesday which meant we unfortunately had to say our goodbyes. I got very
emotional as I was very close to three out of the five Masakhane girls that were
leaving. It is very unlikely I will see them again...
Maman and Basilo
Maman and the older girls playing volleyball
Lots of cuddles from the Mandela toddlers
Pyjama Party! #1
Pyjama Party! #2
Kwanele and Luyanda with the new T-shirts Maman bought them
After an emotional departure, we headed for the Springbok
Lodge in the Nambiti Game Reserve (www.thespringboklodge.co.za). It is home to
the Big 5 (rhino, buffalo, lion, leopard and elephant) and is situated just 1.5
hours from the Saint Anthony’s by car. Our lodge was very different to the
other 5 lodges situated in the Game Reserve in that the accommodation are tents
rather than an actual lodge. Maman and I were very intrigued however we were
both pleasantly surprised! The tents were very big, elevated and reinforced
with a wooden frame, had a lovely big bath as well as an outdoor shower.
INSERT PICS
When we arrived at the lodge, we were greeted with a glass
of homemade lemonade and some refreshing cold towels. We enjoyed a light lunch
before being shown to our “tents”. Because the weather was so beautifully hot,
Maman and I got changed into something a little lighter for our first game
drive which was taking place at 4pm... What a mistake that was. As soon as we
drove away from the lodge, the weather turned! The sky was completely grey, it
was windy and very cold. I looked completely ridiculous in my mini denim shorts
and tank top – it was clear to everyone else in the 4x4 that this was very new
to me and Maman. Luckily the car was equipped with fleece lined ponchos! They
are so cosy, we lived in them for most of our stay as we both packed for the
wrong season... Nightmare! Although we were very unlucky in terms of the
weather for most of our stay, we were very lucky in terms of the animals we saw.
On our first ever game drive, we saw lions, a black rhino and buffalos all
within a few metres of each other... absolutely incredible! Over the whole
three days we were there, we say 4 out of the 5 Big Five as well as lots of
other mammals including kudus, giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, serval, jackals
etc. Every day we had two game drives
(one at 5:30 am and one at 4 pm) all of which included a short break in a
beautiful spot accompanied by a hot drink and homemade muffins in the morning
or nibbles and a cold alcoholic beverage in the evening. Maman and I also went
to a Cheetah Breeding Centre where we had the chance to find out more about
these beautiful creatures and also have a little cuddle with them! The
sanctuary also has other wildcats such as servals, a leopard and a wild cat.
This place is also the home to a meerkat called Zulu! Half of his tail was
unfortunately burnt in a fire, which killed the rest of his clan members. If
released back into the wild, he wouldn’t be accepted into another clan, meaning
he would be alone and so never survive. The sanctuary is his new family now J
As well as seeing some truly beautiful animals, we also met
some lovely people. As Nambiti isn’t very well known overseas, most of those
who come to the reserve are locals. One couple Maman and I got to know very
well was Vicky and Bernd. They arrived and left on the same day as us and we
also had the same ranger (Jonathan) which meant we spent a lot of time
together. They both live in Durban and have been coming to Springbok every 4
months for the past three years which means they know the staff and rangers
very well! It was also Vicky’s birthday on our last day at the lodge which
meant we had a little celebration in the evening with Jonathan and another one
of the other rangers called Mike. The fact rangers were always around and
allowed to socialise with the guests was also something Maman and I really
liked about the whole experience. Now I just can’t wait to go on my next game
drives but this time in Kruger. I will however be coming back to Nambiti game
reserve in February 2014 with my friend Sarah when she comes to visit Saint Anthony’s for two weeks.
(Bernd, Vicky, Rodwin, Jonathan, myself and Pam)
After three unforgettable days at the Springbok lodge, we
made our way to Durban! Our lovely boutique hotel (www.stjamesonvenice.co.za) was
situated in Morningside. We were lucky to have just enough sunshine on our
first day to do a bike ride along the beach promenade! It was so nice to have
some sun rather than rain but we both got very very burnt!! As well as going to
the beach, we visited Ushaka Marine (a big aquarium with animal shows), the Moses
Mabhida Stadium which was built for the 2010 World Cup and did a bit of retail
therapy in Durban North. On one evening, we also met up with Vicky and Bernd
for dinner in one of the best hotels in Durban called the Oyster Box. After
three nights, it was time to head back to Saint Anthony’s..... well that’s what
we thought. So we left Durban for Newcastle on Friday 6th December at
11 am. The tomtom thought it would be a good idea to take us down the scenic
route... Maman and I were quite happy at first as we got to see the townships
and the surrounding mountains however after 45 mins of this, no sign of a town
and no proper road (dirt tracks full of potholes) we got a little fed up... No
matter what we put in the tomtom, it insisted we take more and more little
roads which looked less and less like roads and more like unused dirt tracks!
This went on for two hours...Nightmare! It became so bad we actually had to go
back on ourselves and head back to Durban! Once we reached the hotel we had
been staying in, it was 3 pm meaning we would have to do a big part of our
journey back to Newcastle in the dark! Therefore we decided against it and stayed
one more night in Durban. This unfortunately meant I couldn’t take Maman to
Maria Ratschitz (she was leaving the following day – 8.12.) however instead we
had a Kenyan braai with Father Matthew and his friend Paul!
Monkeys casually sitting along the Durban promenade!
Maman putting her feet in the Indian ocean!
As you can see, Maman and I had an amazing (and adventurous)
two weeks together! I was very sad to see her go but at least she knows now
where I’m staying and that I’m safe and very happy.
My next post will be in a couple of week’s time about my
trip to Kruger National Park and Cape Town over Christmas and New Year! So I
would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very merry Christmas and
New Year and also a big THANK YOU for reading my blog!
Lots of Love,
Isabel x
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