Vacation Part 6: Capetown

Capetown is beautiful, even in winter. We attempted to hike Table Mountain, went out to Cape of Good Hope nature reserve and Cape Point, we saw penguins and Ostriches, we went to Stellenbosch Gardens, the Gold Museum, the Slave Post museum, and the waterfront. We attempted whale watching and Robbin Island but the weather didn't work out and the boats were canceled. 

The gardens.

On the way to Cape of Good Hope are penguins...

Penguin!

Swimming

Taking a good look around.

Ostriches IN the road at the Cape of Good Hope. We were all, let's roll down the windows and take pictures!! Our cab driver thought we were nuts.

Steenbok!

We visited an ostrich farm and got to feed them. This one was a little bossy.

Cormorant drying his wings.

 Yummy food everywhere.

The civic center had a neat exhibit on Nelson Mandela, since we were in Capetown right after his 95th birthday.

This is an art exhibit at the civic center. Using fence from Robbin Island, the artist represents the tiny cell than Nelson Mandela served something like 18 of his 27 years in prison.

As you can see, a cloudy day at the waterfront.

More pictures coming, I'll update this post later (forgot my memory stick with the rest of the pics).

GLOW Camp!

Myself and 6 other volunteers from my region did a GLOW (girls and guys leading our world) camp for 32 kids for 5 days, July 29th - August 2nd in Khudumelapye, the village next to mine.

It required a lot of food, but the alcohol levy provided it for us.

We started camp with a bonfire and get to know you games.

Corey was not actually on fire, but was DJing from his laptop.

We talked about self-esteem and knowing yourself.

Since the theme was friendship, we talked about how animals can be our friends, especially dogs.

Which was funny since Snoopy, a dog from Aileen's compound, 

decided she really wanted to come to camp.

We talked about gender roles, and the difference between gender and sex.

The kids made skits about refusing alcohol and dealing with peer pressure.

They thought about what it means to be a leader.

We tried to keep it fun and interactive- batting around blown up condoms to break the ice before talking about sex.

Puberty 101: Everything you've always wanted to know...

We kept a question box going the whole camp, and got really good questions. 

Some very hard to answer.

Our PC Botswana country director Tim Hartman and Ambassador to Botswana Michelle Gavin came and talked with the kids. 

We made collages about ourselves and our goals.

We made friendship bracelets.

We did a science experiment with volcanoes.

Corey taught the kids self defense at 6am!

We also did early morning games and yoga.

Lots of downtime for football, 

jump rope, and whatever other games the kids wanted to play. 

We slept in some classrooms, each school bundled together at night under a pile of blankets.

Sometimes naps were in order (or at least wanted).

At night we had fun things like the campfire, a movie night, a traditional dance performance, and a talent show.

My girls from Salajwe and their certificates for attending camp.

My guys from Salajwe.

Camp GLOW!

 And for a few funny "out-takes"...

Sleeping donkeys by the water pumps. They want to come to school too! Also, some slept RIGHT outside of our classroom, so when I had to use the latrine at midnight, I scared them awake and they knocked over a bucket as they ran off, which scared the crap out of me and I thought was going to wake the whole camp. Oh life.

\

We got to prepare breakfast, and heat water for bathes twice a day. 

A rooster half the size of Finda wants some of the spilled rice.

We had to blow up the condoms for the condom balloon game...

Glow camp was great. Stressful at times because of the logistics, but I really hope I can do another one during my service. 

Vacation Part 5: Victoria Falls

On July 18th we crossed into Zambia by boat. Where the Zambezi and Chobe rivers meet is where 4 African countries meet as well: Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. We got to 3/4 :)

We checked in at the JollyBoys Backpackers and headed to the falls on the Zambia side.

And this is at relatively low water!

The famous bridge over the gorge downstream of the falls. We crossed it going into Zim.

Mom and me.

Carol 'I'm never excited about anything' :D

Amazing.

Appropriately named rainbow falls.

Mom at rainbow falls.

Our cute little room at the backpackers, with me under my personal mosquito net.

The next day we sprung for a helicopter ride over the falls. It was totally worth it, its the only way to see the whole thing at once because its so big!

During the rainy season its hard to actually SEE the falls because there is so much mist.

Definitely one of the natural wonders of the world.

After the helicopter we crossed into Zimbabwe for the day to see the falls from that side. 

Mosi-ou-tunya: The smoke that thunders

Ate in a yummy restuarant on the Zim side- mom with her beautiful salad.

Random warthogs roaming around near the restaurant.

Zim side falls- I think this was the 'main falls'.

Magnificent.

Mom dressed appropriately for the occasion.

I'm at Vic Falls!

More rainbows on the Zim side too.

We crossed back into Zambia after watching some people bungee jump into the gorge (on the bridge above).  Overall we roamed around Livingstone a bit, ate some Zambian food that was delicious, and enjoyed the backpackers. We crossed back into Botswana on the 20th, and went for the 3rd game drive in Kasane on the 21st (where we saw the leopard!) before flying to Capetown that afternoon.

Part 6 of the Vacation was Capetown, coming soon!