Molweni

Hey everybody!!

Our last days in South Africa are upon us. Yet again the time has flown by, but we have not wasted any time. Last weekend we went on a two day wildlife safari and had a blast. The first day we travelled quite a distance in our little bus to see an ostrich farm (we even got to sit on an ostrich!) and later played with 3 young elephants. You could ride the ostrich if you dared but we weren't feeling suicidal that day. The elephants were about 9 years old and really well trained. We were able to pet and feed them cut up fruit and vegetables. They also hugged us with their trunks (which are incredibly scratchy and rough), and play tug of war. One of them was trained to throw and kick the ball. They threw it using their trunk. It was really an awesome experience! In the evening we tasted ostrich meat cooked on the barbeque. It was delicious.
The second day was our favourite because we started the day with a tour of the Cango WildLife Ranch checking out the African animals. We saw all kinds of animals including: snakes, meerkats, lions, tiger, leopards, cheetahs, crocodiles, vultures, bats, leemars, hogs etc. etc. It was really fascinating. The peak of our day came when we had the opportunity to go IN the cage with the "baby" tigers (the were 8 months and quite large for babies) and full grown cheetahs. The cheetahs were just massive house cats who purr really loud. It was phenomenal and we wanted to stay all day. The money we paid went towards the conservation work for the wild cat population. The excitement did not end there!
After this we travelled to a game park and were escorted in a rugged jeep through their park to see the Big 5 in their natural habitat. We saw antelope, buffalo, rhinos (and their baby!), birds, giraffes, zebras, lions and elephants roaming the fields. The giraffes were spectacular because they walked right across the path and were literally within touchable distance. Wrapped up in our blankets to escape the wind we watched in awe as all these beautiful animals carried out their daily activities.
On the way home from the tour we discovered we had a stomach bug from one of our children at the creche. We spent sunday night, monday and most of tuesday quite ill with some nasty bodily functions. It was exhausting to be sick and stuck in our little dormitory so as not to infect anyone else. By wednesday we were in tip-top shape and ready to take on the babies again. Playing and caring for the kids is incredibly awarding and we both really enjoy it. We do have a great appreciation for caretakers though as it is an exhausting task.

Friday we departed on our second, and last tour in South Africa, called the 3 day WOW Western Cape tour.      We started off with touring the beautiful countryside an admiring the amazing beaches including Hout Bay, Camps Bay, and Long Beach. We also went to Dyer Island and saw the thousands of seals laying on the rocks and playing the water - such fascinating creatures. But smelly. We did the mini hike up to Cape Point and experienced the intense winds coming off the ocean. It was deafening. The sites are burned into our retinas - absolutely stunning. We stopped at a few small towns as well before ending up in Stellenbosch for the night. We had a delicious dinner and drinks on the town. A very successful and relaxing day.
Saturday started out with a private Kaymundi Township tour from one of the locals. We learned why and how the people live in these settlements. It is very sobering seeing the rotten shacks and rusted metal boxes that serve as houses. It was nice to hear that here the conditions have massively improved and things have been changing thanks to Mandela. It is very much a welcoming community. At 10:30 in the morning we went on our Wine Tasting Tours at two different places. It was really odd drinking so early but some of them were quite delicious and we enjoyed some wicked cheeses as well. After a picnic in the shade eating some of our newly purchased cheeses we spent some time at a beach. The water was freezing cold! (15 C). We had a dinner and tried to see the whales in the bay but did not succeed. It was an early night because we had a big day on Sunday.
Sunday we were on the road by 6:30 am to make it for our Great White Shark Cage Diving!!! They served us breakfast after we signed all our legal rights away. Then we were given bright orange rain coats and a life jacket. The boat ripped out for about 15 minutes before anchoring not too far from a beach - an apparent shark hot spot. During the summer months these sharks actually spend most of their time in the shallow waters near the beach - hence why their are run-ins with humans. They chummed and baited the water and we had to wait about 30 minutes to see one. While waiting we were given our wetsuits - which was extremely difficult to get into because they were so tight! They were thick and hooded to help fight the frigid water. We were chilling on the seats when the first shark was sited. It was a smaller one at ONLY 2 metres but it was AWESOME. We were the first people to jump into the cage. WHAT A THRILL. These sharks are spectacular. Sam was afraid to even go on the boat at the beginning but now we she wants to do it again. They swam past the cage quite close, but paid no attention to us in particular. They were interested in the seal cut out and the fish heads used as bait to get them close to the boat. Every time the sharks came near the cage the crew would yell "divers down in front" or "to the left" etc. It was definitely an adrenaline kick. After our time was up we spent the rest watching the sharks come out of the water trying to eat the decoys. Absolutely amazing. Unfortunately for us the waterproof video camera stopped working after a few minutes of being in the water and our digital camera died. We wish we had more video footage to show but we have enough to capture the excitement of our journey! When we came back to shore our tour guide Xenni took us back to Hermanus where we saw whales swimming in the bay! They even breached the water. Astonishing. Our day ended with a walk along the rocks where thousands and thousands of African Penguins reside. They are ADORABLE. Some were losing their feathers and were on the "uglier" side. It was a phenomenal weekend and we really really enjoyed it! We are blessed.

Today we were back with our kiddo's. We took some photos of them and are going to get them developed for the creche and the mothers to have. Precious!

Anyways we have now written a novel - and it doesn't even capture everything. But it gives a glimpse
Missing everyone from home! Cannot believe it has almost been 5 months.
xoxoxoxox

African Time

Hello again!!

         Still in Cape Town and definitely loving life! This place is amazing. During the week we head out at 8am and take 2 different mini-buses to our project in Woodstock. (When we say mini-buses we mean large vans that can hold up to 15 people that are battered and play really loud and awful music with the guy yelling out the door trying to get as many people on the bus as possible. It is quite the experience.) We stay at our project until around 3:30 and the bulk of our day is spent caring for the children in the creche. A Creche is similar to a daycare centre with schooling. All the children are under 6 years of age and there is just under 20 of them. They are here because they and their mothers have been abused or are destitute. St. Anne's helps them get their life in track by offering living quarters, work/skill shops and counselling. It is a really good set up for giving the women a chance. The older children separate from the infants and are taught basic skills through out the day. We spend most of our time in the nursery. Sam is absolutely in love with the little babies. There is a new baby that is only one month old and he was born premature so he is absolutely tiny. They are each so cute and we try and divide our time amongst them. The older kids love to say that we are "boyfriend and girlfriend" and do" kissy-kissy". They love it when we go outside with them on the play-structures. They ran around with our camera today and were doing photo shoots of each other. Most of the photos are just fingers.
Tomorrow morning we are going on a two day tour called the "wildlife safari" where we get more of a taste of South Africa. Cannot wait!!
Missing you all
xox

A taste of Arabia

Molweni (hello in Xhosa) from South Africa!

We are now in Cape Town at our volunteer accommodation. We have our orientation on Monday and have learned that we are doing a placement at a women's and children's help centre during our 3 week stay. The city looks just like any other major city apart from some of the temporary camps set up on the side for the indigenous people. We cannot wait to explore!

Dubai was absolutely AMAZING!! We really wished we had more time there since we had so much more to see. The weather was hot and fairly humid but not unbearable like people mentioned during their summer months. Our hotel was nice and cost us a small fortune since we had to get separate rooms. They treated us like man and wife anyways. It was almost 5 am by the time we got to bed the first night and we slept until noon. That afternoon we went on the Arabian safari. It involved a crazy ride through sand dunes in a toyota   4wheel drive vehicle. It was the 2 of us with an Indian family that were in love with us. We were like zoo animals. Mike was "very very long" and Sam was "really muscular" and "pretty". The men wouldn't leave her alone. Now we know what monkeys feel like at the zoo. click.click.click. photo after photo. They were really nice though and it was a fun adventure. The sand dunes were awesome!!! We ripped and slid along the sand with screams of delight (and a little terror).

The adventure stopped at a camp where we were offered a short camel ride. Sam managed to fall off when the camel started its kneeling. She would have gone over its head but managed to jump to the side. A little funny to see. The Indian father has it on video so we can only hope he sends it to us. Afterwards Sam was given her first Henna tattoo (which Mike thinks looks like poop). Then we enjoyed the surrounding activities until dinner and the show commenced. We sat at long tables on big cushions. There was a delicious bbq dinner and an Arabic show involving traditional Egyptian dance and famous belly dancers. We had these delicious pastry puffs with a sugar glaze that were just called Arabic sweets, as well as a tasty buffet dinner. YUM.  It was quite spectacular! Definitely a memorable experience.

The following day we did a bus tour to see some of the major sites. The buildings are spectacular and the money invested is amazing. Although in the desert the city is very green because everyday they inject millions and millions of litres of water to maintain a green city. The majority of our time was spent in the Mall of Emirates, which had an indoor ski resort, and the Dubai Mall, which had a Olympic size skating rink and a massive aquarium (won Guinness Book of World Records). We walked for hours and hours to cover all the stores. We also saw the world's largest building and the self-proclaimed 7 star hotel. It was difficult to remember no public affection. We had to remind each other.

 Our last day was spent at the Aquadventure Atlantis waterpark. Like little kids we went through the rip tides again and again. We also enjoyed the big water slides. Mike was the only one brave enough to do the drop ride which shot straight down before going through a tunnel with a view of sharks and other sea creatures. We spent the middle of the afternoon snoozing on the beach before going back to the rides. Over the course Sam managed to injure herself a few times. This first involved an enclosed tunnel on a 2 man tube. On one of the fast turns Mike's knee and the bottom of Sam's skull collided and caused quite a lot of pain to her head. The others involved being flipped off the tube and scraping concrete and banging ankles on the tubes. It was definitely a hazard day. A few war wounds to remember the awesome day!

Oh also - Emirates has been awesome to fly with. In economy they have enough leg room, personal TV's with enough games, movies, shows etc to keep you entertained for the entire flight. Mike was ecstatic when we first sat down. He could make a playlist with everything he wanted! The food and service is spectacular. Sam was given a first class meal because they only had salmon plates left and she doesn't like salmon. Really unexpected. We hope to fly with them again.

Missing everyone from home
xox

Anyways there is a very brief summary of our last week! Hopefully we have more amazing fun adventures to tell!