BungEEEEEE

        I’m sorry to say that this blog is probably not going to be as exciting as my sleeping with the lions story- but it is filled with adrenaline none the least!! Today at 9:30 am I jumped off a bridge that was 216 meters high.  The entire time before the jump I was feeling nothing but excitement and couldn’t wait to do it!! The only time I felt any nervousness was when they scooted me to the edge of the jump and my body involuntarily started shaking.  It was more of a physical reaction than an emotional one.  I made a conscious effort to be aware of what was happening as I fell and I am so happy to report that I was!! It was an 8 second free fall and I remember the entire experience.  My mind was screaming WOOOO HOOOOO but my body was rushing with adrenaline and wanting to go backwards as I was falling forwards.  It was weird!  I have a bunch of pictures to show and a desire to keep on jumping J.  I recommend to anyone who wants to bungee jump to PLEASE do it and not really think about it.  They can’t keep you up there too long because two many people change their minds. You get up there, wait for your turn, and by the time they strap you up- yell “5, 4, 3, 2, 1 BUNGEE!” and you jump, it’s maybe three minutes maximum.  It was great great good fun. 

            Tomorrow guess what I get to do also?  SKYDIVE! We are scheduled to go at 9am and as long as it’s not too windy I should be jumping out of a plane and free falling for 35 seconds by 10am.  I CAN’T WAIT! I’m so glad to get this opportunity since it didn’t happen at CROW.  We met some guys here from London who were supposed to skydive this afternoon but got cancelled due to the wind- if ours gets canceled we are all going to do it together in Cape Town as they are heading that way too.

            Our stay here in Plettenberg’s Bay has been short- we are here a total of two days but in those two days I got to go to a cat sanctuary, bungee jump, skydive, and hit the beach.  I forgot to mention the cat sanctuary!! I will now….Um it was great! Got to touch and be friendly with all the felines Africa has to offer (cheetahs, carcals, servets, etc) except lions and Leopards. It was nice to be able to see how a different sanctuary works and I got the name and number of the owner to possibly volunteer there.  It would be an awesome experience- just not sure if it’ll work. 

            I am in the process of trying to find transportat from Mozambique to Port Elizabeth in order to travel and still be able to work back at Schotia for a month.  I need to also see about changing my ticket so I can stay here in SA for another month.  Hopefully it will work out, as I love it here.

            I hope everyone had a memorable and loving Christmas.  I will try and blog soon as let ya’ll know about my skydive!  Keep healthy- I’m battling a sore throat and flu-like symptoms at the moment.  I think they came from sleeping outside the night of the lions- oh well still worth it!!!  Take Care hey…..Cheers!!

Sleeping with the Lions

              Two days ago I had an experience that I have only dreamed about.  I witnessed firsthand a chase, kill and devour of a wildebeest from a pack of lions.  It was absolutely incredible.  We were at Schotia (the game reserve) and it was our last night there so we got the idea of sleeping outside in Justin’s tent to watch the lions.  He had this suped up Land Rover that you could practically live out of and it includes this small tent on the roof.  It’s about 9 at night and we are driving back from dinner to the homestead.  As we go down a road we see a pair of eyes glowing at us- low and behold it’s the big male lion just casually walking towards us.  We stop the car, roll down the windows and pull out our cameras.  He stopped and laid down next to our car maybe 10 feet away from us.  My body was shaking with adrenaline- he was massive and so close.  My window was down and I bet he could have been inside the car in less than .001 second if he felt like it.  Justin wasn’t worried however and said we really didn’t bother the lion in the slightest.   We sit there with this lion for a while and then decide to pack up our bags and find them again.  Justin figured they were going to hunt tonight and we wanted to be there to watch.  We get a call on the radio letting us know where one of the lioness is currently located and we head off in that direction.  We found her relatively quickly and weren’t there for 10 minutes before the big male and smaller male came over.  We stopped the car and watched patiently for maybe an hour and half with nothing really happening besides us taking thousands of pictures and rolling the video cameras.  We also did our best impersonations of growls and roars to try and get the males to move J- it didn’t really work.  So anyways- Justin climbs up to bed around 12ish and says to wake him if something exciting happens.  He’s up there maybe 15 minutes when we see the lioness take off into the night- we bang on the roof and yell like mad for Justin to get his butt down here to drive us off in that direction- we knew there was wildebeest that way.  He practically falls down into the Land Rover and we take off just in time to see her leap and grab onto the neck of a wildebeest.  It was indescribable. I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn’t watching TV and it was right in front of me- wasn’t staged or planned or anything like that.  As soon as the lioness downed the wildebeest the big male came over and took hold of the neck.  He didn’t let go for a good 20 minutes- he was the only one with the power in his jaws to hold a tight grip for so long.  By now Whitney, Kelleigh and I are just screaming and jumping up and down with excitement and just trying to believe what’s in front of our eyes.  It only gets better from here! Justin backs the Land Rover within 20 feet of the kill; we get out, climb up top and lay down to watch the feeding to our hearts content.  I have no idea what time it is by now, but we probably lie there and watch them feeding and tearing into the wildebeest for a couple hours.  We were so close you could smell it and hear the flies- It was a dream come true for me.  I have video that will knock your socks off and I can’t wait to share it with everyone!!!  Okay so the feeding goes on and on and eventually they sort of just stop and walk a bit away to lay down.  We try to get some sleep ourselves but we are smushing four people in a tent that is four feet wide.  Needless to say we spent the night spooning and every 15 minutes saying switch and we would all flip to the other side.  It wasn’t possible to lie on our backs or stomachs without half covering your neighbor.  With so many of us shoved into this small tent you can imagine we got hot.  Justin opened the front flap in order to let a breeze in and we all laid back down to cool off and try and get some sleep when all of a sudden he goes “I think the lioness is on the front of the land rover.”  Uhhhhh needless to say we were freaking out a bit until he looked and it’s not a lion but Whitney’s shoe.  He wanted to go down and get it because he knew the lions would grab it and have fun chewing it to pieces – well he started to climb down and we get the biggest fright because he immediately starts yelling “GET BACK! SHOO! GO! GET! AHHH! GET BACK!” at the top of his lungs and banging on the roof.  As it turns out the younger male (when I say younger I mean he was the son of the big male- he still had a full mane, was a good 8 feel long with 8 in paws.. in other words not really any smaller) was coming over to investigate what had fallen out of our tent.  He was maybe 10 feet away as Justin was going to jump down.  Us girls immediately start telling Justin to come back here and not to be silly it’s only a shoe and yada yada because honestly- what are we supposed to do if something happened to him??????   Justin just calmly tells us to keep an eye on the lion as he starts up a firestarter and throws it at him in order to scare and distract it as he jumps down and retrieves the shoe.  It was a scary experience; we hit him and acted like mother hens when he got back into the tent J.  After the shoe incident- I’m guessing it’s a little before 4am at this point, we try to get some sleep but the male lions decide to have a roar off.  It was awesome hearing them roar back and forth trying to out do each other, but I was constantly on edge.  They might have moved about 30 yards away by now, but the sound made them seem as though they were directly outside the Land Rover.  I can confidently say that I did not sleep one wink that night but that it was worth it a thousand times over.       

Merry Christmas!!!!

 

            I am currently sitting on the Baz Bus in my santa hat and doing my best not to feel sick as we swerve back and forth to miss potholes on the road.  I hope everyone who reads this is having a great Christmas and is taking every opportunity to be with their friends and family.  I apologize ahead of time for the many mistakes that may be in this blog because it’s hard to see the computer screen with the sun and it’s so bumpy that my fingers keep on sliding around on the keyboard.  Our stay at Bomvu was good but I think both of us were ready to move on and go stay somewhere else.  While we were there we did every single tour that klwas available except for horsekback riding.  We got to hike to a cave, Whit visited a village and saw the sacred pools, we did a cliff jump into the river- I got video of it and it was awesome!!- We saw hole in the wall, went surfing, did the drum workshop and saw the native girls from the village dance, we went to a masqurade party and had our faces painted, we went to a trance dance, bummed around and layed out on the beach.  We found a really good resturant and ate there yesterday for our Christams celebration since we knew we’d be on the road for a good 7 hours today. 

            We have some very good interesting memories including me getting stalked by a guy and a guy basically proposing to whitney to by wanting to give her a dowry of 11 cows.  J  It was a good experience to say the least.  We’ve made several friends with people who are also heading down to cape town for New Years- well actually every single person we’ve met is going to cape town for new years.  I thought being in New York was hectic but I have a feeling I’m in for something even bigger and I can’t wait!

            I haven’t really got anything to say but I will let ya’ll know how the game reserve goes.  Unfortunately since we had to stay in Coffee Bay an extra day that means we are only going to be working at the reserve for two full days but alas that’s how it works sometimes hey.  I’ve got some wonderful pictures to share from this place and just wish I could get somewhere with wireless so I can show you!

            That’s all for the moment.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Surfer Gal

       I must say I am proud of myself to give ya’ll so much reading material at one time!! Whatever shall you do? I am sitting here in my bright neon yellow dress and strappy sandals feeling cool for the first time all day.  I have just enjoyed a cold shower and my hair is drying into a messy mess.

         Today we went to Coffee Beach around 9:30 and stayed only till about 11 because we felt our skin frying- literally.  And mom you’d be proud- I put SPF 40 on about 3 times today! The rest of the day we hung out and tried to stay cool.  It was one of those days where you sweat just as you sit there.  We ended up going down to the river mouth and just sitting on the rocks in the water.  It gave us a little relief. 

         As I sit here typing I feel as though I am swaying back and forth from the sea. It’s a very odd feeling but not unusual considering I think I spent about 4 hours in the water today because today was our surfing lessons.  Not to toot Whit and I’s horn at all, but we both got up on the first wave that we tried! It was so much fun and I really want to try and surf everywhere I go now that I can surf.  Our instructor fit the beach bum surfer dude to a T.  He had dirty blond long dreadlocks, a killer tan body and could be a model for the perfect male physique, baby blue eyes and perfect straight white teeth.  He was Afrikant and so had the South African accent, which makes me go all gooey inside..haha.  Let’s just say it was a great few hours for many reasons!! (John don’t be jealous J, you are still the one I love!)

         I have no idea how many waves I actually caught but I do know that most of the ones I did I actually rode them all the way to shore.  The instructor’s name was Rainer (how fitting hey?) and he would hold the board for the first few times and tell you when to paddle and then yell UP when you’re supposed to jump to your feet and surf.  It was the most fun I have had in a long time.  Tonight I know I will sleep well because my arms and legs got quite the workout.  When I get home hopefully I will be recognizable because I believe I’m about 20 shades darker than when I left.  We’ll see how long that lasts!           

         I think I am going to go to bed now though.  I am drinking a Savannah Cider and that in combination with the sun and surf is putting me to sleep. Ciao for now!

Bomvu Paradise

       Whitney has made it safely and we have started our adventure about 5 days ago.  It has been a good mix of chilling and traveling and actually doing some fun things.  We stayed in Durban from Wed-Sat morning at Nomads Backpackers, which was a very chill place that included its own pool- a big plus! (even though we never actually used it)  We hit up Victoria Street Market (Victoria we thought of you!!), Suncoast Beach/Casino, The Bluff/Anesty Beach and Eighties night club.  We got in from Eighties around 4 am and got up to be ready to leave on the Baz Bus at 6:45.  Then we were traveling for a good 10 hours before we actually got into our hostel in Coffee Bay.  It was a looooong day and the bus is not really conducive to sleeping as we thought it would be. 

         We just chilled the first day we got here, but yesterday we took a hike to Hole in the Wall.  Please look this up on Google (Hole in the Wall, Coffee Bay, South Africa) and see how beautiful it is!!  It was a 9K hike that took us about 3 ½ hours of climbing up and up and then flat and more up and more up.  It was quite strenuous and my body could tell that I haven’t had a proper for going on three months now J.  Whit and I took many pictures and I was hoping to get some up while staying in these hostels, but we have yet to encounter wireless.  The views as we hiked along the coast were just beautiful and the water is that lovely shade of turquoise that you always see in pictures but I had never experienced in real life.  After we made it to the Hole in the Wall, after passing Baby Hole in the Wall- which I thought was also impressive- we got to go swimming in this calm bay that reminded me of the lake back home.  I haven’t been to any part of the ocean where you aren’t constantly jumping over and getting knocked down by waves.  I thoroughly enjoyed some lazy floating and swimming. 

         We got back from the hike around 5 and chilled for dinner before joining in the Drum workshop at 8pm.  John you would be proud of my conga playing skills!! (I thought of you often and wished you were there) It was a lot of fun and a good mental workout trying to keep the rhythms separate…and we only learned four!!

         Today we have an appointment at 3:30 for surfing… WOO HOO…I am beyond thrilled.  Supposedly this guy teaching us is some sort of professional, which he better be to be able to turn me into a surfer!  I was a little worried that my legs would be sore from the hike but alas I am in luck as I feel fine.  I think we are going to spend the first part of the day exploring the coast and finding a private beach to sunbathe.  Tomorrow we have a trip to the Mapuzti Caves that includes abseiling and cliff jumping.  I think there’s a place where we can choose to jump 30m into the water that will sweep us into the caves. You better believe I’m ready for that!! 

         We were planning on staying here at Coffee Bay til the 23^rd and taking the baz bus on the morning of the 24^th in order to be at Scotia Reserve for Christmas day, but the bus ended up being full.  Our plans have changed so that we are staying here an extra day and then traveling ALL day on Christmas.  So please everyone enjoy your day sitting in your comfortable chairs and eating really good food because I will be on a bus from 10am-9pm.  It’s okay though, Whit and I plan to make the most of it- not quite sure how but we will!! Then we get to Scotia and work really hard and party even harder J til the 28^th.  After that it’s off to Plettensberg Bay where we do the biggest bungee jump IN THE WORLD!!  It’s a free fall of 10 seconds.  Believe me I will be getting the DVD of me falling and am prepared to show it off to anyone who wants to watch hehe..  We arrive in Cape Town on Dec 30^th and are hopefully staying with Kelleigh as she’s staying with this guy and his roommates who is a cousin of someone she met on the plane coming here.  Yes that’s the way to travel!! The only thing we’ve got set up for sure in Cape Town is visiting Robbins Island on January 10^th, but I want to get scuba certified and we want to take a boat out to sea and go snorkeling, hike up table mountain, go whale watching, club hopping, and visit some botanical gardens and possibly museums.  Whatever we end up doing we’ve got 13 full days there and we promise to use them well!!

         I think I’m going to end this blog and get some breakfast.  I’ve been up since 6am- there was a police raid in the backpackers this morning, that was interesting! It’s now 7:30 and I think the kitchen just opened so I’m off for some muesli with yogurt and a BIG cup of coffee. 

         I hope everyone has a great few days til Christmas- enjoy friends and family!!  Love.

 

No More CROW

         I sit here in the messy living room drinking my tea and eating a scone (that I baked earlier) and have mixed feelings about leaving CROW tomorrow.  I am super excited to see Whitney and do our travels and to meet up with my sister, but sad to be leaving certain parts of CROW.  I am saddened to leave my Dassies (Huey, Duey, and Luey) because I have been bottle feeding them 4 times a day since the very first day I got here.  I have only just taken over the pigs in the last 3 weeks or so but I will also miss them.  Wally is sort of touch and go at the moment because the teat he was drinking from went missing on Saturday and therefore he hasn’t been drinking as much as he used to, but I’m pretty sure he’ll be okay.  We have had two zebras come in now and both have passed away.  The wildebeest is doing good and makes the most unique noises.  There are some birds that I have gotten fond of that I will probably think of from time to time, but other than that- I have nothing to miss here.  The volunteers have all been great and I will no doubt miss them, but will luckily be traveling with one of them for a bit and will see the other one when I come back to Durban in February.    

          I will not miss the flea bites from my bed or the fleas jumping off the couches or the piles of dishes in the sink and counters nor will I miss the kitchen floor being covered in maggots or the bathroom ceiling actually moving with some sort of mold or having my bed feel wet with damp.  Other than that- it’s been a decent place to stay.  J

         I will be leaving here tomorrow around 12 to pick Whitney and I’m not sure what are plans are till we leave Durban on Saturday morning for Coffee Bay.  Then we are there for 6 days and 5 nights before we head to Scotia to work at the game reserve where Kelleigh (other volunteer at CROW) will join us for 4 days and then we are spending 2 days at the place where the worlds biggest bungee jump is located and then off to Cape Town for 13 days!! Woo Hoo! I am excited for Cape Town because I have a couple of contacts with people that I’ve met here in Durban to show us around and take us out at night.  

 

Walley

I regret to inform everyone that as I went to sit down to type this blog- I sat on a baby gecko and smushed it.  It was about an inch long and quite cute before I flattened it like a pancake!! Oh well, I’m pretty sure there were three other ones in my wardrobe this morning.  It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged again and again I can’t quite remember what I said last time.  Now I could be smart and reread my last blog, but where’s the fun in that?

         First thing- I believe to tell of my trip to Drakensburg.  It was good. I’m not sure if I liked the trip or if I liked getting away from CROW for two whole days better…hmmm it’s a toss up! Anyways, we started our day getting picked up in a minivan at 5:15am and driving 3 hours to the mountains.  The Drakensburg mountains are quite possibly the most beautiful mountains I have seen in my lifetime (so far)- hopefully pictures will follow shortly! Day one started with a hike through the mountains to a cave where we saw bushmen paintings that predate about 8,000 years.  I haven’t had much exercise since I’ve been here and I’m pretty sure the guide was getting annoyed with me tripping on his heels as I followed so close behind him trying to get him to basically run up the side of the mountain J.  I loved it! After the hike we went horseback riding- it was supposed to be a two-hour sunny trail ride through the beautiful mountains but ended up being a miserable hour ride through fog and torrential downpours.  I say I’m cold an awful lot, but I honestly don’t think I have ever been as cold as I was on that horse.  The wind was blowing the rain sideways and I was gripping the reins with frozen fingers trying not to slip out of the saddle as my horse tottered along the edge of a cliff that I’m sure had a fantastic view- I, however, could barely make out my horse’s head in the fog.  Also I was only clothed in my skinny jeans and tan tank top.  Towards the end of our ride it started to downpour just like it does in the movies- you know the rain that comes down in sheets and drips in your eyes and mouth so you have to keep them closed- part of me enjoyed it and part of me just wanted to cry.  I was hoping my knight in shining armor would come and rescue me with a big kiss -much like what happens in the notebook J.  No such luck however…..

         The next day was spent traveling up the Sani Pass to Lesotho and eating at the highest pub in Africa.  AGAIN I think I saw the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen in my life and again I hope pictures will follow shortly!  It took us about 3 hours to drive up this road that had potholes every 4 feet that was about as big as me.  It was crazy and fun at first but by the time we came back down I just wanted my body to stop bouncing around.  When we were in Lesotho, we visited a rural village and tasted the homemade bread and beer.  I am not a beer fan by any means, but I have to admit it wasn’t too bad! It was quite thick and tasted like mushy corn…yum.  After we got down the pass, three of us decided to go back to the horse ranch and get our second hour in that we missed the day before.  Again it was raining but this time we asked to borrow rain boots and slickers- it was 1,000 times more comfortable!! Since it was just three of us our guide decided to just sort of let us do what we wanted--- so off we went at a trot or gallop for most of the ride!!!!! I had never galloped or cantered before and I am quite proud that I was able to stay on the horse the entire time however, I have not been that sore in a loooooong time.  I clearly don’t know how to ride and my knees and inner thighs were shaky for at least 2 days.  That was most unpleasant. 

         Okay on to something else…guess what new babies we have gotten in at CROW????? A wildebeest that is 2 weeks old and a zebra that is about 4 weeks old!!! J.  They are extremely cute and loveable but unfortunately I get nothing to do with them so I must just take pictures and watch from afar.           Today was my day off and I spent it sitting in the back of the buggie for three hours sunbathing as we went to pick up a baby warthog.  Needless to say I am stupidly fried as I type this and regretting my decision to lay in the back, hike up my shorts as high as they’d go and bare my stomach.   As soon as I laid eyes on this little guy I was hooked.  I held him in my arms and he slept contently for the entire three hours back.  Proud to say I am his new mama and we have put him in the pen with my other three baby bushpigs.  It is such a joy to watch them play and romp around.  The warthog (Walley) is the ugliest (therefore thee cutest) thing I have ever seen- his poor ears and top of his head are burnt from a fire (horrible people did this) and he has these skinny skinny legs and hooves that look like high heels.  His eyes bug out the side of his head and his lips are curled to allow for when the tusks grow in.  I Love him!!! I’m sure I will take many pictures and will share them with you all soon. 

         I don’t think the sky diving is going to happen- I am quite bummed but know it will be something I will do eventually.  Other than that I am out of news I think.  Time is going by extremely fast as I am leaving CROW next Wednesday!!!! WOO HOO…not that I’m excited or anything? J

         Enough for now, goodbye to all and Much Love!  

Ya Ya

I’m sitting here drinking a cup of hot coco and nespray. Nespray is the powdered milk that we feed to our babies when we bottle feed them, but I find it quite tasty! It just makes the coco thick and creamy…yummm. So much has happened since I’ve blogged last that I don’t really even know where to begin and therefore this blog will probably be random and such.
Our house cat has been put to sleep. Ellen and Jakki have left. We’ve gotten two new volunteers and will get another today and 2 more on Saturday. I went to the vet and saw a bush baby get put down-it had been bit by a dog and completely skinned from the neck to the hips. Helped cut a bird’s head off today. Made a mud bath for my bushpigs and had fun playing in it with them- Amy and I were much dirtier than any of the pigs! Went to the beach twice this week- it was lovely!! My tan has a pretty good head start for when Whit and I start our travels.
For those of you who don’t know- I am leaving CROW Dec 17th. I was here two months and have decided to move on for my next two. My college roommate (Whitney) is coming here for her x-mas break and we are traveling from Durban down the coast to Cape Town for two weeks with the Baz Bus and then we are staying in Cape Town for about two weeks. I am getting unbelievably excited!!! Along the way we plan to hike, scuba dive, bungee jump, sit on the ocean, ride an ostrich, work at a game reserve, and do many many other things which just happen to be along the way. After that I will be meeting my sister at some point and going to Kruger National Park and then on to Swaziland. After that I will probably be going back to work at the game reserve or possibly coming to CROW again for the remaining two weeks. It is really odd to think I can now plan out the rest of my time left in Africa. I’m not quite ready for that!
The sky dive is still on but we can’t move forward until we hear back from the newspapers and radio about letting the business that give us money have free advertisement. So I will keep you all informed on that issue- I really hope it is a go before I leave because I am really looking forward to that experience.
Tomorrow Holly, Evelyn, and myself are going to the Drakensburg mountains for two days. We are doing this tour thing that takes us up the Sani Pass in a 4x4 and then into Lesotho. We are staying at a horse farm B&B and will go riding the next day up the mountains to a waterhole and enjoy swimming. This will be the first time since I’ve been here where I haven’t gotten up by 6 to go feed something! We leave tomorrow morning at 5:15am and will return wed night around 8pm or so. I will hopefully feel ambitious enough to blog quickly so that I can let everyone know all about it. I’m charging up my camera as I type this. Then on Friday, Amy, Evelyn, and myself are going to Valley of 1000 Hills for the night and then on Saturday we’re hitting up the beach again because it’s the woman’s national surfing competition. Sat night it’s also the men’s lifeguarding competition and we’ve met a guy, Tambur, who is in it and has invited us to come watch him and then go to the party afterwards- lets just say we are very excited!!!
After this week is over I’ve only got one more full week of work and then I am done. It’s really crazy to think that I was supposed to be here for the full 4 months, but I think if I had to do that I would probably just go home. The way things are done here are just different (to say the least) and there really isn’t anything more to get out of this place once you’ve fed a few animals and been on a couple of rescues and releases. I have enjoyed getting to know a few of the staff members and I have had good experience raising and bottle feeding animals that we don’t have in America- but you can only do the same thing every day for so long. My “normal” day consists of the following:

-Wake up at 6am and make bottles
-Feed 3 Dassies and 3 pigs by 6:30
-Start cleaning the clinic birdcages and feeding them (usually takes from about 7-8)
-Do morning feed, which takes from about 8-11
-Refeed the pigs at 11
-Lunch from 11-12
-Refeed the birds in the clinic
-Do the afternoon feed from 1-2:30
-Gather pondweed and grass for the geese
-Refeed the pigs at 3pm
-Done with work at 3:30
-Do whatever until 7pm when I go and feed the Dassies and Pigs again

That is my day and it is pretty much the same thing day after day after day. I don’t mind it too much but I really couldn’t handle doing it for much longer- I am more and more looking forward to my days off.
I think that’s all I’ve got at the moment- sorry this is boring and random but hey, I’m trying eh? ☺

Going On's

So those of you who have been waiting in absolute suspension about my Luthuli trip- I give my deepest regard because I said I would write quickly about my experience as soon as I got back. Well hmm I don’t even remember when that was- I think I got back on last Wednesday perhaps. To me it is a good thing when I don’t blog. It’s like my journal that I have- I write in it often whenever I’m upset or emotional or down about things, but have a hard time writing when I’m happy and well. I have adopted such a different mindset from the first week that I got here- every single day I remind myself that I am here and to make the most of it. I know only too well that these precious months are going to fly by and I will be back in the states and doing what most ‘normal’ people do. Get a job and blah blah. SO I’m sucking up all I can here…my work, the animals, and the people.
Okay on to my Luthuli experience- I regret that I haven’t written sooner because I don’t necessarily remember specifics as well as I would have before but here goes…It was a four hour drive Northeast up through some of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen. It wasn’t green persay and it wasn’t brown. It was a wonderful mix of tans and yellows and most of the bush and trees were new to my eyes. For most of the journey we were on a four lane highway but the remaining half hour was spent on a gravel/rocky road that almost knocked my teeth loose. I don’t think my body stopped shaking for a good ten minutes after we stopped the car. At first I thought it was fun, Hah but that quickly fizzled out. We stayed in the lodge and I’ve got wonderful pictures to show- but it consisted of 6 different hut style bedrooms each equipped with a bathroom and your very own mosquito netting around the bed. Sounds primative but it was beautiful with everything either made of wood or stone- very bushlike. As soon as we got there we went to go look at the genets and feed them. The purpose of us going there was to release them out of their hacking cage and also to bring food up for the troop of baboon CROW had released there earlier in July. The genets were good and we cut up and de-yolked 20 chicks and 20 small chicken hearts and laid them out in front of the door in order to lure them outside once it got dark. I guess I don’t know what I was expecting going on my first release of an animal from a hacking cage, but there were no party streamers or balloons ☺ we just opened the door, laid out the food and left. The next morning we would go back and see if they had left or not. The rest of the day was spent going on a hunt through the bush and looking for the baboons. We eventually heard them before we found them and followed their sounds for about a mile until we came upon them. They were certainly much bigger than the baboon troop left at CROW and I was astonished by their ability to fly through the trees as such high speeds. The growling/yelling noise made by the biggest male made my skin crawl- it was something between a snarl and bark that just sounded terrifying. I wouldn’t want one of them making that noise at me! After finding the baboons we drove around a bit to see what types of animals we could find. All in all I got to see giraffe, wildebeest, impala, kudu, inyalla, bushpig, warthogs, zebra, monkeys, baboons, guinea fowl and many birds of prey. They also have elephant and rhino and I was a little disappointed not to see them but satisfied nonetheless! The night was spent having our own personal braai at the lodge with just the two of us with a bottle of wine, steak and potatoes. It was delish! Wednesday morning we got up and checked on the genets- all were gone except for one (there were four) and left. It was a quick trip but it was my first real experience at a reserve that looked exactly like what I had in mind when picturing the African bush. It was wonderful!
Lets see….last night we had an escapee! Amy and I went to feed our dassies- I have three and she only has one left. One of her little guys died last week due to kidney failure- it was a sad moment ☹, but anyways- we went in their enclosure and I looked up towards the ceiling and there in between the mesh wire and the tiled roof was one of my dassies! We had no idea how he got there or how long he had been there. The enclosure also has an outside part that’s completely fenced in with a door that opens from the inside and we realized that he must have somehow gotten out of the cage from outside and then tried to get back inside the cage by going between the roof and the mesh on the ceiling. We ended up capturing him after a good half our of trying to somehow climb on the roof and then walking cautiously on the wire to the back where he was hiding. We got him back safe and sound and I must admit that I thought it was a fun adventure!
We have also had two visitors in our bathroom in the past few days. Spiders about the size of my palm have decided to venture into our house in order to seek refuge from the rain. Apparently it’s not uncommon for them to come into houses when it gets damp outside and other volunteers have found them under the couch and such, but both of these guys were in the bathroom right on the rug when someone got out of the shower. One was brown and one was gray- both were furry and had massive fangs about half an inch long! The first one freaked us out, but once learning they are not poisonous- a few of us got brave ☺ and decided to hold the second one we found. It was a test of willpower to just sit there and let it crawl around but I loved it!!
Yesterday we got two new baby bushpigs to join our one bushpig (named B.P.). These guys are one of the cutest things ever and I am thrilled to report that I was asked to handle their bottle-feeding! WooHoo!! Since my dassies are now only being fed three times a day, I find I have more free time and therefore was more than happy to take on the responsibility of feeding these two every 3 hours. They are about a foot long and covered in spots and lines and just so darn cute- I suppose ask me in a week and I may tell you I need a break but for now I’m really excited! The noises they make never fail to make me laugh and when they get excited they run around in circles and literally jump in the air and kick up their heels like Wilbur in of Charlotte’s Web- I really need to videotape it!
In a few weeks we are having a fundraiser for CROW- and guess what that fundraiser is??? SKYDIVING!!! YAH! I am so excited and love that I’m doing it for a good cause rather than just my own pleasure. We are in the process of calling up businesses and asking if they would want to donate to CROW- because we are skydiving for charity we get to do it at a reduced rate (which is really nice) and get to take 20 people up in the plane with us. I’m not sure when exactly this will be happening, but I will make sure to keep you all posted!
I am all out of news for the moment- we get a new volunteer on Thursday and two on Friday. We are also going out again this Friday. Oh that reminds me! All of us went out to a club this past Friday- it was called Eighties and I had one of the best times of my life! A club is pretty much a club anywhere you go, but let me just say that a lot more of these South African boys can dance than American boys. It made for a wonderful night and everyone had a blast. Ciao for now- I am well and happy.

PICTURES!!

Hello Everyone- you will be happy to know that I have put up 25 pictures! They are very random and I have taken about 300 pics so far and this is only picking out 25...BUT it only cost me R45 to do them and an hour and half of downloading- it's not as expensive as I thought and therefore will try and put more up more frequently. I also plan to write about my Luthuli (correct spelling as compared to what I first called it) experience. It was great and I got to see all of the animals in the reserve except the elephants and rhinos. Please let me know what you think of the pics and Much love to everyone!

LeTulie

I am happy to report on some exciting news!! Tomorrow I am going to LeTulie!! Woooo HOOOO! LeTulie is a game reserve where CROW released a troop of baboons a few months ago. Every so often someone from CROW goes up there to check on them and bring them food. Tomorrow is my lucky day because I was asked if I wanted to go along. Some volunteers stay there for a week or even two, but I will be leaving tomorrow early morning and coming back on Wednesday. It doesn’t matter to me though because I’m going!! I have only heard amazing stories from the people who have been there. We stay at the lodge, which is located smack dab in the middle of the reserve and the last girl who stayed there woke up to a herd of wild elephants standing outside her bedroom window. Let’s just say that this is the type of thing that I was so looking forward to doing. I don’t know exactly what we are doing there other than driving the 6 hours north, picking up baboon food, finding the troop and dropping it off for them, staying the night and coming back the next day. I am bringing my camera fully charged as I hope to take lots of pictures- I will make sure and let you all know about my experience as soon as I get back!
As far as the rest of life- it’s going okay. I have been thinking a lot about what I love about this place and what I will miss when I am no longer here. #1 is the sounds. Silence just doesn’t exist here and I absolutely love it. Birds and insects of all kinds are constantly chattering away with most of the noises being ones I have never heard before. Another perk is the food. Every week we write down what we want and give the list to the head lady. She buys what we put down and la de da all the fresh food you could possibly desire. I will miss being able to go to the cupboard and pick out any fruit or vegetable I desire. Also the meat is amazing- our freezer is filled with all the pork, sausages, beef, and steak you could imagine. Before I got here I was nervous about what I would be eating but now my only worry is that I’ll eat too much!
I do know that this type of lifestyle fits me quite well. I get up without washing my face, (haven’t touched makeup since I got here) and put on comfy scrubby clothes- usually throw some sort of headband or wrap on my head and call it good. Not caring what I look like is something I hope to carry into my life when I get home. Well maybe not caring isn’t the correct word- more like not worrying. I’m comfortable and I’m dressed, that’s all that really matters. AND then it does make those times when you go out and dress up even better. We are planning to go out on Friday to celebrate Julie’s birthday. I’m quite excited to get a peek of the South African nightlife. Julie is from here and promises to show us a good time.
Sitting next to me are the two baby vervet monkeys (millie and Minnie) who have come to live with us. Two other babies have just come in, one who was being bullied by some kids and one whose mother was hit by a car, and these new ones are now being taken care of by Mable (the head monkey lady) and M&M have been given to Amy to care for. Amy is the volunteer who is staying here for a year and studying animal behavior. She is a little apprehensive about caring for these two but I told her not to worry because I would certainly volunteer to babysit whenever she needed a break ☺!
I know this is just a quick update but all is well right now and I am beyond excited about getting to go to LeTulie tomorrow!! Ciao!

UShaka

Today was a good day. It started off as rainy but had cleared up to bright sunshine by 7am. I helped prepare and take out the morning food, then changed the birdcages- giving them fresh food and water. After that Jakki, Julie, and I headed off for UShaka. Our goal was to sit on the beach all day enjoying the sunshine and warm Indian Ocean. UShaka is a center filled with restaurants, shops, an aquarium, water park, and located directly on the ocean. I had been there before to eat but was really excited to plop down on my towel and relax for the day. The first thing I noticed when we got down to the waters edge was that it was covered with jellyfish. These guys were only about an inch in diameter but believe me when I say they can still get ya. I did, however, find them quite fun to step on! They make a satisfying popping noise and don’t hurt as long as you steer clear of the tentacles. We walked quite a ways down the beach looking for other people- we figured it was safer that way. After finding our place in the sun we laid down our towels, slathered on the sunblock, closed our eyes and- just as I was about to give a big happy sigh- was pelted with sand. Did I mention it was windy as all get up? Yes….the flags were blowing straight to the side and it was impossible to lay down without getting sand in every possible crack and crevice. Our drive to be at the beach outweighed the annoyance of the sand and so we stayed put for about an hour. Once we had all flipped from our backs to our stomachs we sort of woke up from our world and had a look around. We were a little surprised to find ourselves surrounded by about 100 others and us being the only white people. I really wasn’t nervous or worried- but we did pull our bags a little closer and keep one eye open- until a police man drove up to us on the sand and asked where we were from. We asked him why and he said we obviously aren’t from here because if we were, we wouldn’t have parked ourselves down where we did. He said we should probably get a move on and watch our back because people were watching our bags. Needless to say we put our clothes on rather quickly and hightailed it back to the center. The rest of the afternoon was spent eating sushi and perusing the various shops.
Fishing. We went to Kenneth Stainbank Reserve tonight and fished. I was really excited because I think fishing is fun and was looking forward to getting inside the big gates that run the parameter of the reserve. In my mind I just assumed this fishing experience was going to be like all the other ones I’ve had back home. Haha. Well as it turns out- after we all piled out of the back of the truck, we were sent off to find bamboo. Yup… we cut our own poles, tied on string, dug for worms, and tied them on ourselves. It was something I have always wanted to do- go fishing with a pole and string in the ole fashion way, but uh it quickly lost its magic. Throwing the string with nothing to weigh it down got to be very frustrating for me, then not to mention fish stealing my worms or them just falling off because I can’t tie them on right…and then having to go find new bait. Ahh…I did not catch one fish. It was a good time tho, but I think I’ll just admire the Norman Rockwell pictures of ole fashion fishin rather than do it again. ☺. We’ll see.
A lizard was on my ceiling in my room when I got back from fishing. Tomorrow I get to help catch some baboons; we are testing three of the babies for TB. I am quite sun burnt. A cockroach 2 inches long went running across my foot in the bathroom before I showered. It’s 9:30 and I’m tired.

Leading this Life

Hello everyone! I finally got net and am taking the first opportunity to put my blogs up. I have not gone back and re-read what I wrote and I know my feelings at first were rather depressed and sad. Lets just say that things are improving in my mood- I’m used to being alone again, but I miss people like crazy. I’m getting to know my mates and realize we really aren’t so different. People have come and gone in the house and it makes me realize that I need to soak up every second of being here because once people are gone, they are gone. Never again will the house be the way it is with these certain people in it. The other Americans have left and therefore I am alone in the house with 5 UK’ers and one Swiss. Thanksgiving probably won’t happen this year. Alright, enjoy the blogs and the rollercoaster of emotions that go with them. Much love to everyone!


Dai Uno Oct, 22

So I’m sitting here in our living room surrounded by Laura, Emily, Ellen, Dan, and Tyler. All are from the UK except for me and Tyler- who is from Florida. I feel as though I am sitting in some strange strange world. I’m nervous because I am not someone who really does well in new areas and especially with people that I don’t know. The house that we are in is quite small for being currently inhabited by nine people. The living room consists of nothing but a TV, really great sound speakers that seem to always be full of someone’s IPOD, and five arm chairs- two couches. We have had many laughs since I’ve been here about different words and the different ways we pronounce those words. I have so much going through my head right now but there are so many distractions going on in the room that I can hardly concentrate. So please forgive me. The cat, Lucifer, is currently sitting on my lap and making it difficult to type. I am very happy there is a cat here- also a dog named Dingo.
Alright so I emailed a few of you and let you know that I made it and I told you all a little about my first day. I haven’t slept since I left Wales, which I believe is now going on some 38ish hours. I don’t really feel tired at the moment, and I just keep watching the time because it’s 8:40pm and I need to go re-feed the Dassies at 9. They need to be fed every three hours and I think I am going to start being in charge of them. We also have three Genets that need to be fed every 4-5 hours. This reminds me of my coon days and honestly I’m not really looking forward to having to go over to the clinic late at night and by 5am every morning I work. We’ll see how this works. The Dassies (no idea how to spell it) look like overgrown big guinea pigs. They constantly have a smile on their face and it just makes me giggle. There are three of them and while they are cute- they have these two sharp teeth right in front that they like to bear when they feel threatened.

Oct, 23 One bit me while I tried to grab and feed it yesterday and now today it’s a little sore and tender. This blog is really going to be all over the place and what I want to do is give you some idea of this place that I’m at, but my feelings are sort of overriding everything. I haven’t eaten much and I’m not hungry right now. It’s 7:30 am and I have to be up at the center at 8. I was up with Lynn at 4:45 to go take care of the Dassies and then went back to sleep. I got back up at 7:15 thinking I would eat and stuff, but all I want to do is crawl back under my covers and go to sleep. I know part of it is just feeling depressed and part of it is that I still haven’t caught up on any loss of sleep.
It’s cold here and I did not bring enough warm clothes with me. I will hopefully get to buy some sweatpants and a sweatshirt or something like that because all I have is one long sleeve shirt and that’s already dirty from the Baboons. It is really hard for me not to have internet and knowing that I can get in contact with people when I need them. No one has found a place for wireless and therefore a place to bring a laptop, but I am going to do my best to find one otherwise I have no idea how many blogs I will be able to post. It is different writing these and wondering if I will be able to put them up for others to see. I suppose I will probably write more honestly- that will also come of not really having only happy thoughts to express.
Right now I don’t know how I feel about this place. I really hope that it is just the newness of everything, because I really don’t want to give up and come home. It isn’t what I had thought it would be in my head. Guess that just goes to show how you shouldn’t necessarily have preconceived notions in your head but just accept what comes along. One of the girls in my room last night was snoring quite loud. Her bed is maybe a foot away from mine and even with earplugs it was loud enough. I thought to myself as I lay there that maybe this is why I came to Africa. To get over not being able to sleep with noise such as snoring or the ticking of clocks- I don’t know. I haven’t gotten a very good impression that I will be able to run anywhere…specially alone. The area around the center isn’t runable besides the main road that sort of leads from the houses up to the main building and clinic, and that road would take maybe two minutes to run- so that would be a lot of turning around and just general annoyance.
Basically I just miss people. I miss John and his presence and just being able to look at him and smile. I am trying to take so much strength from our love and knowing that we don’t have to be in the same place in order to express that and feel it. I miss the news and being able to keep up with it through the internet..mostly I have John to thank for that. Life is very much secluded here and I really don’t know if I will be able to last the whole time. I came here to find myself, but I feel as though I am hiding away in some place. It scares me so much. I don’t know if I can leave on my days off and go places alone- but since I got here in the middle of the week my days off fall differently than everyone’s. I can’t wait to get a phone and call people- I just don’t know when I’ll be able to get one.
If I post this- I’m sorry for all the complaints and if I don’t live up to everyone’s expectations. I think right now if offered the chance to leave I would. The only problem is not knowing where to go.

Same day- 4:14pm. One of the monkeys here has had twins. Emily and I went to see it- these monkeys are kept in an enclosure farther back away from where people don’t go. They were all quite curious about us and all the mothers brought their babies over to the front to show them off. It was lovely! Today I helped Tyler clean out the back of the ICU building. It was filthy and I had to climb up by the rafters in order to clean all the spider webs- and kept on getting surprised by the geoko’s running back and forth.


Oct, 24- Today was day three and I feel as though I’ve been here for at least a week. I have done a lot and yet I feel as though a lot of my time has been spent doing nothing. I really don’t have any clue what to do if I’m not following people around or just completing a task. That makes me feel pretty useless. I also realized just from what little I’ve done that I have a work ethic that is relatively high compared to most. I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but if someone gives me a task I work at it till I complete it. A lot of the people here are much more relaxed and just go about things at their own pace- which is something I want to adapt into my lifestyle. People here just have an air about them that is peace and calm.
Today as I was leaving the Duiker enclosure I put a wire through my thumb. Okay I’ll back up and explain for those of you who are interested. All of the enclosures here are made of old wire mesh type fences and the gates to them are closed by various slide latches that are rusted and hard to slide. Usually you shake it and jimmy your hand so it slowly slides out, and that is what I did today. However, this latch was very hard and so I was pulling and jimmying very hard and when it got loose my hand shot over and freed the latch. Well…. where my hand moved there happened to be a wire about 3 cm in diameter that lined up perfectly with the middle of my thumb nail. It jabbed in and hurt like hell but I thought nothing much until I dropped the latch and I realized my hand was stuck. The wire was through my thumbnail and I had to use my other hand to slide my thumb backwards and off the wire. So I started saying “ow, ow, ow, ow, ow” and was rushed into the clinic where they treat the animals. I thought it wasn’t too serious but the Big man, Boss, Alister was the one who found the dot of blood on the other side of my thumb- meaning it went clear through. So that was fun. Of course, as my body adjusted and the shock wore off, the pain came strong and my eye started filling with tears. Nothing is worse than crying in front of people you really don’t know. The tears just kept coming and was compounded by still not being sure if I want to be here.
I am sorry to only report bad and sad things. This will hopefully change- at least it better or I will just stop blogging and save you all from reading!

Animals I’ve worked with so far:
-Blue and Grey Duikers
-Vervet monkeys
-Baboons
-Genets
-Dassies (Rock Hyrax) - these are the ones I am in charge of bottle feeding
-Slender, Water, and Banded Mongoose
-Bush Pigs (one baby and one massive male)
-And a lot A LOT of birds: pigeons, mouse birds, Seagulls, Bulbul, Hammerkop, Ring neck, tamburine, and laughing doves, Weaver, Hadedahs, Herons, Egyptian Geese, Spurwing, and Pelican - that is all I can think of as the moment.

I am looking forward to going on releases.

Nov 4th. I can not wait to hear the results from the election!! That was first on my mind and therefore the first thing I had to say. I finally have internet hooked up to my computer and so blogging should now be able to go fairly smooth from here on out. I shall give you all a quick rundown on what I’ve been up to and hopefully will just update more thoroughly from now on. These events are in no particular order and very random.
-Two new dassie’s have arrived which means I am now in charge of Huey, Duey, Luey, Donald, and Daisy. They are starting to develop personalities and are very cheeky!
-The porcupine that came in with the top of his head skinned off had to get put to sleep.
-Baby ostrich came in with a broken leg and had to be put down. If you ever get a chance to see one please do! They are possibly the cutest things- it looked exactly like an adult but only about a foot tall.
-Help with the feeding of baby baboons- I hope to get video of them grooming me (love it!)
-Several trips to Mont Clair to get my computer working – also shopping
-Several trips to the Pavillion- shopping center that rivals Mall of America- I feel as though I get transported back to America as soon as I step through the doors.
-Many many Braai’s with lots of drinking- most of it not done by me ☺
-The escape of baby baboon, Boris. And recapture
-Getting attacked by Martha the terrorizing guinea fowl
-Cleaning and cleaning and preparing food and more preparing food

Basic rundown, nothing else of real significance really comes to mind at the moment. I did have the opportunity to go and stay at Rain Farm- a place where we released 8 dassies and two blue duikers. Jakki and I had to stay at the farm to feed them while they were kept in the holding cage for a few days. We spent the days in a luxury farmhouse that was all wooden floors and open beam ceilings. We were located right on the lake, our kitchen actually hung out over the lake and we were able to swim off the front to our own personal island. We also got taken on several game drives throughout the park to see all that’s being held there: zebra, impala, inyalla, wildebeest, monkey, emu, ostrich, duiker, and other small game. We also came into contact with a black mamba- the deadliest snake found around here. If you get bit and are not given anti-venom within 15 minutes- you’re toast. It was a great experience.

My view on being here has changed somewhat. The reason I came to C.R.O.W. was to get experience for my career in working with animals- in some way. Being here for two weeks- and talking to others who are here and have been here- the experience I am seeking I will not get. I have wrapped my mind around this and decided not to stay here at C.R.O.W. for the full four months. I have been given the opportunity to possibly work in a game reserve farther down on the Eastern Cape. I will let everyone know what is going on as soon as I know anything of significance.

I have no idea if I will be able to upload any photos. I was told that it costs R2 for every 300 bytes that I upload onto the internet. I really don’t know how much my pictures are and so I may try to put a few up, but more than likely it will be after I get home or if I find free internet farther down the cape.

While I’m thinking about it- Mom, the address here is:

C.O. Mabel Watts
FAO: Tiffany Fisk
The Center for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW)
P.O. Box 53007
Yellowwood Park 401
Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal South Africa

Trips, trips, and trips

   Hello to all again.  It has been a little while since I have again blogged, but here I will do my best to catch you up with the going on’s in my life (once again).  I will be here in Cardiff for five more days before I head to Africa.  This is met with mixed feelings, I am incredibly excited and nervous- I just keep reminding myself that I am doing this because I want to do it.  I can not wait to get hands on experience with animals that I have only before seen through thick zoo glass.  Today I bought my bus ticket back to London Heathrow, so whether I like it or not, I’m off!

         Okay-back to the blog, I plan to put pictures up of our trip to Brecken Beacon National Park, St. Faagen’s (an old welsh town), and Glastonbury.  Plus the one’s of the Roman Bath’s- I have not forgotten, do not worry!  In the National Park, we mostly drove around and looked at the scenery.  In the old welsh town we walked around and looked at the old welsh buildings.  BUT Glastonbury was much more exciting, which is why I shall elaborate on it.

         This town deserved much more time spent in it than we gave it- much to both of our disappointment.  We got into town, walked up to the top of the Tor, ate at a café, and left- all within about 5 hours.  We didn’t know much about Glastonbury except that it was a short distance away and had some interesting sights.  The first thing we noticed when we got there was a lot of people dressed in a rags/gypsy fashion with long hair, braids, and pendant necklaces and most of the stores had to do with psychic healings, crystals, or meditation.  It was thee most hippie town I had ever been to and I wanted to go inside and explore every single store!  It really was quite fantastic.  Unfortunately, we did not go in any but made our way up to the top of the Tor (http://glastonburytor.org.uk/).  This link explains the Tor.  Supposedly people make their way up to the top of the hill and when they come down they have a renewed sense of peace and well-being.  It is said to be a spiritual place of healing.  I was up for some healing, but I admit when I came back down all I felt was hungry!  We ended up eating at a small café that was full of mystic paintings and the such.  They had wonderful food- John and I were just afraid that we were going to get put under some sort of spell… J.  It was a great experience and I would have loved to have more time to explore the town and all it offers.              Okay on to our Scotland trip.  This was very much an enjoyable experience.  The countryside is absolutely gorgeous and pleasing to the eyes.  Rolling, green hills with sheep, cows, and horses as far as the eye can see.  We were fortunate to get to experience all different types of Scottish weather- sunny, fog, rain, windy, cloudy, chilly, and warm.  We started our journey Saturday morning and made it as far as the town of Moffat where we slept in the car.  Yes we planned to do this and both of us were actually quite excited about it.  We stuffed three quilts and seven pillows into the trunk of our car!  Needless to say the idea was much more enjoyable than the actual experience.  We put down the back seats so we were laying half in the trunk and half on the back seat, but neither of us could straighten our legs all the way unless we smushed together at an angle with our feet at the right of the trunk and our heads on top of the laid down front seat on the left.  I think we may have gotten 5 hours of sleep between us both.  Oh well- it was an experience we wanted and we got it!

       Sunday we headed for Edinburgh and to find our hostel which was located on what is called the Royal Mile, right in the heart of the city.  Here I am going to type out John’s account.  Monday morning he wrote down what we did on Sunday and I am going to type it out word for word.  This way you can experience it through his eyes- it may be refreshing for those who tire of my ways!! Anything written in italics will be my thoughts- perhaps to help clarify or further enlighten you on the topic.       

• Arrive in Edinburgh @ 12:45 (1st car park)
• checked in to Brodie’s @ 1pm       our hostel
• ate breakfast outside            * (favorite kind of breakfast) w/ latte, but forgot about Americano, didn’t understand John’s ‘cistern’ reference
• settled into dorm-moved car to more secure car park (17 pounds)           

          *John’s anxiety rises with manual transmission and hilly terrain            

           many kills of the car which never ceased to bring forth swearing

• walk down to one end of “Royal Mile”            

           *Parliament building (no paddling)  

             there were small ponds in front where apparently you could not go paddling- they                      were perhaps 6 inches deep           

          *Contemplate walking the precipice but No- tomorrow  (also starbucks)

• start our ascent of “Royal Mile”
• stop at Indian shop….gaze at seashell bras and some jewelry
• continue to enjoy street vendors, doorways, bagpipers, Scottish Terriers, hippie cows
• arrive at Edinburgh Castle (no tour today, but maybe tomorrow) enjoy view
• walk down steps, Tiff bathroom, John spills coffee while setting up picture
• John loves the ‘manfrotto’ unipod from Wynette, Tiff loves the name ‘manfrotto’
• blue doors, red doors (proof by pics)
• nice couple takes our pic, we oblige their request also
• go into sword shop, clerk gives us advice
• enjoy street painter-decide to research the Caves/Dungeons, John overrules on money and weather…Tiff complains but still anticipates the dungeons        we never saw them
• walk along side of waverly train station and modern Edinburgh, go back to old town
• enjoy photo making at steps         took three pics and combined them into one
• peruse a few ‘girlie’ stores
• go up fun alley way (dark, thin, pretty)
• to “The Mitre” bar..John: 2 guiness, Tiff: rose wine, and shared bread.  John’s philosophy on ‘life is highschool’
• back to Brodies….sign up for two pound dinner (the cost, not the quantity)
• John buys hackysack, clerk pokes fun at John and compliments his lady
• go to tattoo parlor..Cornhusker painting from Nebraska…Clerk lived in US for 13 years and husband from Lincoln, NB.     It was odd- small world
• finally to last shop….buy cheap books: “The Life and Death of Planet Earth”  “Eastern Philosophy” and “Why God is Not Great”…plus a ring
• to Brodies…wait for dinner           

         *quiz each other            

         *’share’ john magazine        

                I shoved myself close and was annoying as I tried to read with him             

         *dinner late           

         *save wieners for last           pork sausage type things, very good!

• to dorm for bed: read, shower, read, kiss, goodnight in separate but nearby top bunks
• John snores, but sleeps well.  As annoyingly chipper this morning. 

Side notes that are scribbled at the end:

• “Favorites in life”   Tiff = 5   John = 0    apparently I say ‘this is my favorite’ A LOT
• most look like dog/owner                    the dogs and their owners looked alike here
• dogs look smaller
• Mitre waiter gets Tiff’s attention multiple times      he was rather cute, what can I say!
• Good intention with leather-bound books 
  

       That was John’s version of our Sunday- I hoped you enjoyed it! Now for Monday we went and actually toured the grand Edinburgh Castle.  It was beautiful and we have many the pictures to join.  We then spent the afternoon traveling up north and stopped off at a small town right on the coast.  A few hours were spent walking along the water picking up random rocks/shells and talking.   We then headed back to the hostel and relaxed til bedtime.  John didn’t snore this night- made me happy because I got sleep!        

       We headed back the next day- stopped at roadside stands for food.  John got a double cheeseburger (which was wonderfully yummy) and I got soup (thinking I would be healthy)- my soup ended up being powdered with hot water added to it.  Grrr.  After 7 or so hours in the car we made it back to our apartment.  It was a great trip with lots of historic architecture, luscious scenery, and manual driving- which provided amusement for me and anxiety for John.          

       I think that is all I shall write for now.  I’m not sure if I will get another blog in before I leave- I don’t imagine I will be doing anything of great significance.  Most likely we will be lying low and trying to enjoy our last days together before a four-month hiatus.  As I have no idea when I will get access to internet in Africa- I ask you all to be patient! I plan to blog often and post whenever I am able.   I thank everyone again who reads my thoughts and hope that you look forward to hearing about Africa because here it comes!!!        

Familar Faces

Here is the picture you wanted mom! We got to meet up with the Okoboji folks this morning around 10am. We took a quick picture before they toured the Castle and soon Kevin and I will be leaving for the opera. Tonight will be my fourth time watching it, and I'm excited to get to share it with so many other people. Sorry this is going to be short, but I wanted to get this picture up because John and I are planning to rent a car and head for Scotland tomorrow for a short vacation and I didn't want to forget, so Enjoy!!!!!!

I'm still here!

       Hello to all! I am sorry that it has been way too long since I have last blogged.  If anyone is actually following them- I must say it has probably been pretty boring. I did, however put up new pictures of when my friend Sarah came and visited.  This is the same Sarah I met in Chicago waiting for our plane.  And I believe I said in my blog that she was going to Bristol, but that is wrong- she is studying in Brighton.  I knew that- therefore I’m not sure why I said Bristol- alas Sorry Sarah!! J 

        I have not blogged nor emailed much because I really have not had any time to myself.  Here, I will try and relay the last week for you all.  Last Friday was the opening show of Barber of Seville.  It went great as far as I am concerned.  The audience, according to the cast members, was a little dry.  The space of the performance is quite large and by the time our laughs reached the stage the actor has moved on to the next line.  I did enjoy it, however, and John got both good and bad reviews from it.  Everyone from Milford who is coming to the show will enjoy it very much I believe! It is very comical and will have you laughing throughout the entire show.

       Saturday and Sunday were spent with Sarah.  It was SUCH a joy to have her here.  We went around the main shopping centre on Saturday.  They were having a massive cheese festival with over 400 different kinds of cheeses to sample, but we decided it would be best for our bodies if we didn’t partake.  It would have been tasty though!  We walked through the grounds of Cardiff Castle and enjoyed the beautiful day.  Since she was up and on the train by 6 am that morning, we didn’t make it a late night. 

       Sunday was spent taking the bus to Caerphilly Castle- again we had pretty good weather.  I hope you enjoy all the fun pictures we took! We ended the day there by finding a pub called The Picadilly and enjoying a bottle of wine and possibly thee best fish & chips I have ever had.  They were doing karaoke; we wanted to be brave enough to do a song- hence buying the bottle of wine- but as soon as we got done with our food and headed over to that part of the resturant they were done.  We figured they saw us coming and thought they should pack up to save us the embarrassment.  So anyways, we left the pub full of good food and wine and went to wait at the bus stop in order to go back to Cardiff.  We passed the time sitting on that bench and singing anyways.  We went through our repertoire of Disney songs (Jenna I thought of you!) and entertained two teenage girls who probably thought we were crazy.  Well, we sat there for about 15 minutes, saw our bus come, got really excited because it was starting to get cold and windy, and then saw our bus go flying past.  We ended up breaking down and asking those girls if this is where we were supposed to be and they informed us we were, in fact, wrong.  One was nice enough to take us up the hill to the bus station where we ended up having to wait an hour and 15 minutes for our bus to come back.  We were a tad bit frustrated but passed the time talking and watching some other teenage girls who also missed their bus.  They said they really liked our accents- we were both surprised and flattered.  We ended up getting back to the apt about 10 hours after we left.  It was a good day!

        Sarah left early Monday morning by 8:30 and John and I just bummed around.  We bought train tickets to travel to Bath on Tuesday.  We were planning on staying overnight in a hostel or B&B, but of course our planning isn’t always the best so we decided to just go there and get some place to stay at night.  It was about an hour train ride away and when we stepped out of the station we were met with wind and rain.  Of course neither of us had an umbrella and so we spent a good 20 minutes walking around this beautiful town looking for a place that would sell us an umbrella for under 20 quid.  The purpose of us traveling to Bath, for those of you who are wondering, is because this town holds one of the biggest Roman Bath Temple that has been uncovered.  We had also heard that for about 20 quid we were able to go to the spa here and sit in the real mineral hot water baths.

       I was bummed to be in town on this rainy day because the weather did not make us want to go wandering around outside and look at the scenery.  I’m not even sure we took any pictures outside of the Roman Baths, but this town reminded me of what Italy looks like.  Granted I have never been to Italy, but everything was made of stone and had curved arches, large pillars, and that general Roman feel.  The streets were all made of uneven bricks and twisted this way and that throughout the city.  We finally figured we were walking in a big circle after having passed by Abbey Church three times from different directions. 

        We decided to check out the spa first (The Thermae Spa website- www.thermaebathspa.com).  Once we finally found it, we decided our best option was to do the Twilight Package.  This included three hours of spa time, a meal at the café, and one glass of wine (how generous) for 35 pounds per person.  This didn’t start until 4pm and was called the Twilight because you were supposed to get to enjoy the spectacular sunset from their open rooftop pool.  We decided to do this even though we wouldn’t be enjoying the view because the entire sky was overcast and consisted of nothing but gray clouds. 

        It was about 1:15 at this point and we had until 4pm to get back to the spa.  I was giddy with excitement because even though I did pretty well with layering on clothes for the day, I was pretty chilled and nothing sounded better than three hours spent relaxing in natural hot mineral waters.  We headed down to the Roman Baths (website- www.romanbaths.co.uk) and paid the 10.50 to get in.  This place was absolutely HUGE and after walking around it for two hours, I still don’t think I got the full idea of its grandeur.  We had individual, handheld, audio tour guides, which looked like 1990 cell phones and there were numbers posted throughout the temple, which you pushed when you wanted to hear about what you were looking at.  This was nice because you could go through it at your own pace.  John took many pictures at the Roman Baths and therefore I will let those do most of the talking.  This was a wonderful experience; I posted the website because it will go into much better detail than I can.  Check it out!  

Alright, I know this is a long read- it's almost over! The last thing I have to write about is our spa experience.  We got there, and bought our package which only cost 70 pounds total, but when I checked my visa yesterday, it was $126.56.  So lets just say that the american dollar is pretty useless here.  Anyways, we grabbed our free robes and towels, and changed as fast as we possibly could (since we only had a certain amount of time in the spa).  We had to wear these plastic bracelets that basically tracked us wherever we went and timed us so that if we stayed in the pools longer than our 2 hours, we would get charged.  So we changed and headed up a level to the regular mineral water pool.  We were expecting something very hot and pale green (like the mineral water in the roman baths) but all we got was a luke warm, chlorine smelling type pool.  It was a very soothing atmosphere, I will give it that, but it wasn't quite what we were thinking. 

Alas, we spent about 15 minutes in that pool and then headed for warmer waters.  We went up to the third floor where the steam baths were- found them quite inviting, but decided to save them for last.  We ended up on the fourth floor, rooftop pool.  Now I imagine the view was absolutely spectacular, but it was so cold and windy and still raining, that we scrambled out of our robes, threw them and our towels onto the shelf, and practically ran into the steaming water.  It felt wonderful!!  We stayed in this pool enjoying the odd smell and soothingness for about 45 minutes.  It was still spitting rain at this time and it was a great sensation to have your face hit with stinging cold but then get to dive under into perfectly hot bliss whenever you wanted to.  I can't really explain the water- it almost felt like silk.  We realized later that we never even looked over the edge to see what the view was.  It was simply too cold!

We left the rooftop pool and headed for the steam room.  Here was my favorite part of the spa experience, in fact the entire day.  The room was dimly lit- all metal and stone and looked sort of like a posh New York apartment.  There were four circular glass rooms in each corner.  Each room was a different scent and a different temperate and completely filled with steam.  In the center was an open shower surrounded by different colored lights.  The water fell directly from the ceiling in a circular pattern onto the ground.  It fell with different pressures and was quite hot.  It felt so good to stand underneath it and let it fall upon your face.  The steam rooms were amazing.  It was such a contrast in temperature that when I stepped in a room I got shivers every time.  The scent ranged from Lavender to Peppermint and just invaded your senses.  Inside the rooms was a stone bench that ran along the edge.  This is where we lounged out, let our pores open and cleanse out.  It felt wonderful! I hope everyone gets to experience something this luxurious at some point in their life.  

After being in the steam rooms for 40 minutes we decide to change and go get our free meal in the cafe.  We showered and changed, but when we got into the cafe, we found ourselves surrounded by everyone still wet and in  their robes.  I wish we had known to come here in our robes, I would have found it fun to eat in this fancy place with wet hair and nothing on but an oversized fluffy robe.  Oh well...next time we find ourselves in a spa- we'll know. (Hah, that is probably not likely to happen, but I can wish!)

I could probably write more,  but I think I will leave you at that.  Congratulations if you made it through reading all of that without taking a break!  Hopefully pictures will accompany soon- that will give you a better prospective.  Cioa for now, Cheers!  

          

English Lunch

John told me on Saturday that we were invited to go eat lunch at Erik’s house.  He plays Dr. Bartolo in the opera.  I was excited for this because John said it was going to be a traditional English lunch complete with a walk afterwards.  So, we went to the bus stop to get picked up by 12:45pm.  As it turned out, two others were there as well, Tim and Giles.  Tim is in the opera- can’t remember the name of who he is, but he has a white face and a scraggly ponytail down to his butt- and Giles is the director.  I must admit I was a little nervous at first; meeting new people is not exactly one of my specialties, but as soon as I met these people, it really didn’t matter.  Everyone was so nice.  Erik picked us up in his car; I was delighted to finally get a chance to speed along in one of those tiny cars that drive on the opposite side of the road.  Since I was the smallest, I got to sit in the middle of the back with John and Tim on either side of me.  The car ride was about 15-20 minutes.  It went by fast because there were so many twists, turns, tiny roads where only one car fits, and roundabouts that I was mesmerized the entire time.

        On the way to his house we stopped at Castle Coch.  John took a bunch of pictures, which I hope to borrow and post with mine.  The castle was complete with different bedrooms beautifully painted and furnished, a kitchen, a keep, and one of those heavy wooden/metal criss-crossed things that you lower down in front of the door to keep intruders out. We paid to go inside and walk around.  I really don’t have words for it and so I’ll let the pictures do the describing. 

       After the castle we continued on to Erik’s house.  We suddenly stopped at the top of this hill on a curve in the road.  He pulled off next to this brick building and everyone got out and then we proceeded to go inside the building.  It was his home! It used to be an old welsh pub and as soon as I got inside I fell in love with it.  It was big, yet small, spacious and yet very cramped.  It had small curved doorways and little wooden doors.  Stone and wood floors and big glass windows that opened out onto a spectacular view from the back porch/patio.  The backyard dropped down away from the house in levels and it held many flowers and a little stone pathway that weaved back and forth till you came to more even land that housed a pond with bright orange fish swimming around.  This house also came with two little dogs, Molly and Mimi, and a black cat that kept to itself.  Dinner wasn’t ready yet, so we got busy with the wine, cheese, crackers, and grapes.  Even though this isn’t an unusual appetizer in the states, for some reason today it tasted even better.

        Now comes the best part, the meal!  For our main dish, we had roast beef (from the local butcher), carrots, broccoli, fried crispy potatoes, and regular baked potatoes, which are so common here (they are about the size and look of an egg), gravy, and my favorite- these unbelievably crisp, light and fluffy bread/pastry type things called Yorkshire pudding.  I thought they were filled with pudding, based on the name, but when you bite into them all they are filled with is air.  They were the best things and I think I had four of them. MMMM!!!  This meal lasted maybe an hour or so of slowly eating and talking.  Most of the talk I just sat there and listened, as I had nothing to contribute to the conversation. It mostly hinged on singing and music and the like.  I found it interesting- which was a little surprising. 

         Next came dessert.  This I have to say is one of thee best desserts I have had in a long time.  Of course I always say that, but this was REALLY good.  It was homemade apple crumble.  Which is just like our apple crisp.  On top of this bowl of gooey steaming crumble, you pour some fresh cream, and then we had ice cream from the local dairy to top it off.  This ice cream didn’t really have a flavor that I could tell, it was just white and creamy and what every ice cream should taste like. I enjoyed a second helping that was almost as big as my first. 

        And then last, of course, came the homebrewed tea and coffee.  The coffee came in the biggest French press that I have ever seen.  I had a cup of that with the fresh cream and a small spoonful of sugar.  The sugar alone is delightful.  It’s the brown, raw, really big granular kind- my favorite!   This could have quite possibly have been the best cup of coffee I have had yet while being here.  Of course, it could just have been that everything tasted so good because of where I was having it and who I was having it with, but who knows. 

        Okay so after our meal, and dessert, and coffee, and all that wine we kept on drinking through the entire three hours of our meal- it is tradition to go on a walk. So we set off- Giles, Tim, Erik, Erik’s wife (who was lovely in all ways), John and myself, and of course Molly and Mimi.  We start walking into the forests and immediately find ourselves at the ruin of a castle. I wish this happened in the US!!  Anyways, we walk for about an hour all along the forest, over open grassland, along ridges, and end up being a mile above sea level with the most wonderful view.  I hope to post some pics John took because -again- words can’t describe.  One of the delights of the walk was finding sticks for Molly and Mimi to catch.  They are hunting dogs and it was so much fun to watch them bound and leap through the grass in search of a stick.  Oh and I can’t forget! We ran into both cows and sheep.  They were just wandering about everywhere along the trail and open grass, minding their own business.  I was bummed because they didn’t really let us get too close.  Maybe next time!  It was a great way to work off that overly stuffed feeling in my stomach from the delicious meal. 

        We got dropped back off at the bus station in front of the Millennium Center and walked home.  It was a great way to spend a Sunday- in the company of some of the nicest people, eating some of the tastiest food, and then walking and enjoying the loveliest of views.  Let’s hope this keeps up!