Blogs from Cintza, Eastern Cape, South Africa, Africa

My freshman year of college I dated a girl (incredible for some to believe, but true) who had a roommate from California. This roommate only stayed at Greenville for 1.5 years, but during that time she was a part of many memorable experiences of my freshman year. A roadtrip to Mississippi and a spring break trip to San Diego (which was her home) were the highlights. I bring this up not to bore you with nostalgia, but, because since arriving in Chintza, I thought a lot about that trip to San Diego. Mainly because the weather is similar (perfect), and I have considered trying to attempt surfing again. In perhaps the most bizarre and providential moments of my life, I met this roommate on Friday night. In the dark of night I was approaching the campsite ... read more

Hmm, ich bin ja mal wieder etwas im Verzug. Die letzte Woche lief so nach der alltäglichen Routine ab. Dienstag, Mittwoch und Freitag hatte ich Uni. An meinen freien Tagen war ich joggen, Donnerstag hab ich dabei ganz viele Delphine im Wasser gesehen :) Außerdem war ich an dem Tag noch in der Bücherei in der Stadt, die ist richtig schön :) Ein ganz altes Gebäude, bis unter die Decke voller Bücher. Ich war auch lange nicht mehr in einer öffentlichen Bücherei, irgendwie hat mich die Idee richtig begeistert, dass ich all die Bücher kostenlos mitnehmen und lesen darf :D Nachmittags hatte ich dann meine erste Learn4Life-Stunde bei Masifunde. Es hat mir sehr gut gefallen, auch wenn es wirklich anstrengend war. Afrikanische Kinder, auch wenn es nur 25 sind, sind nämlich sehr laut. Immer waren alle ... read more

Since we took a day off yesterday, we needed to make some ground as we head west towards Port Elizabeth. We have two days to get there for the Brazil - Holland game. I’m finding the South African roads excellent, really nice to drive on and there is plenty of good etiquette on the road. The drive from Umzumbe to Cintsa took about 5 hours, but we stopped in Umtata to visit the Nelson Mandela Museum. After filling up with gas in Kokstad, we drove towards Umtata and got to see little villages all over the place. The houses are randomly spread out on hilltops and are multi-colored. Janel kept trying to take some pictures while I drove but we were not able to get a good shot of how neat the villages look. As you ... read more

I’m not a football fan. In fact, I tend to associate the sport with over paid, under worked guys & needless, violent, hooliganism. But…to be in South Africa right now is very exciting; the build up to our hosting of the World Cup, the anticipatory atmosphere around us, even in a small town on the Eastern Cape, is totally engrossing! This week a British marketing company sent their football team to stay in Chintsa with the intention of playing against local South African teams. A sense of intrigue surrounded them. Who were these guys? Was the trip about football or marketing? Not one of us could have predicted the impact that this one British team could have on our community; a small time team, decent players but nothing over whelming, enjoyed a beer & a braai ... read more

Imagine getting up for work in the morning and knowing that today you will do a little creative art, some sport and perhaps some music or dance. Not only will you do this but you will do it with a group of fellow volunteers who are enthusiastic and energetic and pretty frickin' funny! As well as your team of vollies you will meet between 15 and 25 amazing, inspirational children at the school gate who will revel in your enthusiasm, engage in the opportunity to be endlessly creative and love you forever for providing soccer balls, nets and a tournament plan!!! I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to volunteer and help run a holiday club over Easter in South Africa. Having taught in South African Schools for a few months I totally looked ... read more

Hi Everybody; We've made alot of stops since our last entry. We don't have any pics posted this time because backpackers won't let you download into their computers. We'll have to do it at an internet cafe next time we're in a bigger place. After leaving Swellendam we went to Oudtshoorn. Beautiful drive. At times I'd swear we were driving through New Mexico. This spot is labeled "The Karoo". There are big ranches here, but not for cattle, they're for Ostrich. Ostrich are here naturally but started being farmed back in the 1800's when European and American high society women felt they had to have Ostrich feathers to be fashionable. It's quite a big business here. We took a tour of an Ostrich farm, got to feed them, see how their eggs are incubated, how their ... read more

After an early start we arrive at Buccaneersbackpackers in Cintsa. This backpackers takes up one side of Cintsa bay, overlooking a quiet lagoon and a lovely long quiet beach. The backpackers is made up of dorms and doubles as usual, and it has safari tents with double beds and family lodges that hold 10 and more. The trees and bush have grown up around the compound so from the beach you can only see a few roof tops but from all the windows there are perfect views sun filled beach and lagoon. A great little spot and I recomend anyone to check it out!! Its too bad our first day is raining!! absolutly pissing down hard!! wont be getting home sick anyway... It was a great day Tuesday, so Maeve and me go surfing, we start ... read more

Hiking to the Hole in the Wall . . . The main sight I wanted to see here in Coffee Bay is a spot called “Hole in the Wall”: a hole in a cliff naturally formed from the ocean’s crashing waves. Apparently my hostel doesn’t offer daily trips there, but I hooked up with the hostel across the road to go on their trip. Initially, it was frustrating - I kept being given different departure times and every time they’d roll around there’d be more people who just decided they wanted to go on the trip but have ordered breakfast first . . . Finally we set off. And then it was brilliant. The weather was warm, but the sun was hidden by clouds and there was a constant cooling wind off the water. But this ... read more