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Published: October 16th 2009
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Firstly- to everyone who has commented, thank you very much. My clients and friends and family, thanks for the kind words. i hope the blog is enjoyable. I will keep it up as often as possible. take care...
my second day in port st Johns was great,, intense...got very dirty and beat up by thorns and rocks..I went walking through the small coastal town for a bit in the morning-- the people are friendly and there is a general laid back vibe..it is so peaceful here.. no loud noises, no taxis speeding around every corner. I went into this museum that combines local art with old photos of the Port pre-World War I. It was really cool to see these old ships photographed in 1890. there was a section of art by local kids in the school-- that was great, some of them were actually incredible-- tons of talent -- one of the projects had the subject matter of 2010 versus 2020-- the children are obviously aware of negative things in the world. the 2010 drawings included sunshine and green trees-- the 2020 drawings had brown water, dead trees and no sunshine.. I stopped in at the Boxer grocery
store, had some food there in their take away cafe.. pap, samp and beans and some chips..when I got back to the backpackers, i decided to go on this hike, along with Nathan, Ken and Tracy (both from Durban).. we were all very unaware of the truth about this hike-- none of us were prepared. so we walked for about an hour and half up this twisting road going towards the forest-- the guide, JJ, was born here. he is 30 but looks 21. he is Xhosa. when we got to the forest, I was overwhelmed with beauty-- the lush green trees, twisting vines and calls of monkeys in the distance..it was a true jungle which moved up into the mountains, with small waterfalls popping out every once and awhile. the hike was intense, at some points we were holding onto vines, stepping ever so carefully on the ledges of mud and rock that were no bigger than my feet, looking down at a 30 foot drop into rocks.. thankfully none of us fell. I did slip and bust on some wet rocks by a stream.. I decided that my wonderful Toms by great mom and dad got me did
not have enough grip, so i went barefoot the rest of the way, holding my Toms carefully. it was easier after that, despite stepping on dry, sharp thorns every once in awhile.. Nathan fell a few times, and it really was not good for him, as he has arthritis in his knees.. I felt pretty bad for the guy.. the guide, JJ, who has zero percent body fat, could not understand why it was hard for us.. haha.. but after some great photos, and about four hours of trudging through the jungle greenery, we made it back to a road, where John from the backpackers picked us up.. he took twists and turns on a dirt road going 65 MPH..this is common with white South Africans.. always fun though. I relaxed up on this little upstairs veranda they have, with Ken and Tracy-- we listened to Afrikaans music and discussed politics and the hike.. I got to talk to Elisha, which despite current events, was wonderful..as I miss her so much.. HURRY up and get over here!! I have decided my mom and dad and sister must join me in SA as well, retire to Port St Johns eh? So
the woman at Amangwe that had taken over my computer classes is going to stay on for another year, which means I have more free time to work on other projects-- such as building a shower at Sams house and building a very secure fence around both houses there-- and once things are finished and secure , we can start working on the computer program there in the township.. we have my laptop, one computer that needs a little work..and a printer that apparently works..the shower will be the first project-- I expect it to be intense..but exciting.. we are discussing different building materials we may use-- and whether we will use a gas heater, or the sauna(sp?) technique of heating, or possibly a coil of piping on the roof that heats up in the sun..I want to build a sturdy, secure fence around the entire property, complete with barbed wire and the like.. I want to make sure our computers will be safe. and we do also have six dogs there.thankfully you can often find building materials laying around the township or in town..as well as we have access to small trees we can cut down and use-- Sam
has recently built two small houses on his fathers land in Richmond-- classic mud,stone and wood houses-- so we have more accomodation when we want to take it easy in the rural hills -- possibly go on a horse ride..I am going to head into town and go to post office, see if they have postcards..
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Leigha Wendell
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unbelievable
It is so beautiful Josh, thank you so much for doing this travel blog. I am getting to see a place that I most likely will never get to see. I have a just one favor to ask....can you bring back a monkey for me?? LOL ;) Journey well :) Leigha