Blogs from Tzaneen, Limpopo, South Africa, Africa

Day 8 We spent the morning driving round the stunning mountains where we are staying before heading to the fanzone to watch the England match …….. a big mistake on 2 counts , 1) there were more staff than ‘fans’ and b) we found out 20 mins before the game the started that they were showing the USA v Alg match, not ours!!!!! (even though the only fans there were English). We ended up following a police man who took us to a hotel/ bar that was showing the game and just made it before kick-off. And phew were got through the group ……… to play the Germans. I may put one of those free bets on us losing on penalties, then at least if it happens I will win some money. ... read more

Back at the Monkey Foundation, we were met by a whole load of new arrivals. As a way of 'everyone getting to know everyone', someone suggested a game of Capture the Flat, which involves two teams, two flags and a lot of running about in the dark. NOT a good idea. Within minutes, me and another girl had tripped (in perfect unison) over a hidden bump on the path and ended up with skint knees and legs like little children. We hobbled up to the cottage before the blood got too bad... We were limping for a good few days afterwards, and my knees were ooooozing for about 3 weeks! Lovely! Remind me never to play that game again... Everything was going smoothly, until the weekend, when someone started feeling ill. Off they went to hospital, ... read more

Well! So I've been here for 3 weeks now... Feels like forever actually! In a good way and kinda in a not so good way.... I've been really homesick for the past 2 weeks. First week I had the usual homesick jitters but as I had to focus on learning the ropes it passed but it came back and has been pretty bad. Kinda made a week or so not so good to the point where I wanted to go home last week but I'm trying to push through. Still not sure I can last the remaining 7 weeks here but I'm going to take it as it comes. Big disappointment is that the trip to Kruger National Park that I wanted to do is actually fairly expensive, works out about 250 pound. Not affordable for ... read more

It was an 8 hour bus ride (after almost missing our bus because we didn't realise it was the one we wanted!) to get to a town called Tzaneen. The bus ride itself wasn't very fun - one of those coaches with 2 seats on one side and 3 on the other, so all the seats are tiny. We did get to watch a Mr Bean film though :-S When we finally arrived, an hour late (which is apparently pretty good for that bus - some people arrive hours and hours behind schedule!), I was watching out of the window to see who might be picking us up. The only person I saw who I thought might be our lift was someone in a pickup, and I dismissed this immediately, since there was only 1 spare ... read more

Well after 31 hours plane/airport time I arrived in Pretoria at my backpackers hostel. Not Jo'burg like I thought but close enough. The guys in the hostel said that the crime has moved to Pretoria from Jo'burg so not really safe to wander on my own! As it was my room was in a seperate annex from the main house so I had to walk a block to get to it. They got one of the guys there to walk me back on the nightime. Much safer! I ate with them all too, lots of locals and we're sat watching the matrix and eating spag bol and some spicvy bean salad. Rather yummy and very surreal! So the next day I got taken to the bus station where I experienced my first South African thunder storm. ... read more

There's just no hanging about in South Africa, alarms set of 6am, apparently when the sun has risen it's time to live the day. Prepared all the the food in the morning and then I got to watch Steve clean out the baboon enclosure. There's 4 young rascals in there about 1-2 years old. Steve was virtually unrecognisable when he emerged, what a mission, they purposely jumped in water and muck and then on Steve, if a baboon could laugh they'd be cracking right up. Also watched in clinic where the poorly babies had their lumps de-pussed - nice! Spent the rest of the afternoon hacking up a gurt big pile of cabbages. A 1 and half meter snake skin was found in the laundery room but no snake - slightly worrying! Went in with the ... read more

Well I never! Woke up this morning, looked out the bedroom window (aka Boeing 747) and what should I see...........only blooming South Africa!!! Had a good flight, took off at 18:50 instead of 17:50 as some plonker checked in but didn't board the plane so they had to scramble through all the luggage to get this person's back off off the plane. Do they literally have to search through all the name tags on all the bags and hope the one they're lookig for is somewhere near the front? Bummer if it was the last one they got to! Watched a couple movies on the plane - Beowolf and Juno. Just started watching Enchanted and we had to land, how rude! Managed to get a few hours kip. Was mighty confused when they switched the lights ... read more

Phalaborwa airport was tiny but so nice with statues of African wildlife dotted around the place. Apparently I have to experience the toilets when I fly back, intriguing. A guy called Matthew was there to meet me to take me to the monkey rehab, he had a board with my name on it held up, made me feel all important (I expect the same treatment when I come home please as obviously I'll be unrecognisable with this awesome tan I'm building up). Had about an hours drive back to the centre and, like you do, saw a troop of baboons chilling out on the side of the road and black and white antelope out in the bush (so glad that when asked "can you see that?" I answered with "ummmm" rather than "oh my god, is ... read more