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Published: January 17th 2010
I know its been awhile since I updated all of you! Tons has been happening and now that I am traveling about South Africa reliable internet is becoming harder and harder to come by.
Twoards the end of December I made the decision that I would travel for the next three months or so rather then continue to stay in Tzaneen. Due to the Dollor to Rand ratio changing from 10 dollars to the rand to just 7 my stay at the VMF was going to cost me more then anticipated. I decided that it was in my best interest and the best interest of my trip to see the rest of South Africa while I am here.
First! Happy late Christmas! Celebrating Christmas at the VMF was kind of funny. I had a blast but it was a very very hot day! Weirdness number one! We dressed up in costumes. Weirder number two! Apparently common around the world. Dave and Josie took really good care of us over christmas eve and day. We always had fun snacks waiting for us at the cottage and they really busted their butts to cook us a wonderful vegitarian dinner. I experienced my
Christmas Time
Fancy Dress Party!first christmas cracker. They are these little firecracker shaped tubes and you pull them off and they make a bang and there are jokes, funny hats and little prizes! It was pretty cool! I felt like a little kid again. If I had to spend christmas away it was a real treat to spend it at the VMF!
Sooo I am off. I am on a backpackers bus going down the East Coast. The BAZ bus is really handy and reliable. You can check out the map and the website at www.bazbus.com. The baz bus picks me up directly at any hostel I am staying and drops me off at any hostel I want to go to. You can get on and get off at anytime you want. Its also a really good way to meet people. I made no prior arrangements so when I come to a hostel I feel there until I want to leave and then I go. I love meeting all the people from all over the world. My ticket takes me from Johannesburg(DO NOT EVER GO TO JO BERG BUS STATION!!! I give you all fair warning. Thats a story for another time but
I had to ride into Johannesburg via public transportation and the bus station is not at all safe!), to Cape town and back. Its a pretty long treck. I look forward to getting down to see the cape and going on the wine tours.
Before I got started I decided to stay with a couple of girls that had been previously volunteering at the VMF at a place called the Lion Park in Johannesburg. I stayed just two nights in the tents with the other volunteers. It was so worth it. I got an oppertunity to play with lion cubs, almost getting ran over by a giraffe(named Purdy), and get up close and personal with an adult cheetah. I had a fun time seeing the Dutch girls again and it was the perfect way to start my travels.
So far I have hit Johannesburg, Nelspruit, Swaziland(a small country inside of South Africa), and a little town called Saint Lucia.
I have had neat experience in each city and I miss them when I move on. Johannesburg will always be the first hostel I have ever stayed at and I spent the new year there. The new year
was pretty cool. We all had a huge Braii(bbq) and drank and and midnight all of us jumped into the pool fully clothed, watched the fireworks and shared a bottle of champange around. It was a blast and I don't know that anything could quite top it. After the pool I decided to head out to this house party in Johannesburg. Funny enough this party was held at a vet clinic. Half of it was this fabulous house and the other half was this animal hospital. I wont go into details but I can say that my new years ended at 6AM on the 1st. When I came home crashed and didn't participate in anything for the whole day!!! It was really a blast though.
Nelspruit I only stayed two days but met some neat local girls my first night. I woke up and went to church with them and just hit the town. We went out to eat and played some giant chess. (Really fun) Saw some old cars at this little garage in this shopping center. It was really great to hang out with them because it was getting a little insight into what locas, my age, did
in Nelspruit. I got to see where people lived and we watched a movie to close out the night. It was really nice. Swaziland was stunning. It is one of the most beautiful places I have seen so far. I stayed in this nice hostel on a small nature reserve. There were pineapple and sugarcane feilds as far as the eye could see. I had a spectacular view of the mountains and it was very quiet. (Which now being in Saint Lucia where drinking is not required but strongly encouraged---quoted from Daren "The make people happy man" at Bibs Backpackers---I am starting to look back at the quiet lifestyle with a little more respect.) It was nice to take a walk in the morning and see Zebra, Water Buck, Warthog, Hippo, Lions, tons of birds, and Rhino right where I was staying. (No matter who you are I promise if you ever come to South Africa you will not be able to look at the animals without relating them to the Lion King in some way...) It was like being in some dream. I got to know the workers at the hostels more then anything and ended up running around
with them most of the times. Which was great because I got to meet more locals and help do random errands. Saint Lucia is very small -about 600 locals, but they have everything here. It is surrounded by a beach and there is surfing, scuba diving, boat cruises, spear fishing, deep sea fishing. Everything is within walking distance and everyone is friendly. The little pub called the bubuscha bar has live music almost every night and he plays all the oldies that everyone knows so after we have all had a few drinks we start singing along and dancing. I have been in saint lucia for 7 nights now.
Although I was planning to take my time down the coast I have a friend that is from the VMF that is in Cape town now. So I will spend the next two days traveling to cape town to spend two weeks with Sarah and then work my way back up to Johannesburg as I see fit.
I am having a blast! I miss you all tons and hope to hear from you soon! Love Always! Jenny!
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Lerry Leming
non-member comment
Hi Jen!!
Another newsy letter. I'm happy for you and a little jealous at the same time. Enjoy the rest of your experience as you will remember it the rest of your life. Love you Lerry