http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , South Africa , Mpumalanga en-us Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:08:28 +0000 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:08:28 +0000 Dear friendsIts a Friday night...and as it is for all teachers classroom work is over but a stack of tests to mark and lessons to be prepared await my attention. Tomorrow I meet 4 or 5 other PCVs at Kwagga where there is a nice little place called Romans Pizza which makes the best spinachfeta pizza anywhere And I found licorice candy at ShopRite the other day...Oops I got dis http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Barberton/blog-788319.html This blog has taken a bit longer than we had expected as we have been without Internet access for a week while we have been in Kruger National Park area so there is a bit to catch up on. Buckle in for a long read or skip to the pictures. Spent Sunday just lazing around the Garden Court Hotel in Johannesburg catching up an bit of sleep which we had lost to jet lag and talking to an Aussie couple wh http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Kruger-National-Park/blog-787765.html ...Animals Extraordinaire We just spent 10 glorious days in the bush well fairly civilized camps that are fenced in areas with a store cafeteria etc but we only showered once in our little green tent. We were even joined by a pumba outside our tent on our last night....a momma poppa and baby must have liked our patch of grass. We were less keen to see a hyena outside our tent the night http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Kruger-National-Park/blog-782320.html Every once in a while I am reminded that I am indeed in a different part of the world. When I am tired and stressing about work I may not see everything with a good sense of appreciation and humor. At these times I get frustrated.....for example I couldnt take pictures of the school my excuse for no school blogs yet because I have no batteries. I bought AAs at KwaMhlanga but the camera http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Barberton/blog-781170.html ltem stylemsobidifontstyle normalgtA primer on my host family In the house or outbuildings live Martha Simelane 73 her youngest daughter Zanele and her youngest son Samuel who works in Pretoria and has a girlfriend in KwaMhlanga so he is not here every night and Zaneles daughter Thandeke who is in Gr 1. Others have stayed here for 12 month visits. ltem stylemsobid http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Barberton/blog-781169.html I dont know if Ive ever written the word tidbits before. one of those words that after you write it looks slightly foreign Anyway during school terms I doubt that I will be sitting down and writing much so I thought of three random tidbits...shouldnt most tidbits be random...that I can share. And if I sound a little spacy as I begin this let me blame it on the heat. I blame everyt http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Barberton/blog-772658.html We enjoyed a later start to the morning today with an 8.30am pickup time for our day tour covering the Soweto township the Apartheid Museum and JohannesburgJoburg. The minivan was full with many newcomers to our travel group joining us. We had a long drive from our campsite in towards Joburg. We saw where they were mining for gold which when it was discovered in 1886 Joburg suddenly became a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Kruger-National-Park/blog-771202.html Im catching my breath at the end of a crazy week. Today was Sele Schools celebration for the last years Gr 12s who did so well passing their tests and getting to matric graduate. Because of the preparations for this..how do I say it......a totally African way of preparing for events YESTERDAY was the Crazy Crazy Day. Sometimes I feel like living at the cabin in Idaho helps me http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Barberton/blog-770230.html Here is a collection of some events with an animal theme and a snapshot of a day 2401. the 24thof JanFirst day of school I was talking with Gr 12 Pure Maths advanced track and we heard excitement outside the open classroom door. My girl learners started to scream when they saw a snake slither into our room. Not having any fear of snakes myself I grabbed my broom to brush him back out. A G http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Barberton/blog-770229.html Hello everybodyWe did just sit about 12 hours and we39re exhausted We just arrived to the hotel. We have taken a quick look around the hotel and it seems awesome We went to a hamburger bar and ate a kangrarooburger and it was delicious The employers were very nice and helpful when we arrived. Now we39re planning on sleeping for many hours because of the long trip then we will begin http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Krokodilbrug/blog-768625.html Enjoy the Last Frontier of Lesotho http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Barberton/blog-765328.html Do people put Christmas lights up in SA Bear in mind that I dont walk anywhere at night so I only know what I saw in the daytime. Maseru Lesothos small capital city had decorative lights strung across main street and in a small park red and green plastic palm trees stood around a traditional Christmas tree shape out of white lights. I didnt see lights or decorations in front of hous http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Barberton/blog-765327.html The highlights of my Lesotho trip remain to be told. Hopefully I can make it shorter than my description of public transport. Those first 3 days impressed upon us I hope they impressed you that we were indeed venturing into the unknown. Hmm... watching Star Trek Next Generation episodes this past week has rubbed off... venturing into the unknown... navigating with the help of an old The L http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Barberton/blog-765325.html Before I describe our transport to and through Lesotho I have one more piece of trivia for you. The country has the highest incidence of people being struck by lightning as a percent of population.We waited in Underberg for three hrs for the taxi to fill before it would take us across the border. Our taxi ended up with 17 passengers with bags in their laps and one row of seats packed to the ro http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Barberton/blog-765323.html Lou and Di are off on another adventure to South Africa and Zambia this time. It39s to mark the 40th birthday of one of us and a VERY VERY belated one of the other.Well preparations are almost complete bar last minute adjustments like what can we leave out of the suitcase in order to meet weight regulations. Excitement is gradually mounting.We expect to arrive in Johannesburg bright eyed http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/blog-763381.html Lesotho Blog OneDecember topics to write about are SA26 wraps up their first 3 months at sites with IST In Service Training in KwaZuluNatal Province and my first Christmas with my host family here in Mpumalanga Province. Sandwiched in between was my trip to Lesotho which needs to be told FIRST while its still fresh in my mind. Blog One is an odd assortment of details Blog Two is about get http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Barberton/blog-763233.html My picture doesnt show the cold drink bottles very well but do you remember one of the cultural conundrums I wrote about Why do people put the plastic bottles filled with water out on their lawns Notice that they are spaced around on the grass but the bottles are never opened to water the grass. The answer that Shilpa the previous PCV here and I received from various neighbors is this Th http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Barberton/blog-763229.html We woke at 0445 to get ready for the longest driving day in the whole trip. We are off to Kruger National Park then Arathusa Game reserve. We left Petoria to early to try and get breakfast there so we took our chances on the freeway. By 0730 everyone was thinking about food so Maria navigated us to the nearest town Middleburgh. Turns out it was not that close and little did we know at the time http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Sabi-Sands/blog-761474.html Our last night before returning to Jo39burg was to be spent in Marloth Park.If our last drive in Kruger was uneventful then our drive through Marloth Park was a different story.After leaving the caravan at the B B we had booked into we had a drive around the park. All was going well until we reversed the hired Kombi into a hidden tree branch which shattered the rear screen well OK there was http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-//blog-761183.html We arrived at Crocodile Bridge late morning and set up camp just before Aaron and Carrie arrived from Jo39burg for a few days camping with us.The weather was perfect hot but not unbearable and a lot of the time overcast which made for good game viewing.On our first morning drive we saw the big 5. Plenty of elephant of course several white rhino and a herd of about 200 buffalo which were cross http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Kruger-National-Park/blog-761181.html