Where Do I Begin......

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Howdy.....

I am finally back in civilization with fairly decent internet access. I have so much to tell all of you....... gosh....wow... amazing.... where to begin.

Well firstly I have to show all of you my sky dive which I can't believe I did. I am still getting my head around it. Thought it had cured my height issues but today I walked across the Victoria Falls bridge and freaked!!!!! so my theory is blown. Anyway I think the photos say a lot. Be warned****** I was very very happy when it was over. The DVD is awesome but won't download that till I get back.

So what have I achieved since.....

While I was still in Swakopmund I went Quad Bike riding through the Dunes. We watched the sunset. It was cool but pretty hard to get excited about after the dive.

The following day I went on a Township Tour through Mondesa which has 29 000 people living in it. My guides name was Castro and he also lives in the township. It was was incredible! I visited Hangareni Primary School. The children were fascinated with my hair and wanted to keep touching it. I took them lots of pencils and writing paper. They were soooo excited to get it. I was fortunate to visit them during an English lesson and they read me a story. I didn't realise how good it was to visit the children until I followed them home and saw where they live. Wow! As we walked down the street we were bombarded with children jumping on us, hugging us and wanting to hold our hands. These children live in temporary housing which is supposed to be temporary for only 2 years, however, most have been there all their lives!. The community has 1 water station and the must use a slot card (like a keycard) which they have put money on to retrieve water from the ground below. WATER is a very precious thing here. Castro took me to the home of the Cheif women in the Township. Her job is to help the community work through problems like seperation and marraige. The people rely on Oma Leena to work out who gets what when people die. Many years ago she had many more important decisions to make but funnily her biggest line of work is sorting out wills!!!!! On this particular day, Oma Leena was looking after her great grand daughter who's name was Lucy. Oma Leena could not pronounce her name and said it was too hard!!! he he he
After the visit we went a traditional township bar before we entered another family home for lunch and this was very, very, very traditional. I ate a Mopani caterpiller and the photos say it all. Then the little girls performed and a dance for us. They were very excited when we told them we were teachers. All in all a mind blowing time in Swakopmund!!!

On the way to Etosha we stopped at Cape Cross to see the seal colony. What a smelly experience. There were thousands and thousands of them everywhere. I actually dry reached for about 20 minutes.

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Photos

Skydive
Takeoff....

Skydive
See it really is me!

Quad Bike Ride
Me and the girls burning rubber!!

Township Tour
David, Kim, Brigit and myself with the children that walked along the street with us.

The Chief- Oma Leena
It was a wonderful experience to sit and talk with her.

The School Children
As this photo was taken they were running their fingers through my hair. eeeeeeeee..... I washed it that night!

The students temporary dwellings
I had no idea that there standard of living would be soooo poor. They all looked well fed and well clothed.

The Traditional Meal
It was beans, chicken and these creepy crawly things.

Eating the worm
Yuk!

Trying to swallow was not easy.
I guess it tasted like seafood!