Yes, I am still alive.

Stomers Stadium with Table Mountain Backdrop

Australian Hurricans vs the Cape Town Stomers

At Stomers Rugby Game

Heather and Marina at Moyo

Hello everyone,
Sorry it has been ages since I have updated the blog. There was such a lot to say about Namibia so I kept putting off writing it and replied to e-mails instead! Everything since holidays has been good. Work is alright... nothing too much exciting happening there. The first week back from holidays I was working as a facilitator for this little girl in gr 1 which was quite a change from the regular. It was quite a big job, really nice to be in the gr 1 classrooms but very tiring and took about all the patience i posses. (Em i tried to use you as inspiration.) Other than that not too much happened the first week back. I was able to join Gail, Trilby and her kids, Kayla and Chloe for lunch one afternoon which was fantastic. So nice to see Gail again and fill her in on my trips.

Last weekend wasn't too eventful. We headed out to a very popular pub with the bishops boys on friday night and had a girls night out saturday night. We also saw the movie Juno- very funny but perhaps a horror film disguised with comedy?

This past week also was not very eventful (we stayed in because the money situation is dire right now since most of it was used on holidays and we don't get paid until this coming Wednesday). On Monday we did go out for Franzi's 21st birthday to a really famous restaurant called Moyo which is part of the Spier Winery in Stellenbosch. It is a very pricey resturant but an all you can eat buffer which is amazing and tradition african food. Also the setting is beautiful, we got there late so we couldn't look around but you are meant to be able to wander and watch live bands, dancing, sit by the fires or walk around the grounds. You also get you hands washed when you arrive by someone who comes to your table and your face painted and huge heavy blankets to wrap around yourselves when you get cold. We ate in a "tree house" (raised platform in the trees) which was really nice. We had the most amazing steaks and ostrich kabobs and couscous (a new favourite). Also the desserts were incredibly good. The head of sport, Sarie also joined us so it was really nice to have a good chat with her out of school. I am planning on taking Mum and Dad there when they come. After that big night out we spent most of the week reading and watching tv at night. Luckily Marina and I are equally tight fisted so we generally agree on money-spending.

This weekend we did have quite a lot of plans. On Friday we had signed up to be part of this UCT golf-themed pub crawl (in honour of the South African who won the masters). We went with Sonia, one of the pe teachers and her cousin sarah. It was so funny getting our costumes all set and seeing everyone all dressed up. The night consisted of going from place to place and getting "scored" depending on how many sips it took you to finish your drink (there were pars for each place). Pretty funny, the boys took it much more seriously than us but we had a really good time and met some nice people. I think it is fair to say none of the pictures are blog appropriate. Saturday we had plans to go see a movie but Marina found out some friends from home were in town so we ended up going down to waterfront with them and then going to the rugby game. It was loads of fun (and i actually know way more rules than i thought!). The Stomers are on a roll so people were very into it. Luckily they won again and everyone especially enjoyed the cheerleaders who stripped to their hot pants in the middle of their routine. That night we all headed back to bishops and then to a house party of a friend of George’s. It was really fun getting to know Marina's friends- too bad they leave monday for Singapore!

This week is also looking quiet. On Thursday we have a gr 2 outing to Monkey world which we are super excited about! Also we have holidays coming up that we are in the midst of planning. We are headed down the coast to Knysna where Marina's old Nanny owns a B&B. It is meant to be beautiful and only 30 min away from plett so we plan on spending some time there too. We are planning to go Equitrailing (aka riding through the forest on horses). I do not think this is a good idea but i owe her from sandboarding still. We are finishing up our weeks holiday at Stellenbosh where we are staying with one of the teachers and will hopefully be able to fit in a wine tour.

That's it for now! Hope all is well at home.. can't believe I will be back in about 2 months. Time is flying.
Love to all,
xx Heather

Namibia

Quadbiking in the dunes

Heather and Marina= excellent quadbikers

Heather and Marina quadbiking on the dunes (MUCH higher than it looks!)

Heather and Marina Sandboarding

The moon-scapes

Tropic of Capricorn Group Shot

Water in the desert... at least at one time

Again.

Desert Walk

MARINA HATES SAND

Hiking dune 45 at sunrise

Dune 45 at sunrise

Sunrise

Cool, Art-y shadows

Canyon

Heather and Marina at Fish River Canyon

Fish River Canyon (2nd biggest in the world)

Orange River at Sunset

Week 2: Desert Explorer Trip (South Africa, Namibia)

Day 1: Our trip luckily started in Cape Town pretty near school so since we did a pretty good job of organizing the night before we were able to have a fairly chilled out morning and arrive without any hectic-ness. After the initial check in we headed off to Table Bay which is a beach that has an incredibly good view of Table Mountain. After a walk on the beach we headed to a mall to buy water etc and since we had some time Marina and I managed to peruse the clothing shops and decided we would have to return. Next we drove north to the Cederburg Mountain Region, also known as “orange and lemon” country. We stayed at a very nice backpackers/campsite and I got to experience Marina-the-camper for the first time which was quite hilarious. After setting up we went on a “bushman’s walk” that ended up being more like a hike. It was neat- we saw bushman paintings on rocks and heard about all the animals and plants. We returned to camp in time for an amazing dinner, (food on this trip was much better than the first) a drink and a chat. We sat around after dinner and chatted and then went to bed.

Day 2: We drove to the Orange River- getting very sandy and texas-ish looking. Marina and I listened to some quality country songs in honour of the setting. Our camp was super nice- right on the orange river with a covered eating area and fun bar. We were so hot we went swimming in the orange river right after setting up our tents. It is pretty cool because it is the river that divides South Africa and Namibia so you can literally swim to Namibia. The water is very murky due to the rust (aka: Orange river) which is a little disconcerting but a lovely temperature. Afterwards we met up at the bar and chilled, played some beach volleyball, showered (in this awkward outdoor-type showers) and got some good pictures of sunset. That night for dinner we did the “stand up and talk about yourself” thing and marina and I had to go last so it was a little nerve-wracking. After dinner we all headed to the bar for a “springbok” shot which includes dancing and yelling and not using your hands- definitely a bonding activity.

Day 3: This morning we had a nice leisurely sleep in followed by a morning of paddling on the Orange River. They drove us up the river and dropped us with canoes so that we could paddle back to camp. The canoes here are not like the ones at home, they are essentially blow up rafts that you paddle with the kayak paddle. Marina was deemed the official “picture taker” aka lie on the canoe and not paddle while appearing to be doing something useful while I was in the stern paddling her along the river like the queen of Sheba. The river really was beautiful and whenever you go hot you could just jump into the water. Also there were a couple rapids which were very exciting except for the time our canoe got stuck on a rock and we had to get out and then the canoe almost floated away. That afternoon we drove to the Fish River Canyon which involved driving through large rivers- a bit hectic.

Day 4: Wednesday we headed off to the Fish River Canyon straight away. We didn’t hike which was nice since we were able to wander around and take pictures and hear about it. The Fish River Canyon is the 2nd biggest Canyon in the world and incredibly beautiful- see pictures. After taking some pictures and looking around we hopped back into the bus and drove for the majority of the day (thank goodness for harry potter audio version). We finished the day at another Canyon- The Sesriem Canyon. The water was running at this canyon which was a big deal since our guide had never seen it. We also took some very cool, art-y shadow pictures.

Day 5: We woke up VERY early in order to drive into the Namib-Naukluft National Park to climb Dune 45 for sunrise. We encountered a very large river on our way but luckily our driver managed to get us through it. We started the hike very optimistic but soon realized the whole “2 steps forward one step back thing wasn’t very funny”. The dune was much bigger than it looked plus the area you could walk was so narrow you couldn’t step to the side to take a break or anything. One of the ladies in our group got very freaked out and had to go back. We did make it up way in time for sunrise and sat for about half an hour watching the sun come up. It really was beautiful to see the dunes shine bright red and luckily my camera survived the sand. We hiked back down (much easier) and had a cooked breakfast at the foot of the dune. Afterwards we headed into the desert with a very interesting Japanese guide. (very enthusiastic!) The walk was really cool, we did a bit of hiking dunes and walked around in our bear feet. We also saw the Sossusvlei Dunes where there is water below (or at least was fairly recently so the ground is all cracked and white and there are attempts at trees). A very weird, but cool phenomenon in the desert. We had a very chilled afternoon as everyone was exhausted and headed to our next campsite where we ate their world famous apple pie.

Day 6: Today we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn (and got a great group pic) and also went by the moon landscapes. They are a series of hills that in winter have no grass on them and sparkle because of the minerals in the soil. Unfortunately they did have grass still but it was still very beautiful. We arrived in Swakopmund and stopped at the Desert Explorer office where we watched videos of the optional activities and signed up for everything. That afternoon we explored Swakopmund and rested before going out to dinner with the group to an Italian restaurant. The restaurant was amazingly good but the wait was forever since we were such a large group. Afterwards we headed across the street to the one and only club where ALL the overland trips were and had a good time on the dance floor.

Day 7: Today was the day reserved for optional activities. Marina and I had sandboarding in the morning so we were picked up at 9:30 and driven in the desert. After fitting our snadboards and boots we headed towards a giant dune that we were intended to climb. The first climb was very rough but we did manage to get to the top and since I was the only experience rider I was kinda allowed to do my own thing while the beginners had a lesson. It was really cool- a little slower than snowboarding especially when you carve but essentially the same. The only downside was that it took about a minute to get down and then you had to climb all the way back up. Marina did very well- although a couple bad words were spoken. By the end she could go down on both sides- very impressive. We also did lie down sandboarding which was like 100 times scarier than tobogganing and completely awful. I have never been so scared in my life and I was only going 52 k and hour (other people were going 80). After sandboarding they fed us lunch and took us back to our backpackers where we attempted to remove all the sand from our bodies (impossible) and rested for our afternoon for quadbiking. Quadbiking was absolutely amazing- one of the coolest things I have ever done. We went for 2 hours and it was just 3 of us plus a leader guy and we pretty much just drove through the desert and went up on sand dunes and caught some serious air. Marina got stuck once which was pretty funny but other than that we had no problems. It really was amazing- felt like very unexplored territory and I could have ridden for much longer. On our way home we headed to this bar where they were showing our sandboarding dvd- hilarious and then back to our lodge for another shower. Marina and I had a romantic dinner for two our and then went to bed at 8:30 because we were so exhausted.

The last day of our trip involved us getting on a bus in Swakopmund and driving to Windhoek and then to Cape Town. 24 hours in total. I will not go into much detail of this trip as “what happens on the bus stays on the bus” but all in all in was much better than expected. The only really bad parts were that it was actually more like 27 hours and we had to wait at 4:30 am at the Namibian boarder for 2 hours. Again, thank god for my ipod and grey’s anatomy. One of the girls from school was on the bus so we were able to get a lift with her back to school. Very relieved to be home and back in our comfortable beds. This feeling lasted about a half a day until we returned back to work and decided that really… holidays are the way to go.

The Okavango Delta

Elephants From Cruise

Me With Elephants In Background

Giraffe

Me with Zebra

Vic Falls (only pictures I could get since it was so wet)

Springbok (2 Females and 1 Male- notice birds on back)

Elephants

Hippos

Elephant Family

Elephants On Game Walk

Elephant on Game Walk (not zoomed)

In Mocoro

Plane Into Delta (Dad: It was a 6 seater)

Week 1: Okavango Delta (South Africa, Botswana and Zambia)

My trip started off with a very successful flight to Joburg. My luggage arrived, I was on time and I easily met up with Gail, Trilby’s (who I work with in Prep) stepmum who generously allowed me to stay with her and her family during my stay over in Johannesburg. I had a fantastic day and night in Joburg with Gail and Jeremy. I met some of their family (including a very new grandson!) and was able to Skype mum and dad (including webcam) which was very exciting given it is the first time they have been able to “see” me since I have been away. That night we went out to a traditional African restaurant where we ate from the buffet- my favourite being some of the shrimp starters, the ribs and the shrimp chicken curry. I also got my face painted and had Melva pudding for dessert, a very traditional cape Malay dish. Overall a very good visit to Joburg- Gail showed me tons of pictures of where I was going and got me very excited to go although the nice big bed, bathtub and amazing hospitality made it very difficult to leave. Luckily I am able to stay in touch with Gail as she is Tilby’s stepmum- tomorrow I am joining them for lunch!

Day one we met up at a backpackers in Joburg and headed for Palapye in Botswana. The first day was pretty uneventful (thank god for my ipod!!). As we drove it did get increasingly hotter and more barren. We crossed the boarder without any problem and arrived at our campsite by dark where we pitched tents had spaghetti for dinner, a quick pre-trip chat and then off to bed due to a very early departure the next day.

The next day we woke up early (for a shot period of time- I think everyone was asleep in the truck within 10 min of leaving). We drove all the way to the Maun airport where we had lunch in the parking lot and then hopped on 5-seater planes that flew us into the delta. The flight lasted about 20 min and really was amazing. We saw some game from the plane (hippos, elephants and giraffes) and it was especially incredible to see the delta stretching out under us and watching as the scenery below changed. The flight was over way too soon and we landed on a sandy landing strip seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Then we took a boat ride along the delta to our campsite. It was very cool being on the water of the delta but since it has rained so much the grass is really high so you can’t see too much. We arrived at our “home” for the next 2 days called Gunns Camp. We spent more of the afternoon sitting on the front porch looking over the delta and had an absolutely amazing dinner of ribs (the best I have ever had… better than baton rouge.)

Another early wake up on Day 3 in order to go on our morning Game walk. We were poled in macoros by our guides to another island where we started out walk. At first we didn’t see too much, a few springbok and a kadoo but then we started tracking this elephant (by its footprints and many droppings) and eventually came upon it. We were able to get really close and take tons of pictures. It even turned towards us because it could smell us but luckily didn’t feel threatened and eventually wandered off. That was pretty much the highlight of the game walk. We also saw a black mamba which I did not consider a highlight. After the 3 hour walk we headed back to camp for showers and reading. At 4 we headed back out in the macoros to look for hippos and eventually found some but they were pretty far off. Many people don’t know but hippos are actually the most dangerous and aggressive animals in the Okavango so we weren’t able to get too close. The afternoon was followed by another great dinner and some star gazing on the porch.

Day 4 we had another morning game walk. The biggest part of this walk was coming upon a mother elephant and her baby. They were quite far away (which was good!) and we were able to get some nice pictures. Then, all of a sudden, our guides start freaking out and grabbing us and running since they just realized the father elephant was less than 2 m behind us and starting to get very aggressive. Unfortunately I have no pictures of that elephant since I was running. After getting safely away we realized we had come upon the herd of elephants and were pretty much surrounded. It was cool though we saw lots of families and little baby elephants with their trunks in the air. We watched them for a bit and followed for awhile before heading back to camp for some relaxing, a cooked breakfast and our flight out. The rest of the day wasn’t too exciting. Another beautiful flight with lots of hippos and then a fairly short drive to Gweta where we stayed at a really nice campsite with a huge pool.

After a bit of a rough night which included my lovely roommate drinking too much, being sick on my bag and forgetting to pay her bar tab we left bright and early for Chobe National Park. Mid-Afternoon we went on a game drive through the park. It was pretty amazing- we saw literally about 200 elephants, a couple giraffe, lots of springbok/kudoo, buffalo, crocodiles, monkeys and hippos. It was awesome to see the animals that close- especially the baby elephants. No lions, leopards or rhinos though- will have to save those for Mum and Dad’s visit. After our drive we got on a big barge for our sunset cruise. We saw possibly even more animals on this. It was really nice because all the elephants we by the water at this point (happy hour?) so we got to see them swimming and splashing. We also got really close to groups of hippos which was cool but they are quite aggressive so a big scary. As the cruise ended we needed to sign out at the National Park Office (small building by the water). We pulled up at the dock and found the office being completely trashed by a group of monkeys as everyone else had already gone home for the day. When we got back to the campsite we all rugged up and had dinner and went to bed fairly early (luckily a more low-keyed night).

Day 6 we woke up and drove to the ferry crossing from Botswana to Zambia. Boarder crossing was pretty uneventful although expensive! (more so for Americans- 130$ US) The day was incredibly hot (maybe because we were getting more northern) and after a very sandy drive we arrived at our final campsite- a pretty fancy place in fact with many pools and a really nice restaurant overlooking the Zambezi river. In the afternoon we gathered out plastic bags and headed to Vic Falls. It was actually one of the most amazing and beautiful things I have ever seen. The falls are massive and the spray is so huge that you aren’t even able to see the falls at times let alone the bottom or the river. We had a great time running around although a little perilous at times when we were out very unsubstantial bridges that were covered in water and very slippery. We spent some time watching people bungee jump off the Zambian-Zimbabwe bridge and eventually headed back to the craft market completely soaked. Our guides were meant to pick us up at 4:30 but didn’t arrive until 5:30 in taxis since the truck had gotten stuck between the Zam and Zim boarders and could not be moved. (Including ALL our stuff). So we got back to camp with nothing, completely soaked. What else is there to do but sit at the bar? Eventually the bar turned into a yummy dinner and by the end they had delivered all our stuff in a pick up. Some people had wallets and purses stolen so it was a bit of a subdued night.

The next morning- as we still had no truck and therefore no food- Nomad bought as breakfast at the restaurant which everyone was quite psyched about. We had a chilled out morning and then headed to town and to the airport. I was originally a bit sad I had no time to do the extra activities but the water was too high for white water rafting so in the end it worked out well. I arrived at the airport a good 2 hours before my flight and managed to check in without any problems. About half an hour before my flight is due to leave I can see that there still is no airplane. They announce about 15 min before my departure time that my flight is an hour and a half late. This seriously jeopardizes my connecting flight from Joburg to Cape Town. When we finally do take off from Livingston we are running 2 hours late. The flight was very nice though- since I had checked in so early I got the exit and therefore had tons of leg room. We landed in Joburg with exactly 1 hour until my next flight. Joburg airport is so massive we had to bus from where we landed to the baggage pick up, wait for baggage, go through customs, and RUN all the way to domestic departures with my huge bag on my back and my small bag on my front. It was quite embarrassing really since a bunch of people (who wanted a tip) started running with me and clearing the way. I really didn’t know where I was going plus it was really far and 3 floors up so when I arrived at the check in it was only 25 min till my departure. I cried valiantly but he wouldn’t let me on so then I had to go on standby for the next flight which put me into major stress mode. Basically there was a 50/50 chance of me getting on the 6pm flight and if it was full I would have to wait till the 7:15 flight the next morning (my trip started the next day at 8). There were many panicked phone calls to marina in the GAP wing and Mum and Dad at home and much pacing. I waited at the gate so I would be first in line and was actually very aggressive about the whole matter. Luckily I got on and had a pretty uneventful flight (although I was so happy I was super friendly and made best friends with the lady beside me). Marina and Jaqui came to pick meet me at the airport- a silver lining to being on standby, your luggage comes out first! And I returned home for some serious fast laundry and catch up with marina.

All in all an amazing trip- but definitely made me extra grateful to be traveling with marina next (and that she is normal!)