Trip Update: Days 1, 2 and 3

3/11 - Stacy

Well, our African adventure has gotten off to quite the eventful start! We began our day with an extravagant entrance by Darla and her dashing date, Bobby Bear. We arrived in New York in practically no time, after a slight delay because of a technical problem. But this was quickly fixed and we proceeded with excitement!! Luckily, we didn’t have too long of a layover, where Samer and Clem entertained themselves and the rest of us with a lovely meal of Chinese food at 10:00 am, until the largest chunk of our trip-the fourteen hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa-could finally commence! And can I tell you, that was something else.

The flight began with a little time to relax and get adjusted before we were served a lovely dinner of either beef or salmon, both of which were positively delightful. Every seat was equipped with an individual television where we could all enjoy a lovely selection of movies such as The King’s Choice, Burlesque, The Blind Side, and Tangled, the last of which Stacy, Haley, and Anthony greatly enjoyed.

On the last leg of our trip, a short hour and a half flight from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth, we were given a scrumptious lunch while Jonathan and Anthony got a little Afrikaans, Zulu, and Xhosa vocab studying in. Before we knew it, we were in Port Elizabeth ready for our trip to really begin!!!

But alas, it could not. Three of our twelve suitcases went missing when we were making our connection from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth. Anthony, Jaida, and Haley’s bags have been misplaced, hopefully just temporarily. We do know that they are in South Africa, so they cannot be too far.

When we finally concluded the aviation part of our trip, we waited for what seemed like forever, yet again, to get our cars; however, we did entertain ourselves in an adorable candy shop, rightly named Cosmic Candy, where we learned that we weren’t in Kansas anymore and had to pay in Rand!!!!! This was sign number two that we were in South Africa, after the incredible warmth that enveloped us after we left the plane. We got a small Chevy sedan, driven swiftly by Amy, and a Volkswagen van, driven valiantly by Chris and rightfully named Veronica by Pat.
We are now safe and content at our rustic accommodations at Plettenberg Bay, where Briana was quickly the first to take a short nap. Dinner was delightful, the fire was large, and thank goodness for the hot tub!


3/12 - Haley

Hello, everyone! Our first full day in South Africa has been, as Stacy would say, SOOOOO EXCITING!!!!! We started the day slowly, sleeping in a bit and eating breakfast together at Rocky Road. We played a little game of soccer (Amy’s team, Team 12, won a decisive victory over Chris’s, Tigerblood Machete. Darla was our MVP with 5 goals), Samer taught us a new card game, Assassin (again, Darla wins MVP for her Lord of the Flies-esque technique), and then we set off for our first visit to Kurland village. We did a walk-through to see some of the sites we will be working on this week, and for many of us, it was a sharp wake-up call to the realities of poverty. Our work will be on housing refurbishment projects: renovating homes, installing solar water heaters, and other odd jobs.

After the village walk-through, we returned to Rocky Road to make sandwiches before setting off for some of the wildlife attractions nearby. We spent some time at Monkeyland, a rescue center for primates raised in captivity, where our guide claimed to have the longest suspension bridge in the southern hemisphere (we’re not sure we believed him, but it was definitely rickety and quite the adventure to cross – with our little lemur buddies!). Our next stop (after breaking a fence while taking a group picture - embarrassing) was Birds of Eden, which was absolutely beautiful. There were exotic birds everywhere, including flamingos and a particularly friendly little parrot, who made quick friends with both Chris and Stacy (it was quite the photo op).

Then, we returned home and watched a playoff match in the Cricket World Cup – South Africa triumphed over India! After a presentation from Katie, our representative from Dollars for Change/WWISA, and dinner around the campfire, we’re settling down to a movie before calling it a night. Totsiens!

P.S. – The missing suitcases showed up last night, much to our relief, so no worries!


3/13 – Jonathan

Greetings from South Africa! We woke up around nine this morning and ate breakfast together under the wooden canopy outside the house we’re staying in. Katie, the woman coordinating our volunteer work with WWISA (Willing Workers in South Africa) then led us on a hike a fifteen-minute drive away from where we’re staying. After fifteen minutes of steep climbing, we had a virtually unobstructed view of the ocean below, waves crashing against high black rocks jutting out of the earth. The beach itself was surrounded by mountains, green with trees. It was, undoubtedly, the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in my life.

We then hiked down to the water and stopped to eat lunch and swim. We continued on an hour later, hiking on the rocks above the sand and ocean and arriving at another beach, where we stopped, swam in a lagoon (the lagoon was on one side of the beach, the ocean on the other), and played a game of soccer. Some of us then went to play boulee (a variation of bocce) with Rocky, the owner of Rocky Road, while others sat and talked by the lagoon, having some South African snacks. Trying the snack food here has been especially exciting. Liqui-fruit, a popular brand of South African juice, is delicious, and the three flavors I’ve tried so far of Simba brand potato chips (cheese and onion, chutney, and smoked beef) have all been a tasty change from the American standards.

We got back to the house and showered, some of us in the one indoor shower, and others in the two outdoor bathrooms, which are complete with a shower, toilet, sink, and mirror. After a dinner of spaghetti Bolognese (with sautéed fish and a side of peas for our two pescetarians, Darla and Stacy), Katie showed us all the materials we will be using to renovate houses in Kurland village tomorrow. I’m incredibly excited to begin working, and look forward to blogging about it soon. As they say in South Africa, cheers!




The group on Day 2 at Monkeyland...
















Day 3 on the Nature's Valley hike:









Seniors photo at Nature's Valley: