GapBreakers take 'action-packed' to a whole new level

COUNTRY: Southern Africa (Swaziland, Mozambique & South Africa)
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Emily Forbes

Greetings!

There's quite a bit to fill you in with since my last blog. As signified by the title, we haven't wasted any time! We were lucky enough to have a week off our volunteer work to visit the stunning palm fringed beaches of Tofo Bay. Our accommodation at Fatima's backpackers had direct access to the beach, and we spent much of the week swimming, tanning and doing a whole bunch of activities.

Tofo was an undiscovered paradise and the highlight of the week was without a doubt the ocean safari. We all hopped into a speedboat and ventured out into the ocean with the hope of spotting a whale shark or humpback. We didn't have to wait long, within five minutes of being out on the water a baby humpback swam right alongside our boat, a sight that was rare even for our experienced guides! Things only got better from here on in as we ventured further out into the ocean, when we finally discovered a whale shark! We all hurried to jump in and swim alongside this majestic creature, and were blown away by just how big they were! As we made our way back to shore dolphins swam alongside the boat which topped off a perfect day.

The fun didn't stop there as we went on an island kayak to a remote island. After two hours of paddling over pristine waters we arrived on the coast of this island and walked underneath a canopy of tall palm trees through our tour of the island. After kayaking for two hours we were absolutely starving and were presented with a seafood feast that was enjoyed by everyone.

Other highlights of our time in Mozambique included quad biking, bartering at the local markets and enjoying breakfast on the beach.

Feeling refreshed after a week in Mozambique we headed back to our placement work at our home in Ezulwini. Our last two weeks of volunteer work were a flurry of activity as many of us had plans for our children. Our projects included building a new playground for the children in Lobamba, an excursion to Hlane game park for the Mlindazwe kids and purchasing toothbrushes and toothpaste for our children.

For our last day at our NCPs we all planned parties as a special treat for the kids. This included face paint, musical chairs, treasure hunts and pass-the-parcel to name a few. By the end of the day there were definitely a few tears as we realised we were saying goodbye to our beautiful children for good. We all promised to write and stay in touch, and hopefully return one day.

With our first volunteer placement behind us, we headed off on a road trip to the famous Victoria Falls. After travelling for two days through Swaziland, South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe we arrived at the tourist town of Vic Falls.

Our first activity planned was a day trip over the Zambian border to experience the falls from the top by going for a swim at the Devil's Pool, right at the edge of the top of the falls. We were greeted by absolutely breathtaking sights of the cascading falls and rainbows.

We also got to experience the might and majesty of the Zambezi river through white water rafting. This is said to be the best in the world, with the highest commercial rapid drop and it certainly did not disappoint! With rapids graded up to a 5 it was certainly hard work but thoroughly enjoyed by all, even when the raft capsized and we found ourselves being carried along the rapids.

On our last day in Vic Falls we visited the viewing platforms to see the falls in action. We were all blown away by these stunning views! In the afternoon two of us were game enough to test out the Vic Falls big air experience, which incorporated a zipline, gorge swing and bungee jump.

Our next adventure begins on Tuesday when we embark on our two-week road trip to Cape Town.

Until next time,

Usale Kahle!

Volunteering begins for Southern Africa Gappers

COUNTRY: Southern Africa (Swaziland, Mozambique & South Africa)
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Emily Forbes

Greetings to our friends back home in Australia. I am writing this watching the Mozambican countryside fly by, as we make our way to Tofo Bay for a week of rest and recreation!

Our first two weeks at our volunteer placements have been an exciting challenge to say the least. We have been placed at different neighbourhood care points all around Ezulwini Valley, teaching underprivileged children aged 3-7, helping them to prepare for primary school. While these children are there they are fed both breakfast and lunch, which is an important incentive that makes many children show up each day to learn. When it comes down to it, all these gorgeous children want is love, a cuddle and some attention.

The past fortnight has certainly not been easy but we are finding that each day there is something new to learn which helps us become better teachers. Our typical day begins at 8.30am when we leave the lodge for our various placements. We spend 3-4 hours there, conducting English lessons where we teach numbers, the alphabet, seasons and days of the week, amongst other things. After our lesson is finished we have playtime with the children before heading back to the lodge for lunch.

Our lunch breaks are most often spent soaking up the beautiful weather Swaziland has put on show for us by lounging by the pool. Our afternoon schedules vary day to day, and we try to make the most of the time. We have visited the local hospital, had Siswati lessons, spent time with the children at orphanages and visited the Manzini markets.

Our weekend was spent on a zip-lining canopy tour at Malolotja nature reserve, right next to the border of Swaziland and South Africa. The tour encompassed 11 zip-lines and a canopy bridge, the highest being 60 meters above the ground. The area was set between mountain ranges, which offered stunning scenic views.

With just two weeks left at our placements in Swaziland we are frantically working to help better the lives of the children in Ezulwini. We have successfully started and completed a veggie garden as a more sustainable food option for our kids. Mitch, Anna and Lucy are also working hard to get bars put on the windows of their kitchen to stop their children's food being stolen.

All in all, we are settling in well to the Swazi lifestyle and feeling more and more like locals each day.

Until next time,

Usale Kahle!

Exploring the mountainous Kingdom of Swaziland

COUNTRY: Southern Africa (Swaziland, Mozambique & South Africa)
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Emily Forbes

Sawubona to all our Australian family and friends! Our first week on the African continent has flown by, and already we have many great stories to tell.

We all arrived in Swaziland on Monday and were greeted by the staff who took us to Lidwala Lodge, our home for the duration of our stay in Swaziland. The first two days in the mountainous Kingdom of Swaziland were spent exploring the local area and settling in to our new home. We are slowly getting used to the concept of 'Swazi time', the laid back lifestyle here means that often (nearly always) things to do not run to time, but we would not have it any other way.

A highlight for many for the first few days was a visit to Lobamba Village. Here we were able to really be immersed in Swazi culture and see how the locals live. We were greeted by many local children who were excited to say hello and give us a cuddle or a high five. During our visit to the village we also had the chance to taste a freshly brewed Swazi beer, which kind of tasted like salad dressing. Our visit was followed by a traditional dinner, comprising of three different types of meat, maize and beans with chilli, tomato and onion.

On Wednesday we embarked on our journey to Kruger National Park where we would be spending the next five days on safari. After a five-hour long bus ride we arrived and were immediately greeted by hippos, giraffes and impalas. The incredible scenery and wildlife continued to amaze us over the coming days. I think I can speak for the whole group when I say that the number one highlight was spotting a leopard and watching it stalk and kill a mongoose! Some other great moments were watching a lion walk in front of us on the road and spotting a month-old baby elephant. We were lucky enough to spot the Big 5 over our time at Kruger as well as many other animals including cheetahs, baboons, kudus and a wide variety of birds. Our days were filled with unlimited game drives, however at night we enjoyed sitting around the campfire sharing stories or enjoying a cocktail by the bar that overlooked the river where elephants and hippos often came down to drink.

We are now settled back in to our home in Ezulwini, and have much to look forward to, with our first day at our neighborhood care points on Tuesday and a ziplining canopy tour of Swaziland planned for the weekend.

Until next time, Sala Kahle!

Emily

Goodbye Africa, thanks for the memories

COUNTRY: Southern Africa (Swaziland, Mozambique & South Africa)
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Elise Dean-Jones

Friends, it has come to the final stage of our trip to Southern Africa, and we couldn’t be sadder to leave.

The last blog post left you with the end of our first week in Cape Town, so here’s what we've been up to in the 3 weeks since then.

Every weekday we caught a cockroach up to our crèches, where a typical day during holiday time would involve reading stories, singing songs (some we learnt in Swaziland and taught to the kids here), playtime, lunch and then putting the kids down for a nap, which was our cue to leave for the day. We found that the kids here knew a lot more English than those in Swaziland, so when it did come time to teach or read stories the children could follow along much more easily. Despite their knowledge of the language, they sometimes chose to ignore us teachers until we offered incentives like stickers!

Unlike the others placements, our school doesn't have any electricity. This is problematic during winter mornings, where it can get very dark. So towards the end of the trip Lydia, Rosie and I all pitched in to buy some rechargeable lights for the classroom that Liesel- the principal- could charge at home when not in use at school. When we brought them in she told us "You are now bringing light into 74 people's lives", which is something I think will stay with us for a very long time.

After volunteering at our crèches in the mornings, we had the option to join in on some afternoon volunteer work around Hout Bay and Imizamo Yethu. On Monday and Thursday afternoons, a group of high school boys from the township come together to discuss ethical and moral issues within the community. We got to join in and discuss our opinions on different topics such as differences, relationships, life choices etc. I think I can say for all of us that it was a really enlightening experience to hear the boys' ideas and their positive attitudes - we could really learn a lot from each other. As a special treat we also got to take the boys on an excursion to the Cape Town Science Museum, which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

The after-school care club didn't start up again until our last week in Cape Town, during which some of us volunteers helped to re-paint the exterior walls of the main building and also donated some paint for the logo to be printed on the wall. All the staff were very impressed and so grateful that we could do this for them, and it certainly gave us immense joy to help!

Josh and I plus a few friends volunteered some of our time at a soup kitchen run by a woman called Mirriam, who twice a week serves bread and soup from the back of a car to the hungry people living in the community. She shared a story with us that a young boy had told her the reason he stole was because he was hungry and didn't have any money for food. This made her more determined to have the soup kitchen running not just twice a week, but nearly everyday, as it would not only feed people but would hopefully eradicate most of the crime in Imizamo Yethu. Us volunteers were so inspired by what she was doing that we collectively donated some money to her cause, surprisingly the equivalent to what she would receive in a month from the government. She was so grateful and overcome with emotion that it reduced us all to (happy) tears!

On the afternoons where we weren’t volunteering, we decided to see some of the sights Cape Town has to offer, including the famous Table Mountain (we were very lucky to have clear blue skies that day), the spectacular view from Chapman's Peak, and exploring the city centre of Cape Town.

A couple of weekends ago we went on the Red Bus tour, which filled us with information on Cape Town's history and enabled us to join on the Constanta Winelands Tour – which was $4 for tasting 5 different wines! The next weekend we booked a tour to see Boulders Beach, the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. The highlight was riding bicycles through the national park alongside the captivating rough ocean, where so many ships have been captured. Lydia, Rosie and Laura and a few other volunteers attempted to go shark-cage diving, but the bad weather, sea-sickness and lack of sharks made it a less than ideal day. However, luckily they went back a second time and had a much better experience, even managing to spot some sharks! Josh and a couple of other volunteers attempted to go skydiving, but unfortunately the weather resulted in it being cancelled multiple times.

All the volunteers also had the opportunity to go on a homestay in Imizamo Yethu during our final two weeks in Cape Town with two different women, one of which was Mirriam, the same woman who runs the soup kitchen. Both women had grandchildren staying in their home so we were welcomed by the whole family. It was a really wonderful experience to stay in their homes, eat their typical food and really talk and engage with each other. Needless to say we all now have families to return to in South Africa.

Our final days soon crept up on us, and all of us were very emotional and sad to be leaving. Although the children at our schools might not have understood to the full extent that we wouldn't be returning after the weekend, there were tears in our eyes when we had to say goodbye to these kids who had stolen our hearts within the last month. The teachers all hope that we will come back soon, and I know that we all really want to! Our time in Africa has been an amazing, life-changing experience, and to any future Antips volunteers who might happen to read this, I can vouch for all of us and say that we strongly recommend the Southern Africa trip; you get to see so many places and meet so many great people!

Despite splitting up to go in different directions, we know that the tight knit family we have formed will stay in contact. Our time here may be over, but we have made friends for life.

Thanks Antipodeans for the amazing experience!

Elise, Josh, Laura, Rosie and Lydia

Mixing volunteering with adventure in Southern Africa

COUNTRY: Southern Africa (Swaziland, Mozambique & South Africa)
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Elise Dean-Jones

It has come to the point where we are 2 months into our placement, and the final weeks are creeping up on us. I don't think any of us want to leave- Africa has treated us so well!

Once the weekend at the Bushfire festival ended we returned to Lidwala and commenced our final week of volunteering at our NCPs. It felt really strange that this would be our last week teaching in Swaziland, so we tried to take full advantage of our limited time. However, there was some sort of contagious cold going around the volunteers so we endured quite a struggle that week!

During the week we all had individual school sport days where volunteers and staff would conduct some games and exercises with the kids which we could all participate in. This also took the load off our shoulders, as the kids respond much better to the staff than us. For Rosie and I at Mlindazwe, our class was certainly more challenging than previously as we were informed that our teacher had her baby (who she had named the siSwati word for 'God's Plan'), so we were left on our own to manage the kids for the rest of the week. Some days we didn't have the keys unless a cooking lady arrived, so we had to spend the majority of our time outside playing educational games. Rosie and I had made some worksheets to put in exercises books, and bought stationary for the school, as well as a ball to play with outside.

Compared to our mischievous kids, the students at Laura's school in Ezulwini seemed very well behaved and got along very well with the volunteers, who found it much easier to teach them. They brought in some products for the school, like a broom, mop, floor cleaning products, toilet paper and stationary.

Lydia's school in Ekuzukekeni had 57 or so kids, so those volunteers found it very difficult to manage them. The volunteers brought a first aid kit, toiletries and some stationary. At Josh's school in Bethany, the kids were energetic and enthusiastic as always! He bought a first aid kit and some swings as the swings they previously had had broken off the set, so they were immensely happy with that. He also got them a few soccer balls, and instantly became massive supporters of Arsenal, although it may be a few more years before any of them make the team.

As Friday was our last day, we all brought in a few things to have a party for our schools, like cupcakes, biscuits, lollies (which in hindsight gave the kids way too much energy) and other treats they normally didn't get. We also brought things like balloons and bubbles, which brought with it a ton of laughter and fun for the kids. I don't think some of them even realised we were leaving - as they waved goodbye it was like we'd be back after the weekend. We really miss those kids! As naughty as some of them were, they will always remain in our hearts.

The week after, we went on a trip with some of the other volunteers to Victoria Falls. At first we were hesitant to go and miss out on a week of volunteering, but we realised that when in Africa, we have to go all-out and make the most of it! Rosie, Laura and one of the other volunteers went on a mad rush through Mbabane and ended up getting lost in Manzini attempting to get their last minute vaccinations before heading off on the trip.

We went with our guides Bob and Mpho, and it took about two days to drive there, going through South Africa and Botswana until we arrived in Zimbabwe. On the way we managed to see cows, goats, baboons, elephants and ostriches meandering near the side of the road. For the next few nights we stayed in Shoestrings Lodge in the town of Victoria Falls. We visited the Devils Pools in Zambia, where we got to swim right by the edge of the waterfall- an amazing experience. The next day the five of us all went on a Gorge Swing over the Zambezi River, where we jumped off the edge of a cliff, free fell for four seconds and swung over the water. Rosie, Lydia and I went in tandem jumps while Laura and Josh went on their own - Josh even did a handstand and went headfirst! No regrets. We're all glad we did this, as it would prepare us for bungee jumping later on in our trip! That afternoon we visited the falls, and thank god we hired some full-length rain jackets as the mist from the falls made us thoroughly drenched! It took a couple of days for our shoes to dry after that! On our last day in Vic Falls we went white water rafting in the Zambezi River. The hike down the steep mountain was enough to put us off considering how challenging it was not to fall, but we all had a great time going through the rapids. The boat that Rosie, Lydia and Josh was on managed to tip over in the waves, which actually looked like so much fun! We may have been a little envious. Until another boat decided to attack us and try to throw us into the water!

The next two days we drove back to Swaziland, stopping at the Blyde River Canyon in South Africa, the third largest Canyon in the world. Soon we arrived back in Swaziland and got ready for our next adventure down the coast to Cape Town. But we'll save that for the next blog entry!

Until next time,

Elise, Laura, Josh, Rosie and Lydia

Reliving some African Adventures

COUNTRY: Southern Africa (Swaziland, Mozambique & South Africa)
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Elise Dean-Jones

So our African adventure may have ended in real time, and some have already arrived safely home, but we still have many more stories to tell!

Following our trip to Victoria Falls, we spent another day or so in Swaziland before the 5 of us (plus Dutch volunteer Ingrid) set off for our 10 day road trip down the east coast to Cape Town, with our guide Mpho, who had also accompanied us to Victoria Falls. The first stop was St Lucia, where we went on a river boat cruise spotting hippos and crocodiles, then onto Durban, where we thoroughly enjoyed the beach scene & shopping and spent one of our days there at uShaka Marine World, a combined aquarium and water park, which our inner children really enjoyed!

During our stop in the Wild Coast we had the opportunity to meet and pat two male cheetahs- one was quite inquisitive and starting licking our legs! Laura, Josh, Ingrid and I went quad biking through the reserve, unfortunately spotting no animals. We were mainly focusing on trying to keep up with each other after numerous road incidents; Laura nearly ran into a tree at one point, and my bike decided to stop working halfway up a hill – needless to say I was gripping on the brakes for dear life to stop rolling backwards! Josh, of course, seemed to know what he was doing, and made the rest of us feel inadequate.

Our next ports of call were Port Elizabeth and then Tsitsikamma, where we bravely embarked on the world’s highest bungee bridge jump! We all knew it was coming up on our journey, but no idea that it would be today until Mpho told us during a very filling breakfast, which was a smart move, otherwise we may not have eaten that day! We arrived at Bloukrans Bridge, where we all prepared for the most frightening moment of our lives. I was chosen to go first, so I didn’t really have time to chicken out, and just jumped off! For sure it was scary, but by the time I reached the top I was jumping for joy, so proud of our achievements! Everyone went down one by one, and all bought videos/photos to show you when we get home – just in case you didn’t believe us!

The next day we went zip lining over some waterfalls, which was stunning, and Rosie, Lydia and Laura went on a Segway tour through the small town in Tsitsikamma where we were staying; despite the rain they said it was money well spent and lots of fun! The following day we finally reached Cape Town.

Hout Bay, Cape Town, would be our home for the next month as we continued with our volunteer work. During our first week we were introduced to our ‘crèches’ – similar to the NCPs we worked at in Swaziland. Lydia and Rosie were placed in Hangberg, whilst the rest of us were at schools in the Imizamo Yethu township. Unlike Swaziland, where ‘kombis’ were the primary source of public transport, in Hout Bay they had ‘cockroaches’, which were generally old, beat-up cars that took us to our schools everyday. Sometimes you couldn’t tell the difference between a cockroach and a regular car, Rosie and Lydia certainly figured that out when a stranger they had hailed down offered to give them a lift anyway!

When we first arrived at our crèches the kids instantly surrounded us, trying to grab hold of our legs in obvious excitement. Siyazama is the biggest of the 3 preschools, with over 70 kids and a large building with 3 classrooms and an outside playground. It had originally been created by the government, and it has only just been returned to the people of Imizamo Yethu. Laura and Ingrid are working at quite a small preschool, as Sophie (pronounced So-fi-ya) the principal, runs it out of her own home, and is jam packed with kids squeezed into the small rooms of her house. Lydia and Rosie's placement has no electricity, meaning no light when it is cold and dark during the winter mornings in Cape Town.

Initially we settled into our new home and preschools, even though it was school holidays for the next 3 weeks, many children still came to have something to do during the day. Some of us went to an after-school care program (more like a holiday program right now) called Ikhaya le Themb to spend time with the kids there, doing craft activities or playing netball or soccer outside.

That weekend we visited the Bay Harbour Markets, a very popular tourist spot in Hout Bay, as well as the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. The markets had amazing stalls and delicious food- I think we visited there every weekend! That's all for now- I’ll save the final 3 weeks’ adventures for the next blog!

Last weeks in Swaziland include home-stay, a chicken and long goodbyes

COUNTRY: Southern Africa (Swaziland, Mozambique & South Africa)
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Monique Bedwell & Rebecca Young

As we have been heading into our last few weeks in Swaziland, it's beginning to hit everyone that time has been passing us by so quickly!

It's our second last official week teaching at our NCP's (neighbourhood care points) and we feel that we still have so much left to do! This week everyone has been given the opportunity to do a home-stay that involves living with a Swazi family for three nights.

Whilst there you are expected to do the same chores, eat the same food and do exactly as they would in their everyday lives. After a group meeting and discussion about who is or isn't doing the home stay, it resulted in Kirsten, Aimée, Rebecca and Natasha signing up. From Tuesday through to Friday the group was very empty with the 4 girls at their home-stay but we continued our usual routines of waking up, going to NCP's and coming home. The afternoons usually were spent chilling by the pool, watching TV or making a trip down to the local shops.

The report from the home-stay made a couple of people a bit jealous that they didn't end up going. For the three nights that the girls were away they were truly immersed into the Swazi way of life. In the mornings when they got up there was no luxury of a hot running shower, instead they were given a tub/bath, a kettle to boil some water and another large bucket full of water to use in the tub/bath.

Going to the toilet wasn't that pleasant either as it was just a giant hole in the ground. As this was all to be expected they had already mentally prepared themselves for it. We've all been living in Swaziland for a while now so there were only a couple of things that really shocked them. The first was lighting a fire in the field next to their house to clear the land, and the second was killing a chicken for dinner.

The pyromaniacs were Natasha and Rebecca as the other two girls were still on their placement. All they could tell us about it was how weird it was to go against everything they had ever been taught about an open flame and dry grass. Killing the chicken on the other hand, turned out to be a whole group event. When it came time for the kill everyone had their role organised. Kirsten was to cut off its head while Rebecca held it still, then Natasha was going to gut it and cut it up. This was all a bit too much for Amiée who couldn't even watch and had to just stand there with her back towards the scene taking photos for those who were preoccupied.

The killing was a success, minus a few tears from Kirsten, but the end result was a delicious meal.

Before we left Australia, Zoe had done some fundraising to give an extra helping hand whilst here in Swaziland. When we first got here she asked our in country partner Nosipho about it to see what she could do to help out. One of the projects that needed a bit of help was a soccer tournament that they try to hold every year with the help of a sponsor. This year Zoe was their sponsor.

She was involved in having soccer jerseys made, supplying some of the equipment and food for the 150 children involved. Everyone from our group was involved in the day. A small group of us went to help with food preparations for the children, this included Zoe, Mon, Fe, and Rebecca. The remainder of the group came down to the fields to cheer on the teams and help support Zoe by being there on the day.
Meanwhile those whom were helping with the cooking were taken to Nokuthula's house. They were able to help with the chopping and preparation of the food, and then the cooking which was in a massive cauldron over an open fire which was a great experience for the girls.

The remainder of the group that were at the fields, had returned home as the lack of shade and the long hours in the sun that had taken their toll. As the day was coming to a close we were all taken back to the fields again for the grand final presentation to the winning team and runners up. Zoe presented medals to each of the team members and then surprised the winning team with her sponsored purple and orange football jerseys. The children absolutely loved their prizes.

In our time being in Swaziland we had all became aware of the importance religion has in the community and attending church was high on most of our to-do lists. Almost everyone in the group made an effort to attend church that Sunday with Menzie. Everyone had very different expectations when heading to Mbabane. The church ended up being a large tent with people of all ages attending.

We were greeted by many people who were grateful that we'd all come along to see what their services involved. Once inside music began to play. Menzie was part of the choir on stage and the atmosphere from all the people surrounding us was unbelievable. They all joined in song and dance and it was great to see how passionate they were towards their belief in God. Many prophesies were told about various individuals including a few from our group. After 4 hours of church it was time to head back to the lodge to relax for the rest of the day.

Our last week of teaching had arrived and the thought that we would be leaving soon was very surreal to everyone. We didn't feel ready to leave at all! We all began to prepare how we were going to say our farewells to children we had grown to love.

Most of our group have decided to sponsor a child to financially support them throughout their schooling which made saying goodbye even more difficult. This last week was jam packed with trying to get everything done including meeting our sponsor child's family, preparing for our final days of teaching and beginning to pack our belongings. Fe has also taken it upon her self to speak to our in-country partners about doing possible fundraising in Swaziland. As Fe has a musical talent she decided to use her fundraising money to set up a music program to benefit the children.

This music program will provide the children from the local NCP's and older kids with the opportunity to learn how to play a traditional African instrument, the Marimbula, which is like a xylophone, and later perform as a group at local hotels.

The last week flew past and before we knew it our second last day of placement in Swaziland had arrived. Roland had come to pay us a visit to tie up the last loose ends about the Victoria Falls trip we were all going on. Everyone headed over to Malendela's and made our final payments for the extra activities we had chosen to involve ourselves in. This was very painful as it was costing us quite a lot to go to Victoria Falls and our bank accounts had suddenly become sufficiently lower. When arriving back at the lodge it was madness as everyone was wanting to bake muffins and cakes for their students. Most people were throwing parties at their NCP's as a farewell and thank you to the children and teachers whom we have all been working with throughout our time in Swaziland.

We have all had very exciting experiences throughout our time teaching in the various NCP's and here's a quick insight towards our time here:

Rebecca and Natasha
"It's so hard to believe how quickly our time at the Lobamba NCP has gone. After a trying start to our placement it's so hard to leave all of those little smiling faces behind. After such a rewarding experience we can't wait to see what our project Cape Town holds."

Madi, Tarun and Kirsten
"We had fun, the kids were nice. Although it was very difficult getting to our Milendazwea NCP, every time we went there we bonded well with the kids. Seeing their smiling faces every day was such a rewarding experience. But none of us will ever be teachers."

Zoe and Fe
"It's so difficult to try and describe our time at Ezulwini NCP in just a few sentences, but to put it simply, it was incredible. We fell in love with each and every one of the kids who we are going to miss dearly. Each day brought a new challenge but with it wonderful memories that we will cherish forever. "

Harry and Aimée
"We will always remember our time in Swaziland, and the days spent at Mahlanya NCP. We hope to have made a difference in some small way, just as "our kids" have made a difference to our lives."

Louisa and Alice
"We didn't expect to enjoy the chaos that was Bethany NCP. The last week was full of fun! The highlight was watching the kids confused and bedazzled faces at their first taste of fairy bread. We will truly miss the cheeky smiling faces of all the children. "

Matt and Mon
"Our experiences of Ekuzukekeni NCP and our expectations before arriving in Swaziland cannot be compared. To see the kids turn up every day and watch them make little improvements is going to be memorable for a long time. It might not have seemed it at the time, but our struggles made every second worth it. "


After all of our goodbyes, the afternoon was left to us to get things done as it was our last week day in Swaziland. That night there was an event being held at House on Fire next to Malandela's called the 'Reggae Rumble'. Upon our arrival we realised that this was quite a large event with many people were attending. All of us grabbed a drink at the bar and found some seats to sit down and enjoy the music. The music was very catchy and before too long a dance floor had been created and people were rising from their seats to join in on the fun. A few of us decided to hit the dance floor as well.

The night was filled with fun, laughter and a lot of dancing. Everyone headed back to Lidwala Lodge at various times in the night as the long day gradually took its toll on us. The night was a massive success that everyone enjoyed, even if reggae was not our favourite genre of music.

The weekend mainly consisted of packing our bags and organising which bags we were going to take with us to Victoria Falls. On the Saturday Zoe, with the help of Fe, Madi, Louisa and Alice, organised a girls day for 24 young girls who are financially supported through All Out Africa's sponsorship program. The girls were treated to a day of games, food, swimming and all around fun. The remaining few of the group spent their time sleeping and resting by the pool or saving baby birds which had jumped out of their nest due to the heat. The girls returned and told us how much of a success the day had been and how happy it had made the sponsored girls.

All of us have grown very close to our in country partner Nosipho and a few thought for our last weekend in Swaziland we would have a sleep over at her house. Everyone had a great girls night eating pizza, chips, sushi, pasta and lollies whilst watching various chick flicks.

The remainder of the weekend consisted of making sure everything was packed for when we returned in a weeks time to then head down the Garden Route to Cape Town.

Hopefully ill have the trip down done over the weekend and then ill have the end of the trip down here in Cape Town next week before coming home to finalise the trip.

Cheers Mon .

The Garden Route - Swaziland to Cape Town

 

COUNTRY: Southern Africa Combo (Swaziland, Mozambique and South Africa)
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching and Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Danielle Edwards

Okay so here we are.. looking at the downhill run of our placement with just over six weeks left! We have only a short time to go in Swaziland which means we will then be setting off on our new adventure and travelling down to Cape Town.

Our last few days in Swaziland were spent working at our NCP's, bonding with the children while knowing that it would be a long time (if ever) until we were re-united with them. By this point we all had those few children with whom we shared a special bond. Some of us had already organized sponsorship for one or two of the children that will be on-going once we return home.

It was not only the children which we found it hard to part ways, but we all found ourselves pretty emotional when it came to saying goodbye to the other volunteers that we had grown to know and love, as well as the staff members!

We met our new guide Mpho who would be taking us on our tour all the way from Swaziland to Cape Town for the next 11-or-so days. We had a short orientation and found him to be really nice and easy to talk to, which made us all that much more keen to start the next part of our adventure. The next day we set off after a morning of emotional good-byes and last minute packing on route to St. Lucia where we would be spending the next couple of nights. The travelling group consisted of us Aussies as well as two other girls (Joyce and Sanne) from the Netherlands who would be joining us for the travels to Cape Town.

When we arrived in St. Lucia, there was another group of volunteers who had been working for a month prior - and were heading off to Swaziland the next day. They were from a variety of places including Canada, United States, England and Scotland. The next day we went to the crocodile/reptile park where we learnt about the lifestyle of the crocs and their abilities. That afternoon we went on a hippo tour in the river at St. Lucia where we got to see lots of hippos up close and see them interact in their natural environments.

After two nights in St. Lucia, we drove to Durban where we stayed at a modern lodge. From there we ventured out to sea world, where some of us had close encounters with sharks, all types of fish and marine life, as saw a group of string-rays being hand fed. We also watched a dolphin show where the production was kind of lame but the dolphins put on a good show! We spent the entire afternoon going on all the watersides at 'Wet n Wild' before returning to the lodge to pack and prepare for our long travels the following day.

After a long and tiring 9.5 hour bus ride the following day, we ended up at Wild Coast in the evening, staying at quite a large backpackers lodge with out own unit. Here we did a cheetah interaction activity, but had the opportunity to also do an elephant interaction before-hand. Only Jessie and Will took this opportunity though, but we all got the chance to pet a cheetah and get up-close and personal with them, which was pretty cool!

The next destination after Wild Coast was Port Elizabeth. The hostel where we stayed was really nice and comfortable. There wasn't much to do in the area tourism wise, so for the day that we were there we went and took a look at the Main Street with shops. It was a pretty cruisy full day spent there with not many obligations which was a nice change of pace.

The following morning we arrived at our last destination before Cape Town, Tsisikama. It was here where the worlds biggest bungee jump bridge exists, which Jessie, Will and myself took the opportunity to take advantage of. This was a truly amazing experience! We also went to other tourist attractions here which included a place called 'Monkey Land' where we went on a guided tour through a monkey enclosure home to 10 different species. Following that, we went to a snake and reptile park where we got to hold a massive yellow python!

It wasn't long before we were enduring another 10 hour bus ride (which was thankfully our last) to Cape Town where we said goodbye to our guide Mpho and took taxis to Hout Bay, which is where we will be staying for the remainder of our trip (4 weeks). Until next time!

Danielle.

A typical day at my Neighbourhood Care Point in Swaziland

 

COUNTRY: Southern Africa (Swaziland, Mozambique & South Africa)
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Danielle Edwards

Hey everyone! Sorry about the delayed updates of our trip! Things have been super busy here in Swaziland over the past 3-and-a-bit weeks, spare time has been pretty limited. The four of us volunteers are having an absolute ball here, and already dreading the fact that we have less than 2 weeks left in Swaziland until we begin our new adventure to Cape Town, South Africa. After having the excitement of being in Kruger park for the first week, it was now time for us to get really stuck into the community work we came here to do.

There were so many mixed emotions when we reached the first morning of our NCP (Neighbourhood Community Point) work, we didn’t know what to expect and what would be required. Issy and Will were in a group along with another volunteer from the Netherlands. Jessie was also placed with a girl also from the Netherlands to work in a rural NCP. I was placed with a Dutch volunteer, so it has been good for us to be able to spend time and interact with our international partners.

The first time we walked into our individual NCPs, the children came swarming towards us and greeted us with huge smiles and big warm hugs, the feeling was overwhelming and amazing at the same time. I noticed that many of the children were wearing clothes with holes and tears in them, along with shoes that were so worn the soles were non-existant. This was upsetting at first but after a couple of days it was something that we learned to accept as a sad fact of life for these children in Swaziland. Although it was blatantly evident that these children did not have much, they were all always so HAPPY and POSITIVE.
At Ekuzukekeni (my NCP); from 9:15am until between 10 and 10:30am the children do lessons and learn English. They already know a few things in English such as numbers, the alphabet, days of the week, months of the year, shapes, animals, time or colours. It is incredible the amount that the children know considering the majority of them are at kindergarten level and also considering English is not their first language. Each day, we volunteers will prepare different lessons to help revise what the children already know, and expand their knowledge further as best we can.
 

After the first set of lessons, the children will eat their breakfast after praying and washing their hands out of a bucket. There are two cooks at the school who will prepare the food for the children, anywhere between 25-55 kids per day. It’s upsetting to discover that a percentage of the children that go to the NCP’s have little food at home and therefore they come to school just to be fed 1 square meal. They eat Maize which is similar to porridge but has more of gooey texture. Breakfast done, the children will play for a little while before being brought back into class for further lessons. Often, this is when we will give the children worksheets for them to complete with the help of the volunteers and the classroom teacher. Before we know it, lunch time comes when the children are usually served a traditional Swazi food called Pap along with beans and other vegetables if they are available.

Not long after the children have eaten lunch, they will brush their teeth with toothbrushes and toothpaste provided by previous volunteers to the NCP. They will say a prayer and sing songs before departing for the day. Many of the children who do not live close to the NCP will be driven home in a car, sitting in the tray of a ute, whereas others will walk home along with their relatives.

The challenge for the volunteers has been to prepare lessons and subjects to teach the children for the following day. There are ages between 3 - 7 years in one classroom at a time so it is crucial to ensure that there is enough challenge all students, as well as simplicity to meet the requirements of the younger kids. Once a week, each NCP has a sports day where some of our staff come to the school to play games and sing songs with all of the children to give them a break from studying - as well to educate them about physical activities. Dance is a big part of the Swaziland culture so that's always a big part of it!

There were also chances during this week to participate in activities in the afternoons, such as hospital visits, painting at NCP’s and SiSwati lessons. Visiting the children in the main hospital in Swaziland was quite an overwhelming experience as it was difficult to interact with some of the patients. There were sick children, with parents who didn’t know much English who we were trying to cheer up and make feel better. Don’t get me wrong, some children loved the attention and toys, other families didn’t appreciate the intrusion of outsiders coming in a large group, which I personally can’t say that I blame them.

Our second weekend in, we spent at Malalodja to go zip-lining! The weather was not off to a good start, with heaps of wind and possible chances of rain. The place where we stayed was so cute, they were little cottages with proper blankets and duvet’s, and we had such a good sleep! The next morning we woke up bright and early to head off zip-lining, luckily the clouds had cleared up in the sky and we had an awesome day zip-lining. It was such a rush to glide along the wires between the mountains; it was truly an incredible experience.

The week that followed the zip-lining weekend was also spent at our NCP’s working with the children in the same way as the first week of volunteering. This week was more special I personally think though because at this point we have started to form a bond with the children and have seen them grow since the first day that we met them. We started to notice certain children who have got a better understanding on writing letters of the alphabet, or other kids who can almost write their names. I think it’s a great thing to take the time to not only notice these improvements, but to congratulate and acknowledge them.

Our next adventure in the placement was the 5 night trip to Mozambique where we got quite a change of atmosphere and we had time to chill out, relax and enjoy the ocean-side. We got to experience the local social scene at the bars, and meet new people there. One thing that I noticed in Mozambique was that everyone was trying to sell us something, whether it was boys walking around with trays of bracelets or elderly people walking along the beach trying to sell various things like clothing, sarongs, artwork, seafood, fruit, wooden figures or anything else you can think of, at first we would politely refuse up until it got to a point where we had to be stern and consistent with our answer of ‘no’ otherwise they physically would not leave us alone. We also went on an ocean safari on one of the days in Mozambique where we had the chance to see whale sharks, dolphins and manta rays, but unfortunately we saw none of the sort. One of our fellow travellers wasn’t in the best state on the boat ride leaving him feeling ill and pale faced, but unfortunately for him, he can only blame himself from the night before! Other volunteers also participated in other activities in their spare time such as horse-back riding, surfing, and bargain hunting at the markets and just tanning/relaxing on the beach. It was such a great week all in all, but by the end we were glad to be heading back to Swaziland because it is such a great place.

Not only were we excited to get back to Swaziland, we were also more than keen to go to the annual Bushfire Festival which goes over 3 days with artists from many different states performing live on the stage there! There were craft and food stalls with stock from different countries. There were plenty of late nights and early mornings with good food/drink and brilliant music! There were so many people who had travelled from all over to attend the festival, so it was great to interact with other tourists.

Now Bushfire is over and we are getting stuck back into our project work at the NCP’s this week! Sorry for keeping you all in suspense for this long! Talk soon J

Making a difference in Swaziland, through donations, supplies and sponsorship

COUNTRY: Southern Africa (Swaziland, Mozambique & South Africa)
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Lucy Coles

The last two weeks have come and gone quickly in Swaziland, with the Antipodeans keeping ourselves busy as we finished our project work here in Swaziland. We have all enjoyed our project work immensely and will miss the kids when it’s time to move on to South Africa on Tuesday.

Despite frustrating transport problems, Laura, Sarah and Alex have been working at Mlindazwe NCP, where they’ve done a fantastic job of teaching the kids even though they’ve been a bit cheeky at times (for example, locking their teachers in the classroom...). They have learned a lot of siSwati phrases and Laura says that they are becoming more and more patient every day as the kids come up with new tricks.

At Mahlanya, Jacinta and Jaimee have been working with their twenty kids, many of whom are ready to go to school next year. Jacinta teaches the older kids while Jaimee takes the younger ones, and the teacher at the NCP, Patience, goes between their classrooms to help them out. Not only have they been able to donate a huge amount of supplies such as toothbrushes, soap, toilet paper, sports equipment and resources to the NCP, but they’ve also secured sponsorship for many of their students to go to primary school next year.

Miri has been working with another Alex, an Australian volunteer, at Ezulwini NCP. They’ve been preparing great activities for their fifty kids and have made donations of food and materials to the NCP.

At Lobamba NCP, Katie, Lara and Dylan have made a huge difference in providing medical care for kids who have needed it, painting classrooms, making donations of food and cleaning supplies and taking all of their children to the cinema.

Taylah has been working at Bethany NCP with two Dutch volunteers, who are also on the Kruger to Cape trip. They’ve really fallen in love with all of the children and had a great day with them last week, taking them to the cinema at the Gables to see Brave. At the moment, they’re trying to track down supplies to donate to their school, such as pencils, workbooks and other supplies.

Finally, Georgie, Lauren and I have been at Ekuzukekeni, “the NCP under the tree”. We have kept ourselves busy with decorating the newly built classroom. Georgie and Lauren’s fundraising has allowed them to donate materials for a kitchen shelter, a blackboard, carpets, a chair for the teacher and tables and benches for the children. On Friday, we took all fifty kids on a day trip first to the local clinic for medical care, and then to the cinema to cheer them up. It was sad to see that some of the kids had missed out on routine childhood vaccinations and many were upset at the thought of having injections but they were all in high spirits at the end of the day.

Aside from working at the NCPs, we’ve all enjoyed relaxing in our free time and getting to know the local area, from Mbabane (the capital city) to Sheba’s Brest (a mountain behind the lodge). We've now had two staff v volunteers soccer matches, both of which we may or may not have won; the results are always hard to determine. The new volunteers, with whom we all got on really well, left this morning for Mozambique and we are looking forward to new adventures commencing on Tuesday as we slowly make our way to Cape Town, but will definitely be sad to leave behind Swaziland and all the children we've become so close to.

Kruger safari and Swazi life - first blog from the south of Africa!

COUNTRY: Southern Africa (Swaziland, Mozambique & South Africa)
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Bryar Hawkins

Our first week in Southern Africa kicked off with a bang, beginning in Kruger National park. The camp site ‘Lower Sabie’ became our home as did the ritual game drives and animal encounters.

We were fortunate enough to see the BIG 5 on the first day and surprisingly it only got better as the week progressed. We had an “eventful” night drive, which included observing some rhinos up close and being charged by an aggressive adolescent elephant.
One week in and we highly doubted the week getting any better!


However, we packed up our tents and headed back to Swaziland to meet our kids at our respective NCPs (Neighbourhood Community Points) Bryar and Chicky teach at Bethany NCP and Izzy and Brad have settles into Ezulwini NCP.

We all instantly fell in love with our kids and started to bond from the very first day. After spending two weeks with our cheeky, playful kids we had some time to relax and party at the annual Swazliand music festival ‘BUSHFIRE’! 3 days of amazing music, culture and art made us feel even more at home in Swaziland.

Just as we were finally feeling settled in we were shipped off to Mozambique for a week of sun, surf and tanning. The week consisted of an ocean safari, kayaking in terrible conditions (having to get rescued) and a cultural tour of an isolated local island.

One of the highlights was certainly the local rum ‘Tipo Tinto’, which was a big hit amongst both us and the locals. Returning home and having to say goodbye to our friends from England we settled back into Swazi life and have another excited 3 weeks ahead at our NCPs.

Bryar & Brad xxxxxxx

Bungee jumps and zip lines from Swaziland to Capetown for our Gappers in Southern Africa

Our last few days in Swaziland passed in a blur as we were organising little goodbye parties at our NCPs, sponsorships for children and checking Mandla’s (mentioned in an earlier blog) therapy and transport was organised for the next few months. During the last weekend in Swaziland we got together as a group and participated in a Cancer Awareness March as part of October’s Breast Cancer awareness month. Tessa and Emily opted for the Breast Cancer Run. A few days later we were pleased to see that we even made it onto the National News! After 6 enjoyable weeks based at Lidwala lodge in Swaziland we all found it sad to say goodbye to the staff and volunteers who had become like family. However, thanks to technology like Facebook and emails we’ll be able to stay in touch and hopefully organise a visit again soon. Nevertheless, adventure laid ahead for us 11 Australians with an 11-day road trip along the Garden Route to Cape Town where our second placement will take place.

Our first leg of the journey took us to St Lucia where we were hit with our first view of civilisation, seing sushi bars and coffee shops. While in St Lucia we ventured on a Hippo Cruise and visited the Wetlands Park Crocodile Farm, which was a World Heritage Site.

The next stop was Durban, the group was buzzing from the excitement of stepping into McDonalds after months, followed by visiting a theme park where we all enjoyed ourselves. We spent 2 nights in Durban. For one of the days we visited a Sea World theme park where we enjoyed water slides and visited an amazing Aquarium. Out of an amphitheatre of people, Jozie’s vibrant and happy self got her the chance to play with Dolphins. I swear you could hear our cheers a mile away!

Although we all love a good road trip the journey from Durban to the Wild Coast was a NIGHTMARE when a predicted 7hr trip turned into a 10hr trip, which included vomiting in and out of the van- for unknown reasons- for most of us we have tried to block the memory. However waking up the next morning on the Wild Coast and seeing the scenery with clear coastlines and blue skies yesterday’s dramas were soon forgotten. That day on the Wild Coast for some of the girls, I can safely say, was unforgettable as they paid less than $10 to cuddle and play with cheaters and elephants in a game reserve nearby.

At every stop minus, Port Elizabeth, we spent 2 fabulous nights in getting to know the place and it’s surroundings. We spent one night in Port Elizabeth where most of us bathed in the enjoyment of free Internet and digital TV.

The second last stop Titsikamma, where I am writing this blog from, is one of South Africa’s adventure and fun packed destinations. As a group we all went zip lining from tree to tree in a nearby forest. Mitch and I decided to face our fears and do the World’s highest bridge bungee jumps and free fall 216m. Bungee jumping was definitely one of the most thrilling and adrenaline filled things we have both ever done.

From here we start the last leg to Cape Town for the final 4weeks, where we start our second placements. We are over half way through our trip here in Southern Africa and it has been unforgettable for all of us. The friendships we have built, the adventures and experiences we’ve faced have been incredible. We have so many amazing memories and stories to come home and tell you all about. Not long now!

Interested in volunteering in Africa? What about teaching English overseas? Antipodeans Abroad specialises in gap year ideas and volunteer travel experience. Find out more at our website http://www.antipodeans.com.au.

Swimming with whale sharks at Tofo, Mozambique

LIZZY HALIKOS , GAPBREAK VOLUNTEER, SOUTHERN AFRICA 2011

Imagine being surrounded by hundreds of palm trees, kilometers of white sandy beaches and crystal clear ocean, which hides some of the most amazing animals such as whale sharks and manta ray. We antipodeans were fortune enough to spend a week living in this heaven best known as Tofo in Mozambique. We would fall asleep to the sounds of the waves crashing against the sand dunes only metres away, everyday was cloudless and optimal weather for those sun hungry tanners.

Our second day was spent snorkeling with whale sharks amongst other things. By far snorkeling only centimeters away from the world’s biggest fish was a major highlight in Mozambique. At every opportunity when a dark shadow was seen in the water we would dive in and stalk the beautiful creature for as long as we could, fortunately whale sharks hover just under the surface of the water making it easy to get close to them. Dearest parents don’t worry they are perfectly harmless to humans their teeth are minuscule to even the human size tooth (so we were told anyway).

Also during our stay in Tofo, we kayaked to a nearby island which homes roughly 300 locals. Meeting some of the locals on the island we discovered that they are self sufficient, living off their own produce and what the ocean surrounding them has to offer. We were welcomed with a very large feast of seafood for most we felt like we were having Christmas lunch, for non-seafood eaters the potatoes chips was as exciting as it got.

Our week was filled with many other adventures, some diving at a nearby coral reef, others took a picturesque horse ride along the beach. For Joni and I battling the mosquitoes was as hard as is got on this holiday. We all truly relaxed here in Tofo. The beach was very enthralling at every opportunity we would lounge about reading, tanning or swimming along this amazing coastline.

Tofo was a perfect break but we were happy to get back to mosquito free, sand free beds in the beautiful Kingdom of Swaziland. We have two weeks left here in Swaziland, where we will continue to work in our Neighborhood Care Points, hospital and doing home visits. I can say for everyone that this trip so far has been an incredible experience and has really opened up our eyes to how others live. The satisfaction of teaching these kids is amazing especially when you’ve made progress and they can understand something they hadn’t before.

Many of us have used a bit of our fundraised money and bought toothbrushes and toothpaste for the child at our NCPs. Most of the children had never seen or used a toothbrush before, after a little bit of perseverance the children learnt to brush their teeth without eating the toothpaste off first. Even though we will be leaving Swaziland some of us will continue to be attached to the projects by choosing to sponsor a number of children to go to school other the next 7years. I guess every little bit counts.

Interested in volunteering in Southern Africa? What about teaching English overseas? Antipodeans Abroad specialises in volunteer travel and has plenty of gap year ideas. Find out more here.

Goat races in Swaziland: Gappers begin their volutneer work

Two weeks have passed in a flash. We have all settled into the Swazi life style like a breeze. The atmosphere here is very laid back and easy going. These past two weeks were spent at our Neighbourhood Care Points (NCPs) best explained as schools for orphaned and vulnerable children between the ages of 3-5. In the morning we catch a Kombie (Swaziland version of public transport) to our NCPs and again at lunch back to the lodge, without fail marriage proposals and men asking to paint our portraits.

We were split into groups and placed at different NCPs. These care points are all run and funded by volunteers such as ourselves, most of the NCPs were well developed with buildings as classrooms making it easy for us to teach. Katie and Joni on the other hand weren’t so lucky and were placed at Elangeni NCP where they had to take their class under an Avocado tree. Wherever we were positioned it is fair to say we loved our children and we were never seen without a child in our arms, most of the time these children were simply after a hug. Nonetheless some were after a bit of fun and found it humorous to constantly pull down Maddy’s pants.

Just before we started our placement, World Vision the provided of food for our NCPs, pulled out of their contract to supply due to East Africa’s food crisis leaving us scrambling to get money together for these children to be able to eat. Luckily we are able to provide food for these children in the short term, we are still working on a long term solution. Our afternoons here in Swaziland were spent either doing home visits or visiting children in the hospital. At both visits we always brought balloons and some toys in hand for the children to play with. During one home visit we met a 25yr old man Mandla, who is disabled and suffers from epilepsy, Mandla has never walked and as a result doesn’t leave the house since he can’t afford a wheelchair either. As a group we decided to pay for his rehabilitation and to his family’s and our disbelief he may be able to walk again after a lifetime house ridden.

During our stay here in Swaziland we visited a cultural village where we were an audience to cultural Swazi dancing and singing. A group of us even had a shot at the local dance. Later that day we visited the water fall where some braved the cold water and went for a dip. One highlight to our cultural events this week involves getting dressed up for the races… goat races! Our goat named Go Piggy Piggy Piggy was in the lead for a while but came second last, nevertheless we did come home with Best Named Goat Award.

All in all we have been having a wonderful time here in the beautiful Kingdom of Swaziland. Our next adventure is a week in Mozambique spent kayaking, snorkeling with whale sharks and tanning on the serene Mozambique coastline. Till then, Sala Kahle.

Are you interested in becoming a Teaching English Overseas or Volunteering in Africa? Antipodeans Abroad specialises in educational and volunteer travel overseas – find out more here.

Maiden Gappers land in the Kingdom of Swaziland

Siyabonga to you all from the beautiful kingdom of Swaziland, it has been a week since most of us landed in the mountainous landscape of Swaziland safe and sound.

Our first 6 weeks are based in Lidwala Lodge where we are in a truly chilled out environment, nothing happens exceedingly fast and we are forced to live by ‘African Time’, which generally means an hour later than the norm. This lodge really does feel like a home away from home, Nisipho our Swazi coordinator has made us feel right at home apart from giving us the old AIDs talk, (similar to the good old Birds and the Bees chat) she like all the staff here at Lidwala are wonderful and extremely friendly.
We spent our first day at Lidwala having orientation, preparing ourselves for the adventures which lay ahead; First of which is our exploration into the Kruger National Park. Before starting our volunteer work, the Antips crew with a combination of Swedish, Danish, German and English volunteers jumped into vans and made the 3 hour journey in the Park. 

This trip into the park could not have been made any better without our handy dandy tour guide Psycology (purposely without the ‘h’), not only did this man love singing to Celine Dion but he also showed us things which you can’t see on the discovery channel, as he constantly reminded us. Within the first half an hour on Safari we saw giraffes, zebras, lions & of course saw A LOT of Impala.

 By the second day impala wore off as a novelty along with Pumbas also known as warthogs. The five days in the Park was mostly spent with camera’s in hand, eyes peeled and Katie’s depressing selection of music playing in the van, however with a little bit of patience some of the most amazing animals on the planet were seen. After one particularly hot African day sitting in the un-airconditioned van for 3hours, we spotted lions by the side of the road, minutes later while positioned less than 3metres away the larger lion begins mating with the lioness (as photographed). We continued our safari and with a little bit of patience we saw leopards up close, baby monkeys and baboons mating.

A message to the parents, no need to worry we are all in good health only one fainting incident where we had many qualified helpers at hand, apart from that some of us have suffered from vivid and obscure dreams thanks to Malaria prevention tablets. 

Luckily we have all very quickly felt right at home with each other some of us choosing to not shower for over 6 days. If the next 11 weeks are anything like this it will be an amazing and unforgettable experience. Don’t be deceived by all our good times, we are still missing you at home. 

Cheers, Lizzy