I started off this week feeling really tired which was strange as I'd had quite a lot of sleep over the weekend. Hilde left on Sunday to go to Cape Town with her family which is sad coz I'll miss her and now our room feels empty, but because she managed to get her visa extended she's coming back which is happy but not as a volunteer which is sad but at least she is coming back. Which is happy.
On Monday we had a day on the boats. For the first trip we were on Damara which is the biggest boat Ocean Blue has. They have three boats - Damara, Damara II and Gaia, Gaia being the smallest. The only thing we saw (apart from the thousands of seals) was a couple of blows from some Bryde's whales but unfortunately they were too far away and too fast to be able to see them properly. On the second trip we were on Gaia (my first time out in her and i liked her!) we didn't even see any blows. However I did the guiding when we got to the seals at Robberg (rob meaning seal, berg meaning mountain (see I am learning something!!)) and I think I did quite well. Even though we didn't see anything that exciting the guests seemed happy and when we got back they bought loads of Ocean Blue merch which must've been a sign that they were happy with the service they received!
Every other Tuesday our job is to go to Tenikwa - an animal rehabilitation centre - and remove alien tree species. This was one of those Tuesdays! It was a really hot day so it was quite hard work but we managed to get rid quite a few trees. We were then offered a tour round the enclosures (for free!). We saw African Wild Cats, Servals, caracals, a leopard (I love leopards!!) and cheetahs. With a few, including the cheetahs, we were actually allowed into the enclosures. The cheetahs have been at Tenikwa since they were very small so they are very used to humans which is why the public are allowed into their enclosure. However, they are still wild animals so we still had to be on alert, just in case. It was pretty cool to be able to get so close to them.
We also did a beach clean up (although it was actually by the side of a road next to a river rather than on a beach!) and managed to collect 12.5 kg of crap between the three of us. Once we'd done we had to wait for Ulrica to pick us up so we pissed about taking silly photos of ourselves. It was very fun and I laughed so much that it hurt. Once we were back at the house we sorted through all the rubbish and then washed the ORCA mobile.
In the evening there was the BEST lightening storm I've ever seen! It was lighting up the sky and you could see the huge forks flashing across the clouds. It was amazing. Me Chanel and Freddie laid on the roof the watch it and got very wet! It was fun. I laughed a lot and now my stomach hurts. I am in a funny mood. Weeeeeeeeeee!!!!
On Wednesday I can't remember what we did. Did we go on a hike? Yes we did. We hiked in Nature's Valley and it was beautiful. Halfway through you get to a beach and its like out of a film or something. So beautiful. We did a beach clean up but there wasn't really anything to find as it's a nature reserve and there are people who clean up there anyway I think. The second half of the hike was pretty much all up hill and I did it fairly fast as I wanted to get it over with which was silly as it was a really hot day so when I got to the top I was crazy dizzy. But it was ok, I didn't faint or anything but my vision was all wobbly. Oops.
Thursday we went to preschool. As it's Easter this weekend we had an Easter themed lesson for them. We played Easter bingo where they had to match up Easter themed pictures, I read them a story about the Easter bunny and we did an Easter egg hunt for them in the playground. I love the kids there, they are so cute and so well behaved and lovely and they loved the lessons. In the afternoon we went on the boat and it was amazing because we saw looooads of bottlenose dolphins. It was so amazing I think I almost cried. There was probably over a hundred of them and they were all round the boat and really close and I got some awesome pictures of them. I bloody loved it.
On Friday it was shit weather. Cold and rainy so there were no boats going out. We did some bits and bobs at Ocean Blue. Luckily the weather cleared up a bit in the afternoon so we managed to get on a boat. We didn't see anything apart from a seal eating a huge ray which was actually pretty cool. It kept trying to rip it to pieces in order to eat it as it was so big. Back on land I was feeling wobbly and sea sick which is weird as I don't tend to get sea sick and the sea wasn't even bad. We went home and I had a nice lie down. God I sound like an old lady. We went out and got nice and drunk that night. It was fun.
Saturday I was pretty hungover so didn't do much in the day. In the evening we went to watch some rugby which I don't really care about but it was fun coz we got a bit drunk and stuff. We then had to take Lore to catch her coach. She's going to Cape Town for two weeks with her boyfriend. We then decided to go out again, which again was fun but I was sooo tired. I am sad and can't handle two nights in a row haha. (Old lady *cough* old lady).
Sunday was really horrible weather. Cold and very rainy. So we went to the cinema. We watched Wreck it Ralph which I really liked and then we decided to stay and watch Flight with Denzel Washington, which was also very good. I would recommend it! Then we went home and made pizzas and I went to bed early as I was tired and again apparently I'm an old lady.
Apologies that these posts are so long. Is anyone actually bothering to read all this or should I condense my posts so they're not as long? Feedback would be appreciated, ta!
Tuesday, 26 March 2013
Sunday, 24 March 2013
SHARKS ATTACK!!
On Friday we took a two hour drive to Mossel Bay to try our hands at shark cage diving. Yes that's right. Diving. With sharks. Great white sharks at that. This has always been something that I thought I'd be too scared to do but I felt it was an experience that I shouldn't miss out on. We had to be there at 8.15 so we left at the obscene time of 5.45. The morning feels like a blur as I was still half asleep. At one point we nearly ran over something that Freddie insisted was a wolf but was in fact some kind of husky dog. Anyway, I'm getting off point.
Four of us went but there were only 3 places on the boat as it had been booked for the three volunteers (me Hilde and Freddie (and for free also instead of over 1000 rand, waney!)) and Chanel had very kindly driven us. However when we got there Hilde decided she didn't want to do it so Chanel managed to take her place (not helped by the rude and unfriendly staff I have to say!) But anyway, we got on the boat and were away. We drove out to a small rocky island where a colony of seals live as this is the area the sharks come to (they nom on the seals!) We only had to wait about 20 minutes for some sharks to appear. I knew from seeing them on TV and that they are big fish, but there is no way to gage truly how big they are until you see them in the flesh. And seriously, they are huge. Massive. Enourmous. HUMONGOUS. And I was about to get in the water with them. Separated by a cage yes. But still.
We were the second group to get in the cage. Six people get in at a time. It was kind of long and thin. We put on wetsuits (I hate putting on wetsuits - so hard to get on!!) and snorkel masks and then we got into the cage.
The staff on the boat used a tuna head to lure the sharks closer to the cage, and they really did get close! It was amazing to see them like this you could see even better just how big they are. The biggest ones were easily as long as the cage with six people in it! One crazy moment was when one grabbed the fish head in its mouth and thrashed around with it right next to the cage. You could properly see all its hundreds of teeth and you realised just how strong they really are. I screamed at one point when a shark swam straight at me with its mouth wide open. I knew it couldn't get me but it was still scary looking straight into its mouth!!!
I was quite glad I wasn't in the 3rd group of people as they had some quite frisky sharks who kept hitting the cage (one actually jumped out of the water and hit the cage head first!) It was great to watch from the boat though.
It was such a great experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone! It's a shame that the company were a bit rude and not very helpful but the actual experience was amazing!
Photo credit goes to Chanel Hauvette.
Four of us went but there were only 3 places on the boat as it had been booked for the three volunteers (me Hilde and Freddie (and for free also instead of over 1000 rand, waney!)) and Chanel had very kindly driven us. However when we got there Hilde decided she didn't want to do it so Chanel managed to take her place (not helped by the rude and unfriendly staff I have to say!) But anyway, we got on the boat and were away. We drove out to a small rocky island where a colony of seals live as this is the area the sharks come to (they nom on the seals!) We only had to wait about 20 minutes for some sharks to appear. I knew from seeing them on TV and that they are big fish, but there is no way to gage truly how big they are until you see them in the flesh. And seriously, they are huge. Massive. Enourmous. HUMONGOUS. And I was about to get in the water with them. Separated by a cage yes. But still.
We were the second group to get in the cage. Six people get in at a time. It was kind of long and thin. We put on wetsuits (I hate putting on wetsuits - so hard to get on!!) and snorkel masks and then we got into the cage.
The staff on the boat used a tuna head to lure the sharks closer to the cage, and they really did get close! It was amazing to see them like this you could see even better just how big they are. The biggest ones were easily as long as the cage with six people in it! One crazy moment was when one grabbed the fish head in its mouth and thrashed around with it right next to the cage. You could properly see all its hundreds of teeth and you realised just how strong they really are. I screamed at one point when a shark swam straight at me with its mouth wide open. I knew it couldn't get me but it was still scary looking straight into its mouth!!!
I was quite glad I wasn't in the 3rd group of people as they had some quite frisky sharks who kept hitting the cage (one actually jumped out of the water and hit the cage head first!) It was great to watch from the boat though.
It was such a great experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone! It's a shame that the company were a bit rude and not very helpful but the actual experience was amazing!
Photo credit goes to Chanel Hauvette.
Thursday, 21 March 2013
Week Two.
So my second week in Plett has been just as busy and eventful as the first! Again apologies if this is really long!
MONDAY
On Monday we went out on the boat as we do every Monday, weather permitting. Before we went out Tracy's husband Derek wanted to make a quick video about Oscar the turtle and what we are doing to help him. So he filmed us measuring and feeding him. it was weird as I don't really like seeing myself on camera! He edited it and now you can even watch it on youtube. Luckily I'm not in it much!
On the boat I didn't want to get my hopes up that we'd see anything good but I shouldn't have been so pessimistic! We saw humpback dolphins which are the rarest dolphins that we get in the bay and are listed as endangered on the Red List. They are notoriously shy and difficult to take pictures of. These are only the second species of dolphin I have ever seen in the wild and I really liked them, however we didn't manage to get very close. On this trip I also got to see my very first whale. I have wanted to whales so badly for so long so I was very excited. We saw a Bryde's whale and like the humpback dolphins they are very shy and difficult to track. But I saw a whale!!!!
We went out again on the 12.30 boat and we saw more humpback dolphins but this time they were much closer and more of them. We also saw another Bryde's whale and again we saw it much closer. I love whales!
TUESDAY
Today me Hilde and Chanel went on a hike in Robberg Nature Reserve. Robberg is where the colony of 4000 seals live and you always get to see them on boat trips. The hike is really beautiful and half way through you reach a massive sand dune that leads to a beach. We ran down it like crazy people. It was fun. At the beach we did a beach clean up and collected loads and loads of bits of plastic and cigarettes and bottle caps that had been left or had been washed up there. In the afternoon we did a SASS. I can't remember what it stands for but basically it's dome to evaluate the health of a river. So you take a sample of water and you look to see how many different species of insects are in the sample. In the end you come out with a number which tells you how healthy the river is.
In the evening we went to Nature's Valley to join some friends on the beach who were having a braai. It was really cold but fun and there was the cutest golden retriever puppy so I was happy!
WEDNESDAY
Today we went out on the boat again. We were on a boat named Fat Boy which actually belongs to another company. Again we managed to see some Bryde's whales. The guide reckoned there were quite a few in the bay and we managed to get quite close to a few. I really bloody like whales.
In the afternoon we studied for our marine guiding exam that we were planning to do the next day at 8am. There is a lot of information to learn as we need to know about Plett and the surrounding area, all the animals we could possibly encounter on a trip, how to give a briefing to customers and all sorts of other stuff. I was worried I would never be able to remember it all!!
In the evening we went to Surf Cafe again for open mic night. None of us snag this time but it was Marlies's birthday so she got on stage while the whole bar sang happy birthday to her and she got a free shot.
THURSDAY
In the morning we took our exam. We were given 3 hours to complete it but because I had been there 2 weeks less than the others I only had to do half of it. Once the exam was over we drove down to Ocean Blue where we were to go out on the boats. Freddie and Hilde were going to do the practical part of their exam - guiding on the boat! I was feeling sick so I decided not go out as I didn't want to make myself feel worse! Instead I stayed back with Charlie who helped me study to complete the rest of my exam, which I did, and I passed, yay! All that is left now for me to do is the practical part.
In the afternoon we did something that I'll never forget. Tracy knows one of the researchers who works at Knysna elephant park. They have a two week old baby elephant who has been rejected by its mother and we were specially invited to go and meet her. The public is yet to be allowed to see her as she is so young. She was unbelievably amazing. Because she was so young she didn't have very good coordination and because of this she stumbled a lot and didn't really walk in a straight line. SHE WAS SO CUTE!!! We weren't allowed to touch her as they want her to have as little human contact as possible. However she came up to each of us and touched us with her trunk which was surprisingly strong! It was truly amazing to be in the company of such an animal. I could've watched her all day.
I got a super early night as we were off early in the morning to do something exciting!
MONDAY
On Monday we went out on the boat as we do every Monday, weather permitting. Before we went out Tracy's husband Derek wanted to make a quick video about Oscar the turtle and what we are doing to help him. So he filmed us measuring and feeding him. it was weird as I don't really like seeing myself on camera! He edited it and now you can even watch it on youtube. Luckily I'm not in it much!
On the boat I didn't want to get my hopes up that we'd see anything good but I shouldn't have been so pessimistic! We saw humpback dolphins which are the rarest dolphins that we get in the bay and are listed as endangered on the Red List. They are notoriously shy and difficult to take pictures of. These are only the second species of dolphin I have ever seen in the wild and I really liked them, however we didn't manage to get very close. On this trip I also got to see my very first whale. I have wanted to whales so badly for so long so I was very excited. We saw a Bryde's whale and like the humpback dolphins they are very shy and difficult to track. But I saw a whale!!!!
We went out again on the 12.30 boat and we saw more humpback dolphins but this time they were much closer and more of them. We also saw another Bryde's whale and again we saw it much closer. I love whales!
TUESDAY
Today me Hilde and Chanel went on a hike in Robberg Nature Reserve. Robberg is where the colony of 4000 seals live and you always get to see them on boat trips. The hike is really beautiful and half way through you reach a massive sand dune that leads to a beach. We ran down it like crazy people. It was fun. At the beach we did a beach clean up and collected loads and loads of bits of plastic and cigarettes and bottle caps that had been left or had been washed up there. In the afternoon we did a SASS. I can't remember what it stands for but basically it's dome to evaluate the health of a river. So you take a sample of water and you look to see how many different species of insects are in the sample. In the end you come out with a number which tells you how healthy the river is.
In the evening we went to Nature's Valley to join some friends on the beach who were having a braai. It was really cold but fun and there was the cutest golden retriever puppy so I was happy!
WEDNESDAY
Today we went out on the boat again. We were on a boat named Fat Boy which actually belongs to another company. Again we managed to see some Bryde's whales. The guide reckoned there were quite a few in the bay and we managed to get quite close to a few. I really bloody like whales.
In the afternoon we studied for our marine guiding exam that we were planning to do the next day at 8am. There is a lot of information to learn as we need to know about Plett and the surrounding area, all the animals we could possibly encounter on a trip, how to give a briefing to customers and all sorts of other stuff. I was worried I would never be able to remember it all!!
In the evening we went to Surf Cafe again for open mic night. None of us snag this time but it was Marlies's birthday so she got on stage while the whole bar sang happy birthday to her and she got a free shot.
THURSDAY
In the morning we took our exam. We were given 3 hours to complete it but because I had been there 2 weeks less than the others I only had to do half of it. Once the exam was over we drove down to Ocean Blue where we were to go out on the boats. Freddie and Hilde were going to do the practical part of their exam - guiding on the boat! I was feeling sick so I decided not go out as I didn't want to make myself feel worse! Instead I stayed back with Charlie who helped me study to complete the rest of my exam, which I did, and I passed, yay! All that is left now for me to do is the practical part.
In the afternoon we did something that I'll never forget. Tracy knows one of the researchers who works at Knysna elephant park. They have a two week old baby elephant who has been rejected by its mother and we were specially invited to go and meet her. The public is yet to be allowed to see her as she is so young. She was unbelievably amazing. Because she was so young she didn't have very good coordination and because of this she stumbled a lot and didn't really walk in a straight line. SHE WAS SO CUTE!!! We weren't allowed to touch her as they want her to have as little human contact as possible. However she came up to each of us and touched us with her trunk which was surprisingly strong! It was truly amazing to be in the company of such an animal. I could've watched her all day.
I got a super early night as we were off early in the morning to do something exciting!
Monday, 18 March 2013
SKYDIVING!!
So on Sunday me, Chanel and Hilde went skydiving. We had decided earlier in the week that we wanted to do it and this was to be the day! I have wanted to go skydiving for sooo long and what better place to do it than in beautiful Plett with some new friends?!
I thought I would be nervous, and I was but I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be. I had calmed down before getting on the (tiny!) plane, and then got more nervous as we went up but I wasn't a complete mess. The worst part was when we got to 10000ft and the door opened. I think what shocked me the most was the noise! You can see on the video that was taken by the guy I was jumping with that I properly flinch when the door opens, it's really embarrassing!! The next worst bit was watching Hilde who was going ahead of me, jump out. It just made me think 'holy crap bags that's me next!!'. I then shuffled over to the edge, dangled my legs over the wheel of the plane and my partner basically pushed us out.
There are no words to describe the feeling of free falling. It is the most incredible, crazy, amazing sensation! The free fall lasted 36 seconds and again I didn't feel terrified. I was a bit worried before I jumped that I wouldn't be able to breath but you easily can, you just have to remember to! My face on the video looks really scared but I didn't feel I was. I think I was more just completely unprepared as to what it would feel like to jump out of a plane at 10000ft!!!
Once my guy pulled the parachute it was actually pretty relaxing and the feeling of soaring through the air is awesome. It was over far too quickly and I SO want to do it again!! It's just a shame it's so expensive!! I am contemplating doing a bungee jump but I'm not sure. It's something about the thought of plummeting towards the ground head first that's putting me off! But we'll see, I may do it yet!
I thought I would be nervous, and I was but I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be. I had calmed down before getting on the (tiny!) plane, and then got more nervous as we went up but I wasn't a complete mess. The worst part was when we got to 10000ft and the door opened. I think what shocked me the most was the noise! You can see on the video that was taken by the guy I was jumping with that I properly flinch when the door opens, it's really embarrassing!! The next worst bit was watching Hilde who was going ahead of me, jump out. It just made me think 'holy crap bags that's me next!!'. I then shuffled over to the edge, dangled my legs over the wheel of the plane and my partner basically pushed us out.
There are no words to describe the feeling of free falling. It is the most incredible, crazy, amazing sensation! The free fall lasted 36 seconds and again I didn't feel terrified. I was a bit worried before I jumped that I wouldn't be able to breath but you easily can, you just have to remember to! My face on the video looks really scared but I didn't feel I was. I think I was more just completely unprepared as to what it would feel like to jump out of a plane at 10000ft!!!
Once my guy pulled the parachute it was actually pretty relaxing and the feeling of soaring through the air is awesome. It was over far too quickly and I SO want to do it again!! It's just a shame it's so expensive!! I am contemplating doing a bungee jump but I'm not sure. It's something about the thought of plummeting towards the ground head first that's putting me off! But we'll see, I may do it yet!
Thursday, 14 March 2013
My first week!
Apologies, this is going to be a really long post so read it in sections if you like!
It feels like I've been here longer than just one week! I have done loads already and I'm loving it.
After I arrived on Sunday I was far too tired to do anything. I had a quick briefing with Chanel the volunteer coordinator (who lives in the house), I unpacked (not very well), had a shower and ate some pizza that we all ordered in. After that I pretty much crashed and slept from about 8pm til 8am the next morning.
The house consists of me and the other two ORCA volunteers Hilde and Freddie, the volunteer coordinator Chanel, the house coordinator Ulrica and two Belgian girls Lore and Marlies who are doing something slightly different.
MONDAY - my first day!
We went down to Ocean Blue Adventures, where I picked up my ORCA Foundation t-shirt. The guy who owns Ocean Blue (whale watching company) set up the ORCA Foundation. Attached to Ocean Blue there is also Sabrina Love Foundation which is a day care centre for disabled kids from the local townships. Lore and Marlies are doing an internship with Sabrina Love through their university in Belgium.
After I'd picked up my t-shirt Freddie, Hilde, Chanel and I drove in the ORCA van over to Nature's Valley to collect fish for the aquarium at Ocean Blue. Nature's Valley is a nature reserve not far from Plett and it really is beautiful. On the way we picked up Chanel's border collie Gemma from her parents house. She is SUCH a cute dog, I love her!
After quite a while of trying to catch fish in the rock pools by the beach (we only managed 3, they are quick little buggers!) we went back to Ocean Blue to put the fish in the aquarium. After that I don't really remember what we did! It's only a week ago and I've already forgotten. Oh dear.
TUESDAY
On Tuesday I went with Tracy, who is one of the managers of Ocean Blue and ORCA, to Nature's Valley to teach at Eco schools. This week was water week so we were teaching the kids about the importance of saving water. There were four groups and my part in each was to demonstrate the water filter we had made with a plastic bottle, gravel, sand and a bit of t shirt material. All the kids were amazed at how the dirty water we put in came out so much cleaner!
As we were on our way back Tracy got a phone call saying that someone had found a stranded baby turtle on the beach and had brought it into Ocean Blue. He has three flippers missing (we think they were bitten off by seagulls while on the beach poor little guy). The only full flipper he has left is his front right one. We named him Oscar. Everyday we have to clean his wounds and feed him and twice a week we have to measure and weigh him to make sure he's doing ok. He can swim around and even dive and hopefully when he's big enough we'll be able to release him back into the wild. Come on Oscar we are rooting for you!!!
In the evening we were invited by some of Chanel's friends to a braai by the river A braai is basically a BBQ and South Africans seem to have them all the time! It was really nice and chilled, we sat by the river, played guitar and sang. I'm sure we sounded amazing haha.
WEDNESDAY
On Wednesday I went with Chanel on my first boat trip! The volunteers' duties while on the boat is to take pictures of any amimals we see and also record the GPS location of where we find them for research purposes. On this trip we saw some baby hammerhead sharks and bottlenose dolphins. This is the first time I'd properly seen dolphins in the wild and it was amazing. We were fairly close to them and we could see them leaping out of the water. I love them!!
In the afternoon we had a lecture/chat back at the house with Dr Vic who is a renowned marine biologist. He talked mostly about whales and I learned loads. He seems like a really nice, interesting guy and its great that we have access to such a huge pool of knowledge!
In the evening we went to Surf Cafe for open mic night. Chanel and Hilde sang a song together and they were really really good. People are now trying persuade me to do it one night but I'm really not sure about that!!! I have never sang on my own public and would be so scared!! We'll have to see about that one haha.
THURSDAY
Thursday we went to preschool. ORCA do this every Thursday, we teach the kids and orca also helps them with money and things, The preschool is in one of the local townships. The kids we taught today were 5 - 7 years old (I think!) and they were so so so so cute!!! They could only speak limited English, their first language being Xhosa. This being water week we taught them about saving water, then some maths. I read them a story from a book of fables. We then got them to do some colouring. They got SO excited it was so so cute. They were so proud of their drawings and although they couldn't really speak much to us you could tell from their big smiles and showing us their pictures that they were loving it. We then helped with dishing out lunch (chicken, rice, carrots, cabbage and gravy. It was delicious)
Once we'd done at the preschool we went back to the house and had a lesson about marine guiding from Tracy. We have to option of taking a 3 hour written exam followed by a practical marine guiding exam on the boats. If we pass we would be qualified to guide on whale watching boats in South Africa! I really want to do it but there is loads to learn! I was actually going to read through the information tonight but I ended up writing this instead! Oops.
FRIDAY
On Friday I went with Freddie and Ulrica on the boats while Chanel and Hilde went to George to try and get Hilde's visa extended as she wants to stay longer! The boat was crazy windy, and we didn't see anything which was disappointing.
In the afternoon we drove to Knysna which is about half an hour away from Plett to watch a theatre performance in a school. Again being water week is all about saving water. Although it was obviously directed at younger kids it was actually very good and entertaining! After that we became tourists, looked round shops, ate delicious sushi and Freddie bought a ukulele. On the way back to the house we stopped off at fruit city (basically a massive supermarket full of delicious fresh fruit!)
In the evening we drank, played drinking games and went out to the club Zanzibar. I got very drunk and it was very fun!
SATURDAY
Saturday we pretty much did nothing. Lazy day watching lots of films.
And I'll talk about Sunday in another post because it was exciting!!
It feels like I've been here longer than just one week! I have done loads already and I'm loving it.
After I arrived on Sunday I was far too tired to do anything. I had a quick briefing with Chanel the volunteer coordinator (who lives in the house), I unpacked (not very well), had a shower and ate some pizza that we all ordered in. After that I pretty much crashed and slept from about 8pm til 8am the next morning.
The house consists of me and the other two ORCA volunteers Hilde and Freddie, the volunteer coordinator Chanel, the house coordinator Ulrica and two Belgian girls Lore and Marlies who are doing something slightly different.
MONDAY - my first day!
We went down to Ocean Blue Adventures, where I picked up my ORCA Foundation t-shirt. The guy who owns Ocean Blue (whale watching company) set up the ORCA Foundation. Attached to Ocean Blue there is also Sabrina Love Foundation which is a day care centre for disabled kids from the local townships. Lore and Marlies are doing an internship with Sabrina Love through their university in Belgium.
After I'd picked up my t-shirt Freddie, Hilde, Chanel and I drove in the ORCA van over to Nature's Valley to collect fish for the aquarium at Ocean Blue. Nature's Valley is a nature reserve not far from Plett and it really is beautiful. On the way we picked up Chanel's border collie Gemma from her parents house. She is SUCH a cute dog, I love her!
After quite a while of trying to catch fish in the rock pools by the beach (we only managed 3, they are quick little buggers!) we went back to Ocean Blue to put the fish in the aquarium. After that I don't really remember what we did! It's only a week ago and I've already forgotten. Oh dear.
TUESDAY
On Tuesday I went with Tracy, who is one of the managers of Ocean Blue and ORCA, to Nature's Valley to teach at Eco schools. This week was water week so we were teaching the kids about the importance of saving water. There were four groups and my part in each was to demonstrate the water filter we had made with a plastic bottle, gravel, sand and a bit of t shirt material. All the kids were amazed at how the dirty water we put in came out so much cleaner!
As we were on our way back Tracy got a phone call saying that someone had found a stranded baby turtle on the beach and had brought it into Ocean Blue. He has three flippers missing (we think they were bitten off by seagulls while on the beach poor little guy). The only full flipper he has left is his front right one. We named him Oscar. Everyday we have to clean his wounds and feed him and twice a week we have to measure and weigh him to make sure he's doing ok. He can swim around and even dive and hopefully when he's big enough we'll be able to release him back into the wild. Come on Oscar we are rooting for you!!!
In the evening we were invited by some of Chanel's friends to a braai by the river A braai is basically a BBQ and South Africans seem to have them all the time! It was really nice and chilled, we sat by the river, played guitar and sang. I'm sure we sounded amazing haha.
WEDNESDAY
On Wednesday I went with Chanel on my first boat trip! The volunteers' duties while on the boat is to take pictures of any amimals we see and also record the GPS location of where we find them for research purposes. On this trip we saw some baby hammerhead sharks and bottlenose dolphins. This is the first time I'd properly seen dolphins in the wild and it was amazing. We were fairly close to them and we could see them leaping out of the water. I love them!!
In the afternoon we had a lecture/chat back at the house with Dr Vic who is a renowned marine biologist. He talked mostly about whales and I learned loads. He seems like a really nice, interesting guy and its great that we have access to such a huge pool of knowledge!
In the evening we went to Surf Cafe for open mic night. Chanel and Hilde sang a song together and they were really really good. People are now trying persuade me to do it one night but I'm really not sure about that!!! I have never sang on my own public and would be so scared!! We'll have to see about that one haha.
THURSDAY
Thursday we went to preschool. ORCA do this every Thursday, we teach the kids and orca also helps them with money and things, The preschool is in one of the local townships. The kids we taught today were 5 - 7 years old (I think!) and they were so so so so cute!!! They could only speak limited English, their first language being Xhosa. This being water week we taught them about saving water, then some maths. I read them a story from a book of fables. We then got them to do some colouring. They got SO excited it was so so cute. They were so proud of their drawings and although they couldn't really speak much to us you could tell from their big smiles and showing us their pictures that they were loving it. We then helped with dishing out lunch (chicken, rice, carrots, cabbage and gravy. It was delicious)
Once we'd done at the preschool we went back to the house and had a lesson about marine guiding from Tracy. We have to option of taking a 3 hour written exam followed by a practical marine guiding exam on the boats. If we pass we would be qualified to guide on whale watching boats in South Africa! I really want to do it but there is loads to learn! I was actually going to read through the information tonight but I ended up writing this instead! Oops.
FRIDAY
On Friday I went with Freddie and Ulrica on the boats while Chanel and Hilde went to George to try and get Hilde's visa extended as she wants to stay longer! The boat was crazy windy, and we didn't see anything which was disappointing.
In the afternoon we drove to Knysna which is about half an hour away from Plett to watch a theatre performance in a school. Again being water week is all about saving water. Although it was obviously directed at younger kids it was actually very good and entertaining! After that we became tourists, looked round shops, ate delicious sushi and Freddie bought a ukulele. On the way back to the house we stopped off at fruit city (basically a massive supermarket full of delicious fresh fruit!)
In the evening we drank, played drinking games and went out to the club Zanzibar. I got very drunk and it was very fun!
SATURDAY
Saturday we pretty much did nothing. Lazy day watching lots of films.
And I'll talk about Sunday in another post because it was exciting!!
Sunday, 10 March 2013
I am here!
So I am finally in South Africa! Am currently laid in bed trying not to let my eyes shut themselves. Set off yesterday at midday, got here today at half 3. The 11 hour flight from heathrow to Johannesburg wasn't too bad but I didn't really sleep much which is why I'm so tired now. It was the next leg of the journey that was super stressful.
My flight was supposed to get into Joberg at around 9.45 am local time (two hours ahead of the UK). My connecting flight to George was then to be at 11.40 giving me just under 2 hours to make it. However my first flight was delayed by about half an hour so I really didn't know if I'd get there on time. I practically ran from the plane to passport control and when I got there the queue was HUMONGOUS. Shit, I'm going to miss my flight. A nice group of people let me go ahead of them so I managed to go and collect my bag with about 15 minutes to spare before my check in closed. The terminal was far away and my bag was super heavy. In the end I paid a porter to help me with it and I managed to get there with about 5 minutes to spare. Phew!! I was the biggest, sweatiest mess you ever could have seen. But I made it!! Now I actually felt like I could relax.
Next flight was pretty uneventful apart from looking at the amazing landscape out of my window. George airport was tiny and I got my bag really fast. Went to arrivals and there was Ken the transfer man holding up a card with my name on it. Unfortunately didn't get a picture. He was really nice and told me all about the history of the landscape we were driving through, but to be honest I could have done with a sleep!
I will leave it there for now as I am falling asleep. I'm not sure what I'm doing tomorrow, I think it depends on the weather as its quite windy at the moment and it's too dangerous for the boats to go out on the water if it's still like this tomorrow!
My flight was supposed to get into Joberg at around 9.45 am local time (two hours ahead of the UK). My connecting flight to George was then to be at 11.40 giving me just under 2 hours to make it. However my first flight was delayed by about half an hour so I really didn't know if I'd get there on time. I practically ran from the plane to passport control and when I got there the queue was HUMONGOUS. Shit, I'm going to miss my flight. A nice group of people let me go ahead of them so I managed to go and collect my bag with about 15 minutes to spare before my check in closed. The terminal was far away and my bag was super heavy. In the end I paid a porter to help me with it and I managed to get there with about 5 minutes to spare. Phew!! I was the biggest, sweatiest mess you ever could have seen. But I made it!! Now I actually felt like I could relax.
Next flight was pretty uneventful apart from looking at the amazing landscape out of my window. George airport was tiny and I got my bag really fast. Went to arrivals and there was Ken the transfer man holding up a card with my name on it. Unfortunately didn't get a picture. He was really nice and told me all about the history of the landscape we were driving through, but to be honest I could have done with a sleep!
I will leave it there for now as I am falling asleep. I'm not sure what I'm doing tomorrow, I think it depends on the weather as its quite windy at the moment and it's too dangerous for the boats to go out on the water if it's still like this tomorrow!
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