Time To Say Goodbye

Well now that I’m home again I’ve decided that it’s probably about time that I wrapped up my blog for my time in South Africa. I apologise for my laziness over the last few weeks in neglecting the blog but I don’t apologise for using that time to hang out with some of the most incredible people I have ever met and to do some of the most incredible things I have ever done! Although many of you will have by now heard some or all of these stories I’m still going to record them on here to give a sense of completion and to draw an end to the chapter in my life that was South Africa 2010. I’m going to do this blog slightly differently so please bear with me as I try this out.

VOLUNTEERING

During my last few weeks in South Africa I engaged in a volunteering project set up by fellow international students. It basically involved us going into one of the townships in PE on a Tuesday afternoon for a couple of hours and hanging out with the kids. On my first day with the team I was slightly nervous as they had been coming for a while and I wasn’t sure how I’d fit in but my fears were quickly relieved by the friendly atmosphere around the place. We were teaching the kids that it is important to recycle rubbish and so we took groups around the area picking up trash and sorting it into recyclable and non-recyclable. It was pretty grim to see how much rubbish actually was lying around the township but through programmes such as this the kids are being offered hope of a brighter future and they gain an understanding of why it is important to look after the places where they live. We carried out a similar activity one of the other weeks I was there but this time as well as collecting the rubbish the kids also had to make robots out of the rubbish. It was amazing to see some of the creative talent that some of the kids had and the pride which they took in showing off their creations to their friends brought a smile to my face.

                                      

On my other occasion of visiting the township we were teaching the kids the importance of reading and so we had a selection of story books for the kids to read and look at. We tried to encourage the older kids to read to the younger kids but being the primary school teacher that I am I found myself not wanting to give up the story books…I really do love reading stories to kids, I think that’s my favourite part of primary teaching. Amongst the other activities we did with the kids were singing, dancing and games such as red light/green light. The singing a-longs always went down a treat with classic tunes such as ‘Making Melodies’, ‘The Moose Song’ and ‘Little Sally Walker’ which involved some seriously funky dance moves! Although I only got to spend 3 short afternoons with these kids, they had a great impact on my time in South Africa. They really just put everything into perspective. Some of the kids didn’t have shoes yet here they were out in the street having fun. One of the kids didn’t speak the whole time but was perfectly content to be carried around in my arms the whole time. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and if I could have I would have spent more than 3 weeks volunteering because it was allowing me to give something back to a country which has given me so much over the last 4 months.

CAPE TOWN

At one stage I honestly thought I wasn’t going to get to Cape Town but opportunity presented itself and I found myself on a 12 hour bus to South Africa’s second largest city. The bus itself was of note because the company was clearly under Christian ownership. They showed Christian movies and their passenger announcements  were always preceded by a prayer, quite surreal really but ultra cool. Within 20 minutes of arrival in Cape Town I was the victim of a CT mugging. Well it was more of a half mugging so I like to call it a hugging! We were waiting for our Backpackers to open when a man approached us asking for money for his taxi fare. At first we tried to get rid of him by telling him we had no cash on us but when he produced a knife I soon remembered that I actually did have some cash on me. I was really nervous knowing that he had a knife on him and so I didn’t complain when he took a bit more money from me than his fare demanded. After I’d given him the money he tried to grab my wallet out of my pocket but I just shouted at him like a crazy guy and he backed off giving us enough time to get away and call security who quickly loaded him and his companion into a van and drove them off. I also experienced another near crime as a kid tried to grab my camera off me whilst I was taking a picture, only for a bystander to pick up and literally throw him in the other direction! This city certainly wasn’t doing it’s best to impress me!

The weather wasn’t helping matters either as thick cloud and rain meant that for our first two days in Cape Town we actually couldn’t see Table Mountain and the ferry out to Robben Island was cancelled. We spent our time though doing other touristy things such as taking the City Bus Tour, visiting the Two Oceans Aquarium and walking around the city centre, including some bartering with the locals at the market, Henning yet again surpassing himself in getting some great deals. We also took in a Good Food and Wine convention which provided us with plenty of free food and drink samples for our taste buds to take in. Finally though on the Saturday morning the cloud broke and we set off for Table Mountain.

Last summer I climbed Slieve Donard and I can safely say that both the climb up and down Table Mountain was much more gruelling. The gorge, although it only took just over an hour to climb, was ridiculously steep and the path was very much a winding one. I began to wonder if I’d ever make it to the top but when I did I certainly wasn’t disappointed. We were treated to some spectacular views of Cape Town, the Atlantic Ocean and the Cape of Good Hope. At the summit there was even a group of people having a church service which was really cool to experience…the sound of singing from a distance was a completely surreal experience. We spent a lot of time taking pictures and exploring the top before grabbing a bite to eat and heading back down which was just as tough as heading up. If you thought that was enough climbing for one day then you would be mistaken because as soon as we reached the bottom of Table Mountain we began our ascent of Lion’s Head a smaller mountain which offered spectacular views of Table and the sunset over CT. It began as a much gentler climb but soon developed into sheer rock climbing before reaching the summit but it was again well worth it as I hope the pictures show.

After a long day’s climbing there was nothing more satisfying than sitting down in the Dubliner, the Irish bar, and enjoying a nice pint of Guinness with friends. The next morning I went with Henry, a Scottish guy we met, to Hillsong Cape Town which was another great experience before spending the afternoon chilling out in Company Garden with THE tamest squirrels ever…they actually would climb over you! On our departure from Cape Town I realised that the city had managed to redeem itself in my eyes after we got off to a bad start. The two mountains will definitely stand out as highlights of South Africa for me!

BIG CATS

For this story I will give you a copy of a report I wrote for Hannah Ramage’s class on teaching practise. I hope you enjoy it as much as they apparently did:

I woke up early this morning full of excitement as to what the day might bring. My name is Jonny Harper and I'm currently studying in the beautiful seaside town of Port Elizabeth on South Africas's southern shores. Today I went on adventure...

When we first entered the game park the first thing I noticed was how open it was and how bumpy the roads were. The second thing I noticed was a warthog standing right beside our car! It's still really strange to think that I can be so close to these strange wild animals which we just don't see in Northern Ireland. It makes me a little bit sad to think that when I get home the most exciting thing I'll see on the side of the road is maybe a fox or a rabbit.

After driving across the vast landscape for a short while we soon discovered zebras, springboks, giraffes and buffalo all living in the park. These animals were all mainly just relaxing or eating which is what they seem to do for most of their lives. It must be nice being an animal and not having too many things to do but eat all the time! The animals here don't have much water left because there is a drought in Port Elizabeth so the whole area is trying to save as much water as possible!

We decided to stop in the middle of the park and we walked around a short trail where we saw a mummy cheetah and her four cubs! The cubs were so small and still had some thick hair on the back. They ran around all over the place and their mummy had to keep chasing them and calling them back to her because she didn't want to lose any of them. This reminded me of my mum who is always chasing after her children trying to get them to do what she wants! The cubs looked to be fighting with each other but in fact they were only playing and training so they could be good hunters when they grow up.

After our short walk I was given the opportunity to go and cuddle with one of the adult cheetahs! I was very nervous at first because I know that cheetahs are very strong cats and they can run very quickly but I soon discovered that this one was very friendly and he allowed us to stroke him and play with him. It turned out that this cheetah actually starred in a movie once...so I was also hanging out with a film star!

When we were leaving the park we saw in the distance what seemed to be two large rocks. However, as we drove closer we soon discovered that they were actually two ENORMOUS rhinos. I had no idea that rhinos were so big! We didn't want to get two close to their huge horns but we did drive up beside them and were close enough to touch them...of course we didn't. I have always wanted to see a rhino and so I was absolutely delighted to finally have a dream come true!

To finish our morning adventures we traveled further along the coast to a lion park where they have some wild animals and also where they care for animals which are sick or need help. At this lion park we got to enter into an enclosure with 5 young male lions. After being in with the cheetah I was not as nervous about the lions but I soon realised that I should have been! The lions were very strong and very 'playful'! One lion kept putting his leg around my arm and then trying to bite me. I knew he was only playing but I was still quite afraid because his teeth were so big. Another one of the lions growled at me when I stroked him so I was quite glad when our time was up but still had a really exciting time with the lions.

I managed to do all this in the space of one morning and is only a small part of the adventures which I have had since being in the beautiful country of South Africa. I know Ms Ramage has been teaching you all about South Africa and you have been learning many wonderful things. I hope that some day you will get to experience South Africa for yourselves and all the delights that it has to offer!

Nqosi
Thank You

Jonny

THE BATTLE

In Port Elizabeth there are two main international student accommodations, The Bantry and Annie’s Cove. One fine week in The Bay the two met to do battle with one another to establish who truly were the greatest international students! The week involved a dessert bake off, which I managed to grab a second place in with Samuel’s trademark Oreo and ice cream dessert, a basketball competition which the Bantry won and a bowling contest which was won by the folk over at Annie’s Cove. All these events were just a precursor though for the main event…King’s Beach Saturday!

The morning started in the Bantry with big tunes pumping and vuvazela’s blaring! Leaving our accommodation seriously pumped we marched down to the beach where we left Annie’s Cove completely deflated. In the beach football competition we won a hard fought encounter 3-2 before taking a complete white was in the volleyball due in part to the contribution of the Bantry Vuvazela Squad who did there best to intimidate their Annie’s counterparts on the court! So with the Bantry leading going into the final competition of the week hopes were high for the title coming back to Humewood. The final event of the week was a drinking contest which was very hotly competed for but yet again it was the Bantry boys and girls who were successful on the evening thus ensuring that they were declared overall winners of the 2010 competition. As if there was ever any doubt as to who would win!

THE GOOD BRAAI

I got up to lots of other stuff over my last few weeks, all of which are journaled but there was to much to write about in my blog. My last night in PE was marked by the greatest South African tradition, the braai. Plenty of meat was eaten and plenty of fun was had as I had to say my goodbyes to everyone, or as I prefer to call them ‘until next times’. It was incredible to see how in such a short time I had made such good friends and people who had had such an influential part to play in my life for the last four months. I know I will see some of them again but for many it will likely be the last time that I will actually see them which was quite a surreal feeling. Still the last night was memorable and I will cherish it with me anytime I think back on South Africa. It wouldn’t be South Africa though if it hadn’t been eventful and indeed we had a visit from the police who told us we were being to loud! The next day I said my final ‘until next times’ and boarded a plane for Johannesburg which would eventually lead me back here to Mullavilly in Northern Ireland.

And that folks was South Africa 2010! Thanks for reading, I hope I gave you just a glimpse of what an amazing place South Africa is and what an amazing time I had there.

God Bless

Peace