Holiday Happiness

December has been a blur since my weekend in Joburg. The tourism season is in full swing here in St Francis, so the Sea Centre is busy with boat tours and activities every day. Being out on the boat regularly means I’ve been seeing some incredible marine life. Scalloped hammerhead sharks can be seen prowling near the surface of the water – they’re small sharks (don't worry, Mum) that are attracted to the area by the chokka industry. 

Little bit tricky to see - but there's a hammerhead there!

What I’ve been excited about the most is the dolphin activity. On December 23^rd, we followed a pod of over a hundred bottlenose dolphins as they swept across St Francis Bay, mating and feeding. We then came upon a pod of five humpback dolphins that often frequent the bay and had the extraordinary opportunity to watch them mate. Humpbacks are very elusive and easily disturbed by humans, so to spend nearly an hour watching them jumping and displaying their bellies was an incredible opportunity. When I got off the boat, I felt like I was walking on a cloud - we were so lucky! I felt like Christmas had come early.

Bottlenose dolphins

Humpback dolphins and Ally dolphin!

On December 18^th, we celebrated Blair’s 26^th birthday. It was a wonderful, sunny day, and we took the opportunity to enjoy the sun by the pool. Later we feasted on a massive ice cream cake, and continued the birthday festivities.

Blair's birthday slash Christmas photoshoot!

Despite the parties and poor eating that go along with the summer holidays, I’ve managed to stay motivated to exercise by the St Francis summer series – every morning there is a bike ride, run, swim, duathlon, triathlon, or other event of some sort. Chida and I won the duathlon (I swam, she ran), and I won a 1km swim race (I was very surprised – it was a very popular event and I thought my butt had been kicked … luckily many of the distance swimmers chose to do the 2km race!). On December 26^th I did the swim portion of a triathlon, with Luke (Sam and Rob’s son) doing the bike, and Chida doing the run. On January 2nd, Chida, Blair, Alex and I will be attempting our second Quadrathlon.

Joburg

A few weeks ago, I took a short vacation to Johannesburg (aka Joburg or Jozi). Some of my friends that I met in Grahamstown are from Joburg, and are back at home for the summer vacation. So I took the opportunity to experience the city with locals; it has such a notorious reputation that I wasn’t planning on visiting it otherwise.

Joburg is an amazing city; it’s just a matter of finding the right places to go. My first full day there I went to the Apartheid Museum, where all of the horrors of that era are on full display (in some cases quite disturbingly). You begin by being classified randomly as White or Non-White on your ticket, and enter the museum via the appropriate door. I was Non-White, and was greeted by sign after sign of where I could not sit or enter or be – WHITES ONLY. The museum continues with photographs, videos, and mementos from across South Africa’s rich political history. There was even an amazing temporary exhibition on Nelson Mandela which I really enjoyed, having just finished A Long Walk to Freedom recently.

Part of the Mandela exhibit - you'd pick your favourite quote, take a stick of the corresponding colour, and place it in a nearby area (not shown). My favourite quote (thus far - there are so many!) is "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."

I experienced Joburg nightlife (much more diverse than that of Grahamstown or St Francis), and had a blast. I explored amazing markets in up-and-coming neighbourhoods, tasted new foods, and was thrown into the overwhelming bustle of a busy African metropolis. I got to see mansions with extreme security measures (there was not a single house without a security gate), wandered around the mildly depressing Joburg zoo, and got caught in multiple massive thunderstorms. Overall, I had a great trip, and was glad I got to see the city first-hand so that I can honestly say that Johannesburg is an incredible city. 

Rosebank Market - an overwhelming amount of African goods for sale!

The saddest polar bear I've ever seen... he's a bit too far from the Arctic.

Neighbourgoods Market - food from all over the world - SO TASTY!!

New Digs

At the end of November, Chida and I left Grahamstown and moved to St Francis permanently. It was sad to leave our beautiful apartment with its amazing view, but we knew there was plenty to look forward to in St Francis.

Every day in I wake up in the Port, I get to see how the ocean looks – grey and blustery, blue and calm, navy and choppy – and judge whether we’ll be out on the boat that day, or if I’ll be able to surf after work. It’s an amazing feeling, and even better when I see a pod of dolphins swim by, or maybe even a humpback whale.

The chokka (squid) boats are all out fishing, and they use enormous lights to attract the squid. At night, it looks like there’s a whole other city out on the water. The boats come back to the port blackened by squid ink, deposit their catch on shore, and head out again. The Sustainable Sea Centre is hoping to do some research on the environmental sustainability of the chokka industry.

My job here in St Francis involves lots of different activities – whether it’s teaching kids about our shark display, running crafts & activities, giving tours on the boat, going on eco walks, or whatever’s required of me that particular day. But one of my favourite things is working at the penguin rehabilitation centre. I’m able to get up close with baby penguin chicks, help feed them, and work with the injured adult penguins. It’s extremely rewarding, and I’ve certainly fallen in love with these little animals!

Hamburg

Let me first apologize for taking forever to put up a new blog post – I got out of the habit of writing regularly and am now backed up on all of my latest activities. So, to bring everyone up to speed, we’re going back to the 29^th of November, when I travelled to Hamburg on a work trip.

Hamburg is a small coastal community where SST has done work for several years. Currently we are working in conjunction with several other groups in the area to try and develop educational programmes to assist students with their examinations, as well as to try and re-skill adults. Hamburg’s coastal resources have been depleted by overharvesting – many people in the area subsist on seafood and as a result the area was exploited until the area became barren.

Meeting with the Hamburg community to work towards education improvement

The Keiskamma Trust is an organization that has empowered women in the area, and helped them learn embroidery and other artistic skills. Many of the women used to poach mussels in order to feed their families. The SST hopes to work with this community in order to restore their rocky shore ecosystem to its former flourishing levels. 

Women at Keiskamma making bracelets which SST sells, supporting both the ocean and their livelihoods. 

Enchanted Forests & Mystical Hogs

Forests shrouded in mystery...

Belief in mischievous faeries …

Inexplicable magical events …

WELCOME TO HOGSBACK!!

Last weekend, Chida and I took a girls’ road trip to Hogsback, a community located about 1.5 hours from Grahamstown (or 2.5 hours if you drive 30 minutes in the wrong direction like we did…). Hogsback is a small village located in the Amatola Mountains, where the locals fiercely believe in all sorts of myths and stories. Among these false tales is that JRR Tolkein was born in Hogsback, which naturally inspired Lord of the Rings. Tolkein was actually born in Bloemfontein, and left South Africa when he was three years old. Nevertheless, LOTR tourist attractions can be found all over the place.

After winding our way up to the village of Hogsback for several kilometers, we were greeted by aggressive vendors attempting to sell us small hog tokens and walking sticks. We avoided them and headed to the Information office, where we received a map and instructions to check out several waterfalls along a forested hiking trail.

After spending about 4 hours hiking (with no strange mystical events having occurred), we drove to the world’s 2^nd largest labyrinth where there are also beautiful views of the Tyhume valley. We were uninspired by the labyrinth, but amazed by the view. We drove back to Grahamstown tired but pleased by another beautiful day in South Africa.