Into the Wild

On October 27^th, Chida and I volunteered with WildREACH, a student group that takes underprivileged children on field trips into the wilderness. We got up nice and early to meet up with the WildREACH team on the Rhodes campus and set off to pick up a bunch of food and supplies.  At around 9:00am we picked up the 18 children coming on the field trip (9 girls and 9 boys). The girls piled into the minibus with us and almost immediately began to sing – I wish I could have recorded their voices … they sounded incredible. They were belting out song after song with amazing harmonies, fascinating rhythms, and beautiful lyrics that were completely foreign to me. It was an awesome ride!

Originally, the trip was supposed to be an overnight at a game reserve that bordered the ocean, but due to all of the road damage from the floods, the plans changed and we were heading to a small reserve about 45 minutes from Grahamstown. It was a bit of a disappointment for these kids who were hoping to see marine animals! However, we still managed to have an awesome day hiking around the Mansfield Private Reserve. There was even a pool, and despite the fact that it was freezing cold, the kids spent over an hour splashing away (some of their jumps had me cringing – I was the only lifeguard in the group, and it was a terrifying guarding experience!).

During the afternoon, we had a massive braai and played a bunch of games. I led Huckle Buckle and Buggies Up – both were a riot! It was difficult to explain to the kids, who spoke isiXhosa as their first language, but eventually they understood and we had a ton of fun.

We headed back to Grahamstown late that afternoon, exhausted after a fun day. We made it just in time to catch the end of the Currie Cup Final, one of South Africa’s biggest rugby games. Although I had no loyalties to either team, it was entertaining to see how invested our friends were (there were many bets riding on the game – the losers had to get ear and belly button piercings!).