Replace the fear of the unknown with curiosity

February flew by after returning to St Francis. Our first weekend back (the 16^th & 17^th), the WildREACH team from Grahamstown brought 16 students to the centre. We had a fun-filled weekend of boat rides, scavenger hunts, scientific studies of the rocky shore, and lessons on eco-footprints, oil spills, predation adaptation, and acids & bases.

Checking out the species of St Francis's rocky shore

The next week we began a scuba diving course with CMAS. I was so excited to start diving – if you know me, I’m a bit of a fish, and I was stoked to finally breathe underwater! The course was a great success (minus a bit of trouble equalizing my right ear) and I am now a certified CMAS One Star Sport Diver and can dive up to 20m in depth. I can’t wait to do my next course! I’ve already seen many different types of fish and corals, as well as pyjama sharks and even a manta ray! 

During the last couple of weeks, I’ve been doing little day trips to places near St Francis like Pletternberg Bay, Tsitsikamma, and George. Last Sunday, the destination was Addo Elephant National Park. It was a beautiful hot day and we saw plenty of the massive creatures the park is named for!

BEBE ELLIE SO CUTE

Sadly, my the internship part of my trip to South Africa has reached its end – work officially finishes on March 8^th. I’m sad to say goodbye to the Sustainable Seas Centre and St Francis, but I hope it won’t be the last time I see everyone here!

Luckily, I’m not leaving South Africa just yet – I have another month to travel and I’m STOKED. Blair and I will be travelling up the east coast to Sodwana where we’ll be doing some scuba diving, followed by travels through Mozambique and Swaziland, then a safari in Kruger Park. After that, Blair will be travelling back down to St Francis with Alex and his girlfriend Lindsay. I will continue north through Botswana and Zimbabwe to experience the mighty Victoria Falls! I apologize in advance if I am slow with blogging about these adventures. Hopefully when I post here again, my travels will have gone smoothly and I won’t have malaria or anything. Until then, tot siens, hambani kahle, nibe nelanga elimnandi, and sala kahle!