A week in water

Good morning from a very hot and orange looking South Africa!

It's been a bit of a heat wave here as the temperature has been around or over 30°C for the past week. You could imagine our confusion when we woke up on Tuesday morning to discover it was 24°C before 7am, needless to say that it got to 37°C that day. Since we've not had rain for a while and it's been so hot everything is very dry which means forest fires are very likely and over the weekend there has been one near George and it's still going. As a result the smoke has been drifting and here in Sedgefield it's very smokey and it's made everything all orange and it's raining ash. It's very strange to be sitting in a restaurant drinking milkshakes while ash is falling but the locals don't seem worried about it. I'm somewhat glad of all the ash clouds as its meant to be 36°C ("real feel 39°C" - Google) but the sun can't get through.

As the title of this blog might suggest, we've spent a lot of time in the water over the past week. We've been practicing our kayak rolls lots and this is now one of my favourite things to do! Five weeks ago I wouldn't of thought I'd be saying that as I couldn't even spend five seconds under water. Me, Scott and Talitha have all mastered the 180° and 360° rolls and I've managed to even get some 'bombproof' rolls done. We've also been swimming a lot to get our fitness up for our water saftey LOC (levels of competencies).

Some of the things that the water safety LOC consists of is being able to pull unconscious and conscious people from the water, treading water for 4 minutes, swimming 50 meters without a PFD in under two and a half minutes (my time was 1 minute 55 seconds) and doing a long distance swim with a PFD. Our kayaking LOC included things like being able to perform five rolls consistently, rescuing people from kayaks when your in a kayak and also when you're not and also rescuing people in a double sea kayak. A lot of it was quite fun to do, but I'm still not convinced that kissing the nose of the kayak is a requirement for the LOC. I think it's just so the instructors can laugh at us trying and failing to balance on the kayak and then fall into the water. We were also signed off on our high ropes, climbing and abseiling LOC's so now we're all fully trained to help and support all the activities!

Saturday saw us heading to the market which as usual was very busy, and we bought passion fruit ice lollys for our walk into Sedgefield. After visiting the post office (still no sign of my new glasses that were posted out) and the pharmacy (Asda bite cream is useless against the mosquitoes here) we had lunch at La Piazza which is a restaurant/bar that we were told past volunteers frequently visit. We also found a DVD rental shop so we've been watching Narnia, Into the Woods and season 1 of Sherlock.

The other news for this week is that Tom the tortoise is actually named George - his second name is now Tom. We cooked macaroni cheese last night and me and Talitha have become expert mosquito killers.

Rachel

Monday is sun day

Good evening from a warm South Africa! 

Last week was very relaxing as I was on leave. I've spent a lot of time reading (and sleeping, but mostly reading) and exploring Sedgefield. I've located the post office, some nice shops and also went to the beach. The walk from base to the beach took nearly two hours but as I took the road over the top of the hill, I got to see the layout of Sedgefield from 'the sky'. The beach was also really lovely and the sea only slightly warmer than it would be back in Scotland.

Talitha, Scott and the other instructors arrived back from Potchefstroom on Saturday night so it was really good to see them all again. Yesterday (Sunday) was spent doing our washing and we now have pegs to hang our clothes with so they can't blow away anymore! I've already lost one sock to the wind. We then took a walk to the market which was open as there was a kite festival happening (luckily it was super windy). It cost us R20 to enter - which is just over a pound - and we soon realised that the stalls were exactly the same as what the usual market has... which is free to enter... at least the money went to a good cause!

We made use of the free wifi to organise what we'll be doing for Christmas. We've managed to find a bus company and sonewhere to stay when we travel to Cape Town, where we'll spend Christmas and New Years with the other South Africa volunteers as well as the volunteers from Botswana and Namibia. Most of us are going to a concert on the 31st in the botanical gardens, so we've been listening (and not actually listening) to Jeremy Loops, who's playing the concert, to learn the songs.

Today was the start of what's going to be a very hot week. Summer is well and truly on its way! After doing some maintenance around base we started our water LOC's. It's exciting to be gaining these as it means we're one step closer to supporting water activities during courses.

In some other news and to explain some of the pictures, we ate a water melon named Bob, another tortoise walked through base - we named him Tom. We also found better curtains for our room, so we washed them and put them up. You wouldn't believe how excited we were hanging curtains. Like, seriously, we're so happy that we can sleep in the dark and not wake up when the sun rises.

Rachel

Over a month gone already?!

Good afternoon for a very warm and thunderstorming South Africa! Last week due to very little time and no access to internet I wasn't able to blog so here's week 4 (I cannot believe I've been here a whole month now!) and 5...

Last Monday saw me and three other instructors travel to Grabouw more particularly the Hottentots Holland Mountains. This was a good six hour drive away but with having to change the tyres on the truck and stop at the shops to buy the rest of the rations (which meant attempting to park the trailer as best as possible in a car park), the drive to much longer than anticipated.

When we finally arrived at our first camping spot where we would stay overnight before the group arrived the next morning, I was completely taken aback by the landscape. I was so amazed that this would be the area for my first course where I'd be acting as support for the instructors. The course itself was for a school group from Cape Town and designed so participants could develop 'capacities of mind, body and spirit to better understand their responsibilities to themselves, others and the community at large.'

After some patchy rain showers the first day of course the weather improved rapidly the next day, which we were all very glad of as the two groups had to hike across to their camping spots for that night. The 17km (roughly) hike was definitely challenging for the groups and it was interesting to observe the group dynamics and how they changed as they walked further and grew more tired, as an instructor and not as a group member myself.

The area where I camped with the group I walked with would be where I'd stay for the next two nights as it was close to the rock climbing and abseil sites, which was what I'd be helping the instructors with. The other group were camping at the edge of the mountain range next to the dam as they'd be starting with the raft building, the 'solo' - time where they'd go and sit somewhere by themselves and reflect upon their thoughts and be given a chance to write what they were feeling down on paper - and also some community service in the form of helping the park rangers cut down invasive plants.

The next two days of the course were definitely my favourite and not just because the weather was fantastic. In the mornings I went with Emily to set up the rock climbing and abseil ropes. To say that I'm relieved that I'm not afraid of heights would be an understatement! Especially when I was setting up the rock climb as first I need to abseil down the cliff face then secure myself so I'm hanging there. Then I can start to set up all the rock climbing ropes, knowing it has to all be exactly perfect as people would actually be using it. Not being afraid of heights also meant that I could stay calm while being the abseiling demonstration. This activity was so amazing to be part of, mainly because you were able to see how nervous some participants were before they stepped over the edge of the cliff but once they reached the bottom they had wide smiles, a "it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be" and the feeling of accomplishment all around them.

On the last day of course after the 'final challenge' - a 4km run starting at 6am - the groups had to organise all the kit they had used throughout their five days before digging into the macaroni cheese that we got made up at the nearest shop. Eating food that wasn't made on a trangia was a well earned by everyone. Once the group had departed we packed up the trailer once more and headed back to the original camping spot we stayed at the first night. When we arrived there we were greeted by not only bontebok but three zebras including a foal! It was amazing to see these animals in the wild and knowing that somewhere in the mountains behind my tent were leopards was an exciting thought. Wild camping here has been absolutely amazing, and having no rain during the nights meant that I could go without the fly sheet for my tent and be able to gaze up at the stars. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me! The drive back to Sedgefield was also filled with more animal encounters, a zebra ran along the road in front of us as we drove out the reserve, and when we drove along the main road (and basically only road leading back to George) we saw baboons, ostriches and even two elephants in the distance as we passed a game reserve.

After the excitement of last week this week has seemed very long, even after having Tuesday off. Unfortunately due to an unexpected staff issue, we wouldn't be travelling up to Potchefstroom to join all the other instructors meaning I won't be seeing Scott and Talitha until next weekend when they all come back after the courses finish up there. In the mean time I've been helping in the office, providing some questionable advice on social media and computers and I also got back into a kayak. I manged to get one successful roll done but I definitely felt way more confident and relaxed under water. It was also a massive help that the water was surprisingly warmer than usual and clearer meaning I could see what I was doing underwater. I've also been helping with the safety checks on the high rope activities. This translates to climbing to the top of the trapeze and to the top of the Jacobs ladder then climbing higher via the trees to make sure all the cables and attachments were in working order.

In some other brief news, our rooms were finally finished being decorated meaning I could put back all our furniture and put up all my photos again. My cooking skills have also improved drastically, I learned that the post office in Sedgefield is closed are weekends (it doesn't have the name the slow town for nothing!) and that the farmers market and craft fair on Saturdays is absolutely amazing! Unfortunately what isn't amazing is my insect repellent which seems to only attract the mosquitos.

I technically have next week off but as I'm the only volunteer here I've not made any plans to go travelling. I do have a list of things I need to do however, including going to the beach which we've not done yet. I'm also going to start looking at things close by that we can do during our blocks of leave that are coming up before more courses start in November. Looking at the planner it's going to be very busy in the run up to Christmas!

Rachel