DAY FOUR
This morning Lindsay and I (have I mentioned Lindsay is pregnant? Her and Johan are expecting a little girl around the end of Dec, she looks great but I don’t know how she copes in this weather with a baby Johan inside her. Johan is about as tall as me, 6’2, but with a big build) took a bunch of guests from Ulusaba lodge and from a neighbouring lodge, Leopard Hills into Dumphries village to plant some fruit trees in school gardens. The tree planting is part of the Arbor month scheme I have previously mentioned. Today’s guests paid 150 rands to have a look around the village and gain an insight into the hardships the villages face. More importantly they get to see the great projects that their cash funds, other guests paid an additional 150 rands. For this they get to plant one of the fruit trees. It’s a really rewarding scheme not only do they provide a tree that should hopefully bare fruit for generations to come but they also get to (I think this still comes under the reward part!) plant it. Not easy in 40 degree temperatures with spade and about three feet of hard dirt between them and morale utopia.
It is an incredibly popular project and its easy to see why as it gives guests great personal satisfaction and why not, for about £25 a family can have fresh fruit for years to come. To make conversation I was going to ask whom planted the trees when they all returned to the van. The beads of sweat, red faces and struggled breathing sort of took the conversation starter from me. Instead I made the rather obvious comment of ’its hot isn’t it?’
I’m just going to have a quick break from writing this for my tea. Tonight its fresh Ostrich steak, with boiled spuds, stir fried veg and a Hansa beer ….lovely jubbly. I had a interesting one for my dinner. Get this, a sliced warthog sandwich!!!! Unsurprisingly it taste just like ham, which of course it is when you take away the ten inch tusks, wiry fur and lop off that funny upright tail they have. Whilst you get yourself a bucket I’ll grab my tea, I‘ve just decided to put a fried egg on my ostrich ( not something you hear every day).
That was good, burp.
Whilst the guests were busy doing their thing I was left to measure up for the work Sipho and I
will be doing in the school. Well I say left, I was permanently swarmed by the biggest, brightest smiles I have ever had the pleasure to see. What a memorable time. The kids at the school were heart warningly cute. They followed my every move and step, laughing their heads off, singing and clapping. Every now and then one of them got the courage to have a prod or poke at me. Pretty soon though personal space became a thing of the past. I started singing as well which had them howling with excitement and laughter (I sang ‘bee bop a loola’) and then the old 
favourite ‘tiggy it’was played, then I had to try and get back to work and take some pictures of the ’jobs’. Not a chance. One second I was on my own and then as soon as the camera came out and I looked through the view finder, all I could see were little smiling faces. Eventually I got things done and we went on our way. As I was leaving a little girl came up with the usual smile and said in a half shy, unsure voice ’I think you’re a special person’. talk about a heart melter. A truly magical time.
On the way back to the ‘staff village’ Lindsay and I saw a bunch giraffes and a bull elephant. I almost feel sorry for the warthogs, impala and waterbucks now as their that common they don’t get a mention. Unless on a sandwich of course!
Tomorrow were heading into Hazyview, the nearest town for the materials to crack on. It will also give me a chance to orientate myself outside the park for when I go driving for a couple of days. The plan is to drive North and have a look at some mega waterfalls and then up to Blyde River Canyon where I’ll be camping for the weekend. The original plan was just to sleep rough in the car but I’ve been advised not to. So ‘not to’ is the sensible thing to do!
This morning Lindsay and I (have I mentioned Lindsay is pregnant? Her and Johan are expecting a little girl around the end of Dec, she looks great but I don’t know how she copes in this weather with a baby Johan inside her. Johan is about as tall as me, 6’2, but with a big build) took a bunch of guests from Ulusaba lodge and from a neighbouring lodge, Leopard Hills into Dumphries village to plant some fruit trees in school gardens. The tree planting is part of the Arbor month scheme I have previously mentioned. Today’s guests paid 150 rands to have a look around the village and gain an insight into the hardships the villages face. More importantly they get to see the great projects that their cash funds, other guests paid an additional 150 rands. For this they get to plant one of the fruit trees. It’s a really rewarding scheme not only do they provide a tree that should hopefully bare fruit for generations to come but they also get to (I think this still comes under the reward part!) plant it. Not easy in 40 degree temperatures with spade and about three feet of hard dirt between them and morale utopia.
It is an incredibly popular project and its easy to see why as it gives guests great personal satisfaction and why not, for about £25 a family can have fresh fruit for years to come. To make conversation I was going to ask whom planted the trees when they all returned to the van. The beads of sweat, red faces and struggled breathing sort of took the conversation starter from me. Instead I made the rather obvious comment of ’its hot isn’t it?’
I’m just going to have a quick break from writing this for my tea. Tonight its fresh Ostrich steak, with boiled spuds, stir fried veg and a Hansa beer ….lovely jubbly. I had a interesting one for my dinner. Get this, a sliced warthog sandwich!!!! Unsurprisingly it taste just like ham, which of course it is when you take away the ten inch tusks, wiry fur and lop off that funny upright tail they have. Whilst you get yourself a bucket I’ll grab my tea, I‘ve just decided to put a fried egg on my ostrich ( not something you hear every day).
That was good, burp.
Whilst the guests were busy doing their thing I was left to measure up for the work Sipho and I
will be doing in the school. Well I say left, I was permanently swarmed by the biggest, brightest smiles I have ever had the pleasure to see. What a memorable time. The kids at the school were heart warningly cute. They followed my every move and step, laughing their heads off, singing and clapping. Every now and then one of them got the courage to have a prod or poke at me. Pretty soon though personal space became a thing of the past. I started singing as well which had them howling with excitement and laughter (I sang ‘bee bop a loola’) and then the old 
favourite ‘tiggy it’was played, then I had to try and get back to work and take some pictures of the ’jobs’. Not a chance. One second I was on my own and then as soon as the camera came out and I looked through the view finder, all I could see were little smiling faces. Eventually I got things done and we went on our way. As I was leaving a little girl came up with the usual smile and said in a half shy, unsure voice ’I think you’re a special person’. talk about a heart melter. A truly magical time.On the way back to the ‘staff village’ Lindsay and I saw a bunch giraffes and a bull elephant. I almost feel sorry for the warthogs, impala and waterbucks now as their that common they don’t get a mention. Unless on a sandwich of course!
Tomorrow were heading into Hazyview, the nearest town for the materials to crack on. It will also give me a chance to orientate myself outside the park for when I go driving for a couple of days. The plan is to drive North and have a look at some mega waterfalls and then up to Blyde River Canyon where I’ll be camping for the weekend. The original plan was just to sleep rough in the car but I’ve been advised not to. So ‘not to’ is the sensible thing to do!
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