Well, in case you thought we'd fallen off the face of the earth or been hijacked, we are still very much alive and well in South Africa. We've extended our stay by a week as we couldn't fit everything in. Our return date is now March 24^th.

We've traveled in a big circle around South Africa and have put over 5,000 miles on Cate's car. Below is an annotated map of South Africa showing the route we took and the places we visited.

If you've been following along, you'll know that we flew into Joburg on Jan 26^th where we stayed with Cate and Fiona for the weekend. Then, on February 2^nd, we headed down to Lily of the Valley Orphanage in KwaZulu Natal for just over 2 weeks. We've already posted a lot about our experiences at Lily so we'll skip over that part of the trip here.

We left Lily on February 16^th and drove northwest to the southern part of the Drakensberg mountains. We stayed in the very peaceful little town of Underberg and joined a 4x4 tour up the Sani Pass into Lesotho. Boy, what an experience that was! The Sani Pass is described as one of the most treacherous mountain passes in Africa taking you 9500 feet above sea level on a single track dirt road in a matter of 5 miles!

It had been raining heavily in the Drakensberg for several weeks prior to our arrival and the Pass had been closed because the road had beenwashed away. They opened the Pass but very few vehicles had made it to the top because the road conditions were so bad and the fog was so thick. Our fearless driver was determined to persevere and we made it to the top where we were rewarded with lunch at the highest pub in Africa. The weather was deteriorating so we left hastily for the hairy descent back into South Africa. It was scary, exciting and wonderful all at the same time.

View from base of Sani Pass ... before we ascended into the clouds!

From the Drakensberg we drove to Port St Johns on the Wild Coast. Port St. Johns was described as the “jewel of the wild coast.” It is anything but! It is a dilapidated, dirty, creepy town. The creek looked like a garbage dump. The beach had trash and debris washed up. There was a sense of hopelessness and desperation. It's sad because the landscape and views are actually gorgeous, but the residents have destroyed this natural beauty with carelessness. It was approaching sunset, and we wanted to take a walk on the beach, but when we got there it did not feel safe.

Traditional village in hills of the Eastern Cape

We left early the next morning and drove through the beautiful hills of the Eastern Cape with their colorful traditional houses to Jeffrey's Bay. What a contrast to Port St Johns! It was as clean, beautiful and felt very safe. Jeffrey's Bay is a world famous surfing destination.

Jeffrey's Bay Beach

From Jeffrey's Bay we continued traveling west to Knysna. Knysna is another amazing example of South Africa's natural beauty. Storms River mouth and gorge is spectacular to see. The gorge is disturbingly steep and deep, even to someone that had gone rock climbing for years. We visited a wood working shop and met a very nice man, Colin, who took us through the shop, explaining every species of wood as we went and showing us each product (and it wasn't even his shop.) He urged us to visit a yacht builder across town. We were anxious to get moving along but agreed to back track to the factory. I am so glad we did! James, the owner of Fluid Yachts, showed us all through his facility, explaining the business's history and vision as well as the joys and difficulties of being a SA business owner. He gave us a tour of the “smaller” of the two catamarans at 55ft long. It was a work of art. The deck fixtures were formed right onto the deck as if they grew out of the fiberglass. The systems were all the best brands in the world and installed in a way to please both the owner and the mechanics.

Looking into gorge from the main highway bridge

Storms River Mouth

Storms River Mouth

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Mark standing in front of one of the oldest remaining yellow wood trees

From Knysna we continued west to Cape Town and then south along the Cape Peninsula to the little seaside village of Fish Hoek were Grace grew up. We spent a week in Fish Hoek living in a cottage about 300 feet from the long sandy beach. We did day trips to Cape Point, Table Mountain and Boulders beach where we swam with the African Penguins. Cape Town is an incredibly beautiful place where the mountains meet the sea!

Cape Point - covered in fog!

View of Hout Bay from Chapmans Peak on a very windy day

Fish Hoek beach

Kalk Bay Harbor - one bay up from Fish Hoek

View of Table Mountain as we ascended in the cable car

Looking down on Cape Town city and port from the cable car

African Penguins on Boulders Beach

We experienced wonderful South African hospitality as we caught up with many of Grace's friends in the various suburbs of Cape Town …

Family friends - Ruth & Ron Connyngham and Maureen West

High School friends– Melanie Raphael, Angela De Sa and John De Sa

Campus Crusade friends – Erika and Martin (Hays) Janutsch

USA friends – Melissa & Ben (Brown) Blasko

We even bumped into some friends that she had lost contact with while we were doing errands. Nadene Tharratt Bell from UCT and Debbie Jenkins from FHHS!

We attended a service at Muizenberg Community Church which is a very multicultural church. We sang songs in English, Xhosa and Afrikaans. What a wonderful experience it was to worship the same God in different languages!

We left Cape Town on March 1^st en route back to Joburg. We spent a night in Montagu with Grace's friends Neil and Hazel Fraser, from her Christ Church Hillbrow days. The drive through the mountains into Montagu was breathtaking. An early morning departure began a 13 hour drive to Welkom through the Karoo which is a semi-desert area. In Welkom we spent the night with Grace's cousin Biddy and were treated to a delicious dinner and fresh homemade scones for breakfast.

Grace and cousin Biddy

We spent the weekend at Cate & Fiona's in Midrand recuperating from all our travels and then set off early on Monday March 7^th for Pilanesberg Game Reserve. What a wonderful experience that was! We stayed in a very comfortable safari tent with an indoor bathroom. The monkeys paid us a visit one day while we were out and helped themselves to packets of sugar and coffee creamer! We saw the monkeys in our neighbors tent the previous day and so we had taken great care to secure every zipper on the tent but the monkeys are very clever … they figured out that the ground sheet was attached by velcro and they just pulled it open! Thankfully we had put most of our food in the trunk of the car based on what we saw at our neighbors tent the previous day so there wasn't much for them to eat.

Our safari tent

Securely locked - or so we thought!

Clever monkeys mastered velcro!

We spent many hours driving around the Game Park in search of animals and we were richly rewarded. We saw a huge variety of animals including lion, elephant, rhinoceros, giraffe, hippopotamus, zebra, impala, springbok, kudu and many different species. It was a wonderful experience! We've posted a few pictures below but will do another post later with more photos – we took almost 500 photos!

Huge heffalump!

Lioness scoping out her prey

We've been back in Joburg since the 10^th and have been spending our time visiting people in different community development projects, churches and ministries. We'll blog about those experiences separately so that's all for now.

Our Projects at LoV

It's been a week since we left Lilly of the Valley. We're in Cape Town area and have covered a lot of ground getting here. We'll post about our travels but first we wanted to post about our LoV projects.

Grace's Project

Grace's main project at LoV was helping to establish an Occupational Health and Safety Program.  She worked very closely with Sihle Dlamini, the Community Clinic Manager and Nurse, who has been tasked with establishing and running the Safety Program at LoV.

Grace, Togo and Sihle

After a crash course in SA Health and Safety legislation, Sihle and Grace wrote a basic policy manual, established some initial safety procedures and outlined a basic safety training program. They conducted a safety assessment of the hydroponic farming operation together with the safety committee. This was the  first safety assessment so one of the main goals was to use it to train the safety committee. The safety committee did very well in performing the assessment and asked very insightful questions. Sihle prepared a report for the area supervisor identifying the findings and they have already begun correcting the issues identified.  One of the additional benefits was that the safety committee members went back to their areas and started talking to their colleagues about safety hazards and making changes to improve safety! When Sihle and I did a walked-through of the Maintenance area a week after the first assessment, we had to work really hard to find some safety issues - well done Nathi! 

Safety Committee doing Safety Assessment 

Hydroponic Tomato Farming Operation

Outside of Tomato Farming Tunnels

I was really excited about doing this project because it shows the value that LoV puts on their employees and their charges (the kids). The chances of an inspector ever showing up at LoV are very slim and the Health and Safety regulations are much more lenient in SA but the LoV management take their responsibility seriously and so they are proactively initiating this program. I must also admit that it was fun for me delving back into my Praxair experience with 'the six hazards that kill', 'personal protective equipment', 'material data sheets', 'near misses' …. John Wright where are you when I need you!

Mark's Projects

Mark did a variety of installations and repairs around LoV. He worked closely with Eugene who is the Maintenance Supervisor. Mark's biggest project was to cover a man-made water reservoir which is 30 ft in diameter and about 10 ft deep. The cover is for safety reasons and also to block sunlight which allows algae to grow in the water.

I had a lot of help from my new friend, Nkosinathi. Think of this design as looking like a circus “Big Top” tent.  I set a 13 ft long PVC pipe section into a milk crate of concrete. I put 2” long vertical slots in the top of the pipe. The slots held 8 lengths of 10 gauge solid wire which spans the diameter of the tank. The ends of the wire are held in place by a Hilti anchor at each end. Around the perimeter of the tank we put a length of chicken wire. This helped prevent sags in the shade cloth and helped a a level of security should a child try to climb on top of the cover. The cover is a plastic woven cloth that blocks 85% of the sun light. It came in an 8 ft wide bolt, so we had to cut lengths and stitch them together side-by-side with zip ties. Once the strips were stitched together we pulled the shade cloth over the vertical post. A couple of lengths of wire around the perimeter holds the cloth in place.

Reservoir and pump house before the work began

Reservoir drained and mucking out dead algae. Notice the center post to the right.

Shade cloth going on.

Pump house vent installation

My friend Nkosinathi and me in front of our hard work.

In addition to the reservoir job, I had a couple of smaller jobs. One was to install a roof vent in a shipping container. The container is used as a pump house. The vent cools the pump house down significantly. The pump house will house pumps and equipment to filter and fertilize the water supply for the hydroponic tomato farm on-site. I also repaired a large steel gate. When I saw the gate, I though a Rino had attacked it. But it was only the tractor that ran into it. It was an all day job to bend the square tube frame back into shape and weld on straps to the broken joints.

Repaired gate - wish I had a "before" photo

I was pleased to be able to do something practical and to use my existing skills. The biggest challenge was getting the equipment and supplies for the project. I drove for 45 minutes to the nearest building supplies store only to find that they didn't have what I needed. So I had to improvise. One of my projects was to weld pipe for making wash line posts. The supply house didn't have any galvanized pipe. They ordered six, 6 meter lengths of 40mm pipe and promised it 'tomorrow'. I'm still not quite sure what 'tomorrow' means… after 2 weeks it still hadn't arrived. Then there's the challenge that everything is in centimeters and meters. Oh and since a lot of equipment is imported, the welder labels & instructions are in German... Needless to say, it was somewhat challenging. But all said, I keep thinking you guys from the boat yard would thrive on the challenges. I could still be there working. There are so many more projects to work on.  One project I wished I'd had time to get to was servicing the tractor. It needed an oil, oil filter and fuel filter change. But the tractor hardly ever sits still.

Another thing is the heat! We don't have a thermometer here but the temperature must be in the 90's from 10am-4pm which is when everyone is out working. I've managed to get sunburnt every other day in spite of Grace covering me with SPF 45! And there has been more than one day come mid-afternoon the heat really got to me. I couldn't talk straight much less think straight. Eugene tells me it can get over 40 degree celsius around here.

Monday's Adventures

I've got a wifi connection today so we wanted to fill you in on a little something about our Monday.

Mark
I was to replace the line on some of the clothes lines at the Children's Village. A little guy about 5 ran up to me as I arrived in the car. He greeted me as if he was expecting me. Off we go to the first clothes line. He 'helped' me by carrying supplies and/or trash as we moved to the next line, then the next. As we worked our way around the houses, the number of helpers grew to 3. Then grew to 6. And before I knew it there must have been 14-15 boys and girls following me everywhere I went. Everyone wanted to help me carry something. I made sure that they each had an old piece of clothes line for them to carry for me. They had a lot of fun 'helping' I could tell. Once back to the car, I unlocked the door to put the old line in the back seat and before I knew it, everyone one of the kids were in the back seat 'for just one minute, please?' Picture 15 kids in the back seat of a car about the size of ha Honda Civic. (Sorry Cate, I'll take care of the dusty foot prints before we return your car.) It was really cute, but one of the other workers had do rescue me and get the kids out of the car!


Grace
Last night was my first night without a single mosquito bite - yippeee!! The mozzies seem to like me a lot and repellant doesn't help much. My legs are just COVERED in bites!! Last night I came up with a new plan .... the comforters we sleep under have removable covers  - kind of like a large pillow case. So I took the comforter out and climbed inside the cover and slept like that. It worked!  The mosquitos couldn't figure out how to get to my legs. I think I'm going to get inside my comforter cover as soon as the sun starts to go down from now on!

Grace cooked some frogs – by mistake!

Water is very scarce here so when we saw a dripping tap outside our apartment we decided to put one of our pots under it to catch the water. (it is important to explain that the pot is double walled and has a deep lip at the bottom). So I decided to use this pot of water to cook the mielies (corn) for lunch. I put the water on the burner and shortly afterwards started to smell some thing burning. I looked in the pot and there was only water. Nothing seemed to be touching the pot so I went away. The smell got worse and worse but I couldn't find the source. Eventually I switched the burner off and lifted the pot up and there were 2 charred little frogs under the pot! They had climbed up inside the wall of the pot and then been trapped by the deep lip at the bottom of the pot! Poor little frogs! So now I check inside and under everything before I put it on the stove!

Africa Time is Real!

Grace always excuses her lateness by saying she's on Africa time. I've learned that time really is different here … Saturday I was to meet the guys for work at 10am. It was nearly 11am before we all got in. And of course nothing could get started until we finished morning break. Lest you think that is a one off, we arrived 15 mins late for church the next day, but service didn't start for another 10 mins. Oh yea, and the supplies I ordered last Thursday have been promised "tomorrow" everyday since then. But I'm not complaining, I'm too hot to move too fast either.

A day at Nokuphila and then off to Lily of the Valley

A Day at Nokuphila School – Mon Feb 1^st

Today I thought we were going to weed the vegetable garden at Nokuphila. Wow, was I surprised when we got there and we each got assigned to help in a classroom. I was assigned to help Dorothy with the 4-5 year olds. I helped them make their own puppet out of a brown paper lunch bag and a paper face and tie that they colored in. I had a tough time spelling their names – Nonhlanhla, Thembi, Thando, Sipho … Grace helped Mary with the 3-4 year olds. She helped them learn how to use scissors to to cut on a line.

Lunch is prepared and served out on the porch. It was chicken livers over rice with carrots and peas. And it smelled amazing (but we didn't eat any)! After lunch we supervised the kids naptime while the teachers had staff meeting.

The principal of the school, Maritta, asked if I could build a bicycle path for the school. The path has already been dug but we would need to move some stone, build a form and pour and level concrete. It's not a huge project but would need donations to buy supplies and several people to help. Anyone want to come over and help? Noah do you have any off? Just kidding! When we get back to Joburg I'll try to round up some volunteers and some money for the project.

Traveling to Lily of the Valley (LoV) – Tues Feb 2^nd

Before we could leave for Lily of the Valley (LoV) we wanted to sort out cell phones. We'd been working on this for four days! The reason for the delay turned out to be that the phone Grace 'knew absolutely, without a doubt that she bought in South Africa', she had actually bought in Peru ... so we bought a new phone and miraculously we were connected!

The 6 hour drive to LoV took us south and east on the N3 towards Durban with the Drakensburg mountains in the western distance.

LoV is in a very rural area about 20 minute drive from the highway between Pietermaritzburg and Durban in KwaZulu Natal. The drive to LoV took us through some very impoverished communities. Unemployment in this area is about 70%! Most people build their own homes from home-made concrete bricks, mud and tin. I visited the home of one of the local residents. It was modest inside. No TV or even electricity, but the atmosphere was warm and inviting.

Lily of the Valley (LoV)

Our Accommodation, Neighbors and Wildlife

The LoV property is extensive. We're staying on the edge of the property overlooking the Thala Game Park in 'Bushwillow'! It's really beautiful but quite wild! To give you an idea of how wild it is … on our arrival we were greeted by a nyala buck named “Brave” who followed us back to our room to 'check us out'! It's a little weird having a nap with a buck staring at you through the window!

"Brave" The Nyala Buck

Our accommodation is a very nice one bedroom, one bathroom apartment with a little patio out front. We have a fridge, microwave and a 2 burner hotplate so we are very comfortable! There is even intermittent wifi!! But the wifi is more reliable than the water! Water is very scarce and we often turn on the tap and hear that gurgling sound that tells us there's no more water. So showers have to be very quick and washing dishes is done with minimal water. We're learning to watch every drop and plan ahead. When there is water we fill every available container.

Looking down on Bushwillow from the Children's Village

Our patio overlooking Thala Game Park

The view from our patio

Livingroom/Kitchen

There are 3 other apartments in Bushwillow which house volunteers/ staff and our neighbors are very friendly. Our newest neighbour is Lise, a volunteer who arrived from the UK on Thursday. She is a Special Ed teacher and is here for 2 years. Guy is here for 6 month of his 'gap year' as a volunteer and Nthabaseng is a Social Worker on staff at LoV.

We have been very busy since arriving at LoV but most of our free time is spent watching the hills for animals and birds. We've seen a herd of nyala does, some kudu, three ostriches and more bird species than I can count including an African Fish Eagle and 2 Spotted Eagle Owls. I saw a monkey alongside the road while doing a supplies run. We've been told that there are giraffes, rhinos, hippos, zebra and number of other buck species so we continue to scour the hills.

African Fish Eagle

Cool tree

Lily of the Valley

We knew LoV was having a big impact on the community, but it is way bigger than we imagined! We're still trying to absorb it all. There are so many things going on here: an orphanage, a daycare center, an elementary school, a medical center, a dental clinic, community based medical clinics with house calls from doctor/nurse, home-based carers, community food programs, community gardens, community computer training.

The goal is to make the whole operation self sustaining so they are working on developing income generating opportunities. They have a small conference center which they rent out. They also have a hydroponic tomato farming operation which has been operating for 1 year and is already profitable. They are looking to expand both the farming and the conference center.

Ken and his staff are awesome people. They clearly work very hard and willingly accept a huge responsibility for the kids and the community members. They employ just shy of 100 staff in all the different departments. They hope to be able to offer more employment & training opportunities to the community as the organization grows.

There are 8 other volunteers here at the moment each serving for varying lengths of time. The volunteers come from all over the place – South Africa, USA (NYC specifically), Netherlands, Austria, UK and Australia.