Good times

So we continue our journey through the beautiful scenery of South Africa and the Garden Route. Yesterday we went to Bloukrans Bridge which is the site of the highest bungi jump in the world, at 216 metres. You may be surprised to hear that I swallowed my fear and surprised everyone by...not doing the jump. I watched a lot of my friends so it and that was more than enough adrenaline for me!

Yesterday we reached a place called Storms River where the big attraction is black river tubing. It's cool, you sit in an extra-strong rubber ring and fly down the river, a bit like one man white water rafting. Imagine my excitement at the prospect of doing this cool adrenaline-filled activity. And imagine my frustration and disappointment when I fell off a rock yesterday whilst hiking a coastal trail and sprained my ankle!!! So I am currently sitting in the hostel writing my blog while the rest of the group are out on the river. Bad times :(

I'm now almost at the end of my African adventure, and have had plenty of time to reflect on what I've learnt over the past (nearly) 5 months. When I arrived fresh off the plane in Tanzania in June I was shocked to see the level of what I saw as poverty but what I now regard as simplicity in which the people live. Coming from a western country, I was used to having countless clothes, books, cosmetics and plenty of food and to see first hand that that's not the case for so many was humbling. I remember the house girl where I lived (and by the way a house girl isn't a wealthy person's luxury, but usually a relative or friend of the family who does the cooking, washing and cleaning in return for free board and sometimes education), Neema once came into my room and was amazed at how many things I had - baring in mind that I had brought the bare minimum that I thought I needed to survive! All she had was a few changes of clothes, a bar of soap and bottle of a shower gel which I had given her as a present.

I didn't have time to write much when I left Longido as I was having to use incredibly slow and relatively expensive internet, but now I am back in 'civilisation' I have more time to reflect and sum up what was such an incredible and important time in my life. Although for only 3 months, living in a community with a culture so different to my own was amazing. The priorites of the people are very different to ours. For the maasai, cattle take more prescedence than even family. The past months have been dangerously dry, and what little water we had was first given to the cows, then to the people. Many herds were taken hundreds of kilometres away for grazing, and of those who stayed there were many fatalities; when walking in the bush it wasn't unusual to come across carcasses. The drought was awful. For me, the worst it meant was that sometimes I couldn't wash my clothes or have a shower (most annoying after a week on Kilimanjaro without washing facilities) but we had enough to cook and drink, unlike some. Puts the UK hosepipe bans to shame...

Community is also very important to Tanzanians. When there is a wedding the whole village is invited. During my time I was (unofficially) a guest at 2 weddings; once it was a friend of a friend who had a celebration in the village which was so full that we didn't even make it inside the hall but were given a soda outside and had to watch the celebrations through the window! The other was on a very random night out when 2 fellow vounteers and I jumped in the back of a pick up truck and drove to the Kenyan border town of Namanga and went to a nightclub which had been hired out by a wedding party, but instead of turning us away they invited us in to join the celebration! Although poor, all the people I met were unfailingly generous.

I think I have learnt a lot and probably changed a bit as a result of my experinces. I'm without a doubt a lot more relaxed and don't get as stressed as I used to. I have also learnt to really enjoy my own company - something that I always enjoyed before but had never had to rely on as much. Unfortunately I haven't lost as much weight as I had hoped, which I thought was a given in Africa! Turns out that even though I wasn't eating any chocolate, crisps, snacks or even drinking alcohol, the carb-rich diet undid any progress I might have made. But not a big deal in the scheme of things. On the plus side i'm very brown! Plus I'm very happy which is the most important thing.

It's strange being back in the western world. Everything is much the same as back at home and although i'm having fun, being here isn't as interesting or educational as Tanzania was. My time in Africa will come to an end on 30th November when I fly to Sydney. I'm looking forward to it as I will get to see many friends who either live in or will be visting Australia while i'm there, but will be sad to leave this continent which I have some to love so much. I know i'll be back soon...