Oct 1

We woke bright and early for today was the day our tour left.  But before that we had to go to Langa to drop of our school supplies and toys to a school of young kids in need. So Judy and I packed our bags and left the room at 630am in a taxi for the township by the airport.  The taxi driver got us there in about 10 mins but once arriving in Langa we had to stop at the police station to get an escort to the area in which we wanted to go.  Thembeka the principal of Nolukhanyiso meet us there.  When we got there at 645 there were four children there already.  A baby sleeping on couch.  A little girl and 2 young boys.  The little girl wanted me to read her a book. So I started to read her a book.  It had lions and tigers in it.  And even though she didn't speak English.  She started saying lion to me and pointing to the lion.  The lion was playing soccer and I said I have a soccer ball.  Her eyes light up.  I went and blew up the soccer balls and more children started to arrive.  We went out to the court yard and played with the soccer balls, sidewalk chalk and some other toys.  They were so cute and all full of smiles.  Only one girl made shy.  The rest were so eager to play and communicate.  One little girl started dancing, so one of the teaches started singing and a couple more kids joined in.   They speak Afrikaans.  The teachers did not speak English nor any of the children.  A few of the children knew a few words because they had a volunteer from Vancouver just spent 3 weeks with them.  Our visit was way to short but it was the best that we could do.  The taxi driver took us back and we arrived just as our tour bus was ready to pull out.  They were waiting for us.   We were a few minutes late, but they knew where we had gone so they waited.  

 

These children live in dire conditions. 

Thanks Breanne, Christine, Bev, Marilyn and Charlotte for your donations. The  Children really appreciated them.   When I went to wave goodbye they all ran up and gave me high fives.   I hated to leave.  I will be visited another school in Namibia and will be shopping for books to take to them.  Can't wait.  

We left on tour and found out rather quickly that our vehicle is not very comfortable.  

It does have big viewing windows, is high up and has a pop up roof so the game drives should be good. It has fridge inside but no washroom.  So we have had to use the bushee bushee a few times already.  

After leaving  Cape Town we stopped at Sunset beach on the Atlantic Ocean to get one last picture of table mountain across the bay before heading off to cedarberg mountains.

  

We stopped for a wine tasting and tour at a local vineyard,  Org De Rac.

  On route we saw ostriches and baboons. There is this yellow tree that is brought in from Australia that they were having trouble keeping alive due to moisture lose.  In order to keep the moisture they had to import a butterfly from Australia that lays its eggs in this tree and helps to stop moisture loss.  I don't know the whole story and will have to read up on this at a later date, but it sounded interesting. 

We stopped in Malmesbury for shopping. It is a wheat town.  This part of the country is mostly farmland with lots of wild flowers and birds.  We saw sheep, cows, donkeys, magpie bird and citrus orchards. 

We arrived shortly after lunch at our first night which was a farm called the old village.  Judy and I had a cottage to ourselves, with 2 bedroom 2 bathroom, Kitchen and and living room.  We enjoyed a farm cooked meal.