May | 2014 | See It Do It Live It

Match Report: Derby Disappointment for Vinjeru’s Girls

Man of the Match: Miriam – surely a future star of Zambian Netball. A rock in defence. Lemon of the Match (a CSHC tradition): The Van. For reasons that will become apparent. Inevitably whilst travelling, you will have nights when, tucked up in bed with your mind still projecting the events of the day like a home video on the bedroom ceiling, you realise that today will forever be a ‘defining moment’ of the place you’re in. Friday was one of those days. This was to be Vinjeru school’s second…read more

Kapiri Mposhi

Our internet access in Kapiri is very limited, so it might be difficult to blog. We arrived a few days ago, and went to meet Karolyn and Martin for dinner. They have set up and run the school here. It was great to catch up with them and get some ideas about the work we will probably be doing here. The next day we got a tour of the school. There are currently 3 classes, all in the equivalent of year 7. The children are between 12 and 20 years…read more

Livingstone Bridge

There is so much to do in Livingstone that I could have happily stayed for much longer, but our last day has arrived. We decided to head back towards Victoria Falls and do the zip line across the river to Livingstone Bridge. This was a really kind gift from the ladies at Cambridge South hockey club. We spent the first hour there watching people doing bungee jumps and the gorge swing off the bridge. I don’t think anything would persuade me to give that a go! In fact, my legs…read more

Safari So Goody

Today we headed to Botswana for the day, to safari in Chobe. We got picked up at 7am with a few others from the hostel and drove to the border, where we passed through the most efficient exit post so far. The driver took all of our passports, and we waited for a few nervous minutes (hoping he didn’t do a runner!) before he returned with our stamps. We then transferred onto a boat to do a two minute river crossing into Botswana – this even included about 20 seconds…read more

A Lunar Rainbow

As we crossed the border from Namibia to Zambia, we immediately noticed that we had changed country. Namibia is an underpopulated country, with less than 3 people every square kilometer. We drove along mile after mile of road without seeing any sign of human life. Zambia has a much higher population, and as we crossed over the border we passed through lots of villages. Things also seem to be much less organised in Zambia. The main road we travelled on was in a terrible state, with huge pot holes everywhere….read more

Tales of Africa

When Cameron and I were little our Grandad, Ernie, used to reguarly tell us a bedtime story centred around a Raffie Swan bus trip. For you non-Berwickers, Raffie Swan had the worst coaches imaginable. Regularly our school trips would be spent in a lay-by, somewhere between Holy Island and Newcastle, while we waited on another coach coming to pick us up from our broken down vehicle. As the infamous song goes, ‘You’ll never get to heaven on a Raffie Swan bus.’ However, in Ernies bedtime stories, we would all be…read more

Spectacular sand and delightful dunes

Posted by Kylie in Africa, Namibia, Trip, Uncategorized

I have been lucky enough to grow up in two beautiful parts of England and to live in two beautiful cities, to ski in places with stunning scenery and hike through some incredible countryside. But I was still surprised by the breathtaking views in the Namib desert. A few miles from Swakopmund, all signs of civilisation disappear, and you are surrounded in every direction by bright red sand dunes and bright blue sky. It looks even better than in the photographs. There is a surprising amount of wildlife too –…read more

Swakopmund

It may surprise you to know that the tortoise can hardly walk this morning, because of achy legs, whereas the hare is feeling sprightly! We set off on our 23 hour journey to Windhoek on a Sleepliner. This is the most luxurious coach I have been on, with two levels, loads of leg room and seats that can be fully reclined. We were informed that we would be allowed two fifteen minute refreshment breaks – but only if time allowed! The time passed quite quickly, and I spent most of…read more

The tortoise and the hare

One of us climbs mountains like a tortoise, the other like a hare. While the tortoise slowly plods on and never stops, the hare flies ahead but regularly stops for a short break. In the end, both the tortoise and the hare reached the summit at the same time – not sure where the moral is in that story Aesop! It was a pretty steep climb up the gorge to the top, and the wind was blowing a gale. The sign at the bottom informed us that it could take…read more

Rain, rain go away

The wind is howling and the rain is bouncing off the ground, foiling our plans to climb Table Mountain. Instead we decided to have a lazy morning, catch up with some admin, and wait for the weather front to blow itself out. Unfortunatley, the weather man had other ideas. So we did the sensible thing, and headed to a vineyard. Groot Constantia is the oldest in Cape Town, and for the princely sum of 30 Rand (about £1.80) you can taste 5 of their fine wines. The measures are generous…read more