Farewell South Africa...

Well, folks.... this blog is meeting its end. My adventures, work contract and visa in South Africa have expired (for the time being anways). The Legal Resources Centre threw a farewell staff luncheon for me that week and Sarah and Monty threw a Sunday luncheon for me at their home in Bathurst [see below]. Great food and great people, as only to be expected at Sarah and Monty's abode :) Dan had learned to swim the previous October and was marvelling at his new-found talent!











Monty grows plants in what they call "the tunnel" [see below].During my final week at work, Sarah, Noxolo and I visited a creche in Grahamstown to discuss their funding and what their needs were. There were a few children still waiting for their parents to come and pick them up. They were very curious to see the three of us, and delighted to be taken photos of [see below]. One wee one was too tired to pose :) On the drive back to the office after our meeting, I managed to snap a few pictures of the outskirts and township of Rini (Xhosa name for the township of Grahamstown):












































My time at the Legal Resources Centre was a wonderful experience which taught me a lot and has also pushed me further on the path to becoming a skilled human rights lawyer. I will miss my colleagues, the work and my office. I was invited to write a short bio about myself on the Legal Resources Centre's website for future interns: http://www.lrc.org.za/About/Interns.asp.

I will miss South Africa, Grahamstown, my apartment and the Legal Resources Centre. I spent nearly seven months living in Grahamstown, and became attached to the town in my own way.

I left South Africa on Friday, March 22, 2007. Mr. Rufus Poswa speedily drove me to the airport in Port Elizabeth. The flight was long, but smooth since there were no delays. Geza was waiting with open arms for me when I arrived at the Toronto Pearson airport after an approximately 30-hour voyage and brought me home to see my mother and Mandrake (my cat).

Even though this blog is complete, I intend to continue writing for blogs. The website www.emmayemma.blogspot.com will detail the next round of adventures in Europe :)

A Weekend in Riveting Riet River

In a profusely puzzling pickle about how to spend my very last weekend in South Africa, I weighed the available options: #1 I could stay in Grahamstown and "hang out" locally or #2 go the 30 km 2-day Alexandria sand dune and forest hiking trail (similar to the Amatola Mountains hike ) with Sharkie or #3 try and rent a cottage on the beach and relax for the weekend with friends. I opted for #3. I was going to opt for #2, but given that I had just done a gung-ho 2-day 35 km hike in the Amatola Mountains two weekends ago and will probably tackle the Bruce Trail in Ontario upon my return, I thought a relaxing weekend at the beach would be well deserved in addition to the fact that it would be a fabulous way to spend my last weekend on the African continent.

So, on Friday March 16th, 2007, I picked up Sharkie, Stephanie and Chandra with the crappy Audi to head out to a summer cottage at Riet River mouth (on the ocean) located some 60 km south of Grahamstown on the coast. This is also where the three sisters are, which I described already under the posting titled "Port Alfred & The Kap River Nature Reserve" when my mother and I did a beach walk in November 2006. I managed to locate this summer house through Sarah (my boss) who gave me the number of a lady named Mrs. Tim. I managed to bargain the extremely benevolent Mrs. Tim from R 500 to R 400 for the entire weekend for a 2-bedroom house right on the beach [see below for evidence]! It was gorgeous :)
We arrived after sundown. The Audi - or now known as the "kak-mobile" ("kak" is Afrikaans for "crap") - was overheating and we continuously had to dump 5 litres of water in the coolant compartment. The car did make it eventually to our Riet River weekend home and we unpacked and started the fire to prepare the braai: I marinated the meat, Sharkie made the fire, Stephanie and Chandra lit all the candles and set the tables and made drinks for everyone. Good division of labour :) That night, we just relaxed on our large deck which overlooked the beach and the ocean. The sounds of the ocean, the brightness of the stars and the warm temperature were the recipe for a splendid evening.
On Saturday, the weather was wonderful until after lunch. I ran around the beach in my makeshift bikini (I have lost the real one in Hogsback when we returned from the Amatola - I changed into dry clothing and left my wet clothing outside and, of course, left it there by accident). I took some beautiful pictures of the beach and the dune located right in front of our summer house (we walked down this dune from the house to access the beach).

That afternoon, despite the windy and slightly chilly weather, we all marched down to the beach for a stroll to the second sister (about 2 km from the summer house). Due to the strong winds, the beach took on a surreal aspect to it. Thin drifts of sand were whipping across the beach - it looked lonely and beautiful.

Stephanie and Chandra looking "windy":

Just as we were approaching the second sister, it began to rain like lions and hyenas!! So, instead of climbing it, I suggested we all huddle under a thick tree-like bush which was growing on the second sister. To get underneath it, we were inclined to clamber up a steep sandy part. After a few failed attempts, we finally made it underneath where it was dry, and to reward ourselves for our efforts, we each cracked open a beer and prided ourselves unsparingly on our clever thinking. Below is a picture of our hide-away, but taken the next day when it was sunny (there was no time to take a picture on the day in question because of the lions and hyenas dropping from the heavens).After the rain let up, we ventured out into the wind again with the intention to climb the second sister. En route, we got side-tracked by "Lover's Cove" which is located on the beach in an inlet of the second sister [see below]. Due to the self-explanatory nature of the name, I do not feel the need to explain what "Lover's Cove" is and why it was named such :) Directly below is a picture of the entrance to Lover's Cove...

After much coaxing, I convinced the others that we simply had to climb the second sister. A million fantastically gorgeous pictures later [some of which are posted below], we headed homeward bound to get our supper started.

Walking back to the house, I had to laugh and laugh at Chandra who seriously believed that he was Freddy Mercury from Queen touring South Africa [see below]:

Nice pictures of Sharkie strolling ahead of me:

After supper, I managed to unearth one of my yet-to-be-discovered super hero talents: Jenga [see left]. Stephanie and I became Jenga-perts (my invented name for a Jenga expert). We were completely and utterly unbeatable. My ego soared :) Sharkie eventually joined too, but Chandra was a lost cause: he hugged his mini-bongo all night while wearing his hat, which bore a striking resemblance to a tea-cosy, and listening to a musical group called "Fela Kuti".

The following day, we tanned and played chess during the morning. I have attached a picture of Chandra and I battling to the death [see below] :)

We headed out to the second sister, again, (it was nice weather this time) and relaxed in the sand at the base of this rock.

Ruth and Paddy joined us for the afternoon which turned out to be a blessing in more ways than one! Upon leaving the summer house around 19:30, my 1984 Audi (also known as the kak-mobile) overheated at about 10 km from the cottage and simply refused to restart. I phoned the owner of the car (also the owner of the Old Gaol Backpackers in Grahamstown) and persuaded him to agree to send one of his staff to come to our rescue, but Paddy wanted to go and eat somewhere, so he suggested that the 6 of us cram into his car - our stomachs all agreed So, I sprawled myself over my three friends in the back seat and listened to everyone groan as kidneys, livers and pancreases were squashed and forced to relocate to other areas within the body :)

I have grown to love South Africa. Part of me misses Canada and Holland, and part of me yearns to stay here. The mal d'Afrique has struck me...