(no subject)
The other 7 volunteers headed to Durban for this weekend, which left just the three Canadians hanging out at Klipkop. And Paul, the head guy when it comes to fires on the reserve, was away for the weekend so Deon was on stand-by for that position. Sounds like a great time to fight our first wildfire, right? :-) Andrew and I had just finished cutting stuff up for supper last night and were lighting a fire in the fireplace when the phone rang. I ran in to answer it and it was Tony on his cell phone from his walk. There was a fire on Klipkop and we had 5-10 minutes to meet him at the gate. I changed while Andrew ran up to the other house to grab Adam and we all met Deon outside. At the gate we picked up Tony and didn't have to drive far. The fire was at the main gate to the whole Klipkop enclosure (Klipkop is an area of land, protected by security gates and guards, that is owned by over 20 landowners. The reserve is the main part of it, but there are a variety of other people living around.) We had the Landie (Land Rover) and it had a water tank on the back. They put out one side of the fire and decided to lite a backfire to meet the other. This specific spot attracts many fires each year so they decided that since the wind was low, they would use this opportunity to burn a firebreak there. It didn't take too long to get under control, and then it was a rather slow burn as the wind was low. Exciting though, even if it wasn't overly huge.
I can't believe my two months is almost up. It really hit me today; I fly home a week from tomorrow. This has been an incredible adventure and I will always remember my first memories of Africa. On Wednesday we (Canadians) fly to Cape Town until next Saturday, then I fly out Monday night. Through London and back to Canada I believe on the Tuesday. Backwards time change this time.
I have officially gotten totally comfortable driving here. Standard, automatic, left side of the road - I *think* I can handle it all now. It was pretty neat learning how to drive a standard in South Africa. I think it will be a bit harder to adjust at home as everything is on the other side. I might be a bit of a driving hazard the first time I drive at home. I can just see myself turning onto the left hand side of the road. Eesh...
Thinking of everyone and missing you all. This weekend has been quiet with mostly everyone gone and I have had ample time to sleep and reflect. It has made for some good journaling. Plus, Friday night the three of us went with Deon and his girlfriend, Anzelle, to 'Presley's' a club in Pretoria. Wow. What a step back in time. Incredible. We were in totaly disbelief. First, you could pay cover or a slightly higher price and be given a bracelet which allowed you to go to a specific bar and drink for free all night. There was a also a cash bar, and a side room for heavy metal (and definitely some odd drugs). The main room was two different layers of tables with one main dance floor with a large-ish stage. This blew our minds: if you were a single person (looking for a partner), you would dance in the very middle and someone would approach you. If you had a partner, or just acquired one, you would WALTZ around the outside of the dancefloor in a very fast pattern. Around and around. Anyone walking through was liable to loose an appendage. It was crazy nuts. I went up to request a couple of songs and was told that they didn't play that kind of music (perhaps because I requested two black artists...). The song that basically highlighted all of the music played was the locomotion. Hmm....Anyway, it was a fun, interesting experience that saw Adam, Andrew, and I taking the stage for a while for kicks. And it was rather amusing to sit and listen to Adam and Andrew scope out the girls. Ladies at home, I definitely missed you that night!!
I can't believe my two months is almost up. It really hit me today; I fly home a week from tomorrow. This has been an incredible adventure and I will always remember my first memories of Africa. On Wednesday we (Canadians) fly to Cape Town until next Saturday, then I fly out Monday night. Through London and back to Canada I believe on the Tuesday. Backwards time change this time.
I have officially gotten totally comfortable driving here. Standard, automatic, left side of the road - I *think* I can handle it all now. It was pretty neat learning how to drive a standard in South Africa. I think it will be a bit harder to adjust at home as everything is on the other side. I might be a bit of a driving hazard the first time I drive at home. I can just see myself turning onto the left hand side of the road. Eesh...
Thinking of everyone and missing you all. This weekend has been quiet with mostly everyone gone and I have had ample time to sleep and reflect. It has made for some good journaling. Plus, Friday night the three of us went with Deon and his girlfriend, Anzelle, to 'Presley's' a club in Pretoria. Wow. What a step back in time. Incredible. We were in totaly disbelief. First, you could pay cover or a slightly higher price and be given a bracelet which allowed you to go to a specific bar and drink for free all night. There was a also a cash bar, and a side room for heavy metal (and definitely some odd drugs). The main room was two different layers of tables with one main dance floor with a large-ish stage. This blew our minds: if you were a single person (looking for a partner), you would dance in the very middle and someone would approach you. If you had a partner, or just acquired one, you would WALTZ around the outside of the dancefloor in a very fast pattern. Around and around. Anyone walking through was liable to loose an appendage. It was crazy nuts. I went up to request a couple of songs and was told that they didn't play that kind of music (perhaps because I requested two black artists...). The song that basically highlighted all of the music played was the locomotion. Hmm....Anyway, it was a fun, interesting experience that saw Adam, Andrew, and I taking the stage for a while for kicks. And it was rather amusing to sit and listen to Adam and Andrew scope out the girls. Ladies at home, I definitely missed you that night!!