Report: Aug 05 Course

On one day we went and saw a traditional Xhosa dancing display which was fascinating and a cultural highlight! On one of our weekends we went to Cintsa and took a day trip to the Transkei. This was really great, we went cliff diving, visited a traditional Xhosa village, had a taste of some traditional stomach ache medicine which was brewed on the spot for us by a witch doctor. We then finished off the tour on the cliffs watching the whales and the sun set over the Indian ocean whilst drinking a cold beer!!

We met a real character called Basil Mills, he gave us a historic chat on wars around Grahamstown and then took us to his place which is like a living museum, very interesting. He then showed us his pets, a 4.5 metre python (which we managed to handle but was very heavy) a large rock lizard, a Nile crocodile and 3 owls.

One weekend we did a 10.000 feet sky dive over Grahamstown, awesome dude!!!

We went on an overnight wilderness trail, camping under the stars, the walk and the camp site was completely in the wild with no noise or light pollution or any signs of civilization.

We helped burn a fire break on a neighbouring farm using a branch as a fire beater, very smoky but a lot of fun!

We have been on many game drives seeing many different animals such as the big five and many many more! A few day ago we took part in game capture using a helicopter and nets. Five white Springbuck were eventually netted and placed in the lorry to be sold as breeding stock to a Free State game farmer near Clarens. It was great to get so close to these dainty animals and actually handle them.

Overall a fabulous experience and a special thank you to Wayne and Bongi who were with us all the way. Something that will live in our memories for years to come.

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