In search of ...

Cambodia

sarah_freedom — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 14:42:00 GMT

Firstly, I gave myself 6 weeks to do, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand which in hindsight was a tad ambitious! Hence having spent most of that time in Vietnam, Cambodia became bit of a flying visit. But it is definitely a place I will return to and explore more. Siem Reap was the only place we explored, with Angkor Wat being number one on the list of things to see. However before i go any further one of the highlights had to be the hotel we stayed, Green Village Palace (its not very green or a palace)but comfortable accommodation and friendly people.....the highlight tho was the neighbours....crocodiles..not just one or two but loads of them right next door and with a great view of them from our window...great entertainment!

Anyway on to Angkor Wat & Angkor Thom, I had a bright idea that instead of the usual tourist trail by tuktuk we should hire some bikes and cycle around the ruins. All seemed well until these two bike arrived at the hotel for us...they where electric, you still pedal but they have a battery as well if you want to go quicker. It was hilarious, you're not quite a cyclist and not quite a biker...in fact you're just a stupid traveller riding these damn heavy bikes that are extremely hard work...esp when the battery runs out and you don't realise there was a recharging place on route!!...Doh...very hot hard work but the best laugh! The ruins are amazing and was worth every effort to see them, best advice get their early to miss crowds.

Unfortunately i didn't get to explore Cambodia more, but the locals were so friendly and the country so beautiful i highly recommend it.

Gallery: Vietnam

sarah_freedom — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:10:00 GMT

Gallery: China

sarah_freedom — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:09:00 GMT

Vietnam

sarah_freedom — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:59:00 GMT

Vietnam first stop Hanoi, dirty, noisy, e.g. a typical Vietnam City.
Lots of interesting historical sights. Highlights - my birthday- death
defying motorbike ride, slightly more sedate cylo ride. Somewhat depressing - Hanoi prison - not really a good bday event.
And what deprived partying did i get up to in the evening you may ask?..
well errr...a water puppet show actually..dont ask!!

Halong Bay - definitely one of the best places in Vietnam..infact in Asia, take away the hoards of other backpackers on boat trips and this place is awesome. Cat Ba - climbing on a deserted beach - doesn't get much better than that! Take your choice of island and just Kayak to it...loved that place. Riding a bike through the rice fields was great fun too.

Hue - chilled place, Citadel ok..not much else to see.

Ngh Trang - touristy, but good place to dive as soooo cheap. Spent 3 days
getting PADI cert. Had bit of a scare when the o ring burst on Mike's air tank when we where on the sea bed...think our instructor was a bit shocked too. At least we got to practice an emergency surface for real tho!

Ho Chi Minh - flying visit - just another Vietnam city really - was tired
of cities by then.

The worst think about Vietnam - overnight buses - grim to say the least!
Haven't really done Vietnam justice here, it is a great Country, really enjoyed it and one of the best places I've been.

Last bits of China

sarah_freedom — Thu, 5 Jun 2008 13:57:00 GMT

Okay sorry its been ages since i updated this and I'm a few
countries ahead of China now...oops. Its just all gone very
quickly and i hardly have time to stop to write. However Im now
in Cairns with a nasty cold and very pi**ed off as I cant dive!! Fancy
coming all the way to the Great Barrier Reef and then getting a
bloody cold. So feeling sorry for myself
(and regretting the 2days/nts constant partying in
the Whitsunday's), I'm popping medication by the min to try and get
well, and thought I would use the time to update this. (actually im just wondering now if it is a cold or concussion as i did fall out the top bunk twice!)

Final China Highlights:

Shanghi and Hong Kong...fairly similar except HK is bigger (and obviously an island) and has more of an international feel. Both good for shopping and cafe life. I preferred Shanghi skyline and waterfront, but HK also has a cool lightshow on the waterfront...and a good museum...oh and the Giant Buddha is good too, just don't go when its cloudy and closed..doh! Did have problems with accommodation in both places, first the whole of Shanghi was fully booked..i spent 5hrs walking around with my backpack on in the humid heat to be turned away from all the hostels and hotels...on the verge of thinking I would have to find a comfortable park bench, I eventually found a room in a expensive hotel..(had to leave my backpack outside whilst I enquired as I realised I wasn't exactly fitting in!). HK was even worse as the Rugby Final was on and although i had prebooked a hostel they had overbooked, however all was not lost as the hostel owner walked me to his friends apartment...which was a tiny flat. Greeted by a girl who was as shocked as i was to see me there, i was ushered in,
waited while they exchanged some heated words in Chinese and then shown to a tiny bedroom which was obviously hers. She spent the night on the couch whilst i had her room...i tried to swap but you try arguing in Chinese!! I only stayed there one night then thankfully back to a
hostel room.

I had four days to kill in HK waiting for my friend Mike to arrive, which was too long as there isnt an awful lot to do except shop. Being bored i decide to get my hair done...BIG BIG BIG MISTAKE going to a hairdressers in HK...i ended up with yellow hair, then went to another one to get it fixed and it turned a greyish/blueish colour...oh well we live and learn.
Finally Mike arrived and we had a day to sort out Visa's for Vietnam, surprisingly it all went sailingly and after Mike smiled nicely at the lady in the consulate we were issued our visa's within 15mins (men do come in handy for somethings). If only the trip to Vietnam was that easy!!

To get to Vietnam took us 3 days. A long boring train journey to Guangzhou to find there was no train to Nanning that day so we decided to fly there instead. Arrived late at night ended up in a dirty hotel where I electrocuted myself twice (yes typical Sarah, wasn't sure i got a shock from the plug the first time so I touched it again to check...doh!). Theres not much to do in Nanning and we had to spend 2 days there as the train wasn't running (we weren't having much luck with transport). Whilst there we ventured out on the local bus to the supposedly renowned herb
gardens...err there were no herbs..but there was a worm farm! As i said nothing to see in Nanning!
Eventually got the train out of Nanning to Pinxging where we would cross the boarder into Vietnam,however we had to survive the tuktuk bike ride first..seriously the thing could hardly get up the hill, then the driver turned the engine off and we free wheeled down..fairly scary when the thing is held together by cable-ties. When we eventually got to the boarder, we got stopped and searched..even had to turn my laptop on..but don't think they had a clue what they were looking for and they seemed amused by my little teddy bear...so think that helped. At last Vietnam!!

Gallery: India

sarah_freedom — Wed, 7 May 2008 23:16:00 GMT

Gallery: Cape Town

sarah_freedom — Wed, 7 May 2008 23:02:00 GMT

Xian and the Yangtze River

sarah_freedom — Sat, 5 Apr 2008 22:33:00 GMT

After Beijing onto Xian mainly to see the Terracotta Warriors which was impressive even tho it was rammed with tourists (just don't get carried away with the appeal of having a life sized one in your garden - Nick I resisted honest).
Also worth a visit is the Banpo Neolithic Village for an insight to the historical tribe that once inhabited the area.
Not really worth a visit is the Hot Springs....its just a fountain you pay to put your hands in..not suitable for swimming as the Danish girls who brought their bikinis with them thought...doh! (good to know Im not the only dumb blonde).

After a few days in Xian I moved onto to Chongqing where I started my
Yangtze River Cruise. When I booked I had two choices of boat, having endured hard beds on Chinese trains I thought I'd treat myself to the so called luxury boat. Word of warning this means you actually spend the entire cruise with the America Senior Citizen tour group from hell .. i spent every evening in tears...of laughter (you know that uncontrollable laughter you get when you really shouldn't be laughing)
...cant say which was the funniest..the karaoke version of Rhinestone Cow boy sung ever so seriously complete with actions of riding! or the engaging dinner conversations...
Waitress "black bean sauce",
Loud America woman "oooh buffalo in sauce, i didn't know the Chinese ate Buffalo"

Anyway the cruise passes through the Three Gorges on its way to the Dam. The scenery is stunning although its alarming to see the amount of villages that have been and are still being moved due to the rising water levels from the new Dam. There are signs along the way that show the height that the water will eventually rise to when the Dam is completed and its such a shame as its evident the Gorges will lose their majestic impact. Im glad I saw it before the final water level is achieved.
The River Yangtze was definitely my best highlight of China.

After the cruise I had a couple of days in Wuhan, explored the city and got the lowdown on places to see in Shanghi from a girl who lived there but was visiting Wuhan to see the Cherry Blossom Tree Show (yep v strange as they have these trees all over China?!)

Trains in China...the Do's and Don'ts

sarah_freedom — Sat, 5 Apr 2008 22:25:00 GMT

First sleeper train in China...what i learned.

Do....

get to the station early or fear legging it down the platform with your
20Kg backpack...yep I fell flat on my face!

take your shoes off before climbing into your bunk, or you may accidently hit a not very friendly Chinese man with one when you drop them to the floor...oops!

take ear plugs...not just for the snoring and throat clearing...but mainly for the chorus of slurping of noodles that will wake you at 6.00am!!

Don't

forget to put your shoes back on when you go the loo...yep my socks go soaked before I realised the puddle coming out from under the loo door wasn't the wash basin!

sleep curled up over your backpack because you didn't realise there was a luggage rack above the bunks....doh!!

Ok so I wasn't the most adept at travelling rough style in China, however I did meet some interesting locals along the way, like the guy who couldn't speak English but had a full conversation with me via his
mobile phone translator...then there was the young Chinese girl that took a liking to my mate Mike...waking up to the cheeriest person alive wearing a neon pink track suit didn't really amuse me...so I grunted and let Mike do the chatting.

China - Beijing

sarah_freedom — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 22:14:00 GMT

14th March - Arrive Beijing airport early morning and managed to get on to a bus going to the area my hostel was in...or so i thought. The joy of China is that very few people speak English and my Chinese is limited to the few phrases in my guide book...which isn't great when you find yourself getting off the wrong stop in the middle of Beijing, not having a clue where you are and wearing summer clothes from Thailand when its bloody freezing in china..Doh!! Anyway its at times like this when you meet the nicest locals. After being observed with amusement by the older generation of Chinese on their way to work ( i must admit i looked ridiculous wearing ventilation trousers that kept blowing open in
the Beijing breeze), a younger guy stopped and asked if he could help me. Yes he confirmed my stupidity that I had got off the bus 3 stops too soon and was miles away from where I needed to be. So I thanked explained it was because I'm blonde (the joke didn't quite translate) then grabbed a taxi to the hostel. Spent an afternoon exploring Beijing and was pleasantly surprised, after hearing a few stories about it not being a traveller friendly place I actually really like it. The people are polite (apart from the gross spitting), ok its very difficult to communicate, and the streets signs are a nightmare, but its a very safe place so getting lost is part of the fun and you wonder around areas that most tourists would miss.
Day two in Beijing - trip to Ming Tomb and the Great Wall. Met Nick from London, good laugh so spent the day swapping our amusing travelling stories. The highlight of the day was definitely the Great Wall, just amazing and even tho its busy and you cant help but knock over a few tiny Chinese and Japanese tourists along the way, it is without a doubt worth it. We walked at the Badalling part of the wall which is quite popular, so I would try a more remote area next time.
The Jade factory and the Chinese Tea rooms where good experiences too, and good a excuse to shop.
That evening Nick and I decided to try a restaurant that had been recommended as serving the best Peking duck. After eventually sussing out
the tube trains we finally reached this restaurant to be greeted by the guy at the door telling us it was closed. However he could take us to
another restaurant that was also good and only 5mins away. So in our ignorance, we followed this guy through some back streets for about 15mins to be shown to a dodgy entrance of a backstreet restaurant. As we were shown inside and taken through to a room behind a curtain, we noticed there was no one else eating in the place, we suddenly looked at each other and decided a sharpish exit was necessary. We smiled at the guy, said we'd changed are minds and ran like hell down the road. Ok lesson learned ..we were slightly too trusting, but this was the only time I fell into a scam in China, so overall all I would say its a safe place.
The following day we strolled around the Summer Palace, this place is a must if going to Beijing and a great way to spend a Sunday, its surroundings are beautiful and a good place to chill. Other must see's in Beijing, Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City. (but best avoided during riots re Tibet!)
I spent a bit longer than I planned in Beijing, as I really enjoyed the culture, but did eventually move on to see more of China.

The Calm after the Storm

sarah_freedom — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 05:46:00 GMT

It was such a relief to get out of India and see a friendly face. I met Daz and his 2 mates Sami and Suzzi in Bangkok airport...all still recovering from Daz's bday celebrations....interesting stories about ladyboys! We stayed near the Ko San Road, the packpackers area, so loads of bars, restraunts etc... good to be out and relaxing without hassle. After dinner,a few drinks and a few games of pool, on bit of a whim Daz and I decided to book a flight for the next day to the island of Koh Samui to laze about on a beach. Errr so much for the backpacking...Daz you're a bad influence! We ended up in a Luxury Spa Resort....absolute heaven, jacuzzi, pool, private beach area, massages..just what i needed. Koh Samui is a nice place ....but full of honeymooners and couples...not so great if you're there with your mate. So after a few days of luxury we decided to island hop to Koh Phangan..the party island. We thought we would be there for the half moon party..but got the wrong dates..doh! It was great tho, we stayed in a beach hut right on Haad Rin beach. And despite it not being the half moon party we partied anyway. Lethal mixtures drank from a bucket....say no more...did my usual trick of not knowing when to stop and yes I was very,very ill!!! But nursing a hangover from hell on the beach isn't so bad.

After a few days we headed back to Bangkok as I had to catch my plane to China. I thought we'd done our luxury in Koh Samui...but no there was more to come! We stayed in the Hilton in Bangkok.... roof top pool, the most amazing food I've ever had, and a bed i sank in....so much so that I missed my flight!!! Opps! Managed to get another later that night tho, and it ws a terible chore to have to spend more time in luxury. So finally left the luxury of Bangkok and headed off for China for some proper travelling...rough style.

highs and lows

sarah_freedom — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 04:03:00 GMT

Ok after a few days in India the culture shock did subside, and there are some wonderful sights, its just a pity about the attitude of the men! Deb - I have truly mastered the f**k off face now, thanks for all your lessons.

Feel like I visited every inch of Rajasthan so if anyone wants to go I'm now an authority ...I've seen every temple,palace and fort(there are thousands!!)...lots of dead dogs, a human funeral and a monkey funeral (don't ask - but the monkey one was more elaborate).

Places I visited included; Jaipur, Pushkar, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Mandawa. The best out of these where Pushkar and Udaipur. Pushkar is a smallish city but has a real laid back feel, probably because its famous for its marijuana milkshakes even tho its called the holy city?? Anyway its one of the few places I could wonder around and feel safe (maybe that's because I got a blessing from the local holy man and had a bindi stuck on my head...it didn't quite go with the blonde hair tho so i scrubbed it off sharpish). The place is full of travellers that landed there 5 yrs ago but never quite escaped the pull of the laid back attitude.

Udaipur is the city with the two lake palaces that are famous for being in the Bond film Octopussy. Although the lakes have dried up a little due to droughts its still beautiful and again good to potter around by myself. Here is where I almost stared in a Bollywood movie ....well not quite. Nammie my guide drove me up to Monsoon Palace to watch the sun set over the mountains, and there was a film being shot in the palace grounds...some America director shouting poncy demands out everywhere..don't think i quite made it into the background tho.

Highs - One of the good things about having your own guide to drive you around is that you can get away from the touristy places. The most beautiful temple I visited wasn't the biggest or most elaborate ones as detailed in the guide books, but one Nammie took me to that is off the beaten track. It was a outside of Jaipur in the middle of nowhere in some mountains, there were no other visitors just Nammie and I walking around this run down Buddhist temple. An amazingly eerie and spiritual place, well worth the journey.

Lows - the bad thing about having your own guide drive you around is that he became bit of a creep! Don't get me wrong we had a laugh...like playing cards whilst he was driving down the motorway!! But he had a habit of touching my knee...I wasn't quite sure at first whether I was just a handy place to wipe his hand after visiting the toilet (word of warning don't touch anyone's left hand in India, they wipe their bottoms with them - and not with paper). But then when I agreed to share a bottle of beer with him one evening when he was driving me back to my hotel and he did the whole yawning and putting his arm around the back of my seat thing...i suddenly clicked he was a male after all ( i know I'm naive)...so i made a sharp exit. Then when he rang me one night and asked if i wanted to play I finally had enough and gave him a swift response. (don't think he got the full english translation but he definitely got the message).

So after two weeks of avoiding creeps in the streets of India I had also lost my sanctuary of safety in the car...therefore the promise of a week laying on a beach in Thailand with my mate Daz was just too much to turn down...hence i cut my india trip short and jumped a flight to Bangkok.

I would go back to India as i don't think there is anywhere else quite like it and there is so much more to see, but definitely not on my own...and preferably with a big manly guy on my arm.

Get me out of here!

sarah_freedom — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:47:00 GMT

Arrived in Delhi at 10pm....oh F**K i cant describe this place other than dont do it.....ever! After eventually finding my bags which had been dumped in the corner of the airport somewhere (some kind Oz guy helped me find them)....I got outside to get a taxi..I wanted to run back straight on the plane! The noise, smell, heat...just everything bombards your senses. I got in this taxi from the 1940's (stupidly looked for a seat belt...ha! this is india they dont have them...in fact the seat wasnt even attached to the car). The boy driving me was all of about 16 and he stopped to pick his mate up on the way....the two of them popping tables and giggling whilst driving me. ( I just sat there in the back praying!!) We eventually turned down some back alley which i can only describe as a scene from hell..fires everywhere, cows, kids with no limbs, and men throwing themselves at the window of the car. Oh Shit, this was where I was staying!!! The hotel security guard helped me out the car and bundled me into the hotel (they must lose a few tourists here usually). I checked into my room which had four bolts on the door that had previously been jemmed off....oh i felt so at ease NOT!. didnt sleep a wink...apart from thinking the door was going to be bashed in any minute, the noise from the street was horendous...screaming, I thought someone was being killed every 10 mins. Next morning having downed the entire bottle of rescue remedy （thanks sis） I ventured out of my room and to reception with a false sense of I can do this attitude。 Asked at reception for directions to Connaugh Square I wanted to visit。。。he laughed and said are you really wanting to walk out there！！ Hmmm he was right I would be eaten alive， so he got the security guard to walk me to the a travel agent who then talked me into hiring a tour guide to 2 weeks to take me around Rajastan。。。to be honest I would have agreed to anything at that stage but after bargaining about the price I agreed this would a be a safer option。Spent the rest of the day being driven around Dehli and visting all the sights。。。gate of India, Umayuns Tomb, Bahal house of worship (like a big lotus flower), Qutab Minor, several temples and the red fort。Exhausting day, sights are good but still not convinced about Delhi.

The next day after another night of no sleep， I set off for Agra and the Taj Mahal with my guide Nammie。。。nice guy not the best speaker of English but we get by。 I find out that he is a widower with 2 children that his mother looks after in another city （my interview skills are still ok）。 He on the otherhand knows nothing about me （as i like it） and I keep telling him I don't understand his questions as he interigates me on why I'm travelling in India alone and where is my husband！

Lesson 1 - if you're a single female travelling in India - invent a husband and wear a ring。。。otherwise they are convinced you must be a lesbian or you are barren。。。both of which I was accused of and this is by anyone having a 2min conversation with you。

Ok so back to the Taj Mahal。。。。its supposed to be the most romatic place in the world and yes it is a truely beautiful and amazing sight despite the hoards of tourists and touts。 Bit of a shame but hard to really enjoy this place when you're geting constantly harrassed， I mean being pointed at, touched, stroked even, countlessly photographed and just when I thought I'd found a peaceful place to sit for 5mins I was surrounded by an Indian family and a child thrust in my arms for yet more photos。。。。hmmm and I though the Taj Mahal was the attraction。I managed to escape as a German couple commented “that was a bit intimidating wasnt it”。。。‘yes it bloody was’I reply politely with a grimace。 Oh not sure I can surivive India!!

Quick stop in Singapore

sarah_freedom — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 22:44:00 GMT

Sorry bit rubbish at keeping this up to date so here is a quick summary. Arrived in Singapore for couple of days until flight to India, how sad that you can get excited about an airport but Singapore has to be one of the best...cinema and swimming pool! Anyway got train from the airport to a hotel near China Town. The transport system is great here, very clean and easy to use. Spent two days exploring the city and window shopping....the shopping centre near raffles hotel is the best but its not cheap in Singapore. (also I wouldnt recommend walking around in smelly travelling gear like me as i did get a few strange looks). I also found a starbucks...yippee (yes i know its not very cultural of me but it had been serveral weeks of detox in SA). In summary Singapore has a reaaly nice feel to it, kinda one of those places you would be happy to stay on a work assignment for a few months...but probably not much longer. On to India .......

Highlights of Cape Town

sarah_freedom — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 02:20:00 GMT

We had difficulty cramming everything we wanted to do into 4 days so after the initial day of sightseeing around the town it was non-stop fun. I really wanted to walk up the mountain rather than get the cable car, couldn’t talk Kelly into it but managed to persuade Martin that a 5am start meant we could get up there and still have the rest of the day to do other things...sounded a good idea at the time. Come 5am still dark and in a taxi to the base of the mountain, head still fuzzy from the cocktails the night before, i was having second thoughts! It was incredible windy and the cloud was over the top of the mountain which means you shouldn’t go up there really, however we had convinced ourselves it would clear by the time we got up there. It was bloody hard work to say the least, like two hours on a stepper but with wind and no oxygen..ok some oxygen but I’m so unfit I thought I'd never make it. Hooray we got to the top...so worth it amazing views in between the cloud passing by. It was 8am and we had to check out of our hostel at 10am so we had planned to get the cable car down...then it dawned ..doh!!! the cable car wasn’t running due the high winds. I rang the mountain office hoping they may take pity on the two fools who had decided to walk up despite advice..but to no avail..F**k we had to walk down. I could have cried, but we set to it as we were facing a deadline....which wasn’t funny as we couldn’t find our way off the bloody mountain, it was so cloudy we lost the right path and walked around the top for 30mins before we found it. So word of advice when they say don’t go up when the cloud is there...don’t go up!

We eventually got back to base and picked up our hire car. I drove us to Cape Point...again more walking when we got there, I don’t recommend doing both in day if you want to be able to walk normally without looking like you've just stepped of a horse. Finished Cape Point and drove along the costal route onto Hermanus, overnight stay for the next morning shark diving.

Yep that’s right the shark diving where you sit in cage and the sharks cash into you. Early morning start on the boat and taken out to shark area...I'd been on the boat about 5mins when I started turning green, I'd forgot I'm crap on boats. So what should have been a fantastic adventure of cage shark diving actually involved me with my head over the side of the boat puking for the entire day! I did have a great view of the sharks from there though and at least I hit the water with my puke unlike Kelly who fell on the boat and puked all over the top of it..shame! Martin managed to keep his sea legs and enter the cage...so we experienced it vicariously through him. Back on dry land drive back to Cape Town for next day wine tasting...hmm.

When we got back to the backpacker one of the other guys from our volunteer course had turned up - Tobias, German doctor and a wonderful person and great laugh so we knew the wine tasting would be fun. Highly recommend anyone who goes to Cape Town to do the wine tasting tour, you visit six wineries and spend a decent amount of time at each to get a good appreciation of the wine (i.e. you drink from 10 in the morning until six). Great day, back to Cape Town for our last night there...more drinking (bit of a theme here), ended night in Mamma Africa's a must for everyone, great live music.

Next morning 4.30am start for airport, Martin and I flying to J'burg...however no Martin in room...oops! He did eventually show having just put his last pint of Guinness down 10mins before, hence another flight of him still being pissed and no surprise he fainted on the plane..luckily I was asleep so didn’t have the shame of anyone knowing I was with him (sorry Marty ;)). Said our goodbyes at airport, him heading back to Brighton and me onto Singapore.

I love Africa it just has an amazing feel to it... miss it :(

Cape Town - love it!

sarah_freedom — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 00:53:00 GMT

It was sad to leave the reserve and say bye to everyone such a good crowd. However Martin, Kelly and myself where going onto Cape Town so our adventure continued. First stop one night in J'burg....oh what a night!!! We arrived at Diamond Diggers backpacker at 5pm, my suggestion of having a rest before we went the bar fell on deaf ears (Kelly!!) so we commenced drinking around the bbq...5am the next morning we had just finished drinking! Highly recommend the place if you like sitting in a hot tub located in the bar (i have pics but far too embarrassing to show)...also recommend getting the barman drunk so he goes to bed and leaves you serving your own drinks! Only problem was we had to leave for the airport at 5am and our driver had stayed up drinking with us all night...however by some miracle or just plain stupidity he got us to the airport. Where Martin still pissed rammed some poor lady over with his trolley and then lost his pants whilst walking...not the best start to Cape Town all three of us arriving totally wasted.

Cape Town however refreshed us, its a great place (I know I've said that about everywhere so far but its true). The mountain is a stunning back drop to the city which is far more cosmopolitan than I imagined. So from the time we arrived and checked in our very nice backpackers we didn’t stop; so much to do and so little time. Our adventure included shark diving, wine tasting, oh and getting stuck on the mountain...read on for more.

Gallery: Best of GVI South Africa 2008

sarah_freedom — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 03:11:00 GMT

Photos from volunteer programme

Party Nights -bush style

sarah_freedom — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:36:00 GMT

Hmm party nights in South Africa are actually a lot better than i thought. Every Thursday evening we try to glam up a bit ie. lose the green and brown camouflage then all pile in the back of the open truck and drive to our local pub which is about 40mins away and is situated in the bush. Funnily enough its called 'In the bush' (South Africans are very creative..erm). We arrive windswept and complete with flies and bugs as hair accessories. The pub is built on stilts over a reserve with Rhino walking underneath, its just like a large tree house, great place, fab atmosphere, lots to drink and all the local rangers come when they know the volunteers are there so it makes for a good night. Its also good to meet the locals too, although they are all white South Africans, unfortunately apartheid seems very much still in existence. Been trying my best to hustle the locals at the pool table but it hasn’t worked - Owen I need more lessons!

The last party night we stayed at base and had fancy dress, which was highly amusing as you can imagine there's not a lot of available materials in the bush so we had to be very creative. I went as a bumble bee, using a yellow lilo - see pics. Very difficult to move around in but helped when I fell over pissed at end of the night. It was a great night and sad too as we knew we would all be saying goodbye in two days.

Animal Update

sarah_freedom — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 16:22:00 GMT

I have to tell you about Lionel, my favourite here and makes me weep a tear every time i think of him. (i know Im turning into sissy). Anyway background, Zero (male Lion) has 2 female mates Lisa and Maggie who are sisters (yes i think the reserve mananger likes The Simpsons). Zero and Lisa produced Lionel who is now an adolescent male. A few weeks before we arrived Zero attached Lionel and bit his back, poor Lionel got a large abcess and stopped eating, he went very skinny....poor thing he was very ill. The reserve manager decided to intervene. This is a tough decision as its a balance between watching a wild animal suffer or letting nature take its course. Ordinarily with other animals they let nature do her thing, but there's something about Lionel that saved him. (must be his oh so sad face). They decided to section him off in a large boma to let him recoup from his injuries and build his strength up. The fisrt time we drove in the boma to see him he was hiding in a bush, he looked so depressed my heart sank and I instantly fell in love with him. Half a Kudu was left for him to eat, but two days later it was still there. Seriously sad no one thought he would pull through and they talked about getting the vet to come and shoot him. Anyway thankfully he started to eat a small amount and they decided to give him a few more days.

Then one day on our ususal visit to him we saw the sweetest thing. His mum Lisa and his Aunty Maggie had walked right across from the other side of the reserve and were sitting by the fence calling to Lionel. Apparently he had been calling in the night and they both walked miles to get to him. So sad... Lionel was looking at them through the fence and pacing to try and find a place to jump over. Honestly it was such a touching sight the tears streamed down my face ...I wasnt the only one tho. The lionesses sat there all day and then went off to catch a kill for Zero.... lazy sod and a bully. Anyway sadly although Lionel is getting much better he cant be released back into the reserve and reunited with his family as they fear that Zero will kill him. So poor Lionel is being moved onto another reserve. Heartbreaking but at least he can start his own pride there. In the meantime Lisa and Maggie often visit him.

On a happier note Nyeleti (Cheetah) has 3 cubs afterall, she's been hiding them so well we thought she had lost one of them. They are the cutiest things on earth and are now getting to the playfull age where they jump around and attack eachother...its an amazing sight and rare to see as she moves them each night to keep them safe so it ususally takes us a few days before we find her again.

My other favs are the Hyena, apart from the fact they would chew your face off given half the chance, they are actually quite cute and very entertaining. We woke up one night to Gerry calling out "Fook there's a Hyena in the hoose" (he's Scottish). With that we all sat there listening as Giggles the male hyena russel around the kitchen and dragged the bio-bin through the hall passed the bedroom and out ..we've not seen it since.

I could go on and on about the animals they are just so amazing and I'll be really sad to leave here....would consider becoming a reserve guide but not sure I can live in Karki much longer!!!

Mountain Phase

sarah_freedom — Fri, 8 Feb 2008 07:22:00 GMT

We get taken up to do mountain research in small groups, so 5 of us set off for the week. Basically we set traps for small mammals, knock them out in a bag of Ethanol then measure them, snip their ears for identification and record all details. The side of the Marieskop mountain we are based on is protected so nobody else other than the mountain ranger is allowed there, it is so beautiful and peaceful. ( a have a trillon photo's when I eventually work out how to up load them).

Our aim is to record a species list for the Univesity of Pretoria as the mountain has unique biodiversity for the area. They have already found new species of snails and the rare golden mole, but we had no such luck when we were there. We mainly caught striped mice which although cute do get boring after the first few traps.

The mountain cottage is very quaint, it hasnt seen a lick of paint for a few decades but does have a log fire which is cosy in the evenings. The day we arrived there we had no water at all, there had been a landslide and a large boulder had fallen on the pipeline to the house. So this resulted in us having to bath in the stream, which was more like a big puddle by the side of the dirt track....absolutely freezing. It was a bit like the Botanics advert but with less finess, and when we climbed out we got covered in mud again. Why pay money for a spa treatments when you can do it yourself in a freezing cold stream?! After a week it was good to get back to base, not that the mountain isn't beautiful, its just there is only so much stinking mice piss you can handle. Give me the lions anyday.