cape town was mostly what i expected it to be – a vibrant hub for tourists worldwide and a brilliant city set against the magnificent backdrop of table mountain that dominates the skyline. it is home to some of nature’s most beautiful reserves, wildlife and oceanlife, and has some of the most breathtaking views [...]

this morning i booked my flight to cape town this weekend. i will be leaving bright and early tomorrow morning and coming back sunday afternoon. i wish i had more time here so that i could explore all of the many things to see, since 2 days in cape town is quite the [...]

the truck broke down today, so instead of heading off to swayimane, i spent most of the day with miranda – running a few miscellaneous errands and shopping for childrens toys that are being donated to the creche in swayimane. among the toys we bought were legos, mini-motorcars, rubiks cubes, a few math puzzles [...]

after breakfast, we were quickly off to the st. lucia world heritage site and a boat cruise on the estuary to see hippo, crocodile and the abundant birdlife. the weather was absolutely gorgeous, the sun shining brightly, the skies clear and the air still.

the boat ride turned out to be a lot of fun. [...]

a weekend with mr. pietrus venter, our stentorian-voiced, barrel-chested afrikaaner tour guide and good friend, is a trip full of unique memories, buckets of laughter, and enough secondhand smoke to incapacitate ones lungs. after only having gotten 2 hrs of shut-eye and waking up at 2am this morning, peet and i packed the van [...]

it was a relatively quiet and serene morning in swayimane. standing on the pavement, i could hear the song of birds crisp and clear against the wind swaying through the tops of the surrounding sugar cane farms and only a few hundred meters away, the laughter of children frolicking in the schoolyard. the [...]

today was another full day in swayimane, mostly following up with several SHGs. audrey’s son, mulumbua(?) – who is the most charming little boy, came along for the ride and accompanied our visits, which made the day so much more special

we met with the ‘bambanani’ SHG to discuss their current progress, as [...]

sawubona!
today was my first day on the field. the drive to swayimane took about an hour from maritzburg and despite the (very) limited space, i could not have asked for a better arrangement than to be sitting alongside audrey and daphne. audrey is zimele’s manager of social development and brings a tremendous wealth [...]

earlier today, miranda and i ate lunch out on the veranda overlooking the village of swayimane – where i will be spending most of my working days, about a hundred miles from the guesthouse. i very much enjoyed listening to her story, her involvement with zimele, her family history – and also sharing a [...]

i arrived safely in pietermaritzburg last night and was warmly greeted by audrey and her husband, along with her brother and her 2 adorable children. the airport was very small and almost felt like the entire terminal could be someone’s backyard. it was pretty chilly and windy when i deplaned, and i had [...]