In the land of the Swazi...

So I finally made here to Swaziland! I've now finished my travels and am off for four weeks of work in Siteki. Sorry, no photos....the internet here is far to slow! (I promise for some when I reach Jo'burg).
I had a great Christmas- I spent it on a game drive in one of the national parks in Swaziland. I ate WAY too much food- we had spit roasted warthog for Christmas dinner and stir-fried Nyala for lunch (no turkey and roast potatoes for me!)
I have struggled a lot being away from home during these holidays. African's don't celebrate Christmas the way we Australians do, and Christmas has always been very big for me. I was quite homesick, and still am a little.
I only have 4 weeks left here in Swaziland now and I'm sure with elective work to be done it will go quickly, so I'm keeping my spirits up!
I have also been quite unwell from taking the malaria tablets. I have been burning very badly and have been feeling quite sick. I ask for your prayers, as I must continue to take this medication- I really don't want malaria!
I'm really looking forward to having something to do with my time and meeting some people. Apparantly there are no other medical students at the moment, which was something I was hoping for. I ask for your prayers in this too, that I make some good friends and stop feeling so sorry for myself! (haha)
I will try to update from Siteki to let you know about my work. I'm not sure how much internet there is there.
I'd love to hear from you all. I have a phone here that receives texts fine. The number is +2686197305. I'd really appreciate a text message!
Talk to you soon
Louise

Nearly there....

Hey Everyone
I'm taking a bit of a quiet day today in Durban (as Durban is pretty boring and an awful city) before I head off to Swaziland tomorrow! YAY!
I have 4 days of holidays before I start my elective on Monday. This includes Christmas, which will be fun I hope- could be a bit scary or lonely, but backpackers are generally good people so it should be fun.
This morning I went to a small village in the 1000 hills. The tribe's here are Zulu and have different customs to others I have seen so far. I had an AMAZING lunch with them (so much food) and wen to visit a sangoma (witch doctor) and went to a traditional temple. I have few photos (I felt funny taking photos of such sacred things), but in the next post I shall add the pictures of the 1000 hills, because it was a beautiful area.
Because I'm nearly in Swaziland I will not have the net for much longer...so there will be less updates. But I'll try to get some for you once a week, but I'm not sure what will be available in Siteki...
So, if I don't get to post before, have a great Christmas!! I'll see you in the new year!!
(And Mum, you don't need to send me one word text messages...they must cost a lot of money...I ran out of airtime by the way, so I may not reply).

Oh, AND I passed uni this year... HOORAY!!! the worst is over!
See you soon
Louise

Pics from Coffee Bay

This is my travelling crew (or part of)... Helen, Dafne and Carolin. We've been together since PE or the bus from PE until Durban...


It's so pretty...



A Xhosa hut. this is where I ate dinner, but I slept in one exactly like it but with windows...


The Hole in the Wall. We walked for so long to get here and we thought no one would come rescue us (so, so hot)!


This is Coffee Bay...

Coffee bay

Hey Hey everyone!
I'm currently in a little town called coffee Bay, on the Wild Coast of South Africa. I leav today to head to Durban, so I'll fill you in on what I've been up to.
I had a small incident with the bus company stuffing things up, so they flew me to Port Elizabeth the other day, which saved me 14 hours of bus boredom- YAY. the from PE I head down to the beach.
Coffee Bay is a tiny little backpacker village set in amongst the Xhosa tribal village (Xhosa is said Kosa with a click on the k, but I can't do it). There are lots of little huts around and the locals are all great.
Since being here I've been trying to improve with surfing, and I hiked for a few hours in the boiling heat yesterday to see the hole in the wall...which was actually rather disappointing after the massive hike, but the scenery was good so it's worth it.
The internet here is pretty crap, and the computers are even worse, so I can't put up any photos. i'll try when I get to Durban tomorrow!!
Just letting you all know I'm still alive (and having a great time!!!)
I'll update you all soon!
Luv louise

The Town of the Cape

Table Mountain (from the top of my double decker bus)


The view from the top...


Me at the Cape of Good Hope (The weird face is the fact it was bright and windy)


The view from Robben Island


Nelson Mandela's cell


Hey Hey Everyone...
So as I promised...pictures!!!
Cape Town is absolutely STUNNING. Like, possibly the most beautiful city in the world. And the weather has been great since I got here, except on the first day, when it was ridiculously windy. Apparantly a lot of rooves blew of houses, but I haven't really seen that.
So I've been busy exploring the past few days.
I spent Monday on a big double decker bus crusing around the city, getting off wherever I felt like. I also went out to Robben Island, where Mandela was in prison for 18 years.



The Apartheid is still a massive part of South African culture. It is mentioned everywhere, and something they are educating everyone who comes to SA about. It's really sad to see what it did to Cape Town (and I guess the rest of the country). there is a whole suburb, known as District Six, that was flattened in the 1970's, and declared a white only zone. that meant thatall the different races that were previously living in this area were split up according to race and moved to a diffeerent suburb. Most of the African's were sent to a slum on the outskirts of the city known as Cape Flats, which is still there. This was not the only suburb that had forced removals, but the unique thing about District six is that it has not really been rebuilt (apart from a few state owned buildings that the apartheid government built). So in the middle of the city there are large patches of nothing, kind of like paddocks. It looks really odd...
I also went down to the end of the Cape Peninsula to the Cape of Good Hope, which is the most south-western point of the African continent. I did a bit of a tour down in the area, and saw heaps of animals....
So far I've seen:
- Ostrich
- Seals (like thousands of them)
- Some cool lizard thing that has a greeny blue couloured head
- Dassie (big, oversized rat like things)
- Lombok
- Baboons
- Penguins

And I haven't been on safari yet...so I'll add to the list!

Today I spent the day trying to get a mobile phone that works (success after about 3 hrs). And I went up the mountain (Table Mountain). It was beautiful- a really nice day, not too much wind, good photos!!

And today was a public holiday here, so I went down to the waterfront to see what was happening- I couldn't quite figure it out, but there were a lot of people and reggae music...
So tomorrow I head to Port Elizabeth just for a night stop over, and then down to Coffe Bay, which is a small town on the Surf Coast, where I'm going to learn to surf and sit on a beach...YAY.

Some funny things...
- south african's call traffic lights Robots
- I got sunburnt on my first day (I don't think it's that funny, but I'm sure you all will)

So far I'm going okay- a little lonely (the backpacker scene isn't really my thing). I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into work in Swaziland- this is what I came to do and as much as I enjoy travelling and seeing the sights, I'm getting a bit frustrated (feel like I'm wasting my time). It's been a bit off putting here in Cape Town because I don't really feel like I'm in Africa yet- The wealth here is ASTOUNDING, and I find it hard to believe I am in a third world country, and it's not at all like I remember from my last trip. I start working in Swaziland on the 28th, so I don't have very much longer of travelling before I get into it...can't wait!
See you all soon
Luv Lou

I MADE IT!!!

So after many, many months of planning, I am finally here in Cape Town!!
And it is stunning- I'm staying right at the foot of Table Mountain, which is really beautiful and you can see the whole city.
So I'm real tired, so when they let me into my room I think I'll nap, then plan my attack on the city for the next few days. I had 2 stopovers on the way and am extrememly exhausted, so I'm thinking not today
Cool things so far though...
- Cape Town is 300% better than Johannesburg
- KL airport has really cool train things that take you between terminals. They go really fast. I like them
- I'm quite rich when you convert my $$$ to Rand
- I get to sleep in a bed tonight!!! Woot
Thats all for now,
Next post there will be photos...
Luv Lou

Countdown

Hey Everyone...
One more post before I leave!!
I head off in 3 days (and 1 exam). I'm all packed, ready to head off to the airport. I'm carrying enough medication to supply me for the rest of my life- I just wanted to be prepared!!!
So far things are going well. I feel confident about my exams (and shouldn't be requiring emergency trips back to Australia in January to sit supplementaries fingers crossed) an have managed to sort out the finer details of getting to Swaziland.
I'm still a bit scared (alright, a lot scared), but looking forward heaps to the adventure!
I'll show you some pretty pictures soon!!!
Louise