Castlegar kids home after project conclusion and African safari
By Contributor
Day 10
The objective of today was was to give us a bit of the local history and culture. First off, we headed north to the Hendrik Verwoerd tunnels. These tunnels are part of a Trans African highway which stretches all the way to Cairo. Next up, we went to the Phippidi falls where we climbed down the rocky stairs, through damp ground and over log bridges to reach the fantastic vista. Interestingly, regularly at this time of year the falls would have flooded the area we were standing in. Our final destination: a government funded pottery house. Here over fifty women in the community make pots, plates, cups, large bowls, even larger bowls, and other sculptures. All were made of clay, and we had the opportunity to watch the pottery making progress in a live demonstration done by one of the ladies. Day 11 Today was a big day, instead of working we had a ceremony to hand the project over from the Castlegar, Bedfordview and Louis Trichardt Rotary Clubs to the Tonda Lushaka Community. The Ceremony started and there must have been more than 350 people. Nearly all of the 183 children supported by Tonda Lushaka were pulled out of school to attend. We listened to 10-15 politicians, Community leaders, Rotarians, Interactors (Heather and Blake) and students give speeches about the project and its impact on the community. Day 12 Today was our last day at the work site. Once at the work site we soon realized that the day was in a sharp contrast to the cold of the night. We split into four groups, two went to plant the Swiss Chard seeds, one went to fill in certain trenches and the other finished up the painting the containers. We were all sad to leave the work site that we worked so hard but won’t be able to see finished. Day 13 At the gate of Kruger National Park we were given a presentation about safety precautions and the importance of staying in the bus, but also about the Big 5 (buffalo, leopard, rhino, elephant and lions) and other native African animals we would hopefully be seeing. Within the first 10 minutes of entering Kruger Park, our bus driver slowed down for our first sighting: a giraffe! Day 14 Today we rose at 5:30 a.m., one of our earliest day yet. After packing up camp and getting on the bus ten minutes down the road, and we saw two female and a male lion directly at the side of the road. They were quite close and very impressive. Soon after, we saw many impalas and various grazers. Day 15 After dinner we made our way to the reception area for our night drive. It was around 2 hours long and we got to see some animals that we didn’t get to see much of earlier including hippos, a crocodile and a bush baby. We also saw a lot of impala, hyenas and a group of lions lying next to the road. Day 16 By 8 a.m. we were pulling down the tents and by 9 a.m. all the bags were packed back into the bus and trailer. By now we are a well oiled machine and this process does not take anyone to give direction….it just gets done. After an 11-hour flight to Amsterdam and a 10-hour flight to Minneapolis, the group was almost home and the flight to Spokane couldn’t have gone quicker! Our group was greeted in Spokane with clapping and cheering of parents and family. The 40 hours of travel since we left was nearly over. While picking up the luggage, the stories started and there will be many more in the cars on the drive back to Castlegar and in the weeks to come.
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