Kenton Beach Party

Last Saturday Loose Change Events organised a summer beach party in Kenton at main beach to raise money for SPCA and Grahamstown Feeding Association (GFA). The ideology was: “Partying for the people and the pets.” Visitors were stimulated to give donations in the form of cans of pet food or cans of beans, lentils, chickpeas and similar food by receiving a discount on their tickets.

There was also a lot of attention for the natural conservation by doing as much as possible to not harm the dunes. While the visitors were asked to clean up after themselves, wherefore there were 40 trash bins around, there were also 10 cleaners around to make sure that there wasn’t any litter left behind on the beach.

But that wasn’t the only thing Loose Change Events took care of. There were like 6 lifeguards watching the party people who went for a swim and 20 security guards who made sure that everything went as it should. Transport was also organised so there was no need to worry about who needed to be the designated driver.

After some little troubles with setting up the music the party really started about 2PM. There were people dancing in a big tent which was set up on the beach, there were people chilling with their friends on the beach and there were people eating pizza and getting drinks at Jeremiah’s. In the evening you could even watch rugby on a big screen. So literally something for everyone.

In total there is an amount of 500 cans raised for the charities. A great success which is also due to the fine tunes and the great atmosphere. Let’s see if Loose Change Events can hit that number with their next event: the Winter Warmer Festival on the 1^st and 2^nd of May.

Addo Elephant Park

First things first, Addo Elephant Park couldn’t have had any better name ever. In the following paragraphs you will find out why.

Last Saturday I suffered from a huge hangover but I arranged a trip to go to Addo that day so who am I to not to go. Even though I slept the whole ride to and from the park (I even sometimes dozed in the park) I enjoyed Addo very much.

This were my first elephants in the wild and I am now totally fascinated by this huge animals. The best experience in Addo was when we arrived at a little pool where there were at least 50 elephants at the same time. I counted until 50 but there were probably more because they were all standing behind each other. Among this big family of elephants there was this little one which was really noisy. He was making all kind of sounds like he was the big leader of the group. Suddenly he just turned around and started running directly towards a car.

Luckily for the people in the car he didn’t ran them over because even though this was a ‘little’ and young elephant, he could’ve easily destroyed the car. Later on it became clear that the little elephant was running towards his mother who just showed up from behind the bushes. This was when I realized that this little guy had been calling for his mother all the time and when he noticed her he got so enthusiastic that he started running to greet her. After they were reunited they hugged with their trunks. It was amazing and heart-warming to see.

I think that elephants are the special animals they are because they really have families like humans. Every mother elephant has two other female elephants who helps her with raising the child. For example, they are always nearby to keep an eye on the child. There is also a leader of the group which you can compare to your grumpy but loving grandfather.

Next to all the elephants I also saw a lot of zebra’s (they never get boring) and Pumba’s with their families. For you who don’t know what I mean by Pumba, you have to start watching The Lion King right now. But for now with Pumba I mean a wild hog. Anyway it was very sweet to see the little wild hogs waddling behind their mom and dad.

Long story short: Addo is the perfect place to enjoy the greatness of the elephant.

The Goat Shed

Good food, shots, a fun movie night and adorable kittens and puppies

That’s an example of what you can get once you go to go The Goat Shed but I'll start by the beginning.

The entrance of The Goat Shed is like entering a total different world. You walk through some bushes and on your way you see a sign which says: stress free zone. And the beauty about this is that once you enter the Goat Shed itself you truly feel like entering a stress free zone. It’s colourful, full of nature, simple but relaxing, friendly and inviting.

Because we arrived very early for South African terms we were the first ones at the restaurant. But however our table was already ready for us. When we sat down I decided that I would go for my first South African steak with veggies. And I am very pleased to say that the Goat Shed meets all the rumours I heard about the great South Africa steaks.

While we were eating we were asked if we were open for some shots from the house and as the young students we are we couldn’t say anything but yes. We decided to take the shots after our dinner at exactly 7 pm to honour the funeral of a friend of one of my roommates which took place at that time.

After that we just hang at the bar chatting while we were enjoying the sunset, our drinks and the cute little kittens and puppies which are wandering around at the place. This is when we were told about the upcoming movie night. They were going to put up a big screen and we needed to bring blankets so that we could chill in the grass while watching Mamma Mia. Roomie Paige and I immediately loved that idea so we decided to go.

Besides that I absolutely love the movie Mamma Mia I enjoyed the movie night at the Goat Shed very much. After eating a (delicious) burger at the bar we laid down on our blankets with some Savanna Dry and a bag of chips.

Long story short, when you happen to be in the surroundings of Kenton The Goat Shed is certainly worth a visit. If you want to check out other activities to do at The Goat Shed like quiz, music or movie nights or something else fun like a Sunday lunch special follow them on Facebook!  

My trip to Sibuya Game Reserve

BEST DAY EVER.

There are literally no other words to describe my trip to Sibuya.

My supervisor at the tourism office and my ‘landlady’ Jenny arranged this trip for me. The deal was: I could go to Sibuya if I would write a newspaper article about my trip. Like is there anybody ever who says no that?

I think a big part of the reason that I wanted to go to South Africa was about seeing lions. If I had to choose a favourite animal I would say lions without doubting. I’m a little bit ashamed to say that seeing my first lions was probably better than receiving my first kiss. I think this photo right explains my mood for the rest of the trip after I saw the lions very well.

Besides the wonderful experience of seeing lions I was very impressed by the whole Sibuya trip. For example, I love the fact that you can only enter Sibuya by boat. So logically the trip always starts with a boat trip on the Kariega River. This is why a trip to Sibuya always starts good because who doesn’t like a boat trip on one of the most beautiful rivers in the world while you’re seeing all kind of beautiful birds and nature.

Once we arrived at the reserve (we arrived at Forest Camp) there was this luxury lunch buffet waiting for us and the drinks were included as well. So of course I had some delicious South Africa house wines. After the lunch we left for the game drive. And surprise surprise everything was stunning, the nature, the views and of course the animals. I think the photos explains more than everything I can write so:  

My article will be in Talk of the Town at the end of this month. You can find it under the Kenton Kaleidscope section. 

School Visit in Klipfontein

Today I went with the volunteers of Kariega Project to an after school day care in the township called Klipfontein. Klipfontein is a coloured community and they speak mostly Afrikaans. This was the second time I visited the school and I absolutely fell in love with these kids. This is why I decided to write a little piece about them.

When the volunteers of Kariega Project are going to this ‘Klipfontein Skool’ the lessons are mostly about teaching the kids English. These kids speak much better English compared to the kids in the township Ekuphumleni where I also wrote a little piece about. There are different games being done and from what I’ve witnessed till now the day starts with a story. After that the kids are being asked different questions to see what they’ve remembered from the story. Paige was doing very well, I really admire her for her ability to improvise. For example, one game she wanted to do wasn’t complete so she just gave a totally different twist to the game.

While I was actually just standing in the back to make pictures and to observe Cynthia managed to get me involved in the lessons (also very impressive because I’m not really teacher material). All the kids had to tell me an English word they had learned that day and I have to say they did actually very well. After the lessons a group of kids ran at me to hug me. It was so cute, I think there were about at least 10 kids hugging me at the same time. The other ones were standing in the line to give me a hug as well. Adorable.

It was so beautiful to see how grateful the kids were for the lessons. Besides this it was also funny how curious the kids were. When one girl touched my hair, and I allowed it, some other girls had to touch it as well. After that they were also touching my nails (I had nail polish on) and my tattoo on my wrist.

But it’s still hard to see all those sweet, studious, enthusiastic and curious kids because I know that their future won’t be as rosy as I would have liked it to be. Life in the townships is a poor life and they are going to face much difficulties like unemployment, diseases, poor healthcare, early pregnancies or even rapes or drugs. Luckily the after school day care allows them to be a child for how long they can and I think that is one of the most beautiful things to see. 

Beachcomber Horse Trails

One of the first things Jenny ever asked me was: ‘Do you like horse riding?’ So when I told her I did Jenny immediately started talking about Beachcomber Horse Trails and about the beautiful beach trails. Because I always wanted to go on a beach trail but it just never happened for some reason I decided that I definitely would get in contact with Jono from Beachcomber Horse Trails.

So last Tuesday I sent a text message to Jono about when I could join him for a trail. I received a message back after only two minutes (well done Jono) that I could join a trail the next day. I then decided to go with my roommate Paige. While I actually was expecting a kind of riding school as we have them in The Netherlands I arrived at a meadow. This wasn’t a bad thing though, I was just surprised. It was going to be a slow ride because there was a family joining with little kids. But I actually didn’t mind that because it has been a while since the last time I went horse riding.

After everybody climbed on their horses we were ready to go. A little while after we left we saw impalas in the bushes behind the fences from the reserve of Addo. Awesome. Just before we entered the beach we had a stunning view of the beach and the sea.

I can’t say anything else than that I enjoyed the beach trail very much. The beaches here are just so stunning that you actually can’t do anything but enjoying them. The only thing that was a pity was the fact that my horse wanted to be as last while Paige’s horse wanted to be in the front so we couldn’t really chat. I would love to go again but next time I’m going for that fast gallop ;).

Volunteering Review

This review is written as a result of a very interesting wednesday morning. Volunteer Paige Orness went to do some homevisits together with our social worker Zelda from Child Welfare.

"Sad, interesting and eye-opening are the words that first pop up in my mind when I think of yesterday morning. Together with a social worker I went to a primary school in the township Marselle to meet three siblings. Those three siblings moved to Marselle from Port Elizabeth to live with their dad. When we arrived at the school we could only find the older brother. He told us his two younger sisters do go to the school in Marselle but that they aren’t in the school system yet. This was the interesting part because in the U.S.A. this could never happen. You just can’t show up at a school one day and go there without any transfer record or anything like that.

Anyway, the fifteen year-old boy told us his story about his mom and dad and about that they haven’t been together for 5 years but that they aren’t divorced. The sad part is that his parents really are not getting along and that he wanted to live with his father in Marselle. So he took a cab together with his sisters and they went by themselves.

Altogether this really was an eye-opener for me and I’ve learned so much about the crazy differences between South-Africa and the U.S.A. through the story of this little boy. I mean, you always hear the stories but you never realize how bad it actually is. I’m very glad I can be a part by helping these children."

-Paige Orness, 24 years old.