Amapondo Port St Johns

... the same. Traditionally, people lived in rondovals-round houses made out of wood woven together with a mixture of mud and goat dung patching between the sticks and then painted a sky green color with a paint made out of a mixtures of lime stone, cow fat, and something else ( I forget!). The roofs are thatch, made out of grass. Today, there are also rectangular houses, a change that started when people began buying corrugated metal for the roofs, which comes in rectangular ...

... total (two kids, one family, one guy eating a whole cake, one with a big stick and one dude who hadn't showered, ever!) It was kind of fun though, driving through the Transkei is an experience in itself, one moment you're cruising along at 70mph, the next you're weaving through cows, sheep and goats; the sheep and goats move but the cows just stand there chewing. PSJ is at the mouth of the Mzimvubu river and is a stunning location. The town has a great African vibe ...

... a petrol station that sold burgers and had toilets and we were very happy! Port St. Johns was described as "idyllic" by Lonely Planet but I wouldn't really go that far. The town centre wasn't particularly nice but it had beautiful beaches (no good for swimming though) and scenic drives between the three beaches. Our hotel was also nice and on a very beautiful spot on the river. Jonna

... prominent intellectual critics of apartheid, which he characterized as, as much as a racial policy, an attempt to prevent by force the natural and inevitable economic effects of modernization. Being in South Africa feels like coming home to a place I never lived, place that is at once alien and familiar. I wonder what my grandfather would have thought, if he could have seen our family here?

... beginnings of this project. The village will have solar and wind power, grow all of its food, and have a bio-digester (a septic tank system which harvests methane from waste and makes the solid waste into compost). They even hope to some day have a water habitat where they will raise fish and grow water crops (rice, water chestnuts, watercrest...). With this project I worked in the gardens at the village and also behind the hostel ...

... falls are only a fraction of what they are at other times of the year, they were still very impressive, falling 200m into a huge gorge. Along the way we were joined by several boys from the nearby village. As part of a country-wide public service strike going on right now their teachers were on stike and their school was closed. So, they walked with us, curious to learn about us and where we were from. They became our ...

... strode on the other balancing baskets on their heads and carrying babies on their backs. The wind is so strong at times it's a struggle to stay in the right place, but as you look out the window you notice the beauty of the gusts as they cast patterns in the tall grasses, like a wave passing through.

We pull over at one point to take a photo and notice a woman whose face is painted white..there is definitely a sense of ...

... its a draining experience, literally! It took us 7.5 hours (a very good time) but was so tough. the guide pointed out a large beach in the distance about 2 hours into the hike, remarking that after that we were 'nearly there'. What he meant to say was that after that beach it was actually 3 hours of gruelling hill climbing in even hotter temperatures, bitten by mosquities and hordes of ants, where your water will almost certainly run out after 1.5 hours ...

... and socks were so covered in mud that we are leaving them behind. Exhausting and exhilirating! Bough Oakley shades, Billabong shorts, Quicksilver tshirts - the list goes on - if you ever make it Jeffreys Bay surfing mecca - go hit the big surfing names factory outlets and flex the plastic! Made and baked cookies from scratch at mums house. Elbow deep in flour and butter - still eating them to this day! Played squash and swam alot - i can even jump ...

... statuary pool table and bar that needed to be propped up each night. When drinks are the equivalent of less than one pound a go - its got to be done. We spent 2 nights here, mostly on the beach. There were some beautiful rocks pools on the beach. I borrowed Traceys snorkel and had a quick look around. Debs had her first look under the water with goggles and she saw big blue fish around her. Debs and I also took a walk over the rocks and we saw an octopus which we prob spent ...