Helinda Guest House Pretoria

... their summ**. Someone was telling me that since global warming (they suspect) the summ**s are more drizzly and drawn out rain, than short sharp monsoonal show**s. BUT loads of people have told me about the storms h**e. To keep cars und**cov** whilst at work as the rain can be hail stone balls causing big damage.
The storms are amazing apparantly - huge spectacular fork lightening across the sky nearly ev**y day! And with my balcony as a viewing platform- well I can see my ...

... part of the healing process? After a long tour there, we headed to the Union Building for an awesome view of the city at night. I love nighttime cityscapes. It was a great end to the day...which was actually not quite done :-) We went back to Riaan's house and he showed us his studio (he's an architect with his own, one-man firm) on the third floor of his house. It seemed like such a leisurely way to work. Roll out of bed, go upstairs, sit in a cool, artsy ...

... outside of her room for a party. She said that almost every weekend a party was held in this grassy area. She said stork parties (baby showers) seem to be the most common ones. Here's a picture of the nice area across the parking lot from my room that was being set up for a wedding. (Other NFS people had passed to me when the weather was warmer they saw two or three weddings over most weekends.) Here are a couple more pictures of the water features in this area. The water in ...

... boerevors is, like, the best thing ever. Boer is the white (Dutch) settlers of South Africa, and vors is sausage. It's a spicy sausage basically, the Dutch cousin of bratwurst but, in my opinion, far superior. And this is the opinion of a guy who loves bratwurst. And it's served with a more hearty style of bread than the flimsy hot dog bun standard in America. Anyway, the vervet monkeys keep me entertained while I'm at work, but ...

... I will start the pain killers, antibiotics and cream regime - all R140 of it. But I would do anything for my little finger. It is one of my best friends. I will need it to be healthy for my maths course, for my diving, for my presentations and conferences over the coming weeks. I will need it to help wash my hair and drive my car. In short, I don't know what I would do with out it. This is dedicated to the best little finger in the world. Hang in there, champ!

Today I experienced one of the most unbelievable things Ive ever seen. Following a brief city tour this morning through the fish and Indian markets and downtown Durban, I followed our tour guide into his township, community, and home. Although the township was only about ten minutes from downtown Durban, the contrast between the two worlds was dumbfounding. It was like being in the 21st century one minute and rewinding over a 100 years the next ...

... have no idea how much longer it can last. Adds a bit of excitement to long journeys I find. The constant suspense of will I be left stranded with no Phone along a 100 KM stretch of highway in the midday African Sun?! Well today my curiosity bit me in the ass. I ran out of petrol 2kms from town on my way to Hoedspruit. I was doing about 100Km/h and then the car just died. "Oh no! No No No!" I said out loud. The Car slowly but consistently started do ...

... down again. I'd have felt safer if I'd turned right at the compound gate!! The buses/ taxis here (mini-vans) are of the usual African mechanical standard, with seriously dented bodywork, driven by homicidal maniacs sporting the usual disregard for road rules or indeed any safety standards and crammed to the gills with people. They are designed to carry 12, however appear to actually manage about 25-30. One stands at the bus-stop giving the ...

... Touren quer durchs Land. In Suedafrika gibt es eine bequeme und sicher Art zu reisen-naemlich den Baz Bus, der hauptsaechlich Rucksacktouristen auf einer vorgegebenen Route von JoŽburg bis nach Kapstadt faehrt und diese in bekannten Hostels absetzt oder abholt. Nebenbei lernt man auch noch jede Menge nette und interessante Leute kennen. Von Johannesburg aus machte ich eine viertaegige Campingtour in den Krueger Nationalpark. Die erste Nacht schlief unsere siebenkoepfige Gruppe in ...

... depends a lot on tourism so if a guide shows up with 2 or more people they stay for free to keep prices down! So we moved into a great little room. The next morning we headed off into the jungle wilds. Now what happened after was both the best and the worst holiday we had been on. It was the worst cos spits couldn't organize a prayer meeting in a nunnery but the sights we saw will stay with us for the rest of our lives.

The plan was to move from one site in the ...