The Big Swing!!!

We've just come back from a super trip. We went to Graskop which has some amazingly beautiful scenery including the 3 rondavels, many waterfalls, huge potholes, Blyth River Canyon which is the 3rd largest in the world and it was here that the scariest event in our short lives happened - THE BIG SWING.

This is the world's largest free fall swing, which basically means you are in a full body harness attached to a rope then you throw yourself off a platform, free fall 70 metres then go into a swing the total height is 120 metres (19 storeys!). They let you have a free zip wire across the canyon first, seems nice, but you get to see exactly how far there is to fall and how rocky the bottom is.

We made our tour guide, Emille, go first and he had no fear (or no choice). Then our Icelandic friends Anita and Klemmi went tandem, Klemmi also has no fear and as Anita was attached to him she had no choice! Unfortunately it wasn't so simple for us and after around 5 mintues of us chickening out, the owner of the swing came down onto the platform and held my harness to 'reassure' me, but pushed us over backwards.

I can honestly say I have never been so scared, never screamed like that or heard Kate scream like that and I hope I never will. The feeling of falling is like nothing else and is so unnatural that your body goes into shock. The actual swing was great, but by then we were both in tears, mainly relief but part anger for being pushed over. I'm so glad I've done it but that's definitely a once in a lifetime experience for me! We got a certificate and a free beer which helped but nothing comes close to the feeling after you come to the realisation of what you've just done.

Back to reality now, up with the babies at 7 am huzzah!

Rx

Monkeys Galore

So on Saturday we found ourselves at the Vervet Monkey Foundation and what a place it is! There are over 700 vervets here Arthur Hunt set up the foundation after a long legal battle to keep his first orphaned vervet Regis that came into his life about 20 years ago. He was told by all the authorities including WWF, RSPCA and the South African Nature Conservation Board to kill it as they were vermin and a pest to farmers and local people. Arthur has since then devoted his life to finding everything he can out about these tiny bundles of cute.

The foundation currently has 12 enclosures, 55 introductory cages and we're helping to build new cabins and cages for a much needed sick bay. A process has been developed which enables orphaned vervets to be nursed to health and placed with a foster mother and a new troop within 3 - 4 weeks. Unfortunately the monkeys are still at risk of being shot so all the enclosures are surrounded by electric fencing for their safety. There is one troop of 'bandit' monkeys who wander free around the farm very much enjoying their freedom.

Last year the law was changed and the vervets are no longer classed as vermin and farmers now need a permit to shoot the monkeys, but a lot of work still needs to be done. The vervets are in fact a great help to farmers as they only eat over ripe fruit that cannot be commercially sold, eat insects that would otherwise damage the crops and there are 30 species of trees that depend on the vervet to eat the seeds and germinate them and deposit them to continue their growth.

The ultimate aim of the foundation is to create several vervet forests and release the troops there so they are finally completely wild and as they should be. We're just helping get things on the way!

Rx

Greetings from Tzaneen

Well we finally made it here, although the journey was not without it's hitches!! Flights were lovely (good old Emirates) we could watch any film starting at any time, pause it and it was super.

Mitsy met us at the airport and we spent a lovely night in a 4* hotel - in the morning we took the shuttle to the bus terminal at the airport only to find our bus didn't go from there it leaves from Park City Station in central Jo'burg and the next bus didn't leave until the following morning. After some hasty phone calls we spent a very relaxig day at Zelda's house followed by pizza, movies and a lovely cosy bed!

20 years ago central Jo'burg was the place to be seen, very smart, beautiful and expensive. Now you only go there if you have a death wish - or a bus to catch - so we drove there, doors locked, handbags out of sight and very much wary of everything. The station at Jo'burg must have been a beautiful place once, but the buildings now stand unloved and worse for wear, very sad.

The bus journey was interesting - driver didn't show so we had to wait for a replacement, then the windscreen wipers stopped working, then one drunken passenger was arrested so we had to wait for the police to come and sort him out. But we did get to watch Top Gun and Home Alone so it's not all bad and we were met by Vicky and Liz who brought us to the Vervet Monkey Foundation which is now our home for the next 3 weeks.

More about our monkey friends in the morrow - sun rises at 5 which means so do we - good old tent village!

Rx

4 days and counting

It's all getting very real and close now - the first malaria tablets were taken just a few hours ago, so far so good....but don't want to speak too soon! The suitcases are out and slowly being filled with useful things like mosquito nets, sleeping bag liners, sterile needles and inflatable pillows. Despite having borrowed the hugest suitcase in the world, I think it will require some very dull brain numbing organisation to fit everything I'll need for 39 days into a space that's smaller than my smallest drawer in my bedroom. I might even develop some will power to help keep me from packing 'useful things' such as cuddly toys, 7 bikinis and at least 15 pairs of shoes - you never know when in-line roller boots will come in handy do you now??!

As you can tell dear reader, I am obviously incredibly busy packing at this very moment and have most definitely not got bored and distracted by any other tasks..... although saying that - I have made a delicious carrot and chive soup this week, bought a lovely new ball dress, been responisble for the loss of the lives of thousands and thousands of lemmings (why do they follow one another to the death with their crazy green hair?) to name but a few of the 'important' tasks that have occupied my precious time off work.

Eeeek! Now I read that back to myself I begining to panic, so might toddle off and actually start doing something useful before it's too late - then again I was so close to completing that last level on lemmings, just one more try can't hurt....can it?

Rxx

Long Awaited Video

Enjoy!