And how time flies! We have actually managed only a week to stay away. The trip to Cape Town was laaaaang that bazbus party on Saturday evening (the reason for our trip) it pretty well. We have previously briefly printed a stack of photos, the one from the project to another of our new house / Backpackers, and I have the whole evening photos (of course on it with your logo and contact details, as it were, business cards) distributed. From Manzamnyama we took Sesanda Cape Town, he was out in Johannesburg hardly come further than Mthatha. To our astonishment, he kept pretty well, it must have been quite a shock to be simply thrown into the deep end and totally adapt our habits and our way of life to need. I have been very difficult, to explain to him everything always to tell him where we go, who we meet, and why, and how long it takes, and also that he always paid attention to what you're gonna chucks. Aidan had him for three weeks work for free for his journey "to pay", and so Sesanda moved for a week with Aidan and me around the houses, ate ate when we slept when we slept, and enjoyed a great time at the bazbus party.
Perhaps a quick explanation for the reason of this trip: bazbus is the most popular bus company for backpackers in South Africa. The bus provides door to door service from a youth hostel to the next, and it can be done in Cape Town aboard the hostel xy and z in Jeffreys Bay off the hostel, a few days stay aboard, and then proceed to the next destination. As the bus leaves from hostel to hostel, the owner of the company knows, of course, all youth-owners - after all, the vast majority of bus tickets sold directly in the hostels. At some point it has become so naturalized that bazbus, the bus company, every year is throwing a birthday party and invites all Youth Hostels owners. You get a bus ticket sponsored for the return trip and will maintain a splendid evening, with games, music, free drinks, great barbecue and all the trimmings. For Hostels in turn, is the owner to operate it the opportunity to networking, with the other refreshing vitamin B inns owners and just generally see and be seen. The backpacker industry in South Africa is one big family, you know, and we stayed for free at other motels. Also sends one to each other guests, make recommendations ... and so it is important to make a good case.
So, that is the background. We drove to Cape Town, free, all free of charge, to promote our project and our new Backpackers. For the project, we hope volunteers, and of course for Backpackers guests. The structure is now be that we are three days a week on house work, all a bit pimp, welcomed its first guest, and renovate the main house step by step, and work three days a week in Manzamnyama the project. The Backpackers is important to us, as we at last brought a source of income - we've even lived on savings, or anywhere else scraped together a few pennies, and our maintenance costs, particularly gasoline for your car and for the generator, usually paid for by donations. After all, we deserve nothing even with the project ... and something we must live. So if we bring the Packers back to work, we are able to fund a living and also support the project. At the moment, anyway both are so closely linked - the house and the project - that it is virtually impossible to separate the finances strict.
With the money you have donated in January / February to the project presentations or on other occasions, Aidan mainly wire mesh and tools invested. He bought a battery drill that our lives immensely relieved - in the house as the project construction. A new, smaller water pump, it has also acquired, which can now be operated from a small generator and stays with the project, plus for a larger generator, backpackers. Much has been invested in gasoline for the Land Rover, who tirelessly between the forest and the village was driven back and forth, transporting vast amounts of strains (up to the old box somewhere on a holey road to their last breath did and the spirit of giving up.'s with wars then the Land Rover. Now we have only the Beetle, thank God, has Aidan so much wood dragged before the Land Rover stopped permanently.). Ah yes, and then of course the tin for the roof and anti-rust paint to paint it. So now is all the material around to finish the first house on the hill - and we need only a few hard-working hands to assemble it all.
I was not much back in Manzamnyama since I'm back, Wednesday and Thursday This week we will be there and continue working on the project and organize the couch surfing event for Easter. We expect between 10-40 volunteers over the Easter holidays, which should again give the project a little boost! We are also with the guys in Pretoria in contact, especially Lawrence, which will now help in the distance, in the village to bring everything to clean across the stage to bridge language barriers and in general the youth of the village again to encourage more to Lend. As soon as I have Internet connection to follow photos of the state of affairs in Manzamnyama.
Ah yes, Internet: in our new house we have not NULL mobile phone reception, so we must always with the laptop on your lap in the farthest corner of the garden-out, where we have any reasonably acceptable reception, but the internet connection is terribly slow. So please forgive me if news will follow only scanty, or delayed. :-)
Everything I am more than happy to be back in South Africa, it is beautiful all day again to go barefoot, build gardens every day to be dirty or clean, or from, in particular, is the sound of the waves in the ears and the wind in your hair. This year will be a real adventure, very exciting with all our projects, and I can hardly wait for the next day. :-)
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