South Africa - Part 7

Lion cubs! Aren't they cute! This is our tour guide Shane and one of his little friends. Just like big pussy cats really!


It was really cool getting up so close. They might have been small but they still liked to bite though! Pretty sizable teeth!


Check out the size of that paw!!!


Say hello to Mr Giraffe who was more than happy to eat tree leaves from my hand!


And then there was this guy who was quite cheeky...and pretty hungry too by the looks of it!

South Africa - Part 6

After having my hair braided...


...and after taking the braids out!


The place where all the action is. The kitchen!


Some of the kids doing their homework in the dining area.


The basketball area.

South Africa - Part 5

Some of the teenage girls from the Care Centre in Hillbrow. They were good fun. They loved playing with my hair and this is one of their "do's". I'll put a picture in next time of the braids they did.


Two of the gorgeous pre-school kids, Carrabo and Tandewha, with their pregnant bellies!


Not a lot happens at the Care Centre, so this is a pretty average day.


By far the nicest room in the place is the creche. Here the little ones are having an afternoon nap.


This is Carrabo who I would happily have brought home in my suitcase. Beautiful little kid who totally stole my heart.

South Africa - Part 4

Johannesburg from different angles. Above and below are views from the Carlton Centre, the tallest building in Africa.


They say that Hillbrow is the most densely populated area in the world per square metre because of the huge number of squatters in the apartment blocks. Apparently each flat has up to 20 people in it. Add to that all the homeless people on the street and you've got a lot of people living on top of one another.


From another angle you see how many trees are in the city. I'm told Johannesburg is the third largest urban forest in the world.


Sunny Hillbrow at ground level...


A very regular sight all over South Africa. No wonder they have such a massive road toll!!

South Africa - Part 3

Here's Pete at 'Lily of the Valley', an orphanage about an hour from Maritzburg. The kids loved us!!! They all came running and each person had two or three kids hanging off them...literally, in Pete's case!


This is how you do your grocery shopping for 114 kids!


This a picture taken in the Drakensburg Mountains. It's a very beautiful (and massive) mountain range and we were able to stay the night in some 'rustic' accommodation close by. We just had to watch out for the 'puff adders', who are short and fat but apparently quite venomous!


The view from the house we stayed in.


Some of the kids at one of the Backyard Bible Clubs we ran in Pietermaritzburg.

South Africa - Part 2

This is the Christian pre-school that we went to in Edendale, a township outside Maritzburg. The townships are where the black people were forced to live during apartheid. Dodgy buildings with no electricity. This pre-school building is actually condemned but they keep using it anyway. Many people live in this township. Apartheid may be over but they are still as poor as ever.


Edendale.


This kid was very keen for me to take his photo!


This is Bec Frost and me with some kids in another township called Mpophomeni. We visited a hospice there which is run by the local church (there's quite a nice little tourist town near by). It was very sad talking to the ladies in the hospice. Their situation is much the same as many others in South Africa - husbands dead, themselves dying of AIDS and only very elderly, sickly relatives left to look after their children. The government doesn't have a good program to look after them, there's hardly any social workers, in fact I met the only one for the surrounding region. Busy lady...


I thought this was a bit of a laugh. Got to make sure those rhinos are well trained!

South Africa - Part 1

Well here are just a few photos to give you a bit of a feel for my time in South Africa. I'll post more when I have time. Hope you enjoy them!!
The family in the photo is the Bruni's, who Dani, Rob and I stayed with in Pietermaritzburg. They were lovely...especially the girls' cute little South African accents!


Here's the rugby game we went to in Durban. The Queensland Reds vs the Durban Sharks. That's the first and last time I'll be going for Queensland Lach!!


This is part of the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal where we spent some time.


The kids doing their thing at church.


Our fearless leader...