First Weekend!
Door: A.G.K.
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Anika
06 Mei 2009 | Zuid-Afrika, Plettenberg Bay
Part II
Good evening everyone,
this part is for those of you (Schlammi:)?!) who couldn’t wait…!
As you might imagine I’m still in my adoption phase, getting to know the surroundings and people...new impressions every day which I - of course - enjoy very much.
The second part of my itinerary continued without any specific incidents…neither did the luggage get lost nor did any turbulences occur. Only, that I got picked again…lucky me…haha. Instead of being scanned, this time I was asked to fill out a survey - only 20 on board were - about the service on board of British Airways. Without wanting to make any advertisement, I have to say that BA has gained a new customer and Lufthansa has lost one. Isabelle, the coordinator of my organization ‘Born in Africa’ (BIA), picked me up at the airport in George. During the 1h drive - plenty of time - we talked about my upcoming projects which I enjoyed very much as it gave me an insight how working for BIA will look like in the next 3 months.
Having slept in, Saskia showed me Plettenberg Bay and its beautiful surroundings. The village itself is relatively small, a place where rather wealthy (white) people either have their holiday cottages or permanently live. Having big fences and a number of watchdogs is not unusual. There is one main street with all the essential shops. The beaches are close by and incredibly beautiful. The supermarkets have European standard but are, however, only for some items a little cheaper. Some products are quite exotic…my favourite yoghurt: honey + rooibos. Enjoying the great weather (25°C) which is unusually nice for this time of year - winter is coming way too soon - at the ‘Lookout Beach’, we saw a herd of about 20 dolphins…sooooo amazing. In the evening, some of the volunteers decided to have a BBQ and so I enjoyed my first South African ‘braai’ (BBQ in Afrikaans). Afrikaans is a mixture between Dutch and English - where most of the words are used in its diminutive form. ‘Thank you very much’ for example means ‘Baaie Dankie’ in Afrikaans…isn’t that CUTE?! The days are short here…dawn already starts at around 18h. Wandering the streets of Plett at night alone is not recommendable. Thus, you always have to make sure when leaving the house shortly before dawn that somebody is accompanying you.
Sunday, I had my first REAL South African experience: Doing a horse safari in a game reserve near Plett! As I pretty much suck at riding and have a tendency to get the wrong horses (Leo, I know you are laughing right now), I was surprised that everything went smoothly (I’m starting to like this word) - thanks, chestnut you did a good job. Saskia and I were lucky to have our guide, Robert, all to ourselves. The ride lasted 2 ½ hours. We saw all different kinds of animals: Gnus, springboks, hippos, crocodiles, zebras, etc. It is an incredible feeling…you sitting on a horse and a giraffe gigantically tall standing only 4 or 5 meters away from you…observing what you are doing, so close you can almost touch it. Or when you are watching the rhinos - again only a few meters away - while the guide is telling you that those animals can run about 45km/h and, if in the mood, can easily kill you. Enough adrenaline for -let’s say - the next week! We spent the rest of the day in ‘downtown’ Plett where they have a very nice internet café, ironically called ‘Europa’, surfing and ordering lots of drinks...yeah! The café is very ‘gezellig’ and is, for our standard, pretty cheap - cocktails cost at the most €3 (Mariechen, the ‘Macadamian Cosmopolitan’ is not going to be my favourite drink but it tasted interesting). As the capacity of our internet connection is pretty bad and we are not allowed to up-or download anything including the use of any instant messengers (skype, msn, icq etc.), I go to ‘Europa’ every once in a while to upload some pictures and to get in contact with you guys (via skype). For those of you who prefer the more traditional way of getting in contact with me, here is my address:
Anika Kirchner
P.O. 1674
Plettenberg Bay 6600
South Africa
I already know who are the first ones to write…hihi :)! And in case you miss me so much that you can’t wait to hear my beautiful voice…haha…or in any emergency, I got a new South African cell phone number! Just let me know…and you’ll get it.
Wish you all the best! ‘Lekker slaap’ (Good night in Afrikaans)!
Love, ani
PS: Pictures will follow soon!
Good evening everyone,
this part is for those of you (Schlammi:)?!) who couldn’t wait…!
As you might imagine I’m still in my adoption phase, getting to know the surroundings and people...new impressions every day which I - of course - enjoy very much.
The second part of my itinerary continued without any specific incidents…neither did the luggage get lost nor did any turbulences occur. Only, that I got picked again…lucky me…haha. Instead of being scanned, this time I was asked to fill out a survey - only 20 on board were - about the service on board of British Airways. Without wanting to make any advertisement, I have to say that BA has gained a new customer and Lufthansa has lost one. Isabelle, the coordinator of my organization ‘Born in Africa’ (BIA), picked me up at the airport in George. During the 1h drive - plenty of time - we talked about my upcoming projects which I enjoyed very much as it gave me an insight how working for BIA will look like in the next 3 months.
Having slept in, Saskia showed me Plettenberg Bay and its beautiful surroundings. The village itself is relatively small, a place where rather wealthy (white) people either have their holiday cottages or permanently live. Having big fences and a number of watchdogs is not unusual. There is one main street with all the essential shops. The beaches are close by and incredibly beautiful. The supermarkets have European standard but are, however, only for some items a little cheaper. Some products are quite exotic…my favourite yoghurt: honey + rooibos. Enjoying the great weather (25°C) which is unusually nice for this time of year - winter is coming way too soon - at the ‘Lookout Beach’, we saw a herd of about 20 dolphins…sooooo amazing. In the evening, some of the volunteers decided to have a BBQ and so I enjoyed my first South African ‘braai’ (BBQ in Afrikaans). Afrikaans is a mixture between Dutch and English - where most of the words are used in its diminutive form. ‘Thank you very much’ for example means ‘Baaie Dankie’ in Afrikaans…isn’t that CUTE?! The days are short here…dawn already starts at around 18h. Wandering the streets of Plett at night alone is not recommendable. Thus, you always have to make sure when leaving the house shortly before dawn that somebody is accompanying you.
Sunday, I had my first REAL South African experience: Doing a horse safari in a game reserve near Plett! As I pretty much suck at riding and have a tendency to get the wrong horses (Leo, I know you are laughing right now), I was surprised that everything went smoothly (I’m starting to like this word) - thanks, chestnut you did a good job. Saskia and I were lucky to have our guide, Robert, all to ourselves. The ride lasted 2 ½ hours. We saw all different kinds of animals: Gnus, springboks, hippos, crocodiles, zebras, etc. It is an incredible feeling…you sitting on a horse and a giraffe gigantically tall standing only 4 or 5 meters away from you…observing what you are doing, so close you can almost touch it. Or when you are watching the rhinos - again only a few meters away - while the guide is telling you that those animals can run about 45km/h and, if in the mood, can easily kill you. Enough adrenaline for -let’s say - the next week! We spent the rest of the day in ‘downtown’ Plett where they have a very nice internet café, ironically called ‘Europa’, surfing and ordering lots of drinks...yeah! The café is very ‘gezellig’ and is, for our standard, pretty cheap - cocktails cost at the most €3 (Mariechen, the ‘Macadamian Cosmopolitan’ is not going to be my favourite drink but it tasted interesting). As the capacity of our internet connection is pretty bad and we are not allowed to up-or download anything including the use of any instant messengers (skype, msn, icq etc.), I go to ‘Europa’ every once in a while to upload some pictures and to get in contact with you guys (via skype). For those of you who prefer the more traditional way of getting in contact with me, here is my address:
Anika Kirchner
P.O. 1674
Plettenberg Bay 6600
South Africa
I already know who are the first ones to write…hihi :)! And in case you miss me so much that you can’t wait to hear my beautiful voice…haha…or in any emergency, I got a new South African cell phone number! Just let me know…and you’ll get it.
Wish you all the best! ‘Lekker slaap’ (Good night in Afrikaans)!
Love, ani
PS: Pictures will follow soon!
-
07 Mei 2009 - 06:34
Mariesiko:
moin aus Enschede!
Was? cocktail war nicht gut? schade. schön das es dir so gut geht herzchen! freue mich auf dein fotos. -
07 Mei 2009 - 06:59
Leona:
Haha, du kennst mich zu gut. Hatte doch ein relativ großes Grinsen im Gesicht. :-) Anilein, schön, dass es dir so gut geht. Klingt superspannend alles und ich bin ja doch neidisch, dass du die Tiere von so nah sehen kannst. Nur die Pferde, die kannste behalten! :-D Leb dich weiterhin gut ein und lass von dir hören!!! -
07 Mei 2009 - 08:08
Sas:
Msn geht wohl ;-) Kann man auch gut bei der Office-work machen... pf ;) -
10 Mei 2009 - 16:44
Katrin:
ich muss zugeben dass ich ein wenig jealous geworden bin als du sagtest du warst 2 1/2 stunden in der wildnis ausreiten.... grml!! Freu mich dass es dir so gut geht, hau mal rein mit den Fotos :D! Liebste Grüße
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