Hiking Adventure: November 12

To celebrate Joe’s birthday, we got together with a group of near-by PCV’s to go hiking at the nature reserve where we had our fist week of training. The one with the monkeys, remember? We finally made it there after three cumbi rides, excited and ready to go. We spent the morning wandering through the park, sharing stories and catching up with our friends. It was comforting to discover that we are all pretty much experiencing the same roller coaster ride of emotions: frustration, doubt, joy, boredom, and excitement. It was also neat to share ideas about how to approach different challenges at our schools and gain a new way of looking at things. We laughed at each other’s stories and everyone found it amazing that we had waited so long to stop sharing dinners with our families, as they had all been cooking on their own since the first week at site.

We hadn’t seen much in the way of wildlife, so we decided to try hiking up one of the tall hills. About half way up, on a large plateau, we were treated to a group of wildebeest running past. Unfortunately, none of us were fast enough to snap a picture. We continued up the hill, bushwhacking through some pretty tough thorns, and finally made it to the top where we had a 360 degree view of the surrounding countryside. We were able to hear baboons and spotted small black blobs in the distance. We ate a quick lunch at the top and rushed back down as most of us had run out of water in the hot sun. Don’t worry the notorious over-packers Joe and Kelli were in the clear as we had each packed over 4 liters of water. So as all of our friends ran to the water taps, we ran to the bathroom. Sticking with tradition, the ride home was an experience. We had to walk about a mile before a cumbi with enough room for six passed to take us back into town. During our walk, however, a full cumbi passed carrying Moses (our brother from Bundu) and slowed down long enough for us to exchange greetings. It was great to see him again and we promised that we would visit over the upcoming summer break.

pictures: can you say National Geographic?; S.S. Skosana Nature Preserve