Ecabezeni (Zulu village) school trip

Alfie milked an Nguni cow. The udder felt squishy.
Oscar ground maize using a long stone. It looked easy but it wasn't!
These are some of Oscar's (grade 4) classmates: Oscar, Cameron, Bradley, Michael, Jason, Daniel, Cullun and Alfie (grade 5).
About 10 tonnes of oranges were picked per day. The best picker picked 157 16kg bags per day. He got paid 1rand (about 10 pence) per bag. The average was 67 bags per day = 67rand or £6.70 per day.
Alfie and Oscar went on a school trip with Howick Prep to the village of Ecabezeni and a local orange factory. At Ecabezeni, they took part in Zulu stick fighting, traditional bead crafts, making clay pots, milking Nguni cattle and grinding meal.

We had marshmallows cooked on a braii with all our friends. We saw Zulu dancing which involved a lot of stamping and whoops. We drank tons of Zulu beer which is so sour! We slept overnight in a traditional Zulu hut called a rondavel. It was quite spacious and well-designed to keep the heat in.

We learnt about the Tokolosh which nibbles your feet and eats your food if it is low down so all the Zulu food is kept high up in the rondavel.

The men sleep to the right of the hut and the women on the left because the men wear their shields on the left so when they step out of the hut they have their shield ready to defend themselves.

The Zulu rondavel's floor is made out of termite nests. Everyone thought it was made of cow dung but this is only used to smooth it.

Seeing hyena, elephant, croc or rhino upclose and personal was awesome!

Howick update

If you get the chance perhaps you could send Alfie an e-card to coldcustard@live.com as he is feeling a little bit overlooked for his birthday which is on 28th May. However, we are trying to organise a session at a paintball place near here with a few of his school friends. His birthday is next Friday and it will be his last day at Howick prep as well as our almost last day in South Africa.

Tonight we are going to camp out in Umgeni game reserve - staying in a hut amongst giraffe, zebra, buck (no really dangerous animals)! The kids have half day on Friday till 12ish and seem to miss most Fridays because we are off doing other things but heh they are having a ball! Yesterday, after school, we went swimming/sliding in Umgeni valley where there is a natural slide in the rocks into a pool (and an assault course on the way so we clambered over that too). There were lots of super hairy black caterpillars on the rocks which was a bit off-putting for Alfie! In the morning I picked up 3 super-large pine cones and gave them to the boys only to find they had tiny lizards in them which have now escaped into the car much to Alfie's consternation!

The boys are enjoying school. It took Oscar a while, the turning point was a trip to a Zulu village with his class, thereafter he didn't get stomach ache every morning before school! We have to get up early every day (6am) to be ready for school at 0730 and we hope to keep up this habit when we leave here!

This weekend is quite busy. Patrick is giving a public lecture as part of national biodiversity day which is being celebrated here on Saturday morning. Then we are going to drive to Underburg to visit a world heritage site, Cobham, where we will meet up with the head guide and be shown san rock art/paintings. From there we will go to Khotso horse trails to stay with our friends Steve and Lulu. On Sunday we will all go out riding/running and then Patrick will bring the boys back for school and I will stay on to do more riding!

We leave South Africa Monday 31st so taking overnight train to Jburg next Saturday and hoping to stay with Italian friend we have made and see Patrick's nun aunt before we leave for Sydney...all go and so far...brilliant!

Looking forward to hosting Alex Copping from Bath when he arrives next Thursday in preparation for taking part in the comrades marathon. Sad to have to say goodbye to Liz, our host today as she is heading off to Botswana and won't be back until after we leave.

Glad to hear Art House is coming together well in Leicester and pleased to hear it is going from strength to strength now professionals like Kathy and Sue have taken it on! Might like to know that my sculpture website is now up and running at www.devinewright.com

On safari in Umfulozi/Huhluwe game reserve

Patrick and Trevor's Drakensburg traverse

I got contacted out of the blue a few weeks ago by an English guy called Trevor Hughes. He'd asked my friend Steve Black to try the 'Drakensburg Traverse' but Steve cried off, suggesting me instead. So I found myself out at 4am in the Northern Berg climbing up steel ladders in the cliffs following Trev's head torch as the wind whistled around us on the approach to Mont aux Sources. The entire traverse is just over 200km and the record is just 60 hours! I had enough pasta and jelly babies in my rucksack to feed a small army and set off into the dark wondering what lay ahead ......

We stopped for only 13min in the first 9 hours but the high altitudes (constantly over 2800m), difficult terrain and heavy pack took its toll and by 7pm on day one, I was so tired I was just fit to sleep. But sleeping on frozen ground in a bivvy bag at altitude isn't that comfy! We decided to drop down off the high berg the following day, with thunderclouds threatening and our chances of beating the record receding, having 'only' covered 100km amidst magnificent mountain scenery in 2 days. The run back down the valley was fantastic, skipping down trails back to the campsite to meet Hannah and the kids and Lucy, Trev's wife.

My feet took quite a beating, taking 5 days for the altitude induced swelling to go down, but still leaving me with 4 black toenails, one swollen ankle and two blistered heels! Time to chill out with great memories of the high mountains and a pint of Castle Milk Stout I think ...

Butchering of a cow by kennel workers

Patrick and Steve Black at the start of their 2 day epic 55 mile Wild Coast run

Here's me with a local running legend - Steve Black - who owns Khotso Horse Trails and has run all across the Drakkensburg mountains on epic long distance runs. We ran down Transkei's 'Wild Coast' together from Port Edward to Port St. Johns - a distance of about 55 miles - in 2 days last week, without hitting a road once, keeping to coastal trails and swimming across river estuaries! It's amazing what you can do on a diet of jelly babies and ginger nut biscuits, plus a few tins of Castle Milk Stout!

Lesotho ride/run trip

Bushmen rock art in Lesotho

Lesotho ride/run trip

I'm riding Tandwene, my favourite Besotho pony. Note the saddle bags and the Western/Lesotho saddle.

Winner of the best female handler at local dog show

Liz Taylor, our host and owner of Dargle Dale Kennels judged the best female handler category at a local township dog show. Aim is to encourage people to look after their pets. Each dog was de-wormed, de-rabied and given a lead. This woman won and then we watched as she dragged the dog behind her as she left the ring! Luckily she did not win 'best in show'!

Place where Nelson Mandela was picked up and taken to prison on 5 Aug 1962