Sanctuary

Our group minus me at the airport!

pool at tekweni in Durban

Durban: South Beach

Driving towards the Drankensberg following the boys

View from our backpackers room

So beautiful! 

Our room was the one upstairs on the left

Katie and Jed talking to a little boy named Oliver

Oliver!

Sunset... picture does not even do it justice

Bob Marley drinks with Ken! 

view of the roads in Lethoso

The school we visited 

Hanging out with some of the kids! 

their school notebooks where they do everything

They loved the pictures I have tons!

3 of the 4 grades that had class in one big room 

the steep, steep rocks we climbed to get to the peak of a mountain

A little girl I fell in love with at the village

She just loved to pose

Traditional dress 

At the two sister shebeen 

Hanging out at ampitheatre having a south african braii 

climbing up the river 

so beautiful 

love these girls, they are two of my roomates!

Dancing in Durban

View of the Royal Natal National park

I’m finally home after two weeks of traveling South Africa!  The stories and experiences are endless so here are a few highlights from the past week when I traveled with 4 other guys and 4 other girls through some of South Africa!

We flew to Durban from Cape Town and had quite the experience there.  I loved it but could do without going back there.  I think every single person we met said it wasn’t safe and upon arriving we miraculously found our friends empty wallet that had been stolen early in the day when they arrived.  Thankfully we were all safe during our time there.

The best part was a soccer game we went to at the world cup stadium, the first game that was played in that stadium!!  The stadium was beautiful and it was so fun.  We somehow got 9 tickets even though they were sold out.  We chose to cheer for the Kaiser Cheifs who won in a shoot out!  It was blazing hot and I LOVED it.  I felt like I was famous because so many people wanted pictures with our group, even a newspaper because there were so few white people in the whole stadium I saw 5 other white people max which was so great.  Everyone was so nice and the energy was something that can’t be described.  Everyone had horns to blow and flags to wave and we of course bought flags and apparel to fit in.  We all would agree that it was an unreal experience and will proudly be able to say we were in that Durban stadium when we see world cup games being played.

In Durban we also hit up the beaches that are so often spoken of.  We met two girls at the game who took us the to beach the next day because of course they didn’t think it was safe for us to go alone.  The beach was packed but a blast.  The water was nice and warm and the waves were extremely powerful.  We went to ushaka marina, a famous beach and shopping area that was touristy but fun!  That night we spent at our hostel where we met people from all over the world and hung out danced and played games, we even went for a swim under the starts in the pool they had! 

Then Wednesday morning we somehow managed to fit all of our stuff into two cars and set out to the Ampitheatre in the Drakensberg Mountains.  The drive was a highlight because we got some good girl time in because the 5 girls rode in a car together.  The drive was phenomenal.  We kept just laughing out loud because it all seemed so perfect, too beautiful to be real, too amazing!  We got to our backpackers and it was the nicest one I’ve been too.  Don’t get me wrong that still meant all 9 of us crammed in a room, water that looked a little brown and didn’t work for 2 of the days, and bugs, but I’m learning to adjust to all of that!

The view from our room was just of mountains in every direction and was a prime location to watch the sun set.  At this backpackers our group really came together because in a place that beautiful and serene you really get connected to people and have great conversations and cannot help but be fully absorbed in the moment.  I was able to get away from everything at this beautiful place.

Thursday some of us took a guided tour into Lesotho which allowed me to be fully immersed into an African village.  The boarders of the country are the mountains and there are only dirt roads.  Everyone lived in huts and their traditional dress is in beautiful blankets.  We climbed a moutnain, went to a school and hung out with the kids and helped teach them a tiny bit, went into a little village and were given a taste of their traditional beer, played with the children, visited another hut where we had traditional pap and spinach to eat, and then the visit ended at a shebeen!  The people were so, so kind and welcoming.  They were grateful to us for seeing where they lived.  There is so much I could say about this day and about the people that I hardly know where to begin now.

Lastly Friday we went for a girls hike (4 of the 5 of us)!  It was great to have some girl time.  We decided not to hike a path that was already mapped out and instead climbed through some bush onto a stream of rocks where we sat and ate lunch.  I thought it would be fun to walk on the rocks and next thing we knew we hiked about 2 hours up this stream wading through waters, seeing mini waterfalls, and climbing rocks all while having an incredible view of the mountains.  Our hike ended at this perfect little waterfall with a perfect area for swimming.  My friend Jed and I decided that it was the perfect spot to swim and we slid down a little waterfall into the freezing cold water!  None of us are willing to share too much information about the hike or the special place we found because it’s impossible to describe the experience we had there together.  I honestly had never felt as peaceful as I did sitting on the rocks in a rushing stream while looking at the mountains, we named the place our “sanctuary”.  The beauty of our surroundings and of our friendship at that moment can’t be recreated.  We were all so aware of how blessed we are and of Christ’s presence and together we became fully aware of what it meant to be totally immersed into the moment!! Wow what a great day, what a beautiful country, and what beautiful friendships I have!

Then Saturday we made the 14 hour drive home to PE across South Africa.  That was another fun day and we saw more and more beauty of the country.  How cool that I have road tripped across South Africa.  And it’s even more fitting that we had 2 flat tires in a half hour along the way.  Obviously a car only has one spare so this presented a challenge but before we could panic a wonderful Afrikaner couple stopped and came to our rescue, drove to get our tires fixed and we were back on the road within an hour.  We decided it was a definite God thing because it worked out perfectly!  We kept a tally of all the cars that we had to tell to keep going since we already had help along with all the police cars that didn’t stop to offer help and drove by, we made the most of the experience that’s forsure!

Now I’m home sweet home waiting for the rest of the group to arrive and getting organized.  We were all hit with some funny feelings upon arriving home last night.  The realization that spring break has ended and we are almost down to a month hit a little hard.  None of us will be ready to leave South Africa or one another at the end of this trip, but I think that’s natural.  I’m excited to not waste a moment of the next month and to spend time reflecting on all of my experiences!  I wish I could go on and on and share more of my feelings and experiences, but like I just said I don’t want to miss out on what is around me by spending too long here on the computer.  I miss everyone tons even though I just said it will be hard to come home, but it’s thanks to my family and friends that I will be thrilled to come back!

All my love,

Megan