Lesotho, Storms River and Cape Town

So it has been over a month since I last updated here, so I have alot of ground to cover, and very little time to do it in! I am currently sitting in an internet cafe in Maputo, capital of Mozambique, having spent the last two weeks almost completely cut off from the outside world at an orphanage in Zimpeto, about 15 kms from the city. I will have to save photos from my time at the orphanage for another update, so this blog will skim over the second half of my journey through South Africa, from Lesotho through to Cape Town.
In Lesotho, I spent 3 days with a program called Kick4Life, which is basically an HIV Aids education program targeted at youth, which uses football as a way of getting the kids together to deliver Aids testing and education. As part of the activities, a friendly football match was arranged between the visitors (see picture above, basically consisted of me with a whole lot of English guys) and a local team. After a 2 all draw, we prevailed 4 to 3 on penalties!

The local soccer pitch.

In the background is one of the villages were I stayed.

A German friend and I went pony trekking!

After Lesotho, I was joined by Lauren in Port Elizabeth, and we started our journey down the Garden Route of South Africa to Cape Town. Our main stop on the way was a place called Storms River, where the main activites include hiking and mountain biking, as well as these flying fox thingos which were fun!

Lauren and myself ziplining along a series of waterfalls...

The Big Tree.

On one of our hikes...

Eventually we made it through to Cape Town...This is the view from near the bottom of the hike which we did which goes up through that gorge to the gap at the top, taking you to the top of Table Mountain.

Lauren taking a quick rest along the way.

At the top!

One of the highlights of our trip was touring around the wine country surrounding Cape Town. Many of the wineries were set amongst stunning backdrops of mountain ranges like the ones above...

A nice view of Cape Town from near the bottom of Table Mountain.

On our last day in Cape Town, I went on a day trip to Cape point, along scenic roads very similar to our Great Ocean Road. This is me at the Cape of Good Hope, the most South Western point of the African continent...

My internet is about to expire, so that is all for now, will be back again soon!

M

Rustenburg, Nelspruit, Durban (again) and Bloemfontein

Severely slow and expensive internet is restricting my blog updates, so here is 4 places rolled into one! Here I am with Aussies Shaun and John, who drove me to the Ghana game in Rustenburg

The Royal Bafokeng, literally in the middle of nowhere...

Still cheering strong in the 89th minute...

Next stop, Nelspruit, where a day trip to Kruger national park is a must do. Here is our safari bus...

Here, piggy piggy...

The money shot.

"We all dream of a team of Harry Kewell's" (to the tune of Yellow Submarine)

Holmannnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A happy bunch of Trinity College alumni after the match against Serbia.

Aussie fans celebrating a win - the South African way...

Chilling on the Durban beachfront, where World Cup fever was well and truly taking hold...

Walking to the stadium in Durban, day of the Brazil vs Portugal match...I tried to buy a ticket off a scalper out the front, however most laughed at my lousy offer of R1000 (about $170)

However I was lucky enough to get a seat at the Germany vs. England second round match in Bloemfontein. Here are some hopeful England fans before kick-off. Little did they know they were to be the second team for the tournament to have their arses handed to them on a platter by the Germans...

Finally those 6 months of trumpet lessons I had back in junior school have paid off!

Think that is all I can muster for now....I will have to save my 3-day adventure in Lesotho for the next blog update!

M