Day: May 23, 2012

On a very rainy day we headed out to Timbavati Safari Lodge for a walk about the local village.

We started off with a good cup of coffee waiting for the rain to settle down a bit, before we started our walk.  After the coffee we headed out to the primary school and went into all the classrooms and got to play with all the kids and they were so happy to see us. They were so happy to show us all their drawings and they were so proud to show us their schoolwork, even though we could not understand them they still showed off everything to us.

When we were done at the school we headed out to the crèche, the kids were done with their school day so they walked hand in hand with us. They were playing and joking with us all the way.

At the crèche we got to swing with all the little kids and a play in the mud with them, I felt like a real little kid again….

Every day the school and crèche staff cooks a healthy meal for all the kids. The school and crèche receive a grant from the South African government every month to help with the feeding programme for the kids. The government also pays the salaries for the teachers and they also have many corporate companies that are involved in making the future brighter for the kids.

After the school we headed to a “sangoma” which is a traditional healer. We went into her little hut and she showed us all the “muti” (medicine) that she uses and how she would throw the bones. The healers work with the clinic and if they got any people that were ill they would take them to the clinic to get medical attention.

We then walked around the village and we saw many of the local people and how they live, what their houses look like and how they grow their own fruit and vegetables.  The people in the village are all very self – sustainable.

We made our way to the clinic and spent some time there, and the nurses were kind enough to take us on a full tour of the clinic itself.  It was a small clinic and if they got any serious cases they would take them to the hospital which was wasn’t too far from the clinic.

From there we went to our guide Axon’s house. He was so proud to show us his house and is family. His wife even stood with us all and had a great photo session. We played with the kids a bit and then headed back to the lodge.

Being a South African myself it was something that I have never done and it’s an experience I will never forget.