Saturday, October 01, 2016

More Drakensberg

Jordan, Jordan's mom (Gramma Judy), and I noticed a lot of road construction and bits of rural life throughout our road travels of South Africa. This flag girl in Drakensberg caught our attention and she chatted with us for a few minutes as she allowed us to snap her photo.

Embellished flagger (courtesy of Gramma Judy)

Hut in the hills

When we arrived at Cathedral Peak, an area popular for hiking and mountaineering, we stopped for coffee at the resort to take in the views and then continued on our return journey towards Johannesburg.

Cathedral Peak ahead

At the resort, Jordan watched workers atop a thatched roof as they precariously moved about, using boards to shift from point to point...


Another pleasant surprise to come across was a schoolyard full of colourfully dressed kids. We stopped and asked the teacher if we could come into the schoolyard for a visit. The students were dressed up to celebrate Zulu Heritage Days. They were wearing hand-beaded outfits that included neck, head, and/or body adornments. Some also wore head wraps made from the back fringe of a Kudu pelt (a type of African antelope).

The students seemed quite thrilled to see us and their teacher had them perform for us with their traditional song and dance. With gleeful pride, they would take turns in the center of a circle showing us how high they could kick to the chants and clapping of the others. The height of some of the kickers was unbelievable!

Upward extension

2 with Kudu head wraps

When Gramma Judy joined them, they refused to kick high as they knew that she wouldn't be able to!


Before leaving to show appreciation of our visit, the students all chorused into a warming Thank You song.

Back in Johannesburg on September 30th, 2 weeks since we left Langkawi Malaysia, Jordan and I parted ways with Gramma Judy. We flew back to Sea Turtle at Malaysia and Gramma Judy flew in the opposite direction back to Canada.

This South African journey, I think the 3 of us would agree, has been an adventurer's prize!

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