Permanent crew member

After a grrreat South Africa safari and touring the country by car with Jordan's mom, Jordan and I arrived back to Sea Turtle October 2nd in Langkawi Malaysia. Now the work starts!

But first, we need to tell you about a kitty that was hanging out on our boat. She was a stray, about 8 months old, and had been taken to a vet to be spayed by a woman sailor who seems to take care of all the strays around the marina. We left on our holiday, and when we returned, the kitty came to our boat right away to visit again! We were told that when we left she had waited in the cockpit for us for 4 days.

Can I pleeease come in?

She didn't seem to want to leave, and well, we couldn't help but fall in love with her. So 3 days later we adopted her, or should I say, she adopted us. We named her Chanty (pronounced shantee, just like sailors' sea songs) as she is very talkative with her soft meows. Unless she is hungry at which time her meows get much louder and more insistent.

Our new crew member

We would describe her as follows: she is black and white with a black heart on the tip of her pink nose, very lean and long with a tiny crook at the end of her tail, loves to play (and play and play), is very inquisitive and snoopy, likes to lead while going for walks on her leash, is very appreciative of hugs and cuddles, and she LOVES fish - give her a fresh fish and she will love you forever! A perfect boat cat - how could we not adopt her!

From my heart to yours

Hey wait - I wasn't ready!

Can I help?

Yes, we said we would never have a pet until we returned to having land under our feet, but exceptions can always be made in the right circumstances!

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!