Tuesday 26 October 2010
Australia, even deadlier and bigger than I expected!
Well I've just finished Bill Bryson's Down Under I picked up in a second hand book shop. I knew Australia was large and full of deadily animals, but I hadn't quite realised until now quite what the scale of it was. It looks like it would take years/decades to explore it, and you'd get bitten, stung, eaten, etc in the process. I may have to extend my time there!
I'm now a qualified diver!
Well I've done it, I've passed my diving course and I'm not qualified to dive up to 18 metres. I was diving in a place called Sodwana bay near the Mozambique border. There were miles and miles of coral reefs there, having seen tropical fish tanks in aquariums I always assumed that they put far too many fish in there because there isn't enough space to build a bigger tank. But no, there really are that many fish on a reef and they are so colourful and vivid. As are all the corals themselves, which I tended to overlook to start off with.
So my course included teaching sessions in the classroom, exams, some time in the swimming pool, four dives, and accommodation in a safari tent. Needless to say after the first night in the tent I upgraded to a cabin, which was definitely the right thing to do. I know I'm supposed to be on a budget but after spending all that money on the course I at least wanted a good nights sleep! I was also lucky enough to be the only student in the class so had the teacher all to myself.
You may or may not want to know the ins and outs of the course, but as I have been a bit lax with posting recently I thought I'd make this one a long one. Those of you who don't want to read skip to the next paragraph now! So for those of you who are still left the main gist of the course was practicing all the things that could go wrong (but never do I'm assured) so you know what to do if it happens for real. And also making sure you can control your bouyancy so you don't sink like a stone or pop up to the surface like a rubber duck. Well that's probably oversimplifying it a little bit, but I don't want to loose the rest of you still reading as well. So I went through things like taking my mask off to show I can cope without it, filling and clearing my mask of water, having my air turned of so I know what it feels like to have no air, an emergency ascent without air called the CESA where I have to say ahhh all the way up to the surface. And much more, but I think that will do.
Welcome back everyone else, so to my first dive. I was so amazing to see so many colourful fish and coral when I got down there, although on my first dive I spent most of the time trying to stop myself popping back up to the surface to get too much of a look at things. My second dive was so much better as I was starting to get to grips with it all. Then it just got better and better one dive after the next. I needed to complete four dives to pass the course, which I did, and then promptly went straight out again as a newly qualified diver for the first time without an instructor. I suppose to probably similar to going out on your first drive by you self after passing your test, you no longer have to worry about are you going to pass and can just enjoy it. I went for my sixth dive yesterday morning and then came up to Swaziland in the afternoon. I'm off to Mozambique tomorrow to do yet more diving.
So the next thing to decide is weather or not to invest in my own diving gear, or just hire. I haven't cosen a cheap pass time here! Also my qualification only allows me to dive up to 18m, I have to do another course to be able to extend that to 30m. Which I am cosidering doing in Sodwana again on the way bay to Cape Town from Mozambique.
It was also good staying five days in Sodwana as it isn't a backpackers so wasn't full of people who just want to drink all night and sleep all day (mild exaggeration but not too far from the truth!). So while I wasn't diving I was relaxing and reading a lot.
Well I'm off now to find somthing for dinner, oh and if you're wandering why I haven't said anything about Swaziland it's because I can't really think of anything to say. Well I suppose it is another stamp in the passport, but in hindsight I would have just headed strainght to Mozambique. It just feels like South Africa, but not quite as nice, or spectacular.
Oh and I'll let you know how my bus trip to Maputo goes tomorrow, I'm hoping for uneventful!
So my course included teaching sessions in the classroom, exams, some time in the swimming pool, four dives, and accommodation in a safari tent. Needless to say after the first night in the tent I upgraded to a cabin, which was definitely the right thing to do. I know I'm supposed to be on a budget but after spending all that money on the course I at least wanted a good nights sleep! I was also lucky enough to be the only student in the class so had the teacher all to myself.
You may or may not want to know the ins and outs of the course, but as I have been a bit lax with posting recently I thought I'd make this one a long one. Those of you who don't want to read skip to the next paragraph now! So for those of you who are still left the main gist of the course was practicing all the things that could go wrong (but never do I'm assured) so you know what to do if it happens for real. And also making sure you can control your bouyancy so you don't sink like a stone or pop up to the surface like a rubber duck. Well that's probably oversimplifying it a little bit, but I don't want to loose the rest of you still reading as well. So I went through things like taking my mask off to show I can cope without it, filling and clearing my mask of water, having my air turned of so I know what it feels like to have no air, an emergency ascent without air called the CESA where I have to say ahhh all the way up to the surface. And much more, but I think that will do.
Welcome back everyone else, so to my first dive. I was so amazing to see so many colourful fish and coral when I got down there, although on my first dive I spent most of the time trying to stop myself popping back up to the surface to get too much of a look at things. My second dive was so much better as I was starting to get to grips with it all. Then it just got better and better one dive after the next. I needed to complete four dives to pass the course, which I did, and then promptly went straight out again as a newly qualified diver for the first time without an instructor. I suppose to probably similar to going out on your first drive by you self after passing your test, you no longer have to worry about are you going to pass and can just enjoy it. I went for my sixth dive yesterday morning and then came up to Swaziland in the afternoon. I'm off to Mozambique tomorrow to do yet more diving.
So the next thing to decide is weather or not to invest in my own diving gear, or just hire. I haven't cosen a cheap pass time here! Also my qualification only allows me to dive up to 18m, I have to do another course to be able to extend that to 30m. Which I am cosidering doing in Sodwana again on the way bay to Cape Town from Mozambique.
It was also good staying five days in Sodwana as it isn't a backpackers so wasn't full of people who just want to drink all night and sleep all day (mild exaggeration but not too far from the truth!). So while I wasn't diving I was relaxing and reading a lot.
Well I'm off now to find somthing for dinner, oh and if you're wandering why I haven't said anything about Swaziland it's because I can't really think of anything to say. Well I suppose it is another stamp in the passport, but in hindsight I would have just headed strainght to Mozambique. It just feels like South Africa, but not quite as nice, or spectacular.
Oh and I'll let you know how my bus trip to Maputo goes tomorrow, I'm hoping for uneventful!
Tuesday 19 October 2010
Watching Hippos today
Well I've been in St Lucia for a couple of days now and I am finally off to Sodwana tomorrow to start my long awaited diving course. Here is a picture of those interesting fellows....
Cintsa surf competition......
Me almost being blown of a mountain in Lesotho......
Also some other pictures of what I've been up to.....
Me rock climbing.......
Stunning views from the Drakensberg.....
Cintsa surf competition......
Me almost being blown of a mountain in Lesotho......
Wednesday 13 October 2010
Back in Durban
I've just got back to Durban now so I can get back to recounting what I have been up to in the last few weeks. Well as I said Cintsa consisted mainly of relaxing, eating, and drinking far too much! Well also a few runs on the beach so I at least do some exercise!
We spent most of our time in Cintsa hanging out with the locals, in fact by the time we left we felt more like locals than visitors. We spent a lot of our time hanging around at the local cafe called the Barefoot, the did very nice burgers and pizzas, and of course sold beer! The Saturday before last they had the first Cintsa surf competition so I spent most of the day sat on the beach watching surfing followed by a big party in the evening at the Barefoot where they were virtually drunk out of all the booze in the place!
I got to the Drakensberg last Friday via a nights stop off in Durban, the Drakensberg is a mountain range between Durban and Johanesberg. I only intended to spend a couple of days there, but as with a lot of places I've been to so far I stayed there longer. I went for a walk up to the Amphitheatre, which is a large cliff face at over 3,000 metres with a 1,000 metre drop off the edge. I'm not scared of heights but my legs still felt a bit wobbly when I looked over the edge! I also went on a day trip to Lesthoto, which is a small country in the the Drakensberg completely surrounded by South Africa. We got to visit one of their villages, which is so far from western society, there was no electricity in the village! We got to visit the local school, drink some locally brewed pineapple beer, and visit a local healer. I also went rock climbing with some of the most amazing views while climbing you could ever hope to see. I will upload some pictures when I get a chance.
I may also end up going back there in a few weeks as backpackers I stayed at are quite keen on me updating there website. So that would mean some free accommodation for a week or so, I'm not quite sure if I'm really ready to do any work yet! Well I'm now in Durban for until Friday when I will carry on with my trip up to Mozambique. My next stop will probably be St Lucia or Sodwana where I can finally learn to dive!
We spent most of our time in Cintsa hanging out with the locals, in fact by the time we left we felt more like locals than visitors. We spent a lot of our time hanging around at the local cafe called the Barefoot, the did very nice burgers and pizzas, and of course sold beer! The Saturday before last they had the first Cintsa surf competition so I spent most of the day sat on the beach watching surfing followed by a big party in the evening at the Barefoot where they were virtually drunk out of all the booze in the place!
I got to the Drakensberg last Friday via a nights stop off in Durban, the Drakensberg is a mountain range between Durban and Johanesberg. I only intended to spend a couple of days there, but as with a lot of places I've been to so far I stayed there longer. I went for a walk up to the Amphitheatre, which is a large cliff face at over 3,000 metres with a 1,000 metre drop off the edge. I'm not scared of heights but my legs still felt a bit wobbly when I looked over the edge! I also went on a day trip to Lesthoto, which is a small country in the the Drakensberg completely surrounded by South Africa. We got to visit one of their villages, which is so far from western society, there was no electricity in the village! We got to visit the local school, drink some locally brewed pineapple beer, and visit a local healer. I also went rock climbing with some of the most amazing views while climbing you could ever hope to see. I will upload some pictures when I get a chance.
I may also end up going back there in a few weeks as backpackers I stayed at are quite keen on me updating there website. So that would mean some free accommodation for a week or so, I'm not quite sure if I'm really ready to do any work yet! Well I'm now in Durban for until Friday when I will carry on with my trip up to Mozambique. My next stop will probably be St Lucia or Sodwana where I can finally learn to dive!
Left Cintsa at last!
Well I left last Thursday but the internet has been down here so I haven't had a chance to write a post since then! So I think I have a lot to update everyone on as I haven't written a post for a long time. So what it I do in Cintsa for 2 weeks, well not a huge amount. It's very hard to leave a place when you have free accommodation with a fantastic view of the sea where you can watch dolphins playing in the waves from the balcony. So I briefly mentioned the bike ride I went on, and fell off, in my last post. We went on a bike ride to a Xhosa village where we met Mama Tofu who took us through all the tratitional Xhosa rictuals. Too much to go through now as I don't have much time left, but I will explain in a later post.
So now I am in the Drakensberg mountains after taking a detour off my original route as I heard they were a must see, and they weren't wrong. I'm back off to Durban soon to carrying with my journey up to Mozambique. I thought I'd be there by now, but there is so much to see that I am going to extend my stay in Africa by another month.
Anyway I'm just about to run out of internet time so I'm going to have to leave telling to all the rest of the details of Cinsta and what I got up to in Drakensberg until another post. These things include visiting the highest country in the world and walking at over 3,000 meteres and seeing some truly breathtaking views.
So now I am in the Drakensberg mountains after taking a detour off my original route as I heard they were a must see, and they weren't wrong. I'm back off to Durban soon to carrying with my journey up to Mozambique. I thought I'd be there by now, but there is so much to see that I am going to extend my stay in Africa by another month.
Anyway I'm just about to run out of internet time so I'm going to have to leave telling to all the rest of the details of Cinsta and what I got up to in Drakensberg until another post. These things include visiting the highest country in the world and walking at over 3,000 meteres and seeing some truly breathtaking views.
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