Travelog for: Bullet

Fi and her friend Alison set out for a long trip with me on board....



Did I mention it was a long trip? We were headed for the North West Province to a place called Happy Yappers which is an animal sanctuary. There are donkeys, pigs, cats and DOGS, DOGS, DOGS!

Fi and Alison were taking over bags of old cards and scrapbook papers and other crafty bits for the lady that runs the place. She makes cards to raise a bit of extra funding and also as an advertisement for the sanctuary.



It is run by a lady named Gay Freeborough, who rescues animals that have been neglected in terribly inhumane manners, some of the dogs are on deaths door when she gets them. She gives them food, medication, a home and more love than I ever though one person was ever capable of. Even the ugly dogs and my goodness, I have never seen such a sight in my life...Fi is not going to show you those dogs, we are going to keep this a happy update.

The sanctuary is run entirely on donations as Gay and her husband have a full time job looking after the animals. There are over 400 dogs on the property. Amazingly enough, she knows the names and history of EVERY SINGLE ANIMAL on the plot!!!!

All of the dogs are in pens. As finances allow, cement huts are built for the dogs (they tend to chew up the wooden ones!) and new pens are always being built.



The newer dogs are all still thin looking, but the dogs that have been around are a healthy size and their coats gleam.



I caused quite a stir amongst this lot!





Unlike the animal rescue centres like the SPCA, the dogs have a lot of space and they bark happily, instead of that pitiful whining.

Even this lot (the motley crew, who have been treated for mange, but will never look the same again...)



Even the pigs seemed quite content.



These cute little pups are ready to go to their new homes.



Oh, they are so sweet!



Sorry pups, I have to turn my back on you - I just can't take you home as much as I want to...



We had better leave now before we end up with extra passengers in the car!

Todays the day! Time  for Gracy to take the toys and distribute them amongst the children's clinics... she asked if we would go with to help her.

Fi ran up to the Teddy Bear Clinic first to borrow a trolley as we had lots of boxes.



This was the crew: me, Threadbear, Hector, Gracy and NormaNikkers.



Our first stop was Sunshine Centre. We gave them two boxes of soft toys that they will distribute as Christmas presents.



Our second stop was the Thusanani Children's Foundation (they were so excited to hear about us that they have signed up on the ToyVoyager website!)

We gave then two boxes of soft toys too...



We also dropped another box off at the Bigshoes Clinic.

Our last stop for donating soft toys was The Toy Library this was the very first charity Fi ever collected toys for.


There were some children who were quite excited to see us but Fi never took photos of them.






Our last stop was the Teddy Bear Clinic to drop off some curtains, late comer bears and the trolley we borrowed!

That's her job done, she will be going home soon...wonder when I'll be going to Vicki?

Fi and Alison decided to help The Happy Yappers along by making them some Christmas cards to sell - I got stuck in, no not literally!



Whew, we made a lot... we just need some baggies to put them in and to drop them off.

Last night we had friends around for dinner and decided that it was high time we went out into the country for a picnic and some relaxation.

So this morning Fi ran around like mad - shops only open at 9am on a Sunday - buying salad ingredients and cold drinks. At 10 am, we met up with the friends and were on our way. I thought we were in for a long trip but it only took us a bout 20 minutes, maybe half an hour, till we reached our destination.

It was a place called Hennops Pride in the Hennops River Valley. You can camp there or just do a day trip. There are 4 x 4 trails if you are interested and plenty of swimming pools.

We found a nice spot to sit, unloaded the TON of supplies and wandered down to the river to have a look....

This is the Hennops River....and me in the middle of it!



That was fun! I found a really cool tree to climb and called the others to join me...





Then we lay around reading for a bit, swam in the pool, walked about in the veld looking for interesting things with the kids... African land snails, centipedes and eeek! Scorpions!

We came back after the scorpions and saw that lunch was almost ready...



There was also potato salad, regular salad and Portuguese bread with homemade jam...yummy...and to top it all off...ice cream!

Then it was time to lie around doing nothing for a bit....



After all that laziness, one of the dads decided to take a walk up the hills with the children... it was so dry... and the grass had been burned so their feet were pitch black when they got back! We wisely just climbed another tree to watch them.



Then it was time for another swim then we packed up and went home - all vowing that we would do that more often!

Fi's friend Amanda was off to the Pilanesberg National Park and said she was happy to take one ToyVoyager with her. We played heads and tails and I won the toss! Though I think the others were a bit scared when they heard it was located on an extinct volcano....

It wasn't too long a trip before we got there. Here we are!



We stayed in a tent…



…that had wooden floors, real beds and a bathroom! I can camp like this...no problem!



Once we had unpacked all our stuff, we went off on a game drive. Can you spot the zebra? Even with their black and white stripes they are well hidden in the long grass.




Gnu! No, I didn't sneeze! That's the name of the animals behind me...



Here's a busy little dung beetle. The local name for a dung beetle is a tok tokkie (which is the knocking noise they make)



Then we saw some rhino...



We stopped for lunch and a few giraffe wandered over. They are so curious...always need to know what is happening.



When we got back to the tent that evening I was really hot so I asked for the fan to be switched on.



...and I may have had a cold beer...




I had such a good sleep; I thought camping meant you had to rough it, not around here!



We saw some more giraffe in the morning.



It was really, really hot - so we went for a swim in the pool.



These are Impala.



Hippo! We stayed well away from them; they are very dangerous and cranky.



Piggies! Oh okay, warthogs....



The dam looks so inviting on such a hot day, but it is full of things with sharp teeth!



It is so nice and peaceful out here. It could do with a little rain though.



That was another busy day. Here we are back at the tent.



Ooh, that bed is calling my name - the heat makes you so tired.



Time to head back to Jo'burg. We have one last goodbye before we get in the car.

Amanda had planned a pirate party for the children as it was mid-term break. I helped her set up while we waited for Fi to arrive with her children and the other TVs.

In the meantime, back at Fi's house, the others were helping her get food ready. Good hearty pirate grub...

Here is NormaNikkers seeing to the octopus...yummy!



...and a flotilla of pirate ships...




Yo ho ho! A band of scurvy sea dogs!



All aboard and we'll sail the seven seas...



This lot sure know how to have fun... after an afternoon of eating and swimming, and eating some more - we headed back to Fi's place.  It is always good to go home.

...ghoulies and ghosties and long leggety beasties and things that go bump in the night....

Tonight is Halloween, and although it is not traditionally celebrated in South Africa there are a few parties going on...one of them in this very haunted house!

A skeleton hangs from the door, bats hang from the ceilings and cover the walls, cob webs cover every surface. The guests are Jack 'O Lanterns and demons...



....chain rattling ghosts and wicked witches (Wicked! Stop grinning Norma!)



The tables are littered with bones, and rats scurry past...



Ohhhhh.....what a Haunted House this is......



Bubble, bubble toil and trouble...the disgusting smell of entrails and tumours fills the already rancid air (fortunately they taste just like spaghetti and meat balls - I'm starving!)



Help...help....help....cries a ghost trapped in the cobwebs....



Beware the haunted sewing machine...the devil steals your souls and sews them into his cape......mwah ha ha......



What? Of course I'll be able to sleep tonight... maybe you should leave the light on though....

Well, Fi says it is time for me to go and visit Vicki so she'll be dropping me off at Vicki's house tomorrow morning. Hmmm, wonder if I can wear my Halloween costume and give her a fright... ha ha ha...

Well things have been really slow around here. Fi dropped me off and everybody in this house has been studying and writing exams and it has been a little boring but look what I was welcomed with?!!



And this...



Vicki buys these ostrich bones for her dogs and I was treated to one too! Whew! This will take some chewing!!

I am also allowed to share Lulu's bed, lucky for me, the old Fox Terrier cross Jack Russel doesn't mind!

Today we visited a place called Aloe Ridge in an area called The Cradle of Humankind.





It is a Game Lodge with a hotel and conference facilities. We went for breakfast.



Yoghurt and peaches? Not for me thanks!!



We watched the eagles circling above, looking for their breakfast...
I hid, didn't fancy being someone else's breakfast!



It was soooo hot, we didn't get to see any wild game, except for the zebras who were very tame, and thirsty (!) and came right up to the swimming pool to drink.



There were warning signs all over the place...









The valley below the restaurant was beautiful and Chokito was brave enough to lean over and look. I am not crazy about heights.



We weren't lucky enough to see any other animals but Ken said it was due to the heat, they prefer to stay in the cool shade on days like this.

On the way home we drove passed the squatter camp.

Today we started with decorating the Christmas tree. We were all helping and there was a lot of laughter and fun going on.



First the lights and then the baubles went on.



We also helped bake Greek Christmas cookies called 'kourabiedes'.

Here we are sitting at the completed Christmas tree, we are wishing Migui+Gui farewell as they are on their way back home.

Wooohooo! Santa (or Father Christmas, as he is also known in South Africa) had arrived!! Look at all these presents!





We opened presents for some time...



..had yummy coffee and croissants and look at the beautiful painting Nicholas made for Vicki!



Ken made delicious prawns for dinner. It was sooo hot here that we all decided to have supper,when it was cooler, instead of lunch.



We sat on the patio eating dinner by candle light. It was a lovely balmy evening and quite a different Christmas to one with snow!