It's about time I told you about life in South Africa and especially in Port Elizabeth! All the volunteers live together in the Khaya Beach House. It is a large house with multiple bedrooms, we have two functional kitchens, four bathrooms and two living rooms. The house can accommodate up to 25 people or more.
As far as food is concerned, we are lucky to have a great cook named Lashie, who prepares meals for us every night of the week. Lashie is like the mother of all the volunteers in this house, a real ray of sunshine! She is accompanied by Janet who is there to help us clean up this big house.
Outside we have a swimming pool and a barbecue to share good times with friends.
The great thing about Khaya is that they organise weekend outings and hikes for us. I had the chance to see a Rugby game the first week I arrived. As a lover of this sport, I will let you imagine my state of excitement. Khaya also plans activities such as a visit to the Addo Elephant Park or the Kragga Kamma Game Park. Beer tasting at bridge street brewery as well as wine tasting at Theescomb wine estate.
What i love the most is the sunsets and sunrises we get to experience especially the ones at Sardinia Bay.
There is so much more to do in Port Elizabeth like skate boarding alongside Kings Beach, Sandboarding in Sardinia Bay and even Ice Skating with the other volunteers at the Bay West Ice Rink.
If we want to go out and party, we take an uber and we go to different places like, Company Social for the sea view and cocktails, Beershack and White Tiger to party, Barney's Tavern for a karaoke party or the Roof Top Garden. The Roof Top Garden is my favourite place, the style of music, the people and the venue is just beautiful.
If you want to shop you have several choices, just to mention a few, the Greenacres shopping centre, the Walmer Park shopping centre or otherwise you can go to the Boardwalk to do your shopping outdoors.
The beach is 800 meters from the Khaya Beach House, so if you want to surf or just swim it's really convenient. You will find a nice little souvenir market that borders the beach, don't forget to negotiate the price before buying anything.
I have to take the liberty and tell you about our awesome weekend outing arranged by Khaya to Jeffreys Bay for 3 days.
We left on a Friday afternoon with 14 volunteers from the house.. It takes 1h30 to get there. After leaving our things in our room we went for a walk on the beach and did some shopping at the billabong factory.
We stayed at Island Vibe Backpackers and the place is absolutely beautiful, we were literally situated on the beach and could even see the dolphins leaping in the ocean.
On Saturday morning we left for the Tsitsikamma game park, for the bungee jumping at the Bloukrans bridge. It is one of the largest bungee jumps in the world, 216m high. For lunch we had a barbecue planned before leaving.
In the afternoon, we went to visit Monkeyland. We had a guide for 1 hour to show us the monkeys and give us some history about the place. We actually had the opportunity to touch them as well which was super cool.
In the evening we celebrated, but I keep this part of the story to myself.
Sunday morning, we went swimming in a place where there are waterfalls, rocks to jump from, small natural pools and even a zip line to get in the water. The place is great!
In the afternoon we had an appointment at 2pm for a horseback ride between the sand dunes and on the beach. Two groups were formed between confirmed and beginners. The walk lasts about two hours. We galloped in the sand, in the water and had loads of fun.
I think it was the best activity of my weekend!
The scenery is breath-taking, and I am a good rider. So, it was just incredible!!!!!
I know that Khaya is planning another Weekend in a few weeks, I look forward to discovering this new place!
Sophie
