Walking with Elephants Ft. Herdis Van Der Linden.

January 20, 2016January 20, 2016Leave a comment

Herdis was a volunteer from the wildlife sanctuary for 7 weeks and is from Iceland. We have actually know each other for a while as we also volunteered at the same time last year. If you are wondering what the feature picture is about, for long staying volunteers and close friends i like to draw a sleeve tattoo on their leg of their stay. Herdis is in Green and as usual i am in Black.

I came to Glen Afric, the Wildlife Sanctuary, because i wanted to go to a project that had all sorts of animals and GA sounded really nice with a big variety of animals. I fell in love with the place. The animals are amazing, all the workers are so lovely and fun and you never get bored of the work there, there’s always something new happening. Which was the reason I came back again and for a longer time because 3 weeks was too short. I decided to stay for 6 weeks, but that was still too short – so I extended for one more week to be longer with the amazing friends I met there and all the animals.

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Herdis with the three girls she bonded with.

I met Bex as a volunteer my first time in GA in 2014. I had stayed there for 2 weeks when she arrived. She was a big bundle of joy and a true friend! So when I heard she was going to be a project leader, it was just right to go back to GA at the same time. We were very close at GA and are good friends today. We went through thick and thin together in Africa were a bit more than just a project leader and a volunteer and I miss her deeply. And she does her job brilliantly!

Thank you Herdis, we have been through a lot together, i think the turning point of our friendship was when we were looking after the few day old kitten (Rubber) and hare (Omega), it was one tough job looking 2 precious beings so small, we spent copious amounts of time with feeding and nurture and sadly Omega the hare didn’t make it.

Baby Omega and Rubber

We were both so gutted and so upset and think we both realised that we have found someone who we can be completely open with. There we both sat, crying in my room. From big to small hey, we love them all, lets talk about those precious Elephants!

It is amazing to go on an elephant walk; words can’t explain.

It is absolutely breath taking and at the same time puts you at complete ease.

When you go on an elephant walk at Glen Afric you get to see new side of elephants you didn’t see before.

Glen Afric has three elephants. They are, Three; the big gentle ellie mum, Hannah; the silly goes-her-own-way daughter, and Marty; the cheeky adopted daughter who fits in the family perfectly.

Three came to us as a rescue and has grown up on the farm, we use to have a bull elephants named Bully the farm was too small for a bull, which tend to leave the home and live in solitary and can roam for miles and miles, he is the father of Hannah and holds a very special relationship with the owners son Jono. Marty has a bit more of a blessed story. Marty came to the farm days old from Kruger National Park, her mother was a new adolescent mother and poor little Marty got left behind when crossing the river. There was many attempts from the rangers at Kruger to enter her back into the heard but with Marty now growing weak the herd were to fast so they looked for alternative options. As Three still had milk for Hannah, Marty became a second feeder. Three the gentle elephants that she is, raised Marty like she was her own and they have been a trio ever since.

Three getting cheeky with Herdis

Elephants are very smart and I admire how smart and loyal they are. After the handlers open the locks on their enclosures, the three ellies open the gate themselves and when they walk out, they always say hello to their handlers.

One elephant handler has worked with Three for 23 years, when he has a day off it is said that three grumbles and notices his absence. He knows Three better than she knows herself.

An elephants love is also so strong. The love these elephant have for each other and their handlers is truly remarkable to see, and I am lucky to have experienced it! The handler who has worked with them for the longest told me that if anyone would try to harm him or look like they’re harming him, Three would attack that person to protect him.

The Trust between the handlers and the elephants

It is so amazing to see how happy they are when they go on walks and eat fresh leaves and barks. You have to be careful around Marty, however, because if you go too close to her when she is in the enclosure, she will be cheeky and hit you and steal your bag (which is very funny to see!)

She has wacked me around the head so many times to count! She is so boisterous!!

One time, we were a few girls on an elephant walk. We were walking over a bridge and Three and Marty were walking ahead, but Hannah likes do go her own way and do her own thing, and is walking behind everyone. Soon I see her charging at us and trying to run us down. I shouted: “Watch your backs!” and everyone was running away from that charging elephant. At that moment we got very frightened. But still love them all and were not scared long after.

The elephant handlers are extremely experienced and know how to deal with those elephants as if it was their own children.

That just shows how dangerous it is always to be with animals. But it also showed how much feelings animals have. We think Hannah got mad because we were in front of her and in between her and Three, her mum, so she got mad and frustrated.

It amazes me how precise and powerful the elephants trunk is. They can get the smallest leaves, break the biggest branches, and just does almost anything our hands can do. They also keep some branches between their trunk and their tusks, which is super clever and cute. The moment they see or can smell mint, they go for it! That is their favourite!

Mint and the onion roots! It amazing to see such a big animal dig such a small bulb from the ground! So technical! My favourite actually is when they eat cabbage – Three stabs the cabbage onto her tusk and peels of the leaves with her trunk and eats it!

Elephants have great memory and know where to go for the best water. Elephants try to go for the freshest water and it is so funny to see these three big animals squeezing into a small space to get to the water closest to the source.

The sweetest thing to see is the elephants swimming in the dam. They dive all the way under water and just lie there, putting the trunks up to breathe. They’re splashing, laying on top of each other and spraying water on the people around.

Here is really is amazing to see the biological differences between the two children Hannah and Marty. Marty runs straight in and is splashing like crazy, whilst Hannah calmly waits standing in the water with Three. One ranger says this is because Hannah is much more mature than Marty as she had to grow up faster because along came orphaned Marty and the handers say that the characteristics can go down to what cannot be changed with the birth mother and child bond. But when all three of them swim, the first time I saw it – I almost cried, sometimes in life you sit back and watch at how blissful and gentle the world actually is.

Its not just elephants you will see on the walk, but a lot of free roaming antelope including giraffe

Even though elephants have the roughest skin, are the biggest and strongest land animals and ruin most trees they eat, they are so humble, caring, loving and trustful. Therefore, it is a privilege to get to see them up close and watch them in their natural environment.

Elephant walks are one of the best things to do on the program, elephants are my favourite animal and I will love these three girls forever. They were the reason I wanted to come to Africa and they are so special.

Herdis. x

Much Love,

B xo

A Sh*t Monday Ft. Nicolas Rio.

January 1, 20162 Comments

6:15am, alarm clock is ringing. Opening my eyes, ‘’where am I?’’ Oh, right, I’m a volunteer in South Africa. ‘’What is this sounds?’’ Oh, right, that’s probably Boris and Monty, the two lions, talking.

Hearing the animals talk at night as I drift of to sleep, whether it be the cows (and my room is right next to them) the elephants rumbling or Roxy the hyena calling, it will always make my heart melt.

A shower and a clean mouth later, it’s time for a quick walk around the quarantine before the 7:30am meeting. As a French gentleman,

A French gentleman? Giving yourself compliments hey? :p

Well as a French man then, I always start by the ladies: Sahara, Savuti and Serabi, the 3 lions.

It has been beautiful to see them grow, when I was a volunteer last year they were very young and needed a lot of attention due to some heath problems. It has been beautiful to come back as a project leader and be able to see them grown into absolutely beautiful Lionesses.

They are chilling on the grass, 2 metres away from me. Quick greetings to the rabbit and the gunieapig, pet the horses, then direction the servals, good substitute to my cat…well, may be not that house cats like…

These beautiful wild cats have stolen my heart forever and always.

The mongooses are sleeping, brief look to the ostriches and their ‘’puppies’’, cute.

It is unbelievable to see how much they have grown in the time you have been here Nick, let alone the past 3 months.

Granny, the old pony is browsing the grass, with Jack, the peaceful zebra.

I truly believe that Granny and Jack are the underdogs of volunteers favourite animals on the farm, a lot of volleys (volunteers) debate over which lion is there favourite, which elephant etc but Granny and Jack the love is universal.

From there I would go to say hi to the elephants before they go on a walk. Through the door, Marty is sniffing me, so I blow his trunk that he knows it’s me.

Cheeky Cheeky Marty, she is incredibly playful and incredibly boisterous. Its always an incredibly special moment when you have that intimacy with the elephants. They have such a special heart. It is a magical moment to watch them swim.

7am hits, coffee at the couches, some volunteers are here, with sleepy smiles. Everyone is chatting quietly about what has been done the day before, previous travels, life in their countries. 7.30am, the 3 project leaders arrive, split the team between the Elephants house and the cows pen. So Elephants house it is. Grab my gummy shoes, gloves, my best 7:30 am smile, a shovel and pile on Marty, Three and Hannah poo in a wheelbarrow.

Every morning for the volunteers before breakfast the routine is the same, once the elephants, the cows and the horses leave all the enclosures need to be cleaned and ready for a new day. Although I don’t think I can look again at anymore elephant poop after a full feed of beetroot.

Everyone is teaming up, some brushes, other shovels the rest come and go to the shit trailer. I sometimes complained about my job back in real life, saying that I have crappy days. Well, now i can literally say that i’m dealing with shit everyday, and you know what, i’m loving it.

It makes me so happy to hear this. It surprises a lot of volunteers with how much cleaning enclosures and dealing with poo on a daily basis could make people feel content and happy within themselves and the world.

Volunteers are laughing, we are in Africa, everything is good. Hoses are on, brushing the last pieces of hay, we are done. As it’s ‘’one team one dream’’, we all go to the cows pen, helping the others, few shovels later, all good.

You guys amaze us, you smash it out before you have even sat down to have your cereal… Happy horses. Happy Elephants. Happy Cows. Happy Volunteers makes me very happy.

9am,breakfast time. phone in the pocket to check the emails, flip flop and glasses on, let’s climb the ‘’hill’’ for some flakes, bread, banana.

THE HILL TO THE FOOD QUARTERS IS A KILLER. I HATE HIKING SO SO SO MUCH.

Sitting at the table, we chat, we laugh, the ‘’veterans’’ brief the nubies on the life here, give some tips.

This is such a beautiful thing to see, volunteers helping each other, forming bonds, giving each other the lingo. What a beautiful site to see people from all over the world supporting each other and making friends. Sod everything that is going on in the world, volunteers here show that there is peace, love and camaraderie.

10am, it’s with a full stomach that we all go down to the quarantine for the new assignment: The creek needs to be widen a bit: shovels, pic axes, sun screen, we are ready.

Don’t forget your smiles 🙂

We cut the branches, remove the bad weeds, the rock and the mud…

All for the sake of the animals being able to have a natural water flow around the farm with easy access.

When all the sudden, someone yell ‘’mud fight’’. and here’s dozen of grown ass men and women throwing mud like it’s a christmas snow war.

I definitely wasn’t involved… I stood there all innocent and the thought never even crossed my mind.

Everyone is properly dirty, the job is done, we take a picture for the posterity.

Work Hard. Play Hard. Perfection.

Almost lunch time, we take back all the tools, clean up, and go grab some lunch. 1pm, we chill at the quarantine. A pool tournament is on his way, we can here some ‘’damn it so close’’ with volunteers cheering. Around the couches, the others are showing pictures, reading a book, listening to music or simply chatting about anything.

Perfect time to get to know each other more and learn so many new things about different cultures and beliefs. I believe travelling broadens the mind and this is definitely a reason why.

At the pool table the competition is fierce, almost time to go back to work, the 8 is finally in the hole and few high fives later, 2pm, we are all ready back to work.

Teams are made, i’m on tigers and big lions enclosure duty, the goal: cleaning poo, carcaces and cut the branches which reach out. The lions are nearby, in their shade safe enclosure. I still can’t believe that few meters away, I have the king of the savannah, chilling while i’m making his life easier, safer. Within the team, tasks are split, everyone is helping each other out, poop is gathered, branches are cut, bones are taken out, we are good to go.

Every Monday, the routine is always the same, unless there is something that urgently needs attention or fixing. Its know as ‘Shit Mondays’ and its universal among previous and present volunteers, surprisingly it turns out to be many volunteers favourite day.

4pm hits, it’s feeding and chop chop – time to cut some meat and prepare the meals for those beautiful beasts. We start by the Leopard and the cheetahs, who are a 3 legged toothless rescue called Bailey and his mate Oliver, then the lionesses…and then here comes the moment for the lions…i cannot describe the sounds when the food approaches…you can feel the authority, the mightiness.

There is absolutely no way to explain with words through a computer screen the noises that you hear. You close your eyes for a split second and feel the noises of wild animals and nature overtake you. Its stunning. I will not upload a video of this, you just have to come here yourself to see it and hear it with your own eyes.

Roxy, the hyena, smells dinner and starts her dancing and singing and then it is Tiger time, it’s amazing how graceful they are when they jump to catch their meals.

It is incredible to see how high they can jump. Can really see why they are called the ‘SuperCat.’

All are satisfied and now it’s shower time and a well deserved dinner. Food in our stomachs, we hit the bar for some beers/cocktails, we chat about the day, how the mud makes us having a glowing skin while other trying to mimic Roxy’ dance. I sit at the deck, watching the sunset, I can see a giraffe waking by the hill, i feel blessed.

Sitting at the deck I could do for a life time, you can just watch for hours and see so many walks of life, from giraffe – zebra – wildebeest the list goes on…

Time to go back to the quarantine for an inflaming card game, in the meantime, revenge is taking place at the pool table…

10pm, we’re all weary after a fulfil day, everyone reaches their bed. I put my head full of amazing images and sounds, on my pillow, sleep time….

There is nothing better than an African lullaby.

Nick.

Volunteer from Paris, France, volunteering at the wildlife sanctuary for 6 weeks.

Much Love, B xo

Serval Love Ft. Jayanth Sridhar

December 26, 2015December 26, 2015Leave a comment

On the farm we have three beautiful and precious servals. Their enclosure is where myself and the volunteers live and volunteers are free to go in there with no project leaders to just chill and hang out with. They are incredibly friendly but if they are in a bad mood you’re definitely going to know about it. I have fallen in love with these cats and out of the twenty four cats (big or small) that we have living on the farm. I love them all, but there is something special about these beautiful creatures. I think it’s the ears, I love ears on animals, its my favourite feature.

Krugar’s beautiful ears.

A couple of facts about these Servals, they meow

I love having conversations with them, we have a good ol’ gossip.

They also jump really high. They are known to hunt little birds and rodents in the wild.

This is one of the reason why we feed them chicken necks, to keep as close to their natural feeding as possible

Tarzan during feeding.

They have sharp teeth and claws but are generally gentle.

Generally yes.. however I have had a few pretty decent scratches from when they think you have food.. nothing to cry over though.

The three at the farm love interacting with volunteers and I spent a lot of time in their enclosures. They have an interesting, choreographed dance ritual during feeding and anyone lucky enough to watch it will be left laughing.

Michael Jackson Thiller is the one! They really do the dance!

The phrase “cool cats” is the best way to describe their day. They roam about, jump up onto props in the enclosure, laze around and are the stars in every volunteer’s photo set.

Mulan, Tarzan and Krugar came to the farm over a year ago and have a little different rescue story from other animals on the farm. They were born and on a reserve down the road from the farm, as volunteers get to go on excursions they saw them on one of their trips and were incredibly disappointed by the size of their enclosure, it was equivalent to a human living in a prison cell for life having done nothing wrong. The volunteers at the time raised enough money to buy them from the reserve and also built them a fantastic spacious enclosure over here at the Wildlife Reserve.

Personally, I love the welcomes I get when I’ve entered their enclosure. Tarzan’s hisses, Mulan and Krugar coming up to me and rubbing against my legs as I try to shut the gates are things I wont be able to forget. Their enclosure is known to be a peaceful spot, I’ve seen a lot of volunteers just sitting around and admiring these babies.

Tarzan is like the Grumpy Grandad who will go off mumbling (hissing) over some politics, Mulan is like that a model, loves to do as she pleases and loves you to watch her walk. Krugar, he has a special place in my heart, and has his own gentle character, but that characters of his brother and sister do rub off on him occasionally.

Tarzan discussing politics with me.

One of my favourite things to do is to take these beautiful little critters on walks, as they only know the confines of their enclosure they are a little apprehensive, sometimes it can take a very long time to get them out, but this early on its about patience and perseverance, it took an hour and ten minutes on Christmas Day. When we do get them out they really get into the swing of things, they are crazy – dashing everywhere and jumping. For the time being they are on leads so you are running round the place with them (which is a great work out) or standing in the beautiful sun whilst they suss the place out.

I was lucky enough to have been adopted by Mulan as her walker. She started out a bit shy and then warmed up to the walk routine. She was patient and did a few laps around the enclosure. Apart from running away from her arch nemesis, a giant tennis ball, she interacted with our group of volunteers. Krugar on the other hand, was fascinated by the tennis ball and wanted to play. We tried to lure him out of his little den, but he got hold of the ball. The ball and the play lasted all about 10 seconds before getting punctured by his sharp teeth. We’d worked hard to capture this entire episode on a bunch of cameras and make a video, the servals had another plan altogether, but this was a huge step in getting them used to this and getting them to work out.

Kruger having a walk

Today, we took them to the training camp for them to have some exercise and for them to be able to venture somewhere new. The training camp is a large volunteer built space in which there is jumping blocks, tubes and other exciting contraptions for all the cats to be able to exercise within. All the wranglers and project leaders use meat on the end of the stick in order to encourage the animals to walk and jump. The servals went there only for the second time and were sensing all the new smells from the environment. Still a little apprehensive however they seemed to be very interested in what was around. We will continue to do this so they can have exercise and fun on the farm away from their enclosure.

Mulan having a good slurp.

For a second time, I was lucky to be Mulan’s walker at the training camp. She needed little or no encouragement to get started and started roaming about. She inspected the place thoroughly before settling down for walks against one side of the training camp. She was calm and took to the walks quickly. Krugar, on the other hand, was a little apprehensive and needed a little more encouragement. Once he got out, he ran to a comfortable corner spot and hung out there. He was up for his meat treats from time to time and trained well.

After the servals had enough, Vicky the head wrangler on the farm suggested to build within one of the empty enclosures near the training camp as a private training camp for the servals as well as somewhere different for the servals to have fun away from their enclosure. Therefore in the afternoon the volunteers and project leaders cleaned out the enclosure, sprayed it with anti-tic and flea prevention and will begin to build climbing frames and interesting things for them to keep active. Building will begin next week.

Hopefully the more confident these beautiful creatures get from being out of their enclosure and the more trust and a relationship we build with these little critters, the less need for the lead.

As of lunch time, they are quietly holed up in their respective spots relaxing and stealing the hearts of volunteers who walk by.

They had me at meow.

Jay and the Servals.

A Volunteer at the Wildlife Sanctuary for 2 Weeks from Bangalore, India.

Much Love Bex and the Servals.

Hola Madrid Ft. Conan Breslin

December 23, 2015December 23, 20151 Comment

If there is one city in the world where you wake up a little worse for wear after having a great night out, Madrid is that city. Vibrant, full of squares and surprises that keep you from calling it a night but nothing is too far away from where you lay your head. Madrid has a magical ability of a calming days and exciting nights.

The short Madrid pitstop came about when myself and my boyfriend Conan wanted a break away together before I ventured off to the bush in South Africa. A little get away together.

As I booked later I arrived 4 hours before Bex due to the fact that I booked my flight late. I had a little recky of the city and bizarrely saw the Spanish basketball team having a massive celebration in one of the main squares having just won the European championships complete with Spanish rappers. Hilarious.

Madrid is filled with hostels on every square we looked at most of them when we were booking but to us most of them resembled prisons, bars on the windows and tiny boxes.. all well and good if you’re looking for the travelling spirit and not to bothered about where to lay your head at what cost – but for this little trip we were looking for something a little more. Lastminute.com like for many people cam in a little saviour, we found one hotel Principe Pio, for the same price as the hostels a 3* hotel that over looked the Presidential Palace. Thought it was too good to be true to be honest, but when we got there we were more than surprised. We were given the top floor and our window over looked the palace. It was bliss.

Bex twittered the hotel (or whatever you call it) and we were sent an email telling us we’d get a free fruit plate… not bad. Imagine our surprise when they put a bottle of cava and some home made chocolates instead… Result.

Waking up in this fancy room, the sort of thing that I usually find too poncy, i realised it was worth it for how we were feeling after all those bottles of wine… as we awoke we ventured for breakfast in the city. Madrid is like a maze lots of back streets that stem onto squares. Each of which has something different to offer, from Opera houses to Churches, Shopping Malls and markets – if you like shopping you’ll find something here.

I know what you’re thinking SHOPPING arrrgggggghhhh! Worry not this is much more civilised than oxford street were the pavements are tiny and so rammed you feel like you could be shoved into traffic at any minute. Think more new bond street if it was pedestrianised with curiosity shops, tapas bars and spectacular delis.

Ooof, Madrid is hot, we felt that as soon as we left the hotel early morning, still a little worse for wear we staggered up a hill to have a look at the Palace. It felt like we were climbing for hours, but when we turned around it was only about 10 meters… give us our due it was incredibly steep. The Kings palace was incredible. The best however are the gardens you can have fun running around playing hide and seek… trust the British.

Hahaha, watching Bex go up those steps with a hangover reminded me of climbing Kilimanjaro, epic. Peekaboo…

As we walked around the back we were lucky enough to see the changing of the guard – always a great tourist attraction, this one more for its comical factor. Along came all the stern looking army guards, with there marching and their horses. What is supposed to be a very rigid routine turned into more of a dance with horses. They were not having any of it. The horses were wandering everywhere and the poor guards where trying to keep everything official but the horses just wanted to dance. It felt more like I was watching a comedy sketch of how a changing of the guard would go if the classic comedy shows. I’m sure it is great to watch any day, but it was pretty spectacular to watch it unfold.

Amazing, put a rookie on a horse which is seriously pissed off and this is what you get…

Our first venture for food came from a recommendation from Conans best friend who is from Madrid, Mercado de San Miguel. This is a small food market that with awaken your taste buds in everyway. Being a big fan of seafood I stumbled across a small stand selling shredded Pollock on smoked salmon layered on tasty warm toasted Focaccia. I went back to that stall 3 times. If you are looking for a 3 course meal, this isn’t the place. But if you go with an open mind and willing to try lots of small dishes, this is the place. Treat it as find your own tapas and your stomach will leave incredibly happy.

Croquettes, hams, olives, squid, oysters, patatas bravas and a bloke wandering around selling super tasty Spanish wines for a few euros a pop. Albarino… hmmmmmmmmmmm…

Hang over banished we ventured out on Segway’s.. putting me on one of these is dangerous, but my gosh they are so much fun. If you are only in the city for a short time it’s a great way to see most things in a few hours. We were zapping all over the city, once you get the hang of it you’ll have the best fun. They are much faster than you would expect, trust me a learnt that the hard way. In a few hours we saw… hold on I need to get all the names right…

Sweeping pathways and nicely planned parkland and gardens lead out past the Atheletico Madrids stadium along the river. The best thing by far on these paths, some of which look like a mini F1 tracks, is racing all of your fellow segwayers and they are pretty nippy getting up to 20 odd miles an hour. Even Usain Bolt couldn’t outrun one!

Feeling an adrenaline rush we recuperated with a beer and some light tapas snacks. Of course we ended up chatting with an Irish couple and one beer led to another, in a normal situation one beer would have led to many yet the service was one to feel frustrated by. One thing to note about Madrid, there are hundreds of out door terraces, with the summer sun these are packed and the staff are very few and under incredible amounts of pressure. Imagine Manuel from Fawlty Towers give him 250 people to look after and its about half the situation we encountered. You ask for a beer you get a cappuccino. Thankfully all this commotion allowed us to bond with this Irish couple and we ended up meeting them a few times throughout the trip, some planned some unplanned. The squares of Madrid allow you to bump into people many times. In talking to them we heard of a Cable Car and off we went. The sun was just about to set and it was magical, beautiful skies and the view of the whole of Madrid.

On the way to the cable car there is a large park area with a monument. We saw some busking and people taking some very suggestive modelling shots. Walked through the park and got to the cable car. We took great delight in watching the world go by high in the sky and waving at all the cable cars passing in the opposite direction and watched the sun go down… mint.

Madrid is a city where you get a little bit of everything, sun, food, shopping, segways, culture, sites, architecture and a general buzz. Couldn’t recommend a stay there more.

Much Love,

B xo

Conan

Farewell to you kind London. See ya Later Straya

September 20, 2015September 21, 2015Leave a comment

I like to think that I am one of the loudest characters that you will ever meet, all my clothes are quite bright and I laugh quite loud and I laugh quite a lot…I guess a lot of people would tick me off as nuts…

Hmm.. not sure about nuts but definitely out there. I’m totally challenging you to a ‘who laughs the loudest’ contest sometime over the next couple of months though!

Bring it on girl… it will just end up in us laughing so hard we forgot why we were laughing! Anyway back to the point, I also like to think that I am one of the most private people you would ever meet… there are levels. Like Shrek says, I’m an Onion. We are all onions and it’s what makes us all fantastic. I quite like onions. I mean when you start to get to know Bec a little more you find out all kinds of crazy things 😉

Metaphorically speaking only.. the vegetable is gross!

I’m sitting here in my flat looking at my packed bags and just can’t quite seem to put into words the past year… It’s hard to believe this time last year I was among a group of wonderful volunteers as well as the fantastic Bec and were meeting beautiful animals and this time around, Bec and myself are going back to work. The goodbyes before travelling last year just seemed to be very different, this year it is difficult to place my finger as to why.

I think it feels different only for us.. Last year opened our eyes and gave us direction, I can’t help but feel this year it’s a massive turning point and we are going to change and develop so much from it all. It’s going to be the pinnacle for the rest of our lives. When I think of it as a whole, I feel the word ‘change’ screaming and strumming through me.

2015 flashed by! Where did it go?! Most of the year was preparing and planning this trip… I mean how much planning have we done Bec?! Seriously! Hostels were booked months ago, books were read and websites were clicked on over and over again, maybe this was partly to do with it all.

We literally spent the WHOLE year planning this and just adapted our plans as the year went on with what was coming at us. From getting the job, to planning our trips to other countries and then the blog. It started as just one little seed that turned into a massive Acacia tree branching off everywhere.

This is true, I don’t think I ever really stopped and breathed London… not that I would, I mean the air is grim, I speak metaphorically of course.. Now I sit back and it washes over my face like a splash of cold water after a hangover.

What a year it has been, working with the homeless I returned to a few shelters with my very good friend Rupna and saw fantastic changes, saw some of the boys that I ran drama workshops with and saw them breathe a new life, an emotion that my little ticker just explodes over. I began to work in a new area and met people that I will hold close to my heart for the rest of my travels, Molly, Daniella, Inma, words cannot express my love and admiration for you.

Hi Bex’s friends 🙂

I moved in with my wonderful boyfriend, fell more and more in love, experienced a relationship grow for its pureness. Nothing has been an easy ride, but boy has it been a fantastic year.

The best things are the ones that have made us grow.

I then question the need to travel, and all my emotions combine into a jar that feels like it has been shaken a thousand times, the outcome is that my urge to breathe life and have my feet moving is a stronger need than anything I have known. Its taken me a while to process leaving again, but my golly gosh am I ready?! I think its time again…

It’s always the right time to travel again.. My feet are itching like crazy to get going again!

Goodbye London. Hello Madrid. Hello again South Africa.

Yeah bye Sydney LOL

OMG I’M GETTING ON A PLANE IN 10 HOURS. ARE WE THERE YET???

Bec & Bex

The Wildlife Sanctuary. The Friendship. The Job.

May 19, 2015May 20, 20152 Comments

I’m a 23 year old London girl, who lives and breathes life in people I meet. I love meeting new people and with the 20’s something life I’m okay saying that sometimes friendships come to an end. I’ve learnt that the hard way. Yet sometimes you just meet the best people in the middle of nowhere from the other side of the world and life is life, you are you and they are them and everything just makes sense. When you travel it’s like you breathe a whole new persona and your mind changes every two minutes and you start to think and feel differently. Its fantastic but its also a mind fuck. But hey.. that’s what your 20’s are for right?!

Totally what your 20’s are all about! It’s how you start finding yourself and what means the most to you along with those that mean the most.

Bex and Elijah and Three

The Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa has this unbelievable ability to make anyone who walks through its doors feel welcome and anyone who enters through those doors always plans to come back or never wants to leave. Elijah, one of the handlers of the beautiful elephants Three, Marty and Hannah said to me, ‘Once you have placed your feet in African soil, you will keep coming back.’ Damn right he was!

Oh wow I love that! Africa has a way of showing you that no matter what happens it still has so much strength and heart. A rawness…

The people that work there are so warm, gentle and happy that any problem in the world can be resolved by singing along with the project leaders or dancing round a fire with a load of people you just met but who feel like a family you have known your whole life. Each week you also visit a children’s home and you fall in love with every single child.

They are some of the most beautiful souls you could ever wish to meet!

Preparing Ice Blocks for the Elephants

When you come to the sanctuary you work. You look after every single animal that roams the sanctuary. Whether it be the Elephants, the Lions, the Cheetahs, the Hyena or the free roaming antelope and giraffes! Everything is looked after.. you spend time cleaning up after them (which yes means you deal with a lot of poop), building new enclosures anything from huts to pools for the animals and preparing their food! Everyone is on board and everyone wants to help, everyone is happy and everyone is free. Its fantastic. The staff are what made it and for me and I never wanted to leave.. I ended up extending for another 6 weeks and it was then that I realised that I wanted to work there.

Shit day ends up being most people’s favourite day – ironic really!! Hahaha. I so badly wanted to extend my stay for longer but in the 2 weeks I was there I knew I was going back wether as a volly again or as a project leader.

Feeding Roxy the Hyena

The most difficult thing that people don’t tell you when you travel is that you meet the most amazing people in the world but you also have to say good bye! It cuts deep, but the quote you grow to live by is ‘It’s not good bye it’s see-ya later!’ and thats exactly what happens, you end up meeting these amazing people and you plan the next crazy place you will meet them in and 9/10 times it’s back at the sanctuary.

This is me and Bec and how we fell so much in love with the sanctuary that we applied to be project leaders, which is where we look after all the volunteers that come to take part working in the sanctuary. We are so blessed to have this opportunity and we are both counting down the days to where we see each other again. We will be doing this for 3 months and then we shall head out and travel around South Africa with even more plans of other countries with other friends. We hope to see you there.

If not in South Africa then somewhere else in the world because we won’t just be stopping the adventure there!

Friendship is a funny thing, people change people move on, you change you move on and its beautiful how you do that with people you have just met and people you have known for years.

I love how the universe brings people into your life and they end up becoming such a big and special part of you.

Much Love.

Bex.

Bec x

Lets live some adventure.