I remember being prepped by previous Explore Africa members... They tell you about the adventure, strange foods and even the hardship but the one thing they don't tell you is that the biggest challenge of this year is living with 6 other people, 24/7!  Six other people from very different backgrounds, cultures, ages. The really diabolical toilets, sleeping on the floor and mastering the art of bathing your whole body in a liter of cold water seems like child's play compared to getting along with team members. Maybe they tried to tell me but I just was not paying attention.

They don’t tell you about the fights over showers, food, the team computer and the last piece of toilet paper. It is really ridiculous how petty and primitive you can become on a journey like this. The best example of this would be the epic fight my fellow gypsy and I had a few weeks ago over shower time.

Sunsets cannot be described by words or poems. Our english language with all it's rich descriptive words falls short to make the reader understand fully what only the writer can experience. Photo's and video's can only give a two dimentional reproduction of the glorious array of colours. Megapixels cannot fully capture the majesty or do justice to God's original artwork. I can tell you that experienced a few breathtaking sunsets while on this journey. I can tell you about  the magnificent oranges, pinks purples and reds, I can post pictures but you will not get the gooseflesh I got.  And...

I often think of how it would be to explain this year to family and friends when I get back home. I can't wait to show them the pictures and tell tales about the food, people, places and travel. The stories that made us laugh until our bellies ached, like the time the pig on the roof of the taxi peed on me. The times that I almost pulled my hair out with frustration: like bargaining with taxi drivers, and when your host serves supper at 01:00 am (technically, at such a ungodly hour, it is not supper any more,...

  Long, long ago in a land far, far away (ok maybe just in Jan 2011, and maybe just in JBay), destiny made two wandering spirits collide, and so, the Gypsies united union was formed.Princess Kakalethu (also known as Joy) and Togosile(also known as Emme), together with 5 other awesome individuals went on a journey to go where no one has gone before (ok maybe Explore Africa 2009 and 2010 and a few other people)   This has been a journey of great delight and magnificent sights, suffering and learning, laughter and tears. Ever so often Princess Kakalethu has had...

 

It was almost midnight and we were having a prayer meeting on the roof of the youth hostel in Senegal. while in deep worship, lead by the Spirit, Abel started to play a Afrikaans song on his guitar.

Tunisia is very much the opposite of  South Africa. We have the most Southern point of Africa, they the most Northern point. We drive on the left side of the road, they on the right. South Africa's main religion is Christianity and Tunisia's dominant religion is Islam. 

 On this journey we have eaten many weird and wonderful traditional foods, so when Emme and I went on our Ethiopian excursion we always opted for the cheap “familiar sounding food”. That is, if we could decipher the horrible spelling on the menu. We just always had ‘cheeps’ (chips), “cooed vegetable”(cooked vegetables), or “spaget” (spaghetti). Our budget did not allow for “stake” (it could be steak or the thing to kill vampires with), calculator chicken (chicken with a side serving of calculators?) or “meet with rice”(a date with a dude called Rice?) On our way back to Addis Ababa to meet up with our team again, the Japanese girl we shared a taxi with suggested we try the traditional Ethiopian dish called “Bisto”. We ordered it very hesitantly and waited anxiously, expecting something like eyeball soup or cow hooves! Much to our delight it turned out to be a very delicious spicy meat sauce served with two loaves of bread.

Starving African Child I want to give you pap and spinach I want to give you mango’s and apples Bananas, meat and sweet tea.. I want to give you a nutritious meal Maybe a specially formulated porridge With vitamins, iron, zinc, calcium Everything you need to grow a healthy strong body. But I also want to fortify your meal with everything you need to grow a healthy, strong, heart and mind. I wish to add courage, purpose, potential, resilience and hope. And as your body becomes stronger with each meal, I pray your spirit is strengthened. Then the truth about...