Monkeys, Zulu and the Middle of Nowhere.

Hello All!!!!
Sorry it's been so long, but not had chance to update my blog as internet access was very limited. Well I have a lot to fit so so hope I don't babble and forget stuff, anyway, here goes.......
So after a delayed flight and a stay at Tekweni Backpackers (which wasn't so nice) I eventually arrived at Mooi River. I thought Mooi River was in the middle of no-where until we started driving to the farm where I was staying, it was just under a 2 hour drive down some long, bumpy, dusty roads near a town called Muden.

This was the start of my volunteering at A.P.E.S (Animal Protection and Environmental Sanctuary), which is run by Dawn and Rodney, I also met Aly another volunteer working at A.P.E.S. I must say I have never seen such a dirty house!! Every where was covered in animal hair, and look like it hadn't been cleaned in years! Ewwww Gross!! But they were very welcoming and seemed happy I had come to help.
I had a quick look round and was introduced to the many, many Vervet monkeys I would be looking after (both wild and caged), the 6 dogs, the 8 cats, the guinea foul, the 2 geese, the 2 chickens and the sparrows and hornets nests!!
I got stuck in straight away by feeding the monkeys, which was great! The wild ones can be a little aggressive sometimes, but htey are amazing to watch and can be so cheeky!!! I understand where the phrase cheeky monkey comes from now! The caged monkeys are brilliant, they love to sit on your shoulder and use your body as a climbing frame. One tried pinching my nose one day, so I had to tell him (Stylo) that it doesn't come off. My favourite monkey had to be Eyeless, she was a blind monkey that had had a tough life and needed special attention. I enjoyed feeding her every morning and evening, Dawn was very sweet and re-named her Hannah Eyeless (I know it sounds stupid).

Remember Mikaela Strachen? Yep the 'Really, Really Wild Show' woman. Well one day she came to film a tv show at A.P.E.S, it was weird seeing her, she looked exactly the same! It was good watching the filming although they expected the monkeys to perform, which they obviously don't! It's going to be aired sometime this year in the UK, so I hope I don't miss it (hope I'm not in it though)!

There were many local Zulu's that worked around the farm, so I have picked up some Zulu words, but it is a hard language! At least I can do a Zulu handshake now. I got to visit a local school with Rodney one day, which was amazing, it really touched me how glad the children were to see me. They laughed and stared at me because I was white which was weird. When driving away, they ran after the van waving, and I must admit I left with tears rolling down my cheeks. I also got to meet Bryan the Unduna (the Village Cheif), drive a tractor with farm worker Mandala, which was great fun and learn't Dawn and Rodneys Zulu names (Mandloof and Duma), which they had been given for all the work they do for the local community.

Being in the middle of nowhere was hard sometimes, I missed seeing people, shops and the internet! But it also gave me time to think about things (when Dawn wasn't bossing us about!) So the twice a week visit to Greytown (25kms from A.P.E.S) was something I really looked forward to! We got to see people (though we did get stared at for being an unknown white person), go to shops, use the internet and feel a bit more human again! Watching the Zulu people was great, seeing the women carrying huges bags of potatoes on there heads, seeing 15 people pile in to the back of a taxi (pick up), seeing the babies tied on the the back of their mothers back with sheets and being in the minority was strange.

I'm back in Capetown now, staying in AVIVA house. Yep, thats not what I had planned to do but things went a bit wrong with Dawn, the relationship between her and me and Aly got more and more strained so we thought it best to leave. We sorted out our differences before we left, so leaving with good memories. Thank you Dawn and Rodney for showing me things I never thought I would ever see, you have taught me so much and I will never forget my experience at A.P.E.S.

So now have 2/3 weeks to fill before I go to East London for my next project, there is so much to do , it just expensive!! But I do feel human again now, after a nice shower and clean clothes (that will stay clean for longer than 2 minutes).

I'll be updating again soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

Hope you are all well. Thank you for your emails, sorry I don't have chance to reply to each one individually.

Love
H
xxx