Sunday

           Before I dive into my safari experience let me talk a little about what happened on Sunday. In the morning we all decided to go to the Naval Carnival in Simon’s Town. It wasn’t all that special but for a spur of the moment type thing it was pretty cool. We got to board one of the South African Navy vesicles and there were dozens of food and clothing vendors that were fun to explore.

All in all it was a good send off day for Cat and Abi, two volunteers from the UK, who were scheduled to be picked up by Will at 2:30 for their flights. We were suppose to leave Fish Hoek by about 10 o’clock but instead got to the train station closer to 11. We were only able to stay at the carnival for less than two hours and, in fact, we had to sprint to the train station to make sure that we caught the 1:41 train back to Fish Hoek instead of the 2:54 train which could have been disastrous.

After they finished packing, we said our goodbyes and for some of the volunteers who have been together for three months it was emotional. Just before they left, we gave Will our group gift- an apron that read “Sweet Eh?” and beneath it read “GYSA Braai Master.” He says the words (or word and a half) “sweet eh” about several hundred times a day and one of his favorite things to do is grill on the braai. He loved it.

After the girls departed, there were only five volunteers remaining: Jack, who was leaving on Monday, Pablo, who is leaving on Wednesday, Sammy and Caine, who are actually staying in Simon’s Town for a week or so before they take a road trip across the cape and up to Swaziland and Mozambique (I might see them again), and myself. After I finished packing, got the taxis in order, and did some other menial tasks, it was my turn to say goodbye. I did and went to bed eager to great the next morning of my first day on safari.