May 16th

May 16th

No Kruger For Me

I think one of the difficult things about this trip (well at this moment) is that we have a schedule but don’t really have a schedule. We were given one on paper with a rough outline of what we were doing and when - but everything has proves to be a bit different. We left Barberton this morning after a lovely breakfast and a visit to St. Johns Orphanage – which is run by Catholic Nuns. All the children there are HIV positive and or are dying from AIDS. They were all is various state of health and all very sweet. I picked up one of the babies for a photo and then we just hung out for a while walking around. They opened the place for children but then realized that most often their parents were dying of AIDS so it became a catch all Hospice for end of life adults, children and then an orphanage for the children that are left behind. Sister Denise pointed out a new child that just arrived a few days ago – and said that he doesn’t have much longer to live. So sad….

After the visit we went over the mountain for a pass off in Nelspruit. I was supposed to be n Kruger Park today, hanging with the animals – with I was really excited about – but it turns out that it wasn’t to be. Big bummer. But being the flexible gal I am I’m trying to suck it up and moved on ;) Hoping for animals this weekend. Still waiting for my giraffe…

Peter is my host tonight and he took me and Jessica to see two Rotary projects, a College Fair at a local school and an orphanage. Apparently there were a bunch of kids living in a tent in a roadway on a back road and a local woman opened an orphanage. The children have a range of abilities and disabilities and are a mix of HIV and AIDS status.

We then went for a ride to White River to go to the “Shops” – their version of a high end shopping outlet. The prices were reasonable for us but there was no way anything there (furniture and glass art) was going to fit in my suitcase. After a nice Italian meal (I was dying for pizza) we went to the Nelspruit Botanical Gardens for a walk. Quite a pretty trek through the Rain Forrest.

Our evening Rotary Meeting was at a gigantic house in Nelspruit. The pool in the backyard was build to almost run off the cliff overlooking the mountains. It’s such a shame we couldn’t be there during the day – I’m sure the view is amazing….