The first time I was bitten ….

Bitten by the travel bug …. I was sitting at the edge of the Blyde River Canyon taking in the great scenery and realizing how lucky I am to be alive right now … being able to see different countries, cultures and religions…..

I was very fortunate to go to a school that had a program that offered 8-10 students to go to South Africa ,not for exchange, but as a school trip thing…. 

Now you guys reading this, might think wow awesome, but probably not easy to get in ? 

Actually no, well it was not for me and my 4 other classmates, because we were the only 5 students from our class ( over 90 students ) interested to go …. I know from other students that went a couple of years earlier  and later that it was definitely hard to get in… 

So this experience was so special in so many ways it's quite dear to my heart and as I now go through those photo albums I can still smell the dry air with that very significant scent of open fire cooking …..

We stayed on a small mission named London , in the north eastern part of the Limpopo province the Kruger National park is not very far … about a tow hour drive 

It was not a trip where we would travel the country … it was about getting to see and experience different mentalities and cultures 

We lived in huts without electricity and the bathroom fasciitis were under the endless blue African sky ….visiting the outhouse was something we had to cope with but we managed and with 18 everything is an adventure and we made loads of fun out of it… So travelling with your dear friends from school is awesome you can share all the inside jokes and all

I guess it was the simplicity of things that felt so good…. of course in 2003 cell phones were already very popular but not like today and I didn't bring it with me at the time …. Can you imagine ? 

We spent 3 weeks in South Africa one week we visited the local high school and made some friends, I still am in contact with some of them ….

We went to the Kruger National Park and the Blyde River Canyon….

I fell in love with the country and I wanted to see more….