Cockroaches, mozies and Home schooling

here it is! We turn off the main road that carries on to Mozambique some 40 km away. I can hardly believe that this sign marks our final destination here in South Africa and our base for the year to come.

Two weeks on and the reality of being here has started sinking in. I have been running on “Super Alkaline” batteries:

• Setting up home again has been a challenge but lucky our new park home is not big and we don’t have a huge amount of stuff. We have collected all the house hold items that Stephen (the doctor who sold us the car and who has gone back to Aussie) left for us. I also managed to blow our SA Visa card in 3 days in Pietermaritzburg, buying all the extra supplies we would need here. Luckily we were left a trailer (by Stephen) as we wouldn’t have fitted all the gear in the car with 4 bikes and all! I was shocked to move into a house where the oven and inside cupboards were left filthy and I’ve started a war on cockroaches! I have employed a Zulu lady Bongi to do some domestic work 2 mornings a week. The rate here is $2.50/h (!!!).
• Setting up home schooling. The NZ correspondence school material is not yet here, so I have had to improvise. Lucky again as I brought some great educational material from France (45kg of it!) and some from NZ with some great DVDs (Computer Classroom at Home). The girls have surprised me with how responsive their attitude has been towards learning. I have been blown away by the amazing writing that both Zara and Margot have produced (see blog: “Extract from Diary Feb 2010 by Margot and Zara”). We usually structure the day so school starts at 8:00am with diary writing. Them we do Maths, English, Spelling, or French. Once a week I do a spelling test based on the words they have misspelt in their diary. We integrate cooking, Science and Art with school. It just becomes part of it. What’s amazing for these girls is that they just have to ask “mum, come and help” and I am there with them the next minute, guiding them through their learning. I’ve never had so many “maman je t’aime” and kisses from them ever! It also makes me realize how best they learn and can tailor the lessons accordingly.
• Re-establishing a “circle of friends”, support system and connections is taking time. We are very fortunate to have another doctor’s family with 4 kids (2 to 7yrs old) living near us where the mum (Gerda) is also home schooling. Margot also enjoys the company of Siphesihle (11yrs) from next door and Zara plays with her little brother Mlando (3yrs). There is a great crowd of young doctors that have pretty much started at the same time as us here. They are from SA, UK and the States. The hospital chief doctor, Victor, has a wonderful library at his home with books for all ages. Rachel, his wife, also home schooled all her children. I have also met 2 Frenchies! Mathieu is a teacher at the Sodwana Christian private primary school and Philippe is a “hermit” living near Mabibi campsite.
• Feeling Safe: This area is fairly safe and I have been running on my own to the main road and back (6km). The main danger is dogs so I run with a pepper spray. At night, the real main danger is black cows across the road. The expats suggested putting some reflector tape on their ears so they can be visible!
• Doing shopping: Shopping requires a bit of planning because the main shopping center and decent supermarkets are 2 ¼ hours away. Mbazwana has an African Superspar: massive 20kg bags of rice and a meat department with chicken legs and offal covered with flies! We can buy basic local fruits and cool drinks outside the hospital. Victor sells some fresh eggs from his hens and ducks (a project he runs with the community) and sometimes has rabbits, chickens or ducks for cooking. I have bought a bread maker and I am making my own yoghurt. We have recently discovered Maas, a type of yoghurt Africans eat. It’s really good.
• The heat: this is summer and it is the “wet” season (although we’ve only had a day of heavy rain since we’ve been here and only a very short thunderstorm). It’s very hot during the day (35+) and the temperature becomes bearable at 8:00pm when it falls below 29^oC! We have a portable air conditioner (thanks to Stephen.... again!), a fan and the house air-con (which is useless).
• The mozzies: yes there are mozzies here and very hungry ones but it’s easy to take precautions. All beds have mozzie nets, we use mozzie spray and/or coils. I have installed mozzie nets on the windows. We cover up in the evenings. We are technically in a Malaria area but the cases are few and far between. The last big outbreak was in the 80’s. We don’t take prophylaxis and focus on prevention. Yes, we have been bitten. Yes, we will get tested if we develop a fever.

Now the rewards: Being here is all about experiencing the “African way” and the “bush”, the Zulu language and customs but also to connect even deeper with each other as a family.

We’ve already discovered some magnificent places nearby:

• Hluhluwe game reserve: 1h away. We spotted white rhinos, buffalos, and giraffes with babies, warthogs, baboons, a martial eagle, dung beetles…
• Sodwana bay: sealed road 35 minutes away. Snorkeled in the bay at low tide with loads of tropical fishes…like real loads!
• Mabibi Campsite : 1h away 4x4 on the beach due east of Mseleni on the other side of lake Sibaya. Great snorkeling long deserted beaches shared with few locals and few high paying tourists from Thonga lodge (we met a guy from London who has flown to the resort for a week’s holiday).
• Lake Sibaya: a 15 min 4x4 sandy drive. We still haven’t spotted hippos or crocs there.
• This coming w/e: Kosi Bay 1 h away. Supposed to be the best beach spot for snorkeling and swimming.

Please keep in touch:

on our email: isinglis@gmail.com

By Mail: Dr Sandy Inglis, PO Box 123, Sibhayi, 3967, KZ-Natal, South Africa

By phone: (+00 27) 355 74 10 04 (ask extention 211)

Voila for now.

Sorry I can only download few pictures as the connection is pretty slow.

These huts are typical of Zulu huts found in the area...I reassure you, this is not where we live!