7 days of my Plettonian life : (2) Saturday 8th

Late morning rising, and then we went to get a breath of fresh air in Nature's Valley, for a walk on the beach.
And, grande premiere, we saw a whale for the very first time in two and a half months time we've been here. Maybe I should need to elaborate a little bit on this, try Googling Plettenberg Bay, and you'll notice that the prime tourist attraction are the whales, here in abundance during the winter. So, from far and near, people come to go whale watching, see them jump, mate and deliver baby whales. We've been on whale alert since day one, walking on the beach, staring at the sea, staring at the sand, staring at the whale, and never spotting any! You wouldn't say that it is a needle in a haystack, would you?! Though to find any other animal that should be easier to spot, I would have thought! And everyone seems to have seen one just last week, yesterday, or "just five minutes ago, shame, you just missed'em!" We have come to believe this whole whaling is just a myth, created to keep Belgian volunteers waiting and hoping, a devious way to ensure that we stay longer, and longer, and longer... Some even never leave... So, last Saturday, we finally Saw One! Though I must admit, I'd rather state that we caught glimpse of something black that was blowing water in the air... But, as long as there is hope, there is life here in Plett...

Saturday night, big night for us!
Milady, a Xhosa friend of ours, just turned 21, big thing here in SA, and we graciously let our apartment serve as a venue for her birthday party. Hard to sum it up in a couple of words. Speeches (she nominated me MC for the evening), gifts, lots of booze, lots of Xhosa music, talks about politics, random people, and lots of ass shaking in either stylish free dancing or elaborately orchestrated group dances.
Most of the guests were more your up-town kind of people, with a distinct family feeling to some ;-), till a bunch of Kwano's residents showed up.
Randomness that terminated when Goedele's camera went mysteriously lost as well as some of Milady's birthday gifts (including a pair of furry slippers I can't really picture in Kwano's surroundings :-). Sudden disappearing acts would have made Houdini blush. Shame for the loss of the camera and some of the pictures that would have otherwise illustrated this post, but these things happen... Take the bad with the good and all that.